Fey and Eladrin afterlife? - Story & Lore - D&D Beyond General - D&D Beyond Forums (2024)

Well Eladrin in the monster listing are tagged as Fey(elf). And as elves their afterlife is the canon described in MToF.

As for other fey like sprites and pixies; they probably die and sent to the outer-planes as a petitioner and it doesn't matter where they die; the same thing happens.

Now, Arch-Feys might reform if slain on other planes, but this isn't clearly defined either AFAIK.

It depends entirely on what setting you’re playing in. The stuff in Mordenkainen’s Tome of Foes is only relevant to Forgotten Realms.

Fey are outsiders, so it would make sense that they don’t die and their spirits just reconstitute bodies when their old ones are destroyed unless they’re killed on their home plane, in which case they just... die. There’s no afterlife. I don’t know that that’s actually been spelled out in any book, but it’s how it works for angels and fiends, which are not substantively different from fey.

Quote from SagaTympana >>

It depends entirely on what setting you’re playing in. The stuff in Mordenkainen’s Tome of Foes is only relevant to Forgotten Realms.

Fey are outsiders, so it would make sense that they don’t die and their spirits just reconstitute bodies when their old ones are destroyed unless they’re killed on their home plane, in which case they just... die. There’s no afterlife. I don’t know that that’s actually been spelled out in any book, but it’s how it works for angels and fiends, which are not substantively different from fey.

I had to double check that...but its not quite true. It isn't obvious , but if you dig the book does discuss Krynn, Eberron, Oerth and Athas on specific topics, and considering that Mordenkainen is from Oerth/Greyhawk it could be said to have broader impact, while focusing much of the time on FR. This is stupidly subtle though and inconsistent and of course beyond the elves nothing applies to the fey. Examples are:

• Chapter 1,https://www.dndbeyond.com/sources/mtof/the-blood-war#PrincesoftheAbyss small heading on Oerth under Scourge of Worlds.
• Chapter 2,https://www.dndbeyond.com/sources/mtof/elves#Drow under the section Vulkoor for Eberron and following that a note on Krynn
• Chapter 2,https://www.dndbeyond.com/sources/mtof/elves#TheElvenOutlook a comment on Elves of Oerth
• Chapter 2,https://www.dndbeyond.com/sources/mtof/elves#ElvesandMagic under the heading Mythals, Krynn is mentioned in regard its own mythal.
• Chapter 3,https://www.dndbeyond.com/sources/mtof/dwarves-and-duergar#Dwarves under the heading "Dwarves of the Multiverse," talks aboub several worlds.
• Chapter 5,https://www.dndbeyond.com/sources/mtof/halflings-and-gnomes a section on Tinker Gnomes of Krynn
• Chapter 5, https://www.dndbeyond.com/sources/mtof/halflings-and-gnomes#Halflings a section on Halflings of the Multiverse, Krynn, Greyhawk, and Athas are covered.

On the Fey, they aren't technically outsiders because nothing is anymore in 5th. Hags were native outsiders, now they are Fey, and Night Hags were outsiders and now are Fiends. Most of the outsider stuff was in 3rd edition, and that was before there was a Feywild at all in the general settings (Thelanis for Eberron did exist, but that wasn't the same thing in 3rd.)

But I really like the idea though that you present on their handling; that a pixie on the Prime is a spirit and it just is sent home at death to either the Feywild or to Arvandor/Arborea (depending where it came from.) That would make thing more consistent. Might also answer how the Find Familiar spell works in the option on binding a "Fey Spirit" as your familiar as opposed to a fiendish or celestial one.

I could have been more specific when I said “the stuff.” To do so now, I mean specifically the lore around Corellon and how he’s kind of a giant prick.

And I know that outsider isn’t a mechanical creature type, but it’s still a word with an established meaning of “a creaturenot native to the material plane.”

Quote from SagaTympana >>

I could have been more specific when I said “the stuff.” To do so now, I mean specifically the lore around Corellon and how he’s kind of a giant prick.

And I know that outsider isn’t a mechanical creature type, but it’s still a word with an established meaning of “a creaturenot native to the material plane.”

Him being a prick is new. I'm not even sure I like the new elf lore honestly. But you can say he's a prick in Oerth now as well (and I still am not a fan). But based on Krynn's lore, he shouldn't even be involved. I think they tried to make it generic and cover edge cases, but it reads inconsistently.

And I agree on the outsider and native outsider part as it was established in the early editions and is a decent tool. Its why is why I liked your idea; the consistency. However, I honestly am not sure how many players here have that familiarity, and whether it confuses them or not. Almost worth a poll.

But I personally, liked the older explanations.

Quote from SagaTympana >>

It depends entirely on what setting you’re playing in. The stuff in Mordenkainen’s Tome of Foes is only relevant to Forgotten Realms.

Fey are outsiders, so it would make sense that they don’t die and their spirits just reconstitute bodies when their old ones are destroyed unless they’re killed on their home plane, in which case they just... die. There’s no afterlife. I don’t know that that’s actually been spelled out in any book, but it’s how it works for angels and fiends, which are not substantively different from fey.

I don't think this is correct. Mordenkainen is not from Forgotten Realms, he's from Oerth (Greyhawk). The book says it was penned by his apprentice, Bigby who was also from Oerth. As such, there's no reason to believe that it's intent is to be Forgotten Realms only.

Welp, I realize this is an old thread now, as the last comment was back in April. I stumbled across this thread for looking for something else, but I wanted to add something in regards to Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes.

In regards to the Forgotten Realms, MToF changed pretty much everything about the elf and drow lore, including the afterlife. In all previous editions, Arvandor was a reward, not a temporary way station for elven souls. They weren't being denied permanent access based on what their ancestors did. In trying to blend all the settings together, it got rid of some unique history. The drow are essentially treated as soulless, for even the fate of the followers of Eilistraee. Why not just say they go to Eilistraee's realm? If you're going to cover the afterlife for the elves (even if it was botched), do so for the drow as well.

MToF is often applied to Forgotten Realms, but again, it changed basically everything about the elf and drow lore. The only thing it kept was the genderfluidity of the Seldarine and the fact the elves were born from Corellon's blood.

Quote from PenelopeTheWeaver >>

Actually elves are descended from the eladrin. I think.

Pre-4e, eladrin was mainly used for celestial elves. Elves came from the land of Faerie, but to my knowledge, they weren't previously called eladrin. Then in 4e, it was applied also to sun elves, and elves of the Feywild (previously Faerie), and celestial elves. In 5e, I think they changed it back to what it had been, at least until MToF came out, which then changed pretty much everything about elf and drow lore.

Quote from Seldarine801 >>

Quote from PenelopeTheWeaver >>

Actually elves are descended from the eladrin. I think.

Pre-4e, eladrin was mainly used for celestial elves. Elves came from the land of Faerie, but to my knowledge, they weren't previously called eladrin. Then in 4e, it was applied also to sun elves, and elves of the Feywild (previously Faerie), and celestial elves. In 5e, I think they changed it back to what it had been, at least until MToF came out, which then changed pretty much everything about elf and drow lore.

Oh ok. I haven’t read MToF.

Quote from PenelopeTheWeaver >>

Quote from Seldarine801 >>

Quote from PenelopeTheWeaver >>

Actually elves are descended from the eladrin. I think.

Pre-4e, eladrin was mainly used for celestial elves. Elves came from the land of Faerie, but to my knowledge, they weren't previously called eladrin. Then in 4e, it was applied also to sun elves, and elves of the Feywild (previously Faerie), and celestial elves. In 5e, I think they changed it back to what it had been, at least until MToF came out, which then changed pretty much everything about elf and drow lore.

Oh ok. I haven’t read MToF.

The crunch in there is pretty decent, but agood deal of the lore is pretty dumb. I'm pretty much anti-changing older lore for <reasons>. The 5e team is pretty happy to just throw out old stuff that they don't like without having any good reason. A lot of that started in 4e, but hey...

Quote from PenelopeTheWeaver >>

Quote from Seldarine801 >>

Quote from PenelopeTheWeaver >>

Actually elves are descended from the eladrin. I think.

Pre-4e, eladrin was mainly used for celestial elves. Elves came from the land of Faerie, but to my knowledge, they weren't previously called eladrin. Then in 4e, it was applied also to sun elves, and elves of the Feywild (previously Faerie), and celestial elves. In 5e, I think they changed it back to what it had been, at least until MToF came out, which then changed pretty much everything about elf and drow lore.

Oh ok. I haven’t read MToF.

Don't lol. Like I said, it changed almost everything about elf and drow lore, erasing years of established lore.

Y'all know you can just... make up whatever you want, right? That that's the entire point of the game? There's no such thing as "canon" beyond what you as a DM want to run with. Tolkien kept changing his legendarium up until his death. If you prefer an older version of the setting, use that. If you want to mix one version with another, do it. If you want to toss all of it out and make up your own stuff, that's great! That's what the game is all about!

Why on earth should any writer now feel beholden to "years of established lore"? It's not a video game or film series. The lack of imagination on display here is unsettling.