PC1 - Tall Tales Of The Wee Folk

System: Dungeons & Dragons

Code: #9254

Type: Accessory

Levels: all

Author: John Nephew

Year: 1989

Publisher: TSR

Format: 64-page book, 32-page book, tri-fold cover

PC1 Tall Tales Of The Wee Folk

PC1 is the first in a series of 4 accessories that outline traditional "monster" NPCs and the possibility of PC play. While made for the basic D&D gaming system, there is a section that discusses how to adapt the rules given for advanced D&D play. The conversion process is painless. PC1 includes a 64-page DM booklet that outlines the various creatures and their level advancement, special abilities, spell abilities where needed, and general backgrounds for each different race. A 32-page adventure booklet is included as well. Most of the adventures included in this booklet are just outlines, there is one included however that is fully developed. So let's get started!

Tall Tales of the Wee Folk - DM's Booklet

About half of this booklet is dedicated to the various races that can be adapted into NPCs or even PCs. This includes ability charts, hit points & hit dice for the different creatures as they level, spell casting charts, experience progression tables, and everything else you need to create an NPC or play a PC Even a general description of the motivations of each race is included. The various races that are presented are Centaurs, Dryads, Fauns, Hsiao (an intelligent race of avians), Treants, Wood Imps, Brownies, Leprechauns, Pixies, Sprites, Pookas (magical shape-changers), Sidhes (fairies), and Wooddrakes. Each race description and discussion comes with all the charts and tables mentioned above, along with a general discussion of each race. In many cases, they also discuss how that race gets along with some of the other races.

Besides discussing the various races, the DM's Booklet also discusses fairy magic and many of the abilities available to some of these races. Also discussed are skills of the different races in this group, new magical items, personalities that are important to know, the woodland realms which these creatures inhabit, how various members of the various races are integrated into a more human-centric campaign world, special equipment required by some of the races, and the ever-present glossary and index.

Tall Tales of the Wee Folk - Adventures Booklet

After a brief discussion about woodland encounters in general, and the aforementioned discussion of 2nd Edition AD&D Game Adaptation, 7 separate adventures are discussed in this 32-page adventure booklet. 6 of the 7 adventures are more like general outlines waiting for a DM to fill in with details. The last adventure is well-fleshed out and ready to play with a low-level character group. There can always be edits and improvements, but as it is, it is good to go. The adventures include:

• Helping break a magical music spell
• Exploring an abandoned Hsiao lair
• Investigating a cursed cabin
• A quiet day spent fishing
• Investigating a herd of dying cattle
• Confronting a treant gone mad
• Rescuing a missing seneschal

Their adventure ideas are excellent and simply waiting for an intrepid DM to flesh them out. And just by reading through the DM's Booklet, an imaginative DM can create dozens of adventure ideas to work into his campaign.

My Random Notes, Thoughts & Reviews about PC1 Tall Tales of the Wee Folk

There are a lot of additional races covered here. One thing I have always struggled with as a DM is how to include all these different races in my campaign world. Most of the time - I just stuck to the basics. But reading this accessory makes me want to go back and redesign certain areas of my campaign world - to flesh these areas out more and include some good guys in the deep dark forest and sprinkle some fairy folk around - just to add some spice to the experience.

Since I stated above that it would be quite easy for a DM to come up with "dozens upon dozens of adventure ideas", I should put myself to the challenge. I don't have to come up with dozens and dozens. Brainstorming 10 adventure ideas based on the DM's booklet should be a fair challenge. I'm not saying they are all going to be GOOD ideas. Just brainstorming here folks. In no particular order:

1. The characters need the help of a wise old centaur, but in exchange for his knowledge, the centaur needs something in return.
2. A dryad has charmed a local villager, and the characters are tasked with bringing him (or her?) back.
3. A band of fauns has moved into a local area and is terrorizing the populace. The characters must relocate the fauns without killing them.
4. A local Hsiao pays adventurers to retrieve various books and also to run errands.
5. Treants have been disappearing at an alarming rate from a protected area of the forest. They seem to be returning to nature, but something more sinister is at play here.
6. A Wood Imp Shaman has taken over control of several Wood Imp tribes and is starting to amass an army composed of many races. These armies have begun to terrorize local villages. The Shaman will continue building these armies until the entire local realm has been conquered. He must be stopped! But maybe there is something more sinister behind this possible puppet leader.
7. A local inn has a brownie who has been very helpful for a number of years. Just recently the brownie has become a nuisance. Perhaps the original brownie has been imprisoned or murdered by a redcap (evil brownie) and the redcap has taken over.
8. Catch a leprechaun and get his pot of gold. Easy right - or is it?
9. An old abandoned monastery on the edge of town is rumored to hold treasures hidden away in an underground crypt. In actuality, a group of pixies & sprites have taken over the monastery and are using it as their lair, and they don't really like having adventurers poking around.
10. A mysterious talking beaver, which is actually a Pooka, has caught the attention of the PCs. In the corner of a dark bar, he hatches a plot to break into the treasury of an evil baron and take whatever can be carried.

OK - maybe it wasn't super easy to come up with those, but it wasn't super difficult either. You can do it!

PC1 Tall Tales of the Wee Folk In Conclusion

What can I say? I believe that PC1 is a great resource with great ideas about many interesting races. The DM never has to allow PCs to play these races. This is still a great reference that can be used to introduce these various races and add depth to the campaign world. Maybe the DM can even develop some meaningful NPCs from the vast amount of information presented. Great job!