Fey Witch Traditions — Otherworldly Patrons and Craft

Fey creatures can learn Witchcraft through patrons, covens, bargains and magical traditions just as mortal peoples can. Their long familiarity with enchanted places may shape the craft without making every fey creature a Witch.

Choose a Fey Witch If…

You want to play a fey creature who learns Witchcraft rather than treating fey nature as a substitute for a class.
You like patrons, bargains and covens that cross the boundary between mortal and otherworldly societies.
You want a familiar, tradition and class progression that matter even to a character who is already supernatural.

At a Glance

Best traditions	Faerie, Eclectic, Family or another tradition appropriate to the specific fey culture.
Strong themes	Otherworldly obligations, strange etiquette, enchanted places and divided loyalties.
Rules principle	Being fey does not automatically grant Witch levels or replace class features.
5.5e use	Use the species/creature rules approved by the Games Master, then advance in Witch normally.

What it feels like to play: a fey Witch understands that being magical and knowing Witchcraft are not the same thing. Your character may have grown up around wonders but still had to learn how to bargain with a patron, trust a familiar and practise a tradition.

Legacy rules note

The advancement limits and broad creature groupings below come from older d20 material. They are campaign options, not universal biology.

Fey Witch practitioner in an enchanted otherworld, showing patron magic, ritual charmwork and fey craft

Liber Mysterium
The Netbook of Witches and Warlocks
By Timothy S. Brannan and The Netbook of Witches and Warlocks Team

Fey have a long association with Witch stories and with the Faerie Tradition, but the relationship varies enormously. A familiar might be an ordinary animal, a magical beast, a spirit or—where the campaign supports it—a fey being in disguise.

Many kinds of fey can become Witches where the campaign permits class levels for them, including nymphs, dryads, pixies, grigs, brownies, satyrs and other fey peoples. Their class progression should follow the rules used for that creature rather than assuming all fey are mechanically equivalent to elves. Some legacy satyr Witch traditions use the name “Brag.”

Gnomes, goblinoids and other peoples may have ancient fey connections without automatically being classified as fey. The old 2–3 level limit for fey Witches is a legacy d20 campaign assumption; use the advancement rules appropriate to the creature and edition.