The following table is also accessible as an online random generator at the following link:
https://aloneinthelabyrinth.blogspot.com/p/random-fey-mutations.html
When one of the players in the Crystal Seas campaign wanted to play an elf, I was a little sad: I'd hoped to keep elves mysterious and strange and rare. Then the player wanted said elf to be called Analicia and have antlers, and a bit of retroactive worldbuilding was called for.
https://aloneinthelabyrinth.blogspot.com/p/random-fey-mutations.html
When one of the players in the Crystal Seas campaign wanted to play an elf, I was a little sad: I'd hoped to keep elves mysterious and strange and rare. Then the player wanted said elf to be called Analicia and have antlers, and a bit of retroactive worldbuilding was called for.
I'm going to make another post about our hispanically monikered organised crime elves, but here is where I talk about some of the random mutations afflicting 1 in 6 of their ilk due to their fey ancestry. The final 20 of them are (mostly) lifted directly from The Gardens of Ynn (follow that link and buy it), as Emmy Allen's concept of the sidhe fits quite snugly with my own concept of the eldar's ancestors. Plus, she's already included antlers as a mutation, so it made sense.
Use this table to add a random mutation to anyone with fey ancestry. Roll as many times as necessary.
1. Transparent skin: easily mistaken for undead.
2. White coloured iris,
3. White coloured pupils.
4. White coloured irises and pupils.
5. Body covered in fine white down.
6. Fox tail (all breeches/dresses/skirts must be custom made)
7. Butterfly tongue: long, sensitive, coiled and black like liquorice rope .
8. Violet eyes.
9. Always smells of lavender oil.
10.Faeces laced with iron pyrite: uneducated souls will mistake it for gold.
11. Skin constantly crawling with ants.
12. Vulnerable to iron.
13. Saliva will crystalise after 1d4 rounds.
14. Eyes are entirely black.
15. Cannot carry metal (including coins)
16. Unable to cross running water while awake.
17. Blue hair.
18. Always smells of rosewater.
19. Black-coloured blood.
20. All meat is poisonous.
21. Locust-type wings: entirely useless, but all shirts/jackets/ coats/ armour must be tailored.
22. Body covered in quills, like a shorn turkey.
23. Ram horns.
24. Skin, muscle, blood vessels, and tendons of one hand entirely invisible: looks skeletal.
25. Appears morbidly obese but weighs next-to-nothing.
26. Crimson coloured hair.
27. Extra set of teeth.
28. Eyes in the palm of each hand.
29. Arachnid eyes (eight)
30. Fingers of one hand are slender serpents.
31. Bat's ears (but cannot use echolocation).
32. Eyes like a snake.
33. Completely hairless.
34. Covered in downy feathers, like a fledgling bird.
35. Always sweating.
36. Six fingers on each hand.
37. Small human face on the back of head: it is conscious but has no means by which to communicate (it has no throat).
38. Blood is colourless. Cannot blush, always looks peaky.
39. Badger tail.
40. Two antennae growing from forehead.
41. Skin changes colour with mood, like an octopus or a chameleon.
42. Sentient, psychic tapeworm lives in lower intestine.
43. Bird wings: entirely useless, requires tailoring, but will be perceived by peasants as an angel.
44. Always smells of jasmine.
45. Leaves a trail of pollen wherever they go.
46. Mouth in centre of forehead. Not connected to throat or oesophagus, but occasionally moves as if speaking. Has teeth.
47. Antelope horns.
48. Silver-coloured hair.
49. Sweats blood.
50. Constantly followed by small rodents.
51. Sings like a bird.
52. Naturally nocturnal, sluggish in natural light.
53. Mushrooms grow out of any wounds. They are psychedelic, of course.
54. Retractable cat claws.
55. Cannot eat dairy products (will be poisoned).
56. Saliva can cause mild skin irritation in others.
57. Always smells of aniseed.
58. Violet hair.
59. Peacock tail. Requires custom tailoring.
60. Always followed by a robin.
61. Can crudely mimic others, like a raven or a jackdaw. Compulsive.
62. Skin constantly crawling with beetles.
63. Always levitating half an inch off the ground.
64. No eyelids, instead has a nicitating membranes on each eye, like a tuatara.
65. Can spin low quality silk from an organ in an embarrassing and inconvenient place.
66. Gills in neck: very inefficient, cannot breathe underwater but can hold breath twice as long.
67. No fingerprints.
68. Identical in appearance to one parent at the same age.
69. Small mouths on fingertips, each one with tiny teeth and a miniature tongue like a gecko.
70. Eyes always appear closed but can see (eyelids function like one-way glass).
71. Always smells of decaying lilies.
72. Footsteps kill all vegetation.
73. Golden or amber eyes.
74. Fingernails made of bronze or silver (excruciatingly painful to remove but will regrow)
75. All creatures within five feet hear faint whispers of bizarre and alien things.
76. Bat wings. Functionally useless, require tailored garments, but peasants will mistake for a daemon.
77. Vertical mouth. Looks a bit like a vagina.
78. Always smells of sulphur.
79. Always smells of chocolate.
80. Leaves a trail of mushrooms in their footsteps.
81. No/additional eyes.
82. Six-inch-long fingers.
83. Snake Fangs.
84. Goat legs.
85. Butterfly wings. Functionally useless but will require clothing to be specially tailored.
86. Petals for hair.
87. Green/Violet/Blue/Grey/Black/ White skin.
88. Sleek coat of fur, like a greyhound or a deer.
89. Crown of holly growing from forehead.
90. Long hooked fingernails.
91. Teeth made of glass/flint/silver
92. Weeping blood.
93. Surrounded by swarming butterflies.
94. Flowers grow in their footsteps.
95. Surrounded by mist.
96. Glows with a radiant inner light.
97. Thorns grow out of their skin where the bone is close to the surface.
98. Skin appears to be made of chrome.
99. Antlers (go Analicia!)
100. Spiders crawling all over their skin.
You can download a PDF of this to print on one side of A4:
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1z1-UEzKjeRPlumshRWIu7C0ev3P2rbKs
1. Transparent skin: easily mistaken for undead.
2. White coloured iris,
3. White coloured pupils.
4. White coloured irises and pupils.
5. Body covered in fine white down.
6. Fox tail (all breeches/dresses/skirts must be custom made)
7. Butterfly tongue: long, sensitive, coiled and black like liquorice rope .
8. Violet eyes.
9. Always smells of lavender oil.
10.Faeces laced with iron pyrite: uneducated souls will mistake it for gold.
11. Skin constantly crawling with ants.
12. Vulnerable to iron.
13. Saliva will crystalise after 1d4 rounds.
14. Eyes are entirely black.
15. Cannot carry metal (including coins)
16. Unable to cross running water while awake.
17. Blue hair.
18. Always smells of rosewater.
19. Black-coloured blood.
20. All meat is poisonous.
21. Locust-type wings: entirely useless, but all shirts/jackets/ coats/ armour must be tailored.
22. Body covered in quills, like a shorn turkey.
23. Ram horns.
24. Skin, muscle, blood vessels, and tendons of one hand entirely invisible: looks skeletal.
25. Appears morbidly obese but weighs next-to-nothing.
26. Crimson coloured hair.
27. Extra set of teeth.
28. Eyes in the palm of each hand.
29. Arachnid eyes (eight)
30. Fingers of one hand are slender serpents.
31. Bat's ears (but cannot use echolocation).
32. Eyes like a snake.
33. Completely hairless.
34. Covered in downy feathers, like a fledgling bird.
35. Always sweating.
36. Six fingers on each hand.
37. Small human face on the back of head: it is conscious but has no means by which to communicate (it has no throat).
38. Blood is colourless. Cannot blush, always looks peaky.
39. Badger tail.
40. Two antennae growing from forehead.
41. Skin changes colour with mood, like an octopus or a chameleon.
42. Sentient, psychic tapeworm lives in lower intestine.
43. Bird wings: entirely useless, requires tailoring, but will be perceived by peasants as an angel.
44. Always smells of jasmine.
45. Leaves a trail of pollen wherever they go.
46. Mouth in centre of forehead. Not connected to throat or oesophagus, but occasionally moves as if speaking. Has teeth.
47. Antelope horns.
48. Silver-coloured hair.
49. Sweats blood.
50. Constantly followed by small rodents.
51. Sings like a bird.
52. Naturally nocturnal, sluggish in natural light.
53. Mushrooms grow out of any wounds. They are psychedelic, of course.
54. Retractable cat claws.
55. Cannot eat dairy products (will be poisoned).
56. Saliva can cause mild skin irritation in others.
57. Always smells of aniseed.
58. Violet hair.
59. Peacock tail. Requires custom tailoring.
60. Always followed by a robin.
61. Can crudely mimic others, like a raven or a jackdaw. Compulsive.
62. Skin constantly crawling with beetles.
63. Always levitating half an inch off the ground.
64. No eyelids, instead has a nicitating membranes on each eye, like a tuatara.
65. Can spin low quality silk from an organ in an embarrassing and inconvenient place.
66. Gills in neck: very inefficient, cannot breathe underwater but can hold breath twice as long.
67. No fingerprints.
68. Identical in appearance to one parent at the same age.
69. Small mouths on fingertips, each one with tiny teeth and a miniature tongue like a gecko.
70. Eyes always appear closed but can see (eyelids function like one-way glass).
71. Always smells of decaying lilies.
72. Footsteps kill all vegetation.
73. Golden or amber eyes.
74. Fingernails made of bronze or silver (excruciatingly painful to remove but will regrow)
75. All creatures within five feet hear faint whispers of bizarre and alien things.
76. Bat wings. Functionally useless, require tailored garments, but peasants will mistake for a daemon.
77. Vertical mouth. Looks a bit like a vagina.
78. Always smells of sulphur.
79. Always smells of chocolate.
80. Leaves a trail of mushrooms in their footsteps.
81. No/additional eyes.
82. Six-inch-long fingers.
83. Snake Fangs.
84. Goat legs.
85. Butterfly wings. Functionally useless but will require clothing to be specially tailored.
86. Petals for hair.
87. Green/Violet/Blue/Grey/Black/ White skin.
88. Sleek coat of fur, like a greyhound or a deer.
89. Crown of holly growing from forehead.
90. Long hooked fingernails.
91. Teeth made of glass/flint/silver
92. Weeping blood.
93. Surrounded by swarming butterflies.
94. Flowers grow in their footsteps.
95. Surrounded by mist.
96. Glows with a radiant inner light.
97. Thorns grow out of their skin where the bone is close to the surface.
98. Skin appears to be made of chrome.
99. Antlers (go Analicia!)
100. Spiders crawling all over their skin.
You can download a PDF of this to print on one side of A4:
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1z1-UEzKjeRPlumshRWIu7C0ev3P2rbKs
Good stuff - if I were to ever run Planescape or something like it I'd do away with the tiefling/genasi/etc. stuff and just smush a bunch of tables like this together and get people to roll on it a few times to generate their people, to represent the mix of extraplanar ancestry, anomalous radiation exposure mutations, magical transformations, and so on and so on that everybody would have going on.
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