The Undying Lands

Most of us today know that the “fairy tales” we were told as children are watered-down, G-rated versions of the originals. Stories of fairies granting wishes, doing our housework, or replacing teeth with coins are modern sugar-coated versions. In the original stories, the witch eats Hansel and Gretl, Snow White’s Prince Charming was definitely a necrophiliac, and Little Red Riding Hood’s grandmother certainly does not hop out of the wolf after the woodchopper kills it with his axe. These stories weren’t told to children to amuse them; they were told to terrify them and teach harsh lessons. Even children smart enough to leave a trail disappear if they wander into the woods.

The question is, where do they go?

The Undying Lands takes ordinary, everyday people and puts them into a fantasy world. A faerie-land, though not in the way most people today think of it. Here are the fae described in the old tales, the sidhe whose beauty surpasses all knowledge, the niskies who live in the streams and oceans, the wee folk who live in tiny cottages. Here are the goblins and trolls, the ogres and pixies, and yes, even tinkerbell-like faeries who fly around on glittering wings. Just don’t expect them to live again when you clap your hands.

Getting your characters into the Undying Lands is easy. Getting them back out will be the hard part. After all, the old tales say that’s their most dangerous power: those who meet them may never want to leave.

The Undying Lands is a complete RPG, including character creation, magic, combat, a description of the world of faerie, and scores of plot seeds. It uses a powerful and straightforward rule set that can easily be adapted to other settings as well. This 54-page book, a 2.5 MB download, is just $6 of your hard-earned but well-spent money.