Archives of Nethys
Source Feybound pg. 63
Fauns carry the joy of the world with them where they go, frolicking and singing with every bounding prance.
They see the world as a source of bounty for all, rather than a collection of individual properties. This mindset leads to trouble with civilizations that have firm ideas of farm boundaries and harvest rights. However, those same communities might receive gifts from fauns during harsh years. The connected world exists so all can enjoy it, from the sweet labor of bees making honey to the industry of humans that creates warm hideaways for mice. Fauns care about maximizing pleasure for all, though they sometimes become caught up in their experiences. Unless harm or malice was intended, fauns are quick to forgive and forget. They tend to assume others hold this attitude as well. This can lead to an overuse of natural resources or an industrious village's anger over “borrowed” supplies, but fauns offer to pay back the world with their gifts. They often select gifts that they assume have an equal value. Sometimes, consumed wine is replaced with finely woven cloth, or a trampled field is replaced with a new herd of wild peacocks. Refusing a gift often offends a faun, for they take great care to select a proper replacement.
Fauns also have a natural instinct for performance that begins with spontaneous expressions as infants and is encouraged to develop throughout childhood. Most fauns favor a single art form but create wildly, not caring for the quality (or lack thereof) in their expression. Still, with practice, many become skilled in multiple instruments, art styles, and disciplines. When their performances become infused with magic, they pull from the music of the world around them. Fauns who possess innate spellcasting often draw from occult forces that motivate bardic music rather than primal ones.
While almost all fauns can excel at any art form they study, most tend to focus on ones that match the environment they call home. Favored styles are often influenced by the inherent spirit of the place they inhabit, such as percussion for those who live among the beat-and-rattle of industrial productions or woodwinds for those who listen to the whistling reeds. When a faun moves to a new home, this often includes learning new instruments or new types of dances that reflect the changed world. Sometimes, they give up their previous instruments completely. That knowledge is never truly lost, and a visit to an old haunt might cause a faun to pick up a practice previously set aside.
While their natural love for a place means that some fauns prefer one home for years, others desire to live in many homes over a lifetime. Faun adventurers often connect deeply with their companions and draw on those friendships to sustain them. At other times, fauns are forced into a life of wandering after the destruction of their home or if their neighbors tire of their antics. If you want to play a free spirit who celebrates and creates with unbridled joy, you should play a faun.
You Might...
- Luxuriate in all pleasures that the world offers.
- Consider the environment around you to be its own person and neighbor, along with all that call it home.
- Dance and celebrate victories, even in difficult circumstances.
Others Probably...
- Recommend you as a performer or public speaker.
- Seek you out when they're dissatisfied with their life in hopes that you'll lure them into a more joyful existence.
- Watch you closely when you express boredom, as they assume you'll wander away.
Physical Description
From afar, fauns appear human enough at first glance. On a second glance, curved horns and goat-like legs mark them as something else. Truly watching them reveals the deeper differences. Fauns prance instead of walk, take time to observe the world around them, and stop to converse with even the flowers. They're often surrounded by music, either from an instrument or a hummed tune, and move in time with its rhythm. Where they go, lightness follows, as though their whimsy unburdens the world around them.Some fauns' faces appear more like goats, while some are more like humans. Those with goat-like features typically bear large horns, while the more humanoid tend toward nubs that barely peek through the hair. Fur patterns and horn shape mimic those found in the natural world around them, and moving to a new location causes them to slowly change. Those in the mountains might grow sturdier hooves and shaggier fur, while those in the forest become as dappled as the canopy. Fauns connect with the unique spirit of a place, and they change as they become part of it. How quickly these changes take root depends on how soon the faun connects to their new setting. They don't alter the faun's core appearance, making it so that they're recognizable (though with a few changes) to others. Those who aren't aware of the shifting nature of fauns sometimes mistake one for a sibling or parent, which often results in playful jokes and pranks.
For the parts of fauns that appear like humans, they display a broad range of traits. Fauns exist in all shapes, sizes, and skin tones any human could possess. The more human-appearing of the fauns tend to live closer to (or within) civilizations, while the more goat-like fauns appear deeper in the forest. However, exceptions are common enough, and fauns believe that appearance is based on whether they're more connected to animate creatures or inanimate surroundings.
Society
Fauns inhabit places that connect life together. Their chosen place can be as large as the Fierani Forest or as small as a single waterfall, all depending on where a faun considers home. Fauns typically view all who that live within a space to be a neighbor, including plants, animals, and spirits. The faun's job is to bring everyone together, be it as a community mediator or merrymaker. Their effectiveness varies. Many fauns feel wine and good food can smooth over the majority of transgressions, though this approach can backfire among those with large egos or unpleasant appetites. Some fauns avoid conflict and use pranks or elaborate staged meetings to ease tensions. They prefer to bring joy, not direct confrontations. However, some places tire of a faun's mischief and eventually turn them out.Anywhere that places develop their own personality, fauns can exist. Several regions of Golarion have developed distinct faun cultures. In Iblydos, fauns are generally accepted as part of the archipelago's inhabitants, especially with stories of faun hero-gods connecting them to its fabled past. In Avistan, fauns collect in the old growth of Arthfell Forest and attempt to lead non-fey away from its borders. On the continent of Tian Xia, long-furred fauns are often found along the Path of Aganhei in a continuous gathering that lures travelers into the tundra. In addition to known communities, fauns can exist in any place where the natural world could earn a distinct name. This might be a collection of a dozen fauns on the tallest mountaintop or a solitary faun who basks on the most beautiful rock in a river.
Urban fauns are less common, but in the Iblydan city-state Pol-Hoimpeia, they congregate in the arts district. There, they adapt to the hustling of the city and its noise. Large-scale performances with intricate choreography are common, for they mimic the spirit of the city. They inspire the other artists and inhabitants through both the energy their dances bring to the district and their delight in debauchery. The fauns in Absalom gather in the Ivy District among its community of artisans, where they blend their expertise at crafting with skill in exhibitions. Fauns indiscriminately connect with other living creatures since their environments host animals, so- called monsters, and people without judgment. Faun performances often appeal to their neighbors, especially as they resonate with magic. These artistic displays entrance everyone, even those that have never been permitted to be in an audience before. Stories of fauns convincing bandits, soldiers, or even dragons to lay their hostile intent aside and join the festivities are frequent.
When many fauns gather in one place, celebrations and revelry often occur. They descend upon towns in a parade of chaos. Human communities in Iblydos sometimes join in these events, which then become like a storm of days- long dancing and singing. Wine stores run dry, and the voices of the revelers turn hoarse before the fauns move on to the next community. The gathering's numbers grow with each visit, as they invite those bored with pastoral life to join an unending party. On occasion, a guest returns months later with faun children. As children, such mixed-heritage fauns rarely enjoy the trappings of typical culture. They struggle to learn via schools or tutors, nearly incapable of sitting still, though they excel when granted freedom to select their own topics. Eventually, most fauns realize that their human parent can't comprehend their fey nature, so they leave to find their faun parent or a place that feels like their own.
Beliefs
Fauns feel the natural energy of the world. They hear the dam about to break and the trees ready to fall. To them, nothing in the world can be truly separate from the rest. Everything connects.As a consequence, fauns are usually marked with a profound optimism. Unless something truly unnatural or horrific occurs, events around them are a cause for joy. A rainy day is for enjoying the indoors, when they can play songs as plants and rivers refresh themselves. A long winter brings snow for games and the smell of smoke from the hearth fire. Even death and decay bring circles of delightful fey mushrooms.
Fauns are fairly superstitious, especially when it comes to potential omens. Often, they focus on the weather to determine whether it's an auspicious day for a venture or performance. Typically, days that are too rainy, too dry, too sunny, or too cloudy are rejected. On a rare day where the weather meets their ideal conditions, fauns burst into a flurry of activity, completing a season-long to-do list.
With strong ties to place and home, most fauns are satisfied with their understanding of the world and don't seek out religion. When they do, they tend to worship deities who emphasize artistic expression and enjoyment of the world. Faiths that include appreciation of the natural world are also common. Arshea, Calistria, Gozreh, and the Radiant Prism pantheon all have notable faun followings. Shelyn's focus on art means that many fauns are approached by her followers to serve as artistic mentors. Fauns of the First World might venerate the Green Mother among all the Eldest.
Popular Edicts connect with those around you, create beauty wherever you are, luxuriate in new experiences and sensations
Popular Anathema disrupt someone's pleasure without reason, maliciously harm your neighbors, refuse hospitality to a friendly face, ridicule another's performance
Adventurers
Adventurers tend to stumble across fauns since their carefree natures lead them to wander and get into trouble. Those fauns who choose a life of travel and exploration are often drawn to causes that protect their homes or that discover new pleasures in life. While fauns are most commonly bards, those who value nature become druids, primal witches, or kineticists. They often turn to adventuring after living as acrobats, entertainers, fortune tellers, gamblers, and nomads.Fauns cycle between lazing about and bursts of activity. They're as likely to nap in tall grasses as they are to jump to collect apples from a tree. This makes them well-suited for the excitement of exploration and adventuring, for quick bursts of fighting are often offset by regular rests.
Names
Faun names are broadly similar to typical names of their home environs, though the more mellifluous, the better. Many faun names are reminiscent of musical instruments, local dances, and natural features.Sample Names
Chelista, Kithara, Lephine, Meadow, Pyra, Riverfoss, Thim, XalliopeFaun Mechanics
Hit Points
8Size
MediumSpeed
30 feetAttribute Boosts
DexterityCharisma
Free
Attribute Flaw
WisdomLanguages
FeyCommon
Additional languages equal to your Intelligence modifier (if it's positive). Choose from Elven, Gnomish, Goblin, Halfling, Jotun, and any other languages to which you have access (such as the languages prevalent in your region).
Low-light Vision
You can see in dim light as though it were bright light, so you ignore the concealed condition due to dim light.Shelyn's Corner
×Classic Feel
Classic Feel
Classic Feel
The classic look for the Archives of Nethys.
| Table |
| Data |
| More Data |
Book Feel
Book Feel
Book Feel
An alternative feel, based on the Rulebooks.
| Table |
| Data |
| More Data |
Round Feel
Round Feel
Round Feel
A rounded, modern look for the archives.
| Table |
| Data |
| More Data |
Slim Feel
Slim Feel
Slim Feel
A variant of the Round feel, more compact.
| Table |
| Data |
| More Data |