Fey Contracts and Curses

A fey contract is formed when a creature receives a gift (or the promise of a gift) from a Fey and is expected to give the Fey something in return. The gift can be almost anything, and the contract forms as soon as the gift is received.

Accidental Fey Contracts

A creature can accidentally stumble into a fey contract in a number of ways. The one bit of good news for the novice Feywild explorer is that most fey contracts can be broken with a remove curse spell or similar magic. Only the most powerful fey contracts are hard to break-ones woven by ancient hags, the queens of the Seelie and Unseelie Courts, and other powerful archfey. Such contracts usually require a wish spell or an elaborate ritual to negate.
Here are a few ways one might become unwittingly bound to a fey contract:
• Accepting a gift from a Fey (prompting the Fey to expect something of perceived equal value in return)
• Stealing something from a Fey (creating a metaphysical imbalance that must be rectified)
• Taking the life of a creature that made a contract with a Fey (thereby inheriting the creature's debt to that Fey)
Accepting Gifts
Some Feywild guides recommend never accepting gifts from a Fey and, more importantly, never expressing thanks.
To accept a gift from a Fey is to enter into a contract with it, especially if the gift is received with gratitude. Effusive thanks increase the gift's perceived value, and the Fey will expect something more in return.
Stealing from a Fey
Even if a Fey creature is unaware something has been stolen from them, they sense that they have been deprived of something. This nagging sense doesn't go away until the Fey figures out what they lost and who has the stolen item. Moreover, the Fey might not want the stolen thing back, but rather so
Taking a Life in Debt
Before taking the life of a creature in the Feywild, a wise individual makes sure that creature has no outstanding debts to Fey. Any Fey the creature was indebted to look to the killer to make good on the creature's unfulfilled debts.
Fey are understandably cautious when collecting debts from a person who is prone to violence. They usually make their demands at times when it's safest for them to do so, such as when the killer is bathing or in a crowded place.

Making a Contract

Fey contracts can be divided into two categories: greater contracts and lesser contracts. Greater contracts are made with archfey, ancient hags, and other powerful Fey spellcasters. Lesser contracts are made with Fey of all other sorts. Here are some examples of gifts Fey can bestow as part of a greater or lesser contract:

Greater Contract Gifts

Audience. You and your companions gain a private audience with the Summer Queen, the Queen of Air and Darkness, or both.
Major Magic Item. You gain a very rare magic item that is yours to keep, or a legendary magic item for 5d12 days.
Safety. One creature that previously regarded you as an enemy no longer remembers you at all.
Time Displacement. You and your companions can return to the Material Plane up to fifty years from now without having aged a day.
Title. You gain an important title and all the rewards that come with it (see "Marks of Prestige" in the Dungeon Master's Guide).
Wealth. You receive up to 50,000 gp worth of coins, jewelry, or property.

Lesser Contract Gifts

Charm. You gain a charm of your choice, subject to the (see "Supernatural Gifts" in the Dungeon Master's Guide).
Fey Kinship. For 5d6 days, you gain either the Fey Ancestry trait common among elves or the Speak with Small Beasts trait common among forest gnomes.
Guide.You and your companions receive help from a guide who can guarantee safe passage through a particular region of the Feywild (such as a Domain of Delight).
Inspiration. You gain inspiration each day at dawn for 2d4 days.
Invitation. You receive an invitation to the Summer Court or the Gloaming Court (though this invitation does not guarantee an audience with the Summer Queen or the Queen of Air and Darkness).mething of equal or greater perceived value.
Minor Magic Item. You gain a common magic item that is yours to keep, or an uncommon magic item for 5d6 days.
Proficiency. You gain proficiency in a skill of your choice for 2d4 days.
Spellcasting. You gain the ability to cast a spell of 4th level or lower once, without material components. You choose the spell, and your spellcasting ability for it is Charisma.

Price of a Contract

If you're not sure what a Fey expects to receive for a gift they bestow, roll on the appropriate Fey Desires table.
To collect something intangible, such as a creature's singing voice or the color in its eyes, a Fey must tap into the magic of the Feywild. In other words, it's the magic of the Feywild, not the Fey creature, that allows a character to claim what would otherwise be impossible to obtain. For this reason, a Fey can't claim such a thing unless they and the creature with which they made the contract are both in the Feywild.

Breaking a Contract

The Feywild can punish a creature for breaking a fey contract, but the creature must be on the plane to be affected. The penalty imposed on a creature who breaks a lesser contract can be removed by any magic that ends a curse; a wish spell is needed to remove the penalty for breaking a greater contract.

Fey Curses

Curses are common punishments among archfey and other powerful Fey creatures. An adventurer might be cursed for any number of reasons, a few of which are listed below:
• Offending a powerful Feywild denizen
• Entering a forbidden place
• Appearing in a fey court without an invitation