Through the Veil: Tales of the Feywild Review – Bedazzlement to allure but ever in Twilight

Let me take a moment to rave: “Through the Veil: Tales of the Feywild” is a terrific #DnD5e adventure supplement. Even the customer service—the CUSTOMER SERVICE—is amazing. A customer query says it all. A customer asked for something not included in the book, nor mentioned as a something that was going to be added—the maps in a VTT usable format. 30 minutes later and DnDElise replied with the equivalent of ‘gimme a moment,’ and went and created it for them and all future customers—making the product better AFTER its release!

Our review of the second in the Through the Veil series is available here: Through the Veil: Treasures of the Feywild

Great Writing

Now I’ll take a moment to review: The writing in “Through the Veil” has enough bedazzlement to lure you in and make it feel safe, but the ever twilight of the forest means it’s always half what you think. So the allure is as much attraction as trap. The first adventure starts with a content warning: “This adventure explores dying, loss, and letting go.” So be prepared, but it’s a beautiful subject to explore in a roleplay-rich game or campaign.

Smartly Constructed Adventures

The adventures themselves have enough meat to help any DM with quality descriptions, NPCs, creatures, locations, and adventure hooks, but stays out of the way of an experienced DM running a sand-boxed game. I really like some of the magic items and effects (“burbling breath” anyone?). There’s some clever writing, like the title; “The Fey with the Faerie Dragon Tattoo”, an homage to Stieg Larsson’s novel.

Art

The illustration has the folkloric, childlike wonderment you expect of Fey-related content. I didn’t love all the art, but I did quite like much of it. In many ways, and in stark contrast to #5e #DnD art, it has a previous-edition, fairytale-like quality. It does feel a bit sparse in spots. The maps are well-made and useful (especially getting the maps for use in VTTs like Roll20 & Fantasy Grounds).

Conclusion

There’s a large team that contributed to this product (see list below), lead by community favorite D&D Elise – and it shows most especially in the writing. It’s clever, but with heart. The subject matter is mature and handled respectfully. It’s well worth the purchase if you are planning on running any Feywild campaign or sessions.

Through the Veil: Tales of the Feywild – $14.95 from DMsGuild

A Fantasy Grounds VTT version is also available.