Oberon (Dungeons & Dragons)

Oberon

Game background
Title(s)	Lord of Beasts King of the Seelie Court
Home plane	The Seelie Court (wandering realm)
Power level	Lesser
Alignment	Neutral Good (Neutral tendencies)
Portfolio	Nature, wild places, animals
Design details

In many campaign settings for the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game, Oberon is the fey deity of nature, wild places, and animals. His symbol is a white stag.

Publication history

Oberon was first detailed in the book Monster Mythology (1992), including details about his priesthood.^[1] His role in the cosmology of the Planescape campaign setting was described in On Hallowed Ground (1996).^[2]

Description

Oberon appears as a male fairy of perhaps unusual size (4' 6") with no wings, and strongly muscled by fey standards. His cloak is made of green leaves stitched into brown leather.

Relationships

Oberon is the consort of Titania and a member of her Seelie Court^{[citation needed]}. He is the father of Damh and Verenestra. Eachthighern allows Oberon to ride him. He is called King Oberon, but this is an honorific due to his marriage to Queen Titania; he has little political authority among the Seelie Court. Oberon is allied with Corellon Larethian and Sehanine Moonbow.

Realm

Oberon's home is the wandering Seelie Court, but he is happy to roam the Beastlands and Arborea hunting stags and the like.

Dogma

Oberon is stern and strong, but happier out hunting than dealing with the politics of the Seelie Court. He is aware that his intelligence and wisdom, though high, seem low compared to his wife's attributes. He is a protector-god, using physical combat more than illusion and camouflage as most sylvan deities do.

Worshippers

Oberon is revered by all nonevil fey, who pray to him for protection.

Other versions

In Dragon #263, a non-divine King Oberon was presented, this version a chaotic good, 20th level fighter/mage who appears as a large, blond-haired human-looking man with green, diamond-shaped pupils set in black irises. He is called the King of Shadows and he rides a pegasus called Moonbeam. In that article, the chief distinction between Oberon and Titania is that Oberon governs magic and unnatural things, while Titania governs the natural world.^[3] Another non-divine King Oberon was created for the world of Mystara in Tall Tales of the Wee Folk, where he appeared as a 30th level warrior sidhe of neutral alignment (lawful tendencies).^[4] In both of these versions, Oberon and Titania are depicted as a quarrelsome couple, though Oberon is the monarch and Titania his equally powerful consort.

Creative origins

Oberon and Titania have switched roles in Monster Mythology from their Shakespearean counterparts in A Midsummer Night's Dream as the King and Queen of the Fairies. In Shakespeare, Oberon ruled the fairies with Titania as his consort, but this is reversed in the role-playing game. The exact reason for this switch is not clear, although in British folklore the fey are usually ruled by an unnamed Queen.

References

1. ^ Sargent, Carl. Monster Mythology (TSR, 1992)
2. ^ McComb, Colin. On Hallowed Ground (TSR, 1996)
3. ^ Bebris, Carrie. "Shakespeare's Seelie Court." Dragon #263. Renton, WA: TSR, 1999
4. ^ Nephew, John. Tall Tales of the Wee Folk. Lake Geneva, WI: TSR, 1989