Changeling Primer
Changelings
Every Changeling began his life as a human. There is no common factor to be found in the kind of human who becomes a changeling - they come from all kinds of backgrounds, are of no particular age, sex, religion or background.
Each mortal who would become a Changeling was, at some point, Taken by a Keeper (one of the True Fae) to Arcadia, also known as the Realm of Faerie. They may have been literally or figuratively "Taken," but they physically spent time in Arcadia. A changeling may have been taken by force, coercion or even an apparent accident.
The Keepers of the Changelings are monsters. They may be nearly any person place or thing, but are most typically humanoid. They are often archetypes of human legends, myths or ideals. They all have a Title - something that describes them. The King of Riddles. The Bratty Princess. The House at the Edge of the World. The Key to Forever. Any of those could be a Keeper.
Changelings were put under a Durance where their Keepers used them for their own inscrutable purposes. A Keeper might be a beautiful prince, swooping down to take a beautiful naïve servant girl away from a life of toil into a realm of wondrous dreams... until he finds a new paramour and discards her. Another Keeper might take the form of a monstrous red-toothed toad who chews lumps off his obese victim until the hapless mortal finally escapes, much thinner for his trouble. Another Keeper might be a puzzle box in which the changeling is trapped until he solves its inscrutable geometry. In each case, the changeling becomes something else through transformation as part of the process.
To ensure that mortals remained unaware of the changeling being Taken, the True Fae often leave behind replacements for the changeling made of detritus and inanimate objects. These become a fetch, a flesh-and-blood human identical to the changeling made partially of trappings in human shape, partially of the magic of Arcadia and partially (it is rumored) of fragments of the changeling's soul. This creature, called a Fetch, lives on in their place, though it may have wildly different personalities or abilities. When the changeling returns, the Fetch may become partially awakened to Arcadia's magic, or they may remain clueless as to the existence of Faerie and fae.
Each changeling has somehow escaped from their Durance. Escape may have been direct, such as running away or breaking through a fence, indirect, such as stumbling upon the mortal world once again by chance, or even accidental or unwilling, as when a Keeper casts the changeling away. In nearly every case, the changeling's Keeper still desires to control them.
The power of Faerie that now inhabits the changeling is called the Wyrd, and the more powerful a changeling's Wyrd, the more powerful they in turn become. Wyrd has drawbacks as well, and a high Wyrd may make a changeling more like the True Fae.
The land in between Arcadia and the mortal world is called the Hedge. It merits discussion on its own.
Kith and Seeming
Your Kith is what your changeling’s purpose was in Arcadia. There are too many Kiths to list here, and all come with a Blessing that gives them a special power.
Your Seeming is what your character became to survive their Durance. Beasts became animals. Elementals became physical forces. The Fairest became beautiful and elegant. Darklings skulked in shadows and lived nameless existences. The Wizened became deft and skillful. Ogres survived through violence and mayhem. Note, though, that it is the Durance that transforms the changeling, not the nature of his Keeper. A coarse bestial Keeper might want someone beautiful to care for him, or a beautiful Arcadian woman might need a stalwart bodyguard who grows uglier to better contrast her great beauty.
Arcadia and the Hedge
The realm of Arcadia is one of contractual consent, wherein the forces of nature itself are beholden to Contracts and (at the very least) the letter of their Oaths. Without a sincere mutual agreement, Arcadian fire might harm you, but it will not warm you or your food. Water might choke or drown you, but it will never quench your thirst. Without making agreements with the substances about their relationship to the individual, only animosity remains. All changelings are brought into the esoteric Contracts of their Keepers when they are Taken so that they can survive in this alien world, and the threads of the Wyrd bind them to their words and boundaries.
The Hedge is the in-between realm from Arcadia to the mortal world. It resembles the nearby mortal world, but is filled with fantastic creatures and beasts and, regardless of the natural terrain in the mortal world, is overgrown with thorny foliage (although this may be symbolic foliage such as tangled concertina wire or electrical cords studded with broken glass). The aptly named Thorns strip away an individual's sense of self rather than simply causing superficial injury. It is impossible to travel to or from Arcadia without passing through the Thorns.
However, the Hedge is not only a pathway between Arcadia and the mortal world, but also a pathway between places in the mortal world. Distances between locations in the mortal world are physically immutable. However, in the Hedge, the distance between two points in the mortal world are negotiable. Travel can be fast, safe or stealthy, seldom two of those, almost never all three without great effort.
The Hedge is mostly mutable, but with great effort Hollows can be created that remain for more than a fleeting time. These Hollows are attuned to a specific changeling, and others cannot typically enter without being brought in intentionally. Some Hollows are used to grow Goblin Fruits.
Trods are stable paths between two locations in the Hedge, and, like Hollows, require significant effort to maintain. They are useful not only for getting between locations in the Hedge, but also mortal locations.
Denizens of the Hedge are neither creatures of Arcadia nor of the mortal world. They are called Goblins or Hobgoblins, and are sometimes intelligent, frequently mischievous and occasionally vicious. They have many forms, most of them impish, but as diverse as animals within the mortal world.
Goblin Markets, gatherings of intelligent goblins can be found where extraordinary things are sold. Some of these are oddities, while others have genuine goblin magic within them.
Goblin Fruit, which grows both wild and cultivated within the Hedge has healing powers and other strange properties. Consuming a Goblin Fruit heals a changeling of 2 Bashing or 1 Lethal damage. Rare kinds of Goblin Fruits have different effects such as Amaranthine, which heals a single point of Aggravated damage, and Coupnettle, which restores a point of Willpower. Some goblin plants that aren't strictly "fruit" are called Oddments and are used in various ways. Changelings can only carry a number of Goblin Fruits as set by their Wyrd. Changelings transporting - in any way - more than this find that a number of them spoil or become lost despite any precautions taken. Goblin fruit last about 3 days if not preserved. Goblin fruit appear as normal fruits or vegetables to mortals.
The Mask and Mien
Two things the changeling realizes upon returning: that they have changed in fantastical ways, and that the rest of the world does not even notice. The changeling's true form is his Mien, and while still fundamentally human, may boast any number of supernatural features or colors. The changeling's false appearance is his Mask, and is how they would appear were the supernatural features and colors removed. The Mask deceives all five senses, and any physical complication is rationalized away - if a changeling's horns got caught in overhanging foliage, it would be seen by a mortal as their hair, or head becoming entangled. Other changelings, the True Fae and hobgoblins all see changelings as they are.
A changeling can expend 1 Glamour to see the Masks of other changelings until the end of the Scene. A changeling can spend 1 Glamour to strengthen the Mask until the end of the Scene, causing fae creatures to see it instead of their Mien. A changeling can destroy the Mask until the end of the Scene by expending all their Glamour. This causes even mortals to see them as they are.
Changelings can also allow mortals to see through the mask by Ensorcelling them with an Oath, which infuses them with the Glamour of Arcadia. This process lasts as long as the Oath and Glamour remain in place. More on Oaths and Glamour soon.
There may be unusual circumstances under which mortals may see through the Mask. There are rumors that mortals whose eyes are two different colors, those high on drugs or even children who still possess their baby teeth may be able to see through the Mask. If any of this is true, it is not reliably so.
Within the realms of dreams and in the Hedge (and Arcadia, if it matters), the Mask is never visible, no matter how much the Changeling tries to make it manifest.
Clarity
Changelings have been through a lot, and it’s sometimes hard to separate what is real from what is not. Instead of following Morality per se, changelings are beholden to their own understanding of the world, called Clarity, which can degrade with or without their taking any action at all. You start with 7 dots of max 10.
Clarity Sins are called Breaking Points, and as the changeling spirals down the Clarity chart, they lose more and more of their ability to discern reality from fiction. At Clarity 0, the changeling hallucinates constantly, and has no ability to separate these hallucinations from reality.
| Level | Sin (Dice Pool) |
|---|---|
| 10 | Entering the hedge; Dreamwalking; using magic to do something that could be done just as well without it (5) |
| 9 | Using tokens or other mystical items; going a day without human contact (5) |
| 8 | Breaking obligations or promises; changing courts (4) |
| 7 | Taking psychotropic drugs; serious unexpected life changes (4) |
| 6 | Revealing your true form to an unensorcelled mortal (by removing the Mask or entering the Hedge in their presence); going a week without human contact (3) |
| 5 | Killing a changeling or fetch (3) |
| 4 | Breaking pledges; extreme unplanned life changes (3) |
| 3 | Ravaging a dream; going one month without human contact for a month; kidnapping; developing a derangement (2) |
| 2 | Killing a human (intentionally or otherwise) (2) |
| 1 | Spending time in Arcadia; intimate contact with the True Fae; loss of identity. (2) |
Pretty rough, eh? Notice that a lot of the Sins are completely involuntary, which can make life hard for changelings.
Glamour
Changelings have been taken to Arcadia. Regardless of how they felt about the land of Faerie, it has one thing that this world does not: endless Glamour and beauty. It is a land of terrible glory where every sensation and emotion is intense beyond what a mortal can imagine.
Our world isn’t like that, and every Changeling misses that intensity. Whether the Changeling likes it or not, he is tied to the laws of a world where emotion is a power in and unto itself. Changelings feel this in Glamour, the energy of Faerie. In the presence of strong emotions, it is possible for the Changeling to feel an upwelling of this Arcadian energy and harvest it for their own. They can find this energy a few ways in the mortal world.
Each kind of Glamour is “flavored” by the emotion that it mirrors, and in sufficient quantities, Glamour affects a changeling just like a drug. Anger-induced Glamour, for instance, might make a changeling feel high and giddy like a mega-dose of caffeine, whereas sorrow-influenced Glamour might instead make them feel mellow and lethargic like a person on barbiturates or other downers.
- Glamour can be found in the emotions of mortals, allowing the changeling to replenish his supply. While the changeling does not need to harm a mortal to gain glamour from them, the changeling must cause them to experience intense emotion. Usually, this requires a social roll of some sort, dependent entirely on the kind of emotion desired. Usually, this can be said to be “harmful,” as it is the changeling intentionally evoking intense emotion. In harvesting emotions, the changeling literally consumes some of the emotion, causing the individual to lose 1 point of Willpower and feel less emotional.
- Glamour can be found in the dreams of mortals. The Changeling need only find a way into the dreams to consume the precious substance from them. If the changeling destroys a dream this way, it could be a Sin against Clarity.
- Pledges may allow changelings to recover Glamour, provided the correct sort of Pledge is made.
- The strange Goblin Fruits of the Hedge are valued for their Glamour, which can be gained by eating them.
- Few changelings think it’s worth it, but you can recover all your Glamour if you set foot in Arcadia and for as long as you are in Arcadia, you have full Glamour no matter how much or how quickly you spend it.
Other than giving a Changeling the warm fuzzies, Glamour has all of the following uses:
- Every changeling Seeming has attributes upon which they may spend their Glamour for temporary bonuses on dice pools.
- Many Kiths have powers that can be activated at a cost in Glamour
- Glamour can be used to power many Contracts (more on this later)
- Glamour can be used to fuel the powers of the enigmatic Hedge-items known as Tokens
- Glamour can be used to open portals to and from the Hedge
- Glamour can be used to strengthen, see or destroy the Mask.
Dreams
For reasons not yet fully understood, the True Fae, the Hedge and, by extension, Changelings are connected to the Realm of Dreams. Because of this, it is possible for Changelings to pass both into their own dreams and also into the dreams of others. Typically this requires an Oath, or for the recipient to be the changeling's Fetch. Changelings can not be physically injured in a dream, although dream experiences can be traumatic. Changelings have some ability to shape dreams (and all changelings are always lucid in their dreams).
Trauma within a dream can cause the victim to lose Willpower or, if out of Willpower, to be unable to sleep properly at all.
Changelings can scour powerful dreams to gain Glamour. This weakens the dream, and may potentially destroy a weak dream. Destroying a dream by scouring it to nothing awakens the sleeper and can be a Breaking Point for the changeling.
Pledges
Changelings can bind other creatures to their word, and in so doing bless them for following through and threaten them with a curse for failing to do as they say. Pledges need to be balanced based on their difficulty and duration, the powers offered as a reward and the curse levied for failure. The Wyrd binds a Pledge (with the expenditure of a point of Glamour) and the changeling has now sealed the Pledge. Pledges can be made against humans involuntarily, whereas changelings know when they are being bound to a Pledge, and can always choose not to agree to it (both parties will know in either case). Supernatural creatures have some protection from Pledges, as the Wyrd has less sway over them.
Pledge interpretation is left up to the Wyrd, but the Wyrd's interpretation (though, perhaps, not perfectly steadfast) tends to favor the changeling. It does not differentiate between what an individual fails to do and what an individual becomes unable to do. A Pledge can be made to do something impossible, but the Wyrd tends to honor symbolic victories in these cases (Pledge to fly, and doing so in an airplane will certainly suffice).
Changelings must Pledge their oath upon something greater than themselves. They may swear Pledges on the Wyrd itself, and a changeling can have only one such Pledge per point of Wyrd they have. They may swear a single Pledge on their True Name, which, if broken, will cause all Pledges they have sworn to be broken. They may swear a single Pledge on their Keeper's name which, if broken, causes their Keeper to know exactly where they are and how to get there. They may swear a single Pledge on a higher power which, if broken, causes them to lose all their Willpower and take a Breaking Point against Clarity. They may also swear a single Pledge on the Emblem of an organization of which they are a member. Breaking this Pledge causes them to lose, either completely or in spirit, their connection to that organization. An attorney who breaks a Pledge sworn on the Bar Association may be disbarred or simply be unable to find clients.
Tokens
Tokens are fae magic items. They come from Arcadia, from Goblin Markets, or are created from mortal items reforged in the Hedge with strange ingredients. They are activated with Glamour. All have a Drawback that makes activating them less appealing. Each also has a Catch that can be invoked to negate the need to pay Glamour. Even a mortal can activate such an item by invoking its Catch. When a Token is activated, it temporarily takes on a fae appearance.
Trifles are tokens that are used once and then gone. They may be used by anyone, human, changeling or otherwise (although some confer bonuses that are only useful to changelings).
Contracts
Changelings can make deals with concepts and things. These Contracts confer on the changelings powers at the cost of Glamour and Willpower. Each Contract has an activation cost, as well as a Catch which allows the changeling to activate the Contract for free given a specific set of actions or circumstances. Contracts consist of specific powers, called Clauses, that are purchased at each dot level. So a character with 2 dots in Contracts of Eternal Spring has both the 1-dot Clause and the 2-dot Clause of the Contract.
Contracts, by default, are Non-Affinity Contracts. Affinity Contracts are conferred by the character's Seeming and Court and cost less experience to learn.
Goblin Contracts are powerful Contracts with flaws and drawbacks that can be learned very easily. Each one is purchased uniquely - they are not purchased in any particular order.
Wow, That's a Lot
Don't fret. It's pretty intuitive. It's not the sort of thing that likely needs to be repeated many times. Maybe a few bits like Oddments might not fit well, but Contracts and Clauses, Pledges and Hedges, Faerie and fae should all be intuitive enough to retain on first read. Mask and Mien and such should all stick with you well enough.