House Rules: Changeling

Changeling: The Dreaming is now available in 20th Anniversary format to those who backed the kickstarter. As such, we are using those rules here. If you do not have access to the C20 PDF, fear not. The Supremes does, and will happily translate/assist those who wish to build Changeling characters.

The Mystery of Chariot County

The house rules we use on From The Ashes are in many respects partially mitigated and re-written by the oppressive crush of banality that characterizes the on-grid space. This is a temporary factor, though it will be around a while (until resolved by the players). To wit: Nothing is Wyrd. Everything, birthrights, cantrips, the whole shebang is forced out of the mortal realm and made chimerical unless specifically shored up by a Faerie's own glamour.

The "upside" to this is that all frailties, other than the Arcadian Sidhe curse, may be ignored in on-grid scenes (for the duration of the scene) by taking on a temporary banality point. They stack up, remember.

Chimerical companions also require 1 temp glamour per week to survive in Detroit's inhospitable environment. Better have a source of glamour handy if you're gonna bring a friend.

Birthright Changes

(Main article: Birthrights)
Generally speaking (the main article has specifics), Faerie Birthrights (except as modified by the Mystery), have been changed to be uniformly Wyrd. That is to say, a Sidhe's unearthly beauty, a Troll's godly strength, a Satyr's indefatigable endurance, and so on, all benefit them in the mortal world. This is good and bad. Faerie stats can frequently exceed the human maximum of 5 (especially Sidhe) and this requires care to avoid being constantly outed. There are such things as 'faerie hunters' folks, and they know what to look for.

Anytime a birthright says 'cannot botch' we take this to mean dice that come up as '1' do not subtract successes from the roll. The +roll command has a '/no1s' switch for this.

House Boons/Flaws

(Main article: House Boons & Flaws)
The main article has the specifics for each house. Houses Eiluned and Varich are untouched. (Well okay, Varich is clarified a little bit.) All others have had interpretations and/or house rules provided.

Commoners may benefit from the House Boon and/or suffer the House Ban if they gain (or start with) the Title background. This is done by also taking the 3pt Merit 'Honored Boon' (a house ruled merit) or the 2pt Flaw 'Acknowledged Ban' (same). If a commoner is titled during grid, they may be given the option to spend 9XP for the merit, or 3XP for the merit /and/ flaw. Generally speaking, this is not done for all commoners who receive title as just getting the title is a big deal. However, for exceptional commoners, the nobility may offer this closer relationship to the adopting house.

Cantrips

(Main article: Cantrips)
A few minor changes are made, detailed in the main article. Spirit Link, Naming, and Chronos are all restricted and will require exceptionally high-quality apps and likely some time on grid earning The Supremes' trust. Chronos 5 and Naming 5 are almost certainly not going to make an appearance on this game.

Calling Upon The Wyrd

Calling upon The Wyrd requires the expenditure of one glamour and then roll their Willpower rating with a difficulty of their own permanent Banality (Kithain/Kinain) or the local banality rating for the location where this is attempted (Chimera with the Wyrd Rede). 1 success is sufficient to bring forth the Wyrd for the scene.

Once the Wyrd has been successfully called, all chimera attached to the characters Chimera or Companion backgrounds become Wyrd for the duration of the scene, this means chimerical companions may join a battle or manipulate the environment, chimerical equipment interacts with the real world as if it were real, and any birthrights suppressed by the Mystery (or normally Chimerical) are fully functional. In addition, all cantrips cast by the caller become Wyrd without requiring glamour to power them.

The Wyrd induces The Mists in all witnesses the moment the scene ends (or they leave the scene).

A botch inflicts temporary banality for every net negative success on the roll. Chimera who botch lose a permanent glamour.

What Is Chimerical?

(Main article: What Is Chimerical)
Confusion often abounds about what it means for something to be 'Chimerical.' The main article goes into more detail but the quick and dirty version is:

A Chimerical entity is one that only exists in the Dreaming. It is invisible and immaterial to the unenchanted observer. What's more, the presence of Unenchanted observers means that such entities are no longer able to make changes to the real world (which they could, if the only witnesses were enchanted). Chimerical objects may be the target of chimerical cantrips - chimerical cantrips cost no glamour to cast.

The 'opposite' of Chimerical is Wyrd. Wyrd objects are able to be seen by unenchanted observers (though they are obviously supernatural in nature). They may effect the real world. Actions taken by Wyrd entities induce The Mists. Wyrd and real entities may be the targets of Wyrd cantrips, these cost 1 glamour to attempt.

The Mists

(Main Article: The Mists)
The main article is very important for this one as The Mists are one of the most misunderstood aspects of Changeling: The Dreaming and our interpretation here is designed to mitigate the story-killing parts of Changelings sharing the grid with other supers.

The gist is that The Mists will obscure a lot about the events, actions, and identity of Kithain from unenchanted eyes. However, other supers (Including Technocrats) tend to have very low banalities and thus tend to be only marginally impacted by The Mists. They will almost certainly remember enough to know that the Kithain is a supernatural being of some kind, and those with enough Fae Lore will recognize that they are under the effects of The Mists.

Anyone who is Enchanted also regains all of their memories of any events shrouded by The Mists - and they also remember that these events were once forgotten. Repeatedly enchanting folks is a good way to blow the Right of Ignorance, and individuals with Faerie Lore and/or knowledge of Faeries are much harder to muse. You have been warned.

Kinain

Kinain characters are heavily reworked to avoid some theme-breaking stuff in the C20 RAW. On From The Ashes: Detroit by Night Kinain characters are constructed as per normal (7/5/3, 13/9/5, 5 dots in backgrounds, 15 freebies.)

Kinain also gain certain natural abilities as a consequence of their heritage.

Natural Advantages

• Kinain cannot be undone, are immune to the mists regardless of their banality level, and cannot gain temporary banality from exposure or triggers; Kinain do not have an antithesis.
• Kinain possess a 'Heritage' which is linked to the kith from whose parentage they manifest. (It may not be a direct parent, fae blood may lay dormant for a long period of time.) This heritage manifests as a weakened form of one of that kiths birthrights. The kinain also exhibits subtle physical characteristics which evoke the kith from which the heritage is drawn.
• Kinain may, at their choice, select Legacies for their Nature and/or Demeanor. Court does not matter.
• Kinain gain one Bestowment, either from the list of such things in the book, or one of the player's design (per staff approval). Kinain bestowments, unlike The Enchanted, do not require the expenditure of glamour, but rather may be brought to full-strength by spending a willpower.
• Kinain may take the 'Faerie Blood' background. Each dot of the Faerie Blood background allows the kinain to begin play with, or later develop, up to 5 points of Kithain traits. In addition, all Kinain have a base of 5 such points. (See 'Traits,' below.) Additional eligibility for Faerie Traits may be earned by taking on Faerie Flaws.
• Kinain start with 0 Glamour but may spend Dross as glamour as well as making use of free glamour during a reverie event that they are witness to. Kinain who buy up their permanent glamour may refill at balefires, by consuming dross, or during reverie events. Kinain may muse, but they do not gain any ability to do so directly. It is, however, easier for kinain to self-muse.

Faerie Traits

In general, faerie traits occupy the available Faerie Blood points at a weight equal to their freebie point cost, whether they are purchased with freebies or with XP:

• Glamour (3 points per point)
• Arts (5 points per point) (Realms are free)
• Additional Bestowments (5 points)
• Faerie Merits (Point cost of the merit)

Faerie Merits

• Honored Birthright (4 points) - The Kinain gains their Heritage birthright at full-strength and their Heritage's 2nd birthright at the normal Kinain strength.
• Enchanted Eyes (3 points) - The Kinain is always Enchanted and can see the Dreaming unless slain chimerically (recovers as per Mists)
• Faerie Eternity (1 point)
• Murderous Mein (2 points)
• Surreal Beauty (2 points)
• Blessing of Atlas (5 points)
• Calming Presence (1 point)
• Good listener (1 point)
• I Know You (2 points)
• Nature's Child (2 points)
• Voice of the Songbird (2 points)
• Soul of the Muse (4 points)
• Animalistic Favor (3-5 points)
• Art Affinity (5 points)
• Living Legend (5 points)
• Regeneration (7 points)
• Winged (4 points)

Faerie Flaws

• Remembered Frailty (3 points) - The Kinain suffers the frailty of their Heritage kith.
• Parfum de Goat (4 points)
• Wyld Mind (2 points)
• Foul Mouth (2 points)
• Possessive (2 points)
• Changeling's Eyes (1 points)
• Bizarre Quality (2 points)
• Cleared Mists (3 points)
• Iron Allergy (3 points) - You suffer pain and lose glamour or gain banality when in contact with cold iron.
• Chimera Magnet (3 points)

Allowed Books

• Changeling: The Dreaming 20th Anniversary Edition - White Wolf, Inc. & Onyx Path Publishing. ISBN Pending.
• All others on a case-by-case basis. Check with The Supremes.