Introduction

Doubting, dreaming dreams no mortal ever dared to dream before.

-The Raven, Edgar Allan Poe

  The gates to the Realms of Faerie are closed. Humankind has turned its back on the magical in favor of a new dream — a dream of a sterile, banal world with no mysteries or wonder. A world where all the questions have been answered and all the puzzles of the universe solved. And yet, in the quest for this Utopia, much of humankind has lost a little of themselves. They have forgotten how to dream...
  When the last trods to Arcadia closed and the gates slammed shut, there still remained a few of the Fair Folk living alongside humanity. These stranded fae were forced to adopt a new way of living in order to survive the sheer power of humanity's collective disbelief in all things magical: they became mortal themselves, sheltering their fragile faerie souls in mortal flesh. And yet these fae continue to dream of a day when humanity will once more return to the mystical. In the centuries following the Shattering, the fae have quietly fostered the dreams of mortals, seeking to usher in a return of the halcyon days when the fae were welcome and could openly walk among mortals.
  Changeling is a storytelling game about the Dreaming. It's about lost innocence, about the cynicism of adulthood and make-believe come to life, about imagination taking fruit. Herein you will find an invisible world of fantasy that exists alongside our reality — a place of delight, mystery and enormous peril.
  When you play Changeling, you will come to understand that faerie tales aren't just for children (not that they ever were), and that they don't always have happy endings. You will discover what it is like to be exiled from your homeland, persecuted for your true nature and unable to express the beauty welling up from your soul. You will know what it is like to be alone in a crowd, to be aware of the power of dreams and to be able to tap the power of magic. And you will learn what it is like to be helpless in the arms of Fate and unable to stop the crushing weight of Banality from robbing your memory of all you have discovered.
  Enter into the realm of the Dreaming — a place of unimagined wonder and impossible terror.

About This Book

  Changeling is a game of make-believe, of pretend. But it is not a "game" in the normal sense of the word; Changeling is more about storytelling than it is about winning. If you've never played a storytelling game before, you may be confused by the whole premise of such games. Once you grasp the basic concepts, however, you'll find storytelling games aren't all that strange.
  You and your friends are going to tell stories of wonder and delight, tales of love and romance, tragedy and peril, lurking evil and heroic triumph. And at the heart of these stories are the lost fae.   These stories will capture your imagination far more readily than any play or movie. Likewise, they are of a darker tone than the children's fairy tales you might remember (although those, too, were rather grim in places). This is because you are inside the story, not just watching it. You are creating it as you go along, and the outcome is always uncertain.
  What you need to do now is read this book, a little bit at a time, and enjoy it. You don't have to study it like a textbook or devour it like a newspaper. Just browse. Later on, when you're playing, you can consult and refer to whatever you need. You don't need to memorize anything — just have an idea of what your character can do and understand the world in which she adventures. Don't let anything in this book scare you out of having a good time — storytelling is, first and foremost, about fun.

Changeling Kind

  You lead a double life, alternating between reality and fantasy. Caught in the middle ground between dream and wakefulness, you are neither wholly fae nor wholly mortal, but burdened with the cares of both. Finding a happy medium between the wild, insane world of the fae and the deadening, banal world of humanity is essential if you are to remain whole.
  Such a synthesis is by no means easy. Mortal affairs seem ephemeral and trivial when you stand amid the ageless magnificence of the Seelie Court. When you don garments spun of pure moonlight and drink wine distilled from mountain mists, how can you go back to polyester and soda pop?
  Alas, you have no choice. Although your faerie self is ageless and eternal, your mortal body and mind grow older and less resilient as you move through life. Sooner or later, nearly all changelings succumb to one of two equally terrifying conditions: Banality, the loss of their faerie magic; or Bedlam, the loss of their mortal reason.
  But is this fate inevitable? Can you retain your childlike wonder while fighting against the frigid Banality that seeks to numb your mind and steal your past? Can you ride the currents of the Dreaming without being swept away in the maelstrom of Bedlam?
  You stand alone in the mundane world. No mortal will ever understand the depth of your alienation, strangeness and uniqueness. Though you may try to communicate your condition through art (and many have tried and failed), only those with faerie blood will see, understand and appreciate what you are.
  An exile among exiles. Lost among the lost. The stranger in every crowd.
  Hail, fellow traveler — welcome to the Dreaming.

Storytelling

  Long ago, before movies, TV, radio and books, we told each other stories: stories of the hunt, legends of the gods and great heroes, bardic epics and tales of ravening monsters. We told these stories aloud, as part of an oral tradition — a tradition that we have virtually lost.
  Today we no longer tell stories — we listen to them. We wait to be picked up and carried to prepackaged worlds. We have become slaves to our TVs and VCRs, permitting an oligarchy of mythmakers to dictate the content of our imaginations.
  It need not be this way. Storytelling on a personal level can be returned to our culture. This is essentially what Changeling is about: not stories told to us, but stories we tell others. Through the game and art of collaborative storytelling, we create new stories and claim the ancient myths and legends for our own.
  Storytelling allows us to understand ourselves by giving us a medium to explain our triumphs and defeats. By looking at our culture, our family and ourselves in new contexts, we can understand things we never before realized. Storytelling is entertaining because it is so revealing, exhilarating because it is so true. Our fascination with stories has a purpose to it — of that there is no doubt.

Roleplaying

  Changeling is a storytelling game but it is also a roleplaying game. As a Changeling player, you not only tell stories, but actually act through them by assuming the roles of the central characters. It's a lot like theatre, but you make up the lines.
  To understand roleplaying, you need only think back to your childhood and those wonderful afternoons spent playing Cops 'n' Robbers, Cowboys and Indians, or Dress-Up. What you were doing was roleplaying, a sort of spontaneous and natural acting that completely occupied your imagination. This playacting helped you learn about life and what it meant to be a grown-up. It was an essential part of childhood, but just because you have grown up doesn't mean you have to stop.
  In Changeling, unlike pretend, there are a few rules to help you roleplay. They are used mainly to avoid arguments — "Bang! Bang! You're dead!" "No I'm not!" — and to add a deeper sense of realism to the story. Rules direct and guide the story's progress and help define the characters' capacities and weaknesses.
  Changeling can be played with nearly any number of players, but roleplaying games in general work best with six or fewer players. Mystery and flavor are diminished when players must compete for attention.
  The essential rules of Changeling are described in Chapter Six.

The Storyteller

  Changeling is structured a little differently from the games with which you might be familiar. In the first place, there is no board. Second, one player must assume the role of Storyteller — the person who creates and guides the stories.
  Being the Storyteller is a bit like playing the Banker in Monopoly™, but bears greater responsibilities and rewards than control over a handful of play money. The Storyteller describes what happens to the characters as a result of the players' words and actions. She decides if the characters succeed or fail, suffer or prosper, live or die. Storytelling is a very demanding task, but it is equally rewarding, for the Storyteller is a weaver of legends.
  The Storyteller's primary duty is to make sure the other players have a good time. The way to do that is to tell a good tale. Unlike traditional storytellers, however, the Storyteller doesn't simply tell the story. Instead, she creates the skeleton of a story, and then lets the players flesh it out by assuming the roles of its leading characters.
  Storytelling in Changeling is a careful balance between narration and adjudication, between story and game. Sometimes the Storyteller must set the scene or describe what occurs, but mostly she must decide how the environment responds to the characters. She must be as realistic, impartial and creative as possible.
  As the Storyteller, you are in charge of interpreting and enforcing the rules, yet you are also an entertainer you must struggle to balance your two roles. This book was written to help you do just that. It won't make being a Storyteller easy, because it never will be easy, but it will make you better at it.
  The role of the Storyteller is explained in more detail in Chapter Nine.

Players

  Most Changeling players will not be Storytellers. They will instead assume the roles of the central characters in the story. Being a player does not require as much responsibility as being a Storyteller, but it does require just as much effort and concentration.
  As a player in a Changeling chronicle, you assume the persona and role of a changeling — a faerie being whom you invent and then roleplay over the course of one or several stories. The life of your character is in your hands, for you decide what the character says and does. You decide which risks to accept or decline. Everything you say and do when you play your character has an effect on the world.
  You must also be an actor. You speak for your character and act out whatever you want your character to do or say. Whatever you say, your character says, unless you are specifically asking the Storyteller a question or are describing your actions.
  As a player, you try to do things that allow your character to succeed and thus "win the game." This strategic element of the game is essential, for it is what so often creates the thrill and excitement of a dramatic moment.
  Often, after describing the actions "you" want to take, you may have to make dice rolls to see if your character successfully accomplishes what you have illustrated with words. Your character's Traits numbers quantifying her strengths and weaknesses — dictate how well your character can do certain things. Actions are basic elements of Changeling, for it is through actions that characters change the world and affect the course of the story.
  Characters are central to a story, for they alter and direct the plot. Without characters you can't have a story. As the story flows, the characters, not the decisions of the Storyteller, direct and energize the progress of the plot.
  To some extent, each player is an assistant Storyteller. Players should feel free to add ideas and elements to the story, although the Storyteller may accept or reject them as she sees fit. In the end, a good story is the most important goal. Players and Storytellers work together to make a story come to life.

Characters

  Many different elements compose what we think of as the "self" — too many, in fact, to separate or identify. We really don't know who or what we are. It is from this essential diversity of self that our desire and ability to pretend to be someone else originate.
  Characters are the literary versions of real people — they are not real, but they do capture some aspects of reality. Only when you enter the world of the story can your characters become complete. They are real only with you as the animating force — the soul, if you wish. Treat your characters as unique individuals, as works of art, or as fragile expressions of your poetic sensitivity. You must treasure the characters that you create.
  Changeling characters are easy to create. It takes less than half an hour to choose all the Traits that describe your character. It takes more time and effort to turn this collection of numbers into a living, breathing character. You must reach deep inside yourself to produce a complete character. The Frankenstein monster was easily assembled from available body parts; it was the breath of life that proved difficult.
  Character creation is discussed in detail in Chapter Four.

Winners and Losers

  There is no single "winner" of Changeling, for the object is not to defeat the other players. To "win" at all, players need to cooperate with each other. Because this is a Storytelling game, there is no way for one person to claim victory. Moreover, the Changeling world is fraught with danger: monstrous chimera, implacable Dauntain, ever-encroaching Banality and the machinations of the Unseelie Court. Players cannot afford to squabble with their brethren, for so doing leads to death — and the only true measure of success in Changeling is survival.
  If, however, a character has some overwhelming motivation (such as a need for vengeance), accomplishing this goal also becomes a measure of success. Stories and extended chronicles often come to conclusions that either benefit or harm the characters. If the players can turn stories to their characters' advantage, they have "won," at least for the moment. When a group of changelings manages to rescue a fellow changeling who has been captured by one of the Dauntain, those changelings can be considered to have "won" a temporary victory. If the Dauntain has powerful friends among the occult underground, however, attacking that individual may prove a dangerous exercise in the long run. A "victory" under these circumstances can become worse than defeat.
  To achieve even partial victory, characters must usually become friends, or at least watch out for and have a modicum of trust in each other. The World of Darkness is a dangerous place, so trustworthy allies are essential. A divided group will not survive for long.

Playing Aids

  Changeling was designed to be played around a table. Though the game does not require a board, a number of props require a table to use properly. Dice, pencils, paper and photocopies of the character sheet are the only other necessary items. The dice required are 10-sided; these you can purchase in any game store. The Storyteller may also want paper (to sketch out a setting, thus making it easier to describe to the players) and a few other props to show the players what the characters see (photographs, matches, scarves — anything to make the experience more vivid).

How to Use this Book

  The information in Changeling has been divided into three books for easier access:
  — Book One: Childling: These three setting chapters offer a wealth of information about the history, society and cosmology of changelings. The actual rules for playing the game can be found later on, but reading these chapters allows you to understand what Changeling is all about. Chapter One: The Dreaming examines the realms of the Dreaming as well as the chimerical creatures that changelings often interact with. Chapter Two: A World of Dreams offers a complete history of the fae as well as an in-depth look at changeling society. Chapter Three: The Kithain details the various races of the fae as well as the noble houses of the sidhe.
  — Book Two: Wilder: These three chapters contain the core rules needed to play Changeling. Chapter Four: Character Creation contains all of the information you will need to create a character. Chapter Five: Arts and Realms explains the magical powers of the fae, known as the Arts and Realms. Chapter Six: Basic Rules covers the basic ideas of how to play the game, converting ideas and situations into dice rolls.
  — Book Three: Grump: These final chapters contain some extra systems and Storyteller help to add a few bells and whistles to your Changeling game. Chapter Seven: Glamour Systems offers all of the rules pertaining to changeling magic. Chapter Eight: Dramatic Systems outlines a number of different ways to resolve conflicts during a game as well as showing how a character's Traits increase or decrease during the course of a chronicle. Chapter Nine: Storytelling is intended as an introduction to Storytelling, giving both new and experienced Storytellers ideas for chronicles and advice for how to keep things moving. The Appendix provides a range of potential enemies and other characters for changelings to interact with, including mortals, chimerical beasts, wraiths, vampires, mages and werewolves.

Other Changeling Sourcebooks

  The following books offer you a range of possibilities beyond the basic rules, and are recommended for serious Changeling players.
  Nobles: The Shining Host offers a detailed look at the nobility of the fae, plus a new noble house and new Arts.
  The Shadow Court is an invaluable book for Storytellers who wish to have a strong Unseelie presence in the chronicle. This book not only offers complete information on the Unseelie Court, but has complete information about the three Unseelie houses and new Unseelie Arts.
  The Immortal Eyes Trilogy (The Toybox, Shadows on the Hill and Court of All Kings) is a series of settings and adventures that mirrors the novel series of the same name. Each of these books offers a complete setting for Changeling as well as mini-adventures that can be inserted into any chronicle.
  Dreams and Nightmares presents an in-depth look at the realms of the Dreaming.

Lexicon

  The fae have a distinct patois that draws on many different tongues and gives many new shades of meaning to mortal words. One can often identify a changeling's age or station by listening to the parlance he uses.

Common Parlance

  Following are the most common general terms in use among changelings.
  Arcadia — The land of the fae; the home of all faeries within the Dreaming.
  Arts — The ways of shaping Glamour.
  Autumn — The modern age.
  Balefire — The fire that is the focus of Glamour in a freehold.
  Bedlam — A kind of madness that falls upon changelings who stray too far from the mortal world.
  Banality — Mortal disbelief, as it affects changelings and their Glamour.
  Bunk — The price Glamour exacts for its power.
  Cantrip — A spell created through Glamour by using a combination of Arts and Realms.
  Champion — A warrior chosen by one of higher rank to fight in his stead. A champion always wears the token of his patron, which he keeps if he wins the duel.
  Changeling — A fae who has taken on mortal form in order to survive on Earth.
  Childling — A child who has come fully into his changeling nature; this lasts until he becomes a wilder, around 13 years of age. Childlings are known for their innocence and affinity with Glamour, and are well-protected by other changelings.
  Chimera — A bit of dream made real; unseen by mortals, chimera are part of the enchanted world. Chimera may be objects or entities.
  Commoner — Any of the changeling kith who are not sidhe.
  Dauntain — Faerie-hunters, deeply twisted by Banality.
  Deep Dreaming, The — The furthest reaches of the Dreaming. The most powerful Dream Realms, such as Arcadia, exist here.
  Dreaming, the — The collective dreams of humanity. Changelings often travel in these realms both to seek adventure and to gather the raw dreamstuff that can be used in crafting chimera.
  Dreamrealms — The lands comprising Arcadia and the other realms of the Dreaming.
  Enchant — To imbue a mortal with the power to see the faerie realm.
  Escheat — The highest faerie laws.
  Fae, Faerie — A being indigenous to the Dreaming (though not always a current resident thereof).
  Fae Mien — A changeling's faerie visage, visible only to other changelings and enchanted beings.
  Far Dreaming, The — The Far Dreaming is only attainable through the Near Dreaming. Many Dreamrealms exist here.
  Fathom — A deep-seeking, protracted use of the Art of Soothsay. Also called the Taghairm.
  Fior — A contest, the point of which is to determine justice.
  Fledge — A newly awakened changeling of any age.
  Freehold — A place that is infused with Glamour. Important to all changelings, freeholds are proof against Banality — for a time.
  Gallain — 1) "The Outsiders," those who may be Kithain but whose origins, customs and magical ways are not understood. 2) Any inscrutable creature of the Dreaming.
  Glamour — The living force of the Dreaming; changeling magic.
  Grump — A changeling of elder years, usually beginning at about the age of 25. Very few changelings reach this age — most succumb to Banality long before.
  Hue and Cry — 1) A hunt called out against a criminal. 2) The call of all changelings to come and defend a freehold.
  Kin — Human relatives of a changeling who do not possess faerie blood.
  Kinain — Human kinfolk of a changeling who possess faerie blood and frequently have strange magical "gifts" because of it.
  Kith — All the changelings of a kind, or race. One's kith determines the nature of one's faerie guise and soul.
  Kithain — Changelings' self-referential term.
  Liege — One's sworn noble sovereign, whether baron, count, duke or king.
  Long Winter, the — The prophesied eradication of all Glamour.
  Mists, the — A metaphysical curtain of humanity's collective disbelief. The Mists are responsible for the following: 1) The tendency of mortals to forget the effects of Glamour and the presence of changelings after a very short time; 2) The tendency of Banality-tainted changelings to forget their faerie lives.
  Mortal Seeming — The mortal appearance of a changeling. This is how mortals perceive a changeling.
  Motley — A family or gang of commoners.
  Near Dreaming, The — The realm of the dreaming most easily assessable from Earth, usually by a trod.
  Noble — Any changeling raised to noble title; although nobles are traditionally sidhe, lately commoners have begun receiving noble positions.
  Oathbond — The mystical bond created by the swearing of an oath.
  Realms — The five aspects of the world with which changelings have affinity.
  Resurgence, The — The time when the sidhe returned in 1969.
  Retainers — Any servants of a liege.
  Saining — "The Naming"; a ritual performed on a newly awakened changeling to determine his kith, his True Name and his place in the Dreaming.
  Shattering, The — The time when the last sidhe departed and the last trods to Arcadia closed.
  Sundering, The — The time when humanity first began to turn away from their dreams; the Iron Age.
  Tara-Nar — The great freehold castle of High King David. Beneath it is the Well of Fire, from which all balefire comes.
  Time of Legends — The age when magical powers ran free in the world.
  Trods — Magical gateways, faerie roads; some lead to other freeholds, some to the Dreaming itself.
  Tuatha De Danann — The mysterious progenitors of the fae.
  Vassal — The sworn servant of a liege.
  Vellum — A specially preserved chimerical hide on which changeling scribes write.
  Wilder — A changeling of adolescent years, usually from age 13 to age 25. Known for their wild undertakings and loose tempers, wilders are the most common changelings.
  Yearning — Also called "the Gloomies," the Yearning is the utter longing for Arcadia that overcomes grumps as Banality encroaches upon them.

Vulgar Argot

  These are the words most frequently used by commoners, and have been picked up the wilder exiles (even those of the noble houses). They tend to be somewhat crude and abrupt, and carry with them a certain disregard for tradition and rank. Many of these terms are very ancient, others are quite new, but all of them are quite in vogue among wilder nobles. During the Interregnum many commoners formed or joined circuses in order to escape the stupefying Banality of mortal society, and much vulgar argot originates from that culture.
  Churl — A vassal; insulting if used to describe a noble.
  Codger — A word for grump.
  Callowfae — Self-absorbed faeries with no purpose higher than that of play; often said in reference to childlings, insulting if used to describe any other changelings.
  Chiven — Craven, cowardly or wimpy.
  Chummery — A particularly hospitable freehold.
  Cozen — To cheat someone or steal something.
  Fancypants — A nickname for sidhe or any self-absorbed noble.
  Foredoom — When a use of Soothsay prophesies very bad news.
  Jimp — To create a faerie token or charm.
  Mew — A commoner freehold, typically controlled by a motley.
  Mux — To really screw up something; to add chaos and disorganization to things. "You really muxed things up this time!"
  Sots — Mundane people; "sothead" and "sot-brain" are popular epithets.

Old Form

  These are the terms used by nobility (especially sidhe) and more sophisticated grumps. These words are seldom used by younger exiles, but are still fashionable vernacular among the older members.
  Burgess — A mortal; sometimes used to refer to commoners.
  Crepusc — The period at the end of any faerie festival when activities have begun to die down, but the night is not yet over. It is said to be a particularly mystical time, when the perceptive will discover many secrets.
  Clarion — A call to war made by a noble to his vassals.
  Covey — A group of changelings united by an oathbond.
  Chrysalis — The dawn of fae consciousness, the great awakening into one's changeling nature.
  Dan — Fate; one's destiny and karma.
  Draocht — Cantrips and other changeling magic.
  Driabhar — A treasure, usually one of great power.
  Entrant — A worthy rival, one assumed to merit prolonged struggle and respect.
  Gosling — A childling changeling or very young faerie.
  Fychell — 1) A chesslike game played by nobles. 2) A stylized dance popular among grump nobles.
  Fuidir — The vassals to whom one owes fealty.
  Gloam, the — 1) The blackest part of the night. 2) Midwinter's Night, also called "the Gloaming."
  Greybeard — A grump; a term of respect.
  Grandame — A powerful female sidhe, often used when speaking of a queen.
  Knarl — A special magical knot that serves as a type of ward.
  Laud — To receive the glory of courtly acclaim. Often some sort of token is bestowed as well.
  Mot — An adage, maxim or saying.
  Privy Council — The inner council of a liege and his high-ranking vassals.
  Retrorse — To revert to one's mortal seeming.
  Reune — A noble rendezvous, often a secret negotiation.
  Trollop — A promiscuous fae.
  Voile — Chimerical clothing, garb and/or jewelry.