Everyone knows about fairies, right? They are pretty, or cute, with gossamer wings and dance on flowers for children to play with.
Tell it to Rip Van Wrinkle.
The Fae are scary. They are inhuman and capricious, and see humans as the clay they can mold into the perfect servants, decorations and toys.
Welcome to Changeling: A Storytelling Game of Subtle Madness.
World of Darkness
The World of Darkness (WoD) role playing system is the basis for Changeling. It is set in a supernatural version of the modern world, where monsters live in the shadows.
The World of Darkness is a standalone role playing game, with supplements covering different kinds of supernatural creatures, and world settings. Major supplements include:
- Werewolf: the Forsaken
- Vampire: the Requeim
- Mage: the Awakening
Changeling: the Lost is a supplement that introduces humans who have been stolen into the realm of Faerie, and twisted into something no longer human.
Changeling: the Lost
Imagine a person stolen away from everything they know, and spending weeks, or months or years, trapped in the service of magical creature that can turn them into absolutely anything. They may have been a statue on the mantle, a horse, a ghoul or goblin, an ogre, or a burning candle. Somehow, they manage to escape, to return home, to a world they barely remember.
And find that something of what they were remains. The woman who was turned into a horse has a mane, and a horse's ears and hooves. The statue now has skin like marble. The ogre is twice as big as he once was, and the burning candle now sports an eternal flame, where he once had hair.
These are the Lost, Changelings who have escaped Arcadia, the world of the Fae, to try and regain their old lives.
Types of Changeling Characters
There are 6 basic types of Changelings, called Seemings.
The 6 Seemings are:
- Beasts - Changelings who were turned into some kind of animal
- Darklings - Changelings who were turned into a creature of shadow
- Elementals - Changelings who were turned into something from nature - lakes, trees, hills, rocks, wind, or fire
- Fairest - Changelings who were made into beautiful playthings, perfect musicians, pretty statues, the most beautiful and perfect of lovers
- Ogres - Changelings who were turned into a monster of some sort - trolls, and
- Wizened - Changelings who were used for their skills - cooks, clockwork mechanics, researchers
How to Play a Changeling
The purpose of Changeling: the Lost is to explore what happens to these escapees once they come 'home'. The magic of faerie keeps anyone except another changeling from seeing what they have become, but they have still been changed. But the calm young man is gone, he has been a fire too long to ever stop burning. The life he lived is gone - his job is lost, his family may have declared him dead and moved on; or worse there may be a magical creature living his life.
So, here are some things to keep in mind before starting a Changeling: the Lost game:
- Changelings aren't human any more - they are a combination of human, and whatever their fae keeper made them.
- The fae hunt down changelings who get back to the real world
- What happened to the character's family? How much time has passed?
- How much does the character remember of their earlier life? Do they remember anything?
- All changelings are victims, who know that the fae are still out there. Paranoia isn't a word, it's a way of life.
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