Why I love the new Changeling

[thegamemistress]

Has anyone who's played both Dreaming and Lost noticed that with Lost, you can actually *make* the characters that you had to pretty much shoehorn into a kith in CtD?

Case in point - back when I was playing Dreaming, I had a character that I wanted to base on the Japanese tennyo, or celestial nymph. In CtD, the best I could come up with was to make her an eshu. Given that I had only nine kiths to choose from, I made the best of it, but I was never really satisfied.

With Lost, I have a number of choices for that character - Dancer (in one story, the celestial maiden dances for a mortal), Airtouched (the tennyo were said to live in the sky), possibly even Draconic (equating "celestial" to "angel"). Were I to modify the original concept a bit, I could even see her being a Woodblood or a Flowering.

It's wonderful to have that sort of choice, instead of having to pick something that almost-but-doesn't-quite fit, and hoping for the best. With Lost, I can make characters the way I want to from the beginning. :)

Comments

[uncacreamy.livejournal.com]

Yes!!!! That's my favourite part. My god, you can do -anything-.

[jesshartley.livejournal.com]

Hurray!

*grins*

[sandchigger.livejournal.com]

What're you joking? There weren't nine kiths in Changeling. There were something like 60 (I think 59 was the final count) and that's not even counting the four flavors of Mer or the thirteen variety of Sidhe. Pft... nine...

[thegamemistress.livejournal.com]

There's only nine (well, okay, I'll concede on the five sidhe houses) in the original rulebook.

If you didn't have access to the supplements, you didn't have access to those 60 kiths. With Lost, you can do all of the ones I mentioned above (plus a whole lot more) with *one* book.

I think what struck me about CtD was the lack of ability to customize - I always felt like I was stuck with the kiths as presented. With Lost, I can find myriad possibilities. Your mileage may vary.

[sandchigger.livejournal.com]

Conversely, with Lost, I see only one option. You can play a kidnapped, abused, probably raped victim. Sure, you can play a pretty victim of kidnapping, abuse and rape or you can play one with fangs or one with a big head, but limiting your background to that one defining event is, in my opinion, very limiting.

Mostly because I'm a devil's advocate

[unkyrich.livejournal.com]

Or you could play someone who walked into Arcadia, got caught, and wound up being imprisoned until they found an escape.

Or someone whose time in Arcadia wasn't bad, except that they realized eventually they were enslaved (or were a pet) so they escaped.

Pretty much, the only theme I've seen that has to be enforced is "I went to Arcadia, it sucked, I had to leave."

Otherwise, you stay, and you aren't a PC.

Re: Mostly because I'm a devil's advocate

[sandchigger.livejournal.com]

Except it says right there in the descriptions of Arcadia and the True Fae that they are all abusive and have no empathy. So yeah, you were abused. Now you can house rule that however you like, but the RAW state that you are a victim.

Re: Mostly because I'm a devil's advocate

[unkyrich.livejournal.com]

Not all the characters as written by the people who wrote the book are like that.

But . . . it's obvious there's no point in belaboring this.

You hate the game. More power to you.

You just seem to be a bit to angry towards those who like it.

[jesshartley.livejournal.com]

I really disagree with your assessment of the game (but then, I'm biased.)

It's like saying that every human story is defined by the fact they were born. Technically true, perhaps. If they weren't, it wouldn't be a story. But just as important, or perhaps moreso, are the befores (their parent's history, the situation leading up to their birth, etc.) and afters (what family were they born into, did they remain there or were they adopted/fostered out, what happened to them in their childhood, young adulthood, etc.)

And, to be honest, a more direct analogy would be the victims of rape. Thousands and thousands of rape victims exist in the real world today. But they're as different (and have as different stories) as anyone other human being. Yes, they share a pivotal point, but how they deal with that, what circumstances lead them up to it, and what comes after is really what their story is all about.

If you want to see every changeling in terms of their taking (and not even their Durance, because each one of those is very different) that's one perspective, but it's like saying that every marriage is the same because they all include getting married, or every job is the same because they include being hired. It's a defining factor, in that it's the "conceit" that defines what a Changeling character is (like being embraced is what defines a Reqiuem character, or undergoing a first change is what defines a Forsake one) but (in my opinion) no more or less limiting than any other standard WW RP character conceit.

[sandchigger.livejournal.com]

Except some Vampires are groomed before their Embrace, some Werewolves grow up knowing that they may erupt into hairy killing machines. It's not all "Oh hey, there's some likely dude, let's take HIM!" But it is that way with Changelings. There's always a before, a very abrupt Horrible Incident (the taking and the Durance), and an after.

You yourself say that it can be likened to rape in the real world. This is something I've stated in the past as well. But I don't always want to play a rape victim, just as I don't always want to play a farmer, but the game seems to require that you do so. Because no matter what you were before the Horrible Incident, afterwards your life is defined by that event over which you had no choice, no control. It's my biggest complaint about an otherwise great game.

Re: Mostly because I'm a devil's advocate

[unkyrich.livejournal.com]

Personally, I wouldn't have used the rape analogy. I understand the comparison, but I wonder if others would, or just go pointing to the word "rape" and then say "Yeah, see! I told you! It's all about being raped."

(The problem with such a rightfully strongly emotional word.)

To say that a character is defined by any one event is really contrary to the development of human personalities. (Which I do understand is what you are saying above. I guess this is my wordy way of saying I agree with you.)

Rich

[lostsatyr.livejournal.com]

Perhaps another way to look at the topic is that the escape from Acadia/hedge is a defining factor in the scope/setting of the game, like having to play a werewolf in Werwolf the x, or playing a superhero in DC Heros. Most games tend to limit themselves in some way - even Hero, which is the most open game I can think of offhand, puts out setting books. In a way, limiting the number of choices can make a game more accessible - I have seen players overwhelmed in trying to decide what to make for a Champions character. Even something like Dark Ages Fae was still intimidating for players who didn't come to the table with a concept already in mind.

So I think the trick in game design is to allow enough freedom to someone making a character while still giving enough direction so less decisive players can easily pick up an idea from the setting or game mechanics. Personally, I think Changling the Lost achieves a pretty decent balance, allowing significantly more freedom than Changling the Dreaming's splats, but providing easy concepts for a players to use directly out of the system - e.g. "I'm going to play an Ogre."

[lostsatyr.livejournal.com]

Actually, I'm working on a character that walked into Acadia of his own free will and got everything he (though he) wanted. He left after that because he discovered what he thought he had wanted wasn't so great when he actually got it.

[renfield286.livejournal.com]

i did like land of 10,000 dreams.

that had a whole bunch of new junk in it.

-=R286=-

[thegamemistress.livejournal.com]

that had a whole bunch of new junk in it

Unfortunately, the "whole bunch of new junk" didn't mesh well with the original system, which was my big gripe about it. I had the same problem with the Adhene in Denizens of the Dreaming.

In Lost, everyone uses the *same* system - it's much easier, IMO. YMMV.

[unkyrich.livejournal.com]

(Edit: It put the same comment twice.)

With the options in the Winter's Masgue and Rites of Spring book, you can also custom mold together two Kiths to create the character type you used to play, if that's what you are missing.

(I was very happy that I could recreate a Sluagh from the old Changeling by making them a Gravewight/Tunnelgrub Darkling. Worked out very nicely.)

Then again, I'm weird. I like both worlds. The new Changeling is just more open and gives me more to work with as a ST.

[justric.livejournal.com]

Found this on Mr. Gone's site:

Changeing the Dreaming for WoD 2.0 (http://mrgone.rocksolidshells.com/pdf/MiscNWOD/NWoD_Changeling.pdf)

Technically, there is no reason why you couldn't take the rules for the Lost and use them for a Dreaming setting. I think I like the Contracts in Lost better than the whole Arts/Realms set up that Dreaming had anyway. There's also a sheet for doing Dark Ages Fae via WoD 2.0 rules.

[justric.livejournal.com]

Thinking back what you said about the Sluagh, I wonder if I should try to rewrite Vincent at some point.

Wait... Oh dear... Evil thought... Hob Moppletail. Can you say "Spring Court?"