Changelings Anonymous
A Game of Madness, Beauty, and Finding Your Way Home
"Up the airy mountain / Down the rushy glen / We dare not go a-hunting / For fear of little men."— The Fairies, William Allingham
Hello, and welcome to Changelings Anonymous, an RP based on the game Changeling: The Lost by White Wolf, creators of Vampire: The Masquerade and all that other good stuff. Don't worry if you've never played it or even heard of it before; I'll tell you everything you need to know below. Changeling is a game about fairy tales, but it is by no means pleasant or child friendly - expect a dark, beautiful tale full of horror and wonder in equal measure, about paranoia and loyalty, about being broken and healing, about being lost in the woods and ultimately, finding your way home again.
Arcadia, also known as Faerie, is a dimension that runs parallel to our own, and it is from here that faeries come. It can be loosely divided into two sections - the first is Arcadia proper, the domain of the True Fae which is as varied and mad and beautiful as its masters. This is a world of Victorian manors and clean cities, deserts, idyllic coastlines, deep forests, caves and castles and anything the True Fae desire. They are near omnipotent in their own domains, and as a result each Fae's little slice of Arcadia is whatever he or she wants it to be at any given moment.
The second is known as the Hedge, and it is the border between Arcadia and our world. Essentially, it's a massive sprawling forest of thorns with strange, winding paths through it that is very, very easy to get lost in. Said thorns are mystical in nature, tearing not only at the flesh but also the soul of those who dare leave the path. The Hedge is home to a number of creatures of all shapes and sizes, collectively referred to as Hobgoblins, as well as rare and potent plans called Goblin Fruit. The True Fae rarely come here, except when they are crossing over to the mortal realm. Such a cross can happen at any number of gateways - easily openable by a Fae or Changeling, though on rare occasions humans can blunder through existing gates as well, finding themselves in the Hedge. Unfortunately, such poor souls often find that getting out is a much steeper challenge than getting in, especially if they stray too far from the door that brought them.
Eternal. Bizarre. Mad. Powerful. Cruel. Bored. All these words and more describe the beings known as True Fae, also known as the Others or the Gentry. These are the monsters of fairy tales, the little men that snatch children or the witch that stews men in a pot. All True Fae are soulless, petty beings that exist only to entertain themselves and service their own narcissism. One of their number may play at being a passionate lover, a gentle friend, or a knight in shining armor, but it is always merely play, and the second cruelty amuses such a being more than kindness, you can count on it to be cruel. Their actions are often incomprehensible to mortals, because they are by nature incomprehensible beings, devoid of human souls.
Every Fae is different, and exactly what they are depends largely on their whims and their current modus operandi. One fae might be a hideous troll, living in a cave and grinding bones to meal, while another might be a beautiful elf in a stately manor. An antlered huntsman, an old hag, a hippo-headed river spirit, a pale beast that stalks the shadows with many boneless arms, a man with no eyes that devours children, anything. Likewise, the same Fae may change appearances seemingly at random, though most of them remain bound to a certain theme or idea that they do not stray from.
The society of the True Fae is a harsh and competitive one; they constantly strive to impress and one-up each other in bizarre ways and for petty and incomprehensible reasons. If they have any weakness, it is this: oath-breaking is one of the very few sins recognized as grievous by Fae society, and as a result Fae are creatures of their word. Just don't expect them not to twist their meaning for the best possible outcome to themselves, of course.
Though the Gentry have no souls of their own, something about the human spirit is inescapably fascinating to them. Often, they will travel to the mortal realm and kidnap a human, dragging them to Arcadia to serve as slaves and leaving a Fetch in their place, a magical construct disguised as the victim that will live out their lives for them, often unaware of its own nature. This brings us to...
The player characters! A Changeling is an unfortunate human who was kidnapped by a True Fae and brought to Arcadia to serve their master. They may have been snatched from their homes one night with no warning, or spoken the name of the Bogeyman three times at night and gotten whisked away, or lured into the Hedge by a fae temptress, or 'sold their soul' to a fae for some boon and then been dragged off when their debt came due... really, anything you can think of.
Anyway, a Changeling is abducted and dragged through the Hedge to Arcadia. Along the way, their body and soul is torn at by the thorns, often leaving them damaged and half-mad long before they arrive. Once they arrive, their keeper puts them to work, and their Durance begins. Perhaps a twisted Fae of the night required a young girl to sing to it every night, or a dark spirit of the waves needed someone to sort the vast treasure stowed in its sinking ships. A changeling might have been a gladiator, a smith, a maid, a muse, a soldier, a garderner, or something stranger still - perhaps some unfortunate soul was shaped into a doll for a childlike Fae, or a pet, or even a piece of living furniture. Again, pretty much anything you can think of might have happened. Over time, the Durance combines with the effect Arcadia has on the human and changes them, twists their form and makes them part fae. They are now a true Changeling, no longer fully human. As a result, a Changeling has two forms - the Mien, their true shape that reflects their transformation, and the Mask, a human form that mortals in the mortal world see.
Sometimes, a Changeling manages to escape from their captors. These lost and damaged souls slip away, or fight their way out, or win their freedom in a wager with their master, and they flee Arcadia, back through the Hedge and to the mortal world. Of course, that's not the end of the tale - a Changeling has been changed, traumatized by their experience and scarred in body and soul. Often, they have trouble remembering who they were before they were taken, or even what happened to them in Arcadia; their own identities are a confusing fog. The world may be strange and unfamiliar to them, for a Changeling who has aged fifty years may return to the world a mere month after he was taken, or a Changeling who thought she spent two years in Arcadia may emerge to find that decades have passed. Their loved ones often will not have missed them, thanks to the Fetch that was left in their place, and they may react with horror or suspicion at this stranger who comes to them, claiming to be their family. And of course, the constant fear of being recaptured or sold out to the Fae haunts them, and many changelings descend completely into panic and paranoia. Their minds are cloudy, their bodies altered, and their souls forever changed.
So, yeah. Being a Changeling's not the best. But don't worry - this is a game about hope as well as despair, and no matter how deep in the proverbial woods your character may be, there is a path home for them.
Whew. Alright, background stuff out of the way. This RP will take place in New York City, starting in late September, and it will concern 4 to 6 Changelings who have recently escaped from Arcadia (as in, in the last month or so).
For reasons unknown to the wider community of changelings, New York City has never had a massive presence of fae activity - there are very few gateways throughout the city, and as a result, no Changeling society ever really formed. This has only recently begun to change. Nobody's sure why, but lately changelings have been escaping into New York all over the place, and it seems like new gates are popping up every day. A Goblin Market has opened up underneath the Brooklyn bridge - twice a month, Hobgoblins appear there by night, peddling all manner of wares from all manner of stalls. The Courts, the main governing bodies that form Changeling society, have not arrived yet, but it's only a matter of time.
Players will start the game having been contacted by supernatural means that none of them fully understand, telling them to go to a certain abandoned studio in Brooklyn to participate in a sort of support group / adventuring party, something to do to keep themselves busy and meet with others who have experienced the same things. From there, we'll go into a little mini plotline I have set up. I'm hoping for a very character development focused RP, one where relationships between the characters are interesting and important, but there'll also be a fair amount of adventure and action and mystery to go along with it. It'll be cool.
For reasons unknown to the wider community of changelings, New York City has never had a massive presence of fae activity - there are very few gateways throughout the city, and as a result, no Changeling society ever really formed. This has only recently begun to change. Nobody's sure why, but lately changelings have been escaping into New York all over the place, and it seems like new gates are popping up every day. A Goblin Market has opened up underneath the Brooklyn bridge - twice a month, Hobgoblins appear there by night, peddling all manner of wares from all manner of stalls. The Courts, the main governing bodies that form Changeling society, have not arrived yet, but it's only a matter of time.
Players will start the game having been contacted by supernatural means that none of them fully understand, telling them to go to a certain abandoned studio in Brooklyn to participate in a sort of support group / adventuring party, something to do to keep themselves busy and meet with others who have experienced the same things. From there, we'll go into a little mini plotline I have set up. I'm hoping for a very character development focused RP, one where relationships between the characters are interesting and important, but there'll also be a fair amount of adventure and action and mystery to go along with it. It'll be cool.
1. Don't be a dick.
2. Character sheets go in the OOC or in PM first. Once approved, they can be moved to the Characters tab.
3. If you have an idea for a plot or adventure, pitch it to me - if I like it, you can run it. I'm easy. If you wanna be co-gm and help me out with that full time, all the better, though I'm probably gonna wait a while so I can get a feel for everyone's writing before I appoint any co-GMs.
4. Got a question? A suggestion? Just ask. I'm not the tyrant type GM who needs the game to be run his way - I want you guys to help me make this story awesome.
5. Posting style is High-Casual. That means it's okay to just have a paragraph or two, but complex characters, some sense of development, and of course proper grammar are all pretty much musts.
6. Post once a week, please - if that's not going to be possible for a period of time, just let me know. If I don't hear from you for over a week and a half, I reserve the right to shelve your character and try to get a new player to fill the vacancy.
7. No Mary Sues, God moding, etc etc. I'm sure I don't need to tell you this.
8. Just don't be a dick. It's easy, I have faith in you.
2. Character sheets go in the OOC or in PM first. Once approved, they can be moved to the Characters tab.
3. If you have an idea for a plot or adventure, pitch it to me - if I like it, you can run it. I'm easy. If you wanna be co-gm and help me out with that full time, all the better, though I'm probably gonna wait a while so I can get a feel for everyone's writing before I appoint any co-GMs.
4. Got a question? A suggestion? Just ask. I'm not the tyrant type GM who needs the game to be run his way - I want you guys to help me make this story awesome.
5. Posting style is High-Casual. That means it's okay to just have a paragraph or two, but complex characters, some sense of development, and of course proper grammar are all pretty much musts.
6. Post once a week, please - if that's not going to be possible for a period of time, just let me know. If I don't hear from you for over a week and a half, I reserve the right to shelve your character and try to get a new player to fill the vacancy.
7. No Mary Sues, God moding, etc etc. I'm sure I don't need to tell you this.
8. Just don't be a dick. It's easy, I have faith in you.
Name:
Age: Include the year they were born in and their physical age, if you choose to have any time shenanigans in your backstory.
Gender:
Seeming: Described below.
Court: Which of the Courts of Changeling society you are affiliated with. All characters will start courtless, so don't fuss about this for now.
Appearance: Please describe both their Mask and their Mien in a few sentences. Pictures are fine, but you should have text too.
History: This one's important, as Changelings are sort of defined by something that happened to them. Should include their previous life, their capture, what they remember of their master and their Durance, how they came to escape, and anything notable they've done since then. Don't skimp on this, though of course if your character barely remembers anything, it might not be so long.
Personality: Don't skimp on this either, seeing as how character development is intended to be a huge part of this RP. Remember, most Changelings are often pretty damaged by their experiences - that's not to say you can't play an exuberant, happy-go-lucky character, but none of them should be perfectly well adjusted or without trauma.
Skills: What your character is good at in a completely mundane way. A degree in chemistry, a talent for swordfighting, pickpocketing, hacking, lying, whatever, it would all go here.
Supernatural Powers: This is where we start softening game mechanics. Just give us some description of the talents and abilities your character has as a result of their part fae nature - inhuman strength, contracts that let you manipulate fire, an enchanting singing voice, and so on. Changelings aren't super high power (at least not at the beginning, but I'll probably mark down a few points in the RP where your characters can grow stronger), so don't go overboard - I also encourage you to include powers that are weird and esoteric to really seal in that fairytale flavor, something like 'Can speak to ravens' or 'Is healed by eating huge quantities of meat'. I don't know, have fun with it.
Weaknesses: Both mundane and supernatural. Have a couple, but don't stress too much about it.
Possessions: Stuff your character has. You may include one to three tokens, or magic items, depending on how powerful and useful they are. Should include some note of how you got them - imagine you stole your captor's blade during your escape, and it is a mighty sword that always strikes true so long as it is bathed once a day in pure river water. Stuff like that.
Other: Anything else you want to include about your character. Little tics, theme song, favorite food, whatever.
Age: Include the year they were born in and their physical age, if you choose to have any time shenanigans in your backstory.
Gender:
Seeming: Described below.
Court: Which of the Courts of Changeling society you are affiliated with. All characters will start courtless, so don't fuss about this for now.
Appearance: Please describe both their Mask and their Mien in a few sentences. Pictures are fine, but you should have text too.
History: This one's important, as Changelings are sort of defined by something that happened to them. Should include their previous life, their capture, what they remember of their master and their Durance, how they came to escape, and anything notable they've done since then. Don't skimp on this, though of course if your character barely remembers anything, it might not be so long.
Personality: Don't skimp on this either, seeing as how character development is intended to be a huge part of this RP. Remember, most Changelings are often pretty damaged by their experiences - that's not to say you can't play an exuberant, happy-go-lucky character, but none of them should be perfectly well adjusted or without trauma.
Skills: What your character is good at in a completely mundane way. A degree in chemistry, a talent for swordfighting, pickpocketing, hacking, lying, whatever, it would all go here.
Supernatural Powers: This is where we start softening game mechanics. Just give us some description of the talents and abilities your character has as a result of their part fae nature - inhuman strength, contracts that let you manipulate fire, an enchanting singing voice, and so on. Changelings aren't super high power (at least not at the beginning, but I'll probably mark down a few points in the RP where your characters can grow stronger), so don't go overboard - I also encourage you to include powers that are weird and esoteric to really seal in that fairytale flavor, something like 'Can speak to ravens' or 'Is healed by eating huge quantities of meat'. I don't know, have fun with it.
Weaknesses: Both mundane and supernatural. Have a couple, but don't stress too much about it.
Possessions: Stuff your character has. You may include one to three tokens, or magic items, depending on how powerful and useful they are. Should include some note of how you got them - imagine you stole your captor's blade during your escape, and it is a mighty sword that always strikes true so long as it is bathed once a day in pure river water. Stuff like that.
Other: Anything else you want to include about your character. Little tics, theme song, favorite food, whatever.
So, though I'm getting rid of most of the 'tabletopy' elements of Changeling like the clarity meter, magic resources, specific spells and contracts to choose from, experience points, power levels and so on, I am keeping 'Seemings', as it's a useful class system to illustrate the different varieties of Changeling that can exist. (To be clear to any fans of the RPG, I actually quite like most of those elements, I just don't think they would translate well to forum RP).
Seemings are basically classes. They're five different categories of changeling that often reflects what they're capable of, what their Durance was and occasionally (though not always) what kind of Fae they served. Don't fuss too much if you share a seeming with another character - Changelings can and should be distinct even inside these categories, and they're more like general guidelines than specific 'you are this' type things. They are (copied and pasted from the White Wolf Wiki, then edited a little):
Beasts: Beasts are changelings who were used or treated as animals during their captivity. They take on some part of an animal's nature and appearance, bestial sensation and instinct ever struggling for dominance with human thought and reason. Pretty self-explanatory. These are your mermaids, your wolfmen, your satyrs, your monkey kings, your spider queens, and so on.
Darklings: Darkling changelings have been imbued with the darkness of Faerie, embodying shadow and stealth, fear and deception. Think pale monsters of the night, spectres of pure blackness, hungry monsters that leech away at humanity. Creepy monsters go here.
Elementals: Elementals were used as inanimate objects or forces of nature during their captivity. When they return to the mortal realm, they retain power over the elements they once belonged to, but find that humanity has become alien to them. They might be beings of fire, ice, water, earth, air, wood, metal, lightning, you get the gist.
Fairest: Fairest embody grace and power, beauty and cruelty, able to enchant and beguile those around them. These are your elves and sirens, but also your vampires and your inhumanly beautiful, inhumanly alien creatures.
Ogres: Ogres are creatures of great strength and prowess, hardened and brutalised by the tortures and abuses they endured at their masters' hands. Trolls, wendigos, hags, rakshasa, oni - anything brutal and rough and strong goes here.
Wizened: Wizened have lost something of themselves to Faerie. Reduced in body and/or mind, made smaller than they were, many have turned bitter and spiteful. They were the ones used as laborers, craftsmen, surgeons, librarians, and so on by their captors. Gnomes, little gray aliens, shriveled up little goblins go here.
If you have a cool character concept and aren't sure where it would fit, please feel free to ask! The purpose of seemings is to inspire, not to restrict, so I'm sure everything can have a place in one of those categories.
Seemings are basically classes. They're five different categories of changeling that often reflects what they're capable of, what their Durance was and occasionally (though not always) what kind of Fae they served. Don't fuss too much if you share a seeming with another character - Changelings can and should be distinct even inside these categories, and they're more like general guidelines than specific 'you are this' type things. They are (copied and pasted from the White Wolf Wiki, then edited a little):
Beasts: Beasts are changelings who were used or treated as animals during their captivity. They take on some part of an animal's nature and appearance, bestial sensation and instinct ever struggling for dominance with human thought and reason. Pretty self-explanatory. These are your mermaids, your wolfmen, your satyrs, your monkey kings, your spider queens, and so on.
Darklings: Darkling changelings have been imbued with the darkness of Faerie, embodying shadow and stealth, fear and deception. Think pale monsters of the night, spectres of pure blackness, hungry monsters that leech away at humanity. Creepy monsters go here.
Elementals: Elementals were used as inanimate objects or forces of nature during their captivity. When they return to the mortal realm, they retain power over the elements they once belonged to, but find that humanity has become alien to them. They might be beings of fire, ice, water, earth, air, wood, metal, lightning, you get the gist.
Fairest: Fairest embody grace and power, beauty and cruelty, able to enchant and beguile those around them. These are your elves and sirens, but also your vampires and your inhumanly beautiful, inhumanly alien creatures.
Ogres: Ogres are creatures of great strength and prowess, hardened and brutalised by the tortures and abuses they endured at their masters' hands. Trolls, wendigos, hags, rakshasa, oni - anything brutal and rough and strong goes here.
Wizened: Wizened have lost something of themselves to Faerie. Reduced in body and/or mind, made smaller than they were, many have turned bitter and spiteful. They were the ones used as laborers, craftsmen, surgeons, librarians, and so on by their captors. Gnomes, little gray aliens, shriveled up little goblins go here.
If you have a cool character concept and aren't sure where it would fit, please feel free to ask! The purpose of seemings is to inspire, not to restrict, so I'm sure everything can have a place in one of those categories.
Finally, I leave you with a brief list of media you can use to inspire yourself and/or get a feel for the tone and subject matter:
Pan's Labyrinth
Hellboy 2: The Golden Army
Howl's Moving Castle
Where the Wild Things Are
Spirited Away
Labyrinth
Return to Oz
Twin Peaks
The Rime of the Ancient Mariner by Coleridge
The Thorn by Wordsworth
Grimm's Fairy Tales (of course)
Pan's Labyrinth
Hellboy 2: The Golden Army
Howl's Moving Castle
Where the Wild Things Are
Spirited Away
Labyrinth
Return to Oz
Twin Peaks
The Rime of the Ancient Mariner by Coleridge
The Thorn by Wordsworth
Grimm's Fairy Tales (of course)
Alright. I think that's my job done. Have fun!
"Seven long years I served for thee,
The glassy hill I clomb for thee,
Thy bloody clothes I wrang for thee;
And wilt thou not waken and turn to me?
He heard, and turned to her."
— The Black Bull of Norroway
