Changeling: The Lost

Changeling: The Lost
RPG published by White Wolf / CCP
Rule System	Storytelling System
Authors	Kelly Barnes-Herman et al
First Publication	2007
Essential Books	Changeling: The Lost Rulebook Autumn Nightmares Winter Masques Rites of Spring Lords of Summer Equinox Road Night Horrors: Grim Fears Dancers in the Dusk Swords at Dawn Goblin Markets

Changeling: The Lost is a game by White Wolf in which you play a Changeling, a regular guy who fell into some mystical Fae shit through no fault of his own, and found himself transformed into a monster once he climbed out of it again. It's by far one of the most pessimistic World of Darkness splats that White Wolf has written out, but it also stands out as the closest to the traditional medieval fantasy world, filled with crazy-ass monsters, landscapes, dungeons and flora, as well as a nice hefty bag of crazed political intrigue. And it is AWESOME!

Changelings

So, to reiterate, Changelings are Fairies. More specifically, they're fey, and every last one of them was once a human, born on Earth, probably raised on Earth (Abducted babies and children usually don't last long), and stolen away by god-like alien monsters to be transformed into slaves. Their souls, and indeed their personalities were shredded by thorns, and they served their usually terrible Durance in Arcadia in a mindless stupor. But on the rarest occasion, a slave catches a whiff of memory that overpowers their desire to stay in Arcadia, and they work to free themselves by outfighting, outsmarting, outcharming or outbargaining their freedom from their Keepers. They earn their sweet liberation, and can begin the healing process to mend their broken bodies and broken minds. But even so, they have to deal with all sorts of problems. Odds are that either a long time has passed in the real world since he's been abducted, leaving him anachronistically stranded, or a short time, leaving him as an adult while his family expects him to be a child. Secondly, a Fetch, an identical simulacrum created by his Keeper, was left to live his life from the moment he was taken, and odds are he's not willing to give up his place without a fight, if he even knows he's not real (Imagine being stalked and hunted down by a monster, and OH MY GOD HE'S YOU). Even if the Changeling can get his life back on track, he's still a Changeling. He's forever changed, and being tracked by the Gentry, Changeling Privateers and Loyalists, as well as the more gutsy denizens of the Hedge, and his family is considered fair game to get his guard down; it’s enough to destroy his already fragile mental state, which is literally eroding his relation with reality.

Kiths and Seemings

Kiths and Seemings are more of a method of classification of what they were forced to do while in Arcadia, and what kind of powers manifested from their Durance, since no two changelings are truly alike and can fall under several categories. A changeling can look like a cat and not be a beast, or an elf-like archer can actually be an Ogre. This aspect really changes between the two editions of the game.

In first edition, your Seeming is the general class of purpose that a changeling was made to fill in Arcadia. The Changeling is granted a blessing and a curse by his Seeming, and can further expand (or eschew) his blessing with a Kith, that classifies him even further.

• Beasts were taken and transformed into animals and monsters, usually by having their bodies and minds swapped around at their Keeper's discretions. They aren't very smart but they get shit done, and enjoy better animalistic perceptions and a sort of animal magnetism. The flavor of animal is determined by Kith; most are fairly literal (Broadbacks are based on working animals, Hunterhearts on predators, etc), but some are more metaphorical (Truefriends are based on loyal animal companions and beloved pets, Riddleseekers on beasts as symbols of intelligence/wisdom/learning).
• Darklings were abducted when they broke some seemingly random and arbitrary rule that the Fae set in place (which can be pretty much anything). They're grimderp boogeymen, nightmare creatures, and various other fantastic things that go bump in the night. They're also smart and sneaky guys. The sun messes with their Contracts. Kiths are all about specific flavors of spoopy, from slender men wriggling through the pipes to creep into your bedroom and drag you away to life-sucking monsters to Edward Scissorhands-style slashers complete with blade-hands.
• Elementals were transformed into some kind of element, hence the name. They're not really social capable or smart, but like the Beasts they can get shit done, and they can make themselves tougher with glamour. Naturally, their Kiths focus on what specific kind of element they turned into, from the classic elements like fire, earth, air and water to more esoteric ones like steel, pollution, ice, etc.
• Fairest were treated like royalty or treasures, until their Keeper got sick of them and dumped their asses like an Alpha. Other Changelings scoff at the supposedly terrible Durances of the Fairest (how could being treasured and adored be all that bad?), but this often just makes a Stockholm-y time of rape and torture worse. The Fairest are too often cruel and manipulative, and while some may try to fight such tendencies, the book pretty much says "nah, man. They're all bitches". Their Kiths focus on exactly why their beauty was important; living art piece, courtesan, star in the night sky, noble warrior, and more.
• Ogres were forced to serve brutal Durances that made them big and strong, whether it was fighting in eternal warfare, or building houses at the end of a whip. Though not necessarily stupid, Ogres tend to get pissed much easier than most other Seemings, and have a tenden-I WILL REND THE FLESH FROM YOUR BONES AND BOIL YOUR ENTRAILS IN A STEW, HUMAN Although this may seem a fairly narrow Seeming, it's got a surprising amount of Kiths, from the fairytale troll living under the bridge to Bigfoot-esque wilderness monsters to living stone golems to magical hags.
• Wizened were the literal slaves, and the subjects of constant humiliation at the hands of their Keepers. They're usually "less" in some way, whether they're thinner, shorter or just less substantial. If you want to play a tradesman or a more traditional class (Kiths include stuff like Soldiers, Blacksmiths, etc), this is the seeming for you. They're also hella fast, so they're perfect if you want to play a character with a nimble Mien.

In second edition, Kith and Seeming effectively swap places. Now, your Kith determines exactly what purpose you served in Arcadia - Antiquarians were responsible for looking after their Keepers' private collections, Brollachans were used to terrorize others at a Keeper's behest, Coldscales were pet reptiles, Gravewrights were bound to the restless dead, Leechfingers were predators, Razorhands were killers, and the list just keeps going on - and your Seeming is how you managed to twist the Wyrd to get yourself the hell out of Arcadia. Still, your Seeming does define a particular blessing and a curse you get, a result of how you "imprinted" yourself.

• 2e Beasts escaped by abandoning their humanity, reverting to primal behavior and instincts and using that to slip any chains the Gentry had in place. Naturally, this affects their Blessing and their Curse; breaking a cultural taboo at a great personal cost restores a point of Clarity through the Clarity of Abandon, whilst A Beast's Burden makes it harder for them to escape restraints and being confined or imprisoned can cause a Clarity break.
• 2e Darklings made the hard choice, sacrificing some deeply held moral or otherwise acting like an evil/selfish prick and embracing the stealthy powers of darkness so they could slip away. Clarity of Abandon is a Blessing that means that a Darkling gets a free Clarity point if they step in and make a "bad choice" on behalf of someone else. On the other hand, A Shade's Darkness is a Curse that causes them to suffer a Clarity breaking point whenever they trust someone blindly, even a close friend or a lover.
• 2e Elementals escaped by surrendering their individual identities, giving up their perception of the "self" and letting the power of the elements suffuse them so they could rend their way through the Hedge and return. Their Blessing is the Clarity of Forces - letting them score a free Clarity point if they can retroactively apply meaning to an act of "pure chaos" earlier in session - whilst their Curse is Burning Without Ego, which makes cold iron extra-nasty to them and causes them to suffer Clarity breaks if confronted with the destructive impact of their chaotic actions.
• 2e Fairest tapped into suppressed potential, taking on a leadership role despite great risk and sacrifice to help others escape Arcadia, and so were released from the Thorns themselves. Born leaders, they gain the Clarity of the Crown Blessing, which gives them a free Clarity point if they manage to bluff, bluster or otherwise improvise their way out of a situation when others turn to them for leadership. However, this is balanced by the Curse called Weight of the Righteous, where serious harm to someone resulting from a Fairest's leadership decisions is a Clarity break.
• 2e Ogres escaped by waiting until they had built up enough physical and emotional strength and armor to rip and tear their way out of Arcadia. Needless to say, their Blessing and Curse are fairly straightforward; Clarity of Comfort gives them free Clarity by solving problems with violence (or threat thereof), whilst Hurt People Hurt People means they suffer Clarity breaks if people point out physical or emotional pain that the Ogre is suffering from.
• 2e Wizened escaped by utterly mastering a specific art; when the unreality of Arcadia caused them to fail, they rebuilt their bodies with tools and implements, reshaping themselves in order to achieve a perfected state that helped them slip away through the Thorns. Their Blessing is the Clarity of Comfort, where they can more easily get exceptional successes for using their particular art when they do so run away from their problems, which can also give them free Clarity points. They also suffer a Curse called The Problem With Perfection, where they suffer a Clarity break whenever they fail a roll relating to their unique talent.
• Grimms, a new Seeming added in Dark Eras, escaped from Arcadia by realizing they were being used as actors and immersing themselves in the story; by mastering their role, they could force the story to give them a "happy ending" and send them back to Earth. Their Blessing is the Clarity of the Story, where having someone automatically treat them as per the role they are playing (Mad Scientist, Curious Child, Sweet Princess, etc) will give them a free point of Clarity. Meanwhile, their Curse is So It Has Been Written; they suffer Clarity breaking points if they act in a way that benefits them but requires "breaking role" - so if the Sweet Princess Razorhand mercilessly cuts the throat of the bandit she's being held up by, then she can potentially go nuts. At the same time, when not in role, Grimms are much easier for the Gentry and their Huntsmen to find.

The Mien and the Mask

A Changelings permanently transformed form is called a Mien. Because they're tied to the Wyrd, their Mien changes with their Power Stat, Seeming, Kith, Court Mantle, Entitlement, age and what-have-you. Their human disguise in the real world is called their Mask. When dealing with mortals, what's left of your soul forms a sort of disguise that hides your monstrous nature from the normies as long as you have Glamour reserves. The Mask retains your original form, looking like how you used to look like as a mortal, but with minor details (An Ogre looks fatter, a Beast will have leathery or calloused skin and horns will be invisible, while a Fairest may be taller or have a sort of strange attraction that draws people towards her). Higher Wyrd means more of your Mien seeps through the Mask, so very powerful Changelings doubly have a hard time fitting in with people (at that point they've got frailties up the ass, meaning, say, they run in terror from blue clothing or break out in zits when the moon is out, in addition to a diminished mental state where they lose Clarity every time they sleep.)

The Wyrd

If there was ever a necessary constant in the universe, it's the Wyrd. The Wyrd is an old Germanic word or some shit that pretty much means Fate which leads to some clever wordplay (GET IT? FAE? FATE? AHAHAHAHA! AMAZING!), and while it's tied to everything that exists only the fey have the power to manipulate it. It acts as an adhesive between every single thought, atom, and concept in existence, and since it is destiny in all its forms, it determines reactions, repercussions, and causes and effects between everything in the form of Contracts. This means that it's because fire has a number of contracts with the Wyrd that a flame is hot to the touch, that it can hurt you, that it cooks flesh, or that it dies when it runs out of fuel. Because it's only contracts sealed by the Wyrd that keep all of reality from unraveling and fucking our universe over, it's kind of a big deal that the worst antagonists can rape reality with just a thought if they catch you in the wrong place.

Luckily, because they spend time being in such close proximity to where the Wyrd is the strongest, humans taken to Arcadia learn how to (Forced to, really) strike deals with elements and concepts, otherwise die from exposure to Time Cube logic. This is where Changelings get their Contracts, semi-magical spells that allow them, for the price of a point of Glamour (Emotional energy taken from humans), to mess with one aspect of reality when they wish. On top of that, contracts always have a loophole, known as a Catch, where the concept MUST grant you usage of the power for free if certain conditions are met.

Contracts

Please note that there are no restrictions to learning any of these Contracts; If something is labeled as a Seeming Contract it just means that they have an affinity towards it and can purchase it for a lower cost.

Universal Contracts

• Contracts of Dream: Helps navigate and survive Dreams or the Hedge.
• Contracts of Hearth: Improve or curse ones luck.
• Contracts of Hours: Time is malleable for the Fae, and these Contracts help age or restore items, or just plain fuck with people’s heads.
• Contracts of Mirror: Shapeshifting.
• Contracts of the Moon: Discover, manipulate and redirect the sanity of man.
• Contracts of Omen: Peek into the future.
• Contracts of Smoke: Hiding spells.
• Contracts of Thorns and Brambles: Combative and defensive spells that manipulate thorns.
• Contracts of Blades: Buffing and debuffing spells mostly useful for the changeling swashbuckler.

Beast Contracts

• Contracts of the Den: Ups the defense of your hollow.
• Contracts of Fang and Talon: Obligatory "Talk to animals, summon animals, transform into animals, etc" deal.
• Contracts of the Wild: Shared with Elementals for Affinity. Enhances your survivalism.

Darkling Contracts

• Contracts of Darkness: Stealth, fear and maneuverability.
• Contracts of Shade and Spirit: Deals with ghosts.

Elemental Contracts

• Contracts of Communion: Magical manipulation of an element.
• Contracts of Elements: Embody an element.
• Contracts of the Wild: Shared with Beasts for Affinity. Enhances your survivalism.

Fairest Contracts

• Contracts of Reflection: Mirrors take on magical properties.
• Contracts of Separation: Helps with escaping captivity.
• Contracts of Vainglory: HEY HEY LOOK AT ME HEY

Ogre Contracts

• Contracts of Oath and Punishment: Track, chase and punish oathbreakers.
• Contracts of Stone: Contracts to make you deadlier in combat.

Wizened Contracts

• Contracts of Animation: Bring objects to life, see their history, etc.
• Contracts of Artifice: Used to help make stuff.
• Contracts of the Forge: A fraction of the True Fae's reality warping powers.

Goblin Contracts: Massively powerful contracts that come with a dear price. Use at your own risk.

The Freeholds, Courts and Entitements

For detailed info on the Freehold, Courts and Entitlements, read the Lords of Summer.

Life as a Changeling sucks. You get to enjoy PTSD and wonderful thoughts such as suicide and giving in to madness on a daily basis, on top of worrying when the Others will show up to take you back to Arcadia, or whether your best friend is a privateer manipulating you into the hands of one the True Fae and as your connection to the Wyrd gets stonger, your lifespan increases, which would be good if you didn't have so much shit to worry about. Luckily, Changelings aren't stupid, and they understand the value of teamwork and contact with other people.

Freeholds

Hence, Freeholds, keeps within the Hedge where Changelings and friendly Hobgoblins come to congregate. Pretty much all Changelings are welcome, and there's no prisons. On the other hand, trust must be earned, and banishment is distributed like candy, being the usual punishments for Oathbreakers and criminals, and delivering other Changelings into captivity earns you a nice death sentence at the end of a Cold Steel axe. Blah blah blah, it's all boring stuff, really, so lets talk about the far more interesting Court dynamic. It ties into politics anyway.

The Courts

The Freehold itself is usually distributed into Courts, which circulate their power to keep the Fae from showing up. It makes sense in context, since the Fae don't understand the concept of willingly giving up power and this hurts their brains. Joining a Court is usually free, and nabs you a free dot in one of their Contracts, as well as a benefit of getting two points for every one point of Glamour you would regularly harvest from your Court emotion. You can work your way up the Court ladder through your actions or through your devotion to emotion or theme, and you begin to embody your Season more and more, as well as having access to awesome powers that would otherwise be unavailable. And since Changelings usually don't have heirs, what with the infertility and whatnot, so everyone has a chance to become a Noble through their actions, even possibly earn the coveted the Court Crown, a title that grants absolute sovereignty (And nifty buffs for your bros) while your Court rules over the Freehold, and the Crown becomes Freehold King.

Just a couple notes about Courts that the average player might miss: The higher your Court Mantle is, the easier it is to identify your affiliation (A Summer Courtier will be sunburned, or have waves of heat emanating from him and smell like chlorine from a pool, for example). However, on top of that, with every dot you add to you mantle you get a nice little advantage to go along with it, such as Winter Courtiers getting bonuses to Subterfuge.

You can also eschew the Courts and go Courtless, but you end up missing out on some beneficial stats (As well as drama). Even so, there's always Court Goodwill, which you can earn by being bros with various courts, and doing so allows you to call on them for favors, or even to have them teach you their restricted Court Contracts (Up to three dots). Note that you can earn Court Goodwill even if you're in a Court yourself, though it's usually harder.

You can leave a Court at anytime, since Changelings understand that perspectives change as they do, and when you switch over your current Mantle is cut in half to become your Goodwill level. That said, a Changeling who switches Courts too frequently is going to be very suspicious and is not likely to get any Goodwill at all.

Courts are going to get a huge boost in importance in 2e, where their primary purpose is to provide obstructions to and shielding against the Huntsmen; incredibly powerful, almost unkillable shapeshifting Fae bounty hunters who can take on the form of absolutely anything and will never stop chasing a changeling until they have dragged it back to its former master.

Seasonal Courts

The most recent and by far the most popular Court system, at least in the Americas, was established with the Four Seasons (not the hotel). Because every Changeling is drawn to a particular opinion of Arcadia and their durance, the Seasonal Courts were designed with that in mind, to nudge Changelings into groups where they can hang out with people sharing similar perspectives, to foster friendships and to act as support groups. The circulation rule of thumb consists of every season ruling for 3 months of the year, during their respective seasons (Winter rules from December to February, etc) but as per usual the rules are different in every Freehold.

However, just because they're designed to complement each other doesn't mean that there's no conflict or strife. Differing ideologies cause hell, with Spring directly opposing Fall because one chooses to forget and the other chooses to remember, and Summer opposing Winter because one beats their chest and the other hides. For reference of how nasty politics can get, in the fluff of the Core book, Grandfather Thunder, the Summer King of Miami, has forcibly taken control of the freehold and has declared that the Summer Court will be its permanent ruler, and the other Crowns are all willing to step on each other to get the chance to punch him in the face. And incidentally, his refusal to give up power just so happens to be weakening its defenses against the Gentry.

Interestingly, the Seasonal Courts embody the Kübler-Ross model of the Four Stages of Grief. Spring is Denial, Summer is Anger, Autumn is Bargaining and Winter is Depression. Acceptance is bad, though, since this probably makes you a treacherous Loyalist fuckhead. Or possibly a Dusk courtier.

Another way to look at it is to look analysis it as reactions to the mind rape suffered at the hands of a Keeper. This view of the courts is why this game is called Changling: the Rape Victim in some circles.

Spring Court

• Court Emotion: Desire
• Batman Villain Best Represented: The Joker or Harley Quinn
• Basically a Spring Court Changelings mind comes down to this: "Arcadia? Oh, you so crazy. Oh sure, I've been transformed. But, seriously, the True Fae ain't shit. Now get over here and suck on my tongue, lol asl?" They'll deny that their durance left them with anything but positive attributes, and they use passion as a way of flipping off the Fae and to hide that they're actually miserable. To that end, they'll laugh and fuck and drink and smoke, and encourage others to do the same, to enjoy life, and damn the consequences. The other Courts don't like them because they're loud and kind of crazy. They live the best, most hedonistic life they can as a way of coping with the tragedies they experienced in their Durance, in spite of their rapists.

• • Contracts of Fleeting Spring: Discover, manipulate and redirect the desires of man.
  • Contracts of Eternal Spring: Thematic Spring Magic. Rejuvenation and Growth granted by Spring. Animate plants, make it rain, heal a person or make something age a season.
  • Contracts of Verdant Spring: Cannot be learned through Court Goodwill. A series of buffs granted by Spring that encompasses pretty much any given situation.

Summer Court

• Court Emotion: Wrath
• Batman Villain Best Represented: Scarface (Arnold Wesker, Peyton Riley doesn't have shit on the original) or Bane
• The reality is that the Court is little more than a loosely organized militia made of monsters, but their desire and capacity to punch suckas in the face is undeniable and grants them a level of respect. Discipline and anger makes up the psychology of a member of the Iron Spear, they're quick to blame and willing to chase down anyone who slights them. Some see them as anatics, extremists and murderers to the last. The other Courts, while they appreciate their protection and willingness to take the fight to the Others, don't enjoy dealing with these hotheaded Changelings. They have decided that no one will suffer the horrors they have, so they are the most likely to take the fight to their rapists.

• • Contracts of Fleeting Summer: Discover, manipulate and redirect the wrath of man.
  • Contracts of Eternal Summer: Thematic Summer Magic. Summon sunlight and learn how to KAMEHAMEHA.
  • Contracts of Punishing Summer: Fuck the police (By which I mean oathbreakers and flammable stuff in general).

Autumn Court

• Court Emotion: Fear
• Batman Villain Best Represented: Scarecrow
• Know thine enemy. The Autumn Court is made up of scholars, wizards and assassins, all brought together by their capacity to understand and spread Fear. Their belief is that Fear is what keeps people in line, and fear is what will keep them safe from incursions of the True Fae (along with the copious use of Fae magic, which they specialize in). If you've got a question about the Wyrd or you need a Token looked at, come to these guys, but get ready for a lecture like in Hannibal cause they probably know everything that scares you already, or that they'll just jump out of the shadows screaming OOGA BOOGA if your DM doesn't understand subtlety.

• • Contracts of Fleeting Autumn: Discover, manipulate and redirect the fear of man.
  • Contracts of Eternal Autumn: Thematic Autumn Magic. Cause crops to ripen for harvest, manipulate the weather and other cool fall stuff, like turning into leaves.
  • Contracts of Spellbound: Contracts for gathering information and general it's magic, bitch, ain't gotta explain shit.

Winter Court

• Court Emotion: Sorrow
• Batman Villain Best Represented: Mr. Freeze
• Keep your head down. Be quiet. Maybe They won't find you. Since they embody sadness, The Silent Arrow ends up being probably the most conservative of the Courts. They are also take their affinity for silence to the logical level, and some of the best assassins in the Freehold claim membership with them. Like the Autumn Court, they collect information, but it's usually more for the sake of blackmail and spying than knowledge. There's a lot of potential here for cloak-and-dagger type characters, but the book mostly writes them off as being mopey emo kids, really narrowing the normally massive "anything goes" style WW is known for.
  • Contracts of Fleeting Winter: Discover, manipulate and redirect the Sorrow of man.
  • Contracts of Eternal Winter: Thematic Winter Magic. Ice breath, Touch of Cold, etc.
  • Contracts of Sorrow-Frozen Heart: You are so sad that pain doesn't hurt as much as it used to. A bloo bloo bloo.

Directional Courts

Introduced in Winter Masques, the Directional Courts are the Asian equivalent of the Seasonal Courts. If you're playing in Asia or in a place with heavy Asian influences (Seattle, LA), feel free to incorporate them. They tend to split their cities into four to best isolate themselves from those filthy other-directioners. Here's the quick summary:

Court of the North

• Court Emotion: Suffering
• Batman Villain Best Represented: Pinhead
• Warriors and Philosophers that excel at alleviating or causing suffering.

Court of the East

• Court Emotion: Envy
• Batman Villain Best Represented: Mr. Krabs
• Greedy bastards with the power of LOADSAMONEY.

Court of the South

• Court Emotion: Ecstasy
• Batman Villain Best Represented: Charlie Sheen
• Emotion is key, no matter how uncomfortable you are. Southerners are creatures of ham and extremes.

Court of the West

• Court Emotion: Honor
• Batman Villain Best Represented: Eddard Stark
• Shamefur dispray.

All Directional Courts have access to Contracts of the Four Directions: Contracts that help the Changeling track, locate, and move vast distances.

Courts of Sun and Moon

The old Slavic Court Method. The Sun court rules during the day, and the Moon court at night. Durr. Unlike other Court systems, though, they're constantly at war with each other, undermining the works of the other as a necessity, even while being completely civil amongst each other. It's all about duality. This is deep. In short, it's kinda like the Nightwatch movie series.

The Sun Court

• Court Emotion: Shame
• Paladins and fighters that can be summarized as Judge Dredd, but with antlers.

The Moon Court

• Court Emotion: Disgust
• Chaotic stupid thugs looking out only for themselves. Interestingly enough, though, that their notion of Chaos is based on the rules of their court. It's a thinker.

Auroral Courts

Rather than circulating their power based on the seasons or the passage of time, these two Courts wax and wane with the conditions of the Lost themselves. In times of prosperity, the Dawn Court flourishes, while the Dusk Court grows in influence in times of hardship. They commonly coexist with the Seasonal Courts as well.

The Dawn Court

• Court Emotion: Hope
• Idealistic and selfless to a fault, this Court seeks to foster change for the greater good, certain that a better future awaits the Lost if they work hard for it and are willing to make any sacrifice to ensure that better future comes to pass.
  • Contracts of Potential: Contracts meant to cause change for the better, strengthen bonds between individuals, and empower the convictions of the user.

The Dusk Court

• Court Emotion: Fatalism
• Knowing that the worst is yet to come gives these Changelings a perverse strength, striving to make what time they have before their fates come calling as glorious as possible.
  • Contracts of Entropy: Draw strength from the acceptance of Fate, and break down communication (and even other active Contracts). Uniquely, it does not require Court Goodwill to purchase- the Dusk Court figures that all Changelings will come to see things their way eventually.

Entitlements

In addition to the Courts, there are also semi-independent Nobilities that a Changeling can join once their Wyrd is high enough. An Entitlement mechanically acts as a Prestige Class, and fluffwise makes the Changeling a Noble in the eyes of the Court and the Wyrd. This can mean trouble, though, since the True Fae tend to gravitate towards Changelings of rank rather then commoners. A Changeling with an Entitlement has sworn an oath to fulfill the function of his office, which grants him benefits, such as spinning straw to gold to designing and building massive structures in an hour, in exchange for some manner of weakness. There's a ton of these and they're in almost every book. Read up on them, they're pretty neat.

The True Fae and Arcadia

The True Fae can take many forms.

The threat of the True Fae can best be compared to the threat of the Antediluvians of Vampire: The Masquerade, if only the Antediluvians took a more active role in fucking with people and weren't such a hilariously contrived plot point for Gehenna.

To the Changelings, the True Fae, also known as the Gentry or the Others, haunt their nightmares, because ever since they've escaped Arcadia, the land of the Faeries, their shadowy presence looms just outside of their peripheral vision, threatening to pull them back into servitude, or worse, to take their families away if they don't comply. The Gentry are unique antagonists in that each and every single one is absolutely omnipotent, capable of doing anything they wish while they're in Arcadia, but incapable of understanding anything that's not in relation to them, and existing only to feed their egos and self-gratification. The problem is that despite their massive affinity with screwing with the Wyrd, they're both incapable of creation and exist empty lives without conflict, where they will eventually wither away into nothing without discord. Ergo, they find both slaves and friction in human beings, which they are eternally fascinated with, but not to the extent where they'll consider them anywhere close to their own glory. To that effect, they lord their status over their servants and screw with their perceptions and lives, doing anything that pops into their heads with them no matter how dangerous or nonsensical it might be because they feel like it.

The True Fae are creatures that can modify the Wyrd like they were breathing, but only while they are far from where reality is strong, in Arcadia, in their little corner of paradise, where they can change the color of the sky to their modding their own unique and original superpowers and keyblade designs, to whether snowflakes are radioactive and weigh half a ton. The further they get from Arcadia, the weaker their powers become, and when they're on Earth, while they're still powerful, they can pretty much only screw with the minor things that their contracts allow them to, and indeed reality itself poisons them, so they can't stay around for too long, so they generally don't leave Arcadia unless they wants something (That something being slaves). What it ultimately comes down to for the Gentry is "Is it fun for me? And how long will it be fun for me? What should I do afterwards?".

But all hope is not lost! Once upon a time, the Gentry pissed Cold Iron off, and now it's fucking mad and wants revenge, and it's not gonna let godlike powers stand in its way! Still, it's going to need all the help it can get. This Summer, get ready for edge of your seat excitement in this action packed thriller! "Cold Iron", starring Kurt Russell and Jason Lee! This film is not yet rated. At least that's one explanation for why iron works on the fae. Another is that Iron struck a deal with humanity that humans would use it to conquer the world if it protect them against the supernatural. Lastly is the idea that iron is not magical, in fact it's the least magical thing in the world. Were pretty sure that one was stolen from a Discworld novel, but we like Discworld and so we will let it slide.

A great burn on players that play Mary Sue type characters is that the rules punish you for acting like one of the Gentry, resulting in Clarity drops out of the ass, along with benefits such as suspicion and ostracism from changeling freeholds, calling the True Fae to your location through your actions, and generally being snubbed by mortals who find you unlikable.

Oh yeah, and if you're strong and crazy enough your character might become one of them.

The Hedge

If you wanna go from Arcadia to Earth or vice versa, you need to traverse the Hedge, a semi-sentient domain that appears as a vast, beautiful landscape littered with thorns. Spend too much time in them thorns and you go crazy. And for God's sake, DO NOT WANDER OFF THE PATH. You can pretty much find anything here, if you can't find it you can find it at a Goblin Market. Which is also here. Changelings can live here but so can the True Fey, and Hobgoblins can be assholes. The food here is awesome!

Fetch

So you've made it back home, whoop-dee-doo. Unfortunately, most people didn't even realize you ever left, since the Gentry like animating a bit of crap they find scattered around using a piece of your soul and have it live your life for you. Killing your Fetch fucks with your clarity, since, you know, he was pretty much just you, only missing a couple of your personality traits (maybe even your flaws), but it's a necessity if you want your old life back, plus you get a bunch of really cool magic stuff and merits out of it.

...Or, you can do the "hard but moral" thing and try to merge with it, (since, you know, it's you), which gives you even more cool stuff and merits.

Of course, since your fetch is different than you are (or used to be) you could end up getting your old life back, only to ruin it because you suck. Or you could come back to find your life ruined by your doppleganger, although that does give your another reason to kill the fucker.

Huntsmen

2E's answer to "hang on, why aren't the fairies after me?" In short, they are-it's just that, like any Mary Sue writer, the True Fae are lazy as shit, and they get the underlings to do it. The underlings who, it should be mentioned, are not any happier about it than you are; see, True Fae aren't actually the natural rulers of Arcadia, the Huntsmen are-and because they have natural resistance to the mortal world, the Keepers thought to themselves "Hey I know! Let's catch a mind raped slave with other mind raped slaves!" And "Mind Rape" is the proper term; when they're dragging a Huntsman out by the ear to get their property for them, a Gentry tears out his heart, replaces it with one of his own Titles, and then hides the heart in some poor sap's dream before blackmailing the abomination who now wants desperately for the misery to stop with its return if the Huntsman drags back the poor sap. They literally cannot think in any other way than what the Keepers want unless they're close to their Hearts, which means confronting them in the Hedge, where they're at their most powerful and it's likely they've already placed shackle-tasers around your genitals.

Oh yeah, and they're also almost always shapeshifters and are immortal so long as their Hearts exist. Have fun!

Mortals, Ensorcellment and Oneiromancy

You can make mortals see you and go into their dreams and fight and make stuff. Look just go read about it in the books.

Books

Changeling: The Lost is the second "limited run" game, aka a small series of books whose rough contents were planned from the start. This shows in its tight release schedule: in just two days short of a full year six books were released, from the core book to the "closure" book. Four of those books lined up with specific seasons, with their release matching the seasons themselves. These six books are:

• Changeling: The Lost Rulebook is the core book, detailing all the beautiful horrors that lie behind the Hedge, the terrible beauty of the True Fae, the danger of the monsters they face and the powers of the Changelings themselves.
• Autumn Nightmares is the antagonist book, detailing the True Fae, the Hobgoblins working for them, those trying to destroy the inroads to the Hedge (this is bad because this would rob the Changelings of their powers and attract the attention of the True Fae) and the Fetches created to replace people who have been kidnapped.
• Winter Masques is the option book for players, including a lot more Kiths, Contracts and details the Courts as well as adding new Entitlements.
• Rites of Spring is the magic book, expanding on the magic of the Lost, Contracts, Pledges, Clarity and the Mask and various tokens and wonders found within the Hedge.
• Lords of Summer is the faction book that explores the Great Courts, Freeholds and a bunch of Entitlements.
• Equinox Road is the finale book detailing Arcadia, the True Fae, gives rules for high-powered Changeling games and details the dread Game of Immortals, the thing that keeps the True Fae busy most of the time in search of transcendence.

This is where Changeling: The lost was planned to end. It was a tight series of books with a good scope on what it wants to be. However, it turned out that even for all its bleakness Changeling: The Lost was immensely popular. As such, White Wolf decided to make a few more books to be released over the course of a year:

• Night Horrors: Grim Fears is an antagonist book, detailing all sorts of antagonists and monsters the Changelings might run into. It is also possible to use the book in other games like Vampire: The Requiem and Hunter: The Vigil.
• Dancers in the Dusk details the relationships that the Lost have with dreams and new ways to interact with them, as well as new Contracts, Entitlements and details on the Dusk Court.
• Swords at Dawn is about the conflicts and wars between the Lost, expands on Talecrafting and Fate and adds new Entitlements and the Dawn Court.
• Goblin Markets expands on the titular markets where players can buy and sell almost anything at dangerous and steep prices.

2nd Edition

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When the jump to Chronicles of Darkness was made all the games that had been out at that point needed an update. When Vampire, Werewolf, Mage and Promethean were updated with some significant retooling here and there, and Hunter being updated in a supplement with a full 2nd edition to be released later, it was then up to Changeling to release its update. Some of the changes shown off by White Wolf are listed above, with the full book being released in Q2 2017.

See Also

• Changeling
• White Wolf
• World of Darkness
• Changeling: The Dreaming, its bright, hopeful predecessor.
• Changeling Homebrew Kiths
• Changeling Homebrew Contracts
• Changeling Homebrew Hedge Bounty
• Changeling Homebrew Courts
• Changeling Stranger Tides