2d4chan - User contributions [en]

Approved Anime

2020-02-27T22:40:45Z

65.117.99.152: /* Action */

This is a list of [[/tg/]] '''approved [[anime]]''', organized loosely into genres. For /tg/-approved manga, [[manga|go here]].

= Before you add anything...'''READ THIS''' =

''/tg/ likes its anime, but if we listed every single one that could be interpreted as being /tg/-related this article would be large enough to be its own wiki. So before you add in a new title, ask yourself these questions:''

* Is it a licensed material from a traditional game? (If yes, add it right now, no questions asked. And homebrews don't count- it has to be a real, established game.)

* Does it feature traditional gaming? (If it's an important part of the show, add it.)

* Is it fantasy or sci-fi? (We have a huge boner for that, but explain how it's relevant first.)

* Does it cater to our demographic? Fa/tg/uys tend to be males in their 20s. (Again, see if it fits the other criteria well enough.)

* Does /tg/ talk about it a lot, or does it have some historical relevance to /tg/? (Like the one directly above, it's not enough on its own, but it might get a pass if it fits more criteria.)

* Is this just /a/'s flavor of the month bleeding over into /tg/? (NO. Your addition will likely be reverted, so don't bother. As a general rule wait a few months after it shows up.)

Add important details (e.g. tv series or OVA, number of episodes or movies) in brackets. Furthermore, follow the formatting in general, we beg you. Also keep in mind that anime gets adapted from manga far more often then cartoons in the west get adapted from comics, so there is liable to be overlap with the "approved manga" page linked above.

=Genres=
== Action ==
*'''''[[Fist of the North Star]]''''': The singular manliest show ever made. Slap together Mad Max and a ruthless, hyper-violent Bruce Lee, and that should help explain how this show became the legend it is today. ['''READ THE MANGA'''][TV series: 152 episodes + 1 movie, OVA series: 3 episodes, Spin-Off series: 12 episodes + 4 OVAs]

:Related games: ''Street Fighter: The Storytelling Game'', playing a [[monk]] in [[D&D]], [[Dark Sun]]

*'''''[[JoJo's Bizarre Adventure]]''''': The singular manliest ''and'' most FABULOUS! show ever made. Unreasonably beautiful men with weirdly convoluted superpowers hunt vampires. Hop in the car, loser, we're going posing. ['''READ THE MANGA'''][OVA series: 13 episodes + 1 movie, TV series: 74 episodes and counting] Referenced in [[TTS]], so you know it's good.

:Related games: [[Mutants and Masterminds]], [[FATE]], low-level [[Exalted]], [[The Ballad of Edgardo]]

*'''''Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann''''': <span style='color:green'>The singular [[Ork]]iest show ever made.</span> Starts out with human rebels on looted mechs fighting bio-engineered beastmen, gets progressively more and more out of hand. Exceedingly, gloriously out of hand. Surprisingly well-written and philosophical below the pumped up appearance. Steve Blum also voices a queer guy, no joke. Notable for the fact that by the final episode the main characters achieve Enuff [[Dakka]] by shooting at EVERY POINT IN SPACE AND ACROSS TIME. [TV series: 27 episodes + 2 movies + 15 shorts + 1 sexy ass music-video]

:Related games: [[Mekton]], [[Toon]]

*'''''Hunter x Hunter''''': <s>Two shota boys fighting dudes.</s> In all seriousness, there are four major characters introduced in the series: Gon, the country raised kid who wants to find his awesome dad (shota #1); Killua, the young assassin raised in an assassin family who wants to befriend Gon just to escape his assassin duty (shota #2); Kurta, the last of its clan of [[psyker|special humans]] that seeks vengeance against a group of super-strong psychopathic bandits; and Leorio, who's the weakest of the group (in the anime, anyways) but wields THE POWER OF FRIENDSHIP! ''HxH'' builds worlds like ''One Piece'', which is a huge commendation. It also created somewhat balanced and unique [[stat|power/class/level system]] called "nen", a downright rare accomplishment in a genre of [[meme|OVER 9000]] nonsense. [TV series: 62 episodes + 30 OVAs; Reboot: 148 episodes + 2 movies]

:Related games: [[FATE]], [[Exalted]], [[Quest thread|quests, quests, quests]]

*'''''Dragon Ball & Dragon Ball Z''''': Not initially thought to be /tg/ related, /tg/ is now getting shit done and writing an RPG in a similar fashion to how Adeptus Evangelion suddenly appeared. (There's also the cash-in RPG, if that counts.) They both share an entry since they're essentially just part 1 and 2 of the same story. Among THE most popular anime to ever exist, it goes from "Journey to the West" pastiche fantasy adventure to science fiction aliens and space gods. ['''READ THE MANGA'''] [Original TV series: 153 episodes + 3 movies, Z/GT/Super series: 397 episodes + 4 specials + 2 OVAs + 16 movies]

:Related games: [[Legends of the Wulin]], [[Exalted]], [[Dragon Ball PNP RPG|Dragon Ball Z: The Anime Adventure Game]]

*'''''Legend of the Galactic Heroes''''': Space Prussia fights Space France/America in one of the longest running debates on the relative merits of Dictatorship and Republicanism ever written. Aside from the 19th century army tactics IN SPACE, it is well regarded for the enormous amount of very well-written characters and an even-more-bloody disregard for the lives of said characters than GRRM. To sum it all up, grand and gruesome galactic battles rivaling 40K in scale, manly marines hacking others to bits, and Kaiser Reinhard (who's like a combination of Napoleon and Alexander the Great). Also quite possibly the single most screencapped anime on /tg/ for its wealth of brilliant monologues. The anime is actually an adaptation of a series of books from the early 1980's that are now available in english. Technology level is basically Traveller to a T. [OVA series: '''162''' episodes + 3 movies]
:Related games: [[Traveller]], [[GURPS|GURPS Space]], Full Thrust, [[Battlefleet Gothic]]

*'''''One Punch Man''''': The adventures of an in-universe [[Muscle Wizard]] superhero who can literally take down anything (ANY-FUCKING-THING) with a single, low-effort punch. Naturally, he's bored shitless and only seeks a worthy fight. An instant classic despite its anaemic twelve episodes thanks to its sense of humour, surprisingly smart character and genre writing, and utterly off-the-fucking-wall levels of batshit insane action -some of which gives even [[JoJo's Bizarre Adventure|JoJo]] and Gurren Lagann a run for their money. Also a great lesson in writing an OP character without sacrificing fun. [TV Series: 24 episodes + 9 OVAs and [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=atxYe-nOa9w| one fucking badass opening theme]].

:Related games: Playing an epic-level character in D&D (especially a monk), most superhero RPGs.

*'''''My Hero Academia''''': Take X-Men. Make almost everybody a mutant, but give most people [[Fail|mediocre]] or incredibly specific powers. Then make Xavier's school an actual school for learning how to use your powers. That's My Hero Academia, the anime that launched over 9000 low-PL Mutants and Masterminds games. While the general plot is a standard "audience surrogate claws his way to the top" affair, it's still achieved widespread acclaim on both /co/ and /tg/ for avoiding the traps that make most shonenshit and capeshit insufferable, putting a reasonable amount of thought into how large numbers of people with superpowers would affect society and focusing on relatively tame and limited powers applied creatively over cheesy super-kill-everything moves, which makes it a goldmine for anyone looking to run their own supers game. [[Warhammer High|One of the side characters also looks like a Daemonette, which has got to count for something.]] [TV series: 38 episodes and counting + 2 OVAs + 1 movie]
:Related games: [[Mutants and Masterminds]] or any other superhero game with a flexible powers system

*'''''Samurai Champloo''''': A show about two samurai with completely differing fighting styles being forced together along with a token female to fight for their personal goals. Combines crazy fight sequences with a <i>very</i> [[Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader|80's]]-style feel, along with quite a few moments of both [[Noblebright|slapstick]] and [[Grimdark|gallows]] humor. [TV series: 26 episodes]

:Related games: [[L5R]], Derailed [[D&D]] quests, [[Matt Ward|allying]] [[Necrons]], [[Blood Angels]], and [[Tau]] in a game of Warhammer

*'''''Youjo Senki - Saga of Tanya the Evil''''' ''(My Little Nazi)'': Strike Witches if it was actually about war instead of lesbians. A high functioning sociopath salary-man is murdered by one of his disgruntled former employees and gets reincarnated into alt-fantasy 1910s Germany as the smuggest of [[Loli|lolis]]. Follows the general rhythms of the 21st-century-wargame-nerd-gets-transported-back-in-time genre, with the twist that God is actively fucking with Tanya to ruin all her carefully-planned attempts to escape the war and lead a cushy rear echelon life. While the premise may sound silly, the military action and writing are good enough to make it work. Tanya is more likable by miles than the stuffed-shirt protagonists of [[Isekai|similar shows]], despite a level of sociopathy that should make her the automatic villain. This makes her a wonderful inspiration for anyone who wants to play a Lawful Evil character with a personality beyond "rule the world with an iron fist." If you want frequent comedic misunderstandings, read the manga. If you want a bunch of elaborate explanations read the light novel. Also contains a fair amount of background for using modern concepts in WW1 for those GMs who have to live Darth and Droids/DM of the Rings on a weekly basis. [TV series: 12 episodes]

:Related games: [[Magical Burst]], [[GURPS]] Infinite Worlds, [[Only War]], Torg

*'''''Blood Blockade Battlefront''''': A portal to another dimension opens in the middle of New York, transforming it in a combination of the two worlds. The city is renamed Hellsalem's Lot and become inhabited by both humans and the so-called beyonders. The series follow the members of Lybra, a clandestine organization made of people with special abilities that protect the city, and prevent lunacy from affecting the rest of the world. Special mention to Lybra's leader, Klaus Von Reinherz, a guy with looks and the strength of an ogre, the demeanor of a true gentlemen, and attacks with [[awesome|giant crosses of destruction made with his own blood and created through manly punches]]. As an added /tg/ bonus, one episode revolves around a boardgame called Prosfair, which is basically what you would get if [[Tzeentch]] decided to write homebrew rules for [[Chess]]. [TV series: 12 episodes + 1 OVA]
**'''''Blood Blockade Battlefront & Beyond''''': Sequel continuing the story. [TV series: 12 episodes]

:Related games: [[Esoterrorists]], [[World of Darkness]], [[Chess]]

== Comedy ==
*'''''Haiyore! Nyaruko-san''''': 2009 flash animations, [http://www.crunchyroll.com/nyarko-san-another-crawling-chaos still on crunchyroll.] [Web series: 21 shorts.]
**'''''Nyarko-san: Another Crawling Chaos''''': A 2012 anime, it's one of those wacky highschool comedy bits that Japan shits out every season, except starring [[H.P. Lovecraft|Nyarlathotep]]. Yes, seriously. Pop culture references, [[/d/]]eviance, [[Sanity|SAN]] loss (complete with official-format [[Call of Cthulhu]] character sheets), and gratuitous rape of canon ensue. [[Butthurt|"She's an eldritch abomination, not your waifu!"]] [TV series: 24 episodes + 3 OVAs]

:Related games: [[Call of Cthulhu]] (barely), [[Maid RPG]]

*'''''Kono Subarashii Sekai ni Shukufuku o!''''' (''KonoSuba''): A 2016 parody of the [[isekai]] meme that hit flavor-of-the-month status after the anime adaptation hit Crunchyroll. The main character dies and gets reincarnated into a generic fantasy world *yawn*, but he ends up with an incredibly un-[[Powergamer|optimized]] party of dumbasses. Starting with "the weakest" generic Adventurer class, he's joined by a brain-dead Priest who [[Derp|spent most of her skill points on party tricks,]] a Wizard who can only cast ''one'' spell per day because [[Munchkin|she absolutely refuses to learn anything other than the top-tier attack spell]], and a Fighter who's [[Magical realm|built as a pure meatshield because she's a hardcore masochist.]] They're also joined by a [[wat|big-tittied lich]] who is actually competent but keeps getting nearly purged by the priest due to being undead. It resembles a group of new players stumbling though their first RPG campaign, run by an experienced GM who is laughing his ass off. Now getting a dub(it's here), so be prepared for mistranslated memes to be quoted ad nauseam. [TV series: 20 episodes + 2 OVAs + 1 film]

:Related games: [[World of Warcraft|MMORPGs]], [[Dungeon World]], [[Knights Of The Dinner Table]]

*'''''[[Life With Monstergirls|Everyday Life with Monster Girls]]''''': A 2015 anime that tickles the fancy of anyone who claims /tg/ can become /d/-lite-ful in the wee hours of a Saturday morning. [[Monstergirls]] everywhere, in glorious full-color animation. The manga this is based off of had a few brain cells and funny bones to rub together as well; expect to love or hate slaking your thirst for waifu herein. The manga is also a goldmine of reaction images. Be warned: this is an ecchi show, so the artist gets as close as he can to actual sex without the sex, thus stringing along the wallets of horny otaku without losing the support of high-profile publishers. [[Games Workshop|So you should be right at home.]] Also expect older /d/eviants to call you a faggot if you like this series, thanks to its comparative tameness and the number of lightweights who only discovered monstergirls when this series stripped out the [[/d/|"weird"]] and then get triggered by something like [[Mon Musu Quest!]] If you want to see actual boinking, the original author had some webcomics about monstergirls he made under the same name before the manga and anime; [[Weeaboo|weeaboos]] collectively call them '''Daily Life with Monster Girls''' to avoid confusion. [TV series: 12 episodes + 2 OVAs]

:Related games: [[Dungeons and Dragons]] PC race expansions, [[Mon Musu Quest!]] (barely), [[Maid RPG]], [[Quest thread|quests, quests, quests]]

== Fantasy ==
*'''''[[Record of Lodoss War]]''''': Particularly noteworthy because it actually started life series of role-playing game sessions (first edition D&D!) that were turned into novels and then an Anime, that alone gives it major points. Sometimes known as [[meme|''Record of Loads of War'']]. Plot wise it's a bit cliché, but it is still well regarded. [OVA series: 13 episodes + 27 TV episodes]
**The same setting has two less famous anime titles: '''''Legend of Crystania''''' and '''''Rune Soldier'''''

:Related Games: [[Dungeons & Dragons]] (1st edition), Sword World (1st edition)

*'''''Fullmetal Alchemist''''': Forever among the ranks of the most popular anime EVER (and maybe the best, too, but you know, [[Skub]]), it has a young alchemist trying to recover both his missing limbs (his right arm and left leg) and his brother's ENTIRE BODY, which were lost following an alchemy accident where they attempt to [[Grimdark|revive their mother]]. The story eventually diverges from the manga to the point of characters having completely different roles in the story and which is polarizing when compared with the later series. [TV series: 51 episodes + 1 movie + 4 OVAs]
**'''''Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood''''': Take Iron Kingdoms, take magic out, ignore a good part of the tech but add [[Avatar: The Last Airbender|element-bending]], daddy issues and the more awesome parts of the Imperial Guard, and you get Brotherhood. It's impressive that there hasn't been made a RPG to this setting yet, as it's almost perfect for a Dark Heresy-esque game. Includes copious amounts of blood without becoming gore, genocides and unholy powers taking your body in exchange for knowledge. Has better animation and the original manga's story in exchange for being less grimdark than the 2003 series. [TV series: 64 episodes + 4 OVAs]

:Related games: [[Dark Heresy|Dark Heresy]], [[Warmachine]], [[Eberron]]

*'''''(The) [[Slayers]]''''': AD&D 2nd edition: The Animation. Known for being a significantly more realistic take on what tabletop roleplay is like than the aforementioned ''Lodoss War'', despite not actually being so closely based off an actual campaign. ''Lodoss War'' has been described as being the campaign the DM planned, whereas ''Slayers'' has been described as the campaign the players ended up playing. The TV series and OVA series are separate continuities with some overlap in the form of cameos. [TV series: 104 episodes + 1 movie, OVA series: 6 + 4 movies]

:Related games: [[Dungeons & Dragons|Advanced Dungeons & Dragons]]

*'''''Spice and Wolf''''': A show about [[Horo]], wolf-girl pagan goddess of the harvest (Often mistaken for [[Leman Russ]],) and also economics. Proof that not all medieval fantasy has to be sword-and-sorcery to be interesting.

:Related games: [[Settlers of Catan]], [[GURPS]] Fantasy Setting

*'''''Maoyuu Maou Yuusha''''': (''Geopolitical Economic Theories in My D&D?''): An anime in which the brave Hero (named Hero) enters the Demon Realm in an attempt to kill the evil Demon Lord (named Demon Lord). In retaliation the Demon Lord diplomances him into submission, explains how the economy works, then proceeds to dominate the southern human realm with basic human rights, intelligent farming methods and smart business strategies. Originated as a webnovel published on 2ch's text boards, and matriculated into the spiritual successor to ''Spice and Wolf''. [TV series: 25 episodes + 2 OVAs]

:Related games: [[Settlers of Catan]], [[GURPS]] Fantasy Setting, [[Ironclaw]], [[Road to Enlightenment]], Deus Vult: Wargaming in the Time of the Crusades, [[Reign]]

*'''''Sengoku Basara: Samurai Kings''''': A retelling of the Sengoku Era of feudal Japan, spearheaded by OP historical figures with varying accuracy and their own special attributes like six-wielding lightning shooting katanas. It is also nearly as manly as Fist of the North Star and somehow includes a fucking cyborg titan, steam-punkesque machinery, and magic. Sengoku Basara itself is a series of video games that predate and proceed the story of the anime (not to be confused with Samurai Warriors due to the same setting, same characters, and similar gameplay). [TV series: 24 episodes + 2 OVAs]

:Related games: [[Exalted]], Civilization, LoL

*'''''[[Strike Witches]]''''': (''Little Girls in Panties''): WWII flying aces redrawn as [[loli]] airplane machines which zap aliens while flying around without pants. Not really beloved by /tg/, but someone thought something about the show would make [[Dive into the Sky|a good homebrew.]] [TV series: 24 episodes + 1 movie + 4 OVAs]

:Related games: [[Axis & Allies]], Axis and Allies Angels 20, Ace of Aces, a metric fuckton of quests

*'''''Escaflowne''''': What you get when you combine Dungeons and Dragons with Mecha anime. Or simply say that it's DragonMech: The Anime... kinda. [TV series: 26 episodes + 1 movie]

:Related games: [[Dragonmech]]

*'''''Night Wizard!''''' is a 2007 anime licensed from the [http://www.fear.co.jp/nw/ same-named Japanese TRPG] (that uses [http://www.fear.co.jp/srs/ FEAR's free Standard RPG System]). It's based on an actual campaign and the DVD even has the original sessions as an alternate audio track, which is awesome... for anyone who understands Japanese. [TV series: 13 episodes]

:Related games: [http://www.fear.co.jp/srs/ Standard RPG System] obviously

*'''''Chaos Dragon: Sekiryū Sen'eki''''' is a 2015 anime based on sessions of the Japanese TRPG ''[http://sai-zen-sen.jp/special/reddragon/ Red Dragon]''. The players and GM are veterans from other anime productions, [http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=16889 more details at ANN.] [TV series: 12 episodes]

:Related games: [http://sai-zen-sen.jp/special/reddragon/ Red Dragon] obviously

*'''''Maria the Virgin Witch''''': What makes us add Maria to this list is not anything about its characters or its plot detailing a Witch in the 100 years war between England and France trying to stop the fighting, but it's accuracy. To be blunt, it's not just historically accurate for an anime, [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_tFOJFyTl1U but it's historically accurate <u>period</u>.] If you want to get a decent idea of the Hundred Years War weapons and techniques, Maria is far from worst media you could watch to see what this kind of fighting looked like. [TV series: 12 episodes]

:Related games: [[Warhammer Fantasy]], [[Dungeons & Dragons|Advanced Dungeons & Dragons]]

*'''''Izetta the Last Witch''''': A witch gets thrown into a pandemonium of a world. The year is 1939 and the Empire of Germania has just invaded the small principality of Elystadt. Includes: Magic, World War 2, actual fucking trench warfare (and its failure to blitz tactics) and pretty much all things 1939 (also has moe lovechild of the SAS and a Vindicare temple). It's not quite ''Valkyria Chronicles'' and it's not quite ''Pumpkin Scissors'', but if you liked either one you'll probably like this too. It also has Imperial Guard-tier holding the line long enough for the MCs to take all the credit. The amount of detail may be enough to compensate for the admittedly weak story, [[-4 STR|dodgily written]] female characters, and the fact MC is a full blown [[Mary Sue]]. That said, she rides a fucking fuckhueg Anti-Tank Rifle (a derivation of the Boys and Type 97) as a broom and makes swords fly like any respectable rogue psyker. [TV series: 12 episodes]

:Related games: [[Warhammer 40k]], [[Warhammer]], [[Bolt Action]],[[Flames of War]], [[Axis & Allies]]

*'''''First Squad: The Moment of Truth''''': This is set in the eastern front during the Second World War where a group of "gifted" Soviet youth are trained to be a countermeasure to the Schutzstaffel trying to reanimate (through dark arts) an army of Teutonic Knights from a 12th century invasion of Russia (specifically, it's probably the Battle of Peipus (Battle of the Ice)). It has Soviet and Nazi Paranormal Tech, Panzers, and short but well made battle scenes, and what is probably a progenitor of the Ordo Malleus. What more is there to say? [Movie, Japanese Audio: 1:00:28 + Russian Audio with "interview" cutscenes: 1:12:53]

:Related games: [[Warhammer 40k]], [[Warhammer]], [[Bolt Action]], [[Flames of War]], [[Axis & Allies]]

*'''''Queen's Blade''''': An ecchi anime full of [[Hot Chicks]] ripping apart each other's clothes. There's a plot involving a tournament to become the ruler of the world and claim the titular Queen's Blade, but [[PROMOTIONS|you're not going to care about it.]] Based on an old-school gamebook series that became big in Japan by stealing their secret art of hoovering up NEETbux with gratuitous nudity. [TV Series: 24 episodes + 6 OVAs + 12 specials]
**'''''Queen's Blade: Rebellion''''': A sequel to the previous. After Claudia won the Queen's Blade, she abolished the tournament and became a ruthless tyrant. The series follows rebels trying to overthrow her. Grinds against the line between ecchi and hentai like it was a table corner. [TV Series: 12 episodes + 2 OVAs + 6 specials]

:Related games: [[Fighting Fantasy]]

== Gaming ==
* For the same reasons that Western cinema has [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Films_about_chess too many movies about chess], anime has a number of titles dedicated to classic board games:
** Go: '''''Hikaru no Go'''''
** Mahjong: '''''Akagi: Yami ni Oritatta Tensai''''', '''''Furiten-kun''''', '''''Legendary Gambler Tetsuya''''', '''''Mahjong Hishō-den: Naki no Ryū''''', '''''Mudazumo Naki Kaikaku (The Legend of Koizumi)''''', '''''Saki''''', '''''Ten: Tenhoudouri No Kaidanji'''''.
** Shogi: '''''March Comes in Like a Lion''''', '''''The Ryuo's Work is Never Done!''''', '''''Shion no Ō'''''.

*'''''Problem Children are Coming from Another World, aren't they?''''': Sakamaki Izayoi, Kudou Asuka and Kudou Yoh are invited and transported to a place called "Little Garden", a sprawling melting pot of races grouped into communities. The three children are given "Gifts" and participate in the high-stakes "Gift Games", that can win back the prestige and territory of their community. The setting has analogies to Planescape's Sigil in general. [TV series: 10 episodes + 1 OVA]

:Related games: [[Planescape|Planescape]], [[Dungeons & Dragons|Advanced Dungeons & Dragons]], [[Quest thread|quests]]

*'''''No Game No Life''''': Two basement shut-ins [[OP|who win every game they play]] are dropped into a world where everything is decided with games, even national borders. They have to save the humans from getting steamrolled by 15 other races, all of whom use magic to cheat since Humans can't sense magic being cast. Involves plenty of traditional-of-traditional games being played, with metagaming tricks and cheating. [TV series: 12 episodes]

:Related games: A lot of "normal" [[board games]], [[Monopoly#Metanopoly|Metanopoly]]

*'''''After-School Dice Club''''': A high-school club of mostly cute girls who play Eurogames, with each episode featuring an actual Eurogame.
:Related games: A ton of [[Eurogames]], including of course [[Settlers of Catan]]

*'''''Tonari no Seki-kun''''': A slice of life High School show following a girl and her classmate who spends all class playing miscellaneous strange games with himself. The English adaptation is subtitled, "Master of Killing Time" for some weird reason. The manga it is based on is a gold mine of reaction images. [TV series: 1 OVA + 21 episodes]

:Related Games: [[Board Games]], bored games

*'''''[[Log Horizon]]''''': Players of popular MMORPG awaken in the game world itself. While the [[Isekai|"trapped in an MMO"]] premise is by no means a new thing in anime (a recent and infamously bad example being ''Sword Art Online'') Log Horizon is unique in the way it explores how the people thrust into such a situation would adapt without skipping straight to the shitty cliches. Now with its own TRPG core book. [TV series: 50 episodes]

:Related games: Log Horizon TRPG, [[/v/|Everquest]], [[4e]]

*'''''Kantai Collection''''': Originally a browser waifu game, it's about WW2 naval warfare, where the ships are personified as [[loli]]s. Yes, seriously; it's in route of becoming something akin to [[Touhou]], given the amount of material out there getting mass-produced by the fans. When combined with ''[[Girls und Panzer]]'' and ''[[Strike Witches]]'', you got the moe armed force to end all moe armed forces, period. [TV series: 12 episodes + 1 movie]

:Related games: Battleship, Axis & Allies, [[Quest_thread|quests, quests, quests]].

*'''''Overlord''''': A 2015-2018 adaptation of the novels written by Kugane Maruyama, after his tabletop group disbanded. It follows Momonga, a leader of the guild Ainz Ooal Gown, on the very last day of the [[/v/|MMORPG]] ''Yggdrasil'', just before it shuts down. Instead of getting kicked offline, he [[wat|turns into his level 100 character]], the eponymous undead "[[lich|overlord]]" and discovers he has entered ''another world''. Sigh, yes, it's yet another [[Isekai]] setting; but! there are a few twists: he's ended up in a new world that's not ''Yggdrasil'', in the middle of three countries at war, and has an entire castle full of guild [[NPC]]s that are suddenly alive ''Night at the Museaum''-style. Also, almost every spell name is ripped straight from D&D. [TV series: 39 episodes + shorts]

:Related games: High-level [[3.5e]]

*[[Girls und Panzer|'''''Girls und Panzer''''']]: As mentioned by the Kantai Collection entry above, this show rounds out the 'Holy Moe Armed Forces Trinity' by having schoolgirls actually fight each other in historic World War II tanks (tanks manufactured slightly after World War II, such as the British Centurion, are also featured, and the most recent add-on puts in FV tanks and a FUCKING MK V LANDSHIP) in a war game blown up to real proportions. The main story follows a ragtag Japanese high school 'tankery' team as they try to beat the more elite (and powerful) teams competing on the international level. Featuring towns built on oversized aircraft carriers, plenty of World War II references, and a diverse cast of characters, this show panders to anime fans and World of Tanks/War Thunder players alike (In fact, GuP and WoT are cross-promoting each other's materiel). [TV series: 7 OVAs, 12 episodes and 2 recap episodes]

:Related games: [[Flames of War]]

== Horror, Grimdark, & Mindfuckery ==

*'''''Neon Genesis Evangelion''''': A philosophical character drama and Lovecraftian Horror Mindrape that pretends to be a mecha anime for its first half. Either one of the greatest (if not THE greatest) anime ever produced, or an overrated piece of tripe that collapsed under the weight of its own pretentiousness and awful budgeting, depending on who you ask; there is no middle ground. Inspiration for [[Adeptus Evangelion]], obviously. [TV series: 26 episodes + 2 movies, Reboot: 3 movies and counting]

:Related games: [[Adeptus Evangelion]], [[JAEVA Project]], [[CthulhuTech]]

*'''''Psycho-Pass''''': Classic cyberpunk dystopia from Gen "The Butcher" Urobochi. Japan has once again isolated itself from the world after a poorly defined apocalypse and is now governed by the SYBLE System, which tracks everybody based on their "Crime Coefficient," [[Grimdark|imprisoning anybody who shows the potential for antisocial behavior.]] The series follows a squad of investigators and the "latent criminals" forced to work with them as they hunt down the people at the margins of the system with guts and giant fuck-off handguns that can disintegrate solid steel but are programmed to only kill bad people. An absolute goldmine for cyberpunk imagery somewhere in between the black-trenchcoat look of [[Cyberpunk 2020]] and the post-cyberpunk iPod future. [TV series: 22 episodes + 1 movie (named ''Mandatory Happiness'' of all things)]
**'''''Psycho-Pass 2''''': Sequel series without Urobochi. Takes away everything that made Psycho-Pass interesting and replaces it with guro. Avoid.
:Related games: [[Paranoia]], [[Shadowrun]]

*'''''Now and Then, Here and There''''': A young Japanese boy and American girl are transported through time and space to a dying world orbiting a dying star, and are forced to fight as a child soldier for evil men who rape and breed them, while the humans of the planet slowly fight themselves to extinction over water. Not for the faint of heart, or for anyone who thinks [[Warhammer 40k]] is as grimdark as humanly possible. This is true, hardcore grimdark. [TV series: 13 episodes]

:Related games: [[Dark Sun]] so very much, [[FATAL]], [[Gamma World]]

*'''''M.D. Geist''''': A psychotic super soldier is released on a post-apocalyptic abandoned colony to breach a former governmental compound and prevent the activation of an army of killer robots that are programed to exterminate all surviving humans on the planet. He blasts his way in, slaughtering the cybernetic defenders... then releases the army himself so he can fight forever, and if the rest of humanity is wiped out, who cares? [[Khorne]] approves! [1 OVA + 1 movie]

:Related games: [[Black Crusade]]

*'''''[[Hellsing]]''''': An action horror centering around the Hellsing organization: a secret agency who uses vampires to protect the British Crown from other supernatural forces. Alucard, a gun-toting vampire who is possibly one of the most powerful in all of fiction (basically he's fucking Dracula at full power and not stuck in a shitty old man body), and his new big-titted, former cop, fledgling Seras are their main agents. Their enemies include rogue vampires, [[Ecclesiarchy|a homicidal <s>Scottish</s> Irish priest]] from the Catholic Church, and Millenium: a psychotic group of <s>neo-Nazis</s> Actual OG Nazis (1,000+ Waffen-SS volunteers to create the Letzte Bataillon) who want to take over Europe through [[wat|a battalion of artificially-created Nazi Vampires.]] Mostly known for its Biblical references and imagery and abnormal amounts of blood spewing out of anything and anyone like a bunch of Fruit Gushers (though nowhere near as [[Grimderp]] as Devilman or Violence Jack.) Divided into two continuities; the original, 13 episode, TV series (which overtook the manga and so went in an entirely different direction, and has lackluster animation, but also deeper characters, a more even theme, and a rocking soundtrack) and the "Ultimate" OVA series (totally faithful to the manga, but that also means it keeps ping-ponging between beautifully animated guro and cutesy-poo chibi "comedy" sections). [TV Series: 13 Episodes, OVA series: 10 Episodes]

:Related games: [[Dark Heresy]], maybe [[Achtung! Cthulhu]], [[Vampire: The Requiem]] + [[Hunter: The Vigil]] + [[Deviant: The Renegades]] (TV series only), some batshit insane fusion of [[Vampire: The Masquerade]] and [[Scion]] or [[Exalted]] (Ultimate)

*'''''[[Berserk]]''''': Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay: The Anime. Guts, a brutal and unstoppable swordsman, walks the land of grimdark as he recounts his impossibly bad-assed past. Noted for being GUTS HUEG because GUTS is HUEG, meaning he has [[Rip and Tear|HUEG GUTS]]. [TV series: 25 episodes][READ THE MANGA]
**'''''Berserk: The Golden Age Arc Movie Trilogy''''': This focuses on the Manga's Golden Age Arc only the whole trilogy is currently on Netflix (added bonus its dubbed in ''english''). [3 movies]
**'''''Berserk (2016)''''': Building largely on the achievements of the aforementioned movie trilogy, the latest incarnation of Berserk finally explores a more monstrous and demon-infested setting set two years after the Golden Age Arc. While despised by many fans for its terrible CG animation and skipping major character moments, it's the only thing you're going to get for a long while. Made by the same people that gave you Teekyuu, the ''nine season'' shitpost.

:Related games: [[Warhammer Fantasy]]

*'''''Ergo Proxy''''': What if [[Cthulhu]] was in Ghost in the Shell? Starts out like as a fairly political investigation story set in a distopian city, evolves into one hell of a journey in the post-apocalyptic world outside filled with acid trips. Like Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas with a story. [TV series: 23 episodes]

:Related games: [[Dark Heresy]], [[Shadowrun]], [[Dark Sun]], [[CthulhuTech]]

*'''''Boku Dake ga Inai Machi (ERASED):''''' Some nerd has the power to go back in time but only when a blue butterfly feels like it, and he uses this to solve murders and stop life threatening events. It's a lot like Butterfly Effect if it wasn't absolute pretentious crap. Also involves a lot of kids dying. [TV series: 12 episodes + 1 movie]

:Related games: one of the GUMSHOE games but with supernatural stuff toned down

*'''''Death Note''''': A random high schooler finds a book that lets him kill anyone whose name is written in it. What does he do with it? He tries to become a god by killing criminals. Only one dares to oppose him: the mysterious L. An exciting game of "He knows that I know that he knows," ensues. Originator of [[Just as planned]] thanks to an especially shitty translation. [TV Series: 37 episodes + 2 movies + 2 live-action movies + [[wikipedia:Manga Murder|one real-life murder case]]]

:Related games: [[Esoterrorists]], [[Kult]], [[Hunter: The Reckoning]], [[Delta Green]]

*'''''Puella Magi Madoka Magica''''': A middle school girl gets approached by a magical girl mascot animal with an offer to join a secret war between the grotesque witches and the magical girls that fight to curb their destructive influence. Naturally, it's a trap. Also the music is great (while the composer has been known to use Kajiuran (a gibberish language she made that sounds nice), quite a few people have manged to translate and even make covers in other language for some of the music, [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lu98k5vVP-Y German] sounds especially good.)! [TV Series: 12 episodes + 2 compilation movies and one expansion movie][watch the first compilation movie or first 3 episodes. If you aren't hooked, drop it]

:Related Games: [[Liberi Gothica]], [[Magical Girls - The Game]], [[Magical Burst]], [[Princess: The Hopeful]], [[Quest:Magical Girl Noir Quest]]

*'''''Made in Abyss''''': What happens when you cross Studio Ghibli with the lovecraftian horror of ''Madoka Magica'', the brutality of ''Berserk'' and the psychological horror of ''Digimon Tamers''? You get Made in Abyss that's what! Made in Abyss is set in a pseudo-fantasy/adventure genre that is populated by <u>''a lot''</u> of [[Loli|moe lolis]] mining and excavating ancient relics of a past civilization found scattered in a giant, deep fucking hole in the middle of the island. Like Digimon Tamers and Madoka Magica, it starts off cute and whimsical with absolutely ''gorgeous'' background art that would make the Great Hayao Miyazaki proud. But partway through the plot, the series turns into a very dark turn, and we mean <u>'''DARK'''</u>. The way the anime (and manga) handled its mature themes, its art design, the musical score, a well paced story progression and conclusion as well as not treating its audience like they are a bunch of mindless, horny basement dwellers earned it critical acclaim to not only anime elitists, but normal plebs as well. Furthermore, the fantastic world building of Made in Abyss has made it popular for D&D conversions. That and the fact that it gave /tg/ a bucket load of [[Meme|memes]] thanks to a certain bunch of characters...[TV Series: 13 episodes + upcoming second season]

:Related games: [[Dungeons and Dragons]]

*'''''[[Goblin Slayer]]''''': I'm Goblin Slayer, I hunt goblins. The epic tale of a hardcore autist adventurer who refuses to fight anything other than goblins, even when the BBEG is about to take over the world. Notable for its "realistic" take on medieval adventuring: D&D-style darkvision monster spam is a plot point, weapon lengths are taken into account, what magic exists is highly limited and time-consuming, and the titular goblins are [[Tucker's Kobolds]] gone grimdark with the shit-covered prison shankings and whatnot. Also lots of rape. Started as a web story on 2ch that immediately took off and transformed into the modern inheritor to Berserk's grimdark crown. [TV Series: 12 episodes and counting]

:Related games: [[The Riddle of Steel]], [[Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay]], [[FATAL]]

== Mecha ==
*'''''Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion''''': When you take terrorism, high school, chess and a protagonist smoother than a dwarf (mine)shaft then throw in some mech suits you get Code Geass. The plot focuses on a masked [[Batman|vigilante]] called Zero <s>[[Alpharius|who may remind you of a certain someone]]</s> and their efforts to fight back against the Brittanian Empire but that's not all. The power of geass plays a major role (explaining it properly would be a spoiler but it's basically [[magic|magic]]/hypnosis). The mechs of the series are known as [[meme|Knightmares]] which serve as the main fighting force for Brittania and the rebels. If you want a show that has [[Heresy|qualities even the Emperor's Children would appreciate]] then watch it. [TV series: 25 episodes]
**'''''Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion R2''''': Follows as a continuation of the first season. Just as [[Pretty Marines|fabulous]]. [TV series: 25 episodes]
**'''''Code Geass: Lelouch of the Resurrection''''': A third season announced for <s>2017</s> 2018. Widely considered to be the producers [[Warhammer 40,000|milking the franchise]] but all the fanboys will no doubt end up [[Just as planned|watching it anyway]].

:Related games: [[Battletech]], playing with Imperial Knights in [[Warhammer 40,000]]

*'''''Eureka Seven''''': A boy who aspires to become a 'sky surfer' (think floating surfboards) links up with a cute girl who pilots a gigantic mech for the 'Gekkostate' organization. Said mechs ride upscaled versions of hover boards and battle government forces for control of a rare power source. To get a good idea what the mechs look like, picture Evangelions that can transform into vehicles and that carry fuckhueg surfboards. [TV series: 51 episodes + 1 movie that you shouldn't watch because it is bad.]
**'''''Eureka Seven AO''''': A sequel to the original that shits on basically everything the first series was about in [[Rage|the most aggravating manner possible]]. Avoid. [TV series: 25 episodes + 1 OVA]

:Related games: [[Traveller]], [[Battletech]]

*'''''Macross''''': One of the best mecha franchises of all time, this show revolves around fighter jets that transform into mecha. Started with ''Super Dimension Fortress Macross'', and spawned multiple series and movies afterwards. Kinda took a left turn into the idol-genre (especially after the 'Do You Remember Love?' OVA), but overall pretty decent. Involves hmanity fighting giant aliens with the help of transforming starfighters called Variable fighters. It should stand on it's own merits, rather than on my explanation of the plot. (4 TV series, 6 OVAs, 8 Full-length animated movies)
:Related games: [[Battletech]], [[Star Frontiers]]

*'''''Robotech''''': One of the most well-known anime series of all time, it basically revolves around humanity fighting against multiple alien invaders with transforming mecha. It helped influence the Transformers franchise and is a must-watch for mecha/sci-fi enthusiasts. Also the reason why many of the original [[BattleTech]] designs can never be remodeled again; [[FASA]] licensed the designs from Japan first but [[Games Workshop|Harmony Gold didn't want to share.]] Now mostly known for the lawsuits it spawned, which at one point briefly saw Harmony Gold facing off against Microsoft. Is an adaptation and combination of three Japanese anime: '''''The Super Dimension Fortress Macross''''', '''''Super Dimension Cavalry Southern Cross''''', and '''''Genesis Climber MOSPEADA''''', for which the term "Macekre" was coined, referring to producer Carl Macek. [TV series: 85 episodes + 4 movies + 2 OVAs]

:Related games: [[BattleTech]], or you know Palladium's Robotech game

*'''''The Big O''''': Batman meets mechs meets Japanese monster movies in a post-apocalyptic world where nobody remembers anything prior to forty years ago and advanced androids walk the streets of an otherwise 1920s-era city dominated by glass domes. One of the biggest contenders for "Most Confusing Ending" award, it is otherwise well-regarded by the anime community and it's lack of a third season to answer all the questions is much-lamented. That said, the director had originally been given two seasons to plot out his story, had it cut to one due to poor ratings, then had a second season greenlit thanks to its performance in the US, only to give us another season of questions. [TV series: 26 episodes]

:Related games: [[Mekton]], Dungeons & Dragons: [[Eberron]], [[Spirit of the Century]]

*'''''Armored Trooper VOTOMS''''': A Mecha pilot of few words and fewer expressions seeks revenge on those who framed him, uncovering an ancient conspiracy along a way. One of the grittier and "realest" entries of the real robot genre without going into the hard sci-fi. Inspired [[Heavy Gear]], which the Japanese described as "The Votoms mecha in the Dougram setting", the latter referring to '''Fang of the Sun Dougram''', VOTOMS creator's earlier real robot series. It also has its [https://rpggeek.com/rpg/4111/armored-trooper-votoms-role-playing-game own role playing system] running off the Fuzion rules. [TV series: 52 episodes + 10 OVAs]

:Related games: [[Heavy Gear]]

*'''''Fang of the Sun Dougram''''': A pack of Guerillas with Real-Robot 'mechs fight a war of independence on a shitty-ass planet. Fairly strong amounts of cynicism and grey morality and minimal wacky shit firmly separate it from Gundam and the like. Was one of the direct inspirations for Battletech, which cribbed all it's 'mech designs verbatim and much of the extremely mad-max-esque setting. [TV series: 75 episodes + 2 movies +1 OVA]

:Related games: [[BattleTech]], A Time of War

*'''''Mobile Suit Gundam''''': The mecha anime that not only helped popularize Real-Robots in the first place but also started one of the longest-running sci-fi franchises in Japan and in time would help influence the [[Tau]]. Set in the midst of a bloody "One Year War" between the Earth Federation and <s>Space Nazis</s> oppressed colonists called the Principality of Zeon, it follows the trials of a whiny teenager who quickly grows a spine, the titular Gundam and the crew of the White Base as they generally try to win the war in one piece, with some <s>psyker</s> Newtype hijinks along the way. Also known for its grey morality, gritty portrayal of war, intrigue, lots of mass-produced robots dying in droves and even more deaths. Basically, the Japanese equivalent of Star Wars if it deconstructed Star Trek. Had poor ratings at its initial airing in 1979, only really gaining popularity with successive reruns. Now there are at least [TV series: 43 episodes + 3 movies]

:Related games: [[BattleTech]], [[Warhammer 40000]], [[Mekton]], [[Battle Century G]]

*'''''Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans''''': One of the latest (<s>and most [[Awesome|awesome]]/[[FAIL|failed]] (terrible plot pacing, wonky villain motive)</s> ([[Skub|It's complicated]])) iterations of the Gundam franchise, IBO focusses on a group of young [[Imperial Guard|orphans-turned-soldiers]] and their struggle to protect a princess trying to bring peace to the land. There are only 72 Gundam suits ever produced in this post-apocalyptic setting, and a good bunch of them appear in the hands of both the antagonists and the protagonists. As expected of a Gundam show, the [[Rip and Tear|deaths are aplenty]] and there are a ton of intense mecha-on-mecha action scenes to enjoy. What differentiates this Gundam series from the others is how the protagonists suffer extraordinarily painful events throughout the show, [[Grimdark|despite the fact that they are children barely approaching their teen years]] (as expected, this has generated much debate on the topic of child soldiers and other more [[Serious Business|serious business]] brought up in the plot, such as slavery and neo-colonialism). The main crew will fight [[Freebooterz|pirates]], mercenaries, and a huge military organization along their journey, and the show also features a charismatic soldier [[Tzeentch|trying to manipulate people on both sides of the conflict]] to bring balance to <s>[[Star Wars|the Force]]</s> the aforementioned military organization. <s>[[What|Ignore the fact that he is technically engaged to a kid despite being a fully-grown adult.]]</s> Also, unlike…hell, most anime in general, there’s a semi-legit reason for the child soldiers here. The kids have special spinal implants that are basically 40k mind-impulse links, allowing them to control mobile suits and mobile workers with their minds, as extensions of their own bodies, and thus giving them much faster and more fluid control than any normal pilot. The catch is that only the still developing bodies of kids can safely accept the implants. Then we go into derp territory when these mind-impulse link child soldiers are [[wat|treated as disposable trash by their commanders, considered worthless beyond the fact that they have "whiskers."]] Oh, also, unlike any other Gundam series, this one is not only an on-Earth exclusive one, but (due to advances in armor rendering lasers almost completely impotent) the use of ranged weapons is much more sparse, with XBOX HUEG melee weapons as the main instrument of fighting. [TV series: 50 episodes]

:Related games: See above

== Things That Aren't Anime, But You Thought Were ==
*'''''[[Touhou]]''''': An arcade-style, shoot-em-up vidya series, featuring a 100% [[loli]] cast, barring one or two NPCs here or there. Its fandom is incredibly large and kooky, and so fanart of its characters get plastered all over 4chan, causing newfags to ask what anime they are from and incite much derision. It has however, received several official manga spinoffs. [Video-game series: 27 titles, as of '''''Hidden Star in Four Seasons''''']

:Related games: [[Video games|/v/ stuff, shmups,]] [[Exalted]], [[4e]] (that's a joke, a joke [[Touhou_Power_Cards|someone made terrifyingly real]].)

*'''''[[Wakfu]]''''': A French (and therefore absolutely based) cartoon about a kid named Yugo who discovers he is part of a long-lost race of people with the ability to create portals. A fun world with fun characters and a surprisingly deep BBEG that is not to be confused with [[Waifu|your waifu.]] [TV series: 52 episodes + 6 specials + 27 episode mini-series]

:* '''''Dofus: The Treasures of Kerubim''''': Is an episodic series about a retired adventurer who runs an item shop, set around 1000 years before the '''''Wakfu''''' timeline and 200 years before the game. [TV series: 52 episodes + 1 movie]

::(Both Dofus and Wakfu stem from flash-made MMOs of the same names, both games have multiple classes that decide players' abilities and base appearance so homebrews are very possible.)

:Related Games: [[Krosmaster]], which features the same characters and races. Wakfu had an [http://docs.google.com/document/d/14WGhmgmK_tW9LJEQfwFAbpMeja7csNb-zt__3H7SDzQ/ unofficial early beta RPG] and the company Ankama has [http://www.dofus.com/en/mmorpg/news/announcements/265763-would-you-be-interested-tabletop-rpg-set-dofus-world asked if anyone is interested] in an official RPG.

*'''''[[Avatar: The Last Airbender]]''''': In a world where creatures are able to manipulate the elements through martial arts, a child capable of controlling air who froze himself in ice awakens to find that he is the last of his kind. This child is also the Avatar, a person with potential to manipulate all elements and multiply their power by communing with past lives. His adventure involves traveling with friends to master the elements in hopes of unlocking his powers and overthrowing the evil emperor of the Fire Nation that seeks to conquer the world.[http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive/23320304/ we argued about it once. No we didn't.] [TV series: 61 episodes]

:* '''''Avatar: The Legend of Korra''''': The sequel to the above set sixty years in the future. The next Avatar (Korra, a delicious brown girl from the water-manipulating tribe) struggles to make peace between the normals and the element-fu-wielding upper class amid the setting's equivalent of the Roaring Twenties. There's also some stuff about [[Chaos|a god of darkness disrupting the spirit world.]] Incredibly skubtastic on /co/ due to various hamhanded attempts at character development. [TV series: 52 episodes]

:Related games: [[Exalted]], [[Legends of the Wulin]]. Also has a card-game that uses QuickStrike rules.

*'''''RWBY''''': [[Skub|Anime-esque CGI production]] made by the late Monty Oum and RoosterTeeth, pronounced "ruby". The world is filled with creatures known as Grimm that seek to destroy humanity, stemmed back by a pseudo-magical substance known as Dust and an order of protectors known as Huntsmen, which the four main female characters are training to be. Started off [[noblebright]] with themes of tolerance and improving society, then got more [[grimdark]] by the middle of the third season. [[Skub|Depending on who you ask, it's either an enjoyable (if flawed) series with good characters, an interesting setting and ideas, and cool weapons, or a dumpster fire of bootleg anime tropes smashed together with hackneyed writing.]] Pretty much everyone agrees that the fight choreography is amazing in the first two seasons (and most of the third, till Monty unexpectedly died), which lends itself to some popularity among fa/tg/uys. Currently someone is trying to make [[RWBY RPG|an RPG based on the setting]] and RT's game development group recently expressed interest in making tabletop games of the series, supposedly based off a tabletop game played in the series, because [[recursion|Meta things are fun.]] Also notable for being widely hated on both [[/co/]] and [[/a/]], unlike most of the things on this list, so tread carefully when discussing it. Also, someone wrote a surprisingly touching crossover with 40k. Lamenters on Remnant works better than you think.
:Related games: low-level [[Exalted]], [[Big Eyes, Small Mouth]]

== Things That Aren't Approved but Merit a Footnote ==

*'''''Aura Battler Dunbine''''': Tomino made this trainwreck after Gundam. Some guy and his motorcycle gets transported to a fantasy world Ash Williams style, only to discover it's full of fantasy giant robots with fantasy missiles and fantasy laser beams. Imagine guys in armor with swords piloting bug-like mecha against castles defended by spearmen and rock throwing catapults; it's like they deliberately set out to be more [[Gamma World]] than Gamma World. Halfway through the series the whole mess gets transported from fantasy world to Cold War Earth and the Cold War goes hot. Everybody dies. [TV series: 49 episodes]

:Related games: Army of Darkness RPG, [[Gamma World]]

[[Category:Weeaboo]][[Category:Approved Media]]

Approved Anime

2020-02-27T22:38:41Z

65.117.99.152: /* Action */

This is a list of [[/tg/]] '''approved [[anime]]''', organized loosely into genres. For /tg/-approved manga, [[manga|go here]].

= Before you add anything...'''READ THIS''' =

''/tg/ likes its anime, but if we listed every single one that could be interpreted as being /tg/-related this article would be large enough to be its own wiki. So before you add in a new title, ask yourself these questions:''

* Is it a licensed material from a traditional game? (If yes, add it right now, no questions asked. And homebrews don't count- it has to be a real, established game.)

* Does it feature traditional gaming? (If it's an important part of the show, add it.)

* Is it fantasy or sci-fi? (We have a huge boner for that, but explain how it's relevant first.)

* Does it cater to our demographic? Fa/tg/uys tend to be males in their 20s. (Again, see if it fits the other criteria well enough.)

* Does /tg/ talk about it a lot, or does it have some historical relevance to /tg/? (Like the one directly above, it's not enough on its own, but it might get a pass if it fits more criteria.)

* Is this just /a/'s flavor of the month bleeding over into /tg/? (NO. Your addition will likely be reverted, so don't bother. As a general rule wait a few months after it shows up.)

Add important details (e.g. tv series or OVA, number of episodes or movies) in brackets. Furthermore, follow the formatting in general, we beg you. Also keep in mind that anime gets adapted from manga far more often then cartoons in the west get adapted from comics, so there is liable to be overlap with the "approved manga" page linked above.

=Genres=
== Action ==
*'''''[[Fist of the North Star]]''''': The singular manliest show ever made. Slap together Mad Max and a ruthless, hyper-violent Bruce Lee, and that should help explain how this show became the legend it is today. ['''READ THE MANGA'''][TV series: 152 episodes + 1 movie, OVA series: 3 episodes, Spin-Off series: 12 episodes + 4 OVAs]

:Related games: ''Street Fighter: The Storytelling Game'', playing a [[monk]] in [[D&D]], [[Dark Sun]]

*'''''[[JoJo's Bizarre Adventure]]''''': The singular manliest ''and'' most FABULOUS! show ever made. Unreasonably beautiful men with weird and convoluted superpowers hunt vampires. Hop in the car, loser, we're going posing. ['''READ THE MANGA'''][OVA series: 13 episodes + 1 movie, TV series: 74 episodes and counting] Referenced in [[TTS]] so you know it's good.

:Related games: [[Mutants and Masterminds]], [[FATE]], low-level [[Exalted]], [[The Ballad of Edgardo]]

*'''''Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann''''': <span style='color:green'>The singular [[Ork]]iest show ever made.</span> Starts out with human rebels on looted mechs fighting bio-engineered beastmen, gets progressively more and more out of hand. Exceedingly, gloriously out of hand. Surprisingly well-written and philosophical below the pumped up appearance. Steve Blum also voices a queer guy, no joke. Notable for the fact that by the final episode the main characters achieve Enuff [[Dakka]] by shooting at EVERY POINT IN SPACE AND ACROSS TIME. [TV series: 27 episodes + 2 movies + 15 shorts + 1 sexy ass music-video]

:Related games: [[Mekton]], [[Toon]]

*'''''Hunter x Hunter''''': <s>Two shota boys fighting dudes.</s> In all seriousness, there are four major characters introduced in the series: Gon, the country raised kid who wants to find his awesome dad (shota #1); Killua, the young assassin raised in an assassin family who wants to befriend Gon just to escape his assassin duty (shota #2); Kurta, the last of its clan of [[psyker|special humans]] that seeks vengeance against a group of super-strong psychopathic bandits; and Leorio, who's the weakest of the group (in the anime, anyways) but wields THE POWER OF FRIENDSHIP! ''HxH'' builds worlds like ''One Piece'', which is a huge commendation. It also created somewhat balanced and unique [[stat|power/class/level system]] called "nen", a downright rare accomplishment in a genre of [[meme|OVER 9000]] nonsense. [TV series: 62 episodes + 30 OVAs; Reboot: 148 episodes + 2 movies]

:Related games: [[FATE]], [[Exalted]], [[Quest thread|quests, quests, quests]]

*'''''Dragon Ball & Dragon Ball Z''''': Not initially thought to be /tg/ related, /tg/ is now getting shit done and writing an RPG in a similar fashion to how Adeptus Evangelion suddenly appeared. (There's also the cash-in RPG, if that counts.) They both share an entry since they're essentially just part 1 and 2 of the same story. Among THE most popular anime to ever exist, it goes from "Journey to the West" pastiche fantasy adventure to science fiction aliens and space gods. ['''READ THE MANGA'''] [Original TV series: 153 episodes + 3 movies, Z/GT/Super series: 397 episodes + 4 specials + 2 OVAs + 16 movies]

:Related games: [[Legends of the Wulin]], [[Exalted]], [[Dragon Ball PNP RPG|Dragon Ball Z: The Anime Adventure Game]]

*'''''Legend of the Galactic Heroes''''': Space Prussia fights Space France/America in one of the longest running debates on the relative merits of Dictatorship and Republicanism ever written. Aside from the 19th century army tactics IN SPACE, it is well regarded for the enormous amount of very well-written characters and an even-more-bloody disregard for the lives of said characters than GRRM. To sum it all up, grand and gruesome galactic battles rivaling 40K in scale, manly marines hacking others to bits, and Kaiser Reinhard (who's like a combination of Napoleon and Alexander the Great). Also quite possibly the single most screencapped anime on /tg/ for its wealth of brilliant monologues. The anime is actually an adaptation of a series of books from the early 1980's that are now available in english. Technology level is basically Traveller to a T. [OVA series: '''162''' episodes + 3 movies]
:Related games: [[Traveller]], [[GURPS|GURPS Space]], Full Thrust, [[Battlefleet Gothic]]

*'''''One Punch Man''''': The adventures of an in-universe [[Muscle Wizard]] superhero who can literally take down anything (ANY-FUCKING-THING) with a single, low-effort punch. Naturally, he's bored shitless and only seeks a worthy fight. An instant classic despite its anaemic twelve episodes thanks to its sense of humour, surprisingly smart character and genre writing, and utterly off-the-fucking-wall levels of batshit insane action -some of which gives even [[JoJo's Bizarre Adventure|JoJo]] and Gurren Lagann a run for their money. Also a great lesson in writing an OP character without sacrificing fun. [TV Series: 24 episodes + 9 OVAs and [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=atxYe-nOa9w| one fucking badass opening theme]].

:Related games: Playing an epic-level character in D&D (especially a monk), most superhero RPGs.

*'''''My Hero Academia''''': Take X-Men. Make almost everybody a mutant, but give most people [[Fail|mediocre]] or incredibly specific powers. Then make Xavier's school an actual school for learning how to use your powers. That's My Hero Academia, the anime that launched over 9000 low-PL Mutants and Masterminds games. While the general plot is a standard "audience surrogate claws his way to the top" affair, it's still achieved widespread acclaim on both /co/ and /tg/ for avoiding the traps that make most shonenshit and capeshit insufferable, putting a reasonable amount of thought into how large numbers of people with superpowers would affect society and focusing on relatively tame and limited powers applied creatively over cheesy super-kill-everything moves, which makes it a goldmine for anyone looking to run their own supers game. [[Warhammer High|One of the side characters also looks like a Daemonette, which has got to count for something.]] [TV series: 38 episodes and counting + 2 OVAs + 1 movie]
:Related games: [[Mutants and Masterminds]] or any other superhero game with a flexible powers system

*'''''Samurai Champloo''''': A show about two samurai with completely differing fighting styles being forced together along with a token female to fight for their personal goals. Combines crazy fight sequences with a <i>very</i> [[Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader|80's]]-style feel, along with quite a few moments of both [[Noblebright|slapstick]] and [[Grimdark|gallows]] humor. [TV series: 26 episodes]

:Related games: [[L5R]], Derailed [[D&D]] quests, [[Matt Ward|allying]] [[Necrons]], [[Blood Angels]], and [[Tau]] in a game of Warhammer

*'''''Youjo Senki - Saga of Tanya the Evil''''' ''(My Little Nazi)'': Strike Witches if it was actually about war instead of lesbians. A high functioning sociopath salary-man is murdered by one of his disgruntled former employees and gets reincarnated into alt-fantasy 1910s Germany as the smuggest of [[Loli|lolis]]. Follows the general rhythms of the 21st-century-wargame-nerd-gets-transported-back-in-time genre, with the twist that God is actively fucking with Tanya to ruin all her carefully-planned attempts to escape the war and lead a cushy rear echelon life. While the premise may sound silly, the military action and writing are good enough to make it work. Tanya is more likable by miles than the stuffed-shirt protagonists of [[Isekai|similar shows]], despite a level of sociopathy that should make her the automatic villain. This makes her a wonderful inspiration for anyone who wants to play a Lawful Evil character with a personality beyond "rule the world with an iron fist." If you want frequent comedic misunderstandings, read the manga. If you want a bunch of elaborate explanations read the light novel. Also contains a fair amount of background for using modern concepts in WW1 for those GMs who have to live Darth and Droids/DM of the Rings on a weekly basis. [TV series: 12 episodes]

:Related games: [[Magical Burst]], [[GURPS]] Infinite Worlds, [[Only War]], Torg

*'''''Blood Blockade Battlefront''''': A portal to another dimension opens in the middle of New York, transforming it in a combination of the two worlds. The city is renamed Hellsalem's Lot and become inhabited by both humans and the so-called beyonders. The series follow the members of Lybra, a clandestine organization made of people with special abilities that protect the city, and prevent lunacy from affecting the rest of the world. Special mention to Lybra's leader, Klaus Von Reinherz, a guy with looks and the strength of an ogre, the demeanor of a true gentlemen, and attacks with [[awesome|giant crosses of destruction made with his own blood and created through manly punches]]. As an added /tg/ bonus, one episode revolves around a boardgame called Prosfair, which is basically what you would get if [[Tzeentch]] decided to write homebrew rules for [[Chess]]. [TV series: 12 episodes + 1 OVA]
**'''''Blood Blockade Battlefront & Beyond''''': Sequel continuing the story. [TV series: 12 episodes]

:Related games: [[Esoterrorists]], [[World of Darkness]], [[Chess]]

== Comedy ==
*'''''Haiyore! Nyaruko-san''''': 2009 flash animations, [http://www.crunchyroll.com/nyarko-san-another-crawling-chaos still on crunchyroll.] [Web series: 21 shorts.]
**'''''Nyarko-san: Another Crawling Chaos''''': A 2012 anime, it's one of those wacky highschool comedy bits that Japan shits out every season, except starring [[H.P. Lovecraft|Nyarlathotep]]. Yes, seriously. Pop culture references, [[/d/]]eviance, [[Sanity|SAN]] loss (complete with official-format [[Call of Cthulhu]] character sheets), and gratuitous rape of canon ensue. [[Butthurt|"She's an eldritch abomination, not your waifu!"]] [TV series: 24 episodes + 3 OVAs]

:Related games: [[Call of Cthulhu]] (barely), [[Maid RPG]]

*'''''Kono Subarashii Sekai ni Shukufuku o!''''' (''KonoSuba''): A 2016 parody of the [[isekai]] meme that hit flavor-of-the-month status after the anime adaptation hit Crunchyroll. The main character dies and gets reincarnated into a generic fantasy world *yawn*, but he ends up with an incredibly un-[[Powergamer|optimized]] party of dumbasses. Starting with "the weakest" generic Adventurer class, he's joined by a brain-dead Priest who [[Derp|spent most of her skill points on party tricks,]] a Wizard who can only cast ''one'' spell per day because [[Munchkin|she absolutely refuses to learn anything other than the top-tier attack spell]], and a Fighter who's [[Magical realm|built as a pure meatshield because she's a hardcore masochist.]] They're also joined by a [[wat|big-tittied lich]] who is actually competent but keeps getting nearly purged by the priest due to being undead. It resembles a group of new players stumbling though their first RPG campaign, run by an experienced GM who is laughing his ass off. Now getting a dub(it's here), so be prepared for mistranslated memes to be quoted ad nauseam. [TV series: 20 episodes + 2 OVAs + 1 film]

:Related games: [[World of Warcraft|MMORPGs]], [[Dungeon World]], [[Knights Of The Dinner Table]]

*'''''[[Life With Monstergirls|Everyday Life with Monster Girls]]''''': A 2015 anime that tickles the fancy of anyone who claims /tg/ can become /d/-lite-ful in the wee hours of a Saturday morning. [[Monstergirls]] everywhere, in glorious full-color animation. The manga this is based off of had a few brain cells and funny bones to rub together as well; expect to love or hate slaking your thirst for waifu herein. The manga is also a goldmine of reaction images. Be warned: this is an ecchi show, so the artist gets as close as he can to actual sex without the sex, thus stringing along the wallets of horny otaku without losing the support of high-profile publishers. [[Games Workshop|So you should be right at home.]] Also expect older /d/eviants to call you a faggot if you like this series, thanks to its comparative tameness and the number of lightweights who only discovered monstergirls when this series stripped out the [[/d/|"weird"]] and then get triggered by something like [[Mon Musu Quest!]] If you want to see actual boinking, the original author had some webcomics about monstergirls he made under the same name before the manga and anime; [[Weeaboo|weeaboos]] collectively call them '''Daily Life with Monster Girls''' to avoid confusion. [TV series: 12 episodes + 2 OVAs]

:Related games: [[Dungeons and Dragons]] PC race expansions, [[Mon Musu Quest!]] (barely), [[Maid RPG]], [[Quest thread|quests, quests, quests]]

== Fantasy ==
*'''''[[Record of Lodoss War]]''''': Particularly noteworthy because it actually started life series of role-playing game sessions (first edition D&D!) that were turned into novels and then an Anime, that alone gives it major points. Sometimes known as [[meme|''Record of Loads of War'']]. Plot wise it's a bit cliché, but it is still well regarded. [OVA series: 13 episodes + 27 TV episodes]
**The same setting has two less famous anime titles: '''''Legend of Crystania''''' and '''''Rune Soldier'''''

:Related Games: [[Dungeons & Dragons]] (1st edition), Sword World (1st edition)

*'''''Fullmetal Alchemist''''': Forever among the ranks of the most popular anime EVER (and maybe the best, too, but you know, [[Skub]]), it has a young alchemist trying to recover both his missing limbs (his right arm and left leg) and his brother's ENTIRE BODY, which were lost following an alchemy accident where they attempt to [[Grimdark|revive their mother]]. The story eventually diverges from the manga to the point of characters having completely different roles in the story and which is polarizing when compared with the later series. [TV series: 51 episodes + 1 movie + 4 OVAs]
**'''''Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood''''': Take Iron Kingdoms, take magic out, ignore a good part of the tech but add [[Avatar: The Last Airbender|element-bending]], daddy issues and the more awesome parts of the Imperial Guard, and you get Brotherhood. It's impressive that there hasn't been made a RPG to this setting yet, as it's almost perfect for a Dark Heresy-esque game. Includes copious amounts of blood without becoming gore, genocides and unholy powers taking your body in exchange for knowledge. Has better animation and the original manga's story in exchange for being less grimdark than the 2003 series. [TV series: 64 episodes + 4 OVAs]

:Related games: [[Dark Heresy|Dark Heresy]], [[Warmachine]], [[Eberron]]

*'''''(The) [[Slayers]]''''': AD&D 2nd edition: The Animation. Known for being a significantly more realistic take on what tabletop roleplay is like than the aforementioned ''Lodoss War'', despite not actually being so closely based off an actual campaign. ''Lodoss War'' has been described as being the campaign the DM planned, whereas ''Slayers'' has been described as the campaign the players ended up playing. The TV series and OVA series are separate continuities with some overlap in the form of cameos. [TV series: 104 episodes + 1 movie, OVA series: 6 + 4 movies]

:Related games: [[Dungeons & Dragons|Advanced Dungeons & Dragons]]

*'''''Spice and Wolf''''': A show about [[Horo]], wolf-girl pagan goddess of the harvest (Often mistaken for [[Leman Russ]],) and also economics. Proof that not all medieval fantasy has to be sword-and-sorcery to be interesting.

:Related games: [[Settlers of Catan]], [[GURPS]] Fantasy Setting

*'''''Maoyuu Maou Yuusha''''': (''Geopolitical Economic Theories in My D&D?''): An anime in which the brave Hero (named Hero) enters the Demon Realm in an attempt to kill the evil Demon Lord (named Demon Lord). In retaliation the Demon Lord diplomances him into submission, explains how the economy works, then proceeds to dominate the southern human realm with basic human rights, intelligent farming methods and smart business strategies. Originated as a webnovel published on 2ch's text boards, and matriculated into the spiritual successor to ''Spice and Wolf''. [TV series: 25 episodes + 2 OVAs]

:Related games: [[Settlers of Catan]], [[GURPS]] Fantasy Setting, [[Ironclaw]], [[Road to Enlightenment]], Deus Vult: Wargaming in the Time of the Crusades, [[Reign]]

*'''''Sengoku Basara: Samurai Kings''''': A retelling of the Sengoku Era of feudal Japan, spearheaded by OP historical figures with varying accuracy and their own special attributes like six-wielding lightning shooting katanas. It is also nearly as manly as Fist of the North Star and somehow includes a fucking cyborg titan, steam-punkesque machinery, and magic. Sengoku Basara itself is a series of video games that predate and proceed the story of the anime (not to be confused with Samurai Warriors due to the same setting, same characters, and similar gameplay). [TV series: 24 episodes + 2 OVAs]

:Related games: [[Exalted]], Civilization, LoL

*'''''[[Strike Witches]]''''': (''Little Girls in Panties''): WWII flying aces redrawn as [[loli]] airplane machines which zap aliens while flying around without pants. Not really beloved by /tg/, but someone thought something about the show would make [[Dive into the Sky|a good homebrew.]] [TV series: 24 episodes + 1 movie + 4 OVAs]

:Related games: [[Axis & Allies]], Axis and Allies Angels 20, Ace of Aces, a metric fuckton of quests

*'''''Escaflowne''''': What you get when you combine Dungeons and Dragons with Mecha anime. Or simply say that it's DragonMech: The Anime... kinda. [TV series: 26 episodes + 1 movie]

:Related games: [[Dragonmech]]

*'''''Night Wizard!''''' is a 2007 anime licensed from the [http://www.fear.co.jp/nw/ same-named Japanese TRPG] (that uses [http://www.fear.co.jp/srs/ FEAR's free Standard RPG System]). It's based on an actual campaign and the DVD even has the original sessions as an alternate audio track, which is awesome... for anyone who understands Japanese. [TV series: 13 episodes]

:Related games: [http://www.fear.co.jp/srs/ Standard RPG System] obviously

*'''''Chaos Dragon: Sekiryū Sen'eki''''' is a 2015 anime based on sessions of the Japanese TRPG ''[http://sai-zen-sen.jp/special/reddragon/ Red Dragon]''. The players and GM are veterans from other anime productions, [http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=16889 more details at ANN.] [TV series: 12 episodes]

:Related games: [http://sai-zen-sen.jp/special/reddragon/ Red Dragon] obviously

*'''''Maria the Virgin Witch''''': What makes us add Maria to this list is not anything about its characters or its plot detailing a Witch in the 100 years war between England and France trying to stop the fighting, but it's accuracy. To be blunt, it's not just historically accurate for an anime, [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_tFOJFyTl1U but it's historically accurate <u>period</u>.] If you want to get a decent idea of the Hundred Years War weapons and techniques, Maria is far from worst media you could watch to see what this kind of fighting looked like. [TV series: 12 episodes]

:Related games: [[Warhammer Fantasy]], [[Dungeons & Dragons|Advanced Dungeons & Dragons]]

*'''''Izetta the Last Witch''''': A witch gets thrown into a pandemonium of a world. The year is 1939 and the Empire of Germania has just invaded the small principality of Elystadt. Includes: Magic, World War 2, actual fucking trench warfare (and its failure to blitz tactics) and pretty much all things 1939 (also has moe lovechild of the SAS and a Vindicare temple). It's not quite ''Valkyria Chronicles'' and it's not quite ''Pumpkin Scissors'', but if you liked either one you'll probably like this too. It also has Imperial Guard-tier holding the line long enough for the MCs to take all the credit. The amount of detail may be enough to compensate for the admittedly weak story, [[-4 STR|dodgily written]] female characters, and the fact MC is a full blown [[Mary Sue]]. That said, she rides a fucking fuckhueg Anti-Tank Rifle (a derivation of the Boys and Type 97) as a broom and makes swords fly like any respectable rogue psyker. [TV series: 12 episodes]

:Related games: [[Warhammer 40k]], [[Warhammer]], [[Bolt Action]],[[Flames of War]], [[Axis & Allies]]

*'''''First Squad: The Moment of Truth''''': This is set in the eastern front during the Second World War where a group of "gifted" Soviet youth are trained to be a countermeasure to the Schutzstaffel trying to reanimate (through dark arts) an army of Teutonic Knights from a 12th century invasion of Russia (specifically, it's probably the Battle of Peipus (Battle of the Ice)). It has Soviet and Nazi Paranormal Tech, Panzers, and short but well made battle scenes, and what is probably a progenitor of the Ordo Malleus. What more is there to say? [Movie, Japanese Audio: 1:00:28 + Russian Audio with "interview" cutscenes: 1:12:53]

:Related games: [[Warhammer 40k]], [[Warhammer]], [[Bolt Action]], [[Flames of War]], [[Axis & Allies]]

*'''''Queen's Blade''''': An ecchi anime full of [[Hot Chicks]] ripping apart each other's clothes. There's a plot involving a tournament to become the ruler of the world and claim the titular Queen's Blade, but [[PROMOTIONS|you're not going to care about it.]] Based on an old-school gamebook series that became big in Japan by stealing their secret art of hoovering up NEETbux with gratuitous nudity. [TV Series: 24 episodes + 6 OVAs + 12 specials]
**'''''Queen's Blade: Rebellion''''': A sequel to the previous. After Claudia won the Queen's Blade, she abolished the tournament and became a ruthless tyrant. The series follows rebels trying to overthrow her. Grinds against the line between ecchi and hentai like it was a table corner. [TV Series: 12 episodes + 2 OVAs + 6 specials]

:Related games: [[Fighting Fantasy]]

== Gaming ==
* For the same reasons that Western cinema has [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Films_about_chess too many movies about chess], anime has a number of titles dedicated to classic board games:
** Go: '''''Hikaru no Go'''''
** Mahjong: '''''Akagi: Yami ni Oritatta Tensai''''', '''''Furiten-kun''''', '''''Legendary Gambler Tetsuya''''', '''''Mahjong Hishō-den: Naki no Ryū''''', '''''Mudazumo Naki Kaikaku (The Legend of Koizumi)''''', '''''Saki''''', '''''Ten: Tenhoudouri No Kaidanji'''''.
** Shogi: '''''March Comes in Like a Lion''''', '''''The Ryuo's Work is Never Done!''''', '''''Shion no Ō'''''.

*'''''Problem Children are Coming from Another World, aren't they?''''': Sakamaki Izayoi, Kudou Asuka and Kudou Yoh are invited and transported to a place called "Little Garden", a sprawling melting pot of races grouped into communities. The three children are given "Gifts" and participate in the high-stakes "Gift Games", that can win back the prestige and territory of their community. The setting has analogies to Planescape's Sigil in general. [TV series: 10 episodes + 1 OVA]

:Related games: [[Planescape|Planescape]], [[Dungeons & Dragons|Advanced Dungeons & Dragons]], [[Quest thread|quests]]

*'''''No Game No Life''''': Two basement shut-ins [[OP|who win every game they play]] are dropped into a world where everything is decided with games, even national borders. They have to save the humans from getting steamrolled by 15 other races, all of whom use magic to cheat since Humans can't sense magic being cast. Involves plenty of traditional-of-traditional games being played, with metagaming tricks and cheating. [TV series: 12 episodes]

:Related games: A lot of "normal" [[board games]], [[Monopoly#Metanopoly|Metanopoly]]

*'''''After-School Dice Club''''': A high-school club of mostly cute girls who play Eurogames, with each episode featuring an actual Eurogame.
:Related games: A ton of [[Eurogames]], including of course [[Settlers of Catan]]

*'''''Tonari no Seki-kun''''': A slice of life High School show following a girl and her classmate who spends all class playing miscellaneous strange games with himself. The English adaptation is subtitled, "Master of Killing Time" for some weird reason. The manga it is based on is a gold mine of reaction images. [TV series: 1 OVA + 21 episodes]

:Related Games: [[Board Games]], bored games

*'''''[[Log Horizon]]''''': Players of popular MMORPG awaken in the game world itself. While the [[Isekai|"trapped in an MMO"]] premise is by no means a new thing in anime (a recent and infamously bad example being ''Sword Art Online'') Log Horizon is unique in the way it explores how the people thrust into such a situation would adapt without skipping straight to the shitty cliches. Now with its own TRPG core book. [TV series: 50 episodes]

:Related games: Log Horizon TRPG, [[/v/|Everquest]], [[4e]]

*'''''Kantai Collection''''': Originally a browser waifu game, it's about WW2 naval warfare, where the ships are personified as [[loli]]s. Yes, seriously; it's in route of becoming something akin to [[Touhou]], given the amount of material out there getting mass-produced by the fans. When combined with ''[[Girls und Panzer]]'' and ''[[Strike Witches]]'', you got the moe armed force to end all moe armed forces, period. [TV series: 12 episodes + 1 movie]

:Related games: Battleship, Axis & Allies, [[Quest_thread|quests, quests, quests]].

*'''''Overlord''''': A 2015-2018 adaptation of the novels written by Kugane Maruyama, after his tabletop group disbanded. It follows Momonga, a leader of the guild Ainz Ooal Gown, on the very last day of the [[/v/|MMORPG]] ''Yggdrasil'', just before it shuts down. Instead of getting kicked offline, he [[wat|turns into his level 100 character]], the eponymous undead "[[lich|overlord]]" and discovers he has entered ''another world''. Sigh, yes, it's yet another [[Isekai]] setting; but! there are a few twists: he's ended up in a new world that's not ''Yggdrasil'', in the middle of three countries at war, and has an entire castle full of guild [[NPC]]s that are suddenly alive ''Night at the Museaum''-style. Also, almost every spell name is ripped straight from D&D. [TV series: 39 episodes + shorts]

:Related games: High-level [[3.5e]]

*[[Girls und Panzer|'''''Girls und Panzer''''']]: As mentioned by the Kantai Collection entry above, this show rounds out the 'Holy Moe Armed Forces Trinity' by having schoolgirls actually fight each other in historic World War II tanks (tanks manufactured slightly after World War II, such as the British Centurion, are also featured, and the most recent add-on puts in FV tanks and a FUCKING MK V LANDSHIP) in a war game blown up to real proportions. The main story follows a ragtag Japanese high school 'tankery' team as they try to beat the more elite (and powerful) teams competing on the international level. Featuring towns built on oversized aircraft carriers, plenty of World War II references, and a diverse cast of characters, this show panders to anime fans and World of Tanks/War Thunder players alike (In fact, GuP and WoT are cross-promoting each other's materiel). [TV series: 7 OVAs, 12 episodes and 2 recap episodes]

:Related games: [[Flames of War]]

== Horror, Grimdark, & Mindfuckery ==

*'''''Neon Genesis Evangelion''''': A philosophical character drama and Lovecraftian Horror Mindrape that pretends to be a mecha anime for its first half. Either one of the greatest (if not THE greatest) anime ever produced, or an overrated piece of tripe that collapsed under the weight of its own pretentiousness and awful budgeting, depending on who you ask; there is no middle ground. Inspiration for [[Adeptus Evangelion]], obviously. [TV series: 26 episodes + 2 movies, Reboot: 3 movies and counting]

:Related games: [[Adeptus Evangelion]], [[JAEVA Project]], [[CthulhuTech]]

*'''''Psycho-Pass''''': Classic cyberpunk dystopia from Gen "The Butcher" Urobochi. Japan has once again isolated itself from the world after a poorly defined apocalypse and is now governed by the SYBLE System, which tracks everybody based on their "Crime Coefficient," [[Grimdark|imprisoning anybody who shows the potential for antisocial behavior.]] The series follows a squad of investigators and the "latent criminals" forced to work with them as they hunt down the people at the margins of the system with guts and giant fuck-off handguns that can disintegrate solid steel but are programmed to only kill bad people. An absolute goldmine for cyberpunk imagery somewhere in between the black-trenchcoat look of [[Cyberpunk 2020]] and the post-cyberpunk iPod future. [TV series: 22 episodes + 1 movie (named ''Mandatory Happiness'' of all things)]
**'''''Psycho-Pass 2''''': Sequel series without Urobochi. Takes away everything that made Psycho-Pass interesting and replaces it with guro. Avoid.
:Related games: [[Paranoia]], [[Shadowrun]]

*'''''Now and Then, Here and There''''': A young Japanese boy and American girl are transported through time and space to a dying world orbiting a dying star, and are forced to fight as a child soldier for evil men who rape and breed them, while the humans of the planet slowly fight themselves to extinction over water. Not for the faint of heart, or for anyone who thinks [[Warhammer 40k]] is as grimdark as humanly possible. This is true, hardcore grimdark. [TV series: 13 episodes]

:Related games: [[Dark Sun]] so very much, [[FATAL]], [[Gamma World]]

*'''''M.D. Geist''''': A psychotic super soldier is released on a post-apocalyptic abandoned colony to breach a former governmental compound and prevent the activation of an army of killer robots that are programed to exterminate all surviving humans on the planet. He blasts his way in, slaughtering the cybernetic defenders... then releases the army himself so he can fight forever, and if the rest of humanity is wiped out, who cares? [[Khorne]] approves! [1 OVA + 1 movie]

:Related games: [[Black Crusade]]

*'''''[[Hellsing]]''''': An action horror centering around the Hellsing organization: a secret agency who uses vampires to protect the British Crown from other supernatural forces. Alucard, a gun-toting vampire who is possibly one of the most powerful in all of fiction (basically he's fucking Dracula at full power and not stuck in a shitty old man body), and his new big-titted, former cop, fledgling Seras are their main agents. Their enemies include rogue vampires, [[Ecclesiarchy|a homicidal <s>Scottish</s> Irish priest]] from the Catholic Church, and Millenium: a psychotic group of <s>neo-Nazis</s> Actual OG Nazis (1,000+ Waffen-SS volunteers to create the Letzte Bataillon) who want to take over Europe through [[wat|a battalion of artificially-created Nazi Vampires.]] Mostly known for its Biblical references and imagery and abnormal amounts of blood spewing out of anything and anyone like a bunch of Fruit Gushers (though nowhere near as [[Grimderp]] as Devilman or Violence Jack.) Divided into two continuities; the original, 13 episode, TV series (which overtook the manga and so went in an entirely different direction, and has lackluster animation, but also deeper characters, a more even theme, and a rocking soundtrack) and the "Ultimate" OVA series (totally faithful to the manga, but that also means it keeps ping-ponging between beautifully animated guro and cutesy-poo chibi "comedy" sections). [TV Series: 13 Episodes, OVA series: 10 Episodes]

:Related games: [[Dark Heresy]], maybe [[Achtung! Cthulhu]], [[Vampire: The Requiem]] + [[Hunter: The Vigil]] + [[Deviant: The Renegades]] (TV series only), some batshit insane fusion of [[Vampire: The Masquerade]] and [[Scion]] or [[Exalted]] (Ultimate)

*'''''[[Berserk]]''''': Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay: The Anime. Guts, a brutal and unstoppable swordsman, walks the land of grimdark as he recounts his impossibly bad-assed past. Noted for being GUTS HUEG because GUTS is HUEG, meaning he has [[Rip and Tear|HUEG GUTS]]. [TV series: 25 episodes][READ THE MANGA]
**'''''Berserk: The Golden Age Arc Movie Trilogy''''': This focuses on the Manga's Golden Age Arc only the whole trilogy is currently on Netflix (added bonus its dubbed in ''english''). [3 movies]
**'''''Berserk (2016)''''': Building largely on the achievements of the aforementioned movie trilogy, the latest incarnation of Berserk finally explores a more monstrous and demon-infested setting set two years after the Golden Age Arc. While despised by many fans for its terrible CG animation and skipping major character moments, it's the only thing you're going to get for a long while. Made by the same people that gave you Teekyuu, the ''nine season'' shitpost.

:Related games: [[Warhammer Fantasy]]

*'''''Ergo Proxy''''': What if [[Cthulhu]] was in Ghost in the Shell? Starts out like as a fairly political investigation story set in a distopian city, evolves into one hell of a journey in the post-apocalyptic world outside filled with acid trips. Like Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas with a story. [TV series: 23 episodes]

:Related games: [[Dark Heresy]], [[Shadowrun]], [[Dark Sun]], [[CthulhuTech]]

*'''''Boku Dake ga Inai Machi (ERASED):''''' Some nerd has the power to go back in time but only when a blue butterfly feels like it, and he uses this to solve murders and stop life threatening events. It's a lot like Butterfly Effect if it wasn't absolute pretentious crap. Also involves a lot of kids dying. [TV series: 12 episodes + 1 movie]

:Related games: one of the GUMSHOE games but with supernatural stuff toned down

*'''''Death Note''''': A random high schooler finds a book that lets him kill anyone whose name is written in it. What does he do with it? He tries to become a god by killing criminals. Only one dares to oppose him: the mysterious L. An exciting game of "He knows that I know that he knows," ensues. Originator of [[Just as planned]] thanks to an especially shitty translation. [TV Series: 37 episodes + 2 movies + 2 live-action movies + [[wikipedia:Manga Murder|one real-life murder case]]]

:Related games: [[Esoterrorists]], [[Kult]], [[Hunter: The Reckoning]], [[Delta Green]]

*'''''Puella Magi Madoka Magica''''': A middle school girl gets approached by a magical girl mascot animal with an offer to join a secret war between the grotesque witches and the magical girls that fight to curb their destructive influence. Naturally, it's a trap. Also the music is great (while the composer has been known to use Kajiuran (a gibberish language she made that sounds nice), quite a few people have manged to translate and even make covers in other language for some of the music, [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lu98k5vVP-Y German] sounds especially good.)! [TV Series: 12 episodes + 2 compilation movies and one expansion movie][watch the first compilation movie or first 3 episodes. If you aren't hooked, drop it]

:Related Games: [[Liberi Gothica]], [[Magical Girls - The Game]], [[Magical Burst]], [[Princess: The Hopeful]], [[Quest:Magical Girl Noir Quest]]

*'''''Made in Abyss''''': What happens when you cross Studio Ghibli with the lovecraftian horror of ''Madoka Magica'', the brutality of ''Berserk'' and the psychological horror of ''Digimon Tamers''? You get Made in Abyss that's what! Made in Abyss is set in a pseudo-fantasy/adventure genre that is populated by <u>''a lot''</u> of [[Loli|moe lolis]] mining and excavating ancient relics of a past civilization found scattered in a giant, deep fucking hole in the middle of the island. Like Digimon Tamers and Madoka Magica, it starts off cute and whimsical with absolutely ''gorgeous'' background art that would make the Great Hayao Miyazaki proud. But partway through the plot, the series turns into a very dark turn, and we mean <u>'''DARK'''</u>. The way the anime (and manga) handled its mature themes, its art design, the musical score, a well paced story progression and conclusion as well as not treating its audience like they are a bunch of mindless, horny basement dwellers earned it critical acclaim to not only anime elitists, but normal plebs as well. Furthermore, the fantastic world building of Made in Abyss has made it popular for D&D conversions. That and the fact that it gave /tg/ a bucket load of [[Meme|memes]] thanks to a certain bunch of characters...[TV Series: 13 episodes + upcoming second season]

:Related games: [[Dungeons and Dragons]]

*'''''[[Goblin Slayer]]''''': I'm Goblin Slayer, I hunt goblins. The epic tale of a hardcore autist adventurer who refuses to fight anything other than goblins, even when the BBEG is about to take over the world. Notable for its "realistic" take on medieval adventuring: D&D-style darkvision monster spam is a plot point, weapon lengths are taken into account, what magic exists is highly limited and time-consuming, and the titular goblins are [[Tucker's Kobolds]] gone grimdark with the shit-covered prison shankings and whatnot. Also lots of rape. Started as a web story on 2ch that immediately took off and transformed into the modern inheritor to Berserk's grimdark crown. [TV Series: 12 episodes and counting]

:Related games: [[The Riddle of Steel]], [[Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay]], [[FATAL]]

== Mecha ==
*'''''Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion''''': When you take terrorism, high school, chess and a protagonist smoother than a dwarf (mine)shaft then throw in some mech suits you get Code Geass. The plot focuses on a masked [[Batman|vigilante]] called Zero <s>[[Alpharius|who may remind you of a certain someone]]</s> and their efforts to fight back against the Brittanian Empire but that's not all. The power of geass plays a major role (explaining it properly would be a spoiler but it's basically [[magic|magic]]/hypnosis). The mechs of the series are known as [[meme|Knightmares]] which serve as the main fighting force for Brittania and the rebels. If you want a show that has [[Heresy|qualities even the Emperor's Children would appreciate]] then watch it. [TV series: 25 episodes]
**'''''Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion R2''''': Follows as a continuation of the first season. Just as [[Pretty Marines|fabulous]]. [TV series: 25 episodes]
**'''''Code Geass: Lelouch of the Resurrection''''': A third season announced for <s>2017</s> 2018. Widely considered to be the producers [[Warhammer 40,000|milking the franchise]] but all the fanboys will no doubt end up [[Just as planned|watching it anyway]].

:Related games: [[Battletech]], playing with Imperial Knights in [[Warhammer 40,000]]

*'''''Eureka Seven''''': A boy who aspires to become a 'sky surfer' (think floating surfboards) links up with a cute girl who pilots a gigantic mech for the 'Gekkostate' organization. Said mechs ride upscaled versions of hover boards and battle government forces for control of a rare power source. To get a good idea what the mechs look like, picture Evangelions that can transform into vehicles and that carry fuckhueg surfboards. [TV series: 51 episodes + 1 movie that you shouldn't watch because it is bad.]
**'''''Eureka Seven AO''''': A sequel to the original that shits on basically everything the first series was about in [[Rage|the most aggravating manner possible]]. Avoid. [TV series: 25 episodes + 1 OVA]

:Related games: [[Traveller]], [[Battletech]]

*'''''Macross''''': One of the best mecha franchises of all time, this show revolves around fighter jets that transform into mecha. Started with ''Super Dimension Fortress Macross'', and spawned multiple series and movies afterwards. Kinda took a left turn into the idol-genre (especially after the 'Do You Remember Love?' OVA), but overall pretty decent. Involves hmanity fighting giant aliens with the help of transforming starfighters called Variable fighters. It should stand on it's own merits, rather than on my explanation of the plot. (4 TV series, 6 OVAs, 8 Full-length animated movies)
:Related games: [[Battletech]], [[Star Frontiers]]

*'''''Robotech''''': One of the most well-known anime series of all time, it basically revolves around humanity fighting against multiple alien invaders with transforming mecha. It helped influence the Transformers franchise and is a must-watch for mecha/sci-fi enthusiasts. Also the reason why many of the original [[BattleTech]] designs can never be remodeled again; [[FASA]] licensed the designs from Japan first but [[Games Workshop|Harmony Gold didn't want to share.]] Now mostly known for the lawsuits it spawned, which at one point briefly saw Harmony Gold facing off against Microsoft. Is an adaptation and combination of three Japanese anime: '''''The Super Dimension Fortress Macross''''', '''''Super Dimension Cavalry Southern Cross''''', and '''''Genesis Climber MOSPEADA''''', for which the term "Macekre" was coined, referring to producer Carl Macek. [TV series: 85 episodes + 4 movies + 2 OVAs]

:Related games: [[BattleTech]], or you know Palladium's Robotech game

*'''''The Big O''''': Batman meets mechs meets Japanese monster movies in a post-apocalyptic world where nobody remembers anything prior to forty years ago and advanced androids walk the streets of an otherwise 1920s-era city dominated by glass domes. One of the biggest contenders for "Most Confusing Ending" award, it is otherwise well-regarded by the anime community and it's lack of a third season to answer all the questions is much-lamented. That said, the director had originally been given two seasons to plot out his story, had it cut to one due to poor ratings, then had a second season greenlit thanks to its performance in the US, only to give us another season of questions. [TV series: 26 episodes]

:Related games: [[Mekton]], Dungeons & Dragons: [[Eberron]], [[Spirit of the Century]]

*'''''Armored Trooper VOTOMS''''': A Mecha pilot of few words and fewer expressions seeks revenge on those who framed him, uncovering an ancient conspiracy along a way. One of the grittier and "realest" entries of the real robot genre without going into the hard sci-fi. Inspired [[Heavy Gear]], which the Japanese described as "The Votoms mecha in the Dougram setting", the latter referring to '''Fang of the Sun Dougram''', VOTOMS creator's earlier real robot series. It also has its [https://rpggeek.com/rpg/4111/armored-trooper-votoms-role-playing-game own role playing system] running off the Fuzion rules. [TV series: 52 episodes + 10 OVAs]

:Related games: [[Heavy Gear]]

*'''''Fang of the Sun Dougram''''': A pack of Guerillas with Real-Robot 'mechs fight a war of independence on a shitty-ass planet. Fairly strong amounts of cynicism and grey morality and minimal wacky shit firmly separate it from Gundam and the like. Was one of the direct inspirations for Battletech, which cribbed all it's 'mech designs verbatim and much of the extremely mad-max-esque setting. [TV series: 75 episodes + 2 movies +1 OVA]

:Related games: [[BattleTech]], A Time of War

*'''''Mobile Suit Gundam''''': The mecha anime that not only helped popularize Real-Robots in the first place but also started one of the longest-running sci-fi franchises in Japan and in time would help influence the [[Tau]]. Set in the midst of a bloody "One Year War" between the Earth Federation and <s>Space Nazis</s> oppressed colonists called the Principality of Zeon, it follows the trials of a whiny teenager who quickly grows a spine, the titular Gundam and the crew of the White Base as they generally try to win the war in one piece, with some <s>psyker</s> Newtype hijinks along the way. Also known for its grey morality, gritty portrayal of war, intrigue, lots of mass-produced robots dying in droves and even more deaths. Basically, the Japanese equivalent of Star Wars if it deconstructed Star Trek. Had poor ratings at its initial airing in 1979, only really gaining popularity with successive reruns. Now there are at least [TV series: 43 episodes + 3 movies]

:Related games: [[BattleTech]], [[Warhammer 40000]], [[Mekton]], [[Battle Century G]]

*'''''Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans''''': One of the latest (<s>and most [[Awesome|awesome]]/[[FAIL|failed]] (terrible plot pacing, wonky villain motive)</s> ([[Skub|It's complicated]])) iterations of the Gundam franchise, IBO focusses on a group of young [[Imperial Guard|orphans-turned-soldiers]] and their struggle to protect a princess trying to bring peace to the land. There are only 72 Gundam suits ever produced in this post-apocalyptic setting, and a good bunch of them appear in the hands of both the antagonists and the protagonists. As expected of a Gundam show, the [[Rip and Tear|deaths are aplenty]] and there are a ton of intense mecha-on-mecha action scenes to enjoy. What differentiates this Gundam series from the others is how the protagonists suffer extraordinarily painful events throughout the show, [[Grimdark|despite the fact that they are children barely approaching their teen years]] (as expected, this has generated much debate on the topic of child soldiers and other more [[Serious Business|serious business]] brought up in the plot, such as slavery and neo-colonialism). The main crew will fight [[Freebooterz|pirates]], mercenaries, and a huge military organization along their journey, and the show also features a charismatic soldier [[Tzeentch|trying to manipulate people on both sides of the conflict]] to bring balance to <s>[[Star Wars|the Force]]</s> the aforementioned military organization. <s>[[What|Ignore the fact that he is technically engaged to a kid despite being a fully-grown adult.]]</s> Also, unlike…hell, most anime in general, there’s a semi-legit reason for the child soldiers here. The kids have special spinal implants that are basically 40k mind-impulse links, allowing them to control mobile suits and mobile workers with their minds, as extensions of their own bodies, and thus giving them much faster and more fluid control than any normal pilot. The catch is that only the still developing bodies of kids can safely accept the implants. Then we go into derp territory when these mind-impulse link child soldiers are [[wat|treated as disposable trash by their commanders, considered worthless beyond the fact that they have "whiskers."]] Oh, also, unlike any other Gundam series, this one is not only an on-Earth exclusive one, but (due to advances in armor rendering lasers almost completely impotent) the use of ranged weapons is much more sparse, with XBOX HUEG melee weapons as the main instrument of fighting. [TV series: 50 episodes]

:Related games: See above

== Things That Aren't Anime, But You Thought Were ==
*'''''[[Touhou]]''''': An arcade-style, shoot-em-up vidya series, featuring a 100% [[loli]] cast, barring one or two NPCs here or there. Its fandom is incredibly large and kooky, and so fanart of its characters get plastered all over 4chan, causing newfags to ask what anime they are from and incite much derision. It has however, received several official manga spinoffs. [Video-game series: 27 titles, as of '''''Hidden Star in Four Seasons''''']

:Related games: [[Video games|/v/ stuff, shmups,]] [[Exalted]], [[4e]] (that's a joke, a joke [[Touhou_Power_Cards|someone made terrifyingly real]].)

*'''''[[Wakfu]]''''': A French (and therefore absolutely based) cartoon about a kid named Yugo who discovers he is part of a long-lost race of people with the ability to create portals. A fun world with fun characters and a surprisingly deep BBEG that is not to be confused with [[Waifu|your waifu.]] [TV series: 52 episodes + 6 specials + 27 episode mini-series]

:* '''''Dofus: The Treasures of Kerubim''''': Is an episodic series about a retired adventurer who runs an item shop, set around 1000 years before the '''''Wakfu''''' timeline and 200 years before the game. [TV series: 52 episodes + 1 movie]

::(Both Dofus and Wakfu stem from flash-made MMOs of the same names, both games have multiple classes that decide players' abilities and base appearance so homebrews are very possible.)

:Related Games: [[Krosmaster]], which features the same characters and races. Wakfu had an [http://docs.google.com/document/d/14WGhmgmK_tW9LJEQfwFAbpMeja7csNb-zt__3H7SDzQ/ unofficial early beta RPG] and the company Ankama has [http://www.dofus.com/en/mmorpg/news/announcements/265763-would-you-be-interested-tabletop-rpg-set-dofus-world asked if anyone is interested] in an official RPG.

*'''''[[Avatar: The Last Airbender]]''''': In a world where creatures are able to manipulate the elements through martial arts, a child capable of controlling air who froze himself in ice awakens to find that he is the last of his kind. This child is also the Avatar, a person with potential to manipulate all elements and multiply their power by communing with past lives. His adventure involves traveling with friends to master the elements in hopes of unlocking his powers and overthrowing the evil emperor of the Fire Nation that seeks to conquer the world.[http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive/23320304/ we argued about it once. No we didn't.] [TV series: 61 episodes]

:* '''''Avatar: The Legend of Korra''''': The sequel to the above set sixty years in the future. The next Avatar (Korra, a delicious brown girl from the water-manipulating tribe) struggles to make peace between the normals and the element-fu-wielding upper class amid the setting's equivalent of the Roaring Twenties. There's also some stuff about [[Chaos|a god of darkness disrupting the spirit world.]] Incredibly skubtastic on /co/ due to various hamhanded attempts at character development. [TV series: 52 episodes]

:Related games: [[Exalted]], [[Legends of the Wulin]]. Also has a card-game that uses QuickStrike rules.

*'''''RWBY''''': [[Skub|Anime-esque CGI production]] made by the late Monty Oum and RoosterTeeth, pronounced "ruby". The world is filled with creatures known as Grimm that seek to destroy humanity, stemmed back by a pseudo-magical substance known as Dust and an order of protectors known as Huntsmen, which the four main female characters are training to be. Started off [[noblebright]] with themes of tolerance and improving society, then got more [[grimdark]] by the middle of the third season. [[Skub|Depending on who you ask, it's either an enjoyable (if flawed) series with good characters, an interesting setting and ideas, and cool weapons, or a dumpster fire of bootleg anime tropes smashed together with hackneyed writing.]] Pretty much everyone agrees that the fight choreography is amazing in the first two seasons (and most of the third, till Monty unexpectedly died), which lends itself to some popularity among fa/tg/uys. Currently someone is trying to make [[RWBY RPG|an RPG based on the setting]] and RT's game development group recently expressed interest in making tabletop games of the series, supposedly based off a tabletop game played in the series, because [[recursion|Meta things are fun.]] Also notable for being widely hated on both [[/co/]] and [[/a/]], unlike most of the things on this list, so tread carefully when discussing it. Also, someone wrote a surprisingly touching crossover with 40k. Lamenters on Remnant works better than you think.
:Related games: low-level [[Exalted]], [[Big Eyes, Small Mouth]]

== Things That Aren't Approved but Merit a Footnote ==

*'''''Aura Battler Dunbine''''': Tomino made this trainwreck after Gundam. Some guy and his motorcycle gets transported to a fantasy world Ash Williams style, only to discover it's full of fantasy giant robots with fantasy missiles and fantasy laser beams. Imagine guys in armor with swords piloting bug-like mecha against castles defended by spearmen and rock throwing catapults; it's like they deliberately set out to be more [[Gamma World]] than Gamma World. Halfway through the series the whole mess gets transported from fantasy world to Cold War Earth and the Cold War goes hot. Everybody dies. [TV series: 49 episodes]

:Related games: Army of Darkness RPG, [[Gamma World]]

[[Category:Weeaboo]][[Category:Approved Media]]

Darkest Dungeon

2020-02-27T22:36:30Z

65.117.99.152:

{{/vg/}}
{{topquote|In time, you will know the tragic extent of my failings...|Your Ancestor}}

'''Darkest Dungeon''' is a [[Grimdark]] sidescrolling [[Dark Fantasy]] turn-based videogame with [[Cthulhu Mythos|Mythosian]] overtones that has become very popular on /tg/, thanks to [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eRh_mlAwxTI the unique and moody artstyle, the constant and quality narration,] and its surprising similarity to [[Old School Roleplaying]].

==The Story==
You are the last scion of a fallen noble family, one brought to ruin by a hedonistic ancestor who squandered the family fortune pursuing decadence and ultimately turned to dark pursuits in search of forbidden pleasures. This resulted in your family estate becoming the site of a sprawling excavation project filled with horrible monsters, while the surrounding lands are similarly corrupted, populated by nightmares of the Ancestor's own creation. The only (mostly) safe place is the Hamlet, which acts as the hub area of the game. Using the last of your family's money, you have returned to the estate to begin hiring [[adventurer]]s to try to and clear out the dark things lurking in the dungeon, gathering the riches that lie beneath to finance further and further expeditions beneath.

After all, not all of your explorers will return alive, or even sane...

The quote at the top of the page is something of an understatement in regards to the background of the game. His failings are as follows (so far):
* In his youth, he enjoyed the debauchery and general 120 Days Of Sodom (don't look it up if you don't know it already) behavior of the nobility in the courtyard of the estate. One day an attractive woman appeared and fluidly navigated the assembled nobles...so the Ancestor tried to kill her. She revealed herself as a vampire but he succeeded at killing her. He then promptly did what any sane, rational being would do and hung her upside-down to drain out all her cursed blood, mixed it with a prized vintage of wine, and threw a party. After enjoying his new "Really Bloody Mary" invention, the attending nobles and servants all became vampires and tore their own bodies to pieces while the Ancestor, who had only drunk a single drop of blood, gained a vision of the Eldritch horrors that lay beneath his mansion and began his obsession with them. As the mosquitos were lured by the blood, the wine, and the bloody wine, the Ancestor sealed the '''Courtyard''' away where it has since sunk back into the swamp and contained the now mosquito/vampire hybrid court. They now break loose periodically requiring you to send heroes to eliminate one of the original members of the court to send the creatures back to the swamps for awhile. Ignoring them results in the vampirism spreading, called the Crimson Curse, which has very little effect on heroes other than making them constantly need blood to avoid stacking debuffs and irrational behavior plus eventually death if unsated. Well, that and a zealot called the Fanatic who your Ancestor was aware of and is obsessed with purging the Curse by attacking any party with at least one cursed individual.
* As a child a small homeless girl had a crush on the Ancestor while he played in the town, which was nice when he was a kid but as a young man he found her irritating. So when he needed money to fund his newfound Eldritch fascination he cut a deal with the fishmen (not fish''er''men, Kuo-Toa style humanoid fish) who lived on the coast. He lured the girl to the pier and shackled her to an idol, both of which were the Ancestor's end of the deal in exchange for gems to fund his ambition. The girl was transformed into the likeness of the fishmen while destroying the human portion of her mind, and is their queen/mother/slave. She occupies the '''Cove'''.
* Starting his journey into madness began with the purchase of rare books, which drew the attention of a young woman skilled in the arts of herbalism and magic (read: a witch). While he enjoyed her company early on, she was just as obsessed with the creatures beneath the manor as he was and her path of study was in experimentation with edibles. Her body was twisted by the concoctions and he no longer found her physically attractive, banishing her to the '''Weald''' to dwell with the beasts. She's now a cannibal by the way (although there's some implication she'd always been one), and has been preying on your villagers.
* As he became more skilled in magic he obsessed over prolonging his life. After making a dead mouse's leg twitch, he invited experts in life and death from foreign nations to share knowledge with him, using his newly-acquired expertise of alchemy to make them trust him. After learning everything he could he killed each one in their beds and raised their corpses from the dead with their knowledge intact. Said undead Necromancers proceeded to raise more corpses, and so on creating a growing empire of the undead with no end, which now occupy the '''Ruins''' of the estate itself. The Ancestor considered this a massive success, then disregarded the fact that there's a growing army of the undead literally right outside his door.
* As his skill in magic improved, the Ancestor moved on from animating bones with a human mind to summoning creatures from beyond into flesh using blood rituals. He found that pigs were useful for rituals "since their flesh is most similar to that of humans", and managed to summon a gigantic "Great Thing" into the form of a gigantic pig. The thing required a massive amount of food to survive and both the Great Thing and the lesser things, all in the form of pigs, now occupy the '''Warrens''' and prey on the Hamlet. They have joined sides with the fungus monsters that already occupied the area, which have now overcome the former human residents.
* Eventually an old man arrived in the town telling prophesies to the locals about what would happen and riling them up against your family. The Ancestor threw him in the stockades, attempted to drown him, and literally covered the prophet's back in daggers but each time the old man returned and warned the peasants about the end of the world. Having given up, the Ancestor simply showed the prophet the Great Thing and explained what he planned to do. As a result, the poor bastard tore out his own eyes and fled to the Ruins, where a cult has gathered under his leadership and now works against your attempts to reverse your Ancestor's doings.
* The byproducts of his experiments (which weren't stable enough to remain pigmen and/or pig demi-gods) began to stack up, and when the excavation of the place beneath the estate broke through into the ancient tunnels and aquaducts he shoved all the various twitching semi-dead fleshy things down into them until the abominations all fused together in the Warrens. Now the giant chunk of random organs and flesh threatens not only lives of the Hamlet, but the very sanity of anyone who sees it.
* In order to enforce order on the town once the folk and local guards turned against him, the Ancestor employed bandits using a massive cannon. Calling them his militia they slaughtered many of the townsfolk and became the secret police through which he ruled. By the time you arrive, they've returned to being mere bandits, living by raiding the town from their base in the Weald. They are the very first threat you encounter, trying to stop you from even reaching the Hamlet in the first place. Their attacks on the Hamlet will continue even after your arrival, making even the '''Hamlet''' a potentially deadly battlefield from time to time.
* When bandit raids and the delicate nature of his shipments became too unsafe for the main roads, the Ancestor employed pirates to bring him his evil goods via a small section of the coast inaccessible save by a stairway leading to the estate. Eventually they increased their prices knowing they obviously had the market cornered, and the Ancestor had again bankrupted himself so he used his magic to curse their anchor with his ambition and resentment, dragging them to the bottom of the sea...sort of, they came back to be a pain in your ass as ghosts still bound to the anchor.
* Some time ago, the Ancestor "helped" a local Miller whose farm provided food for the Hamlet's commoners. The farm was struck with blight, but rather than fixing the problem, the Ancestor set up the "Slabs edge with certain celestial designs" around the farm as bait for the things from beyond the stars. An answer came in the form of an alien comet, striking the farm's windmill, warping the land into a wasteland of crystals that distort space-time. Devastation to the poor miller caught in the disaster, while a harvest for the Ancestor. Oh, and it turns out the alien comet is but an infant form of the same creature behind the Darkest Dungeon.
* In the end your Ancestor broke through to an ancient underground site of Eldritch horror. He sent you a letter which would draw you to the Hamlet, and seemingly committed suicide, not out of shame but because the peasants had formed a mob of angry torch-wielders at the gates of the mansion and his only other option was a public execution. The manor has since fallen apart and the creatures from below have overtaken it, which makes it the hardest area in the game, literally the titular '''Darkest Dungeon''' which your Ancestor liked to end his sentences referencing. First you must clear out the ruins (which lay within the Ruins making the last level technically just outside the first) before cleansing the ever-shifting architecture in the tunnels below.
* Finally (as far as we know, which extends in every DLC) the Ancestor left one last “fuck you” to the player character yourself. Should you conquer the Darkest Dungeon and kill the final boss you get his final message, which (spoiler, but not really if you’ve read anything Lovecraft or Lovectraft-inspired) is that everything he worked for was to awaken the ancient unknowable terror that birthed humanity itself, with the entire world as its (either metaphorical or literal) egg. He lets you know that it’s now your job and eventually the job of your descendants to forever keep the thing he helped create at bay. So his last message to you actually taunts you with the fact he made this mess, and its your job to manage it since it can never be cleaned up. With a suggestion you should just follow in his footsteps. There is also an interpretation his messages are not for you, but all of humanity given his references to the “human family”, which is even darker (but shifts some responsibility off you at least).
* By the end of the game, the player character himself is traumatized by the knowledge he has gained. The final boss pretty much requires you to kill off two of your characters, so at the very least you have probably sacrificed two people for your goals, but you’re almost certainly responsible for more. You’ve left a trail of broken individuals scrambling away from the Hamlet, and the horrors your Ancestor unleashed continue to spread, or are at best contained temporarily, despite you having dealt with the origin of each problem. You begin to hallucinate, seeing the landscape twist into tentacles from darkness below into red light from above (or, as Ancestor implies and in classical Lovecraftian fashion, you're starting to see the world ''as it really is''). Your Ancestor himself may not have been dead, as your mercenaries encountered an abomination in his form (although it could also have been a madness-wrought delusion or a creature in his form), and according to the Ancestor-thing’s words the result of his actions are an ongoing curse on your lineage. The player is left wondering if their future is to repeat the Ancestor’s mistakes (as you’re now essentially in the same state he was after sealing the Courtyard, albeit far less sadistic) or to spend your days keeping the evil at bay using an unending supply of the poor unfortunates who come to the town (in other words, keep playing and buy future DLC).
* The Ancestor ''does'', however, sound '''utterly''' '''''amazing'''''. The voice actor, Wayne June, had a copious amount of fitting experience for the role via narrating the likes of audiobook adaptations of Lovecraft and most would agree that the game would not be the same at all if his dramatic, flowery narration had not existed for it.

==The Heroes==
The coach will deliver a fresh batch of would-be heroes to the hamlet every week (which is the length of time that a trip into one of the dungeins takes), allowing you to assemble many different possible teams to send into the dungeon. Each has a canon comic giving a view of their backstory, and beyond that many give clues with their dialogue about their backstories and goals.

The '''Abomination''' is a man possessed by an inhuman fiend (basically a demon/werewolf), which grants him unholy strength and the ability to vomit caustic slime at his foes causing Blight. If he needs greater offensive power, he can let the Beast out, transforming into a monstrous form - but this can be as crippling for sanity - his ''and'' the rest of the party's - as the other monsters he's battling. He can stun by using a chain as a whip, and his ability to prostrate himself before the enemy heals his health AND sanity. His backstory is as a tortured victim kept in a dungeon until the pain of his head being branded allowed his beast self to take over and for him to escape. He learned compassion and healing from his time in captivity.

The '''Antiquarian''' is a female archaeologist well-versed in the arts of exploring ancient tombs. This allows her to assist the other members of the party by healing their wounds, hurling flash-bombs and curing them of whatever noxious blights they may encounter. She can also use poisonous mixtures to bedevil her enemies, but she's awful at protecting herself and in general is very weak, but she brings additional gold back in parties she is in. In her backstory she brought a magical censer to her master who was going to sacrifice a girl to empower it. Instead she killed him... and continued the ritual herself.

The '''Arbalest''' is [[musclegirl|an immensely strong and brawny woman]] who carries a '''huge''' crossbow. A back-row fighter, she can cut down foes with barrages of massive bolts, but she has some support skills as well. She was given her crossbow by her father, who forced her to flee as an angry mob killed him for unknown reasons.

The '''Bounty Hunter''' wields an axe and a hook on a chain, specializing in singling out specific targets and dealing massive punishment to them. He hunts for money and vengeance, though there are hints that he only hunts things or people that really need killing and care quite a lot for his team-mates.

The '''Crusader''' is a hardened, well-armored veteran of many holy wars, who combines brutal melee offense with defensive and bolstering magic, courtesy of his prayers. He left his family to go on the Crusade, and when he returned he was too traumatized and haunted by what he had seen and done to live their life and instead came to the Hamlet. His panicked raving dialogue suggests he may have been abused and/or molested by his father and/or a priest as a child.

The '''Grave Robber''' is the last daughter of a noble family fallen into poverty, who was forced to turn to graverobbing to pay her debts. Quick and agile, she is the classic rogue of the party, specializing in dodging attacks and dealing bleeding or poisoned wounds with her daggers and pickaxe. She actually enjoys her new profession and is quite greedy.

The '''Hellion''' is a glaive-wielding, howling, barbarian woman who lives for the thrill of combat, specializing in brutal, bloody attacks with far reach. When her people attacked a caravan of crusaders, she hid in fear. Everyone else in her raiding party died, leaving her to wander in self-hatred as a coward.

The '''Highwayman''' wields dirk and pistol to become a highly tactical fighter, capable of attacking from any position in the party, unlike some. In his backstory he robbed a carriage, but found out that he accidentally killed the woman and child inside during the fight which haunts him with guilt. Some have noticed that the woman and child resemble the Crusader's family, and the fact you begin the game with a Highwayman and Crusader further suggests the connection. His Crimson Court item set reveals he carries a locket with their images, as well as his blood-soaked mask, still.

The '''Houndmaster''' is a tough, uncompromising lawman with a faithful hound, whose diverse skillset makes him a truly welcome addition to the party. He was once a hero who set out in search of a missing girl only to find that the authorities of the town had in fact sacrificed her. Adorably his healing abilities are displayed as him hugging the dog, and upon taking damage he shields the dog with his own body to take the blow.

The '''Jester''' is a manic, morbid figure who can unsettle the enemy as much as he buffs his own party, leaping back and forth with dagger and sickle to hew a bloody path through his enemies and singing inspiring/calming songs. He escaped from a tyrannical king and his court's abuse by snapping and killing every single one. A comic panel implies that he isn't sane at all.

The '''Leper''' is a plague-riddled king whose body is slowly betraying him. Immensely tough and resigned to death, he carries a huge (broken) sword and excels at dishing out punishment as well as taking it. Heavily inspired by Baldwin IV of Jerusalem as shown in Kingdom of Heaven.

The '''Man-At-Arms''' is a skilled, battle-hardened veteran whose toughness and tactical abilities allow him to brutally break up the enemy's ranks. He is a broken soldier who fought valiantly to protect his unit, but emerged from a pile of their corpses after the battle as the only survivor.

The '''Occultist''' is a student of dark magics, a terrifying figure whose rituals can demoralize, blight and destroy those who oppose him. He investigated the forces of darkness, finding the bodies of those who had taken up a pact before making it himself; it is revealed the same forces beneath the estate are the ones he is sworn to in his dialogue during the final boss fight.

The '''Plague Doctor''' is a masked student of anatomy, whose alchemical interests allow her to whittle down her foes with barrages of noxious fumes and plague grenades as well as patching up her allies. She seeks to cure the diseases originating from the Hamlet, and is so focused that once her former teachers died of one of those diseases she dissected him without emotion.

The '''Vestal''' is a [[Sisters of Battle|holy warrior-nun]], who combines divine light and strength of arms to lay waste to her foes. She considers herself the un-favourite of her convent and its mother superior. She was forced to leave her convent after, while gazing with lust at a young couple making out, she let a holy brazier go out which implies she was a vestal virgin. She also has huge issues with her sexuality, constantly dreading that others wish to rape her due to being raised chaste.

The '''Flagellant''' is a masochistic warrior who yearns to accomplish something great through his sacrifice. The closer he comes to death, the harder he fights. This adventurer was added as part of the Curse of the Crimson Court DLC. He was once a beggar who found that the beatings from those better off than himself gave him purpose, as well as the ability to inspire and save those who'd harm him out of spite.

The '''Shieldbreaker''', added in the DLC of the same name, was a harem slave that killed her master and lost her hand in the ensuing carriage crash, swearing herself to snake spirits for a new one and the bonus magic that goes with it. She moves around a lot with her attacks like the Highwayman and Jester, dealing a fair amount of damage along with Blight effects. She has two major abilities, the first being the ability to break enemy Protect while pulling the target closer, allowing you to quickly finish off high threat foes. The second mitigates her glass cannon nature, an ability she can use twice per fight that gives her two stacks each time of immunity to damage (but not debuffs, Stress, and importantly Bleed or Blight). Anytime you camp with her in the group there is a chance to be attacked by snake monsters, even if using an ability that prevents ambushes; these snakes can drop her trinkets or items any hero can use which grant her damage immunity for one attack, so snake ambush isn’t bad if you plan for it. She herself is designed to end fights quickly, and she is very bad to use against most bosses or enemies with AOEs or ample Blight/Bleed. She becomes more effective with the Man-at-arms to guard her, and/or a Flagellant to remove her Bleed/Blight. Unless farming for immunity items, take her on short dungeons to speedthrough them faster. Avoid using if the Fanatic is a concern.

==Regions==
The Ancestral Estate is a sprawling affair, with many different segments that must be cleansed.

The '''Ruins''' are the first place you will begin exploring, in the form of the dusty halls of the ancestral manor and its attendant buildings. This region crawls with both the undead, servitors of a [[necromancer]]-[[lich]] who has taken up residence there, and mad cultists serving an insane Prophet.

The '''Weald''' is the local forest, which has become overwhelmed by grotesque fungus and slime monsters ever since a deformed, cannibalistic [[hag]] took up residence there. It also plays host to the local bandit population, who terrorize the roads surrounding the Hamlet with stolen cannons.

The '''Warrens''' are your first delve into the underground proper, an ancient labyrinth of aqueducts and tunnels that your ancestor unearthed in his expeditions. He used them as a dumping ground for his experiments in summoning demons, filling them with a grotesque civilization of man-pigs and writhing abominations of animated flesh.

The '''Cove''' was where your ancestor consorted both with pirates, who have since returned as water-logged undead after he betrayed and murdered them, and malevolent fish-people from the depths.

The '''Courtyard''' was where your ancestor held his debauched revels, until it became the epicenter of a truly horrific outbreak. Now the twisted, bug-like vampires who were once some of society's elite still hold their gory revels in the gardens that have merged with the swamp, creating a damp, miasmic maze where blood and rot compete in the air. This region only becomes available in the Curse of the Crimson Court DLC.

The '''Farmstead''' was a land bought by the ancestor from a poor old miller. The ancestors purposely set up the entire place as a bait for some crystal alien abomination being just so he could harvest them. "The Thing" crash down to the place like a comet and plague the entire area with "fuck you physics" plague, trapping everybody within range and distort space/time and even made the sky unrecognizable. The plague also affects living beings, for the victim gets "parasites" by the crystals like being from "The Thing", turning them into Husks, cold-blooded beings made of crystals and stone. This place is where the endless mode takes place. It is one of the place where you can get crystals to buy unique trinkets. Since the dungeon itself is endless, monsters will keep coming at the player until if the player decided to quit at any time.

The '''Darkest Dungeon''' is your ultimate goal, the place where your ancestor's experiments in summoning gave rise to the ultimate evil that now threatens the world. Few will ever enter this locus of corruption. None will enter twice.

==/tg/ Tips==
* The Colors Of Madness update, which is applied to the game regardless of whether you buy the DLC, changed the base game substantially. Among the biggest changes are: The Abomination can now group with religious heroes, the addition of the Musketeer (Arbalest reskin), various changes to Crits/Procs/buffs/class abilities/stats among MANY other things (processing the various changes has taken quite a bit of time and debate among the community, suffice it to say that it can all by summed up as "what everyone was doing is nerfed, what nobody did is buffed"), monster AI and hitpoints have been altered to make things less invincible but more damaging, District buildings cost more making them far more endgame, Crimson Court no longer replaces quests allowing you to ignore it for longer once activated.
** The biggest change in the game is heavy nerfing of Stuns and monsters being more lethal means that stalling tactics while you regenerate health/sanity via combat abilities are far less effective. The game now adds reinforcements to the enemy fight when there's only two opponents left alive as opposed to when there was only one, unless one of them is big enough to take up two spaces (since these are generally at least miniboss tier and not worth the stalling risk beyond a turn or two), and certain abilities of heroes being pegged as "stalling moves" in the game code meaning even if you keep three weak enemies alive, the game may still send something big and nasty your way in the 4th slot to punish you. This makes the game '''FAR''' more difficult than it was at launch since there are no longer cheap tricks to rely on for all your trash fights. On the plus side, running stronger heroes through weaker missions became MUCH easier.
* Keep your very first Highwayman (Dismas) and Crusader (Reynauld) alive. You get an achievement at the end if you can manage to make them reach the final level. If they do die, keep your graveyard as empty as possible so the resurrection event has a chance to bring one back. If you are an achievement hunter, you may need to simply accept your first playthrough will not result in that achievement; if you cannot keep them both alive, consider restarting once you feel confident you can get a better start by knowing the game better.
* The first big tactical lesson of the game is realizing characters shuffling back and forth in the ranks through abilities, and their ability to hit and/or be hit by certain enemies in certain ranks, is a large chunk of your strategy and how you basically rules-lawyer the mechanics of the game. Characters who swap ranks a lot like the Jester and Bounty Hunter can hinder rigid team comps so many newbies avoid them. Use the abilities of characters like the Crusader, Grave Robber, Highwayman, or Hellion who can launch themselves back to the front to keep your ranged specialists in position.
* You are NOT meant to continue to work on heroes other than the above. ALL of them are disposable, and should be dismissed via the bottom of the top left buttons once they become too insane or diseased to be of use. You are not a member of a noble brotherhood, you are a True Neutral nobleman recruiting insane and criminal mercenaries to become even more insane as throwaway pawns in your battle against unending evil.
* Don't neglect the provisions! At the least, bring all of the food you can get, plenty of torches, shovels to clear blockages, antivenom and bandages to cute bleed or blight (they usually may not seem like they do much damage, but they add up and can easily be cleared with one of these items without using the hero's own action. ''Cure'' them). You can mess around with skimping on provisions as you get more experience with your party's and expected enemies' capabilities.
* Invest all of your early energy into the Guild (to get better abilities), the Blacksmith (to get better base stats), and Wagon (to get more adventurers, higher levels reliant on the preceding two). That way you can recruit straight off the wagon and send them straight into battle.
* Once you max out the above buildings, feel free to invest into the remaining buildings so that you can eventually guide a team that is decent (as you cannot recruit max level heroes straight off the cart). Remember that if your hero levels up but you don't upgrade their abilities and gear, they are still basically the same level.
* You can only use abilities during their phase. As frustrating as it is, the Vestal can spam heals during combat but will let her party bleed to death while poisoned, including herself, as soon as a fight ends.
* Certain classes in certain positions cause a title of the type of party to appear, for example a party full of classes prone to causing Bleed will show the title Blood For The Blood God. These are all comedic or thematic commentary (from the Ancestor, your player character (the noble), or creators, whoever you prefer to imagine it being), and do not affect gameplay.
* To get additional gold, use a combo of the Antiquarian and the Highwayman. Highwaymen have an attack called Riposte that they can use to move forward one space and attack back at any enemy that attacks him, while Point Blank Shot sends him once space back and deals high damage. The Antiquarian allows you to stack gold higher per space in your inventory and also finds more money-making goods while having an ability called Cover Me which allows another character in your party to take attacks for her; as a result the Highwayman will essentially solo most fights while the Antiquarian makes you money. Technically speaking once you get the items which buff the Antiquarian's healing you can make a party entirely made of four Antiquarians, causing MASSIVE gold gains. As of the Color patch the Antiquarian even brings along her own Skeleton Key, saving you money on a treasure run!
* Similar to the above Antiquarian/Highwayman combo is using the Man-at-arms riposte ability on top of his guard ability and the Protect Me of an Antiquarian. Each time he guards another member of the party he gains a Prot bonus, although it was nerfed in CoM. So 3/4 of the party being attacked will result in him dealing a moderate amount of damage back to an enemy, he will take all the damage for those 3/4 characters so long as it isn’t an AOE attack and will negate a large chunk of it, and can end up with decent damage output. Sadly his guard will cancel a Highwayman riposte and the Flagellant won’t likely take enough damage to use his heal, but this combo goes with anyone else in various capacities. His Stress may become an issue without some Stress relief plan. Thankfully CoM gave him improved Stress healing via his own Crits, so as long as he's bashing he's also chilling.
* Ensure that in any party which goes on a non-Short mission has at least one Camp Ability that prevents nighttime ambush. Plague Doctors can have an ability which will cure the disease of another hero, for free, making Sanitarium treatment unnecessary.
* Put a stun skill in your party! They tend to have higher accuracy than most other attacks, and even if they don't cause much if any damage and won't work consistently one after another due to combatants gaining a resistance bonus after being stunned, they still prevent enemies from attacking or building stress, making them a safe bet to do at least once in a fight.
* Buffs, debuffs, and damage over time attacks stack. This means you or your opponents can cripple their enemies, boost their allies into superheroes, and kill even the strongest bosses entirely though indirect damage. That last point is very important; generally speaking every round each character will have a turn in order of their speed, but bosses will go multiple times per round, so as a result they will take damage from any DoT each time they get their turn but by the same token any debuffs will fade quickly and Stun effects are only a minor annoyance to them. Creating a party specifically through one of the two damage over times, Bleed or Blight, will deal massive damage although make sure to prepare for enemies unable to be affected by a certain effect. Generally speaking Blight affects more enemies in the game, but Bleed has more heroes who can apply it meaning you will be able to stack it higher on a target. Keep additional Herbal Remedy to use to instantly remove a debuff, and extra Holy Water to provide a buff that will reduce the chance of certain debuffs and DoTs affecting your heroes. These can be used during a fight and do not take up the hero's turn, although the hero can only use it on themselves.
* Prefer to use skills that your heroes have trinkets boosting their effectiveness at. It's not an issue for the Apprentice difficulty expeditions, but Veteran and Champion ones will be more difficult from the enemies being tougher and more resilient to effects - stuns, debuffs, bleeds, etc. can no longer be applied consistently without a trinket increasing the odds of it happening.
* Take note of a dungeon's general occurences - their best resistances will tend to be almost insurmountable at later difficulties. It's pointless to try to bleed most of the unholy enemies in the Ruins, the Weald's enemies are most diverse and usually hard to blight (and the giant enemy's going to make having a damage-reduction debuff invaluable against them) while blockages are highly likely, the Warrens is also very blight-resistant, causes a lot of diseases, has a decent amount of prot but also has plenty of potential food curios (if you can purity them with medicinal herbs or bandages), and the Cove's eldritch fishies are very bleed-resistant, has some enemies with a lot of prot, and has curios that can be safely obtained with shovels or medicinal herbs.
* Damage heals at the end of the dungeon, Stress does not. Crusaders, Flagellants, Jesters, and Houndmasters are the best characters to remove Stress while in the dungeon, and most classes have good campfire abilities for removing or reducing Stress gain as well. Abominations have an ability to remove their own Stress.
* There is a button to unequip items. Use it. Characters you throw into someplace to get better such as the Bar can result in them losing their equipped items. Don't trust those fuckers. You also don't want to forget that your best gear is on someone so insane you send them on a suicide run. In general, unequip everything from everyone who you aren't immediately sending out. The only danger when you are holding onto the items is a fairly weak boss stealing them, and that happens very rarely after the first time.
* You can also change skills during a dungeon (but not during an actual battle). Feel free to swap out the Crusader's Inspiring Cry ability for the larger heal ability Battle Heal for the next battle if a hero got unexpectedly beat up.
* Speed is a very useful stat in general for most characters (...until they're on Death's Door with bleed or blight on them and act before a healer. Try to avoid this scenario from happening).
* Lepers are high damage, low accuracy, and can only hit the first two ranks while having minimal abilities to help the rest of their party. They were previously one of the worst characters in the game in general, although in the same ongoing theme of Color Of Madness the weak were buffed and now the Leper is decent to take (which shouldn't be surprising since in a patch FULL of nerfs he only got buffs). Even before the patch they were useful for things such as the Vvulf boss, but were by no means mandatory in any situation. They are particularly useful in the early game for having high damage and hitting both ranks with one of their primary attack, but even after the patch their use against bosses is minimal given that most bosses hide behind obstacles in the first two ranks.
* In the reverse of the Leper, the Occultist who was formerly one of the best classes in the game and usually auto-include when you weren't taking a Vestal has been nerfed as a healer substantially.
* CoM taking an axe to stalling was harshest for the Crusader, who’s main role was stalling. His Speed is low, his damage is middling, and unless you are using Antiquarians his durability doesn’t matter much in the new high damage/lower durability monster meta. Currently he is like the Leper where he is amazing in the early game, but is not as useful outside of the Ruins (many monsters are Unholy, high Stress) and Cove (same). His Stress Camping heal is very useful, but outside of the Darkest Dungeon itself you won’t likely need him much anymore for anything but Ruins runs. The exception is teams of four Crusaders, since those non-stalling abilities got buffed and they can shuffle/buff. Like the Leper their inability to hit rank 3 and 4 is their main weakness, keeping them out of most boss fights as a viable pick.
* Your party doesn't need to be in a logical melee-front, ranged-behind formation if they can just use shuffle skills. Combine characters with shuffle skills in the same party while considering the speed to determine their generally-expected turn order to let them do these skills repeatedly - these skills tend to be well compensated in effect for having to deal with this caveat (not much will last long against two Highwaymen up front repeatedly using Point Blank Shot).
* A character doesn't die when they drop down to zero health, they enter the Death's Door state. Every time they take damage there's a chance they will then die, and upon being healed they are no longer on Death's Door although the debuff lasts for the rest of the mission. The Vestal AOE heal as a result is very useful. A character with a damage over time effect on them however could die at the start of their next turn.
* The Crimson Curse DLC begins as soon as you finish the first mission. Avoid it in the beginning, it is a newbie trap which will result in almost all of your heroes being afflicted by the titular Crimson Curse and causing the very difficult boss The Fanatic to randomly spawn in dungeons where he will most likely wipe your party.
* Your Flagellant and Crusader can act as free Stress relief similar to how the Plague Doctor can cure Disease for free. The Flagellant has an ability that allows him to absorb a large amount of Stress from an ally but takes a medium amount himself. The Crusader has an ability which heals both the Stress and health of a party member while also increasing Torch level. In easier fights, the two can be used together to mellow put a party. Combine with the Houndmaster and/or Jester Stress heals for a therapeutic stroll through the estate. Note that if a hero gains a mental issue during the dungeon from recieving too much Stress, healing their Stress back to 0 removes it. This will not remove Quirks unfortunately. Such a Stress-relief party has only the Flagellant as a major healer, and abandoning the quest results in Stress gain, but this should be negligible if you manage to remove most of their Stress and still bring back some loot.
* Speaking of the Flagellant, there is a very good reason that the game forbids you from taking more than one of them in your party at a time: While at first glance they are an inconsistent class oriented around heavy risk-and-reward tradeoffs, a second glance at their abilities reveals that the debuffs a flagellant receives from performing his strongest abilities do not actually penalize his functionality, as being a bleed-based fighter he cares little about weapon damage debuffs, and being a character who can only perform said abilities at 50% health or below means that the Defense debuff is more of a benefit. And then there's the fact that he can heal stress, remove bleeds and blight AND can heal for large chunks of maximum health while being a durable frontliner with a soft-taunt, freeing up your backline slots to have more damage or another healer to ensure that your party will never, ever die. Add that to the fact that his offensive attacks have reasonable bleed damage AND inflicts bleed debuffs, making even the bleed-resistant fishmen vulnerable, and you've got a rock hard wheel of cheese in the form of a diseased beggar that can make many, many of the game's most frustrating encounters trivial. He took a nerf in CoM that makes his healing more debilitating to himself, but is still very good.
* The most debilitating Quirks are those which cause a character to irrationally act in the dungeons. When they investigate a Curio they do not use the correct tool, so they usually suffer the negative effect be it poison, minor Stress, summoning a fight, or massive Stress gain. Even worse, you lose out on potential resources. When scouting new recruits be on the lookout for these, and on your favorite level 6 heroes or your two achievement starters its fair to consider giving them mental treatment.
* Speaking of Curios, it is not cheating to look up what they do and what to use on them. Its sometimes counter-intuitive, and given you'll be running through these areas a LOT there's no surprise to ruin when you learn that using bandages to check something that might be poisonous somehow will help when an antidote to poison will not, or that adding that antidote to rotten meat will make it edible, or using a simple object on a strange statue you encounter early in the game will immediately send your party against a boss in another dimension that endgame parties would usually be butchered by.
* If frustrated, remember that the character which represents you does not accompany the heroes. You are more or less paying to stock them up for battle and sending them with a plan, what you the player control during the dungeon is them attempting to execute your orders. Thus remember that if the party wipes, its THEIR fault, not yours. YOU aren't losing, they are failing you.
* Remember that Curio tip about the boss that will kill your party? Well, spoilers, do '''NOT''' put a torch in the Shambler's Altar, unless you're extremely well-prepared for a very hard fight. The reward is an Ancestral item, though.
* The Color Of Madness added an Endless Mode at the Farmstead. This differs in that rather than trying to survive to complete the mission, the mission is obviously endless until you are wiped out or simply quit. You should either focus on killing encounters as fast as possible, focusing on anything you know deals high damage and/or Stress first, or surviving anything thrown at you and relying on the fact you can heal but they cannot. Stress will be the bigger concern, so Jesters/Houndmasters are recommended as are Vestals since most encounters will have attacks that hit most or all of your party at once. Corpses turn into crystals, which grow until they explode which forces you to deal with them, although since destroying a crystal heals the hero they give you an easy way to keep injured heroes going. Shovels and Skeleton Keys are useless, Bandages and Herbs are VERY useful as is food.
* The Thing From The Stars is the Color Of Madness wandering boss that can be found anywhere. The Shieldbreaker is the most effective against it for breaking the Protection buff it has, the Grave Robber is also recommended for ignoring Protection, as is any Bleed or Blight you can stack. It causes massive Blight and Stress, so any character who can remove Stress or cleanse Blight is also useful.
* The modding community is...[[Anime|colorful]]. Usually its best to stick with the official game, although there are many decent mods available and some to the same degree of quality that they are indistinguishable from official content. Just be prepared to sift for them. In particular the Marvin Seo mod classes are top notch and Muscarine's class mods are also excellent and tastefully lewd.

==/tg/ Relevance==
*Considered a spiritual successor by many to [[Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay]].

*The rules are actually basically already a tabletop game, and could easily be converted into one.

*The final boss is a reference to Nssu-Ghahnb/The Heart of Ages from the Call of Cthulhu Role-Playing Game. This is supported by Nssu-Ghahnb being trapped within an alternate dimension and being responsible for spawning all the monsters in the known universe, just like the final boss.

*It is inspired by Torchbearer, a tabletop game

==Sequel==

As of February 12, 2019, Red Hook Studios has officially announced that they are creating Darkest Dungeon 2.

The trailer is [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JlGMsJgyORk here].

[[Category: Approved Media]]
[[Category: Not related]]

Samurai Jack

2020-02-26T23:05:50Z

65.117.99.152: /* Characters */

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[[File:Samurai Jack.png|thumb|right|Title card to Samurai Jack, also providing the most ass-kicking gaze since [[Fist of the North Star|Kenshiro]]]]

''"Long ago in a distant land, I, Aku, the shape-shifting master of darkness, unleashed an '''unspeakable evil!''' But a foolish samurai warrior wielding a magic sword stepped forth to oppose me. Before the final blow was struck, I tore open a portal in time and flung him into the future, where my evil is '''law'''! Now the fool seeks to return to the past, and undo the future that. Is. '''Aku'''!"'' - Aku, in the best damn intro to any show ever

If this sounds familiar to you, [[Kaldor Draigo|that's because it was the inspiration for everyone's favorite Grey Knight]].

One of the golden age of American cartoons from Cartoon Network, and officially on the [[Approved Television]] list for /tg/. A super badass samurai warrior wielding a holy sword (created by Odin, Ra, and Vishnu) attempts to destroy a shapeshifting wizard abomination called Aku, but the monster sends him into a distant future where Aku has taken control of the galaxy. Samurai Jack now explores the world (he never leaves Earth, it just changed dramatically), helping those oppressed by Aku's evil minions and seeking a portal to return him to his own time, that he may slay Aku and undo his evil future.

Samurai Jack, is a melting pot of everything awesome and so many things /tg/ loves. It's art, first off, takes influence from old 1960s and 70s Japanese [[anime]] (most notably classic Toei Animation) and Bruce Lee-era Kung Fu movies. It is also inspired by ''Lawrence of Arabia'', ''Blade Runner'', and even Frank Milller's ''300'' (having a surge of popularity after the movie too). Actually the battle of Thermopylae more than the comic 300. While cyberpunk is a major theme of the show, it draws influence from many other sources, such as Ancient Greece, the Volsunga Saga, feudal Japan, and even fucking 1920s Chicago. Yup. [[Awesome|robot gangsters (and they look like the T-800 Terminator from the films)]].

Samurai Jack is one of those rare shows where there is not much [[skub]] about it (until a certain relationship went canon and the fandom [[Horus Heresy|split apart in a violent schism]]), even among fans. Literally ''every'' episode is good enough for you to call it your favorite and no one would accuse your taste of being shit. Most are the same though; either mercenaries or bounty hunters come after Jack, Jack learns some sort of valuable lesson, or he has a run-in with Aku. Still, each episode is a work of art figuratively and literally and are really enjoyable.

== Characters ==
{{Template:Spoilers}}

'''Jack''': One badass motherfucker. However, as a character he doesn't have too much personality, being the basic stoic hero that we usually see. Still has enough to stay interesting though. He makes a lot of friends but rarely meets up with them again. However, in the final season, he has become a depressed, nihilistic shell of a man, constantly beset by bouts of schizophrenia and extreme thoughts of suicide (in true samurai fashion, he even attempts seppuku in his most deperate moments). The realization has finally set in that everyone he knows and loves is not only dead, but they died believing Jack failed or abandoned them when Aku threw him in time, made worse by the fact that his enchanted sword, the only thing that can kill Aku, is missing. And not only that, but apparently, Aku has found and destroyed most, if not all, of the time portals, leaving Jack stuck in the future. Even old age will no longer claim him, as Jack has ceased aging as a side effect of initial time travel (this is debatable as to whether it really is something scientific or a result of the Gods basically saying "Your ass doesn't get to rejoin your family until you kill that sorry son of a bitch"). Eventually takes Ashi as a lover. Finally goes back to the past and kills Aku, but in doing so erases Ashi from existence.

'''Aku''': THA SHAPESHIFTING MASTA OV MASTAS, THE DELIVERAH OV DAHKNESS, DA SHOGUN OV SORROW, equal parts hilarious and fucking evil. Speaks in ultra engrish (but this is intentional on his first voice actor's part, the glorious and the late Mako Iwamatsu. Greg Baldwin stuck with that style to voice Aku in the final season after Mako died.) and is even more stupid evil than the love child of Skeletor, Megatron and the [[Marines Malevolent]]. Well, maybe not entirely stupid-evil. He once disguised himself [[Trap|as a woman]] that got close to Jack, and now the poor bastard has had trust issues ever since. He also nearly killed Jack by luring him into a giant graveyard, raising an army of zombies and ghosts to kill Jack then getting a ghost to steal Jack's sword and give to Aku (which only failed because of a divine mandate that the sword can't be used for evil thus it literally stopped when Aku tried to stab Jack). Still, Aku is about as hammy as Skeletor, but won't bat an eye at wiping out innocent civilians without a second thought. In the final season, he has basically become a neurotic, depressed shut-in, having completely lost interest in actively watching or trying to kill Jack, or even doing much of ''anything'' outside his lair (he's unaware that Jackio has lost his sword, aka the one thing that can kill him). Aku now spends his time having therapy sessions with himself over the fact that he could be stuck with a now-immortal Jack ''forever,'' and occasionally roflestomping attacking armies in the hope that it might get him out of his slump (it doesn't). However, what DOES lift him out of his depression is the discovery of the existence of his daughter, who just happen's to be Jack's girlfriend. (Being Aku, though, it just means that he now has a way to emotionally torture Jack, via controlling his daughter like a puppet on strings.) He meets his end in the series finale

'''Ashi''': One of the 'Seven Daughters of Aku', which is an assassin cult dedicated to hunting down Jack. Initially did extremely well during their first fight with Jack. Even having the honor of being the few beings in the show that were very, very close to killing Jack (the only others that came close at that point are Aku himself, the semi-divine Minions of Set, the Guardian and a creepy soul-eating wolf demon in a haunted house), as he barely escaped and was bleeding out from a gut-shot. Though after Jack gets his second wind, he kills them off one by one, with Ashi being the only confirmed survivor. At first, she utterly hates Jack and believes him to be the one responsible for ravaging the Earth, but soon comes to learn that this isn't the case at all. Oh, and that's not a black bodysuit she's wearing. [[PROMOTIONS|She's actually ass-naked the first few episodes]] - [[FATAL|because that's actually red-hot ash seared onto her skin]]. Being set up to become one of the main protagonists of the final season. Loves the beauty of Mother Nature, and this is reflected in her new choice of dress, which is basically a [[Rule 34|sexy Tinkerbell outfit made of leaves and flowers]]. In the seventh episode, she proves she is definitely not [[-4 Str|-4 Str]], when she obliterates an entire army of <s>Orcs</s> ugly man that were mistaken as orc in a blood-drenched frenzy that probably made Khorne get a hard on. Now officially Jack's lover, much to the chagrin of /pol/acks (/pol/ doesn't watch cartoons and why would they care for that matter?) and tumblrinas, both. Dean Martin fans however got a surprise shoutout. Oh, and remember that bit about her being a daughter of Aku? Well, it kind of turns out, she actually ''is'' his daughter. [[FATAL|To make a long story thankfully short, Ashi's bitch of a mom drinks Aku's dark energy-semen and gets pregnant by it]]. This actually enables Aku to control her. At will. [[Grimdark|Yeah...]] Ashi's existence proves that ancient eldritch abominations can get lonely, this gives frightening credence to some neckbeard's theories on Khorne and Slaanesh's.....relationship with each other..... As Ashi was the daughter of Aku, [[Grimdark|she incidentally get's erased from the timeline; right as she and Jack were about to get married after they defeated Aku.]] [[Lamenters|She seemed aware of this fact from the get-go meaning that she sacrificed herself so that her beloved could save the universe...For those we cherish we die in glory ;_;]]. Unfortunately, waifu sacrifice gag was used by [[anime|Gurren Lagann]] already so it was not as dramatic as it is.

=== Minor Characters ===
'''DA SA-MOO-RAH''': Imagine Black Dynamite if he dressed like MC Hammer, was an arrogant and ineffectual blowhard, challenges Jack to a fight, gets his ass handed to him, saves Jack's life, learns some motherfucking humility, everyone leaves happy. Oh and he listens to Parliament apparently. It was fanon that he would become a badass later on due to getting a lesson in humility from Jack but it turned out he instead became a shit eating old bartender in the final season, resigned to listening to has-been bounty hunters whine about how Jack kicked their pathetic, robot asses. While there was a gap of at least fifty years between their first meeting, [[FAIL|it's revealed that Da Samurai laid down his sword because he thought he wasn't cut out for that life rather than rising to the challenge and becoming a badass]].

'''X9''': Remember those [[Necron|Terminator]]-looking robot gangsters we mentioned? Well, this guy is kinda like that.....expect he was a robot assassin who was given emotion, decided he wanted to settle down with a little dog he named Lulu, ''sweet thing,'' instead of kill people, and just play music. Life was good....until Aku kidnapped Lulu, ''sweet thing,'' and forced X9 to go fight and kill Jack for Lulu, ''sweet thing's,'' release. X9 went out to find him, knowing he was outclassed completely. It went as well as you would expect for the poor guy (even Jack was sad about defeating him after hearing his dying words). Grown men still cry over this episode.

'''The Scotsman''': The name says it all. Jack's best friend (whom tried to kill him when they first met), and is one of the more frequent characters in the series. [[AWESOME|Has a fucking machine gun for a leg]]. Can also pull a [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L-LyFMCIpok 20-second long insult.] He died in battle, but not before [[awesome|having about a hundred daughters that served as his army and roasting Aku.]] He comes back as a ghost later a la Obi-Wan Kenobi thanks to the CHELTHICC MAGICK on his sword.

'''Jack's Father''': The [[God-Emperor of Mankind|EMPRAH]] of Japan at the beginning of the story. He defeated Aku around the time Jack was born, and when he get's himself captured and enslaved by the demonic wizard when Aku returns from being banished to the Warp, he makes sure his son is safe and away, and arranges for Jack to be put through Space Marine levels of training on a round-the-world trip in order to return and kick Aku's sorry ass back to Hell, though it's taking Jack a WEE bit longer than any of them intended.

'''The Guardian''': A Morpheus-looking brotherfucker stuck to guard a working time portal Jack wanted to use - and failed. In fact he's just about the only guy in the future capable of taking on Jack in a fight and completely and utterly [[Rape|handing him his ass]]. That's supposed to change in the future, though, as Jack was simply not destined to defeat him just yet. However, that got shitcanned when Aku was confirmed to have destroyed the portal and killed the Guardian.

'''Scaramouche the Merciless''': The Pied-Piper of Ruination, the Crooner of Carnage, the Ambassador of Annihilation, the Eradicator of All, baby! A musical robot assassin, equal parts hilarious and sadistic. His first act in the new and last season is to destroy an entire village, just to get Jack's attention. This backfires horribly, and he ends up getting blown up. Now just a talking head, he has made it his mission to tell Aku that Jack has lost his sword. (He succeeds, but he has an incredibly poor sense of timing and gets his head blown up by Aku for his misinformation) His preferred method of attack is, of course, through jazz, or an awesome dagger that destroys things through amplifying the wavelengths. Most of Aku's goons tend to be one-trick ponies, but much like DA SA-MOO-RAH, Scaramouche is quite memorable for his sardonic Sammy Davis Jr. persona. Curiously enough Scaramouche may be an elegan/tg/entleman given his intense and inspiring hatred of anthropomorphic animals.

== Status ==

Sadly Samurai jack has been effectively cancelled (including the planned movie) for quite some time although old episodes have started airing again. Aku's voice actor dying of throat cancer may have had something to do with it. <s> no more Jack. Just as Aku planned</s> '''WACHAAA JACK IS BACK BABY <strike>2016</strike> MARCH 11th 2017. 11PM EST. ON ADULT SWIM.'''

Season 5 has much of what made the original series great, between its gorgeous visuals and well choreographed fight scenes. However, it also represents a major shift in tone as well, if the [[Grimdark]] intro didn't tell you already (see below). Whereas the more kid-friendly early seasons were relatively light-hearted and had Jack only ever fight robots and monsters, this time there's blood aplenty - from both foes and Jack himself - as well as heavy psychological themes between Jack's Schizophrenia and Ashi's traumatic childhood flashbacks. But perhaps the most shocking moment is when Scaramouche points out that another character's head looks [[brundlepenis|like a penis]]. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xVwHuwq8K2k Really]. It's surreal to see coming from a former kids' show (then again, the Scotsman got away with a racial slur in his 20-seconds-long insult of Jack when they first met - one of the insults was "soy-faced", which is a slur against asian people).

WHAT FOOLISH SAMURAI HAS NOT YET ADDED THE NEW TRAILER TO THIS PAGE???

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VSrv_n4tw7w Get Hype.]
[[Category:Not Related]]

the series has recently ended with the 10th episode of the 5th season.

SPOILERS: Jack comes back to the past.

Kaldor Draigo

2020-02-26T23:04:56Z

65.117.99.152: /* Wait this sounds so familiar... Oh, son of a bitch! */

{{Fail}}
{{MattWard}}
{{Skub}}
[[File:Kaldor Draigo vs M'kar the Reborn.jpg|400px|thumb|right|Mary Sue HOOOOOOOOOO! From the looks of it, things are [[not as planned]] for the Lord of Change.]]

{{Topquote|I'm not locked in here with you, you're locked in here with me!|Kaldor Draigo thinks he is as badass as [[Angry Marines|Rorschach]] in Watchmen, [[skub|which is obviously, utterly false]]}}

Oh fucking hell, where to ''start'' with this poorly-written piece of work. '''Kaldor Draigo''' is the '''Supreme''' Grand Master ''(Don't forget the [[Azrael|Supreme]] part)'' One True Sue of the [[Grey Knights]] probably the greatest living loyalist in the 41st Millenium... and a ridiculously obnoxious thorn in the side of anyone who [[Dark Angels|<s>is an enemy of the emperor</s>]] isn't an obnoxious prepubescent BITCH. And the worst thing is that we can't get rid of the thorn.

==Origins in the Fluff==
Draigo first showed up from out of no-where in [[Matt Ward]]'s [[Skub|famous]] Grey Knights 5th Edition codex, previously there had been no mention of the character anywhere, but suddenly we were presented with this all new guy, with a list of deeds equivalent / greater than any of the established 40k heavies, including several [[Primarchs]], yet somehow completely and unbelievably infallible.

As a lowly Battle-Brother he banished the [[M'kar|Daemon Prince M'kar the Reborn]] and he has risen steadily through the ranks to become the '''SUPREME''' Grand Master Chosen of the most secretive Chapter of [[Space Marines]]. Yet ever since his other battle with [[M'kar]], Draigo has been cursed to a life within the Warp, doomed to walk within the [[Chaos|Realm of Chaos]], [[Mary Sue|to remain pure when constantly assailed by Chaos]] and to show fortitude and personal strength [[Mary Sue|that is beyond comprehensible measure]]. ''(In other words, he's got [[Plot armor]] of a scale equivalent to a 1++ unmodifiable save)''

But while Draigo lives, he will [[troll|prevail]], and one day, he will return.

===Wait this sounds so familiar... Oh, son of a bitch!===
''Long ago in a distant land, I, M'kar, a shape-shifting Daemon of Chaos, unleashed an unspeakable evil! But a foolish Grey Knight warrior wielding a magic sword stepped forth to oppose me. Before the final blow was struck, I tore open a portal in space and flung him into the Warp, where my evil is law! Now the fool seeks to return to real-space, and undo the evil that is Chaos!''

[[Samurai Jack|Dammit, Matt Ward's ripping off stories better than his own again.]]

To be fair, Samurai Jack <s>[[heresy|is not that good]], so Matt's version can hardly be worse</s>{{BLAM}}{{BLAM}}{{BLAM}}{{BLAM|'''TRIPLE FUCKING HERESY!!!'''}} he could have ripped off, which makes Draigo [[Rage]] inducing to a new extreme.. Samurai Jack is an animated series that itself ripped off from Frank Miller's Rönin; if you haven't read that Samurai Jack's like a less violent, samurai-and-fantasy-based version of [[Fist of the North Star]]. Though Matt Ward's fluff is still awful and unworthy of even sharing the same paragraph as those three.

Another theory poses that Draigo is a copy-paste of Khal Drogo from [[A Song of Ice and Fire]], whose only notable characteristic for most of the series was being literally undefeated forever. Khal Drogo got better later; Draigo didn't.

===Listings of Deeds===
Kaldor Draigo is famous for:
*Killing a Daemon Prince in his first combat action
*Banishing Daemon [[Primarch]] [[Mortarion]] back to the warp, somehow carving the name of the previous supreme grand master Geronitan (a fucking long name) into the heart of said Daemon Primarch ''without contracting space daemon AIDS in the process''
**to put this insanity in perspective, try cursive writing with a Chainsaw (block letters are difficult in wood to begin with, let alone flesh) while in the middle of an industrial toxic waste dump <s>without any protection.</s> wearing a punctured HAZMAT suit. Unless you have Plot Armor, then it's pretty sensible.
***Another idea would be to go and listen to the audio drama "Mortarion's heart", this will resolve the issues that people have with this event.
*Single-handedly holding off a daemon horde for two days in real space
*Killing a Daemon Prince with a broken sword,
*Killing one of [[Khorne]]'s strongest [[Bloodthirster]]s with little to no weaponry
*Taking said Bloodthirster's axe and reforging it into a sword for his own personal use WITH HIS MIND (you know, despite it being an obvious weapon of a Daemon and automatically a corrupting influence just to hold, let alone press your bare mind against(just don't tell this to Logan Grimnar, m'kay?))
*Slaying 6 of Slaanesh's chosen Daemonettes (when setting one's gaze upon them is enough to instantly force submission from any mortal, no matter how strong-willed)
*Setting fire to Nurgle's garden (again, whilst somehow miraculously avoiding space daemon [[AIDS]])
*Walking into the City of Tzeentch and single-handedly smashing it to rubble, which, given that the City of Tzeentch comprises geometry which is literally impossible, MAKES NO FUCKING SENSE <strike>''(maybe he just smashes the impossible buildings into equally-impossible rubble?)</strike> {{BLAM|Who the fuck gave Matt Ward his editing privileges back?!}}'' and slaying countless daemons whilst being trapped in warpspace. He can also be summoned by chaos cultists unwittingly instead of a daemon, no sooner returning to the Warp than after slaying them all.
**To be <strike>fair</strike> a cunt, Great Boss [[Tuska Daemon-Killa|Tuska the Demon-killa]] did that to several different places with impossible geometry during his WAAAGH! into the warp... but then again, those are [[Orks]], for whom impossible shit forms the backbone of their war machinery, he had an army and artillery with him so they could've [[Dakka|fired in all directions]], he had an army with him that took losses as they went and they eventually were defeated, in a sense <span style='color:green;font-size:105%'>'''DEFEETED? WE'Z STUCK IN IN AN ENDLESS WAAAGH!!! WHERE U KAN COME BACK FO' MOAR EVVRY TIME U GET ZOGGED! AN' WE'Z NEVAH RUN OUTTA ENEMIEZ! GREAT BOSS DEMONA-KILLA IZ DA BEST BOSS EVAH!'''</span>)

===Additional Bullshit===
If anyone needed additional proof that Matt Ward is too busy wanking off at the thought of his own fluffing skills to actually pay any attention to what he's writing, just look at the chronology of Draigo's entry. He initially distinguishes himself in 799.M41 during his first encounter with M'Kar, earning the rank of Justicar. The next confrontation with M'Kar occurs 'Two hundred years to the day since Draigo's victory on Acralem' (i.e. 999.M41). 999.M41; this is confirmed in the 'Deeds of Legend' section of the Codex as well. Additionally, 999.M41 is ''also'' the point Draigo is dragged into the warp and begins his centuries-long rampage. Later on in the '''exact same fucking fluff entry,''' when he returns for the first time to the mortal plane, he has been "clearly long adrift in time, for he knew [those Grey Knights he encountered] not". Y'know, despite the fact '''[[FAIL|TIME FLOWS DIFFERENTLY IN THE WARP THAN IN REAL-SPACE.]]''' Doubtless, as we all know, time passes differently in the Warp; Kaldor himself may have been experiencing years or centuries there, but time crawls linearly along for everyone in the Prime Material, and that therefore would have ''zero impact'' on the age and number of surviving, recognizable members of the Grey Knights whom he left behind. So, unless we're intended to assume that his entry is to be read as though in the future, i.e. sometime well after the END of the 41st Millennium, then Kaldor "''I'm-a-fucking-badass-who-can-survive-indefinitely-in-the-Warp''" Draigo has really only been AWAY from the mortal plane for, at most, a few months. Giving Mr. Ward the benefit of the doubt (which seems completely unfair to readers with more than an iota of brain power), either Kaldor has been randomly deposited into points in the distant PAST, or we're intended to pretend all Grey Knight battles that include him are taking place in the distant FUTURE. Without one of these two assumptions, only two other alternatives remain: either Draigo has gone completely fucking senile/[[If the Emperor had a Text-to-Speech Device|has gone completely batshit fucking insane from Warp exposure]], or Draigo was too big a stuck-up, arrogant snob to ever learn the names or faces of those serving under him. This, of course, is if we want to give Matt Ward ''any'' credit at all. In other words, the above is a concrete example of '''BAD WRITING.'''

Seriously, what the fuck more do you want, GW? Who's he fluffing on your board of directors, that you've retained such a piss-poor hack for so long? Are you on drugs? What kind of Slaaneshi death cult has been giving you drugs? Can I have some of your drugs so I can at least make sense of your goddamned incompetence?!

===Wut?===
Clearly, the only explanation for the sheer levels of retardation and gratuitous [[Matt Ward|canon-rape]] Draigo represents is the simplest one: That Draigo is, in fact, defeated - Chaos cannot be beaten in its own realm of non-space because of the mere fact that chaotic beings are immortal, after all, and none of the above is true. (though psykers can "technically" kill chaos daemons for good in the warp, it requires an amount of psychic energy and willpower that's far beyond the norm)

Right now, this very moment, (in the far future) Draigo is in fact a shredded pile of torn flesh and shattered bone after having his ass handed to him by the above Lord of Change and Bloodthirster, who proceeded to step in whilst the Lord kept him distracted - [[Just as planned]]. This pile of broken ex-marine is also gushing ooze and phlegm and pus as he was infected with every blight and pox Nurgle has to offer. This shredded, oozing pile....''thing'', is also being raped and violated in the most unspeakable and vile ways by the Daemonettes of Slaanesh.

And so it shall continue, for all eternity. [[Troll|Because every single Chaos God finds it fucking hilarious]].

The only reason he thinks "all is well" is because Tzeentch thought he'd have a bit fun with Draigo. He stuck Draigo into a matrix-esque dream world where everything goes his way and is just waiting for Draigo to climb as high as he can. This dream world will probably last until Draigo has crushed the Chaos gods themselves and all their armies beneath his feet and caused the God-Emperor himself to rise from the throne and suck him off!

Then, at the "funniest" possible moment, right as his bolter is about to fire its payload (and we're not talking about the one on his wrist), Tzeentch will rip it all away from him, Draigo will wake up and see what has really become of him and weep tears of utter loss and despair! "[[Just as planned]]!"

While all that's happened, Draigo thought to himself: "I have no mouth, but I must scream".

At least that's what the heretics want you to think.

[[File:Jelly thing.jpg|200px|thumb|right|Kaldor Draigo, what really happened to him.]]

<s>Admittedly, Draigo's fluff is pretty badass, but still canon-rape (no pun inten- wait, pun totally intended).</s> There is nothing awesome about someone who just goes around fucking everything up with zero challenge. It's like people who write stories about how their super awesome character killed the [[Lady_of_Pain|Lady of Pain]] or something.

//{{BLAM|''Inquisitor's Note: While the above is no doubt the fevered ramblings of a mind crying out for the Emperor's peace there is a small measure of truth in it. Our [[canon|most blessed and sanctified scriptures]] tell us that Lord Draigo's victories in the warp are indeed empty ones, and that every daemon slain and fortress toppled shortly rights itself. This is his curse and only when, by the Emperor's blessing, he returns to the materium will he be able to enact any lasting defeats on the ruinous powers.}}//

//{{BLAM|''Historitor 165.82.108.238 remanded to custody for Inquisitorial review.}}//

++{{BLAM|''Thought for the Day: Many are the faces of the enemy, many are the hands of the enemy.''}}++

Alternatively you could also accept the less serious but popular fanon that Kaldor Draigo is actually traversing the Warp while high on drugs. His latent psychic abilities and drug-fueled insanity could technically allow him to shape his battles in the Warp to go in his favor. That or Draigo has almost [[Malcador]] levels of psychic abilities, the strain of which has caused him to go completely bat-shite insane, rendering the Warp into his own personal plaything to a certain extent.

===Mat Ward Sez===
''"Lord Kaldor Draigo is a combat monster - there's no other way to describe him. He's lethal against non-daemonic foes, with plenty of Strength 5 force weapon attacks to lay a beat down. When faced with hated Daemons, his Titansword becomes Strength 10, ensuring a pretty one-sided fight in his favour. Even if his enemy survives, Draigo's storm shield is sure to keep him fighting. And on top of all of this, Draigo is a Grand Master, able to bestow extra abilities on his allies. Want your Dreadknight to capture objectives? Draigo can make that happen. Want a Scouting screen of Dreadnoughts? Draigo can make it happen. He's the best possible way to keep your opponent on his toes."''

In summary: HE [[/d/|MAKES IT HAPPEN]].
(So does [[Creed]] but unlike Draigo he does OP with [[awesome|Style]])

==Tabletop==
In lab tests conducted on /tg/, Kaldor Draigo loses to [[Abaddon]] the Despoiler [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rX7wtNOkuHo roughly 73.5% of the time]. But then again Abaddon is meant to be a high-cost, point-sink, cc-beatstick who doesn't have arms or do anything to boost his own army...

===6th Edition===
Like Abaddon, Kaldor's amazing super awesome blade of Mary Sue has been reduced to AP3, but Abaddon was important enough to get FAQ'd back to AP2! This means anything, ANYTHING, with 2+ save will survive combat with Draigo. Even a [[Tau|weaboo space communist]] wearing iridium armor. Or a Meganob. Or a Captain in artificer armor...if you ignore that Draigo's weapon has the Force special rule, which can cause Instant Death in compensation (which is fine and dandy until he gets challenged by a Phoenix Lord). AP3 admittedly is somewhat of a blow, but this is compensated for against more dangerous foes with its latent abilities and his own 3++ save.

That or just charge a Chaos Lord in Terminator armour with <s>Bloodfeeder</s> '''THE MURDER SWORD''' or the Axe of Blind Fury. Naw, the Lord would have to fail a single save to get mindraped.

===7th edition===
While Draigo's beloved Titansword got upped back to AP2, he himself became far more expensive as a tool, as he is now relegated to the Lords of War Slot -- where Superheavies live -- for a heaping 245 Points. This means that he can't be accessed by himself, he needs someone else in the HQ slot to unlock him. Unless you're running unbound, the system used exclusively by [[This Guy]]'s fluff games and [[That Guy]]'s absolute cheesiness. Actually the former sounds kind awesome, to represent a battle where the GK's command structure has been slain but then Draigo pops out of the Warp with a nose full of warp dust.

He still has his insane 2+/3++ save thanks to his Termie Armor and singular Storm Shield. His Force blade is still S+3 with AP2 Master-Crafted, with the ability to re-roll to-wound against Daemons when he uses Force. That said, Force is now deniable, thus you should expect that they will, and in force. Aside from that, he has Banishment (which weakens Daemons' invuls), Hammerhand (Upping him to an S9 murder machine), Gate of Infinity (For sudden Deep-Strikes anywhere), and Purge Soul (To make a sudden hit). This solves one of the reason he was hated: the utter ability to roll whatever you wanted. Without Biomancy or Telepathy, he's no longer invincible.

As a commander, he is now not very worthwhile, with the removal of Grand Strategy and his Warlord Trait now giving him Hatred (Daemons) and an easier time casting Banishment and...that's it. He can no longer make Paladins troops either, so now you've lost more reason to take them over a cheaper ML3 Librarian with both the Domina Liber Daemonica and a Warlord Trait to give him SIX FUCKING POWERS IN SANCTIC. Quite frankly, he's only useful as the mother of all beatsticks.

===8th edition===
Draigo's sword became S+4 AP-4, and does a flat 3 damage now in the place of Instant Death. Also, he gives himself and all Grey Knight units within 6" of him the ability to re-roll failed misses in shooting and close combat (it hasn't been updated YET to ALL misses so -1 to hit modifiers still hurt). Additionally, his Bane of Evil aura grants Grey Knights within 6" to re-roll their damage rolls against Daemons in the fight phase (nice, considering all Nemesis Force weapons comes with D3 damage except the Daemonhammer). He still has his 2+/3++ thanks to his Terminator Armour and Storm Shield. His warlord trait, Daemon Slayer, is still heavily situational at best (read: useless). Basically, he's now not totally useless if he's not in close combat.

==Silver(ed) Knight==
The 6E Daemons Codex ''(and reprinted in the 8th edition codex)'' detailed the journey a "Knight of the Adeptus Astartes in silvered armor "whose will was as strong as silvered adamantium" braving the many circles of the Palace of Slaanesh, cutting down a few daemonettes and mortal thralls, only to kneel before the Prince of Pleasures himself, in the guise of a young, androgynous boy who cowed the Knight with absolute and righteous innocence. Too many people believe that it's Draigo because of their seething spite for the Ward, but a more rational mind could realize that the Grey Knights aren't the only people wearing silver armour. There's still the [[Silver Skulls]], [[Doom Eagles]], and the [[Iron Snakes]], all who wear silver Power Armour and have more of a likelihood to be corrupted (Especially if you consider the presumed origins that the Skulls are actually loyalist Iron Warriors)

'''Alternate take:''' How many other Marines are actually running around the Warp, much less loyalist Marines? At the very least, even if it is Draigo it took the god himself to outright convert him with a touch of his "scepter" so someone at least got the idea of what it should take to cause a Grey Knight to just flip to the side of Chaos for no reason. That or maybe their geneseed makes them hot for traps. Either way it's not clear when this happened, so it could be in the future or an alternate timeline since the Warp doesn't care about your single direction flow of time. Assuming it's not some weird symbolic thing.

==Placed in the hands of other authors==
C.Z. Dunn has recently taken a crack at Draigo in the novelization of the Pandorax Campaign. Here, Draigo is decidedly NOT a <s>Mary Sue</s> Gary Sue anymore, with "Supreme Grand Master" taken in the same context as [[Azrael]]. Dunn doesn't nerf Draigo, he still kicks a ton of daemon ass, but he doesn't go around soloing Bloodthirsters without backup or anything so asinine. Draigo is also shown to be moderately flawed as a character, [[Avitus|hot-headed and aggressive]] -- this is to contrast him with the stubborn and conservative Azrael (who takes until chapter 14 to get off his ass and fight smart, though when he finally does he actually fights ''really smart'' like a true Space Marine). He's also a [[Troll|top-tier dick]] who trolls Azrael about all the prisoners they've been taking back to [[the Rock]] and makes several threats that he'll get the High Lords of Terra to investigate if the Dark Angels don't comply. (Haters gonna hate.)

The Mortarion's Heart Audio Drama, also has him troll his bodyguard, and the Inquisition (in fact his first act as Supreme Grand Master is to tell the one bugging the Knights to go fuck himself). Also we see just what got him the job; he was simply the only one with enough skill to even try to beat Mortarion, even Draigo admitted he was a horrible choice, but that didn't matter since he would most likely die anyway. And, when he does fight Mortarion he gets the shit beat out of him and the entire 1st Brotherhood killed by Mortarion's hand and only gains the advantage with Mortarion's true name which causes the Primarch to have the equivalent of a seizure and then uses Mortarion's antithesis name to banish him.

This isn't too shocking as Draigo is a fairly new character and only has about two pages to himself within the codex compare to Dunn's few hundred. Even a good writer would have trouble balancing both a good character AND a badass who leads an army of daemon killers.

===The Plague of Madness===
The 7E Codex also takes steps to reduce the fucking cheese of Draigo by showing him as a competent commander before his banishment, and how he only became relevant because he was able to beat up M'Kar, the Daemon Prince of Jobbers.

In "The Plague of Madness" witten in 7Ed, Draigo has to bring out three whole brotherhoods of knights because some idiot [[Inquisitor]] tried to mess with a [[Lord of Change]] named "Ix'thar'ganix" by binding it to her will and using his power for the good of the Imperium. Ganix was both amused and infuriated at the prospect of a mortal trying to outdick him, so when the Inquisitor summoned the daemon to bind it; Ganix had a [[Great Unclean One]] named Lurgon take his place. Because the wards meant to bind Ganix didn't work with another daemon; Lurgon possesed the Inquisitor and corrupt her posse to the cause of Nurgle. Things later spiraled into madness after Lurgon corrupted the system of Decimalus after the Inquisitor's drifting ship happened upon it.

Draigo attempted to convince the Grey Knights to send a large force to apprehend both Ix'thar'ganix and Lurgon, which after some political maneuvering, he managed to get. After [[Arvann Stern]] secured an orbital fortress from some daemons, Draigo made it planetside and actually saved some Sisters of Battle from a death by daemon-nomming. After that, Draigo's band of merry men and the surviving Sisters attempted to break through a literal sea of daemons by running them over with Land Raiders and [[Rhino Transport|MEHTAL BAWKSES]], with the intent of taking the spire that housed Lurgon. Draigo's Raider however, got stuck after running over so many daemons and was eventually destroyed after a daemonblade ran through it. Thrown out of the tank, he attempted to solo an entire horde by himself and rescue his brothers still trapped inside the Land Raider.

In a completely different way of portrayal; Draigo was actually pretty close to being overwhelmed. He was struck and held down by the legion of daemons around him and would have died if it wasn't for the surviving battle Sisters coming to his aid and gunning down the horde around him. And instead of something retarded like using the Sisters' blood for protection or suddenly getting super strength and ripping his way towards the spire; he motioned a request for the sisters to buy them time while he and the survivors make a mad dash for the spire and end this insanity. The writer to this has already undone the idiocy of the [[Khornate Knights]], and did so while keeping everyone's dignity. A step up amid a codex widely considered to be a step down crunchwise.

===Other counterpoints===
It has recently been posited that Draigo's ability to traverse the Warp and wreak havoc on the Ruinous Powers with relative ease is due not to Gary Sue bullshit powers, but to the nature of the Warp itself. One of the only constants of the Warp is that it is shaped by the belief and emotion of sentient beings with psychic ability, however small. Because of this, it is possible that a being with vast psychic ability and great faith (say, a Grey Knight ''Supreme'' Grand Master) would be able to use his belief in himself and in the Emperor to [[Ork|shape the surrounding Empyrean to match this belief]] in a manner similar to daemons themselves. It also explains why things go back to normal once he leaves, since he is no longer there to affect that portion of the Warp directly. In other words, Draigo cuts a [[Bloody Path|bloody path]] through the Sea of Souls because he believes he can, and the Warp doesn't really want to dispute his claim. If one asks why other powerful psykers can't do it, they can to a degree; see [[Tuska Daemon-Killa]]. As for Eldar, Slaanesh would nab them the moment they entered the Warp. Other human psykers don't tend to try to interact with the Warp too much but it is quite likely they'd be able to some extent. Incidentally, this effectively makes Draigo a ''Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann'' character, and that is actually kind of awesome.

In addition, people never seem to think that his Aegis warded armour (Terminator armour, which I believe to contain a small Gellar Field, no less) is specifically designed to protect the wearer from the Warp, that and Grey Knight [[Interceptor Squad]]s go through the Warp on a regular basis, so Draigo should, in theory have no trouble traversing the Warp.

Also, as a number of people have pointed out, the Codex itself flat out states that nothing he's doing is having any lasting effect on the Chaos Gods. Plus, his first major appearance in a novel has him delivering an impressive verbal smackdown on [[Azrael]] regarding the [[Dark Angels]]' obsession with making sure nobody discovers the truth about the <s>[[Fallen Angels]]</s> UNRELATED TRATIORS WHO CERTAINLY HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH THE DARK ANGELS. Which makes him slightly more human.

==[[Warhammer Fantasy]]==
There has been a sighting of what might be Draigo in the Warhammer Fantasyverse - specifically, in the fluff book for the ''Khaine'' splat of [[The End Times]].

During Araloth's travels into the Realm of Chaos, to rescue [[Shallya]] from the mansion of [[Nurgle]], the final traveling companion he picks up is a knight, a "giant of a man" whose armor "gleams like silver" and whose "speech is strange" (why does Kaldor decide to help Eldar?). Upon reaching the mansion of Nurgle, the knight sacrifices himself so the rest of the party can enter, explaining he has "made something of a name for himself since his arrival in the benighted realm" and so he is sure to draw their attention. More notably, when he makes his sacrificial charge, it's mentioned that he sweeps out his hand and blue fire explodes amongst the daemon's ranks. It's also been mentioned that the Warp connects Fantasy and 40k.

Worth mentioning that not only are Wood Elves the Spiritual Liege's favorite Fantasy faction, but this was one of the last things he wrote for Games Workshop before leaving the company. Take it as you will.

That said, if this is Draigo, he is certainly not the all-powerful Gary Sue of other depictions; when Araloth finds him, he has been chained down in a glade in Nurgle's garden, at one point he gets ambushed by a [[Beast of Nurgle]] (when it ''jumps out of a tree and lands on him''), and rather than defeating the daemons he distracts, Araloth leaves the mansion to find his broken body impaled upon a spear. Yes, he's still alive, and the mad scholar the Wood Elf is traveling with (who may in fact be Richter Kleiss, the writer of the Liber Chaotica) explains that the knight is "beyond the power of the daemons" and will "take his own revenge in due course", but that is attributed to being "the way of things in the Realm of Chaos" rather than anything inherent to Draigo (if he is Draigo).

It's worth noting that the description would also fit a Stormcast Eternal of the Hallowed Knights chapter from Age of Sigmar, which was under development at the time and is technically the same setting. Though, the Sigmarine couldn't fire blue lightning out of his hands, nor was he "invincible."

In another story, whilst in the warp, Draigo sees a "world ruled over by a self-styled God-king, where magic flows through the very wind." He ultimately decides not to go there, thus proving himself far more intelligent than he has ever been given credit for.

==See Also==
*[[FAIL|Fail]]
*[[Matt Ward]]
*[http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/598617 What Draigo's actually doing in the Warp]
*[[Doom|The character draigo is trying to emulate...but failing]]
[[Category:Space Marines Chapter Masters]]

== Gallery ==
<gallery>
File:Draigo.jpg|[[Warhammer 40,000 7th edition|We spoke too soon.]]
File:Draigo2.jpg| well that just got weird...
File:Raven.jpg|STEEL REIHN
File:RAPE TRAIN.jpg|HE MAKES IT HAPPEN
File:Supreme_Grand_Troll.jpg|PROBLEM, DAEMONS?
File:Samurai draigo.jpg|Foolish Grey Knight.
File:Dreadknight.jpg|U Mad, Dreadnoughtfags?
File:Draigo codex2.jpg|Son of a bitch even gets his own codex.
File:Hemakesithappen.png|Still a shitload better than a Primarch
File:DraigoDullSurprise.png|Draigo is a very emotive person.
</gallery>

{{Marines-Characters}}

[[Category:Mary Sue]][[Category:FAIL]][[Category:Warhammer Fantasy]][[Category:Grey Knights]]

Kaldor Draigo

2020-02-26T23:04:15Z

65.117.99.152: /* Wait this sounds so familiar... Oh, son of a bitch! */

{{Fail}}
{{MattWard}}
{{Skub}}
[[File:Kaldor Draigo vs M'kar the Reborn.jpg|400px|thumb|right|Mary Sue HOOOOOOOOOO! From the looks of it, things are [[not as planned]] for the Lord of Change.]]

{{Topquote|I'm not locked in here with you, you're locked in here with me!|Kaldor Draigo thinks he is as badass as [[Angry Marines|Rorschach]] in Watchmen, [[skub|which is obviously, utterly false]]}}

Oh fucking hell, where to ''start'' with this poorly-written piece of work. '''Kaldor Draigo''' is the '''Supreme''' Grand Master ''(Don't forget the [[Azrael|Supreme]] part)'' One True Sue of the [[Grey Knights]] probably the greatest living loyalist in the 41st Millenium... and a ridiculously obnoxious thorn in the side of anyone who [[Dark Angels|<s>is an enemy of the emperor</s>]] isn't an obnoxious prepubescent BITCH. And the worst thing is that we can't get rid of the thorn.

==Origins in the Fluff==
Draigo first showed up from out of no-where in [[Matt Ward]]'s [[Skub|famous]] Grey Knights 5th Edition codex, previously there had been no mention of the character anywhere, but suddenly we were presented with this all new guy, with a list of deeds equivalent / greater than any of the established 40k heavies, including several [[Primarchs]], yet somehow completely and unbelievably infallible.

As a lowly Battle-Brother he banished the [[M'kar|Daemon Prince M'kar the Reborn]] and he has risen steadily through the ranks to become the '''SUPREME''' Grand Master Chosen of the most secretive Chapter of [[Space Marines]]. Yet ever since his other battle with [[M'kar]], Draigo has been cursed to a life within the Warp, doomed to walk within the [[Chaos|Realm of Chaos]], [[Mary Sue|to remain pure when constantly assailed by Chaos]] and to show fortitude and personal strength [[Mary Sue|that is beyond comprehensible measure]]. ''(In other words, he's got [[Plot armor]] of a scale equivalent to a 1++ unmodifiable save)''

But while Draigo lives, he will [[troll|prevail]], and one day, he will return.

===Wait this sounds so familiar... Oh, son of a bitch!===
''Long ago in a distant land, I, M'kar, a shape-shifting Tzeentchian Daemon, unleashed an unspeakable evil! But a foolish Grey Knight warrior wielding a magic sword stepped forth to oppose me. Before the final blow was struck, I tore open a portal in space and flung him into the Warp, where my evil is law! Now the fool seeks to return to real-space, and undo the evil that is Chaos!''

[[Samurai Jack|Dammit, Matt Ward's ripping off stories better than his own again.]]

To be fair, Samurai Jack <s>[[heresy|is not that good]], so Matt's version can hardly be worse</s>{{BLAM}}{{BLAM}}{{BLAM}}{{BLAM|'''TRIPLE FUCKING HERESY!!!'''}} he could have ripped off, which makes Draigo [[Rage]] inducing to a new extreme.. Samurai Jack is an animated series that itself ripped off from Frank Miller's Rönin; if you haven't read that Samurai Jack's like a less violent, samurai-and-fantasy-based version of [[Fist of the North Star]]. Though Matt Ward's fluff is still awful and unworthy of even sharing the same paragraph as those three.

Another theory poses that Draigo is a copy-paste of Khal Drogo from [[A Song of Ice and Fire]], whose only notable characteristic for most of the series was being literally undefeated forever. Khal Drogo got better later; Draigo didn't.

===Listings of Deeds===
Kaldor Draigo is famous for:
*Killing a Daemon Prince in his first combat action
*Banishing Daemon [[Primarch]] [[Mortarion]] back to the warp, somehow carving the name of the previous supreme grand master Geronitan (a fucking long name) into the heart of said Daemon Primarch ''without contracting space daemon AIDS in the process''
**to put this insanity in perspective, try cursive writing with a Chainsaw (block letters are difficult in wood to begin with, let alone flesh) while in the middle of an industrial toxic waste dump <s>without any protection.</s> wearing a punctured HAZMAT suit. Unless you have Plot Armor, then it's pretty sensible.
***Another idea would be to go and listen to the audio drama "Mortarion's heart", this will resolve the issues that people have with this event.
*Single-handedly holding off a daemon horde for two days in real space
*Killing a Daemon Prince with a broken sword,
*Killing one of [[Khorne]]'s strongest [[Bloodthirster]]s with little to no weaponry
*Taking said Bloodthirster's axe and reforging it into a sword for his own personal use WITH HIS MIND (you know, despite it being an obvious weapon of a Daemon and automatically a corrupting influence just to hold, let alone press your bare mind against(just don't tell this to Logan Grimnar, m'kay?))
*Slaying 6 of Slaanesh's chosen Daemonettes (when setting one's gaze upon them is enough to instantly force submission from any mortal, no matter how strong-willed)
*Setting fire to Nurgle's garden (again, whilst somehow miraculously avoiding space daemon [[AIDS]])
*Walking into the City of Tzeentch and single-handedly smashing it to rubble, which, given that the City of Tzeentch comprises geometry which is literally impossible, MAKES NO FUCKING SENSE <strike>''(maybe he just smashes the impossible buildings into equally-impossible rubble?)</strike> {{BLAM|Who the fuck gave Matt Ward his editing privileges back?!}}'' and slaying countless daemons whilst being trapped in warpspace. He can also be summoned by chaos cultists unwittingly instead of a daemon, no sooner returning to the Warp than after slaying them all.
**To be <strike>fair</strike> a cunt, Great Boss [[Tuska Daemon-Killa|Tuska the Demon-killa]] did that to several different places with impossible geometry during his WAAAGH! into the warp... but then again, those are [[Orks]], for whom impossible shit forms the backbone of their war machinery, he had an army and artillery with him so they could've [[Dakka|fired in all directions]], he had an army with him that took losses as they went and they eventually were defeated, in a sense <span style='color:green;font-size:105%'>'''DEFEETED? WE'Z STUCK IN IN AN ENDLESS WAAAGH!!! WHERE U KAN COME BACK FO' MOAR EVVRY TIME U GET ZOGGED! AN' WE'Z NEVAH RUN OUTTA ENEMIEZ! GREAT BOSS DEMONA-KILLA IZ DA BEST BOSS EVAH!'''</span>)

===Additional Bullshit===
If anyone needed additional proof that Matt Ward is too busy wanking off at the thought of his own fluffing skills to actually pay any attention to what he's writing, just look at the chronology of Draigo's entry. He initially distinguishes himself in 799.M41 during his first encounter with M'Kar, earning the rank of Justicar. The next confrontation with M'Kar occurs 'Two hundred years to the day since Draigo's victory on Acralem' (i.e. 999.M41). 999.M41; this is confirmed in the 'Deeds of Legend' section of the Codex as well. Additionally, 999.M41 is ''also'' the point Draigo is dragged into the warp and begins his centuries-long rampage. Later on in the '''exact same fucking fluff entry,''' when he returns for the first time to the mortal plane, he has been "clearly long adrift in time, for he knew [those Grey Knights he encountered] not". Y'know, despite the fact '''[[FAIL|TIME FLOWS DIFFERENTLY IN THE WARP THAN IN REAL-SPACE.]]''' Doubtless, as we all know, time passes differently in the Warp; Kaldor himself may have been experiencing years or centuries there, but time crawls linearly along for everyone in the Prime Material, and that therefore would have ''zero impact'' on the age and number of surviving, recognizable members of the Grey Knights whom he left behind. So, unless we're intended to assume that his entry is to be read as though in the future, i.e. sometime well after the END of the 41st Millennium, then Kaldor "''I'm-a-fucking-badass-who-can-survive-indefinitely-in-the-Warp''" Draigo has really only been AWAY from the mortal plane for, at most, a few months. Giving Mr. Ward the benefit of the doubt (which seems completely unfair to readers with more than an iota of brain power), either Kaldor has been randomly deposited into points in the distant PAST, or we're intended to pretend all Grey Knight battles that include him are taking place in the distant FUTURE. Without one of these two assumptions, only two other alternatives remain: either Draigo has gone completely fucking senile/[[If the Emperor had a Text-to-Speech Device|has gone completely batshit fucking insane from Warp exposure]], or Draigo was too big a stuck-up, arrogant snob to ever learn the names or faces of those serving under him. This, of course, is if we want to give Matt Ward ''any'' credit at all. In other words, the above is a concrete example of '''BAD WRITING.'''

Seriously, what the fuck more do you want, GW? Who's he fluffing on your board of directors, that you've retained such a piss-poor hack for so long? Are you on drugs? What kind of Slaaneshi death cult has been giving you drugs? Can I have some of your drugs so I can at least make sense of your goddamned incompetence?!

===Wut?===
Clearly, the only explanation for the sheer levels of retardation and gratuitous [[Matt Ward|canon-rape]] Draigo represents is the simplest one: That Draigo is, in fact, defeated - Chaos cannot be beaten in its own realm of non-space because of the mere fact that chaotic beings are immortal, after all, and none of the above is true. (though psykers can "technically" kill chaos daemons for good in the warp, it requires an amount of psychic energy and willpower that's far beyond the norm)

Right now, this very moment, (in the far future) Draigo is in fact a shredded pile of torn flesh and shattered bone after having his ass handed to him by the above Lord of Change and Bloodthirster, who proceeded to step in whilst the Lord kept him distracted - [[Just as planned]]. This pile of broken ex-marine is also gushing ooze and phlegm and pus as he was infected with every blight and pox Nurgle has to offer. This shredded, oozing pile....''thing'', is also being raped and violated in the most unspeakable and vile ways by the Daemonettes of Slaanesh.

And so it shall continue, for all eternity. [[Troll|Because every single Chaos God finds it fucking hilarious]].

The only reason he thinks "all is well" is because Tzeentch thought he'd have a bit fun with Draigo. He stuck Draigo into a matrix-esque dream world where everything goes his way and is just waiting for Draigo to climb as high as he can. This dream world will probably last until Draigo has crushed the Chaos gods themselves and all their armies beneath his feet and caused the God-Emperor himself to rise from the throne and suck him off!

Then, at the "funniest" possible moment, right as his bolter is about to fire its payload (and we're not talking about the one on his wrist), Tzeentch will rip it all away from him, Draigo will wake up and see what has really become of him and weep tears of utter loss and despair! "[[Just as planned]]!"

While all that's happened, Draigo thought to himself: "I have no mouth, but I must scream".

At least that's what the heretics want you to think.

[[File:Jelly thing.jpg|200px|thumb|right|Kaldor Draigo, what really happened to him.]]

<s>Admittedly, Draigo's fluff is pretty badass, but still canon-rape (no pun inten- wait, pun totally intended).</s> There is nothing awesome about someone who just goes around fucking everything up with zero challenge. It's like people who write stories about how their super awesome character killed the [[Lady_of_Pain|Lady of Pain]] or something.

//{{BLAM|''Inquisitor's Note: While the above is no doubt the fevered ramblings of a mind crying out for the Emperor's peace there is a small measure of truth in it. Our [[canon|most blessed and sanctified scriptures]] tell us that Lord Draigo's victories in the warp are indeed empty ones, and that every daemon slain and fortress toppled shortly rights itself. This is his curse and only when, by the Emperor's blessing, he returns to the materium will he be able to enact any lasting defeats on the ruinous powers.}}//

//{{BLAM|''Historitor 165.82.108.238 remanded to custody for Inquisitorial review.}}//

++{{BLAM|''Thought for the Day: Many are the faces of the enemy, many are the hands of the enemy.''}}++

Alternatively you could also accept the less serious but popular fanon that Kaldor Draigo is actually traversing the Warp while high on drugs. His latent psychic abilities and drug-fueled insanity could technically allow him to shape his battles in the Warp to go in his favor. That or Draigo has almost [[Malcador]] levels of psychic abilities, the strain of which has caused him to go completely bat-shite insane, rendering the Warp into his own personal plaything to a certain extent.

===Mat Ward Sez===
''"Lord Kaldor Draigo is a combat monster - there's no other way to describe him. He's lethal against non-daemonic foes, with plenty of Strength 5 force weapon attacks to lay a beat down. When faced with hated Daemons, his Titansword becomes Strength 10, ensuring a pretty one-sided fight in his favour. Even if his enemy survives, Draigo's storm shield is sure to keep him fighting. And on top of all of this, Draigo is a Grand Master, able to bestow extra abilities on his allies. Want your Dreadknight to capture objectives? Draigo can make that happen. Want a Scouting screen of Dreadnoughts? Draigo can make it happen. He's the best possible way to keep your opponent on his toes."''

In summary: HE [[/d/|MAKES IT HAPPEN]].
(So does [[Creed]] but unlike Draigo he does OP with [[awesome|Style]])

==Tabletop==
In lab tests conducted on /tg/, Kaldor Draigo loses to [[Abaddon]] the Despoiler [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rX7wtNOkuHo roughly 73.5% of the time]. But then again Abaddon is meant to be a high-cost, point-sink, cc-beatstick who doesn't have arms or do anything to boost his own army...

===6th Edition===
Like Abaddon, Kaldor's amazing super awesome blade of Mary Sue has been reduced to AP3, but Abaddon was important enough to get FAQ'd back to AP2! This means anything, ANYTHING, with 2+ save will survive combat with Draigo. Even a [[Tau|weaboo space communist]] wearing iridium armor. Or a Meganob. Or a Captain in artificer armor...if you ignore that Draigo's weapon has the Force special rule, which can cause Instant Death in compensation (which is fine and dandy until he gets challenged by a Phoenix Lord). AP3 admittedly is somewhat of a blow, but this is compensated for against more dangerous foes with its latent abilities and his own 3++ save.

That or just charge a Chaos Lord in Terminator armour with <s>Bloodfeeder</s> '''THE MURDER SWORD''' or the Axe of Blind Fury. Naw, the Lord would have to fail a single save to get mindraped.

===7th edition===
While Draigo's beloved Titansword got upped back to AP2, he himself became far more expensive as a tool, as he is now relegated to the Lords of War Slot -- where Superheavies live -- for a heaping 245 Points. This means that he can't be accessed by himself, he needs someone else in the HQ slot to unlock him. Unless you're running unbound, the system used exclusively by [[This Guy]]'s fluff games and [[That Guy]]'s absolute cheesiness. Actually the former sounds kind awesome, to represent a battle where the GK's command structure has been slain but then Draigo pops out of the Warp with a nose full of warp dust.

He still has his insane 2+/3++ save thanks to his Termie Armor and singular Storm Shield. His Force blade is still S+3 with AP2 Master-Crafted, with the ability to re-roll to-wound against Daemons when he uses Force. That said, Force is now deniable, thus you should expect that they will, and in force. Aside from that, he has Banishment (which weakens Daemons' invuls), Hammerhand (Upping him to an S9 murder machine), Gate of Infinity (For sudden Deep-Strikes anywhere), and Purge Soul (To make a sudden hit). This solves one of the reason he was hated: the utter ability to roll whatever you wanted. Without Biomancy or Telepathy, he's no longer invincible.

As a commander, he is now not very worthwhile, with the removal of Grand Strategy and his Warlord Trait now giving him Hatred (Daemons) and an easier time casting Banishment and...that's it. He can no longer make Paladins troops either, so now you've lost more reason to take them over a cheaper ML3 Librarian with both the Domina Liber Daemonica and a Warlord Trait to give him SIX FUCKING POWERS IN SANCTIC. Quite frankly, he's only useful as the mother of all beatsticks.

===8th edition===
Draigo's sword became S+4 AP-4, and does a flat 3 damage now in the place of Instant Death. Also, he gives himself and all Grey Knight units within 6" of him the ability to re-roll failed misses in shooting and close combat (it hasn't been updated YET to ALL misses so -1 to hit modifiers still hurt). Additionally, his Bane of Evil aura grants Grey Knights within 6" to re-roll their damage rolls against Daemons in the fight phase (nice, considering all Nemesis Force weapons comes with D3 damage except the Daemonhammer). He still has his 2+/3++ thanks to his Terminator Armour and Storm Shield. His warlord trait, Daemon Slayer, is still heavily situational at best (read: useless). Basically, he's now not totally useless if he's not in close combat.

==Silver(ed) Knight==
The 6E Daemons Codex ''(and reprinted in the 8th edition codex)'' detailed the journey a "Knight of the Adeptus Astartes in silvered armor "whose will was as strong as silvered adamantium" braving the many circles of the Palace of Slaanesh, cutting down a few daemonettes and mortal thralls, only to kneel before the Prince of Pleasures himself, in the guise of a young, androgynous boy who cowed the Knight with absolute and righteous innocence. Too many people believe that it's Draigo because of their seething spite for the Ward, but a more rational mind could realize that the Grey Knights aren't the only people wearing silver armour. There's still the [[Silver Skulls]], [[Doom Eagles]], and the [[Iron Snakes]], all who wear silver Power Armour and have more of a likelihood to be corrupted (Especially if you consider the presumed origins that the Skulls are actually loyalist Iron Warriors)

'''Alternate take:''' How many other Marines are actually running around the Warp, much less loyalist Marines? At the very least, even if it is Draigo it took the god himself to outright convert him with a touch of his "scepter" so someone at least got the idea of what it should take to cause a Grey Knight to just flip to the side of Chaos for no reason. That or maybe their geneseed makes them hot for traps. Either way it's not clear when this happened, so it could be in the future or an alternate timeline since the Warp doesn't care about your single direction flow of time. Assuming it's not some weird symbolic thing.

==Placed in the hands of other authors==
C.Z. Dunn has recently taken a crack at Draigo in the novelization of the Pandorax Campaign. Here, Draigo is decidedly NOT a <s>Mary Sue</s> Gary Sue anymore, with "Supreme Grand Master" taken in the same context as [[Azrael]]. Dunn doesn't nerf Draigo, he still kicks a ton of daemon ass, but he doesn't go around soloing Bloodthirsters without backup or anything so asinine. Draigo is also shown to be moderately flawed as a character, [[Avitus|hot-headed and aggressive]] -- this is to contrast him with the stubborn and conservative Azrael (who takes until chapter 14 to get off his ass and fight smart, though when he finally does he actually fights ''really smart'' like a true Space Marine). He's also a [[Troll|top-tier dick]] who trolls Azrael about all the prisoners they've been taking back to [[the Rock]] and makes several threats that he'll get the High Lords of Terra to investigate if the Dark Angels don't comply. (Haters gonna hate.)

The Mortarion's Heart Audio Drama, also has him troll his bodyguard, and the Inquisition (in fact his first act as Supreme Grand Master is to tell the one bugging the Knights to go fuck himself). Also we see just what got him the job; he was simply the only one with enough skill to even try to beat Mortarion, even Draigo admitted he was a horrible choice, but that didn't matter since he would most likely die anyway. And, when he does fight Mortarion he gets the shit beat out of him and the entire 1st Brotherhood killed by Mortarion's hand and only gains the advantage with Mortarion's true name which causes the Primarch to have the equivalent of a seizure and then uses Mortarion's antithesis name to banish him.

This isn't too shocking as Draigo is a fairly new character and only has about two pages to himself within the codex compare to Dunn's few hundred. Even a good writer would have trouble balancing both a good character AND a badass who leads an army of daemon killers.

===The Plague of Madness===
The 7E Codex also takes steps to reduce the fucking cheese of Draigo by showing him as a competent commander before his banishment, and how he only became relevant because he was able to beat up M'Kar, the Daemon Prince of Jobbers.

In "The Plague of Madness" witten in 7Ed, Draigo has to bring out three whole brotherhoods of knights because some idiot [[Inquisitor]] tried to mess with a [[Lord of Change]] named "Ix'thar'ganix" by binding it to her will and using his power for the good of the Imperium. Ganix was both amused and infuriated at the prospect of a mortal trying to outdick him, so when the Inquisitor summoned the daemon to bind it; Ganix had a [[Great Unclean One]] named Lurgon take his place. Because the wards meant to bind Ganix didn't work with another daemon; Lurgon possesed the Inquisitor and corrupt her posse to the cause of Nurgle. Things later spiraled into madness after Lurgon corrupted the system of Decimalus after the Inquisitor's drifting ship happened upon it.

Draigo attempted to convince the Grey Knights to send a large force to apprehend both Ix'thar'ganix and Lurgon, which after some political maneuvering, he managed to get. After [[Arvann Stern]] secured an orbital fortress from some daemons, Draigo made it planetside and actually saved some Sisters of Battle from a death by daemon-nomming. After that, Draigo's band of merry men and the surviving Sisters attempted to break through a literal sea of daemons by running them over with Land Raiders and [[Rhino Transport|MEHTAL BAWKSES]], with the intent of taking the spire that housed Lurgon. Draigo's Raider however, got stuck after running over so many daemons and was eventually destroyed after a daemonblade ran through it. Thrown out of the tank, he attempted to solo an entire horde by himself and rescue his brothers still trapped inside the Land Raider.

In a completely different way of portrayal; Draigo was actually pretty close to being overwhelmed. He was struck and held down by the legion of daemons around him and would have died if it wasn't for the surviving battle Sisters coming to his aid and gunning down the horde around him. And instead of something retarded like using the Sisters' blood for protection or suddenly getting super strength and ripping his way towards the spire; he motioned a request for the sisters to buy them time while he and the survivors make a mad dash for the spire and end this insanity. The writer to this has already undone the idiocy of the [[Khornate Knights]], and did so while keeping everyone's dignity. A step up amid a codex widely considered to be a step down crunchwise.

===Other counterpoints===
It has recently been posited that Draigo's ability to traverse the Warp and wreak havoc on the Ruinous Powers with relative ease is due not to Gary Sue bullshit powers, but to the nature of the Warp itself. One of the only constants of the Warp is that it is shaped by the belief and emotion of sentient beings with psychic ability, however small. Because of this, it is possible that a being with vast psychic ability and great faith (say, a Grey Knight ''Supreme'' Grand Master) would be able to use his belief in himself and in the Emperor to [[Ork|shape the surrounding Empyrean to match this belief]] in a manner similar to daemons themselves. It also explains why things go back to normal once he leaves, since he is no longer there to affect that portion of the Warp directly. In other words, Draigo cuts a [[Bloody Path|bloody path]] through the Sea of Souls because he believes he can, and the Warp doesn't really want to dispute his claim. If one asks why other powerful psykers can't do it, they can to a degree; see [[Tuska Daemon-Killa]]. As for Eldar, Slaanesh would nab them the moment they entered the Warp. Other human psykers don't tend to try to interact with the Warp too much but it is quite likely they'd be able to some extent. Incidentally, this effectively makes Draigo a ''Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann'' character, and that is actually kind of awesome.

In addition, people never seem to think that his Aegis warded armour (Terminator armour, which I believe to contain a small Gellar Field, no less) is specifically designed to protect the wearer from the Warp, that and Grey Knight [[Interceptor Squad]]s go through the Warp on a regular basis, so Draigo should, in theory have no trouble traversing the Warp.

Also, as a number of people have pointed out, the Codex itself flat out states that nothing he's doing is having any lasting effect on the Chaos Gods. Plus, his first major appearance in a novel has him delivering an impressive verbal smackdown on [[Azrael]] regarding the [[Dark Angels]]' obsession with making sure nobody discovers the truth about the <s>[[Fallen Angels]]</s> UNRELATED TRATIORS WHO CERTAINLY HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH THE DARK ANGELS. Which makes him slightly more human.

==[[Warhammer Fantasy]]==
There has been a sighting of what might be Draigo in the Warhammer Fantasyverse - specifically, in the fluff book for the ''Khaine'' splat of [[The End Times]].

During Araloth's travels into the Realm of Chaos, to rescue [[Shallya]] from the mansion of [[Nurgle]], the final traveling companion he picks up is a knight, a "giant of a man" whose armor "gleams like silver" and whose "speech is strange" (why does Kaldor decide to help Eldar?). Upon reaching the mansion of Nurgle, the knight sacrifices himself so the rest of the party can enter, explaining he has "made something of a name for himself since his arrival in the benighted realm" and so he is sure to draw their attention. More notably, when he makes his sacrificial charge, it's mentioned that he sweeps out his hand and blue fire explodes amongst the daemon's ranks. It's also been mentioned that the Warp connects Fantasy and 40k.

Worth mentioning that not only are Wood Elves the Spiritual Liege's favorite Fantasy faction, but this was one of the last things he wrote for Games Workshop before leaving the company. Take it as you will.

That said, if this is Draigo, he is certainly not the all-powerful Gary Sue of other depictions; when Araloth finds him, he has been chained down in a glade in Nurgle's garden, at one point he gets ambushed by a [[Beast of Nurgle]] (when it ''jumps out of a tree and lands on him''), and rather than defeating the daemons he distracts, Araloth leaves the mansion to find his broken body impaled upon a spear. Yes, he's still alive, and the mad scholar the Wood Elf is traveling with (who may in fact be Richter Kleiss, the writer of the Liber Chaotica) explains that the knight is "beyond the power of the daemons" and will "take his own revenge in due course", but that is attributed to being "the way of things in the Realm of Chaos" rather than anything inherent to Draigo (if he is Draigo).

It's worth noting that the description would also fit a Stormcast Eternal of the Hallowed Knights chapter from Age of Sigmar, which was under development at the time and is technically the same setting. Though, the Sigmarine couldn't fire blue lightning out of his hands, nor was he "invincible."

In another story, whilst in the warp, Draigo sees a "world ruled over by a self-styled God-king, where magic flows through the very wind." He ultimately decides not to go there, thus proving himself far more intelligent than he has ever been given credit for.

==See Also==
*[[FAIL|Fail]]
*[[Matt Ward]]
*[http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/598617 What Draigo's actually doing in the Warp]
*[[Doom|The character draigo is trying to emulate...but failing]]
[[Category:Space Marines Chapter Masters]]

== Gallery ==
<gallery>
File:Draigo.jpg|[[Warhammer 40,000 7th edition|We spoke too soon.]]
File:Draigo2.jpg| well that just got weird...
File:Raven.jpg|STEEL REIHN
File:RAPE TRAIN.jpg|HE MAKES IT HAPPEN
File:Supreme_Grand_Troll.jpg|PROBLEM, DAEMONS?
File:Samurai draigo.jpg|Foolish Grey Knight.
File:Dreadknight.jpg|U Mad, Dreadnoughtfags?
File:Draigo codex2.jpg|Son of a bitch even gets his own codex.
File:Hemakesithappen.png|Still a shitload better than a Primarch
File:DraigoDullSurprise.png|Draigo is a very emotive person.
</gallery>

{{Marines-Characters}}

[[Category:Mary Sue]][[Category:FAIL]][[Category:Warhammer Fantasy]][[Category:Grey Knights]]

Changeling: The Lost

2020-02-26T23:02:21Z

65.117.99.152: /* Contracts */

{{Game Infobox
|name = Changeling: The Lost
|picture = [[File:Changeling2eCover.jpeg|250px]]
|type = [[RPG]]
|publisher = [[White Wolf]] / CCP
|system = [[Storytelling System]]
|authors = Kelly Barnes-Herman ''et al''
|year = 2007 (1st) <br> 2019 (2nd)
|books = Changeling: The Lost Rulebook
<div class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" style="width:175px">
*''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''
</div>
}}
'''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 fae, 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 typically go barking mad if they do survive), and stolen away by god-like alien monsters to be transformed into slaves/playthings. 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, there's a good chance that 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 a copy made to replace you (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.

*[[Furry|'''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. In 1e their 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). In 2E, they gain an extra dot of any Resistance attribute. They can also move faster and deal lethal damage in unarmed combat, but have to spend Glamour to do so if they're affected by any condition related to fear. Additionally, they risk Clarity loss if they hurt someone because they acted without thinking.
*'''[[Grimdark|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. Their 1e 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 Freddy Krueger-style slashers (complete with blade-hands!). In 2E they gain an extra dot of any Finesse attribute and can spend Willpower to disappear into some insubstantial substance (this also costs Glamour if there are witnesses). However, they risk Clarity loss if a secret or some other important information they know turns out to be false.
*[[Golem|'''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 1e 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. In 2e they get an extra dot in a Resistance stat and can act through their element if surrounded by it at a range of up to 3 yards, although this requires Glamour if their Willpower is less than half of its maximum. They risk Clarity loss whenever they are coerced or otherwise forced to act against their will.
*'''[[Elves|Fairest]]''' were treated like treasures or pets 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 the Keepers can express “love” in some really fucked up ways. 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 1e Kiths focus on exactly why their beauty was important; living art piece, courtesan, star in the night sky, noble warrior, and more. In 2e they gain an extra dot in a Power stat and can spend Willpower on behalf of other characters (albeit for a Glamour cost if the recipient distrusts them), and risk Clarity loss if their actions or inaction cause harm to their allies.
*[[/tg/|'''Ogres''']] were forced to serve brutal Durances that made them big and strong, whether it was fighting in a gladiatorial arena 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''' But seriously, they may act gruff but many just don't want to be hurt any further than they have been already. Although this may seem a fairly narrow Seeming, it's got a surprising amount of 1e Kiths, from the fairytale troll living under the bridge to Bigfoot-esque wilderness monsters to living stone golems to the magical, embittered hags who lay curses. In 2e they gain an extra dot in a Power stat and can temporarily cause the Beaten Down tilt on opponents in combat, but have to expend Glamour to do so unless they're fighting on someone else's behalf. They risk Clarity loss if they frighten anyone who's not their enemy.
*'''[[Dwarf|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 ( 1e 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 2e they gain an extra dot in a Finesse stat and can turn any material into any other material as long as they have the right tools (or Glamour to jury-rig said tools), so they can literally spin straw into gold. They risk Clarity loss when taken off-guard by unpleasant surprises.

In second edition, Kiths are no longer linked to specific Seemings, so now it's possible to be something like an Ogre Chatelaine. Still, your Kith does define a particular blessing and a skill that you can get exceptional successes with more easily, both of which are broadly based on what you did in Arcadia (e.g. a Bright One might have served as a lantern). While 12 are outlined in the core rules, there's also a system to make your own Kiths as you see fit.

===The Mien and the Mask===
A Changeling's 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 [[DFC|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. "Wyrd" is an old Germanic word or some shit that pretty much means Fate (which leads to some clever ''wyrdplay''... geddit?), and while the Wyrd is tied to everything that exists, only fae beings 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 only 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 [[DM|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 (are forced to) learn how to strike deals with elements and concepts, or they die from exposure to Time Cube logic. This is where Changelings get their Contracts, semi-magical spells that allow them to mess with one aspect of reality for the low, low price of a point of Glamour, an energy extracted from the extremes of human emotion. On top of that, contracts always have a loophole, known as a Catch, where you can use 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 can purchase it at a discount.

'''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. These Contracts help age or restore items... or just mess with people by [[Samurai Jack]]-ing their ass into next week.
*'''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 hedges (except for the ''actual'' capital-H Hedge).
*'''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''': The Fairest have a loose grip on reality anyway, so why not loosen your grip further to do mystical escape-artistry?
*'''Contracts of Vainglory''': SO FABULOUS OH GOD MY EYES

'''Ogre Contracts'''
*'''Contracts of Oath and Punishment''': Track, chase and punish oathbreakers.
*'''Contracts of Stone''': Be tough and hit people.

'''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''': Quick-and-dirty contracts that come at a price. Use at your own risk.

==Pledges and Oaths==
As suggested above, the Wyrd takes any sort of promise or statement of intent very seriously. Most beings aren't connected closely enough to the Wyrd for it to have an impact on them, but Fae beings can make such statements supernaturally binding.

Given that most Changelings come out of their Durance with severe trust issues, the knowledge that their promises will be supernaturally enforced does a lot to keep them from descending into paranoia. More importantly, the Gentry's powers are dependent on the oaths they swore upon coming into existence, which means that if they ever end up breaking those oaths for any reason, they will be severely weakened or even annihilated outright.

===Sealing===
The simplest form of pledge requires a Changeling to see or hear a statement of intent being made; whether said statement was serious or made as an exaggeration is irrelevant. So if you say "if my team doesn't win this game, I'll eat my hat" in front of a Changeling and said team loses, ''you had better take a bite of that fuckin' hat'' or the Wyrd will impose some minor but immediate punishment on you for going back on your word. While Fae are not immune to sealing, they can undo the sealing before its effects take hold; among changelings, sealing is done to demonstrate willingness to keep their word on a relatively minor matter.

===Oaths===
For more serious agreements, Changelings rely on oaths. These require mutual consent to be sworn, and both parties will be permanently bound by the oath from that point forward. As long as both parties uphold their part of the oath, they will gain its benefits.

While the terms of the oath can certainly be violated, this does not erase the oath so much as change its terms, which almost always involves grave penalties for the oathbreaker. (On the rare occasions that the penalty for violating the oath isn't specified in its terms, the Wyrd will punish the oathbreaker as it sees fit. And it is a vindictive little bitch about it.) On top of the immediate consequences, oathbreakers are reviled among Changelings and the only way to be forgiven is to make restitution to all parties involved, including the Wyrd itself.

Yes, it is possible to end up bound to obey oaths that are mutually exclusive with each other. No, the penalties for breaking one oath to uphold another are not reduced, and if anything can actually be ''worse'' than usual; read up on Cu Chulainn to see how that can bite you in the ass. Moral of the story, don't make oaths that you might not be able to keep.

===Bargains===
Bargains can only be struck between a Changeling and a human aware of the Changeling's fae nature. The Changeling offers to perform some kind of service for the human that's within their ability to provide in exchange for something else, but what the human can provide is always supplemented by the Wyrd making it harder for the Gentry to track the changeling.

If the bargain is broken by the changeling, they lose its benefits but are otherwise unaffected. But if the human is the one to break it, they will be at risk of stumbling into the Hedge with all the nastiness that involves. No Changeling would wish that fate on anyone, but the Wyrd's demands for restitution are absolute.

==The Freeholds, Courts and Entitements==
For detailed info on the Freehold, Courts and Entitlements, read the Lords of Summer supplement book.

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 if your best friend is a privateer manipulating you into the hands of one of the True Fae. And as your connection to the Wyrd gets stronger, your lifespan increases, which would be good if you didn't have so much shit to worry about or if it didn't also start making your memories of the Durance more vivid. 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, though delivering other Changelings into captivity earns you a nice death sentence instead. That's pretty much all of it, really, so let's 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 shimmering waves of heat emanating from him). 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 get a huge boost in importance in 2e, where their primary purpose is to provide obstructions to and shielding against the Gentry and 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 1e 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 seems non-existant, though, since this probably makes you a Dusk courtier.

'''Spring Court'''
*'''Court Emotion''': Desire
*'''Batman Villain Best Represented''': The Joker
*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 because the Gentry can't imagine that their pets could experience pleasure without them. 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, but they're far from the mindless party animals who live above literally every apartment ever.

In 2e, their Bargain is that when they're in power the True Fae cannot inflict harm upon a freehold unless that violence is born of their heart's desire. This might not seem helpful, but this really means that anyone short of a Keeper coming to reclaim its absolute favorite changeling cannot attack the freehold.

**'''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''': [[Rage|Wrath]]
*'''Batman Villain Best Represented''': Killer Croc
*The reality is that the Court is little more than a loosely organized militia made of monsters, but their desire and capacity to bring violence to bear against their enemies 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. Fanatics, extremists and murderers to the last. The other Courts, while they appreciate their protection and willingness to take the fight to the Gentry, don't really enjoy dealing with these hotheads.

In 2E, Summer's Bargain forces the Others to fight to the last even when they would prefer to surrender or withdraw. The Summer courtiers use this to their advantage, goading weaker forces into drawing their weapons or setting up traps that they will be forced to fall into.

**'''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''': Punishing oathbreakers and setting fires 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 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 them. But get ready for a lecture like in Hannibal, because they probably know everything that scares you already. Or they'll just jump out of the shadows screaming OOGA BOOGA if your DM doesn't understand subtlety.

In 2E, Autumn's Bargain compels the Gentry to announce their intentions before they attack, with more powerful attacks being announced further in advance. Despite the best efforts of the Gentry to work around it, the warning must be clear enough to be understood.

**'''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 Autumn''': Contracts for gathering information.

'''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. 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, the book mostly writes them off as being mopey emo kids. 2E mitigates this somewhat by placing a greater focus on the Court's pragmatic side and skill in eavesdropping.

In 2E, Winter's Bargain forces the Gentry to mourn for each of their deceased victims after every kill they make. As the majority of the True Fae have no idea what mourning actually involves, this makes for a rather peculiar sight- and Winter doesn't need to worry about honoring their crude imitations of grief.

**'''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 the Sorrow-Frozen Heart''': "They can't hurt me, I'm already ''dead inside!''"

====Directional Courts====
Introduced in Winter Masques. The Directional Courts are the Asian equivalent of the Seasonal Courts, having made contracts with the mythical Four Guardian Beasts of Chinese astrology. If you're playing in Asia or in a place with heavy Asian influences (like the USA's west coast), 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
*You know how Buddhist monks can go three weeks without food, water, or sleep, then still break granite with their foreheads? That's these guys in a nutshell. They made a contract with Xuanwu, the Black Tortoise.

'''Court of the East'''
*'''Court Emotion''': Envy
*Greedy bastards with the power of CAPITALISM! Uses LOADSAMONEY to get fast cars, uses said money and fast cars to attract hot women, then uses said money, fast cars and hot women to harvest beta tears and collect Glamour. These guys' patron is Qinglong, the Azure Dragon.

'''Court of the South'''
*'''Court Emotion''': Ecstasy
*Emotion is key, no matter how uncomfortable you are. Southerners are creatures of ham and extremes who pay homage to Zhuque, the Vermilion Bird.

'''Court of the West'''
*'''Court Emotion''': Honor
*Think of the Summer Court, but replace all the sound and fury with stone-faced military discipline. The initiation for this Court is literally boot camp, and they carry swords even if they fight with other weapons. They honor Baihu, the White Tiger.

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 Slavic Courts, closest to the Seelie and Unseelie Courts of old. 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. They don't have special Contracts, though.

'''The Sun Court'''
*'''Court Emotion''': Shame
*[[Lawful Stupid]] 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 for Changelings outside the Dusk Court to purchase, though Dusk Courtiers do get better estimates- 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. Second Ed changes them from social clubs you can join to roles you can take up. Sometimes there can be only one in the world, like The Red Queen, sometimes there's enough seats for a motley, like The Knights of Blades. The rules aren't even published yet.

==[[Mary Sue|The True Fae]] and Arcadia==
[[File:Fae LMAO.png|250px|thumb|right|The True Fae can take many forms, including that of the stereotypical alien abductors.]]
The threat of the True Fae can best be compared to the threat of the [[Antediluvian]]s 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 [[Troll|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 require conflict to exist, as they will eventually wither away into nothing without discord. Ergo, they find both slaves and rebels in human beings, who they're 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 simply 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 everything from the color of the sky to whether snowflakes are radioactive and weigh half a ton. The further they get from Arcadia, however, the weaker their powers become, and when they're on Earth (even though they're still powerful) they can pretty much only screw with minor things that their Contracts allow them to. Indeed, [[Neckbeard|reality itself slowly poisons them]], so they generally don't leave Arcadia unless they want something (that something being slaves). What it ultimately comes down to for the Gentry is [[That guy|"Is it fun for me? 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. [[Derp|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, so much so that it crosses over into anti-magic territory. (We're pretty sure that one was stolen from a Discworld novel, but we like Discworld so we'll let it slide.)

[[Troll|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 having it live your life for you. Killing your Fetch fucks with your clarity, since, you know, he was pretty much just ''you'' without a couple of your personality traits (maybe even without your ''flaws''), but it's a necessity if you want your old life back and 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 doppelganger, 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 [[Grimdark|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 Changeling the Keeper is looking for. 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- and even if you destroy the heart, the Title will just return to the Keeper and can be reused to enslave another Huntsman. 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==
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, [[Troll|with the full book being released in Q2 2017]]. As of October 2018, a full preview of the book is available, and in December 2018 the physical copies became available. A companion book containing additional information is scheduled to come out in 2019. Contracts are different now, being stand-alone powers. Clarity is much more fluid, serving as a sort of mental health track. Kith blessings are much more powerful and flavorful than they were in 1e. Courts are pretty much the same, although the benefits from Court Mantles have changed. We have yet to see what Entitlements will look like aside from loose examples from Onyx Path blog posts.

==See Also==
*[[Changeling]]
*[[White Wolf]]
*[[World of Darkness]]
*[[Changeling: The Dreaming]], its predecessor.
*[[Changeling Homebrew Kiths]]
*[[Changeling Homebrew Contracts]]
*[[Changeling Homebrew Hedge Bounty]]
*[[Changeling Homebrew Courts]]
*[[Changeling Stranger Tides]]

{{WoD-Games}}
[[Category: Changeling: The Lost]]

Changeling: The Lost

2020-02-26T22:58:19Z

65.117.99.152: /* Contracts */

{{Game Infobox
|name = Changeling: The Lost
|picture = [[File:Changeling2eCover.jpeg|250px]]
|type = [[RPG]]
|publisher = [[White Wolf]] / CCP
|system = [[Storytelling System]]
|authors = Kelly Barnes-Herman ''et al''
|year = 2007 (1st) <br> 2019 (2nd)
|books = Changeling: The Lost Rulebook
<div class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" style="width:175px">
*''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''
</div>
}}
'''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 fae, 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 typically go barking mad if they do survive), and stolen away by god-like alien monsters to be transformed into slaves/playthings. 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, there's a good chance that 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 a copy made to replace you (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.

*[[Furry|'''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. In 1e their 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). In 2E, they gain an extra dot of any Resistance attribute. They can also move faster and deal lethal damage in unarmed combat, but have to spend Glamour to do so if they're affected by any condition related to fear. Additionally, they risk Clarity loss if they hurt someone because they acted without thinking.
*'''[[Grimdark|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. Their 1e 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 Freddy Krueger-style slashers (complete with blade-hands!). In 2E they gain an extra dot of any Finesse attribute and can spend Willpower to disappear into some insubstantial substance (this also costs Glamour if there are witnesses). However, they risk Clarity loss if a secret or some other important information they know turns out to be false.
*[[Golem|'''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 1e 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. In 2e they get an extra dot in a Resistance stat and can act through their element if surrounded by it at a range of up to 3 yards, although this requires Glamour if their Willpower is less than half of its maximum. They risk Clarity loss whenever they are coerced or otherwise forced to act against their will.
*'''[[Elves|Fairest]]''' were treated like treasures or pets 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 the Keepers can express “love” in some really fucked up ways. 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 1e Kiths focus on exactly why their beauty was important; living art piece, courtesan, star in the night sky, noble warrior, and more. In 2e they gain an extra dot in a Power stat and can spend Willpower on behalf of other characters (albeit for a Glamour cost if the recipient distrusts them), and risk Clarity loss if their actions or inaction cause harm to their allies.
*[[/tg/|'''Ogres''']] were forced to serve brutal Durances that made them big and strong, whether it was fighting in a gladiatorial arena 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''' But seriously, they may act gruff but many just don't want to be hurt any further than they have been already. Although this may seem a fairly narrow Seeming, it's got a surprising amount of 1e Kiths, from the fairytale troll living under the bridge to Bigfoot-esque wilderness monsters to living stone golems to the magical, embittered hags who lay curses. In 2e they gain an extra dot in a Power stat and can temporarily cause the Beaten Down tilt on opponents in combat, but have to expend Glamour to do so unless they're fighting on someone else's behalf. They risk Clarity loss if they frighten anyone who's not their enemy.
*'''[[Dwarf|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 ( 1e 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 2e they gain an extra dot in a Finesse stat and can turn any material into any other material as long as they have the right tools (or Glamour to jury-rig said tools), so they can literally spin straw into gold. They risk Clarity loss when taken off-guard by unpleasant surprises.

In second edition, Kiths are no longer linked to specific Seemings, so now it's possible to be something like an Ogre Chatelaine. Still, your Kith does define a particular blessing and a skill that you can get exceptional successes with more easily, both of which are broadly based on what you did in Arcadia (e.g. a Bright One might have served as a lantern). While 12 are outlined in the core rules, there's also a system to make your own Kiths as you see fit.

===The Mien and the Mask===
A Changeling's 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 [[DFC|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. "Wyrd" is an old Germanic word or some shit that pretty much means Fate (which leads to some clever ''wyrdplay''... geddit?), and while the Wyrd is tied to everything that exists, only fae beings 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 only 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 [[DM|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 (are forced to) learn how to strike deals with elements and concepts, or they die from exposure to Time Cube logic. This is where Changelings get their Contracts, semi-magical spells that allow them to mess with one aspect of reality for the low, low price of a point of Glamour, an energy extracted from the extremes of human emotion. On top of that, contracts always have a loophole, known as a Catch, where you can use 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 mess with people.
*'''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 hedges (except for the ''actual'' capital-H Hedge).
*'''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''': The Fairest have a loose grip on reality anyway, so why not loosen your grip further to do mystical escape-artistry?
*'''Contracts of Vainglory''': SO FABULOUS OH GOD MY EYES

'''Ogre Contracts'''
*'''Contracts of Oath and Punishment''': Track, chase and punish oathbreakers.
*'''Contracts of Stone''': Be tough and hit people.

'''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''': Quick-and-dirty contracts that come at a price. Use at your own risk.

==Pledges and Oaths==
As suggested above, the Wyrd takes any sort of promise or statement of intent very seriously. Most beings aren't connected closely enough to the Wyrd for it to have an impact on them, but Fae beings can make such statements supernaturally binding.

Given that most Changelings come out of their Durance with severe trust issues, the knowledge that their promises will be supernaturally enforced does a lot to keep them from descending into paranoia. More importantly, the Gentry's powers are dependent on the oaths they swore upon coming into existence, which means that if they ever end up breaking those oaths for any reason, they will be severely weakened or even annihilated outright.

===Sealing===
The simplest form of pledge requires a Changeling to see or hear a statement of intent being made; whether said statement was serious or made as an exaggeration is irrelevant. So if you say "if my team doesn't win this game, I'll eat my hat" in front of a Changeling and said team loses, ''you had better take a bite of that fuckin' hat'' or the Wyrd will impose some minor but immediate punishment on you for going back on your word. While Fae are not immune to sealing, they can undo the sealing before its effects take hold; among changelings, sealing is done to demonstrate willingness to keep their word on a relatively minor matter.

===Oaths===
For more serious agreements, Changelings rely on oaths. These require mutual consent to be sworn, and both parties will be permanently bound by the oath from that point forward. As long as both parties uphold their part of the oath, they will gain its benefits.

While the terms of the oath can certainly be violated, this does not erase the oath so much as change its terms, which almost always involves grave penalties for the oathbreaker. (On the rare occasions that the penalty for violating the oath isn't specified in its terms, the Wyrd will punish the oathbreaker as it sees fit. And it is a vindictive little bitch about it.) On top of the immediate consequences, oathbreakers are reviled among Changelings and the only way to be forgiven is to make restitution to all parties involved, including the Wyrd itself.

Yes, it is possible to end up bound to obey oaths that are mutually exclusive with each other. No, the penalties for breaking one oath to uphold another are not reduced, and if anything can actually be ''worse'' than usual; read up on Cu Chulainn to see how that can bite you in the ass. Moral of the story, don't make oaths that you might not be able to keep.

===Bargains===
Bargains can only be struck between a Changeling and a human aware of the Changeling's fae nature. The Changeling offers to perform some kind of service for the human that's within their ability to provide in exchange for something else, but what the human can provide is always supplemented by the Wyrd making it harder for the Gentry to track the changeling.

If the bargain is broken by the changeling, they lose its benefits but are otherwise unaffected. But if the human is the one to break it, they will be at risk of stumbling into the Hedge with all the nastiness that involves. No Changeling would wish that fate on anyone, but the Wyrd's demands for restitution are absolute.

==The Freeholds, Courts and Entitements==
For detailed info on the Freehold, Courts and Entitlements, read the Lords of Summer supplement book.

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 if your best friend is a privateer manipulating you into the hands of one of the True Fae. And as your connection to the Wyrd gets stronger, your lifespan increases, which would be good if you didn't have so much shit to worry about or if it didn't also start making your memories of the Durance more vivid. 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, though delivering other Changelings into captivity earns you a nice death sentence instead. That's pretty much all of it, really, so let's 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 shimmering waves of heat emanating from him). 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 get a huge boost in importance in 2e, where their primary purpose is to provide obstructions to and shielding against the Gentry and 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 1e 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 seems non-existant, though, since this probably makes you a Dusk courtier.

'''Spring Court'''
*'''Court Emotion''': Desire
*'''Batman Villain Best Represented''': The Joker
*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 because the Gentry can't imagine that their pets could experience pleasure without them. 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, but they're far from the mindless party animals who live above literally every apartment ever.

In 2e, their Bargain is that when they're in power the True Fae cannot inflict harm upon a freehold unless that violence is born of their heart's desire. This might not seem helpful, but this really means that anyone short of a Keeper coming to reclaim its absolute favorite changeling cannot attack the freehold.

**'''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''': [[Rage|Wrath]]
*'''Batman Villain Best Represented''': Killer Croc
*The reality is that the Court is little more than a loosely organized militia made of monsters, but their desire and capacity to bring violence to bear against their enemies 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. Fanatics, extremists and murderers to the last. The other Courts, while they appreciate their protection and willingness to take the fight to the Gentry, don't really enjoy dealing with these hotheads.

In 2E, Summer's Bargain forces the Others to fight to the last even when they would prefer to surrender or withdraw. The Summer courtiers use this to their advantage, goading weaker forces into drawing their weapons or setting up traps that they will be forced to fall into.

**'''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''': Punishing oathbreakers and setting fires 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 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 them. But get ready for a lecture like in Hannibal, because they probably know everything that scares you already. Or they'll just jump out of the shadows screaming OOGA BOOGA if your DM doesn't understand subtlety.

In 2E, Autumn's Bargain compels the Gentry to announce their intentions before they attack, with more powerful attacks being announced further in advance. Despite the best efforts of the Gentry to work around it, the warning must be clear enough to be understood.

**'''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 Autumn''': Contracts for gathering information.

'''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. 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, the book mostly writes them off as being mopey emo kids. 2E mitigates this somewhat by placing a greater focus on the Court's pragmatic side and skill in eavesdropping.

In 2E, Winter's Bargain forces the Gentry to mourn for each of their deceased victims after every kill they make. As the majority of the True Fae have no idea what mourning actually involves, this makes for a rather peculiar sight- and Winter doesn't need to worry about honoring their crude imitations of grief.

**'''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 the Sorrow-Frozen Heart''': "They can't hurt me, I'm already ''dead inside!''"

====Directional Courts====
Introduced in Winter Masques. The Directional Courts are the Asian equivalent of the Seasonal Courts, having made contracts with the mythical Four Guardian Beasts of Chinese astrology. If you're playing in Asia or in a place with heavy Asian influences (like the USA's west coast), 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
*You know how Buddhist monks can go three weeks without food, water, or sleep, then still break granite with their foreheads? That's these guys in a nutshell. They made a contract with Xuanwu, the Black Tortoise.

'''Court of the East'''
*'''Court Emotion''': Envy
*Greedy bastards with the power of CAPITALISM! Uses LOADSAMONEY to get fast cars, uses said money and fast cars to attract hot women, then uses said money, fast cars and hot women to harvest beta tears and collect Glamour. These guys' patron is Qinglong, the Azure Dragon.

'''Court of the South'''
*'''Court Emotion''': Ecstasy
*Emotion is key, no matter how uncomfortable you are. Southerners are creatures of ham and extremes who pay homage to Zhuque, the Vermilion Bird.

'''Court of the West'''
*'''Court Emotion''': Honor
*Think of the Summer Court, but replace all the sound and fury with stone-faced military discipline. The initiation for this Court is literally boot camp, and they carry swords even if they fight with other weapons. They honor Baihu, the White Tiger.

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 Slavic Courts, closest to the Seelie and Unseelie Courts of old. 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. They don't have special Contracts, though.

'''The Sun Court'''
*'''Court Emotion''': Shame
*[[Lawful Stupid]] 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 for Changelings outside the Dusk Court to purchase, though Dusk Courtiers do get better estimates- 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. Second Ed changes them from social clubs you can join to roles you can take up. Sometimes there can be only one in the world, like The Red Queen, sometimes there's enough seats for a motley, like The Knights of Blades. The rules aren't even published yet.

==[[Mary Sue|The True Fae]] and Arcadia==
[[File:Fae LMAO.png|250px|thumb|right|The True Fae can take many forms, including that of the stereotypical alien abductors.]]
The threat of the True Fae can best be compared to the threat of the [[Antediluvian]]s 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 [[Troll|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 require conflict to exist, as they will eventually wither away into nothing without discord. Ergo, they find both slaves and rebels in human beings, who they're 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 simply 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 everything from the color of the sky to whether snowflakes are radioactive and weigh half a ton. The further they get from Arcadia, however, the weaker their powers become, and when they're on Earth (even though they're still powerful) they can pretty much only screw with minor things that their Contracts allow them to. Indeed, [[Neckbeard|reality itself slowly poisons them]], so they generally don't leave Arcadia unless they want something (that something being slaves). What it ultimately comes down to for the Gentry is [[That guy|"Is it fun for me? 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. [[Derp|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, so much so that it crosses over into anti-magic territory. (We're pretty sure that one was stolen from a Discworld novel, but we like Discworld so we'll let it slide.)

[[Troll|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 having it live your life for you. Killing your Fetch fucks with your clarity, since, you know, he was pretty much just ''you'' without a couple of your personality traits (maybe even without your ''flaws''), but it's a necessity if you want your old life back and 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 doppelganger, 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 [[Grimdark|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 Changeling the Keeper is looking for. 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- and even if you destroy the heart, the Title will just return to the Keeper and can be reused to enslave another Huntsman. 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==
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, [[Troll|with the full book being released in Q2 2017]]. As of October 2018, a full preview of the book is available, and in December 2018 the physical copies became available. A companion book containing additional information is scheduled to come out in 2019. Contracts are different now, being stand-alone powers. Clarity is much more fluid, serving as a sort of mental health track. Kith blessings are much more powerful and flavorful than they were in 1e. Courts are pretty much the same, although the benefits from Court Mantles have changed. We have yet to see what Entitlements will look like aside from loose examples from Onyx Path blog posts.

==See Also==
*[[Changeling]]
*[[White Wolf]]
*[[World of Darkness]]
*[[Changeling: The Dreaming]], its predecessor.
*[[Changeling Homebrew Kiths]]
*[[Changeling Homebrew Contracts]]
*[[Changeling Homebrew Hedge Bounty]]
*[[Changeling Homebrew Courts]]
*[[Changeling Stranger Tides]]

{{WoD-Games}}
[[Category: Changeling: The Lost]]

Changeling: The Lost

2020-02-26T22:56:40Z

65.117.99.152: /* Kiths and Seemings */

{{Game Infobox
|name = Changeling: The Lost
|picture = [[File:Changeling2eCover.jpeg|250px]]
|type = [[RPG]]
|publisher = [[White Wolf]] / CCP
|system = [[Storytelling System]]
|authors = Kelly Barnes-Herman ''et al''
|year = 2007 (1st) <br> 2019 (2nd)
|books = Changeling: The Lost Rulebook
<div class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" style="width:175px">
*''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''
</div>
}}
'''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 fae, 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 typically go barking mad if they do survive), and stolen away by god-like alien monsters to be transformed into slaves/playthings. 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, there's a good chance that 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 a copy made to replace you (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.

*[[Furry|'''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. In 1e their 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). In 2E, they gain an extra dot of any Resistance attribute. They can also move faster and deal lethal damage in unarmed combat, but have to spend Glamour to do so if they're affected by any condition related to fear. Additionally, they risk Clarity loss if they hurt someone because they acted without thinking.
*'''[[Grimdark|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. Their 1e 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 Freddy Krueger-style slashers (complete with blade-hands!). In 2E they gain an extra dot of any Finesse attribute and can spend Willpower to disappear into some insubstantial substance (this also costs Glamour if there are witnesses). However, they risk Clarity loss if a secret or some other important information they know turns out to be false.
*[[Golem|'''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 1e 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. In 2e they get an extra dot in a Resistance stat and can act through their element if surrounded by it at a range of up to 3 yards, although this requires Glamour if their Willpower is less than half of its maximum. They risk Clarity loss whenever they are coerced or otherwise forced to act against their will.
*'''[[Elves|Fairest]]''' were treated like treasures or pets 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 the Keepers can express “love” in some really fucked up ways. 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 1e Kiths focus on exactly why their beauty was important; living art piece, courtesan, star in the night sky, noble warrior, and more. In 2e they gain an extra dot in a Power stat and can spend Willpower on behalf of other characters (albeit for a Glamour cost if the recipient distrusts them), and risk Clarity loss if their actions or inaction cause harm to their allies.
*[[/tg/|'''Ogres''']] were forced to serve brutal Durances that made them big and strong, whether it was fighting in a gladiatorial arena 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''' But seriously, they may act gruff but many just don't want to be hurt any further than they have been already. Although this may seem a fairly narrow Seeming, it's got a surprising amount of 1e Kiths, from the fairytale troll living under the bridge to Bigfoot-esque wilderness monsters to living stone golems to the magical, embittered hags who lay curses. In 2e they gain an extra dot in a Power stat and can temporarily cause the Beaten Down tilt on opponents in combat, but have to expend Glamour to do so unless they're fighting on someone else's behalf. They risk Clarity loss if they frighten anyone who's not their enemy.
*'''[[Dwarf|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 ( 1e 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 2e they gain an extra dot in a Finesse stat and can turn any material into any other material as long as they have the right tools (or Glamour to jury-rig said tools), so they can literally spin straw into gold. They risk Clarity loss when taken off-guard by unpleasant surprises.

In second edition, Kiths are no longer linked to specific Seemings, so now it's possible to be something like an Ogre Chatelaine. Still, your Kith does define a particular blessing and a skill that you can get exceptional successes with more easily, both of which are broadly based on what you did in Arcadia (e.g. a Bright One might have served as a lantern). While 12 are outlined in the core rules, there's also a system to make your own Kiths as you see fit.

===The Mien and the Mask===
A Changeling's 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 [[DFC|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. "Wyrd" is an old Germanic word or some shit that pretty much means Fate (which leads to some clever ''wyrdplay''... geddit?), and while the Wyrd is tied to everything that exists, only fae beings 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 only 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 [[DM|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 (are forced to) learn how to strike deals with elements and concepts, or they die from exposure to Time Cube logic. This is where Changelings get their Contracts, semi-magical spells that allow them to mess with one aspect of reality for the low, low price of a point of Glamour, an energy extracted from the extremes of human emotion. On top of that, contracts always have a loophole, known as a Catch, where you can use 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 mess with people.
*'''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 hedges (except for the ''actual'' capital-H Hedge).
*'''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''': The Fairest have a loose grip on reality anyway, so why not loosen your grip further to do mystical escape-artistry?
*'''Contracts of Vainglory''': SO FABULOUS OH GOD MY EYES

'''Ogre Contracts'''
*'''Contracts of Oath and Punishment''': Track, chase and punish oathbreakers.
*'''Contracts of Stone''': Be tough and hit people.

'''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.

==Pledges and Oaths==
As suggested above, the Wyrd takes any sort of promise or statement of intent very seriously. Most beings aren't connected closely enough to the Wyrd for it to have an impact on them, but Fae beings can make such statements supernaturally binding.

Given that most Changelings come out of their Durance with severe trust issues, the knowledge that their promises will be supernaturally enforced does a lot to keep them from descending into paranoia. More importantly, the Gentry's powers are dependent on the oaths they swore upon coming into existence, which means that if they ever end up breaking those oaths for any reason, they will be severely weakened or even annihilated outright.

===Sealing===
The simplest form of pledge requires a Changeling to see or hear a statement of intent being made; whether said statement was serious or made as an exaggeration is irrelevant. So if you say "if my team doesn't win this game, I'll eat my hat" in front of a Changeling and said team loses, ''you had better take a bite of that fuckin' hat'' or the Wyrd will impose some minor but immediate punishment on you for going back on your word. While Fae are not immune to sealing, they can undo the sealing before its effects take hold; among changelings, sealing is done to demonstrate willingness to keep their word on a relatively minor matter.

===Oaths===
For more serious agreements, Changelings rely on oaths. These require mutual consent to be sworn, and both parties will be permanently bound by the oath from that point forward. As long as both parties uphold their part of the oath, they will gain its benefits.

While the terms of the oath can certainly be violated, this does not erase the oath so much as change its terms, which almost always involves grave penalties for the oathbreaker. (On the rare occasions that the penalty for violating the oath isn't specified in its terms, the Wyrd will punish the oathbreaker as it sees fit. And it is a vindictive little bitch about it.) On top of the immediate consequences, oathbreakers are reviled among Changelings and the only way to be forgiven is to make restitution to all parties involved, including the Wyrd itself.

Yes, it is possible to end up bound to obey oaths that are mutually exclusive with each other. No, the penalties for breaking one oath to uphold another are not reduced, and if anything can actually be ''worse'' than usual; read up on Cu Chulainn to see how that can bite you in the ass. Moral of the story, don't make oaths that you might not be able to keep.

===Bargains===
Bargains can only be struck between a Changeling and a human aware of the Changeling's fae nature. The Changeling offers to perform some kind of service for the human that's within their ability to provide in exchange for something else, but what the human can provide is always supplemented by the Wyrd making it harder for the Gentry to track the changeling.

If the bargain is broken by the changeling, they lose its benefits but are otherwise unaffected. But if the human is the one to break it, they will be at risk of stumbling into the Hedge with all the nastiness that involves. No Changeling would wish that fate on anyone, but the Wyrd's demands for restitution are absolute.

==The Freeholds, Courts and Entitements==
For detailed info on the Freehold, Courts and Entitlements, read the Lords of Summer supplement book.

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 if your best friend is a privateer manipulating you into the hands of one of the True Fae. And as your connection to the Wyrd gets stronger, your lifespan increases, which would be good if you didn't have so much shit to worry about or if it didn't also start making your memories of the Durance more vivid. 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, though delivering other Changelings into captivity earns you a nice death sentence instead. That's pretty much all of it, really, so let's 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 shimmering waves of heat emanating from him). 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 get a huge boost in importance in 2e, where their primary purpose is to provide obstructions to and shielding against the Gentry and 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 1e 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 seems non-existant, though, since this probably makes you a Dusk courtier.

'''Spring Court'''
*'''Court Emotion''': Desire
*'''Batman Villain Best Represented''': The Joker
*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 because the Gentry can't imagine that their pets could experience pleasure without them. 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, but they're far from the mindless party animals who live above literally every apartment ever.

In 2e, their Bargain is that when they're in power the True Fae cannot inflict harm upon a freehold unless that violence is born of their heart's desire. This might not seem helpful, but this really means that anyone short of a Keeper coming to reclaim its absolute favorite changeling cannot attack the freehold.

**'''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''': [[Rage|Wrath]]
*'''Batman Villain Best Represented''': Killer Croc
*The reality is that the Court is little more than a loosely organized militia made of monsters, but their desire and capacity to bring violence to bear against their enemies 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. Fanatics, extremists and murderers to the last. The other Courts, while they appreciate their protection and willingness to take the fight to the Gentry, don't really enjoy dealing with these hotheads.

In 2E, Summer's Bargain forces the Others to fight to the last even when they would prefer to surrender or withdraw. The Summer courtiers use this to their advantage, goading weaker forces into drawing their weapons or setting up traps that they will be forced to fall into.

**'''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''': Punishing oathbreakers and setting fires 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 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 them. But get ready for a lecture like in Hannibal, because they probably know everything that scares you already. Or they'll just jump out of the shadows screaming OOGA BOOGA if your DM doesn't understand subtlety.

In 2E, Autumn's Bargain compels the Gentry to announce their intentions before they attack, with more powerful attacks being announced further in advance. Despite the best efforts of the Gentry to work around it, the warning must be clear enough to be understood.

**'''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 Autumn''': Contracts for gathering information.

'''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. 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, the book mostly writes them off as being mopey emo kids. 2E mitigates this somewhat by placing a greater focus on the Court's pragmatic side and skill in eavesdropping.

In 2E, Winter's Bargain forces the Gentry to mourn for each of their deceased victims after every kill they make. As the majority of the True Fae have no idea what mourning actually involves, this makes for a rather peculiar sight- and Winter doesn't need to worry about honoring their crude imitations of grief.

**'''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 the Sorrow-Frozen Heart''': "They can't hurt me, I'm already ''dead inside!''"

====Directional Courts====
Introduced in Winter Masques. The Directional Courts are the Asian equivalent of the Seasonal Courts, having made contracts with the mythical Four Guardian Beasts of Chinese astrology. If you're playing in Asia or in a place with heavy Asian influences (like the USA's west coast), 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
*You know how Buddhist monks can go three weeks without food, water, or sleep, then still break granite with their foreheads? That's these guys in a nutshell. They made a contract with Xuanwu, the Black Tortoise.

'''Court of the East'''
*'''Court Emotion''': Envy
*Greedy bastards with the power of CAPITALISM! Uses LOADSAMONEY to get fast cars, uses said money and fast cars to attract hot women, then uses said money, fast cars and hot women to harvest beta tears and collect Glamour. These guys' patron is Qinglong, the Azure Dragon.

'''Court of the South'''
*'''Court Emotion''': Ecstasy
*Emotion is key, no matter how uncomfortable you are. Southerners are creatures of ham and extremes who pay homage to Zhuque, the Vermilion Bird.

'''Court of the West'''
*'''Court Emotion''': Honor
*Think of the Summer Court, but replace all the sound and fury with stone-faced military discipline. The initiation for this Court is literally boot camp, and they carry swords even if they fight with other weapons. They honor Baihu, the White Tiger.

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 Slavic Courts, closest to the Seelie and Unseelie Courts of old. 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. They don't have special Contracts, though.

'''The Sun Court'''
*'''Court Emotion''': Shame
*[[Lawful Stupid]] 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 for Changelings outside the Dusk Court to purchase, though Dusk Courtiers do get better estimates- 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. Second Ed changes them from social clubs you can join to roles you can take up. Sometimes there can be only one in the world, like The Red Queen, sometimes there's enough seats for a motley, like The Knights of Blades. The rules aren't even published yet.

==[[Mary Sue|The True Fae]] and Arcadia==
[[File:Fae LMAO.png|250px|thumb|right|The True Fae can take many forms, including that of the stereotypical alien abductors.]]
The threat of the True Fae can best be compared to the threat of the [[Antediluvian]]s 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 [[Troll|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 require conflict to exist, as they will eventually wither away into nothing without discord. Ergo, they find both slaves and rebels in human beings, who they're 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 simply 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 everything from the color of the sky to whether snowflakes are radioactive and weigh half a ton. The further they get from Arcadia, however, the weaker their powers become, and when they're on Earth (even though they're still powerful) they can pretty much only screw with minor things that their Contracts allow them to. Indeed, [[Neckbeard|reality itself slowly poisons them]], so they generally don't leave Arcadia unless they want something (that something being slaves). What it ultimately comes down to for the Gentry is [[That guy|"Is it fun for me? 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. [[Derp|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, so much so that it crosses over into anti-magic territory. (We're pretty sure that one was stolen from a Discworld novel, but we like Discworld so we'll let it slide.)

[[Troll|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 having it live your life for you. Killing your Fetch fucks with your clarity, since, you know, he was pretty much just ''you'' without a couple of your personality traits (maybe even without your ''flaws''), but it's a necessity if you want your old life back and 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 doppelganger, 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 [[Grimdark|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 Changeling the Keeper is looking for. 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- and even if you destroy the heart, the Title will just return to the Keeper and can be reused to enslave another Huntsman. 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==
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, [[Troll|with the full book being released in Q2 2017]]. As of October 2018, a full preview of the book is available, and in December 2018 the physical copies became available. A companion book containing additional information is scheduled to come out in 2019. Contracts are different now, being stand-alone powers. Clarity is much more fluid, serving as a sort of mental health track. Kith blessings are much more powerful and flavorful than they were in 1e. Courts are pretty much the same, although the benefits from Court Mantles have changed. We have yet to see what Entitlements will look like aside from loose examples from Onyx Path blog posts.

==See Also==
*[[Changeling]]
*[[White Wolf]]
*[[World of Darkness]]
*[[Changeling: The Dreaming]], its predecessor.
*[[Changeling Homebrew Kiths]]
*[[Changeling Homebrew Contracts]]
*[[Changeling Homebrew Hedge Bounty]]
*[[Changeling Homebrew Courts]]
*[[Changeling Stranger Tides]]

{{WoD-Games}}
[[Category: Changeling: The Lost]]

Changeling: The Lost

2020-02-26T22:51:34Z

65.117.99.152: /* Fetch */

{{Game Infobox
|name = Changeling: The Lost
|picture = [[File:Changeling2eCover.jpeg|250px]]
|type = [[RPG]]
|publisher = [[White Wolf]] / CCP
|system = [[Storytelling System]]
|authors = Kelly Barnes-Herman ''et al''
|year = 2007 (1st) <br> 2019 (2nd)
|books = Changeling: The Lost Rulebook
<div class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" style="width:175px">
*''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''
</div>
}}
'''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 fae, 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 typically go barking mad if they do survive), and stolen away by god-like alien monsters to be transformed into slaves/playthings. 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, there's a good chance that 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 a copy made to replace you (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.

*[[Furry|'''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. In 1e their 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). In 2E, they gain an extra dot of any Resistance attribute. They can also move faster and deal lethal damage in unarmed combat, but have to spend Glamour to do so if they're affected by any condition related to fear. Additionally, they risk Clarity loss if they hurt someone because they acted without thinking.
*'''[[Grimdark|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. Their 1e 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. In 2E they gain an extra dot of any Finesse attribute and can spend Willpower to disappear into some insubstantial substance (this also costs Glamour if there are witnesses). However, they risk Clarity loss if a secret or some other important information they know turns out to be false.
*[[Golem|'''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 1e 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. In 2e they get an extra dot in a Resistance stat and can act through their element if surrounded by it at a range of up to 3 yards, although this requires Glamour if their Willpower is less than half of its maximum. They risk Clarity loss whenever they are coerced or otherwise forced to act against their will.
*'''[[Elves|Fairest]]''' were treated like treasures or pets 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 the Keepers can express “love” in some really fucked up ways. 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 1e Kiths focus on exactly why their beauty was important; living art piece, courtesan, star in the night sky, noble warrior, and more. In 2e they gain an extra dot in a Power stat and can spend Willpower on behalf of other characters (albeit for a Glamour cost if the recipient distrusts them), and risk Clarity loss if their actions or inaction cause harm to their allies.
*[[/tg/|'''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''' But seriously, they may act gruff but many just don't want to be hurt any further than they have been already. Although this may seem a fairly narrow Seeming, it's got a surprising amount of 1e Kiths, from the fairytale troll living under the bridge to Bigfoot-esque wilderness monsters to living stone golems to magical hags. In 2e they gain an extra dot in a Power stat and can temporarily cause the Beaten Down tilt on opponents in combat, but have to expend Glamour to do so unless they're fighting on someone else's behalf. They risk Clarity loss if they frighten anyone who's not their enemy.
*'''[[Dwarf|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 ( 1e 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 2e they gain an extra dot in a Finesse stat and can turn any material into any other material as long as they have the right tools (or Glamour to jury-rig said tools), so they can literally spin straw into gold. They risk Clarity loss when taken off-guard by unpleasant surprises.

In second edition, Kiths are no longer linked to specific Seemings, so now it's possible to be something like an Ogre Chatelaine. Still, your Kith does define a particular blessing and a skill that you can get exceptional successes with more easily, both of which are broadly based on what you did in Arcadia (e.g. a Bright One might have served as a lantern). While 12 are outlined in the core rules, there's also a system to make your own Kiths as you see fit.

===The Mien and the Mask===
A Changeling's 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 [[DFC|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. "Wyrd" is an old Germanic word or some shit that pretty much means Fate (which leads to some clever ''wyrdplay''... geddit?), and while the Wyrd is tied to everything that exists, only fae beings 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 only 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 [[DM|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 (are forced to) learn how to strike deals with elements and concepts, or they die from exposure to Time Cube logic. This is where Changelings get their Contracts, semi-magical spells that allow them to mess with one aspect of reality for the low, low price of a point of Glamour, an energy extracted from the extremes of human emotion. On top of that, contracts always have a loophole, known as a Catch, where you can use 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 mess with people.
*'''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 hedges (except for the ''actual'' capital-H Hedge).
*'''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''': The Fairest have a loose grip on reality anyway, so why not loosen your grip further to do mystical escape-artistry?
*'''Contracts of Vainglory''': SO FABULOUS OH GOD MY EYES

'''Ogre Contracts'''
*'''Contracts of Oath and Punishment''': Track, chase and punish oathbreakers.
*'''Contracts of Stone''': Be tough and hit people.

'''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.

==Pledges and Oaths==
As suggested above, the Wyrd takes any sort of promise or statement of intent very seriously. Most beings aren't connected closely enough to the Wyrd for it to have an impact on them, but Fae beings can make such statements supernaturally binding.

Given that most Changelings come out of their Durance with severe trust issues, the knowledge that their promises will be supernaturally enforced does a lot to keep them from descending into paranoia. More importantly, the Gentry's powers are dependent on the oaths they swore upon coming into existence, which means that if they ever end up breaking those oaths for any reason, they will be severely weakened or even annihilated outright.

===Sealing===
The simplest form of pledge requires a Changeling to see or hear a statement of intent being made; whether said statement was serious or made as an exaggeration is irrelevant. So if you say "if my team doesn't win this game, I'll eat my hat" in front of a Changeling and said team loses, ''you had better take a bite of that fuckin' hat'' or the Wyrd will impose some minor but immediate punishment on you for going back on your word. While Fae are not immune to sealing, they can undo the sealing before its effects take hold; among changelings, sealing is done to demonstrate willingness to keep their word on a relatively minor matter.

===Oaths===
For more serious agreements, Changelings rely on oaths. These require mutual consent to be sworn, and both parties will be permanently bound by the oath from that point forward. As long as both parties uphold their part of the oath, they will gain its benefits.

While the terms of the oath can certainly be violated, this does not erase the oath so much as change its terms, which almost always involves grave penalties for the oathbreaker. (On the rare occasions that the penalty for violating the oath isn't specified in its terms, the Wyrd will punish the oathbreaker as it sees fit. And it is a vindictive little bitch about it.) On top of the immediate consequences, oathbreakers are reviled among Changelings and the only way to be forgiven is to make restitution to all parties involved, including the Wyrd itself.

Yes, it is possible to end up bound to obey oaths that are mutually exclusive with each other. No, the penalties for breaking one oath to uphold another are not reduced, and if anything can actually be ''worse'' than usual; read up on Cu Chulainn to see how that can bite you in the ass. Moral of the story, don't make oaths that you might not be able to keep.

===Bargains===
Bargains can only be struck between a Changeling and a human aware of the Changeling's fae nature. The Changeling offers to perform some kind of service for the human that's within their ability to provide in exchange for something else, but what the human can provide is always supplemented by the Wyrd making it harder for the Gentry to track the changeling.

If the bargain is broken by the changeling, they lose its benefits but are otherwise unaffected. But if the human is the one to break it, they will be at risk of stumbling into the Hedge with all the nastiness that involves. No Changeling would wish that fate on anyone, but the Wyrd's demands for restitution are absolute.

==The Freeholds, Courts and Entitements==
For detailed info on the Freehold, Courts and Entitlements, read the Lords of Summer supplement book.

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 if your best friend is a privateer manipulating you into the hands of one of the True Fae. And as your connection to the Wyrd gets stronger, your lifespan increases, which would be good if you didn't have so much shit to worry about or if it didn't also start making your memories of the Durance more vivid. 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, though delivering other Changelings into captivity earns you a nice death sentence instead. That's pretty much all of it, really, so let's 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 shimmering waves of heat emanating from him). 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 get a huge boost in importance in 2e, where their primary purpose is to provide obstructions to and shielding against the Gentry and 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 1e 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 seems non-existant, though, since this probably makes you a Dusk courtier.

'''Spring Court'''
*'''Court Emotion''': Desire
*'''Batman Villain Best Represented''': The Joker
*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 because the Gentry can't imagine that their pets could experience pleasure without them. 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, but they're far from the mindless party animals who live above literally every apartment ever.

In 2e, their Bargain is that when they're in power the True Fae cannot inflict harm upon a freehold unless that violence is born of their heart's desire. This might not seem helpful, but this really means that anyone short of a Keeper coming to reclaim its absolute favorite changeling cannot attack the freehold.

**'''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''': [[Rage|Wrath]]
*'''Batman Villain Best Represented''': Killer Croc
*The reality is that the Court is little more than a loosely organized militia made of monsters, but their desire and capacity to bring violence to bear against their enemies 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. Fanatics, extremists and murderers to the last. The other Courts, while they appreciate their protection and willingness to take the fight to the Gentry, don't really enjoy dealing with these hotheads.

In 2E, Summer's Bargain forces the Others to fight to the last even when they would prefer to surrender or withdraw. The Summer courtiers use this to their advantage, goading weaker forces into drawing their weapons or setting up traps that they will be forced to fall into.

**'''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''': Punishing oathbreakers and setting fires 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 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 them. But get ready for a lecture like in Hannibal, because they probably know everything that scares you already. Or they'll just jump out of the shadows screaming OOGA BOOGA if your DM doesn't understand subtlety.

In 2E, Autumn's Bargain compels the Gentry to announce their intentions before they attack, with more powerful attacks being announced further in advance. Despite the best efforts of the Gentry to work around it, the warning must be clear enough to be understood.

**'''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 Autumn''': Contracts for gathering information.

'''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. 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, the book mostly writes them off as being mopey emo kids. 2E mitigates this somewhat by placing a greater focus on the Court's pragmatic side and skill in eavesdropping.

In 2E, Winter's Bargain forces the Gentry to mourn for each of their deceased victims after every kill they make. As the majority of the True Fae have no idea what mourning actually involves, this makes for a rather peculiar sight- and Winter doesn't need to worry about honoring their crude imitations of grief.

**'''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 the Sorrow-Frozen Heart''': "They can't hurt me, I'm already ''dead inside!''"

====Directional Courts====
Introduced in Winter Masques. The Directional Courts are the Asian equivalent of the Seasonal Courts, having made contracts with the mythical Four Guardian Beasts of Chinese astrology. If you're playing in Asia or in a place with heavy Asian influences (like the USA's west coast), 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
*You know how Buddhist monks can go three weeks without food, water, or sleep, then still break granite with their foreheads? That's these guys in a nutshell. They made a contract with Xuanwu, the Black Tortoise.

'''Court of the East'''
*'''Court Emotion''': Envy
*Greedy bastards with the power of CAPITALISM! Uses LOADSAMONEY to get fast cars, uses said money and fast cars to attract hot women, then uses said money, fast cars and hot women to harvest beta tears and collect Glamour. These guys' patron is Qinglong, the Azure Dragon.

'''Court of the South'''
*'''Court Emotion''': Ecstasy
*Emotion is key, no matter how uncomfortable you are. Southerners are creatures of ham and extremes who pay homage to Zhuque, the Vermilion Bird.

'''Court of the West'''
*'''Court Emotion''': Honor
*Think of the Summer Court, but replace all the sound and fury with stone-faced military discipline. The initiation for this Court is literally boot camp, and they carry swords even if they fight with other weapons. They honor Baihu, the White Tiger.

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 Slavic Courts, closest to the Seelie and Unseelie Courts of old. 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. They don't have special Contracts, though.

'''The Sun Court'''
*'''Court Emotion''': Shame
*[[Lawful Stupid]] 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 for Changelings outside the Dusk Court to purchase, though Dusk Courtiers do get better estimates- 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. Second Ed changes them from social clubs you can join to roles you can take up. Sometimes there can be only one in the world, like The Red Queen, sometimes there's enough seats for a motley, like The Knights of Blades. The rules aren't even published yet.

==[[Mary Sue|The True Fae]] and Arcadia==
[[File:Fae LMAO.png|250px|thumb|right|The True Fae can take many forms, including that of the stereotypical alien abductors.]]
The threat of the True Fae can best be compared to the threat of the [[Antediluvian]]s 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 [[Troll|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 require conflict to exist, as they will eventually wither away into nothing without discord. Ergo, they find both slaves and rebels in human beings, who they're 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 simply 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 everything from the color of the sky to whether snowflakes are radioactive and weigh half a ton. The further they get from Arcadia, however, the weaker their powers become, and when they're on Earth (even though they're still powerful) they can pretty much only screw with minor things that their Contracts allow them to. Indeed, [[Neckbeard|reality itself slowly poisons them]], so they generally don't leave Arcadia unless they want something (that something being slaves). What it ultimately comes down to for the Gentry is [[That guy|"Is it fun for me? 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. [[Derp|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, so much so that it crosses over into anti-magic territory. (We're pretty sure that one was stolen from a Discworld novel, but we like Discworld so we'll let it slide.)

[[Troll|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 having it live your life for you. Killing your Fetch fucks with your clarity, since, you know, he was pretty much just ''you'' without a couple of your personality traits (maybe even without your ''flaws''), but it's a necessity if you want your old life back and 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 doppelganger, 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 [[Grimdark|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 Changeling the Keeper is looking for. 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- and even if you destroy the heart, the Title will just return to the Keeper and can be reused to enslave another Huntsman. 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==
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, [[Troll|with the full book being released in Q2 2017]]. As of October 2018, a full preview of the book is available, and in December 2018 the physical copies became available. A companion book containing additional information is scheduled to come out in 2019. Contracts are different now, being stand-alone powers. Clarity is much more fluid, serving as a sort of mental health track. Kith blessings are much more powerful and flavorful than they were in 1e. Courts are pretty much the same, although the benefits from Court Mantles have changed. We have yet to see what Entitlements will look like aside from loose examples from Onyx Path blog posts.

==See Also==
*[[Changeling]]
*[[White Wolf]]
*[[World of Darkness]]
*[[Changeling: The Dreaming]], its predecessor.
*[[Changeling Homebrew Kiths]]
*[[Changeling Homebrew Contracts]]
*[[Changeling Homebrew Hedge Bounty]]
*[[Changeling Homebrew Courts]]
*[[Changeling Stranger Tides]]

{{WoD-Games}}
[[Category: Changeling: The Lost]]

Changeling: The Lost

2020-02-21T23:35:59Z

65.117.99.152: /* Kiths and Seemings */

{{Game Infobox
|name = Changeling: The Lost
|picture = [[File:Changeling2eCover.jpeg|250px]]
|type = [[RPG]]
|publisher = [[White Wolf]] / CCP
|system = [[Storytelling System]]
|authors = Kelly Barnes-Herman ''et al''
|year = 2007 (1st) <br> 2019 (2nd)
|books = Changeling: The Lost Rulebook
<div class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" style="width:175px">
*''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''
</div>
}}
'''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 fae, 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 typically go barking mad if they do survive), and stolen away by god-like alien monsters to be transformed into slaves/playthings. 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, there's a good chance that 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 a copy made to replace you (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.

*[[Furry|'''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. In 1e their 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). In 2E, they gain an extra dot of any Resistance attribute. They can also move faster and deal lethal damage in unarmed combat, but have to spend Glamour to do so if they're affected by any condition related to fear. Additionally, they risk Clarity loss if they hurt someone because they acted without thinking.
*'''[[Grimdark|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. Their 1e 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. In 2E they gain an extra dot of any Finesse attribute and can spend Willpower to disappear into some insubstantial substance (this also costs Glamour if there are witnesses). However, they risk Clarity loss if a secret or some other important information they know turns out to be false.
*[[Golem|'''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 1e 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. In 2e they get an extra dot in a Resistance stat and can act through their element if surrounded by it at a range of up to 3 yards, although this requires Glamour if their Willpower is less than half of its maximum. They risk Clarity loss whenever they are coerced or otherwise forced to act against their will.
*'''[[Elves|Fairest]]''' were treated like treasures or pets 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 the Keepers can express “love” in some really fucked up ways. 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 1e Kiths focus on exactly why their beauty was important; living art piece, courtesan, star in the night sky, noble warrior, and more. In 2e they gain an extra dot in a Power stat and can spend Willpower on behalf of other characters (albeit for a Glamour cost if the recipient distrusts them), and risk Clarity loss if their actions or inaction cause harm to their allies.
*[[/tg/|'''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''' But seriously, they may act gruff but many just don't want to be hurt any further than they have been already. Although this may seem a fairly narrow Seeming, it's got a surprising amount of 1e Kiths, from the fairytale troll living under the bridge to Bigfoot-esque wilderness monsters to living stone golems to magical hags. In 2e they gain an extra dot in a Power stat and can temporarily cause the Beaten Down tilt on opponents in combat, but have to expend Glamour to do so unless they're fighting on someone else's behalf. They risk Clarity loss if they frighten anyone who's not their enemy.
*'''[[Dwarf|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 ( 1e 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 2e they gain an extra dot in a Finesse stat and can turn any material into any other material as long as they have the right tools (or Glamour to jury-rig said tools), so they can literally spin straw into gold. They risk Clarity loss when taken off-guard by unpleasant surprises.

In second edition, Kiths are no longer linked to specific Seemings, so now it's possible to be something like an Ogre Chatelaine. Still, your Kith does define a particular blessing and a skill that you can get exceptional successes with more easily, both of which are broadly based on what you did in Arcadia (e.g. a Bright One might have served as a lantern). While 12 are outlined in the core rules, there's also a system to make your own Kiths as you see fit.

===The Mien and the Mask===
A Changeling's 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 [[DFC|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. "Wyrd" is an old Germanic word or some shit that pretty much means Fate (which leads to some clever ''wyrdplay''... geddit?), and while the Wyrd is tied to everything that exists, only fae beings 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 only 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 [[DM|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 (are forced to) learn how to strike deals with elements and concepts, or they die from exposure to Time Cube logic. This is where Changelings get their Contracts, semi-magical spells that allow them to mess with one aspect of reality for the low, low price of a point of Glamour, an energy extracted from the extremes of human emotion. On top of that, contracts always have a loophole, known as a Catch, where you can use 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 mess with people.
*'''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 hedges (except for the ''actual'' capital-H Hedge).
*'''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''': The Fairest have a loose grip on reality anyway, so why not loosen your grip further to do mystical escape-artistry?
*'''Contracts of Vainglory''': SO FABULOUS OH GOD MY EYES

'''Ogre Contracts'''
*'''Contracts of Oath and Punishment''': Track, chase and punish oathbreakers.
*'''Contracts of Stone''': Be tough and hit people.

'''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.

==Pledges and Oaths==
As suggested above, the Wyrd takes any sort of promise or statement of intent very seriously. Most beings aren't connected closely enough to the Wyrd for it to have an impact on them, but Fae beings can make such statements supernaturally binding.

Given that most Changelings come out of their Durance with severe trust issues, the knowledge that their promises will be supernaturally enforced does a lot to keep them from descending into paranoia. More importantly, the Gentry's powers are dependent on the oaths they swore upon coming into existence, which means that if they ever end up breaking those oaths for any reason, they will be severely weakened or even annihilated outright.

===Sealing===
The simplest form of pledge requires a Changeling to see or hear a statement of intent being made; whether said statement was serious or made as an exaggeration is irrelevant. So if you say "if my team doesn't win this game, I'll eat my hat" in front of a Changeling and said team loses, ''you had better take a bite of that fuckin' hat'' or the Wyrd will impose some minor but immediate punishment on you for going back on your word. While Fae are not immune to sealing, they can undo the sealing before its effects take hold; among changelings, sealing is done to demonstrate willingness to keep their word on a relatively minor matter.

===Oaths===
For more serious agreements, Changelings rely on oaths. These require mutual consent to be sworn, and both parties will be permanently bound by the oath from that point forward. As long as both parties uphold their part of the oath, they will gain its benefits.

While the terms of the oath can certainly be violated, this does not erase the oath so much as change its terms, which almost always involves grave penalties for the oathbreaker. (On the rare occasions that the penalty for violating the oath isn't specified in its terms, the Wyrd will punish the oathbreaker as it sees fit. And it is a vindictive little bitch about it.) On top of the immediate consequences, oathbreakers are reviled among Changelings and the only way to be forgiven is to make restitution to all parties involved, including the Wyrd itself.

Yes, it is possible to end up bound to obey oaths that are mutually exclusive with each other. No, the penalties for breaking one oath to uphold another are not reduced, and if anything can actually be ''worse'' than usual; read up on Cu Chulainn to see how that can bite you in the ass. Moral of the story, don't make oaths that you might not be able to keep.

===Bargains===
Bargains can only be struck between a Changeling and a human aware of the Changeling's fae nature. The Changeling offers to perform some kind of service for the human that's within their ability to provide in exchange for something else, but what the human can provide is always supplemented by the Wyrd making it harder for the Gentry to track the changeling.

If the bargain is broken by the changeling, they lose its benefits but are otherwise unaffected. But if the human is the one to break it, they will be at risk of stumbling into the Hedge with all the nastiness that involves. No Changeling would wish that fate on anyone, but the Wyrd's demands for restitution are absolute.

==The Freeholds, Courts and Entitements==
For detailed info on the Freehold, Courts and Entitlements, read the Lords of Summer supplement book.

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 if your best friend is a privateer manipulating you into the hands of one of the True Fae. And as your connection to the Wyrd gets stronger, your lifespan increases, which would be good if you didn't have so much shit to worry about or if it didn't also start making your memories of the Durance more vivid. 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, though delivering other Changelings into captivity earns you a nice death sentence instead. That's pretty much all of it, really, so let's 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 shimmering waves of heat emanating from him). 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 get a huge boost in importance in 2e, where their primary purpose is to provide obstructions to and shielding against the Gentry and 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 1e 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 seems non-existant, though, since this probably makes you a Dusk courtier.

'''Spring Court'''
*'''Court Emotion''': Desire
*'''Batman Villain Best Represented''': The Joker
*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 because the Gentry can't imagine that their pets could experience pleasure without them. 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, but they're far from the mindless party animals who live above literally every apartment ever.

In 2e, their Bargain is that when they're in power the True Fae cannot inflict harm upon a freehold unless that violence is born of their heart's desire. This might not seem helpful, but this really means that anyone short of a Keeper coming to reclaim its absolute favorite changeling cannot attack the freehold.

**'''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''': [[Rage|Wrath]]
*'''Batman Villain Best Represented''': Killer Croc
*The reality is that the Court is little more than a loosely organized militia made of monsters, but their desire and capacity to bring violence to bear against their enemies 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. Fanatics, extremists and murderers to the last. The other Courts, while they appreciate their protection and willingness to take the fight to the Gentry, don't really enjoy dealing with these hotheads.

In 2E, Summer's Bargain forces the Others to fight to the last even when they would prefer to surrender or withdraw. The Summer courtiers use this to their advantage, goading weaker forces into drawing their weapons or setting up traps that they will be forced to fall into.

**'''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''': Punishing oathbreakers and setting fires 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 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 them. But get ready for a lecture like in Hannibal, because they probably know everything that scares you already. Or they'll just jump out of the shadows screaming OOGA BOOGA if your DM doesn't understand subtlety.

In 2E, Autumn's Bargain compels the Gentry to announce their intentions before they attack, with more powerful attacks being announced further in advance. Despite the best efforts of the Gentry to work around it, the warning must be clear enough to be understood.

**'''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 Autumn''': Contracts for gathering information.

'''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. 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, the book mostly writes them off as being mopey emo kids. 2E mitigates this somewhat by placing a greater focus on the Court's pragmatic side and skill in eavesdropping.

In 2E, Winter's Bargain forces the Gentry to mourn for each of their deceased victims after every kill they make. As the majority of the True Fae have no idea what mourning actually involves, this makes for a rather peculiar sight- and Winter doesn't need to worry about honoring their crude imitations of grief.

**'''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 the Sorrow-Frozen Heart''': "They can't hurt me, I'm already ''dead inside!''"

====Directional Courts====
Introduced in Winter Masques. The Directional Courts are the Asian equivalent of the Seasonal Courts, having made contracts with the mythical Four Guardian Beasts of Chinese astrology. If you're playing in Asia or in a place with heavy Asian influences (like the USA's west coast), 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
*You know how Buddhist monks can go three weeks without food, water, or sleep, then still break granite with their foreheads? That's these guys in a nutshell. They made a contract with Xuanwu, the Black Tortoise.

'''Court of the East'''
*'''Court Emotion''': Envy
*Greedy bastards with the power of CAPITALISM! Uses LOADSAMONEY to get fast cars, uses said money and fast cars to attract hot women, then uses said money, fast cars and hot women to harvest beta tears and collect Glamour. These guys' patron is Qinglong, the Azure Dragon.

'''Court of the South'''
*'''Court Emotion''': Ecstasy
*Emotion is key, no matter how uncomfortable you are. Southerners are creatures of ham and extremes who pay homage to Zhuque, the Vermilion Bird.

'''Court of the West'''
*'''Court Emotion''': Honor
*Think of the Summer Court, but replace all the sound and fury with stone-faced military discipline. The initiation for this Court is literally boot camp, and they carry swords even if they fight with other weapons. They honor Baihu, the White Tiger.

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 Slavic Courts, closest to the Seelie and Unseelie Courts of old. 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. They don't have special Contracts, though.

'''The Sun Court'''
*'''Court Emotion''': Shame
*[[Lawful Stupid]] 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 for Changelings outside the Dusk Court to purchase, though Dusk Courtiers do get better estimates- 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. Second Ed changes them from social clubs you can join to roles you can take up. Sometimes there can be only one in the world, like The Red Queen, sometimes there's enough seats for a motley, like The Knights of Blades. The rules aren't even published yet.

==[[Mary Sue|The True Fae]] and Arcadia==
[[File:Fae LMAO.png|250px|thumb|right|The True Fae can take many forms, including that of the stereotypical alien abductors.]]
The threat of the True Fae can best be compared to the threat of the [[Antediluvian]]s 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 [[Troll|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 require conflict to exist, as they will eventually wither away into nothing without discord. Ergo, they find both slaves and rebels in human beings, who they're 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 simply 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 everything from the color of the sky to whether snowflakes are radioactive and weigh half a ton. The further they get from Arcadia, however, the weaker their powers become, and when they're on Earth (even though they're still powerful) they can pretty much only screw with minor things that their Contracts allow them to. Indeed, [[Neckbeard|reality itself slowly poisons them]], so they generally don't leave Arcadia unless they want something (that something being slaves). What it ultimately comes down to for the Gentry is [[That guy|"Is it fun for me? 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. [[Derp|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, so much so that it crosses over into anti-magic territory. (We're pretty sure that one was stolen from a Discworld novel, but we like Discworld so we'll let it slide.)

[[Troll|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 having it live your life for you. Killing your Fetch fucks with your clarity, since, you know, he was pretty much just ''you'' without a couple of your personality traits (maybe even your ''flaws''), but it's a necessity if you want your old life back and 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 doppelganger, 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 [[Grimdark|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 Changeling the Keeper is looking for. 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- and even if you destroy the heart, the Title will just return to the Keeper and can be reused to enslave another Huntsman. 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==
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, [[Troll|with the full book being released in Q2 2017]]. As of October 2018, a full preview of the book is available, and in December 2018 the physical copies became available. A companion book containing additional information is scheduled to come out in 2019. Contracts are different now, being stand-alone powers. Clarity is much more fluid, serving as a sort of mental health track. Kith blessings are much more powerful and flavorful than they were in 1e. Courts are pretty much the same, although the benefits from Court Mantles have changed. We have yet to see what Entitlements will look like aside from loose examples from Onyx Path blog posts.

==See Also==
*[[Changeling]]
*[[White Wolf]]
*[[World of Darkness]]
*[[Changeling: The Dreaming]], its predecessor.
*[[Changeling Homebrew Kiths]]
*[[Changeling Homebrew Contracts]]
*[[Changeling Homebrew Hedge Bounty]]
*[[Changeling Homebrew Courts]]
*[[Changeling Stranger Tides]]

{{WoD-Games}}
[[Category: Changeling: The Lost]]

Changeling: The Lost

2020-02-21T23:33:50Z

65.117.99.152: /* Kiths and Seemings */

{{Game Infobox
|name = Changeling: The Lost
|picture = [[File:Changeling2eCover.jpeg|250px]]
|type = [[RPG]]
|publisher = [[White Wolf]] / CCP
|system = [[Storytelling System]]
|authors = Kelly Barnes-Herman ''et al''
|year = 2007 (1st) <br> 2019 (2nd)
|books = Changeling: The Lost Rulebook
<div class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" style="width:175px">
*''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''
</div>
}}
'''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 fae, 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 typically go barking mad if they do survive), and stolen away by god-like alien monsters to be transformed into slaves/playthings. 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, there's a good chance that 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 a copy made to replace you (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.

*[[Furry|'''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. In 1e their 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). In 2E, they gain an extra dot of any Resistance attribute. They can also move faster and deal lethal damage in unarmed combat, but have to spend Glamour to do so if they're affected by any condition related to fear. Additionally, they risk Clarity loss if they hurt someone because they acted without thinking.
*'''[[Grimdark|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. Their 1e 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. In 2E they gain an extra dot of any Finesse attribute and can spend Willpower to disappear into some insubstantial substance (this also costs Glamour if there are witnesses). However, they risk Clarity loss if a secret or some other important information they know turns out to be false.
*[[Golem|'''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 1e 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. In 2e they get an extra dot in a Resistance stat and can act through their element if surrounded by it at a range of up to 3 yards, although this requires Glamour if their Willpower is less than half of its maximum. They risk Clarity loss whenever they are coerced or otherwise forced to act against their will.
*'''[[Elves|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 the Keepers can express “love” in some really fucked up ways. 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 1e Kiths focus on exactly why their beauty was important; living art piece, courtesan, star in the night sky, noble warrior, and more. In 2e they gain an extra dot in a Power stat and can spend Willpower on behalf of other characters (albeit for a Glamour cost if the recipient distrusts them), and risk Clarity loss if their actions or inaction cause harm to their allies.
*[[/tg/|'''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''' But seriously, they may act gruff but many just don't want to be hurt any further than they have been already. Although this may seem a fairly narrow Seeming, it's got a surprising amount of 1e Kiths, from the fairytale troll living under the bridge to Bigfoot-esque wilderness monsters to living stone golems to magical hags. In 2e they gain an extra dot in a Power stat and can temporarily cause the Beaten Down tilt on opponents in combat, but have to expend Glamour to do so unless they're fighting on someone else's behalf. They risk Clarity loss if they frighten anyone who's not their enemy.
*'''[[Dwarf|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 ( 1e 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 2e they gain an extra dot in a Finesse stat and can turn any material into any other material as long as they have the right tools (or Glamour to jury-rig said tools), so they can literally spin straw into gold. They risk Clarity loss when taken off-guard by unpleasant surprises.

In second edition, Kiths are no longer linked to specific Seemings, so now it's possible to be something like an Ogre Chatelaine. Still, your Kith does define a particular blessing and a skill that you can get exceptional successes with more easily, both of which are broadly based on what you did in Arcadia (e.g. a Bright One might have served as a lantern). While 12 are outlined in the core rules, there's also a system to make your own Kiths as you see fit.

===The Mien and the Mask===
A Changeling's 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 [[DFC|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. "Wyrd" is an old Germanic word or some shit that pretty much means Fate (which leads to some clever ''wyrdplay''... geddit?), and while the Wyrd is tied to everything that exists, only fae beings 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 only 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 [[DM|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 (are forced to) learn how to strike deals with elements and concepts, or they die from exposure to Time Cube logic. This is where Changelings get their Contracts, semi-magical spells that allow them to mess with one aspect of reality for the low, low price of a point of Glamour, an energy extracted from the extremes of human emotion. On top of that, contracts always have a loophole, known as a Catch, where you can use 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 mess with people.
*'''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 hedges (except for the ''actual'' capital-H Hedge).
*'''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''': The Fairest have a loose grip on reality anyway, so why not loosen your grip further to do mystical escape-artistry?
*'''Contracts of Vainglory''': SO FABULOUS OH GOD MY EYES

'''Ogre Contracts'''
*'''Contracts of Oath and Punishment''': Track, chase and punish oathbreakers.
*'''Contracts of Stone''': Be tough and hit people.

'''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.

==Pledges and Oaths==
As suggested above, the Wyrd takes any sort of promise or statement of intent very seriously. Most beings aren't connected closely enough to the Wyrd for it to have an impact on them, but Fae beings can make such statements supernaturally binding.

Given that most Changelings come out of their Durance with severe trust issues, the knowledge that their promises will be supernaturally enforced does a lot to keep them from descending into paranoia. More importantly, the Gentry's powers are dependent on the oaths they swore upon coming into existence, which means that if they ever end up breaking those oaths for any reason, they will be severely weakened or even annihilated outright.

===Sealing===
The simplest form of pledge requires a Changeling to see or hear a statement of intent being made; whether said statement was serious or made as an exaggeration is irrelevant. So if you say "if my team doesn't win this game, I'll eat my hat" in front of a Changeling and said team loses, ''you had better take a bite of that fuckin' hat'' or the Wyrd will impose some minor but immediate punishment on you for going back on your word. While Fae are not immune to sealing, they can undo the sealing before its effects take hold; among changelings, sealing is done to demonstrate willingness to keep their word on a relatively minor matter.

===Oaths===
For more serious agreements, Changelings rely on oaths. These require mutual consent to be sworn, and both parties will be permanently bound by the oath from that point forward. As long as both parties uphold their part of the oath, they will gain its benefits.

While the terms of the oath can certainly be violated, this does not erase the oath so much as change its terms, which almost always involves grave penalties for the oathbreaker. (On the rare occasions that the penalty for violating the oath isn't specified in its terms, the Wyrd will punish the oathbreaker as it sees fit. And it is a vindictive little bitch about it.) On top of the immediate consequences, oathbreakers are reviled among Changelings and the only way to be forgiven is to make restitution to all parties involved, including the Wyrd itself.

Yes, it is possible to end up bound to obey oaths that are mutually exclusive with each other. No, the penalties for breaking one oath to uphold another are not reduced, and if anything can actually be ''worse'' than usual; read up on Cu Chulainn to see how that can bite you in the ass. Moral of the story, don't make oaths that you might not be able to keep.

===Bargains===
Bargains can only be struck between a Changeling and a human aware of the Changeling's fae nature. The Changeling offers to perform some kind of service for the human that's within their ability to provide in exchange for something else, but what the human can provide is always supplemented by the Wyrd making it harder for the Gentry to track the changeling.

If the bargain is broken by the changeling, they lose its benefits but are otherwise unaffected. But if the human is the one to break it, they will be at risk of stumbling into the Hedge with all the nastiness that involves. No Changeling would wish that fate on anyone, but the Wyrd's demands for restitution are absolute.

==The Freeholds, Courts and Entitements==
For detailed info on the Freehold, Courts and Entitlements, read the Lords of Summer supplement book.

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 if your best friend is a privateer manipulating you into the hands of one of the True Fae. And as your connection to the Wyrd gets stronger, your lifespan increases, which would be good if you didn't have so much shit to worry about or if it didn't also start making your memories of the Durance more vivid. 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, though delivering other Changelings into captivity earns you a nice death sentence instead. That's pretty much all of it, really, so let's 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 shimmering waves of heat emanating from him). 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 get a huge boost in importance in 2e, where their primary purpose is to provide obstructions to and shielding against the Gentry and 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 1e 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 seems non-existant, though, since this probably makes you a Dusk courtier.

'''Spring Court'''
*'''Court Emotion''': Desire
*'''Batman Villain Best Represented''': The Joker
*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 because the Gentry can't imagine that their pets could experience pleasure without them. 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, but they're far from the mindless party animals who live above literally every apartment ever.

In 2e, their Bargain is that when they're in power the True Fae cannot inflict harm upon a freehold unless that violence is born of their heart's desire. This might not seem helpful, but this really means that anyone short of a Keeper coming to reclaim its absolute favorite changeling cannot attack the freehold.

**'''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''': [[Rage|Wrath]]
*'''Batman Villain Best Represented''': Killer Croc
*The reality is that the Court is little more than a loosely organized militia made of monsters, but their desire and capacity to bring violence to bear against their enemies 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. Fanatics, extremists and murderers to the last. The other Courts, while they appreciate their protection and willingness to take the fight to the Gentry, don't really enjoy dealing with these hotheads.

In 2E, Summer's Bargain forces the Others to fight to the last even when they would prefer to surrender or withdraw. The Summer courtiers use this to their advantage, goading weaker forces into drawing their weapons or setting up traps that they will be forced to fall into.

**'''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''': Punishing oathbreakers and setting fires 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 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 them. But get ready for a lecture like in Hannibal, because they probably know everything that scares you already. Or they'll just jump out of the shadows screaming OOGA BOOGA if your DM doesn't understand subtlety.

In 2E, Autumn's Bargain compels the Gentry to announce their intentions before they attack, with more powerful attacks being announced further in advance. Despite the best efforts of the Gentry to work around it, the warning must be clear enough to be understood.

**'''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 Autumn''': Contracts for gathering information.

'''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. 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, the book mostly writes them off as being mopey emo kids. 2E mitigates this somewhat by placing a greater focus on the Court's pragmatic side and skill in eavesdropping.

In 2E, Winter's Bargain forces the Gentry to mourn for each of their deceased victims after every kill they make. As the majority of the True Fae have no idea what mourning actually involves, this makes for a rather peculiar sight- and Winter doesn't need to worry about honoring their crude imitations of grief.

**'''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 the Sorrow-Frozen Heart''': "They can't hurt me, I'm already ''dead inside!''"

====Directional Courts====
Introduced in Winter Masques. The Directional Courts are the Asian equivalent of the Seasonal Courts, having made contracts with the mythical Four Guardian Beasts of Chinese astrology. If you're playing in Asia or in a place with heavy Asian influences (like the USA's west coast), 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
*You know how Buddhist monks can go three weeks without food, water, or sleep, then still break granite with their foreheads? That's these guys in a nutshell. They made a contract with Xuanwu, the Black Tortoise.

'''Court of the East'''
*'''Court Emotion''': Envy
*Greedy bastards with the power of CAPITALISM! Uses LOADSAMONEY to get fast cars, uses said money and fast cars to attract hot women, then uses said money, fast cars and hot women to harvest beta tears and collect Glamour. These guys' patron is Qinglong, the Azure Dragon.

'''Court of the South'''
*'''Court Emotion''': Ecstasy
*Emotion is key, no matter how uncomfortable you are. Southerners are creatures of ham and extremes who pay homage to Zhuque, the Vermilion Bird.

'''Court of the West'''
*'''Court Emotion''': Honor
*Think of the Summer Court, but replace all the sound and fury with stone-faced military discipline. The initiation for this Court is literally boot camp, and they carry swords even if they fight with other weapons. They honor Baihu, the White Tiger.

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 Slavic Courts, closest to the Seelie and Unseelie Courts of old. 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. They don't have special Contracts, though.

'''The Sun Court'''
*'''Court Emotion''': Shame
*[[Lawful Stupid]] 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 for Changelings outside the Dusk Court to purchase, though Dusk Courtiers do get better estimates- 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. Second Ed changes them from social clubs you can join to roles you can take up. Sometimes there can be only one in the world, like The Red Queen, sometimes there's enough seats for a motley, like The Knights of Blades. The rules aren't even published yet.

==[[Mary Sue|The True Fae]] and Arcadia==
[[File:Fae LMAO.png|250px|thumb|right|The True Fae can take many forms, including that of the stereotypical alien abductors.]]
The threat of the True Fae can best be compared to the threat of the [[Antediluvian]]s 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 [[Troll|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 require conflict to exist, as they will eventually wither away into nothing without discord. Ergo, they find both slaves and rebels in human beings, who they're 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 simply 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 everything from the color of the sky to whether snowflakes are radioactive and weigh half a ton. The further they get from Arcadia, however, the weaker their powers become, and when they're on Earth (even though they're still powerful) they can pretty much only screw with minor things that their Contracts allow them to. Indeed, [[Neckbeard|reality itself slowly poisons them]], so they generally don't leave Arcadia unless they want something (that something being slaves). What it ultimately comes down to for the Gentry is [[That guy|"Is it fun for me? 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. [[Derp|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, so much so that it crosses over into anti-magic territory. (We're pretty sure that one was stolen from a Discworld novel, but we like Discworld so we'll let it slide.)

[[Troll|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 having it live your life for you. Killing your Fetch fucks with your clarity, since, you know, he was pretty much just ''you'' without a couple of your personality traits (maybe even your ''flaws''), but it's a necessity if you want your old life back and 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 doppelganger, 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 [[Grimdark|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 Changeling the Keeper is looking for. 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- and even if you destroy the heart, the Title will just return to the Keeper and can be reused to enslave another Huntsman. 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==
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, [[Troll|with the full book being released in Q2 2017]]. As of October 2018, a full preview of the book is available, and in December 2018 the physical copies became available. A companion book containing additional information is scheduled to come out in 2019. Contracts are different now, being stand-alone powers. Clarity is much more fluid, serving as a sort of mental health track. Kith blessings are much more powerful and flavorful than they were in 1e. Courts are pretty much the same, although the benefits from Court Mantles have changed. We have yet to see what Entitlements will look like aside from loose examples from Onyx Path blog posts.

==See Also==
*[[Changeling]]
*[[White Wolf]]
*[[World of Darkness]]
*[[Changeling: The Dreaming]], its predecessor.
*[[Changeling Homebrew Kiths]]
*[[Changeling Homebrew Contracts]]
*[[Changeling Homebrew Hedge Bounty]]
*[[Changeling Homebrew Courts]]
*[[Changeling Stranger Tides]]

{{WoD-Games}}
[[Category: Changeling: The Lost]]

Changeling: The Lost

2020-02-21T23:26:05Z

65.117.99.152: /* Kiths and Seemings */

{{Game Infobox
|name = Changeling: The Lost
|picture = [[File:Changeling2eCover.jpeg|250px]]
|type = [[RPG]]
|publisher = [[White Wolf]] / CCP
|system = [[Storytelling System]]
|authors = Kelly Barnes-Herman ''et al''
|year = 2007 (1st) <br> 2019 (2nd)
|books = Changeling: The Lost Rulebook
<div class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" style="width:175px">
*''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''
</div>
}}
'''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 fae, 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 typically go barking mad if they do survive), and stolen away by god-like alien monsters to be transformed into slaves/playthings. 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, there's a good chance that 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 a copy made to replace you (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.

*[[Furry|'''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. In 1e their 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). In 2E, they gain an extra dot of any Resistance attribute. They can also move faster and deal lethal damage in unarmed combat, but have to spend Glamour to do so if they're affected by any condition related to fear. Additionally, they risk Clarity loss if they hurt someone because they acted without thinking.
*'''[[Grimdark|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. Their 1e 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. In 2E they gain an extra dot of any Finesse attribute and can spend Willpower to disappear into some insubstantial substance (this also costs Glamour if there are witnesses). However, they risk Clarity loss if a secret or some other important information they know turns out to be false.
*[[Golem|'''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 1e 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. In 2e they get an extra dot in a Resistance stat and can act through their element if surrounded by it at a range of up to 3 yards, although this requires Glamour if their Willpower is less than half of its maximum. They risk Clarity loss whenever they are coerced or otherwise forced to act against their will.
*'''[[Elves|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 1e Kiths focus on exactly why their beauty was important; living art piece, courtesan, star in the night sky, noble warrior, and more. In 2e they gain an extra dot in a Power stat and can spend Willpower on behalf of other characters (albeit for a Glamour cost if the recipient distrusts them), and risk Clarity loss if their actions or inaction cause harm to their allies.
*[[/tg/|'''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''' But seriously, they may act gruff but many just don't want to be hurt any further than they have been already. Although this may seem a fairly narrow Seeming, it's got a surprising amount of 1e Kiths, from the fairytale troll living under the bridge to Bigfoot-esque wilderness monsters to living stone golems to magical hags. In 2e they gain an extra dot in a Power stat and can temporarily cause the Beaten Down tilt on opponents in combat, but have to expend Glamour to do so unless they're fighting on someone else's behalf. They risk Clarity loss if they frighten anyone who's not their enemy.
*'''[[Dwarf|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 ( 1e 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 2e they gain an extra dot in a Finesse stat and can turn any material into any other material as long as they have the right tools (or Glamour to jury-rig said tools), so they can literally spin straw into gold. They risk Clarity loss when taken off-guard by unpleasant surprises.

In second edition, Kiths are no longer linked to specific Seemings, so now it's possible to be something like an Ogre Chatelaine. Still, your Kith does define a particular blessing and a skill that you can get exceptional successes with more easily, both of which are broadly based on what you did in Arcadia (e.g. a Bright One might have served as a lantern). While 12 are outlined in the core rules, there's also a system to make your own Kiths as you see fit.

===The Mien and the Mask===
A Changeling's 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 [[DFC|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. "Wyrd" is an old Germanic word or some shit that pretty much means Fate (which leads to some clever ''wyrdplay''... geddit?), and while the Wyrd is tied to everything that exists, only fae beings 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 only 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 [[DM|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 (are forced to) learn how to strike deals with elements and concepts, or they die from exposure to Time Cube logic. This is where Changelings get their Contracts, semi-magical spells that allow them to mess with one aspect of reality for the low, low price of a point of Glamour, an energy extracted from the extremes of human emotion. On top of that, contracts always have a loophole, known as a Catch, where you can use 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 mess with people.
*'''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 hedges (except for the ''actual'' capital-H Hedge).
*'''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''': The Fairest have a loose grip on reality anyway, so why not loosen your grip further to do mystical escape-artistry?
*'''Contracts of Vainglory''': SO FABULOUS OH GOD MY EYES

'''Ogre Contracts'''
*'''Contracts of Oath and Punishment''': Track, chase and punish oathbreakers.
*'''Contracts of Stone''': Be tough and hit people.

'''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.

==Pledges and Oaths==
As suggested above, the Wyrd takes any sort of promise or statement of intent very seriously. Most beings aren't connected closely enough to the Wyrd for it to have an impact on them, but Fae beings can make such statements supernaturally binding.

Given that most Changelings come out of their Durance with severe trust issues, the knowledge that their promises will be supernaturally enforced does a lot to keep them from descending into paranoia. More importantly, the Gentry's powers are dependent on the oaths they swore upon coming into existence, which means that if they ever end up breaking those oaths for any reason, they will be severely weakened or even annihilated outright.

===Sealing===
The simplest form of pledge requires a Changeling to see or hear a statement of intent being made; whether said statement was serious or made as an exaggeration is irrelevant. So if you say "if my team doesn't win this game, I'll eat my hat" in front of a Changeling and said team loses, ''you had better take a bite of that fuckin' hat'' or the Wyrd will impose some minor but immediate punishment on you for going back on your word. While Fae are not immune to sealing, they can undo the sealing before its effects take hold; among changelings, sealing is done to demonstrate willingness to keep their word on a relatively minor matter.

===Oaths===
For more serious agreements, Changelings rely on oaths. These require mutual consent to be sworn, and both parties will be permanently bound by the oath from that point forward. As long as both parties uphold their part of the oath, they will gain its benefits.

While the terms of the oath can certainly be violated, this does not erase the oath so much as change its terms, which almost always involves grave penalties for the oathbreaker. (On the rare occasions that the penalty for violating the oath isn't specified in its terms, the Wyrd will punish the oathbreaker as it sees fit. And it is a vindictive little bitch about it.) On top of the immediate consequences, oathbreakers are reviled among Changelings and the only way to be forgiven is to make restitution to all parties involved, including the Wyrd itself.

Yes, it is possible to end up bound to obey oaths that are mutually exclusive with each other. No, the penalties for breaking one oath to uphold another are not reduced, and if anything can actually be ''worse'' than usual; read up on Cu Chulainn to see how that can bite you in the ass. Moral of the story, don't make oaths that you might not be able to keep.

===Bargains===
Bargains can only be struck between a Changeling and a human aware of the Changeling's fae nature. The Changeling offers to perform some kind of service for the human that's within their ability to provide in exchange for something else, but what the human can provide is always supplemented by the Wyrd making it harder for the Gentry to track the changeling.

If the bargain is broken by the changeling, they lose its benefits but are otherwise unaffected. But if the human is the one to break it, they will be at risk of stumbling into the Hedge with all the nastiness that involves. No Changeling would wish that fate on anyone, but the Wyrd's demands for restitution are absolute.

==The Freeholds, Courts and Entitements==
For detailed info on the Freehold, Courts and Entitlements, read the Lords of Summer supplement book.

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 if your best friend is a privateer manipulating you into the hands of one of the True Fae. And as your connection to the Wyrd gets stronger, your lifespan increases, which would be good if you didn't have so much shit to worry about or if it didn't also start making your memories of the Durance more vivid. 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, though delivering other Changelings into captivity earns you a nice death sentence instead. That's pretty much all of it, really, so let's 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 shimmering waves of heat emanating from him). 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 get a huge boost in importance in 2e, where their primary purpose is to provide obstructions to and shielding against the Gentry and 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 1e 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 seems non-existant, though, since this probably makes you a Dusk courtier.

'''Spring Court'''
*'''Court Emotion''': Desire
*'''Batman Villain Best Represented''': The Joker
*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 because the Gentry can't imagine that their pets could experience pleasure without them. 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, but they're far from the mindless party animals who live above literally every apartment ever.

In 2e, their Bargain is that when they're in power the True Fae cannot inflict harm upon a freehold unless that violence is born of their heart's desire. This might not seem helpful, but this really means that anyone short of a Keeper coming to reclaim its absolute favorite changeling cannot attack the freehold.

**'''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''': [[Rage|Wrath]]
*'''Batman Villain Best Represented''': Killer Croc
*The reality is that the Court is little more than a loosely organized militia made of monsters, but their desire and capacity to bring violence to bear against their enemies 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. Fanatics, extremists and murderers to the last. The other Courts, while they appreciate their protection and willingness to take the fight to the Gentry, don't really enjoy dealing with these hotheads.

In 2E, Summer's Bargain forces the Others to fight to the last even when they would prefer to surrender or withdraw. The Summer courtiers use this to their advantage, goading weaker forces into drawing their weapons or setting up traps that they will be forced to fall into.

**'''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''': Punishing oathbreakers and setting fires 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 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 them. But get ready for a lecture like in Hannibal, because they probably know everything that scares you already. Or they'll just jump out of the shadows screaming OOGA BOOGA if your DM doesn't understand subtlety.

In 2E, Autumn's Bargain compels the Gentry to announce their intentions before they attack, with more powerful attacks being announced further in advance. Despite the best efforts of the Gentry to work around it, the warning must be clear enough to be understood.

**'''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 Autumn''': Contracts for gathering information.

'''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. 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, the book mostly writes them off as being mopey emo kids. 2E mitigates this somewhat by placing a greater focus on the Court's pragmatic side and skill in eavesdropping.

In 2E, Winter's Bargain forces the Gentry to mourn for each of their deceased victims after every kill they make. As the majority of the True Fae have no idea what mourning actually involves, this makes for a rather peculiar sight- and Winter doesn't need to worry about honoring their crude imitations of grief.

**'''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 the Sorrow-Frozen Heart''': "They can't hurt me, I'm already ''dead inside!''"

====Directional Courts====
Introduced in Winter Masques. The Directional Courts are the Asian equivalent of the Seasonal Courts, having made contracts with the mythical Four Guardian Beasts of Chinese astrology. If you're playing in Asia or in a place with heavy Asian influences (like the USA's west coast), 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
*You know how Buddhist monks can go three weeks without food, water, or sleep, then still break granite with their foreheads? That's these guys in a nutshell. They made a contract with Xuanwu, the Black Tortoise.

'''Court of the East'''
*'''Court Emotion''': Envy
*Greedy bastards with the power of CAPITALISM! Uses LOADSAMONEY to get fast cars, uses said money and fast cars to attract hot women, then uses said money, fast cars and hot women to harvest beta tears and collect Glamour. These guys' patron is Qinglong, the Azure Dragon.

'''Court of the South'''
*'''Court Emotion''': Ecstasy
*Emotion is key, no matter how uncomfortable you are. Southerners are creatures of ham and extremes who pay homage to Zhuque, the Vermilion Bird.

'''Court of the West'''
*'''Court Emotion''': Honor
*Think of the Summer Court, but replace all the sound and fury with stone-faced military discipline. The initiation for this Court is literally boot camp, and they carry swords even if they fight with other weapons. They honor Baihu, the White Tiger.

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 Slavic Courts, closest to the Seelie and Unseelie Courts of old. 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. They don't have special Contracts, though.

'''The Sun Court'''
*'''Court Emotion''': Shame
*[[Lawful Stupid]] 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 for Changelings outside the Dusk Court to purchase, though Dusk Courtiers do get better estimates- 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. Second Ed changes them from social clubs you can join to roles you can take up. Sometimes there can be only one in the world, like The Red Queen, sometimes there's enough seats for a motley, like The Knights of Blades. The rules aren't even published yet.

==[[Mary Sue|The True Fae]] and Arcadia==
[[File:Fae LMAO.png|250px|thumb|right|The True Fae can take many forms, including that of the stereotypical alien abductors.]]
The threat of the True Fae can best be compared to the threat of the [[Antediluvian]]s 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 [[Troll|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 require conflict to exist, as they will eventually wither away into nothing without discord. Ergo, they find both slaves and rebels in human beings, who they're 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 simply 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 everything from the color of the sky to whether snowflakes are radioactive and weigh half a ton. The further they get from Arcadia, however, the weaker their powers become, and when they're on Earth (even though they're still powerful) they can pretty much only screw with minor things that their Contracts allow them to. Indeed, [[Neckbeard|reality itself slowly poisons them]], so they generally don't leave Arcadia unless they want something (that something being slaves). What it ultimately comes down to for the Gentry is [[That guy|"Is it fun for me? 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. [[Derp|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, so much so that it crosses over into anti-magic territory. (We're pretty sure that one was stolen from a Discworld novel, but we like Discworld so we'll let it slide.)

[[Troll|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 having it live your life for you. Killing your Fetch fucks with your clarity, since, you know, he was pretty much just ''you'' without a couple of your personality traits (maybe even your ''flaws''), but it's a necessity if you want your old life back and 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 doppelganger, 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 [[Grimdark|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 Changeling the Keeper is looking for. 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- and even if you destroy the heart, the Title will just return to the Keeper and can be reused to enslave another Huntsman. 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==
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, [[Troll|with the full book being released in Q2 2017]]. As of October 2018, a full preview of the book is available, and in December 2018 the physical copies became available. A companion book containing additional information is scheduled to come out in 2019. Contracts are different now, being stand-alone powers. Clarity is much more fluid, serving as a sort of mental health track. Kith blessings are much more powerful and flavorful than they were in 1e. Courts are pretty much the same, although the benefits from Court Mantles have changed. We have yet to see what Entitlements will look like aside from loose examples from Onyx Path blog posts.

==See Also==
*[[Changeling]]
*[[White Wolf]]
*[[World of Darkness]]
*[[Changeling: The Dreaming]], its predecessor.
*[[Changeling Homebrew Kiths]]
*[[Changeling Homebrew Contracts]]
*[[Changeling Homebrew Hedge Bounty]]
*[[Changeling Homebrew Courts]]
*[[Changeling Stranger Tides]]

{{WoD-Games}}
[[Category: Changeling: The Lost]]

Changeling: The Lost

2020-02-21T23:00:24Z

65.117.99.152: /* See Also */

{{Game Infobox
|name = Changeling: The Lost
|picture = [[File:Changeling2eCover.jpeg|250px]]
|type = [[RPG]]
|publisher = [[White Wolf]] / CCP
|system = [[Storytelling System]]
|authors = Kelly Barnes-Herman ''et al''
|year = 2007 (1st) <br> 2019 (2nd)
|books = Changeling: The Lost Rulebook
<div class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" style="width:175px">
*''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''
</div>
}}
'''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 fae, 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 typically go barking mad if they do survive), and stolen away by god-like alien monsters to be transformed into slaves/playthings. 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, there's a good chance that 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 a copy made to replace you (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.

*[[Furry|'''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. In 1e their 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). In 2E, they gain an extra dot of any Resistance attribute. They can also move faster and deal lethal damage in unarmed combat, but have to spend Glamour to do so if they're affected by any condition related to fear. Additionally, they risk Clarity loss if they hurt someone because they acted without thinking.
*'''[[Grimdark|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. Their 1e 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. In 2E they gain an extra dot of any Finesse attribute and can spend Willpower to disappear into some insubstantial substance (this also costs Glamour if there are witnesses). However, they risk Clarity loss if a secret or some other important information they know turns out to be false.
*[[Golem|'''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 1e 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. In 2e they get an extra dot in a Resistance stat and can act through their element if surrounded by it at a range of up to 3 yards, although this requires Glamour if their Willpower is less than half of its maximum. They risk Clarity loss whenever they are coerced or otherwise forced to act against their will.
*'''[[Elves|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 1e Kiths focus on exactly why their beauty was important; living art piece, courtesan, star in the night sky, noble warrior, and more. In 2e they gain an extra dot in a Power stat and can spend Willpower on behalf of other characters (albeit for a Glamour cost if the recipient distrusts them), and risk Clarity loss if their actions or inaction cause harm to their allies.
*[[/tg/|'''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''' But seriously, they may act gruff but many just don't want to be hurt any further than they have been already. Although this may seem a fairly narrow Seeming, it's got a surprising amount of 1e Kiths, from the fairytale troll living under the bridge to Bigfoot-esque wilderness monsters to living stone golems to magical hags. In 2e they gain an extra dot in a Power stat and can temporarily cause the Beaten Down tilt on opponents in combat, but have to expend Glamour to do so unless they're fighting on someone else's behalf. They risk Clarity loss if they cause people other than their enemies to cower or flee from them.
*'''[[Dwarf|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 ( 1e 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 2e they gain an extra dot in a Finesse stat and can turn any material into any other material as long as they have the right tools (or Glamour to jury-rig said tools), so they can literally spin straw into gold. They risk Clarity loss when taken off-guard by unpleasant surprises.

In second edition, Kiths are no longer linked to specific Seemings, so now it's possible to be something like an Ogre Chatelaine. Still, your Kith does define a particular blessing and a skill that you can get exceptional successes with more easily, both of which are broadly based on what you did in Arcadia (e.g. a Bright One might have served as a lantern). While 12 are outlined in the core rules, there's also a system to make your own Kiths as you see fit.

===The Mien and the Mask===
A Changeling's 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 [[DFC|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. "Wyrd" is an old Germanic word or some shit that pretty much means Fate (which leads to some clever ''wyrdplay''... geddit?), and while the Wyrd is tied to everything that exists, only fae beings 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 only 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 [[DM|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 (are forced to) learn how to strike deals with elements and concepts, or they die from exposure to Time Cube logic. This is where Changelings get their Contracts, semi-magical spells that allow them to mess with one aspect of reality for the low, low price of a point of Glamour, an energy extracted from the extremes of human emotion. On top of that, contracts always have a loophole, known as a Catch, where you can use 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 mess with people.
*'''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 hedges (except for the ''actual'' capital-H Hedge).
*'''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''': The Fairest have a loose grip on reality anyway, so why not loosen your grip further to do mystical escape-artistry?
*'''Contracts of Vainglory''': SO FABULOUS OH GOD MY EYES

'''Ogre Contracts'''
*'''Contracts of Oath and Punishment''': Track, chase and punish oathbreakers.
*'''Contracts of Stone''': Be tough and hit people.

'''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.

==Pledges and Oaths==
As suggested above, the Wyrd takes any sort of promise or statement of intent very seriously. Most beings aren't connected closely enough to the Wyrd for it to have an impact on them, but Fae beings can make such statements supernaturally binding.

Given that most Changelings come out of their Durance with severe trust issues, the knowledge that their promises will be supernaturally enforced does a lot to keep them from descending into paranoia. More importantly, the Gentry's powers are dependent on the oaths they swore upon coming into existence, which means that if they ever end up breaking those oaths for any reason, they will be severely weakened or even annihilated outright.

===Sealing===
The simplest form of pledge requires a Changeling to see or hear a statement of intent being made; whether said statement was serious or made as an exaggeration is irrelevant. So if you say "if my team doesn't win this game, I'll eat my hat" in front of a Changeling and said team loses, ''you had better take a bite of that fuckin' hat'' or the Wyrd will impose some minor but immediate punishment on you for going back on your word. While Fae are not immune to sealing, they can undo the sealing before its effects take hold; among changelings, sealing is done to demonstrate willingness to keep their word on a relatively minor matter.

===Oaths===
For more serious agreements, Changelings rely on oaths. These require mutual consent to be sworn, and both parties will be permanently bound by the oath from that point forward. As long as both parties uphold their part of the oath, they will gain its benefits.

While the terms of the oath can certainly be violated, this does not erase the oath so much as change its terms, which almost always involves grave penalties for the oathbreaker. (On the rare occasions that the penalty for violating the oath isn't specified in its terms, the Wyrd will punish the oathbreaker as it sees fit. And it is a vindictive little bitch about it.) On top of the immediate consequences, oathbreakers are reviled among Changelings and the only way to be forgiven is to make restitution to all parties involved, including the Wyrd itself.

Yes, it is possible to end up bound to obey oaths that are mutually exclusive with each other. No, the penalties for breaking one oath to uphold another are not reduced, and if anything can actually be ''worse'' than usual; read up on Cu Chulainn to see how that can bite you in the ass. Moral of the story, don't make oaths that you might not be able to keep.

===Bargains===
Bargains can only be struck between a Changeling and a human aware of the Changeling's fae nature. The Changeling offers to perform some kind of service for the human that's within their ability to provide in exchange for something else, but what the human can provide is always supplemented by the Wyrd making it harder for the Gentry to track the changeling.

If the bargain is broken by the changeling, they lose its benefits but are otherwise unaffected. But if the human is the one to break it, they will be at risk of stumbling into the Hedge with all the nastiness that involves. No Changeling would wish that fate on anyone, but the Wyrd's demands for restitution are absolute.

==The Freeholds, Courts and Entitements==
For detailed info on the Freehold, Courts and Entitlements, read the Lords of Summer supplement book.

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 if your best friend is a privateer manipulating you into the hands of one of the True Fae. And as your connection to the Wyrd gets stronger, your lifespan increases, which would be good if you didn't have so much shit to worry about or if it didn't also start making your memories of the Durance more vivid. 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, though delivering other Changelings into captivity earns you a nice death sentence instead. That's pretty much all of it, really, so let's 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 shimmering waves of heat emanating from him). 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 get a huge boost in importance in 2e, where their primary purpose is to provide obstructions to and shielding against the Gentry and 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 1e 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 seems non-existant, though, since this probably makes you a Dusk courtier.

'''Spring Court'''
*'''Court Emotion''': Desire
*'''Batman Villain Best Represented''': The Joker
*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 because the Gentry can't imagine that their pets could experience pleasure without them. 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, but they're far from the mindless party animals who live above literally every apartment ever.

In 2e, their Bargain is that when they're in power the True Fae cannot inflict harm upon a freehold unless that violence is born of their heart's desire. This might not seem helpful, but this really means that anyone short of a Keeper coming to reclaim its absolute favorite changeling cannot attack the freehold.

**'''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''': [[Rage|Wrath]]
*'''Batman Villain Best Represented''': Killer Croc
*The reality is that the Court is little more than a loosely organized militia made of monsters, but their desire and capacity to bring violence to bear against their enemies 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. Fanatics, extremists and murderers to the last. The other Courts, while they appreciate their protection and willingness to take the fight to the Gentry, don't really enjoy dealing with these hotheads.

In 2E, Summer's Bargain forces the Others to fight to the last even when they would prefer to surrender or withdraw. The Summer courtiers use this to their advantage, goading weaker forces into drawing their weapons or setting up traps that they will be forced to fall into.

**'''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''': Punishing oathbreakers and setting fires 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 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 them. But get ready for a lecture like in Hannibal, because they probably know everything that scares you already. Or they'll just jump out of the shadows screaming OOGA BOOGA if your DM doesn't understand subtlety.

In 2E, Autumn's Bargain compels the Gentry to announce their intentions before they attack, with more powerful attacks being announced further in advance. Despite the best efforts of the Gentry to work around it, the warning must be clear enough to be understood.

**'''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 Autumn''': Contracts for gathering information.

'''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. 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, the book mostly writes them off as being mopey emo kids. 2E mitigates this somewhat by placing a greater focus on the Court's pragmatic side and skill in eavesdropping.

In 2E, Winter's Bargain forces the Gentry to mourn for each of their deceased victims after every kill they make. As the majority of the True Fae have no idea what mourning actually involves, this makes for a rather peculiar sight- and Winter doesn't need to worry about honoring their crude imitations of grief.

**'''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 the Sorrow-Frozen Heart''': "They can't hurt me, I'm already ''dead inside!''"

====Directional Courts====
Introduced in Winter Masques. The Directional Courts are the Asian equivalent of the Seasonal Courts, having made contracts with the mythical Four Guardian Beasts of Chinese astrology. If you're playing in Asia or in a place with heavy Asian influences (like the USA's west coast), 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
*You know how Buddhist monks can go three weeks without food, water, or sleep, then still break granite with their foreheads? That's these guys in a nutshell. They made a contract with Xuanwu, the Black Tortoise.

'''Court of the East'''
*'''Court Emotion''': Envy
*Greedy bastards with the power of CAPITALISM! Uses LOADSAMONEY to get fast cars, uses said money and fast cars to attract hot women, then uses said money, fast cars and hot women to harvest beta tears and collect Glamour. These guys' patron is Qinglong, the Azure Dragon.

'''Court of the South'''
*'''Court Emotion''': Ecstasy
*Emotion is key, no matter how uncomfortable you are. Southerners are creatures of ham and extremes who pay homage to Zhuque, the Vermilion Bird.

'''Court of the West'''
*'''Court Emotion''': Honor
*Think of the Summer Court, but replace all the sound and fury with stone-faced military discipline. The initiation for this Court is literally boot camp, and they carry swords even if they fight with other weapons. They honor Baihu, the White Tiger.

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 Slavic Courts, closest to the Seelie and Unseelie Courts of old. 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. They don't have special Contracts, though.

'''The Sun Court'''
*'''Court Emotion''': Shame
*[[Lawful Stupid]] 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 for Changelings outside the Dusk Court to purchase, though Dusk Courtiers do get better estimates- 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. Second Ed changes them from social clubs you can join to roles you can take up. Sometimes there can be only one in the world, like The Red Queen, sometimes there's enough seats for a motley, like The Knights of Blades. The rules aren't even published yet.

==[[Mary Sue|The True Fae]] and Arcadia==
[[File:Fae LMAO.png|250px|thumb|right|The True Fae can take many forms, including that of the stereotypical alien abductors.]]
The threat of the True Fae can best be compared to the threat of the [[Antediluvian]]s 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 [[Troll|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 require conflict to exist, as they will eventually wither away into nothing without discord. Ergo, they find both slaves and rebels in human beings, who they're 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 simply 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 everything from the color of the sky to whether snowflakes are radioactive and weigh half a ton. The further they get from Arcadia, however, the weaker their powers become, and when they're on Earth (even though they're still powerful) they can pretty much only screw with minor things that their Contracts allow them to. Indeed, [[Neckbeard|reality itself slowly poisons them]], so they generally don't leave Arcadia unless they want something (that something being slaves). What it ultimately comes down to for the Gentry is [[That guy|"Is it fun for me? 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. [[Derp|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, so much so that it crosses over into anti-magic territory. (We're pretty sure that one was stolen from a Discworld novel, but we like Discworld so we'll let it slide.)

[[Troll|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 having it live your life for you. Killing your Fetch fucks with your clarity, since, you know, he was pretty much just ''you'' without a couple of your personality traits (maybe even your ''flaws''), but it's a necessity if you want your old life back and 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 doppelganger, 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 [[Grimdark|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 Changeling the Keeper is looking for. 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- and even if you destroy the heart, the Title will just return to the Keeper and can be reused to enslave another Huntsman. 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==
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, [[Troll|with the full book being released in Q2 2017]]. As of October 2018, a full preview of the book is available, and in December 2018 the physical copies became available. A companion book containing additional information is scheduled to come out in 2019. Contracts are different now, being stand-alone powers. Clarity is much more fluid, serving as a sort of mental health track. Kith blessings are much more powerful and flavorful than they were in 1e. Courts are pretty much the same, although the benefits from Court Mantles have changed. We have yet to see what Entitlements will look like aside from loose examples from Onyx Path blog posts.

==See Also==
*[[Changeling]]
*[[White Wolf]]
*[[World of Darkness]]
*[[Changeling: The Dreaming]], its predecessor.
*[[Changeling Homebrew Kiths]]
*[[Changeling Homebrew Contracts]]
*[[Changeling Homebrew Hedge Bounty]]
*[[Changeling Homebrew Courts]]
*[[Changeling Stranger Tides]]

{{WoD-Games}}
[[Category: Changeling: The Lost]]

Dwarfs (Warhammer Fantasy)

2020-02-06T22:56:52Z

65.117.99.152: /* Politics */

[[File:WH Dwarfs Old Art.JPG|thumb|right|500px|A short, sturdy creature fond of drink and revenge.]]
{{topquote|Before you embark on a journey of revenge, dig two graves.|Confucius}}
{{topquote|The anvil is hard so that it can help shape the blade. If life were easy, we would all be soft and misshapen shards of metal, tossed into a bin.|J.M. Bush}}
{{topquote|Far, far below the deepest delvings of the dwarves, the world is gnawed by nameless things.|J.R.R. Tolkien}}
{{topquote|Revere the ancestors, obey your king, bear your arms with pride, fear no foe, hate the green skins, mistrust the Elf, and you can do no wrong.|Old Dwarf Saying}}

The '''Dwarfs''' (never "Dwarves", always "Dwarfs") of [[Warhammer Fantasy]] are the typical bearded mining alcoholic grumbling race you'd expect them to be (although in all fairness, Warhammer was the third ever setting to use that archetype after [[Tolkien]] (heavily re)invented it and [[Dungeons & Dragons]] was the first to <strike>steal</strike> appropriate it). But Warhammer Dwarfs have a more elaborate culture than the preceding Dwarfs which were based on real life history and a generic template respectively.

Dwarfs are the Roman Empire of the setting in the sense that they were the original masters of the [[Old World]] AKA Warhammer Europe. Having a major Hold in every mountain, the Dwarfs easily repelled any invading race and traded with every friendly one. The language of humanity as well as the scientific progress of the setting all come from the Dwarfs (this is a large chunk of the reason why Fantasy players <strike>sperg out</strike> get angry about words such as "codex" and "materium" when used in reference to Fantasy; there was no Latin, only Khazalid), and although they didn't have anything to do with the first banishing of [[Chaos]] they are responsible for the strength of the forces of Order repelling Chaos for most of the rest of the setting.

Unlike many fantasy settings, Dwarfs in Warhammer are based on blunt spoken Yorkshire men (rather than blunt spoken Scottish men). This is in contrast to the High Elves having a touch of Southern England about them.
==History==
[[File:Dorfz.PNG|thumb|center|600px|NEVAH FUCKIN FORGET IT!]]
NOTE: Many events are listed under different dates depending on your source and edition, which can just be resolved by figuring each Hold kept history separately. Feel free to loudly grumble into your ale about it.

===Prehistory (Golden Age before Chaos)===
In the beginning of the Warhammer World (named "Mallus" in Age of Sigmar for its solid core, because "The Warhammer World" is a cumbersome and rather uncreative name for a planet) a race of beings from another place and/or time called the [[Old Ones]] descended on a primitive world (which as of the [[End Times]] was revealed to already have [[Isha]], [[Asuryan]], [[Kurnous]], and [[Ereth Khial]] among unknown other Elf gods on it thanks to them surviving the end of the preceding universe). The Old Ones discovered there were primitive races on the verge of sapience, and began experimenting on them to create a race capable of defeating Chaos. To achieve this end they created the [[Lizardmen]] as assistants and built the [[Warp Gates]] to draw magic and use as tools (accidentally drawing the very attention of Chaos they were trying to avoid). They first made the races civilized and planted the seeds of their culture, placed them in an environment perfectly formed to aid their development, and put them in proximity to fight Chaos.

First uplifted were the [[High Elves (Warhammer Fantasy)|Elves]], gifted in magic and longevity. But the Elves were too frail, too corruptible. Chaos could tug at their emotions and draw them into conflict with themselves, lure them to its side with promises of power and pride, and were loyal to themselves before their race and their race before anything else.

So the Old Ones took the Dwarfs and uplifted them, tweaking the formula to still have long life but making the Dwarfs entirely unable to be corrupted by Chaos ([[Chaos Dwarfs|in theory because it didn't work in practice]]) by making their bodies resist magic and giving them personalities that Chaos could not twist. While Elves are arrogant and act on emotion, Dwarfs are prideful but act on duty before all else. Inherent loyalty to each other prevents them from being manipulated into infighting easily, but the Dwarfs have a cultural emphasis on Oaths and pursuit of gold which allows them to deal with other races fairly. Refusal to allow insult and sleight lie unavenged make them more than willing to fight any threat, although Dwarfs lack the desire for war and bloodlust that lay deep in the hearts the Elves. Dwarfs were able to improve on the superior techniques of creating objects with their obsessive nature and a race-wide perfect photographic memory. Sadly, the Old Ones rejected the Dwarfs due to their easily predictable nature and the inability to use magic being a disadvantage more than a strength. So the Old Ones moved on, creating the human race next then the Halflings, Giants, and finally Ogres with miscellaneous races inbetween.

Dwarfs remember their history differently however. They claim to have been born from the stone of the first mountains, a story that doesn't involve Elves or Lizardmen or any other race. They believe the first Dwarfs to be their gods, the Ancestor Gods. [[Valaya]] was the first queen, who invented almost all aspects of Dwarf culture. Her husbands were [[Grungni]] and [[Grimnir]], with Grungni taking the language his wife created and inventing the ability to forge them into objects using specific rituals to trap magic inside without the corruption or destruction inherent to magic. Grimnir on the other hand became a war god, destroying the enemies of the Dwarfs. In reality, these three were only the leaders of the first Dwarfs that were given gifts by the Old Ones, guided by the hands of the mysterious beings (its not clear if seen or unseen, although since the [[Slann]] directly taught magic to the Elves its possibly the first three royals were guided by the Old Ones themselves). The three did indeed become gods, possibly through the Old Ones or possibly through other means.
Dwarfs claim that Valaya invented all aspects of Dwarf culture from Grudge-keeping to brewing to the language of the Dwarfs (called "Khazalid"), while the lore that isn't told through the Dwarf perspective claims these were the gifts of the Old Ones meaning that Valaya likely just spread the knowledge and as a goddess was the patron rather than was the inventor. What is true is that Valaya was the one who established the primary Dwarf Holds (called "Karaks" or [[Dwarf Fortress|Fortress]]) including Karaz-a-Karak which became her holy city and the capital of the Dwarf race, although she left her sons in charge of each Karak and Dwarfs consider said sons as the first ruler of each.
[[File:Classic Dwarfs.png|thumb|right|400px|Early Warhammer Dwarfs (meta, not fluff).]]
By Dwarf reckoning the first stone gave birth to the three, then the three created the others from it; thus making the three the "parents" of all Dwarfs. But Valaya gave birth to children of both of her husbands, and the lineage of many Dwarfs can be traced directly to them which lends them legitimacy and credence in society, which is why the same lore can have a Dwarf say they are all sons of Valaya while their king is considered a direct son of Valaya.

Grungni one day made a prophesy that a great disaster would befall the Dwarfs. Valaya and him created a special rune, her own rune, that protected from magic and Chaos while Grimnir prepared for a great war by slaying the monsters already in the world including "Urmskaladrak" AKA the father of all Dragons (according to the Elves, this dragon was a benevolent being killed by one of their own gods who's body formed [[Ulthuan]] meaning which story is true is unknown).

===Chaos (Orphans)===
When the Warp Gates collapsed into portals to the [[Warp]] and the Old Ones vanished, Valaya made a home in Karaz-a-Karak and blessed the first two great pillars within. Both Dwarfs and Elves in Warhammer mark this time as the start of recorded history, with the exact Dwarf calendar beginning in -5500 according to the calendar of the humans of the setting (so the Dwarf 4493 is the human year 0).

One hundred and two years later Grungni created the Throne Of Power which is the property of the High King of the Dwarfs, giving it to his son Snorri Whitebeard. Grimnir met the Elf [[Aenarion]] during his travels as an explorer and the two races began diplomacy as the only other civilized people they had encountered (Dwarfs had met the humans of [[Nehekhara]], but the relations were not exactly friendly and the not-Egyptians were fairly primitive compared to the Dwarfs at the time).

One year after that, Grimnir marched into the Chaos Wastes to defeat the [[Daemon|Daemons]] and [[Warriors of Chaos|human Chaos-worshipers]] and wound up alone in a fortress inside the Warp after closing the Chaos Gate that allowed Daemons to walk straight into the material plane, where he fought the united forces of Chaos for the rest of time. Valaya hid in a forgotten Vault called Valaya's Gate where she could pool her magic and create a magical device to brings Dwarfs back to a golden age if they ever faltered. Grungni's fate is unknown, although he didn't die.

During this time, several Dwarfs got separated and found themselves in an inhospitable wasteland. When they were eventually engulfed by the corrupting influence of Chaos, they turned from the Ancestor Gods to the daemon Hashut and became the [[Chaos Dwarfs]]. The rest of the Dwarfs promptly unpersoned them, declared eternal enemies of all Dwarfs who revered the Ancestor Gods, and any relatives they had among the main population committed mass suicide out of shame.

===Snorri Whitebeard===
In the absence of the mother and fathers Snorri became the supreme leader of his siblings, the Dwarf kings. After the sacrifice of Aenarion and the construction of the Vortex by the Elves, Chaos had subsided a great deal and the races began to explore the world again. In the year 404, Aenarion's son [[Malekith]] contacted Snorri and spent time with their race, learning a great deal about them and sending messages about the amiable race he had discovered back to the homeland. The two destroyed the last remaining armies from the first invasion of Chaos and settled the world, Elves creating colonies and Dwarfs new Karaks and even the odd above-ground settlements. Trade between the two created a new golden age vastly different than what came before, with Dwarfs refining their magical runes with the aid of the Elf masters of magic while the Elves learned the secrets of engineering.

Sometime between year 500 and 600 the Dwarfs of a Hold called Zorn Uzkul swore itself to the Chaos entity [[Hashut]] and became [[Chaos Dwarfs]] (Dwarfs cannot be corrupted against their will, but the Old Ones hadn't predicted willingly falling to what has little to offer), called "Uzkul-Dhrazh-Zharr" or just "Dawi Zharr". Chaos Dwarfs became Wizards by forcing magic into their bodies via runes, but thanks to the magic-resisting nature of the Dwarfs the Chaos Dwarf Wizards slowly turn to stone.
Knowledge of how it happened and who exactly Hashut is are lost even to the Chaos Dwarfs themselves, with all that is known for sure being that they felt abandoned by the trinity gods after Chaos isolated them from the rest of the race. Hashut may be an ancestor god, but he could also merely be a Daemon using the Chaos Dwarfs to increase his own power. Either way the knowledge of the Chaos Dwarfs is ignored by most of the rest of the Dwarfs as they are generally unwilling to admit to anything that diminishes them.

In 1684 the second Phoenix King Bel Shanaar visited Karaz-a-Karak, swearing an Oath of eternal friendship with the elderly Snorri. At some point Elf artisans worked on the ceiling of the great hall of Karaz-a-Karak, which had since grown to house nine hundred and ninety two pillars added to Valaya's first two with each belonging to a Dwarf clan upon which each year their history is chronicled. The Elves covered the roof of the Hold in sapphires that glimmer and glow, showing the constellations in the sky above the mountain.

===Gotrek Starbreaker===
Snorri passed the position of High King to his son Gotrek, as well as the Throne Of Power.

In 1654, not long after Malekith began the great civil war between the Elves, letting his mother [[Morathi]] twist him and the more wicked of the Elves to become [[Dark Elves]], Malekith killed Bel Shanaar. Dwarfs heard little of the war and barely understood it as knowledge of the Chaos Dwarfs were not yet commonplace and those who were aware chocked it up to Chaos rather than inherent wickedness or anyone having any natural reason for kinslayin and Oathbreaking. The war went on for many years under Phoenix King Caledor I, with the Dwarfs being understanding of the weakened and financially strained Elves and producing more weapons and armor for them.

Elves and Dwarfs have contrasting personalities and some had managed to earn enmity between them even if the races as a whole were still beloved allies and friends. Elves are arrogant and sarcastic, Dwarfs are boisterous and rude, and this harmed the politics of the two when the races spent time in constant contact. [[The Grudge Of Drong]] was an incident in 2493 when a highly traditionalist and highly racist Dwarf clan called Kazad Drong began a war with a far more open (and wealthy) Dwarf clan in Krag Bryn as well as their Elf allies. At the end of a very bitter war both Holds turned against the Elves who had marched to war in defense of their trade partners and all three (far more for the Dwarfs) suffering grievous losses as a result. The rest of the Dwarfs refused to help, leaving the Elves bitter at the betrayal and the two clans of Dwarfs fuming over the loss of their armies. In the same year, a Hold called Karak Zorn established in the mountains south of Nehekhara is destroyed by Lizardmen.

In 2488 Dwarf caravans were found destroyed by Elf arrows. The Dwarfs immediately slaughtered the nearest Elf settlement.
This set the stage for what was to come.

In the year 2518 when the now-evil Malekith used his knowledge of the Dwarf race to manipulate Elves and Dwarfs into being enemies forever. While there are sources that say Malekith was the mastermind of what was about to happen, others (and what is much more likely) suggest his ultimate goal was to prevent the High Elves from seeking help from the Dwarfs against himself, something that could have very well happened with the Dwarfs focus on oaths. Making the alliance between the two races shaky would keep the Dwarfs out of any future conflicts, although his plan to achieve this would work FAR better then he could have predicted. His Dark Elves dressed as the High Elves and attacked Dwarf caravans. Gotrek had difficulty believing the allies of the Dwarfs could ever do such a thing and sent his emissaries for an explanation from the current Phoenix King Caledor II, son of Caledor I. Unlike his father Caledor II was arrogant to a ridiculous degree, and refused to even meet with the "inferior race". Angered by this behavior, Gotrek changed his demand from an explanation to the gold value that would result in forgiveness according to the Dwarf tradition of Grudges. Caledor II responded by shaving the beard of the ambassador, which is the worse thing that can befall a Dwarf short of betraying his Clan and king, and sent him back to them. He took the Slayer Oath in shame and Gotrek declared war on the Elves. This came to be known as the [[The War of the Beard (The War of Vengeance)|War Of The Beard/War Of Vengeance]] (former to the Elves, latter to the Dwarfs).
Due to the shame of the friendship Snorri Whitebeard swore going so wrong, he became unable to leave the world and lived on as an immortal being called [[Grombrindal]] AKA The White Dwarf.

The war was devastating for both sides. The Dwarfs destroyed most of the High Elf colonies that had nothing to do with the conflict, the High Elves wiped out quite a few Holds and the High Elves gave into the savage side that had previously only been seen in the Dark Elves when they began desecrating religious sites and poisoning populations in acts of total war. Both sides were devastated, pooling their resources from fighting Chaos and their evil kin into destroying each other.
In 2519 Snorri Halfhand, Gotrek's son, dueled Caledor II and was killed. In 2525 Snorri is avenged by his cousin Morgrim the Elf Prince Imladrik in the Battle Of Oeragor. In 2545 Morgrim burns down Athel Maraya.

In 3003 the Dwarfs attacked Tor Alessi in the Battle Of The Three Towers where Gotrek and Caledor II dueled. Caledor's head was cut off and the Dwarfs captured the Phoenix Crown, forged by all of their kingdoms for Aenarion and a holy object of supreme importance, which resulted in the Grudge that started the war being avenged (but not the MANY that had occurred during it). The Dwarfs retreated back into their Holds and dared the Elves to attack, and during preparations for that the Dark Elves attacked Ulthuan. The Elves immediately retreated back, accepting the war as a defeat, and scrambled to save their homeland. They demanded the surviving colonists to return to Ulthuan, but they had heard the primal call of the magical woods of [[Athel Loren]] and refused, becoming [[Wood Elves (Warhammer Fantasy)|Wood Elves]] instead.

The end of the war marked the end of the golden age of the Dwarfs, as their armies were devastated and much of their lands lost. But the worst was yet to come.

'''The Time Of Woes''' began only twenty years later. The Slann of the Lizardmen attempted to reshape the geography of the world in order to follow more closely the plans of the Old Ones. At the same time however, the Skavens at the Skavenblight using a giant machinery to expand their under empire. The power of Slann's magic and the power of Skaven's machinery collides and the resulting earthquakes did more damage to the Dwarf civilization than anything else in their history. Nothing is recorded of this time, even in the Book Of Grudges. All Holds were at least partially damaged, while the gigantic underground highway that connected all Dwarf territory called the Underway was blocked with rubble, water, magma, and a gigantic horde of [[Orcs & Goblins|greenskins]] as well as the newly discovered Chaos ratman race called [[Skaven]]. The Goblin Wars began at this time. Karak Ungor fell first, conquered by [[Night Goblins]] and renamed Red Eye Mountain. The Blacktash, Hit-hammer, and Fire-brand Clans are entirely wiped out.

Only one year later Karak Varn fell to Night Goblins and Skaven after partially flooding from earthquakes. The year after that the mines of Ekrund were overrun by Orcs and the Mad Dog Pass watchtowers were taken by a horde of greenskins including Night Goblins from the east. Karak Izor only survived due to reinforcements from Clan Kamerad including steamroller warmachines. In 3066 Gunbad, the richest mines the Dwarfs had and the only source of Brightstone, fell to Night Goblins and Gadron Holheart, greatest Dwarf jeweler, died in the battle. By 3131 all Dwarf Holds east of the World's Edge Mountains are abandoned. In 3136 greenskins began the Silver Road Wars and twenty years later captured Mount Silverspear which was renamed Mount Grimfang after the warboss that took it.

===Morgrim Blackbeard===
Gotrek's tragically disastrous reign ended some time prior to 3268 when Morgrim Blackbeard became his successor as High King and inherited the Throne Of Power.

In 3243 Thunder Mountain erupted, forcing an army of Trolls and greenskins into Dwarf lands. Soon after, Mogrim began the Troll Wars to retake territory around Karaz-a-Karak after the fall of the villages of Valhorn and Budrikhorn. He managed to recapture minor settlements across his territory and, more importantly, was able to retake the tombs of Dwarfen ancestors to restore and reseal them.

In 3248 Morgrim continued south with his army to reclaim Mad Dog Pass while Logazor Brightaxe led an army east to recapture Mount Gunbad but was soon forced out. Dwarf forces attempted to reclaim Mount Silverspear but were repelled and settled for destroying a greenskin army marching on Karaz-a-Karak instead.

In 3292 Karak Izor and Clan Kamerad signed a trade deal of 2k tons of iron for 1k tons of copper.

In 3338 the Runesmith Kadrin Redmane retook Karak Varn from the Skaven and discovered Gromril, causing a massive resettlement of the Hold. Redmane was killed in 3387 by an Orc ambush near the Black Water coast, and according to the story he threw his famous runed hammer into the water to prevent it from falling into Orcish hands; his descendant, the Hammerer Durgrim Redmane, disputes the story and still possesses the hammer to prove his claim.

In 3392 Prince Gumli of Clan Kamerad and Princess Dertain were betrothed to celebrate 100 years of trade. Upon seeing her, he described her as having "the face of a troll chewing a rock" and breaks off the marriage, keeping the dowry for "the wrongs that our eyes had to endure".

In 3397 Karak Varn was retaken by greenskins.

===Nurn Shieldbreaker===
The dates of Nurn Shieldbreaker's rule aren't recorded. He is mentioned in Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 2nd edition in [[Tome Of Salvation]], so his canonicity is dubious.

Nurn was the first Dwarf to meet the human tribals that would later form the Empire. He was initially insulted when his proud delegation of armored warriors was met with the savages fleeing in fear, but in later meetings the humans agreed to sell the Dwarfs gold and cattle in exchange for land and safe passage to it.

===Skorri Morgrimsson===
At some point prior to 3518 Skorri succeeded his father Morgrim. His son Prince Furgil is killed trying to reclaim Karak Ungor from Skaven.

In 3548 Skorri lead a massive Dwarf army to retake Karak Ungor in a battle called The Battle Of A Thousand Woes, but were driven back to Karaz-a-Karak and Skorri abdicated the throne to take the Slayer Oath, and died soon after.

===Rogni Stonehammer===
Rogni’s reign has no information other than that he was the cousin of Skorri.

===Logan Proudbeard===
The date Logan took the throne isn't recorded like his four predecessors, but occurred sometime between 3548 and 3773.

On 3773 Night Goblins laid siege to Karak Azgal but were driven back, causing them to invade Karak Azul instead where they managed to take part of it. Only in 3783 did the forces of Karal Azul manage to expel them completely. Aid from Clan Kamerad is instrumental in the victory.

In 3803 a dragon named Skaladrak Incarnadine (AKA not-Smaug) destroyed mines near Karak Kadrin.

In 3822 Miners of Karak Eight Peaks tunneled into a Skaven tunnel by mistake, discovering for the first time how ridiculously expansive the Skaven empire is.

In 3873 Baragor became the first Slayer King of Karak Kadrin. Unable to seek death like a proper Slayer due to his responsibility to his people, he dedicated the primary Shrine of Grimnir instead and made Karak Kadrin the center of Slayer culture. He took on the name Ungrim to reflect his duty as Slayer King.

In 4010 Karak Eight Peaks fell due to daily attacks from enemies. Poisoned gas drive the Dwarfs into a retreat from Peak to Peak until King Lunn ordered his people to seal the tombs of the Eight Peak ancestors using impenetrable runes and lead his people into a battle to make their way out and make an exodus away from their home, promising to return and cleans the depths.

In 4054 Karak Azgal was destroyed by Orcs, which were then destroyed by a Dragon. The survivors of the greenskins attacked Karak Drazh then renamed it Black Crag while the Night Goblins over the course of several years took the lands between the Mad Dog Pass and the Fire Mountains, leaving only Karak Azul in Dwarf hands. The massive amount of Dwarf refugees from fallen Holds across the mountains kept Karal Azul strong. Karak Izril is also destroyed.

In 4143 Orcs lead by Ugrok Beardburner attacked Karaz-a-Karak, destroying many Dwarf settlements and capturing High King Logan Proudbeard himself which broke his spirit. Gozarin Silverhorn lead the force that saved the High King and wiped out the Orcs near Black Water one year later.

In 4273 Dwarfs settle the Grey Mountains and begin trading with the tribals of the human race extensively for the first time.

In 4383 Clan Kamerad sent an expedition lead by their greatest warrior Daled Stormbreaker to reclaim the treasures of Karak Azgal. They are killed by the Dragon Graug The Terrible. In 4473 Karak Izor finally returned their steamrollers, in poor condition resulting in an ending of trade between the two.

===Kurgan Ironbeard===
Kurgan took over as High King for Proudbeard some time around 4500, and in 4508 was ambushed and captured by Orcs. [[Sigmar|Sigmar Unberogen]], head of the Unberogen tribe of humans, fought the Orcs in his crusade against their race for killing his father. This began the (tsundere) respect for humanity by the Dwarfs. Sigmar is gifted with [[Ghal Maraz]], a magic runed warhammer (which gives the setting its name and primary symbol) by Kurgan. Sigmar forms [[The Empire (Warhammer Fantasy)|the Empire]] (the German Holy Roman Empire of the setting). Orcs soon laid siege to the Holds resulting in Kurgan sending Alaric The Mad to request the aid of the humans in repelling them.

In 4511 at Thane Barin's wedding he insulted Thane Godrik's aunt Brodrika resulting in a Grudge.

In 4522 Kurgan and Sigmar lead a force of their people in the Battle Of Black Fire Pass, finishing off the massive Orc presence in the region. The Empire is rewarded when Alaric forges the Runefangs.

In 4780 Miners discover the Dragon Mordrak has nested at Karak Azul.

In 4902 Dwarfs discovered Athel Loren and the Wood Elves. It...didn't go well for the Dwarfs, as the Wood Elves are batshit insane xenophobes.

In 5113 Karak Vrag fell, greatly reducing the Dwarf power of the east in the [[Mountains Of Mourn]].

===Finn Scourscowl===
Scourscowl's date of ascendancy to the position of High King is as most others unrecorded.

In 5155 Dorin Heldour and Katalin Kandoom discover the lost Heartstone of Aldin Getgold in the Dragonback Mountains. In 5157 the pair explore the ruin of Karak Varn and discover then restore the fabled Axe Of Dail, gifting it to Scourscowl. In 5158 Heldour gave skinned hide of a Dragon named Fyrskar to Scourscowl in Karaz-a-Karak where it was enchanted with runes.

In 5180 Gromril is discovered west of Black Water by a Dwarf named Thori Gundrikson. Dwarfs spend several years mining almost all of the Gromril until Skaven destroy the mines.

In 5201 King Fodrin Axegirth insulted the King of Clan Kamerad by saying he is "petty minded", resulting in a break of communication that Axegirth insists he started.

In 5235 Heldour and Kandoom rescue Elmador and Oldor Finnson from Black Crag.

===Elmador Finnson===
Elmador's date of ascension is unknown, and is only stated in the story of his rescue.

In 5415 Kragg the Grimm finishes the first rune, the Rune of Stone, that is taught to apprentice Runesmiths under his tutor Morek Furrowbrow. Kragg became the longest-lived and among the greatest Runesmiths of all time.

In 5555 Skalf Dragonslayer killed Graug The Terrible and became king of Karak Azgal. Night Goblins soon invade and the residents of the Hold are forced out, creating a town in the valley below.

In 5591 a feud between the Grimbul and Drakki clan begins due to two Thanes arguing over a bellows that was borrowed by grandfather Drakki. Grimbul is nicknamed "Everlate".

In 5593 Skaven spread a plague in Clan Kamerad that kills their king. The Skaven are wiped out by 5594.

In 5634 the Black Plague is unleashed by the Skaven, causing Dwarfs to seal their Holds. Skaven attack most Holds and don't capture any, although casualties are terrible for all Dwarfs.

In 5943 the Dragon Skaladrak Incarnadine rampages around Karak Kadrin.

===Kendrak Gottrison===
As with all other High Kings the date of Kendrak's rise isn't recorded. In 6235 he led an attack on [[Gorbad Ironclaw]]'s army and destroyed it as he attempted to retreat back to the Badlands.

In 6503 Dwarf armies allied with the Empire and attempted to wipe out the Vampires of Sylvania, Dwarf cannons playing a major part of the fall of Templehof in the Battle of Hunger Wood against Countess Emmanuelle (no, not [[Emmanuelle von Liebwitz|THAT Countess Emmanuelle]]).

===Alrik Deathdealer===
Alrik took the throne sometime before 6728, when he was killed by the Goblin Warlord Gorkil Eyegouger in the Battle Of Black Falls when Alrik stabbed the Goblin fatally and Gorkil pulled him over the falls. Alrik's son Alriksson massacred the surviving Goblins.

In 6796 Chaos Warriors raid Dwarf lands, killing many.

Some time between the reign of Alrik and Alriksson, a young High Elf nobleman named Finubar toured the world. He met the humans of Bretonnia and was impressed with their culture, the humans of the Empire and was impressed with their development (most Elves were under the impression all humans were tribals that worshiped Chaos). He met the batshit insane Wood Elves and...gave up attempting to build a friendship quite quickly. Finally he met the Dwarfs, being the first non-Wood Elf to encounter them in many years. Finubar made a great deal of progress in repairing the bond between the two races, even going so far as to drink Dwarf ale and not offend them in doing so (likely because the Elf constitution would result in vomit rather than inebriation). When Finubar became Phoenix King he continued his work towards friendship with the Dwarfs and even allowed Dwarfs and humans the unprecedented offer to live in Ulthuan (specifically only in one city, Lothern, which was his birthplace and one of the most magnificent places in the world alongside Karaz-a-Karak).

===Balun Alriksson===
Ascending to the throne of the High King in 6728, Alriksson focused on the Great War Against Chaos in defense of Magnus The Pious of the Empire.

In 6814 Clan Grodrik and Clan Barin end their feud with the marriage of Smakki Brightaxe and Dunhilda The Fair. In the same year Skaven pirates destroy the fleets of mankind and plunder the coasts until The Battle Of Bloodwater Sound in the Black Gulf where Barak Varr Ironclads destroy them.

Alriksson lead a massive army from Karaz-a-Karak to [[Kislev]] in 6825 and finished the Great War Against Chaos. All of his sons perish in the war while he himself suffers wounds that never heal. As the Dwarf Kings had been unDwarfishly stingy with their soldiers and gold during the war Alriksson felt that the Dwarfs were nearing a complete breakdown in centralized order and called for a Council Of Kings, which hadn't happened since the time of Gottrison. He announced that each of the twelve candidates to succeed him would have one year to do great deeds for the Dwarfs with the greatest among them taking the throne, which echoed what kings in ancient myths underwent to take the throne of High King.
Two died in their journeys, and the greatest story of valor during the year was that of Ungrim Ironfist and his dead giant giant (as in "very fucking large giant"). But Alriksson's nephew Thorgrim who had vanished during he War, returned coincidentally during the ceremony having spent the years since his disappearance during the war invading Norsca itself, reforging ties of friendship with the Norse Dwarfs (the ambassadors of which were his traveling companions on the way home) as well as delving into lost Holds and returning sacred artifacts. Thorgrim announced it was only the beginning, that he would spend the rest of his life rebuilding the Dwarf empire and avenging all Grudges. He was made heir almost immediately, and Alriksson finally died of his hidden wounds not long after.

===Thorgrim Grudgebearer===
In 6827 Thorgrim took the position of High King from his uncle Alriksson and immediately set out to begin his '''Age Of Reckoning''' to avenge the Grudges of the Dwarfs and begin a new golden age like that of before the War Of Vengeance. He retook the Mad Dog Pass immediately.

In 6943 [[Grom the Paunch]] rampaged through the lands of the Dwarfs, defeating an army of Dwarfs at the Battle Of Irongate. He turned his attentions to the Empire afterwards. In the same year the Karaz-a-Karak Engineer's Guild Hall was destroyed by Burlok Damminson and Sven Hasselfriesian in a pressure vessel experiment.

In 6992 Clan Grimbul and Clan Drakki reconciled with the return of the bellows.

In 6996 [[Belegar Ironhammer]] managed to retake part of Karak Eight Peaks in the name of his ancestor King Lunn after initially setting forth to reclaim its treasures. Five years later he is granted reinforcements by other Holds after winning a battle called the Battle Of The Jaws. In The Battle Of The East Gate an army lead by Duregar fights through the Goblin-held Peaks and survives.

In 7003 Ungrim Ironfist defeats the warlord Gnashrak in The Battle Of Broken Leg Gulley.

In 7016 [[Storm Of Chaos]] begins. NOTE: this has an alternate ending below. Thorgrim orders the Dwarfs to unite and defend their Holds while Alrik Ranulfsson clears the Silver Road of Goblins after [[Grimgor Ironhide]] unites the Orcs and marches them to war elsewhere. Alrik reclaims Mount Gunbad and many treasures as well as settling many Grudges.

In 7026 Orcs lead by [[Gorfang Rotgut]] attack Karak Azul, imprisoning the family of King Kazador in Black Crag while his son Kazrik is shaven and left nailed to the throne.

In 7033 [[Ungrim Ironfist]] lead the armies of Karak Kadrin to defeat the Orcs united under a Warboss named Gnashrak Badtoof. [[Golgfag Maneater]] fights on the side of the Dwarfs in the beginning of the Battle Of Broken Leg Gully but switches sides when the greenskins offer more.

Some time after 7036 King Kazador manages to rescue his family and kill all Orcs responsible other than Gorfang himself.

In 7038 Ungrim captures Golgfag, then releasing him for the sport of hunting and killing him.

In 7042 greenskins attack Zhufbar in the Battle Of A Hundred Cannons. Both Thorgrim Grudgebearer and Ungrim Ironfist lead armies in its defense until the Ogres that had driven the greenskins towards the Dwarfs attack. The three armies unite with an Empire army from Nuln, resulting in the single greatest use of artillery in history.

In 7044 [[Mannfred von Carstein]] attacked the Dwarfs to capture the High Elf diplomat and princess of their race [[Everqueen|Aliathra]], who is greatly loved by the Dwarfs. [[Heinrich Kemmler]] drives a massive force of greenskins to attack the combined Dwarf and High Elf armies before he raises the corpses of the three armies and leads his own into the fray. Aliathra is kidnapped. One year later Thorgrim refuses the demands of nobility to blame the Elves and instead offers aid in rescuing the princess. He leads a massive force to rescue [[Tyrion]], secretly the father of Aliathra who had charged deep into Nagashizzar and retrieved the unconscious girl, but during the battle she is once again kidnapped. Tyrion blames the Dwarfs and demands they leave. Rather than attack them for the insult, Thorgrim leads his army to Karak Eight Peaks to retake the Hold instead.

For the rest of Thorgrim's reign (and the end of the world), see [[The End Times]].

===Other Continuities===
* In [[Storm of Chaos]] Garagrim Ironfist, Ungrim's son, died in battle when a Chaos Giant fell on him, according to his plan for fulfilling the Slayer Oath of the Slayer Kings without betraying the position of king. Ungrim immediately takes a new Slayer Oath for the loss of his son making the loss pointless.

* In [[Total War: WARHAMMER]] during the Dwarf campaign Thorgrim Grudgebearer, Belegar Ironhammer, Ungrim Ironfist and THE White Dwarf defeated all united Greenskin and Skaven Clans, and reclaimed every Hold and the rest of Dwarf territory including the Hold in the Chaos Wastes to the north of Kislev, reclaimed and purged the Underway of his foes, cleared the master Dammaz Kron of all Grudges, and destroyed the forces of Chaos and [[Vampire Counts]]. In most other campaigns the Dwarf race is either wiped out or achieves some measure of success towards those goals.

* [[Blood Bowl]] as an alternate universe began when, during a battle between Dwarfs and Goblins in the Underway, the two sides discovered an ancient chest of incomparable power. Dwarfs claimed the chest and put a scholar on translating the mysterious books and scrolls inside. He went mad, but managed to write out the rules for a game which both sides agreed to play. Its not recorded who won, but it began the craze of Blood Bowl (AKA American Gridiron Football) which in time replaced war in that particular Warhammer world to the degree that even Chaos set aside destroying reality in favor of the game as Khorne trains potential players for Chaos, Slaanesh funds stadiums, Tzeentch gambles on the game, and Nurgle...watches it.

* [[The Ziggurat of Doom]] is when five Dwarfs that are never mentioned anywhere else made a final stand against a swarm of Goblins. This seemingly unimportant event is worth mention because it is the very first Warhammer lore ever written, making Dwarfs officially the first race (Goblins don't count because FUCK OFF YE FUCKIN SNOTSHITS!).

==Technology and Magic==
===Runesmithing===
Dwarfs, as previously mentioned, cannot simply cast magic. Their bodies resist it, their presence weakens and disrupts it, and the mental energy of Dwarfs can outright negate it as if it isn't even present (this is very comparable to a [[Blank]] in [[Warhammer 40000]], although Blanks are described as being soulless and nightmarish on an emotional level to be around whereas Dwarfs simply force magic to sit still and shut the fuck up). While all Elves and certain members of other races can be born with the ability to see magic, and most individuals can feel it to some degree (usually as a feeling of unease or sense that something is different, like Athel Loren feeling primal and sentient), Dwarfs have absolutely no ability to sense magic in any form unless its literally lighting something up or it producing a physical effect. This is a benefit in that morale of Dwarf troops marching through an area simply grumble as they would anywhere else while the landscape would be causing humans to piss themselves in place and flee the moment they heard the wind blow.

Either as the invention of Valaya and Grungni or as a gift from the Old Ones, Dwarfs can smith the letters of their language in different ways into objects to produce magic. This magic is permanent or contains a set amount of charges, being completely transformed into something even safer than High Magic. These vary from the Rune Of Stone, a very basic Rune that is first taught to apprentices in the craft and only requires them to carve it right (which in human terms means perfect) to complex runes requiring a far more complex process. For example: on the last day of the third full moon of the year at midnight at the heart of a mountain the furnace is heated, the ore hammered before dawn and folded seven times while each time singing a song of forging, dipped in dragon blood and cooled in quicksilver from Karak Ungol while praising the ancestor god Haki, tempered in the water of Varn, sharpened with dragon horn. Then on the third moon of winter the Rune is carved on the finished surface, daubed with troll blood that was killed on Grungni's Day, the hilt then bound in dragon hide with the horns on the inside, hafted with gold from Azgal and bound with metal from Azul, given a pommel made from an Orc's fang covered in Grimnir's runes, blessed with ale on an altar of Valaya, and finished by killing a Troll at midnight which finishes the magic and activates the rune.
All runes trap small amounts of magic, making a Dwarf letter to a friend technically infused with magic that races capable of seeing it can discern information beyond the text from. But magic runes trap a large amount of magic, forcing it to behave a specific way without any of its unpredictable or Chaos effects that an unlucky wizard can cause.

Runesmiths are what the Dwarfs who practice runelore are called, their craft handed down from the gods themselves. While not technically the priesthood, they are closely tied to the faiths and the shrines. Absolute perfection is required in their craft as all other aspects of Dwarf society rely on runes, from the simple miners requiring runes allowing them to break through harder rock on a timetable to the machinists who use the runes to give their creations extra security in continuing to function to kings who's runed crowns protect them from assassins.

There are rules to how many and what kind of runes may be placed on an object. Technically this was providing a lore explanation for the crunch rules for runes, back when Games Workshop Army Book designers gave a fuck.

* The Rule Of Three: No object may have more than three runes, as things from the material plane cannot take that much magic.
* The Rule Of Form: Runes are specific to the type of object. Runes for machines cannot be placed on armor, weapons on the mundane. How exactly the rune figures out the difference between a pickaxe used as a weapon and one used for work isn't clear...this may simply be a rule of Runesmithing and not how runes work.
* The Rule Of Pride: Duplicate choices of runes cannot be used in the same army. A Thane may have a Rune Of Stone for example, but then literally no other Dwarf may have a Rune Of Stone. The Thane can have a Rune Of Stone and a Rune Of Protection, allowing any other Dwarf to have a Rune Of Stone OR a Rune Of Protection but not both. This is almost certainly a rule for mechanics, with the lore explanation being that Runesmiths dislike repeating themselves or copying the work of others beyond their apprenticeships (note that since every single rune option is preexisting on top of the basic Dwarf idea of older being better and new being shit, there is a lore contradiction here).
* Jealous Runes: Master runes cannot be used more than once per army, and no more than one master rune can be on any object. They also cannot be combined together and refuse to work if there's more than one on the same battlefield. How this works for two opposing armies is unstated.

Note that unless otherwise stated, runes can be used more than once on the same object to amplify their effect.

Of course this doesn't mean every rune and symbol on an object is a magic rune carved by a Runesmith. Some runes are just good luck symbols, slogans, and decorations (but since all runes are magic, that doesn't necessarily mean that there's no effect at all...).

===Engineering===
By themselves, the Elves invented complex seafaring. Humans invented bronze age technology, seen in the [[Tomb Kings]]. Ogres invented the basics of carts and wheels as well as animal husbandry. Orcs... well, they exist and usually figure out which end of sharp things to stick in other things.

But virtually every piece of true technology in the setting comes from Dwarfs. Elves received their crossbows and Bolt Throwers and mankind the secrets of gunpowder, gears, and steam from the Dawi.

Of course, the Dwarfs keep the best tech for themselves, like Gyrocopters and other fun toys. The basics were gifts to protect their allies from the forces of Chaos, things that Dwarfs have long since surpassed that would not be effective if turned against them.

Dwarfs mistrust anything new; something in their eyes must be a blueprint for multiple generations before a prototype is considered, so anything special only ever gets made in times of desperation by young and human-like (or completely fucking insane) Dwarf Engineers. As it is only the desperation after the Time Of Woes has seen such new devices given the 'okay' stamp, and even then only by more liberal "if it works, do it" and "if it kills Grobi and Urk, put some Slayers on it" leaders like Thorgrim and Ungrim.

Revolutionary devices include gigantic zeppelins carrying bombs, cannons, machine guns on a 360 degree swivel, and rockets which can ram other things called [[Thunderbarge|Thunderbarges]]. Even better, in [[Dreadfleet]] the Dwarfs have a gigantic aircraft carrier/submarine that launched Thunderbarges. [[Goblin-hewer]]s are tank-like machines that throw volleys of axes, and [[Deathroller|Deathrollers]] are the unholy combination of motorcycle and steamroller.

Needless to say, this technological conservatism is perhaps the biggest weakness of the dwarfin army; though their head start over races in the technological field gave them a huge edge, with each generation gone past, technological advancement (at least amongst elves, humans and skaven) closes that gap due to the slow, near-stagnant pace that dwarfs continue to innovate and expand upon what they have. Just how much of an issue this actually is varies depending on the edition book. It's also one of the things that marks the [[Skaven]] out as their most hated antithesis; because Skaven embrace innovation and don't give so much of a whisker's twitch for the cost in lives of progress, they are erratically but rapidly catching up to or even surpassing dwarf work, at least in theoretical terms.

No, seriously. Skaven work is shoddily made and won't last for shit, not like dwarf work. But dwarfs have reliable steam power (and, it's implied, alcohol-burning/diesel engines) they do very little with - even the Empire makes use of [[Steam Tank]]s, very-well-designed rifled flintlocks, cannons, gyrocopters, and at least the basic principles of clockpunk bionic limbs. Skaven have mastered electricity, cartridge-based gun technology, regularly use bionics on a wide scale, make use of an (admittedly unpredictable) ''giant laser cannon'' on the battlefield, and commonly wield things like flamethrowers and gatling guns. That said in modern times occasionally an engineer will take some example of non dwarfish workmanship "for scrap" or "to show the beardlings how not to do it", quietly take notes behind a locked door and produce a TOTALLY ORIGINAL MACHINE similar to those that the Manlings/Ratguys OBVIOUSLY STOLE FROM US!

Dwarfs believe anything worth doing is worth doing right, and so that it lasts as long as possible. Dwarfs of Holds don't write often on paper, as that is the way of Humans and Elves. They inscribe on stone, or better, metal. The most important texts such as Grudges, lineage, contracts, and words of their faith are inscribed on gold (though all depictions of a Book of Grudges in art and models have paper pages). Which aside from being valuable does not rust or tarnish (which is why in real life we use gold for the records and plaques on the Voyager and Pioneer space craft).

===Smithing===
Of course science and 100% reliable magic aren't the only Dwarf advantages, they still have the standard "better than anyone" smithing.

The most important resource to Dwarfs, beyond even ale, is the magical metal '''[[Gromril]]'''. Gromril is meteoric iron AKA "Starmetal". The typical fantasy trope is that meteoric iron is rare and magical, but in real life it was mundane; today we use telluric iron which is common and occurs naturally on Earth, but in the Bronze Age and earlier, before advanced techniques of mining and smelting, meteoric iron was a rare alternative and indeed was one of the hardest materials for weapons available at the time. Today it is a curiosity only, and a gimmick for mid-price jewelry.
That being said, Warhammer Gromril is different from real life meteoric iron in that Gromril originates in the Warp, crashing down in comets in the time of the Old Ones and even somewhat rarely in the modern day. The more ancient veins of Gromril are found deep below the planet surface and are relatively safe to mine if discovered, while recent fallen Gromril is found in dangerous places due to [[Warpstone]] always accompanying its fall. Of course any time a Skaven spy hears a Dwarf say Gromril, they hear Warpstone and they plan the ruin of yet another Hold.

Gromril is extremely important to Dwarfs and is almost never given to non-Dwarfs. Their most valuable currency is made from it due to its value far surpassing gold, and Gromril is a major component of major Runesmithing. It has little value to any other race other than as a trade good as nobody else can smith using it.

Gromril can be worked into three forms:
* Refined Gromril: Also called Mithril. Used for common items like coins and cheaper armor.
* Adamant: Only the Master Smiths know how to make this, and it is far superior metal for important items.
* Laihtero: Crystaline Gromril, mythical with properties largely unknown. It was able to contain [[Chaos Gods Of Law|a Chaos God]] in a sarcophagus.

Many people paint Gromril as bronze, but it is in fact silvery (hence why Eavy Metal paintjobs cover the more important Dwarfs like Hammerers in it).The oldest of Dwarf objects are made of precious metals, while the newest are made of increasingly large amounts of the Elgi material. Dwarfs dislike wood and generally avoid using it when possible, but when they do, they favor wutroth, also called ironbark or stonetrunk. It is a very rare mountain tree, whose forest were all but destroyed during the Time of Woes, that produces extremely hard wood (its nuts were used as sling bullets by dwarfs in ancient times).

==Grudges==
[[File:Warhammer_Age_of_Reckoning_art.jpg|400px|thumb|right|TIME TO DO SOME AVENGEANCE!!!]]
The Warhammer Dwarfs' main distinguishing feature is the extreme fervor with which they pursue Oaths and Grudges. A Dwarf that breaks an Oath or does something otherwise shameful -- ''any'' Oath or offense they feel is unforgivable -- takes an Oath, gets his hair cut into a mohawk, and becomes a Slayer who seeks mighty monsters to kill until he finds one that manages to kill him, or else seeks Dwarfs in conflict to aid and hopefully die in battle.

Meanwhile, any Grudge that a Dwarf experiences is written in a [[Book of Grudges]] with one for every settlement and some even for individual Dwarfs or clans, and each entry ''will'' be answered for. Every 50 years the Dwarfs send representatives to Karaz-a-Karak on a holiday called "The Grudgement" where all Grudges that have been suffered and all Grudges that have been avenged are told to the rest of the assembled ambassadors which are then recorded in the master copy of the Dammaz Kron that is owned by the High King. The Great Book of Grudges is magical and no matter how many or few entries there are, it looks the same size (explaining why they can make a model of it) so only the High King is aware of how many there are yet unavenged and it is a large part of his responsibility to note which have been avenged while pursuing the others. Oh, and he's gotta record the new Grudges in his blood. So yeah, try not to get too pissed off because you're basically causing stigmata to the king.

Dwarfs don't necessarily need to kill to avenge a Grudge. Gold can be used if the Dwarf most in charge of the Grudge is willing to accept it. For example, at the start of the War Of Vengeance the Dwarfs were unaware of the concept of a civil war and thus assumed that when Elves dressed as High Elves attacked their caravans the Holds affected declared Grudges and demanded Elf blood be spilled. The High King at the time called for calm and sent a representative to ask the High Elves what happened, although the Phoenix King at the time had no respect at all for non-Elves and refused to meet with a "lesser race". So the demand was changed from explanation to gold, equal to what was lost. That earned the diplomat being shaved thus ruining his life as he had to take the Slayer Oath, and at this point the High King finally demanded blood. He earned it as well as gold when he beheaded the Phoenix King and took the Phoenix Crown, for which he struck the Grudge out of the Dammaz Kron.

Revenge is literally seen as a holy mandate in dwarven culture. One comic has a pair of dwarf thanes decide to settle a long-running inter-clan grudge through a ritual that entails tying their beards together and letting them bash each other with axes; as they fight, each cites older and older grievances against the other until they realize that they've actually forgotten how this whole fight started in the first place. When they declare that this makes the whole grudge thing pointless and stupid, and they decide to call it quits, a statue suddenly falls on them - and because they can't decide which way to run, they get squashed by the stone. Their followers promptly decide this is an omen from the gods and continue the fight until they mutually exterminate each other.

More so than their glacial technological advancement or social conservatism, this obsession with revenge is generally portrayed as the dwarfs' biggest failing, and one of the main reasons that they are going extinct; they constantly fight battles they don't need to fight, as well as getting members of their race killed for the sake of avenging dead dwarves (who were often killed avenging ''their'' predecessors). This constant cycle of endless war is slowly grinding them into nothing, because dwarves simply cannot breed quickly enough to even hope to replenish their losses, thanks to the lethal dearth of fertile females in their ranks.

==Sex And Development==
Dwarfs have very few females; lore from older editions states that one in every ten Dwarfs is female with late lore saying one in three, and political marriages are of far more importance than any emotional attachments. In early times, before Warhammer had much of an established setting (pre-3e), Citadel produced a few pre-slotta (as in "the base is part of the model) female Dwarf villagers and adventurers, although after that point only male Dwarfs saw any releases. The clan of a Dwarf bride recieves the bride's weight in gold upon marriage, but in order to marry her the groom must be able to wrap his beard around her waist twice creating a dynamic where plump women as relatives are good, skinny woman as desired brides good, and in reverse is considered unappealing and undesirable. Female Dwarfs braid their hair into plaits, which are their equivalent to a Dwarf man's beard. Females are rarely found in positions of power, with only the [[Queen Helgar Longplaits]] described in [[The Grudge Of Drong]] confirmed, with her entire rulership being plagued with accusations of illegitimacy due to sex. Women rarely, but more often do, end up as a king's advisor. The 6e Army Book also mentions a female Dwarf as a barmaid serving drinks to male workers and warriors and in Total Warhammer you can find "Dwarf Bride" and the superior "Daughter Of Valaya" companions to Characters.

Dwarfs have a coming of age ceremony marking the transition from childhood into adulthood, which we know absolutely nothing about because its one of the most well-guarded secrets of Dwarfs.

When a Dwarf's beard (or plaits) grow so long that they reach the ground, their settlement erupts in celebration over it. This makes them eligible to become a Longbeard (unknown if females have this as an option) although it is not a mandatory task as a narrator in a Dwarf Army Book mentions that he's old enough to join the Longbeards but remains with the Hammerers by his own choice.

==Politics==
* '''Dawi''': Inter-Dwarf relations are the basis of comparison by which you can see Dwarfs at their best. If they don't hate one of your ancestors they are literally the single best allies you can have as they demonstrate a self-destructive degree of Oath fulfillment. But the other side of the same coin is single-minded pursuit of Oaths made unwisely, and of Grudges for even minor infractions. While some leaders such as Thorgrim and Gotrek Starbreaker are more willing to listen to reason or use alternative methods to consider an Oath fulfilled and Grudge settled, other such as the Ungrims and Alrik Ranulfsson are more intent on purging as many Grudges as soon as possible making war inevitable and bloody. In the White Dwarf Warhammer comics, two Dwarf holds that have warred for centuries are all but depleted, with a full-scale WAAAGH of Night Goblins at their doors which, if they break through, threatens extinction for the entirety of both Clans. Unwilling to abandon the Grudge war even then, the armies suit the last of their non-combatants, including the last three women of one of the clans, in armor and charge into a last battle. When in a personal challenge the patriarchs of both clans argued with each blow about who's clan slighted who and realized neither had recorded the original Grudge; only those caused by it. Both clans set to make peace, but at the banquet of celebration Grimnir caused his statue to crush both patriarchs for the dishonor of not avenging Grudges regardless of whether or not they are remembered or even happened at all, resulting in both clans wiping each other completely out and the Goblins claiming two holds without effort. It should be noted however that the sin was in forgiveness, an abhorrent thing in Grudgelore when instead they could have both made some mutual sacrifice such as a gift to another Hold; a Grudge must be settled, though gold or Gromril is a substitute for blood. Dwarf politics are also marred by arrogance; even though all things must be recorded, not everything must be in living memory. Runes created with the Elves for example are known by most Runesmiths, but not the origin of the rune beyond the name of the Dwarf creator. This unwillingness to admit to things that make the race look lesser is a major frustration for man and Elves, not to mention each other.
* '''Dum''': Chaos is abhorrent and, with one exception below that all other Dwarfs pretend doesn't exist, has never been anything but an enemy. The concepts Dwarfs hold dear are alien to it, and the threat it poses to the world is clear, so fuck Chaos.
** '''Gor''': Dwarfs hate Beastmen. A bunch of dumb animals that somehow gained sentience only to do stupid shit, and since they’re tainted by Chaos you can’t even eat them. It is said that before [[The War of the Beard (The War of Vengeance)|war of grudge]] Malekith and Snorri once hunted an entire army of beastmen together, an event that ended with Malekith slaughtering them all. There has never been a recorded circumstance of the two working together, and they are completely inferior to Dwarfs in every way. It is also known that the Dwarf has a special name for Morghur the Shadowgave called "Cor-Dum".
** '''Dawi'zharr''': There are some Dwarfs who have turned to [[Chaos]] and created a separate civilization, creatively called the [[Chaos Dwarfs]], who were formed when they dug too far out into Chaos-infested wastelands. They sell weaponry to those [[Warriors of Chaos|Chaos worshiping Vikings north of them]] and are basically insane Babylonians. Chaos Dwarfs have wizards and brute-force magic through their bodies, which slowly turns them to stone and radically alters their appearance. Other Dwarfs have no love for Chaos Dwarf, not even as things to hate. Dawi like to have a good grumble about the Urks or the Grobi whenever they are brought up. In contrast their official stance to pretend they don't exist (and, if presented with any live specimens, to confirm their nonexistence with axes); in [[Gotrek & Felix]], Dwarfs engage in the time-honored tradition of verbally bashing Elves, and the claim is made that the actions of the Druchii reflect all Elves. When Felix brings up Chaos Dwarfs, the Dwarfs simply glare at him with such ferocity he feels as much fear of his friends as he does Vampires and Daemons elsewhere in their adventures. A similar incident occurred, but with Teclis instead of Felix pointing out the Chaos Dwarfs. Only Teclis' restraint and the fact that Gotrek owed Teclis a life-debt prevented bloodshed. Chaos Dwarfs have strayed from the light of Valaya, Grungni, and Grimnir and are inferior for it.
** '''Daemons''': Dwarfs hate Daemons;. There has never been a recorded instance of the two working together (with the exception of the Chaos Dwarfs), and during the first Chaos invasion of the world, Grimnir ascended to godhood by establishing a one-man hold in the Warp to oppose them making them possibly the worst enemies of the Dwarfs. They are inferior to Dwarfs, regardless of what Chaos cultists say.
** '''Dumal''': The Warriors Of Chaos are a reminder that Umgi are not fully trustworthy (don't bring up Chaos Dwarfs). Evil to the core, to be destroyed whenever encountered. Inferior to even the Elgi.
*** '''The Norscan Tribes''' Chaos worshiping barbarians. It was known that there was contact between the human tribes and the Dwarfs long ago in the far north. While only able to use shitty stone/wood weapons/tools, both side had good relations, trading goods and technology to each other until Chaos showed up and corrupted the Norseman. Some Norsemen who wanted to avoid chaos went on an exodus to the (much safer) southern region while the remaining started to sacrifice any living beings they captured to their dark gods, a practice that they continue to this day. The Norse Dwarfs noticed this and broke any contacts and treaties with them, and set up safe routes, defenses and traps to avoid further contact with those barbarians. Sadly, the Norse Dwarfs were eventually overrun and nearly exterminated by the Norseman despite their best efforts. Most of the metal tools/weapons that were carried by the Norseman today are either forged by themselves with the smithing techniques taught by the Norse Dwarfs long ago, remnants of the times before Chaos, or made by the [[Chaos Dwarfs]], their current trade partners. Inferior to even the Elgi and must kill on sight whenever possible.
** '''[[Fimir]]''': Dwarfs have almost no relationship with Fimir other than Norse Dwarfs, who are neutral to them. Most assume they are some variant of Troll and attack them on sight, but due to a lack of any history between the two actual non-violent interaction can go any direction.
* '''Umgi''': Humans are too short-lived to accomplish much or become proficient in anything, straddle the fence between proper Dawi ways and Elgi nonsense, and aren't completely trustworthy. On the other hand, they’re still the closest race to Dwarfs, and they do try to be better than their nature allows, bless their shoddily-made hearts.
** '''Bretonnia''': Dwarfs are respectful of Bretonnians, although their Elvish influence and use of horses are things Dwarfs mistrust greatly and hold against them ("Proper Dawi only trust a pony"). Regardless, Dwarfs see Bretonnians as among the best of mankind due to their rigid gender roles, adherence to tradition, codes of conduct, martial strength, and mistrust of magic. Altogether, still inferior to Dwarfs.
** '''Empire''': Dwarfs have a slightly better relationship with the Empire, as they have age-old oaths of friendship due to the efforts of [[Sigmar]]. They still consider humans inferior, but unlike the Bretonnians, have deigned to share some of their secrets of smithing, stonecraft and gunpowder with the Germanic part of humanity. Inferior to Dwarfs, but they’re seen more as victims of their own nature than universally evil. Some Dwarfs live in the Empire, much to the chagrin of the more traditionally-minded.
* '''Elgi''': Dwarfs and Elves used to be friends. After The Great Betrayal Dwarfs learned from the Elves that other races are not consistently trustworthy. They blame the Time Of Woes mostly on Elves despite it mostly being the result of earthquakes, Lizardmen who caused those earthquakes, greenskins, Skaven. The Grudge against the Elves was fulfilled with the killing of Caledor II and the taking of the Phoenix Crown, but many minor Grudges remain and Dwarfs are far too happy to record "Elf" on a Grudge instead of "Wood Elf" or "Dark Elf". While the Dwarf word for Elf isn't an insult like the Dwarf word for human ("Umgak"=human made=poorly made), Elves are a byword for fickleness, subtlety, manipulation and treachery among Dwarfs (actually, I'm pretty sure that in one of the old army books it showed that the word 'Elgak' meant something on the verge of collapse, so go figure). Of course they are inferior to Dwarfs, and maybe even to Sigmar's Empire.
** '''High Elves''': Dwarfs have no special name for High Elves, representing how the sins of any other group reflect them as well (don't bring up Chaos Dwarfs). But unlike the others, Dwarfs can still ally with them even if it is with a watchful eye.
** '''Elgi'drazh''': Dwarfs HATE Dark Elves. While all Elves are part of the Great Betrayal, Malekith's dishonor to Snorri Whitebeard is unforgivable and the Dark Elves played the Dwarfs for fools. They are inferior even to other Elves. FUCK THOSE MOTHERFUCKERS.
** '''Wutelgi''': Not an open enemy like Chaos and greenskins, but close. Always openly hostile, and attack without warning or discernible motive. Sometimes randomly helpful, cleaning poisoned wells before Dwarfs drink from them and wiping out Skaven marching on Holds. Insane, unpredictable lunatics.
* '''Uzkular''': Undeath is an unnatural state, and nothing good can come of it ("GO FOOK YER AUNTIE, ANCESTOR GHOSTS DINNAE COUNT!"). Dwarfs don't seek out confrontation with the Undead for its own sake, but the Dammaz Kron has enough pages that conflict is very common.
** '''Zangunaz''': Dwarfs hate Vampires. The only contact between the two has been hostile and always began with the Vampires as the aggressor. Dwarf/Vampire history began when Neferata suddenly appeared and wiped out a Hold then reanimated all the Dwarfs as her slaves, a state they remain in. It hasn't gotten better since then, another notable example is the vampire lord Walach Harkon killing one of the Dwarf High Kings in a duel during the war against Konrad von Carstein. Only one Vampire, Ulrika, has been recorded with any friendly interaction between them and she was later killed in self-defense after failing to control her bloodlust ( [[Genevieve Sandrine du Pointe du Lac Dieudonné|Really? Just one?]]). Vampires also threaten the humans of the Empire and Bretonnia. Inferior to Dwarfs because they cannot into engineering.
** '''Uzkuli'gorl''': Dwarfs are not fond of the Tomb Kings. In life they were a primitive and divided people as likely to trade as hunt Dwarfs for sport, and in death they are much more likely to undertake the latter. Unfortunately some Dwarfs saw the long-dead humans buried in massive tombs full of gold as an opportunity for profit, feeling that a dead human deserves none of the reverence of a dead Dawi. Now, many bony Nehekharans seek to reclaim their lost gold, causing many Grudges as some Dwarfs are unaware that their heirlooms and sacred treasures are stolen property and are attacked, slaughtered, then taken as undead slaves or trophies. That being said, some (like [[Queen Khalida]]) and King Behedesh can find common goals with Dwarfs (like killing those fucking Vampires or greenskins). Still an inferior, albeit stylish, bronze age race.
* '''Lizardmen''': Gold-hoarding beasts and probably slaves of Chaos (as far as Dwarfs are concerned). Slaughtered many Dwarf expeditions to Lustria. If the Dwarfs knew they caused the Time Of Woe, they would stop at nothing to destroy them (except the Skaven were partly responsible for it as well, but Skaven are already right next to Greenskins in the Dawi's book). But as it is Dwarfs know very little of them and most of what they've done to the race remain unrecorded as no survivors returned to tell the Grudge.
* '''Greenskins''': Literally worse than Chaos. If it came between killing all four Chaos Gods or killing a quarter of the greenskins in the world, most Dawi would pick the greenskins. Being one of the species that can use the underway, meaning they are encountered all lot of times and those encounters often resolves in violence and beard shaving. The Grudges they caused are so numerous that it was decreed only genocide would strike them all out of the Dammaz Kron.
** '''Grobi''': Goblins. Worst of the worst. Thieving shits that infest valuable caves.
** '''Urks''': Orcs. Also the worst of the worst. Big stupid idiots that do nothing but ruin what better races (IE basically everything not an Urk, or Thaggoraki, or anything race that a Dawi hates) built.
** '''Gronti''': Giants. Fuck Giants, they're Grobi pawns and love to steal Dwarf beer.
* '''Ogri''': Ogres. Big dumb oafs, inferior in every way. Close to enemies of the Dwarfs because they usually are, but the rare odd Maneater can be trusted and sometimes even blends into Dwarf culture. Strange is the Ogre that suddenly decides its a Slayer, but is it worth losing the sight of him wrasslin' a Dragon by explaining it to him?
* '''Grombolgi''': [[Halflings (Warhammer)|Halflings ]]. Little lore mentioned the relationship between the Halflings and Dawrfs. The Dwarfs' records had such a line: “beardless Manlings we first thought to be children” to describe the Halflings when they first saw them traveling with a human tribe across the world's edge mountains. It is unknown if the Dwarfs treats Halflings with the same respect as they did to the Manlings since they were tiny (probably shorter than the Dwarfs) and combine their thievery way, they are similar to Grobi, their hated foe. To the Imperial Dwarfs living in urban Manling cities like Altdorf, Halfling is a common sight and the Dwarfs just can't stand them. They always walking in big group, smiling, talking and just so annoying that the Dawi would drive out any Halfing that walked into their shop, with a broom.
* '''Thaggoraki''': Skaven. The other worst of the worst, stole all their technology from Dwarfs (not true, but they certainly do steal quite a bit) and to be killed on sight. Still, most Dwarves would choose Greenskins over the smelly rats due to having some major Grudges (the Dwarf equivalent of the "between a rock and hard place" saying is "Do you kill the squig or the rat wolf first?"). One of the other species capable of using underway except there are A LOT OF THEM, meaning there's gonna be a lot of dead miners, rat shit and a HELL LOT of grudges. Responsible for the Time Of Woe when their tried to expand Skavenblight with some kind of foul device, but was unknowingly combined with the Slann's effort for reshaping the continent to the old one's vision and ruined the poor Dawi's living room. The Dwarfs don’t know this, but the Skaven are worst of the worst anyway.

==Khazalid==
The language of the Dwarfs. Actually the single most elaborated on language in Warhammer (very extensively) despite the lore saying little is known of it due to Dwarfs (usually, looking at you here [[Vermintide|Bardin]]) not speaking it outside their own kind. Even beyond that, the language of the Dwarfs is highly complicated and relies more on background knowledge than literal translation; as such, a literal translation of a Dwarf's name may be "Alebelly Cragfist" as given to humans, with the name Gorogbolg Karazdrung translating to a Dwarf into ''"Highly respectable and Noble Dawi of considerable craft, wealth and means, whose clan elder once hammered through rock with his bare fists to save his clan from drowning, whilst simultaneously discovering a new, rich seam of gold."'' It's lexicon is a bit punny.

Khazalid is written in runes, which as previously mentioned are magic and can be made even more magical by Runesmiths.

==Religion==
Dwarfs worship a trinity of gods. Valaya, Grungni, and Grimnir. They are referred to as the Ancestor-Gods, as they are believed to be the deities who created the dwarfs and taught them all they needed to know. They're fairly vanilla in concept, really.
Ancestor gods also include the demigod children of the trinity, and any Dwarf of considerable enough importance to revere is added to the pantheon.

Old lore stated that after death all souls are consumed by Chaos or remain as hateful ghosts on the material plane other than a handful that benevolent gods save as their favored servants. Dwarfs believed ancestors reside in the stone of the earth. End Times retconned the former and seemingly supports the latter as in the final battle Nagash resurrected every Empire soldier who has died to march against Chaos, while the Dwarf race assembled in one gigantic army and were joined by the spirits of every Dwarf that ever lived in the final battle (absent were Gotrek, who took the mantle of Grimnir from the real Grimnir, and Valaya who the writers forgot existed after End Times: Nagash). As such it seems like Dwarfs were right, their souls live on in the ground.

* '''Grungni'''
Your generic patriarch-god; a stern, all-knowing, wise all-father, responsible for teaching dwarfs everything about runes, crafting, mining, smithing, building, whatever. His primary portfolio is mining and stoneworking, although crafting in general is also attributed to him. Basically making anything is a prayer to him, so you make it to the best of your ability.

* '''[[Valaya]]'''
Again a fairly bogstandard matriarch-goddess; a protector, healer and nurturer. Technically tied to the domains of all other Ancestor Gods because she created most Dwarf culture, booze, written language, and established the first Holds, but is subordinate to the male gods for [[-4 Strength|some reason]]. Kingly authority originates with Valaya, strangely making her closer comparatively to Zeus than Hera. Her priests and priestesses (mostly examples of the latter exists in canon) are advisors to kings and nobility as well as healers

* '''Grimnir'''
The dwarf god of war and honor, founder/inspiration (depends on your interpretation) of the [[Slayer]] cult. Attempted to close the northern Warp Gate by himself, somehow wound up in the Warp itself where he's fought a one-Dwarf war against the entirety of Chaos (probably alongside [[Kaldor Draigo]] and [[Oxyotl]]). He’s got the least organized religious representation as far as priesthood goes, but we have more references to shrines of him than the others. Mostly because its WARhammer obviously.

* '''[[Gazul]]'''
The Dwarf god of Death. Lived in the time of the trinity, and created the written version of their names as well as the concept of venerating your ancestors. His faith includes the '''Order Of Guardians''', the Dwarf equivalent of Witch Hunters. Every Hold and most settlements, any place that has a place to honorably bury dead Dwarfs in fact, has a shrine or temple to him. We also have references to them Witch Hunter’ing abroad, including a priestess who puts down undead in Imperial Dwarf hangouts.

* '''[[Morgrim]]'''
God of Engineering. Oldest child of Valaya with Grimnir, personally invented Bolt Throwers and Dwarf Catapults/Stone Throwers (which later became Grudge Throwers). Was Grimnir's companion on the way to close the Warp Gate, but Grimnir forced him to turn back and return home. All Engineers are basically priests of Morgrim, since his teachings are a code of conduct for the craft. Liberal Engineers are considered heretics (but not the kind you shoot, just the kind you shout at) by conservative Dwarfs for their loose interpretations of scripture and in turn conservative engineers are considered grumpy old assholes by the radicals. Interestingly the only example we have of a Dwarf who SHOULD have become a Slayer but refused and accepted exile instead was a radical Engineer.

* '''[[Smednir]]'''
God of smelting and metalworking. Oldest son of Grungni and Valaya. Smednir created the tools that Thungni and Grungni inscribed their rune magic on, and among the greatest creations of the trio of laborers is [[Ghal Maraz]] itself. Smednir's shrines and temples are basically just extensions of those of Grungni's, since the two are inseparable in theme.

* '''[[Thungni]]'''
God of Runesmithing. Youngest son of Grungni and Valaya. During the settling of the first Holds he descended into a mystical realm called "Ankor Byrn (Glittering Realm)" where he discovered the ability to forge his mother's language with magic to create runes, although it was his father who later turned the discovery into a science and art. Only descendants of Grungni like himself were capable of learning Runesmithing. All Runesmiths are basically priests of Thungni, like Morgrim's Engineers. Unlike all the other gods who are friendly with the faiths of the allies of the Dwarf race and enemies of those who are Dwarf enemies, Thungni's cult has an additional enemy; non-Dwarfs who try to learn or succeed at making rune magic. This includes human wizards. Interestingly this taboo didn’t exist for the Elves, who in the days of kinship worked with the Dwarfs to enhance High Magic and Runesmithing together.

==Characters==

Thanks to [[The End Times]], every character below with the exception of Grombrindal and Gotrek Gurnisson is dead. In this case, "living" refers to "alive and playable in the Warhammer Fantasy setting".

===Living===
* [[Thorgrim Grudgebearer|High King Thorgrim Grudgebearer]]
High King, current leader of the Dwarf race. Both more liberal than past High Kings and more conservative than any of the modern ones; Thorgrim seeks to aggressively expand back into long-lost territory, and upon taking the throne declared it to be the "Age Of Reckoning" that marks the beginning of the climb back to a new golden age starting when Dwarfs avenge all Grudges. This has lead Dwarfs to see him the same way they see the kings of old. But Thorgrim is also aware of the current nature of the world, of how the backstabbing Elves are necessary allies even if you can't turn your back on them, of how the humans are not only a means of keeping Chaos in the north but also the most reliable ally the Dwarfs want, and how every threat from Skaven to Vampire must be tackled at once or the others will gain ground. How Grudges should not always be settled with blood when gold or Oath is available.
* [[Ungrim Ironfist|Slayer King Ungrim Ironfist]]
Current Slayer King of Karak Kadrin. Like his ancestors he is bound both to seek death in battle and remain as king of his Karak, which has since become a hub for Slayers. Ungrim, unlike his predecessors, is more Slayer than King and has aggressively fought against any foe he could from charging an army straight into the army of [[Queek Headtaker]] as he attempted to conquer Karak Eight Peaks to killing a dragon in single combat to killing what can only be described as a "giant giant" to pursuing a game of cat and mouse againse Golgfag Maneater. He wants to find his death as soon as possible to free his son from the burdern of the Slayer Kings.
* [[Thorek Ironbrow]]
The current greatest Runesmith alive. His homeland is Karak Azgal, and he obviously controls their Anvil Of Doom. Known as a massive curmudgeon even among Dwarfs who will demote anyone he sees as unfit to carry on his art straight down to Miner. Thorek leads the Weaponsmiths of the greatest Weaponsmith Hold, and encourages trade and expedition to recover ancient Dwarf artifacts. His study of the old, forgotten ways of Runesmithing along with his own creativity and experimentation have created wonders unprecedented and the rediscovery of old ways. His own hammer, Klad Brakak, bears a Rune he invented and has been testing for a century that destroys the armor of whatever he strikes. Of course every design is based on existing works, as he (allegedly) has said anything good enough for the Dwarfs of Starbreaker's day is good enough for him.
Every Anvil Of Power was inscribed with a special Rune called the Rune Of Doom that summons what appears to be a ghostly army of ancestor Dwarfs but in fact is the visual manifestation of the Dwarfy emotions of bravery, loyalty, grim determination, and most importantly deep hatred that increases the morale of the Dawi and frightens their enemies. Thorek is the only Runesmith alive still capable of using his, and does so with complete mastery any time it is needed rather then as the last-ditch risky move that were used in the later days of the living knowledge of the Anvils. That being said, if he ever fails to use it perfectly the Anvil will be destroyed and a massive backlash will injure or kill him and his team.

In theory, Thorek should be the ultimate Runesmith but his assistant Kraggi isn't as up to the task as he is. Kraggi is quite skilled for a Runesmith, but still an apprentice by Thorek's standards despite being a prodigy (Klad Brakak is about as old as Kraggi's career) and has been known to make mistakes (which Thorek NEVER does). Kraggi speeds up Thorek's work but screws up in that haste from time to time on the battlefield.
* [[Grombrindal]]
The White Dwarf, who became the mascot of Games Workshop on creation ([[White Dwarf|the magazine]] is his namesake). Grombrindal appears randomly throughout the world, dispensing wisdom and slaughtering foes before disappearing; oftentimes before his allies realize his identity. Basically [[The Green Knight]] and [[Alith Anar]] for Dwarfs. He was featured in comics, and before the Time Of Woe (AKA the Times of [[Jack Kirby]]) Games Workshop released White Dwarf dioramas alongside the [[Black Gobbo]] in humorous situations (like wearing a space suit and strangling the Black Gobbo in an alien costume or being a [[Magos]] and turning the Gobbo into a [[Servitor]]).
The identity of Grombrindal was hinted at for most of his history as Dwarfs dressing as him, to the forgotten fourth ancestor god who courted Valaya but never married her, to Snorri Whitebeard who was cursed to wander endlessly after Malekith's betrayal. Snorri was his confirmed identity in End Times, when after the destruction of the Curse Of Khaine the unapologetic Malekith is forgiven by him because GW wasn't interested in resolving plots with more complexity than saying they are resolved (according to 1d4chan Longbeards anyway).
* [[King Kazador]]
King of Karak Azul, a giant among Dwarfs and with Herculean strength to match. He outdrank, outlifted, outfeasted, outsang, outjoked, and in all other ways outmatched his childhood friends. Won countless battles and settled countless Grudges. All greenskins feared him, clearing out when he came around, giving him great sport as he had to actually track and hunt a WAAAGH! rather than just survive it. He bears and blows a great horn, the Thunderhorn, which lets all in the same mountain range know that war has come to them.
Basically Gaston, Brom Bones, and that one jock in your high school who stood up for nerds because he actually gave a fuck.

Unfortunately, Kazador retains none of his youthful enthusiasm for the pleasures of life. While he was hunting Goblins one day, [[Gorfang Rotgut]] lead a small army of greenskins into Karak Azul. They ran amok, killing and looting, desecrating and dishonoring. Kazador's entire family and many of his people were hauled away in chains to Black Crag as Rotgut's living trophies, although Kazador's son was left behind shaved and crucified on Kazador's own throne. Kazador promised half of Azul's treasury to any who return his family, another quarter for the return of any of the dead Azulites, and any possession he has for Gorfang's death. Unable to assail Black Crag, he spent his time hatefully pursuing any army of Destruction in Dwarf lands and pursuing any Grudge.
Thorgrim spent ten years tracking the culprits, killed Gorfang and the other leaders of the army for Kazador, and freed all captives. Its unstated if Thorgrim accepted a reward. Kazador is similar to [[Eltharion]], but with actual plot resolution.
* [[Kragg The Grim]]
The Oldhammer (REALLY Oldhammer, dating back to 3e when Warhammer first got lore at all) Thorek. The closest there is to a named Longbeard model.

Greatest and oldest Runesmith alive, among the oldest Dwarf in general in fact. Kragg is so old he remembers the golden age of the Dwarfs, before the Time Of Woes. Kragg's walking stick bears a special Master Rune invented by him and known only to him, as he has never met a Dwarf he considers a worthy successor (it should be noted that Thorek entirely replaced Kragg in 5e/6e, and being a far more expensive model GW pimped Thorek as much as possible by mostly forgetting that Kragg even existed so players would buy the "greatest Runesmith ever" that costs 5x as much). Kragg will babble on and on about back in his day, but thanks to his age and skill he drops far more useful and inspiring secrets than any beard longer; the greatest of Dwarf Runesmiths and heroes have all made pilgrimages to sit and listen to Kragg grumble.
The greatest works of Karaz-a-Karak since Grungni himself were, are, and will be done under Kragg's supervision and guidance (as well as likely with his Master Rune cane to the creator's backside a few times).
* [[Alrik Ranulfsson]]
King of Karak Hirn. Direct descendant of Kurgaz, his great great great grandfather who founded Karak Hirn after the Time Of Woes and created the Anvils Of Power. Kurgaz's descendants were unable to use his shield themselves since he was a giant of a Dwarf, and instead invented the practice of standing on a shield that is carried by loyal retainers.
Alrik is extremely old fashioned, more so than even his father Ranulf, and refuses any new technology in his armies (players using him can still use them, at double point cost). Warriors, Quarrelers, Ironbreakers, Miners, Hammerers, Grudge Throwers, Bolt Throwers.

Alrik is obsessed with clearing out the Book Of Grudges, more so than even Thorgrim, and demands blood for every entry. As a result he constantly attacks anyone to clear a sleight regardless of current politics or distance. To date he has entirely wiped out an entire Book Of Grudges for Karak Hirn, which has been added to his own personal standard that he carries into battle which inspires hope in the Dwarfs like nothing else.
He and his Shieldbearers are "Hrappi-klad" in golden armor that is traditional for Karak Hirn royalty. He uses a special axe called the Axe Of Retribution which was forged specifically for his Grudge crusade, and the Helm Of Eagles that grants him sight to see all enemies and hidden details so no assassin or ambush can catch him.
* [[Belegar Ironhammer]]
Heir to King Lunn of Karak Eight Peaks. After becoming High King, aiding Belegar was Thorgrim's first task. He called on the entire race to aid in retaking the long lost Hold.
* [[Josef Bugman]]
Master brewer and canonically the greatest brewer to have ever lived. After his brewery, called Bugman's Brewery, was burned down by [[Git Guzzler]] and his greenskins Josef has been on a crusade against their race with his elite force called Bugman's Rangers (real creative types, here). Bugman's force wanders anywhere greenskins are found, arriving to aid an army and to give ale to good little soldiers of Order and axes/quarrels to the brains of the green menace. His most important item is a magical tankard called...you guessed it, Bugman's Tankard, which has magical healing powers in addition to filling the mind of the drinker with images of the golden age of Dwarfs.

Incidentally, Bugman's Brewery is an actual pub in Warhammer World.
* [[Gotrek & Felix|Gotrek Gurnisson]]
Gotrek is Dwarf Jedi Master [[The Elder Scrolls|Dragonborn]] Doomguy Chuck Norris, Primarch of the loyalist Dwarf Marines who can [[Creed]] his axe into your skull. Read his page, as no summary does him justice. Just know he's a Slayer who took a human bard as a companion, killed just about everything he can and was rewarded by becoming Grimnir's replacement after finally achieving death (and resurrection, since the death part freed him from his Oath even if it didn't stick).
* [[Burlok Dammison|Master Engineer Burklok Dammison]]
Youngest ever and current Master of the Engineer's Guild. As a young Dawi he was very gifted (inventing a beard-braider, self- lighting pipe, and a double-barreled rifle at the same time the average Engineer was learning the basics) and very liberal, and highly interested many random technologies that he pursued with great enthusiam which included the research of Sven Hasselfriesian into alcohol-powered machines. The two managed to caused a pressure explosion which destroyed the Engineer's Guild Hall. Burlok did a 180 and became a highly conservative Engineer who believes mostly in the old ways. He eventually became Guildmaster despite his disgrace (possibly simply by surviving longest).
Since Burlok's arm was blown off in the explosion, he invented bionics! Specifically "Burlok's Ingenious Offensive New-matic Integrated Constrictor" (that's right, acronyms are canon!)
* [[Grimm Burloksson]]
DEEEEEERP.

For some reason, Games Workshop decided to retcon Burlok. They did so in the ingenious manner of creating an almost identical character and calling him Burlok's son, then gave him Burlok's backstory. So...what's the difference? Burlok began liberal and became conservative after a tragic laboratory accident. Grimm went from liberal to mad scientist after an exciting laboratory accident.

That's it. Grimm is just Burlok, wacky inventor. Grimm doesn't have a bionic limb, and instead made a robot arm that fits on his actual arm using the same technology. He also has a telescoping sight that lowers from his helmet, a modified gun (best described as "double-barrel sniper rifle), a hammer that is a weapon-snapping cog, and his personal standard is a fucking furnace strapped to his back. While a more amusing character, one has to wonder why the major retcon when both can exist and the father can remain Guildmaster...
* [[Sven Hasselfriesian]]
Sven is actually a VERY old character, dating back to the Warhammer 2e scenario [[The Magnificent Sven]] (that's right, Sven fucking predates Chaos).

After destroying a large chunk of Karaz-a-Karak, Sven refused to stop experimenting with his insane idea of liquid-powered machines and Burlok was forced to expel him from the Engineer's Guild after the "humiliation ritual" (whatever that is). Rather than taking up the Slayer Oath like a normal Dwarf, Sven booked a ride to Lustria for unknown reasons. He settled at a trading post on the Amoco River and made a substantial amount of money that he invested in his master plan of a boat powered by a combustion engine. After three years, Sven hired non-Chaos Norscans to finish the ship and be his crew. He named her "Voltsvagn" (you read that right, early Warhammer was big on puns) after his mother and began work as a ferryman in Lustria. He has been attacked by Lizardmen so many times he has become completely immune to all poisons they have.
He was later used in Dogs Of War where his ambition has swelled, and he now seeks to conquer all of Lustria and take ALL THE GOLD. So he went from mad scientist to Dorf Cortez.
* [[Long Drong]]r
Dogs Of War character. Nicknamed "Long" due to his massive height. Worked through the ranks from cabin boy to captain of a Barak Varr merchant vessel that delivered Dwarf ale worldwide. After a particularly bad storm caused the ship to wreck all the ale onboard was destroyed, and both Drong and the crew swore the Slayer Oath. They immediately invaded a pirate lair and used his plunder to purchase a Dwarf ship, notably with the mast of an attractive Dwarf woman (but amusingly since literally not a single one of them had ever actually seen a Dwarf woman, having spent their entire lives at sea, they had to guess at what one looked like).
They had the captured pirates teach them everything they knew about piracy, although the Dwarfs got a slightly different lesson than one would expect.

Rather than attacking wealthy merchant ships and robbing them, the Dwarfs set out reclaiming lost treasures from the ocean floor. Mercenaries used their paychests as the mark of station, which they would pay almost anything to have returned. Drong's crew only asked for the contents when they found it plus the same amount as the chest full again, which is very cheap compared to the amount the Merc generals would likely pay. Of course Drong attacked any true pirate he encountered, and soon gained a reputation as an honorable mercenary among the great nations of the world.

* Tarni Ironspike
One of the rare adventurer female Dwarfs. Grew up in the southern Habercrybs. After a mine collapse she became the assistant to a traveling priest of Gazul named Snorri Gravehand, becoming an initiate at Khazid Harkhat. She graduated to a full-fledged priestess and tended to the Dwarfs, and humans when no priest of [[Morr]] was present, of Reikland and Ubersreik until she discovered that her former master had been killed by a Necromancer. Ever since she's lead a one-woman crusade against Necromancers in the regions of the Empire and the Grey Mountains.

===Dead===
* [[Garagrim Ironfist]]
Ungrim's son. Ungrim seeks death as soon as he can so his son will be free of the Slayer King burden, but Garagrim swore the Oath as soon as he was an adult and also seeks death to free his father of the suicidal part of his duty. Garagrim found his death in Storm Of Chaos as the leader of the Dwarfs in the event, although Ungrim swore the Slayer Oath a second time due to the loss of his son making the entire sacrifice pointless and ensuring the royal line of Karak Kadrin would fall. After Games Workshop retconned Storm Of Chaos (there's no polite answer for why, just know they fucked up royally and got rid of it so they could fuck up even worse but under their own control in End Times) they retconned Garagrim to having died offscreen long ago effectively removing his character as anything but a footnote in continuity.
* '''Kimril Giantslayer'''
A character from the 1985 "Dwarves Of Legend Box". The very first Slayer. Killed the twin Giants Thunderguts and Stormbelly.
* '''Angus'''
Another Dwarves Of Legend, crushed by his dead enemies at Klumti Pass.

===Unknown===
* '''King Gorrin'''
Another Dwarves Of Legend character. Killed the greenskin Gorbad The Gruesome at the Battle Of Drakkaz-snor.
* '''The Baron'''
Another Dwarves Of Legend. Fought Count Horlichs of Averland.
* '''Throbin Death-eye'''
Dwarves Of Legend character. Possibly a Slayer. Polished his axe in blood, and had a frightening stare.
* '''Lastro Lupinthrall'''
Dwarves Of Legend. Cursed by a Norscan Witch, howls at every full moon.
* '''Borax Bloodaxe'''
Dwarves Of Legend. Became so rich he needed five Vaults to store his treasure.

==Regions And Factions==
A summary of factions and locations that can tie into your Dwarf army (or the lore of any group you play who ties into the Dwarfs; if you're a fan of proxies, its not uncommon for them to accompany the Empire and not a far throw for them to fight alongside Bretonnia, or with good reason the High or Wood Elves).

Note that while Dwarfs use specific colors to represent their Hold of origin, the Holds have multiple clans within and individual groups of course may have their own colors. This is on top of many different interpretations by artists over the years in example armies deciding to use vastly different symbols and colors to represent some factions. For example Karak Norn colors are red and white, and they have a large number of Dwarfs from all of the fallen Holds such as the Dragonback clan along with the nearby Bugman's Brewery meaning that while most Nornlings would be displaying the red and white somewhere, their own colors on their clothing or even banners could be from numerous clans or Holds; a Dwarf with Bugman's colors on his cloak, a red and white shield, and his banner in the colors of the Dragonbacks is quite fine and fluffy.

The generic colors of the Dwarfs are blue with white details with bronze and small amounts of silvery metal representing steel and/or Gromril depending on the importance of the Dwarf in question with the symbol of three triangles forming a mountain range.

Slayers break all ties to Hold and Clan, and thus never display any colors but that of other Slayers. They usually wind up in reds, oranges, and white although many use white and blue clothing. Some Eavy Metal schemes used face paint in the colors of the army they are marching in to represent a temporary allegiance to their current comrades.

Although example armies straight from Games Workshop prior to 7e almost always used a matching canon color scheme representing the location the army originates from, these armies were significantly smaller than the armies of today. In 7e the example armies featured a mix of multiple Holds fighting in one army (notably the Karaz-a-Karak army containing one unit from each example Hold), and in 8e most Karaks were given multiple symbols and color schemes along with canon clans/organizations bearing entirely different color schemes despite being from the same Hold. As a result, the most recent GW Dwarf canon means a player looking to distinguish their army as specifically coming from a single Hold can still use whatever colors they want for every individual unit. Raise the rainbow, strike the earth! Generally speaking, its the Battle Standard Bearer colors anf symbol that will give your army its identity, possibly the strongest and/or most important unit as well.

===Regions===
[[File:Worlds_Edge_Mountains_Map.jpg|thumb|right|The Worlds Edge Mountains]]
====Karaz Ankor====
The Eternal Realm, and the heart of the Dwarf empire, made up of the oldest Holds. Located in the [[Worlds Edge Mountains]].
* '''Karaz-a-Karak'''
Also called Everpeak, with the name roughly translating to "Pinnacle Of Mountains". The capital of the Dwarf race and home to both the high Kings and the primary shrine of Valaya. One thousand pillars are found in the main hall, each representing a Dwarf clan. Every decade a carver is sent to add more of their story to the column, with many tragically ending long before any of the others making it clear to every visitor who has been wiped out in the Dwarfs gigantic family.
When Elves and Dwarfs were still allies, Elf artisans covered the ceiling of the cavern in diamonds and sapphires forming the same constellations in the sky above, while on the ground the hall lit up by braziers covered in gigantic and identical rubies and the walls covered in reliefs showing the legends of the Dwarfs. The harmonics of the hall are such that even a whisper from the High King carries to every part of the hall. Despite being the largest, richest, and most populated Karak the bulk of Karaz-a-Karak is empty. Only the westernmmost halls are populated, the rest are either sealed or lie vacant. The armies of Karaz-a-Karak occasionally have to clear out any Skaven or Night Goblins that try to gain a foothold and reseal Vaults.

The capital Hold is one of the most well-defended places in the entire Warhammer world. The entire valley leading to the fortress is a giant deathtrap with hundreds, possibly thousands, of defenses and thanks to watch towers and far more mysterious methods of detection the Dwarfs know of any enemy approaching long before they come within sight of the mountains it lies in. The gates themselves are impenetrable, far beyond the capacity of the mightiest army of Elves ever seen to penetrate during the War Of Vengeance.

Karaz-a-Karak armies use gold and greens as colors generally, with blue as an alternative color alongside yellow although it is noted that Karaz-a-Karak has all colors in its armies as all Clans and Holds are tied to the capital of the Dwarf race.

* '''Zhufbar'''
Called the Torrent Gate, perhaps the most important Hold to the overall Warhammer setting. Considered a “twin” Hold to the ill-fated Karak Varn, as both are built into the sides of a chasm beneath a lake called the Black Water, with waterfalls from the lake flowing through water-wheels which power the city. As a result of the cheap power Zhufbar is the site of the capital of the Engineer’s Guild, and the most important shrine to Morgrim. Zhufbar and Karak Varn are both found where the Worlds Edge Mountains meet the Black Mountains, north of Karaz-a-Karak and south of Karak Kadrin. The Black Water region is very rich in Gromril and other precious metals, allowing the Dwarfs to produce and experiment at maximum capacity.
During the Age Of Woe, volcanic eruptions drained Black Water. Karak Varn was conquered by Skaven while Orcs smashed through the water wheels of Zhufbar and laid siege to the Hold. The Zhufbar Dwarfs fought hard and were slowly driven out over centuries until they finally made a stand in the chasm of the canyon but were defeated, with the survivors scattered and seeking aid. The only successful aid came from Alaric The Mad, a famous Runesmith who believed the stories that not only had humanity managed to evolve to a point of mattering, but believed that they had a leader who could destroy any evil. This hero was Sigmar. Alaric promised Sigmar twelve magical swords for Sigmar’s closest followers in exchange for helping liberate Zhufbar (of course Sigmar REALLY hates Orcs, so it was like being paid twice). Once Zhufbar was reclaimed, Alaric went to work and finished the fables blades after Sigmar had left the mortal world. Those swords are now a mark of office for the leaders of the provinces of the Empire, the Elector Counts. Zhufbar was able to be rebuilt quickly as the Black Water had refilled during the Orc occupation. To this day Zhufbar remains one of the friendliest Holds to mankind, from which most of their knowledge of science and technology has derived (its no surprise that Zhufbar is best described as “Dwarf Nuln”). Most Dwarf technology is developed and manufactured in Zhufbar, which boasts a massive fleet of Gyrocopters and Gyrobombers as well as many other technological marvels that no conservative Hold would tolerate the existence of. A group of Dragons managed to build a nest in one of the halls, which was sealed off and renamed “Khaz Drakk”, although in emergencies Dwarfs are sent through it with messages for the Empire that need to arrive ASAP. A human town now exists outside of the gates of Zhufbar which has benefitted both races immensely financially (in case it hasn’t been made clear enough, Zhufbar is basically steampunk Erebor). Its unclear if these humans answer to the Empire or Zhufbar for government.

Colors include blue and white.

* '''Karak Kadrin'''
The Slayer Keep, among the strongest Dwarf Holds and the largest in its region (north of Karaz-a-karak and east of the Empire). Situated in a location to protect the Peak Pass trade routes which connect the Karaz Ankor with the Old World and the east. Karak Kadrin has never fallen, and sits along an often-attacked invasion route for monsters and eastern armies. Due to the central trade location and collected tribute for protection it provides, Karak Kadrin is fabulously wealthy and beyond even that importance is that it boasts the most important site for Grimnir worship which is where many Slayers choose to swear themselves, and are given free gear and lodging to help them on their way to complete their sacred Oaths. Not all Slayers leave to find death elsewhere, and Karak Kadrin boasts a very large army made up just of Slayers who protect the pass and seek a less immediate death (some may choose this if their sin was a dereliction of duty, or possibly if they aren’t brave enough to chase Daemons across the Chaos Wastes). Not all of Karak Kadrin’s soldiers and citizens are Slayers by any means, in addition to the Slayer forces Karak Kadrin has all the usual soldiery from Hammerers to Gyrocopters.
Karak Kadrin is ruled by the Drakebeard Clan. Five generations ago, King Baragor became the first (known) king to take the Slayer Oath, possibly because his daughter was killed by the dragon Skaladrak while traveling to marry the High King of the time. Baragor was caught between the religious need to find death as Grimnir intended and religious need to lead his people as Valaya intended, finding the solution as creating the major shrine of Grimnir and altering the Dwarf Slayer culture by enabling them to find their death in duty rather than setting out to find it. Ungrim Ironfist is the current Slayer King, five times great grandson of Baragor, each King in the line born to take the Oath but thus far unable to die in battle and free their own sons. In Storm Of Chaos the character Garagrim Ironfist was created as Ungrim’s son who swore the Slayer Oath while still a prince, then set out with an army off to fight the coming Chaos Hordes and die to free his father. Garagrim was crushed by a falling Giant which freed Ungrim from Slayerhood, but in shame Ungrom then swore himself back to the Slayer Oath for the loss of his son in a fantastically epic failure. Despite the entirety of Storm Of Chaos being retconned in 7e, Garagrim’s death was kept as canon (because grimderp) and now Ungrim is sonless and has disregarded his duty to stay alive, constantly leading Karak Kadrin’s armies far and wide and taking the battlefield personally against the armies of the Dwarfs. Karak Kadrin is doomed to be kingless in any continuity, and Dwarfs have no established mechanism of dealing with a succession crisis with no true successor (although to be fair we only know Garagrim was his only son and it isn’t stated that non-heir sons took the Oath, so for anyone looking to make their own canon an OC uncle/aunt, brother/sister, or daughter of Ungrim could take the throne).
The colors of Karak Kadrin are green and red, or any shades of red/orange/white.

* '''Karak Azul'''
Called Iron Peak due to the massive amount of iron in its mines, the largest in the Worlds Edge on top of an abundance in other metals. As a direct result Azul has among the best metalworkers the Dwarfs have and many Clans are directly descended from Grungni. This has enabled Azul to survive the constant onslaught of enemies, being the last southern Hold. The weaponsmiths and Runesmiths don't just make gear for their own; most Dwarf Holds receive their weaponry from Azul, through the Underway to any Dwarfs in need.
Karak Azul was attacked by greenskins some time ago; the family of Thane Kazador was enslaved as living trophies while the son was shaved and nailed to the throne. Thanks to the dedication of Kazador the only surviving Orc from the attack is the Warboss himself, Gorfang Rotgut, who squatted in Black Crag until he was killed and his head was delivered to Kazador.

Karak Azul, as you may have guessed, uses the color blue as well as gold. Their primary symbol is the face of a Dwarf smith.

* '''Karak Ungor'''
Originally the “Delving Hold”, now called “Red Eye Mountain”. During the golden age of the Dwarfs it was the richest Hold in terms of ore extraction found in the entirety of the Ankor. Mines that were depleted were not intentionally collapsed, resulting in massive networks of empty tunnels. It was ruled by the Durazgrund Clan. At the very start of the Time Of Woe the army and King Morek Stonehammer of Karak Ungor was still returning from the War Of Vengeance only to find that Karak Ungor had completely fallen, taken by the Red Eye Night Goblin tribe that had come from below when the earthquakes opened the existing tunnels to many, many others full of nasty foes. The walls and gates were built to be so externally impenetrable that their very own builders couldn’t breech them, and what had once been a triumphant army marching home became scattered groups of refugees to the soon to fall Zhufbar as well as Karaz-a-karak. Another attempt was made 500 years later by High King Skorri Morgrimson. The southern valley and corresponding gate were retaken, but the Dwarfs could not breach the Hold itself. The event is now known as the Battle Of A Thousand Woes. Skorri’s son died in the battle, and Skorri himself abdicated the throne to his cousin Rogni Stonehammer before taking the Slayer Oath and finding his doom not long after. Rogni’s reign details are unknown, but the Durazgrund leadership of the Dwarf race lasted at the maximum a very short 200-ish years. The current Durazgrund heir is Ulther Stonehammer, who is only considered a prince as he refused the title of king upon inheriting it from his father King Ulfar until Karaz Ungor is retaken. He established an elite army called the Dragon Company which is based in Karaz-a-karak and raids greenskins until the day Ungor is reclaimed.

* '''Karak Varn'''
Called "Cragmere" now. Sister Hold to Zhufbar, both in the chasm where the mountain lake Black Water flows. The first misery to befall Karak Varn actually came before the Time Of Woe, when the Dwarfs-wait for it-DUG TOO DEEP AND UNLEASHED SOMETHING. That thing was...water. They accidentally tunneled into the underground reservoir that Black Water feeds into, managed to destabilize the foundations enough that when the Time Of Woe earthquakes came the waters swept through and flooded most of the Hold. Soon after the weary Dwarfs were attacked by an allied Skaven/Goblin army, and forced towards the surface. The Warpstone corruption became so terrible that the surviving Varnlings abandoned the Hold willingly, as the mutated horrors below are now the like of nightmares. Expeditions of Engineers using submarines through the underground Black Water as well as tunneling vehicles have enabled Dwarfs to strip the Gromril shaft by shaft, but there are no plans to reclaim Varn itself. Adventurers also plumb into Karak Varn, such as in the [[Heroquest]] expansion.

* '''Mount Silverspear'''
Called Mount Grimfang when held by greenskins, which it is currently, after the Orc Warboss Urk Grimfang who first conquered it. It sat at the southern end of the Silver Road, east of Karaz-a-karak. Had the single richest mine after Gunbad, called Karag Agilwutraz. Like Gunbad it was exempt from sending soldiers for the War Of Vengeance, instead funding the war with, you guessed it, silver. It fell later on in the Time Of Woe 1637 years ago, as it was bypassed for richer and less defended Holds by early greenskin invasions but despite the extra time to prepare with watchtower defenses it fell nonetheless during the Silver Wars after successive greenskin armies were thrown at it. Survivors fled to Karaz-a-karak, and greenskins have occupied it ever since although currently Skaven are growing in number beneath.

* '''Karak Vlag'''
“Desolation Hold”. The northernmost part of the Ankor (Karak Kadrin being the northernmost Hold in general), found south of the High Pass between the two parts of Kislev. Founded during the golden age, in one of the few times Dwarfs were on the offensive as the Dwarfs took existing caves by driving out Dragons and taking THEIR homes. The mines expand throughout the Granite Peaks giving a surplus of iron, and the masonry is the rival of Karaz-a-karak for best stonework in the world. It survived the Time Of Woe with ample watchtowers giving warning, allowing the Dwarfs to defend so well that the only time Orcs even managed to enter the upper halls the Vlagians simply dropped giant iron gates which cut invading army into easily overwhelmed small groups. It was finally destroyed during the Great War Against Chaos, although the means are unknown as the Hold simply vanished as if it had never existed at all with scouts from Karaz-a-karak unable to even find rubble. In perhaps a tongue-in-cheek joke about retcons, it is stated that loremasters have opinions on its fate and all other Dwarfs simply don’t talk about it.
Karak Vlag attracted much attention in the online Warhammer fanbase, appearing repeatedly in several fan Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay adventures and as special armies, particularly on the fansite Bugman’s Brewery. In the Vermintide video game the Dwarf Ranger can find a helmet from Karak Vlag, indicating that relics from it still exist.

* '''Vala-Azrilungol ([[Karak Eight-Peaks]])'''
Originally called "Queen of the Silver Depths", one of the oldest Dwarf Holds. The Eight Peaks are: Karag Lhune, Karag Mhonar, Karag Rhyn, Karag Yar, Karag Ziflin (the military district of Karak Eight Peaks, the first to fall to the Skaven), Karagril, Karak Nar, and Kvinn-Wyr.

Skaven discovered the Eight Peaks around 3800 and the Council Of 13 planned its fall within the next ten generations (so 100 years) with [[Clan Mors]] and [[Clan Gritak]] preparing to invade by building their armies and constructing tunnels. [[Clan Skryre]] planted Warpstone in the main fountain of the Hold and the initial plan was to wait for the Dwarfs to have their numbers greatly thinned by poisoning (perhaps not knowing that Dwarfs use water sparingly for anything when there's enough ale) until they were forced to begin their plans immediately with the huge and sudden rush of greenskin invasions. The Dwarf Miners discovered the Skaven tunnels not long before, and shortly afterwards the Skaven staged a mass invasion taking Karag Ziflin and the communities/mines of Varkund, Runkarn, and Undkar. Meanwhile Goblins attacked the East Gate which connected to Death Pass. The Dwarfs tried to blow up their tunnels, but earthquakes opened natural tunnels as soon as the artificial ones were destroyed. Magma flowed up through cracks, destroying not only the equipment that relied on magma for power but also entire sections of the Holds. A slow retreat began until King Lunn was forced to seal the great treasures away and leave in exodus, swearing he would return; he never did, the Eight Peaks have been the target of more reclamation attempts than any other location and every one has failed. The Dwarfs fled to Karak Azul, and while the Skaven and greenskins fought for control of the now fallen Hold Clan Mors blew up the Vault roof which destroyed Clan Gritak and caused the Skaven and greenskin held portions to be largely separated.

After becoming High King, aiding Belegar was Thorgrim's first task. He called on the entire race to aid in retaking the long lost Hold. Every Hold donated to Belegar's army so that even the common Warrior was equipped with rune weapons and resembled an army from the golden age of the Dwarfs ad they marched with ample food and ale. Thorek Ironbrow lead an army of Karak Azul as allies. Regardless he still faced difficult odds. First the ground level of the Eight Peaks was taken, as well as the infamous East Gate and the valley that sits in the middle of the Peaks with a gigantic citadel. Skarsnik of the Night Goblins and Queek Headtaker of the Skaven both prepared their forces to destroy the other two rivals. Belegar sealed off all other parts of the Peaks and focused on holding, slowly pushing forwards while Engineers have to rebuild defenses. Undgrin Ankor, the military quarter of the old Hold, is the newest to be reclaimed although small numbers of Trolls remain. Three times the armies of other Holds have marched to aid Belegar after a devastating attack from his foes, the last lead by Thorgrim himself. The Dwarfs have also gotten aid from Bretonnia, the Empire, Elves, and Ogre mercenaries while the greenskins and Skaven have been bolstered by attacks from Beastmen and the Vampires of Neferata.
As soon as Belegar had established his control back on the Eight Peaks treasure hunters and mercenaries began to arrive, with most given leave by Belegar to do as they will. Very few have returned or had any measure of success but they come regardless. Gotrek & Felix had the most success.

In Total War: Warhammer, Belegar begins in Karak Izor in the Black Mountains and actually has to fight his way cross the greenskin-held Karaz Ankor south on his way to the Eight Peaks while Skarsnik begins north of him in the Grey Mountains and is usually eliminated long before any other foe. Thorgrim is willing to ally with Belegar only after some measure of success against greenskins, the Greylings are willing to ally against Skarnsik, most other Dwarfs take a long time to woo by which point Belegar has probably eradicated Archaon in a blast of cannonfire.

The colors of Karak Eight Peaks are red, white, and blue with a mountain represented by a single triangle split into eight with jagged lines.

* '''Karak Azgal (Karak Izril)'''
Called the Dragon Crag today, the City Of Jewels in the past. The wealthiest Hold in Dwarf history, the extravagance is still more than visible. Izril was one of the many Holds that fell as a result of the loss of Karak Eight Peaks due to the trade routes being lightly defended. When greenskins invaded with the intent on pillaging the fabled treasures the Skaven that lurked in their mines chose to make the Dwarfs face a two front war. Upon realizing that Karak Izril was doomed the warriors made a last stand while the Runesmith Stormbeard and the Clan Engineers carried the treasures of Izril into the primary Vault and sealed it with a special Rune called the Rune Of Hiding so no other being could find the door. The survivors fled, and since then Izril has been called "Karal Azgul" meaning "Hoard Peak". The Dragon Graug The Terrible claimed Azgal from greenskins and Skaven not long after and discovered the Vault, making it his new home and adding to the treasure in order to attract a mate. The Jeweler's Guild sent many expeditions to reclaim Azgal and kill Graug with no success until one day a Dwarf named Skalf, barely an adult, managed the deed. Skald became the King, and used the fabulous treasury to establish a small stronghold in the ruins of the massive city. Azgal has since become a haven for adventurers and treasure-seekers who journey through the depths to kill Grobi and seek fortune. Now that the Eight Peaks are partially reclaimed, the future of Azgal looks bright.

Karak Azgal is the feature and namesake of a [[Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay]] supplement. Its primary claim to fame is being the home of the single greatest Runesmith alive, Thorek Ironbrow. Artwork as well as Thorek's traditional paintjob shows them with a green color scheme with white and yellow details.

* '''Karak Drazh'''
Known now as the Black Crag. Once the third largest Karak in the Ankor after Karaz-a-karak and the Eight Peaks, situated at the western end of Death Pass where there was trade, protection, and rich ore. Managed to survive the Time Of Woe, and was in a trinity known as the Southern Holds with Karak Azgal and Karak Azul that had a higher opinion of themselves than most Holds due to longer and more prestigious lineage. 469 years before the time of Sigmar, an Orc named Dork (we’re not making that up) laid siege to Karak Drazh. The fighting was fierce and went on for some time. Once the ruler King Vikram Ironside decided the war was lost, he used the tried and true Dwarf tactic of leading his forces in a suicide attack to make a gap for the civilians to flee with whatever they could hold.
Since then it has been known as Black Crag, the most powerful Orc stronghold in the Worlds Edge Mountains. Here Gorfang Rotgut rules and he staged his infamous raid on Karak Azul from as well.
Attempts were made over the years to reclaim it, but only Thorgrim Grudgebearer in the modern era has had success, killing Gorfang. Although not fully retaken, the Orc armies were scattered and Thorgrim intends to return to wreak great vengeance on them for the depravity he witnessed.

* '''Karak Raziak'''
Only known as a label on a map of Kislev.

* '''Khazid Irkulaz'''
Only known as a label on a map of Kislev.

* '''The Pillars of Grungni'''
Almost no lore. Nearby Karaz-a-Karak on the Silver Road.

* '''Dringorackaz'''
One of the rare southern Holds to survive. Almost no lore.

* '''Kradtommen'''
Same as Dringorackaz.

* '''Kings way'''
Lost Hold. No other lore.

* '''Axehelm'''
Lost Hold. No other lore.

* '''Karaz-Lumbar'''
Shown on a map in 3e. No other lore.

* '''Kadar Grimm'''
Home of Barim Eisenhauer, a character in a mini-event called Thunder In Blackfire Pass. No other lore.

* '''Karak Angazbar'''
Almost no lore.

* '''Karak Eksfilaz'''
Westernmost part of Karaz Ankor. Almost no lore.

====Badlands====
The settlements of the Badlands.

* '''Ekrund'''
Known now as Mount Bloodhorn, Ekrund was the most wealthy settlement outside of the Ankor, matching the most profitable Holds. It is located in the Dragonback Mountains, on the southeastern shores of the Black Gulf (Warhammer Mediterranean). It had a powerful army, and members of its clans were found among the High King’s council. In the War Of Vengeance the Dwarfs of Ekrund united with the Dwarfs of Barak Varr to destroy all Elf settlements in what would later be Tilea, the ruins of which became Tilean cities. During the Time Of Woe the Dwarfs of Ekrund hastily built defenses designed to defend specifically against greenskins, but the hordes were on them before construction had finished. The defenders made a suicidal push costing thousands of lives, allowing the Dwarfs of Ekrund to flee carrying any valuables they could. The greenskin armies discovered the distillery of the Ekrund mines and became complacent, allowing many civilians a successful escape. Once they arrived at Barak Varr their old friends gave the refugees transport to wherever they needed to go. The surrounding mines also resulted in a trickle of refugees, to Karaz-a-karak where they suffered from constant greenskin raids, or west to the mountains called The Vaults between the Grey and Black Mountain
Ranges to establish new Holds.

* '''Dragonhorn Mines'''
Added in 8e. No lore, south of Ekrund so presumable part of the same rulership.

* '''Mount Gunbad'''
Wealthiest non-Ankor Hold Dwarfs ever had. This is due to it being the only place in the world where the blue gems called Brynduraz (“shining stone”) are known to be found. It also produced massive quantities of gold, and Gunbad’s immense wealth was so crucial to the Dwarf economy during the War Of Vengeance that no Gunbadian soldiers were levied for the conflict. Gunbad itself was located east of the Worlds Edge Mountains, leaving it isolated save for the Underway (so you know where this story is going).
During the Time Of Woe, earthquakes and waves of Orcs from the east both caused Gunbad to be lost. It was retaken 200 years before the current date by Logazor Brightaxe, but the continued isolation from the rest of the Dwarf race as well as the masses of greenskins to the east forced them to abandon it again. Until the Underway is reclaimed and rebuilt, Gunbad is destined to remain in the hands of greenskins.

====Settlements====
The Dwarf communities formed outside of Karaz Ankor that lie between mountain ranges. Few are connected to the Underway.

* '''Karak Zorn'''
The first Dwarf expansion, in the Warhammer equivalent of South Africa in the mountains that separate Nehekhara from the Southlands. Possibly destroyed by the Slanless Lizardmen of the Southlands, or at least the last messages every received indicated that's who was attacking it. Almost nothing is known of it otherwise as it is far beyond living memory and every expedition to reclaim or it simply discover its current state have failed. To be fair it could still exist, since every single edition it was mentioned in (which is to say every edition after Warhammer got actual lore) intentionally makes it vague what happened to it.

* '''Barak Varr'''
Called "Gate To The Sea". Built into the side of a mountain and only visible from the water. Barak Varr is small but wealthy, and the folk are unusually friendly and cheerful for Dwarfs. Both are due to the safety of the Hold and it never being forced to close its doors to the other races and cease trade, as both the Skull River and Old Dwarf road are still open. All friendly groups on the planet trade in Barak Varr, and almost anything Dwarfs do not prohibit can be bought and sold within. Barak Varr is one of the safest locations in the world, being almost immune to attack by land and with a ridiculous number of the most advanced warships in existence in its harbor while countless cannons line the face of the settlement itself. Barak Varr lies in the territory of the [[Border Princes]] which were settled around it, and it provides them protection by water.

Purple with cream highlights is the color scheme of Barak Varr, with their symbols being an open-faced mountain and a roaring beast with red and gold.

* '''Oakenhammer'''
It exists, and is on the border between Karaz Ankor and Sylvania. There's almost no lore otherwise.

* '''Karak Azorn'''
Easternmost Hold, in the Mountains Of Mourn. Destroyed by an unending horde of Ogres.

* '''Isle of Zul'''
Island outpost of Barak Varr.

* '''Axehelm'''
Found in the Empire, apparently a Dwarf settlement of some kind that has been destroyed.

* '''Karak Angazbar'''
Has decent metal mining, metalworking, and trade industries.

* '''Habercrybs'''
The hills south of Altdorf, which have mixed Dwarf and human populations in mining communities.

====Grey Mountains====
During the start of the Time Of Woe, Mount Silverspear and Mad Dog Pass fell to Goblins and caused a massive exodus of refugees. Although the Grey Mountains were always ignored by Dwarfs previously for their lack of gems and metals within the rock, the scattered Dwarfs chose them to settle for their strategic locations and each time a Hold fell the population of the Grey Mountain Dwarfs would swell with their homeless kin. Tall tales that great riches far surpassing that of the east lay undiscovered also played a part in the allure of the Greys. Each is extremely difficult to assail, and are built with defense in mind rather than the elaborate and beautiful Holds from the time that the ancestor gods were kings and queen.

Dwarfs that inhabit this area are called Grey Dwarfs, and are considered a far more modest and far more humble lot than their kin elsewhere. Less prone to find insult in the words of man and Elf as well as less likely to show off gold and gems in displays of Dwarf pride. Dwarfs from other Holds see them as a source of both pity and hope, the valiant post-apocalyptic survivors scrabbling among the ruins with kings that look like low noblemen and peasants resembling dressed like refugees.

The Grey Mountains sit in a precarious location. Although historically the attacks of any foe is rare, it sits nearby [[Drachenfels|Castle Drachenfels]], a hellish domain where the forces of Chaos, the Undead, and greenskins unite under an ancient evil. As if that wasn't bad enough, End Times: Vermintide showed that the nearby Empire town of Ubersriek was the beginning of the Skaven invasion of the Old World, suggesting that Skaven were already a problem for the Greylings. To the south is Athel Loren and the insane Wood Elves with Bretonnia beyond it. To the north are the men of the Imperial province of Wissenland, great allies of the Dwarfs and with the aid of the Greylings their city of Nuln has become the engineering capital of the non-Dwarf world. But Reikwald is not far from there, leading [[Forest Goblins]] and [[Beastmen]] up the trails into the mountains. While the Grey Dwarfs have become hardened and battle-tested, the natural defenses of their home have saved them from the nonstop war that many of the old Holds east in the old Dwarf lands have suffered.

Most Grey Holds have very little in great treasures due to the barren nature of the mountains and the far and few discoveries of ore veins, and as a result some Dwarfs either resign themselves to lives laboring for far less than other Holds can offer and patrolling trade routes for small enemy warbands, or abandon their home and migrate to other Holds to seek riches at the cost of safety and peace. While the younger generations are increasingly leaving Norn for other Holds to the east for riches or glory in battle, those who refuse to leave have become stoic and sardonic even for Dwarfs.

Grey Dwarfs have a great deal of contact with humans and are far more likely to take on names in the human tongue representing their true Dwarf name, such as Olaf Stoutarm or Johan Rockkicker.

* '''Karak Norn'''
Roughly translates to "Barren Earth Hold". Currently ruled by King Brokk Ironpick the Grim and Queen Thurma of the Grintzagaz Clan. Karak Norn was the first Grey Mountain Hold, and has the most riches in its mines despite being the smallest. Karak Norn overlooks the Athel Loren from a very safe position, allowing the Dwarfs to monitor the activities of the Elves for any invasion force to their allies in the Empire or to their kin in other Holds. They control the mountain passes leading to the rest of the Southern Grey Mountain Holds giving them the benefit of taxation, the honor of being the defenders of the Greys, and the responsibility of ensuring that when enemies do eventually invade that the Grey Dwarfs can muster a strong protective army. Norn's defenses possess a great deal of Flame Cannons and Bolt Throwers for the purpose of defending against Wood Elves, while their offensive forces contain many Rangers. Karak Norn also possesses a large airforce.

The most famous claim of Karak Norn is being the Hold most associated with the great hero and brewmaster (aren't they one and the same though?) Josef Bugman. Josef's father Zamnil Bugman was one of the Dragonback Clan of Ekrund, and after it was overrun the family migrated northwest into the foot of the Grey Mountains on the Empire side near Karak Norn. Bugman's Brewery quickly became famous for their specialty of Troll Brew, and more importantly [[Bugman's XXXXX]] AKA Bugman's Brew which became world-famous as (canonically) the greatest alcoholic beverage ever concocted. Unfortunately one day a Goblin named [[Git Guzzler]] attacked the Brewery while Bugman was away delivering ale. While the Brewery was rebuilt and is now defended by the forces of Karak Norn, Bugman himself gathered a small elite army called [[Bugman's Rangers]] who travel the world killing greenskins and/or delivering free ale wherever Dwarfs or greenskins are found.

The armies of Karak Norn use the colors of red and white split in half or quartered along with blue for cloth, although in 8e examples only red and white were used with a small amount of green on banners. Karak Norn forces in Eavy Metal demonstrations of the paint job also use more silver metallic color than bronze. Symbols for Karak Norn tend to be more Celtic and of vague meaning, although simple designs such as tankards and the general Dwarf faces show up as well. Bugman's red and blue split colors with the white "B" rune show up as well even on the shields of Dwarfs otherwise displaying the standard colors.

* '''Karak Ziflin'''

* '''Karak Azgaraz'''
Starting location for Skarsnik and the Crooked Moon in Total War Warhammer. Skarsnik often takes Karak Norn and Karak Ziflin, making him a stubborn enemy to remove in-game.

* '''Grim Duraz'''
Lost Hold. No other lore.

* '''Khazid Harkhat'''

====Black Mountains====
* '''Karak Hirn'''
The Black Mountains that lie between the Empire and Border Princes are full of small Dwarf settlements that cater to the Empire and link the oldest settlements of the Dwarf empire. They are unconnected to the Underway but are relatively difficult to attack due to the danger of the terrain. The largest settlement in the region is Karak Hirn, named "Horn Hold" for a wind that blew through it and produced a noise loud enough to ring through the mountains, scaring the original settlers to the region until they investigated and discovered the source. Generations since have carved doors and fireplaces that turn the entire Hold into a horn that can be sounded to send messages or frighten enemies and monsters.
Founded by the legendary Dwarf Kurgaz, who created the Anvils Of Doom. Kurgaz was a giant of a Dwarf, who's shield was so massive that no other Dwarf has been able to wield it as it was used. Instead, his descendants stood on it while being carried by their loyal soldiers, beginning the tradition of Shieldbearers. A Dragon attacked Karak Hirn at some unknown time, killing many Runesmiths and destroying their forges which caused the secrets of Kurgaz to be lost ensuring that all Anvils of Doom are limited in number.

Karak Hirn is favored by many Eavy Metal team and shows up in most showcases. They utilize dark greens and browns for colors.

* '''Karak Izor'''
Also called Copper Mountain. A wealthy Hold found between the Grey and Black Mountains, with the deepest and richest mines outside of the Worlds Edge Mountains as well as being a popular destination for refugees including the Dragonbacks. Almost impossible to assail, Izor profits with little risk.
Karak Izor was shown in the past to use plenty of bronze metal with dark browns and greens while it was specifically said that they used no blue anywhere, but in 8e they reverted to only a bright shade of blue and gold/yellow (for seemingly no reason). Their symbol is a hammer striking an anvil with an S rune on both.

* '''Karak Bhufdar'''
Shown on the map in 8th edition, hasn't fallen. No other lore.

* '''Zarakzil'''
Lost Hold. No other lore.

====Norse Dwarfs====
Barely touched on and mostly only in Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay, the Dwarfs of the furthest north reside in the mountains north of [[Kislev]] in the Chaos Wastes. The proximity to the savage lands has forced them to take on aggressive and wild personalities, although they remain as loyal to the Ancestor Gods as any Dwarf. Not especially fond of humans given they have the choice of rapevikings or Russians for friends. Since the Norse Dwarfs have lost contact with their kin for a LONG time, they didn't receive any technological advances since the Time Of Troubles. No gunpowder, no artillery, no machinery. Just crossbows, catapults, and good ol'fashioned things to stick in people or bash them with. Thorgrim made contact with some of them before he became High King, although which ones is unspecified.

* '''Kraka Drak'''
Known as the Dragon Hold. The primary settlement of Norse Dwarfs, rich in iron, silver, sapphire, and amber. Possibly destroyed according to a 7e story as the "Emperor Of Chaos" [[Valmir Aesling]] wiped out all resistance during the Great War Against Chaos during the time of Emperor Magnus, shortly after the Everchosen of the time was defeated; it is referenced after that date as still existing leading to the possibility of writer not doing their fucking research...or it being reclaimed later.

In Total War: WARHAMMER Kraka Drak is part of a quest for Thorgrim Grudgebearer to investigate the fate of the Norse Dwarfs. He finds they have all been wiped out, and reclaiming them is part of the victory conditions for Dwarfs. Their flag is depicted as teal with a winged white sea serpent as a symbol.

* '''Sjoktraken'''
A Dwarf port.

* '''Kraka Dorden'''
Called the Thunder Hold. Exporter of furs, tin, quartz, iron, and metalwork. Second largest after Kraka Drak.

* '''Kraka Onsmotek'''
Called Eagle's Peak Hold. Northernmost Hold that hasn't yet fallen. The second wealthiest after Kraka Drak. Full of gold, diamonds, and obsidian. Has more Slayers and the Norse Dwarf specific Berserkers than anywhere else in the Norse Holds thanks to the abundance of Giants, Trolls, and other nasty Chaos things.

* '''Kraka Ravnvake'''
Known as Raven's Roost Hold. Full of copper, iron, and silver as well as a blue-gray rock called Okrinaduraz that is used to carve works of art and things of importance.

* '''Karak Dum'''
Literally "Hold Chaos". Northernmost Hold ever established (or at least ever mentioned), it fell during the Great War Against Chaos. It is the main source of the black armor of the Warriors Of Chaos today, and all four Chaos Gods and their factions battle for control of it. Gotrek & Felix rescued the last of the living Dwarfs from it.

* '''Khazid Ravik'''
Almost no lore. Known for gems and metalwork.

====Misc Locations====

* '''Undgrin Ankor'''
The Underway.

* '''Black Fire Pass'''

* '''Varag Kadrin'''
Known as Mad Dog Pass.

* '''Varn Drazh'''
Called Black Water, it is a giant mountain lake created by an ancient asteroid that is full of monsters. Many mines are found around it, since the mountain is very rich in ore.

* '''Gnashrak's Lair'''
An Orc stronghold. Although not stated to be, it is most likely a fallen Dwarf Hold since "fortress" is not something that greenskins are capable of building. Sits at the other end of Peak Pass from Karak Kadrin.

* '''Grom Peak'''
Orc stronghold, likely started as a Dwarf Hold. Almost no lore.

* '''Archway of Valaya'''
Lost holy site, known only to certain Runesmiths. Secretly houses the sleeping Valaya, who is empowering a gate of some kind known as the Gate Of Valaya that will somehow bring back the golden age of the Dwarfs. Implied to have lead the Dwarfs to [[Lileath|Lileath's]] new world in the cycle of worlds in End Times.

* '''Cripple Peak'''
Full of Warpstone. A major site fought over between Nagash, who makes it his home while recovering from his second defeat, and the Skaven. Dwarfs stay away.

====Non-Canon Locations====
Places from outside continuity, either as widespread fan creations, memes, or other continuities.

* '''Kazad Bolg'''
A faction created by [[Paul Sawyer]] AKA “Fat Bloke”, who was the editor of White Dwarf until 2004 (when the magazine became a glorified catalog under his successor [[Guy Haley]]). Although created by an employee and featured in the 6e Dwarfs army book, Kazad Bolg is not considered canon by many.
Little is known of Kazad Bolg lore, only that Sawyer’s army was an Expeditionary Force that brought the maximum amount of non-stone artillery, a Gyrocopter, Miners, Longbeards, Slayers, and was lead by Kragg The Grim. Their colors are yellow and black. Bolg means “fat belly”, a play on his nickname.

===Clans===

* '''Royal Clan'''
This generic force represents the clan of the king of any Hold, armed with the best gear while accompanied by mercenaries and a significant force of Hammerers, with the Royal Clan of the High King being the largest and grandest the Dwarfs can muster.

* '''Gunnisson Clan'''

* '''Stonebreakers Clan'''

* '''Bronzebeards Clan'''

* '''Helhein Clan'''

* '''Ulek Clan'''
Also called the "Ullekssons".

* '''Barruk Clan'''
Nicknamed "The Goldshields'''.

* '''Drakebeard Clan'''

* '''Yinlinsson Clan'''

* '''Norgrimling Clan'''
The Norgrimlings.

* '''Cragbrow Clan'''

===Factions===

* '''Guilds'''
Guilds are an entire organizational entity seperate but part of the concept of Clan and Hold. They even had their own army rules in 6e.
While [[Terry Pratchett|a guild exists for everything]], the most powerful Guild is the Engineer's Guild which has its own armies independant of any other group which control travel between Holds as well as protecting trade caravans. Obviously the Engineer's Guild army, called the Guild Expedition, uses as much black powder weapons and machines as possible.
** No Slayers of any kind may be taken. Thanes become Master Engineers (+35 points, has Artillery Master and Extra Crewman rules) and Lords become Guild Masters (+45 points, has Artillery Master and Extra Crewman rules).
** Warriors, Thunderers are Core. Cannons, Bolt Throwers, and Stone Throwers may be taken as Core, maximum 2 each and for every two artillery core you must have one Unit of Warriors. No other Core may be taken.
** Gyrocopters are Special, and you may have up to two Organ Guns and up to two Flame Cannons as Special. No other Special may be taken.
** Rangers, Longbeards, and Dogs Of War are Rare. No other Rare may be taken.

* '''Slayers (Throng Of Karak Kadrin)'''

* '''Overground Defense'''

* '''War Of Vengeance Dwarfs'''
This faction represents the united Dwarf race back during the War Of Vengeance, used exclusively for games against the High Elves reenacting the war or any skirmishes with greenskins or Chaos prior to that (alongside the Elves possible).

* '''Gnomes'''
Yes, Warhammer has [[Gnomes]]. Or more specifically Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 1e had Gnomes, which were not mentioned in the succeeding supplements (like [[Fimir]]). This doesn't mean Gnomes are retconned since Gnomes are just Dwarfs, only that GW never referred to them by that name again.

Gnomes live in the same regions as Dwarfs, the western World's Edge Mountains and in the Empire. Gnomes are also found in [[Albion]], although as a whole the race suffers the same "dying race" trope as the other civilized non-humans. Gnomes are short-tempered xenophobes even by Dwarf standards; a human saying is "Gnomes are more balanced, they have a chip on each shoulder." Gnomes are oddly also more likely to sell traditionally Dwarfish things to non-Dwarfs, with Gnomish merchants being common to see and skilled laborers working for anyone. Gnomish irritability has also strangely involved the court jester of the Emperor of the Empire always being a Gnome since 1143.
Gnomes are extremely fond of fish, and a Gnomish settlement is always near an above or below-ground source. Gnomish settlements are found underneath much of the Empire, but are unknown to those above (note that this lore predates Skaven]] being a thing).
Gnomish customed and social structure is so complex that even Dwarfs find it incomprehensible. In every community there is an Overlord, a religious leader, a master of guilds and mining, and a Loremaster who ensured adherence to protocol. There are Gnome wizards who practice illusion, and Gnome Guard who form the warriors of their race. Gnomes love practical jokes, especially on the Empire using magic.

Gnomes are physically the same as Dwarfs in description. Less than four feet tall usually, large noses and beards, stocky, same skin and hair colors although their skin looks more tanned than Dwarfs. Despite the above, the official Citadel Gnome models mixed those who are identical to Dwarfs with a few with a more skinny look; this gives an advantage to players who wish to use non-Citadel models in their armies since any Dwarf mini out of scale can be called a Gnome or a half-Gnome.
Gnomes can see in the dark and hate Goblins. Gnomish alignments are always on the neutral scale.

As stated, Gnomes weren't likely retconned so much as GW just lumped them in with Dwarfs rather than giving them a separate name.

==Armies==
* '''Warriors'''
Typical soldiers of a Hold, drawn from the clans within and thus usually bearing a secondary color scheme. Most Warriors are young, and move onto other martial careers with experience.

Many Warriors are professional soldiers who own and maintain their own gear as heirlooms, making each somewhat unique. But in times of need Dwarfs of any profession can be a Warrior and use the gear provided by their clan or Hold. Unlike the Elves of Ulthuan who's civilian militias must train frequently, Dwarf culture shapes them into disciplined soldiers while their physiology and psychology are naturally fit for the role. Regardless of their personality in peacetime, every single Dwarf becomes a hateful and unbreakable soldier in war.

* '''Quarrelers'''
In earlier editions just called Crossbowmen as an upgrade to Warriors, 7e made them unique. Invented before Dwarfs settled the Worlds Edge Mountains (so in the time of Grungni, Grimnir, and Valaya and possibly a gift of the Old Ones). Dwarf Bolts are called Quarrels, hence the name. Yes, that means they are called [[Bolter|Bolters]].

Traditionalists prefer them to guns, and the Quarrel is cheaper to maintain and supply although it requires more skill on the part of the user for accuracy. It also has the advantage of range.

The early Dwarf crossbows were made of Ironwood and metal bands while the newest are made of just steel. Dwarfs almost never use bows due to the ineffectiveness of them underground and the Dwarf physiology not favoring the movements and pose required.

The Quarrelers themselves are no different physically than Warriors and carry the same gear and armor, and are as a result more than capable in melee combat.

* '''Thunderers'''
The hot new thing among the youth, only invented a two digit number of generations ago! Created early on by Engineers after the discovery of black powder, but still took a long time to spread by human reckoning. By Dwarf measure though it may as well be The Beatles in terms of a massive and sudden explosion in interest in a radically different thing race-wide amongst the younger generations.

While Quarrelers have to practice range, wind compensation, and marking targets the users of Handguns spend the time maintaining their weapons (sights are a major help). Some Dwarfs build their own, but many are created by the Engineer's Guild and sold to clans and Holds for a very substantial amount of gold and Gromril. Even Dwarfs who have theirs purchased will modify and improve it own, passing along innovations to their fellows and using designs straight off the drafting table of an Engineer halfway across the Old World ("NO PROTOTYPE?! GRUDGESY!!"). Individually Dwarfs try to one-up each other in design and tend to fall into camps on what's the best and what the tiers are (so imagine /tg/ arguing about editions). No word on if a Dwarf equivalent of Popular Mechanics Magazine exists yet, but the implication is there.
As a result not only of the standard Dwarf craftsmanship but also the fact every gun-owner is also an amateur engineer Dwarf guns are more accurate, reliable, and ornate than the equivalent humans have created with mechanisms better than simple flintlocks. Their shot also punches through armor and hide better than a Quarrel can.

Like Quarrelers, Thunderers are basically Warriors armed with a ranged weapon and not afraid to fight in melee against anything that survives their barrage.

* '''Longbeards'''
[[File:Longbeard.png|thumb|200px|right|Old dwarf yells at cloud, ([[Mark Gibbons|MG]])]]
Dwarfs with long beards. More specifically, beards so long they touch the ground. When a Dwarf beard grows that long the entire local community breaks into celebration. Not every such Dwarf actually joins Longbeard ranks and some remain in whatever their field of expertise is, but its a happy time nonetheless.

So why is this a big deal? Dwarf beard fetish?
Well, there actually is a good reason. Dwarfs naturally have a VERY long lifespan, comparable to Elves. Unlike Elves, Dwarfs almost never reach true old age because of the dangers to their race; they don't have a magical floating island to keep them safe from Night Goblins and Skaven tunneling into their fortresses and slitting the throats of everyone useful. Unlike humans, Dwarf population replenishment is low.
This combines with Dwarf culture, possibly their own natural instincts, to look to the oldest as the best. When in doubt Dwarfs always refer to the most elderly among them to determine what to do, following suite. So how do you quickly and reliably determine who is the oldest in a race that can't use magic to grow hair faster? Beard length. A shaven Dwarf is culturally an infant and will never regain the status lost in the shaving which is why many just shave their head to match and seek death as Slayers.

Longbeards aren't just Warriors with status however. They've seen shit that makes Elves and men gouge out their eyes declaring "''HE COMES''".

Daemonette orgy with more cocks than limbs? Lost chastity, survived it.
So many Ogres they blot out the horizon, each wearing a bib made from beards and licking their lips? Lost some toes, survived it.
Only human beer on tap? Entered a Fey Mood and chopped up a kinsman for parts to make a belt buckle, survived it.
Elves rejecting a handcrafted pipe because its made of wood? Killed so many keebs that murder has lost meaning, survived it.
Snot nose beardlings listening to crappy music, disrespecting their elders, swearing, not smoking, adopting liberal attitudes? THAT is the challenge to Longbeards.

If Longbeards are present on the battlefield, they almost certainly will not run. If Longbeards hold firm and complain that Nurgle used to be much grosser and vampires suckier in their day, nobody else will run either. Every young Dwarf wants to impress the Longbeards, and even if they do get sick of hearing about how much they suck for being born at a later date and about tall tales that are almost certainly lies, young Dwarfs still remain in awe of the idea of being so important as well as in gratitude for the centuries of service these heroes have given so they can even be born in the first place.

Prior to 8e, the Longbeard model kit was the Warriors kit, just with more gold and grey/white beards. The 8e kit is a dual kit with the Hammerers. Since Warriors cost much less, $35 USD for 20 compared to $50 USD for 20 Hammerers, then its a much better option to simply stick with Warriors painted differently unless the player loves the Hammerers kit looks enough to justify an extra 75 cents a mini.

* '''Miners'''
Mining clans will send out their best to fight alongside the Engineer's Guild, the Baker's Guild, the Potash Maker's Guild, and so on. But Miners spend all day every day wearing their armor, modified to be protective mining equipment, and carrying their weapon, picks. They can go straight from the job to a battle, which when they encounter Skaven, Night Goblins, and the odd Wood Elves is the case anyway.
The older and deeper a mine, the more investment has been put into it meaning the alcohol-powered Dwarfs have access to alcohol-powered steam drills, durable mine carts with hearty ponies, and plenty of explosives. Ironically, the younger a mine the more likely the Miners are to grumble about the newfangled beardling equipment. The most important mines have mining vehicles, air pumps, cart tracks, and elevators.

Other than that, Dwarf Miners are exactly what you would expect.

Of note is that the older Miner models actually came with terrain! Two pony-pulled mining carts, two wheelbarrows, two "mine canary" Goblins in cages, and a fair amount of extra pickaxes, lamps, and satchel charges. Good times.

* '''Rangers'''
[https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=mATZznY7H_Q You want a thankless job?] Rangers are your pick.

Dwarfs think that Rangers are a bit mental. Why any Dwarf would actually want to be in the sun and in open air, roaming the wilderness and making maps, slinking about as scouts and saboteurs, mingling with Umgi and Elgi or other weirdos from other Holds outside of a proper meet is beyond the ability of non-Rangers to explain. They figure they must be criminals evading the Slayer Oath, insane, or queer in some way (lack of females may mean Dwarfs are less likely to have a gay taboo, but if they do then its most certainly what many think Rangers are hiding).
The lore notes that a few Rangers are hiding something, but most just found it as their calling. Rangers can be sociable or prefer isolation, adventurous or paranoid, sneaky and inventive or staunch traditionalists. Those who dislike the outdoors help scout and clear the Underway. You can always find a Ranger who is a specialist in fighting Skaven, greenskins, men, Elves, other Dwarfs, Dragons, Ogres, Dragon Ogres, Daemons, undead, and anything else you can think of. When trouble strikes a Dwarf ally, a Ranger can appear and offer any kind of aid imaginable (strange is when a Dawi covered in green and leaves appears unheard from seemingly thin air to warn Wutelgi of an attack from the Dum Umgi, but its likely happened).

Its the job of a Ranger to send a message to all nearby Holds, poison the supplies of invaders, burn their maps, collapse their tunnels, ignite their ammunition, assassinate their leaders, and finally ambush the weakened force as they arrive to fight the assembled defending force.

For all this, they get to sit alone in the Hold while the non-Ranger Longbeards grumble openly about how weird they are.

But the perks are knowing they are the primary treasure-hunters of their kind, the first defenders of their homes and kin, the ones non-Dwarfs are most happy to see (after merchants), and do as much (if not more) heroic and direct good as Slayers. Every Hold and expedition relies heavily on its Rangers, from Miners fearing the Skaven to Warriors facing a WAAAGH! of greenskins. Not to mention good ol' Bugman's Rangers are doubtless doing a world of good in endearing them to their kin.

Lorewise Rangers use whatever. Rulewise its a crossbow, hand weapon, throwing weapon, great weapon, and an option for shields.
Note that although GW stopped saying so for some reason after 7e, the Quarrelers/Thunderers kit has Rangers as the third build as Quarrelers with an axe and shield. Some players prefer to use the body with cloaks for Rangers and those without for Quarrelers/Thunderers to make them actually distinguishable from the front.

* '''Slayers'''
Ah, Slayers. About as iconic as Warhammer Dwarfs get. [[Fyreslayers|Knockoffs]] not withstanding.

There's multiple sources on the first Slayer. Some sources say Grimnir was the first after leaving his axe with his kin and setting out for a one-Dwarf war against Chaos for eternity. Another says that according to Garaith Ungrim (retold by Durgrim Redmane, Longbeard Hammerer) Gudrun Morgrimson was the first after allowing the son of his best friend King Skorri Morgrimson, Furgil Morgrimson, be killed and eaten by Trolls on an expedition to the lower levels of Karak Ungor. Gudrun dyed his hair red like the prince's and used Furgil's axe while wandering in the same half-naked state (having been stripped of clothing by Night Goblins who thought he was dead), spending the rest of his life killing any Troll he could, never returning to his home of Karaz-a-Karak out of shame.
The final account is from an old Warhammer boxed set called "Dwarf Lords Of Legend" that came out in 1985. The once-sentence lore for one of the minis was "Kimril Giant Slayer, first slayer and bested the Giant twins Thunderguts and Stormbelly."

Some players have reconciled all three as thus; Grimnir began the tradition of sacrificing oneself for the greater good of Dwarfs. Gudrun was inspired by Grimnir on how to seek redemption, and began the red haired, nearly naked, Holdless, axe-using rule. Kimril was the first to copy Gudrun and be a Slayer, thereby being the founder of the Slayer Cult.

Slayers are regarded as ____slayers based on their accomplishments of killing.
** Trollslayers are the lowest rank of Slayer. They represent the common footplodder Slayers you field as elite infantry.
** Giantslayers are the Unit Champions in Trollslayer Units.
** Dragonslayers are the rank above Giantslayers, and are Hero level Slayers.
** Daemonslayers are Lord Slayers, and the strongest non-named Slayer that can be fielded in Warhammer Fantasy Battles.
Other Slayers such as Elfslayer, Vampireslayer, and Skavenslayers exist since a Slayer is simply named after their greatest foes defeated, but for all intents and purposes they fit into the above categories for the purpose of rules.
All Slayers dye their hair red and spike it with pig grease.

Taking the Slayer Oath is compared to Japanese Seppuku, but there are major differences. Rather than a way to prove honor in the face of a loss of it, Slayer Oaths are a means of restoring lost honor. It has a possible biological function in being a way to deal with a higher population of males, although since the lore reinforces how Dwarfs are generally mentally stable but anything that can really get to them causes a complete break and how Slayers are the way to cope with this loss-wrought insanity (the Slayer Kings are generally described as driven halfway to madness trying to reconcile both Oaths and responsibilities) then it is a way to eliminate those who could fall to Chaos in other races from society in a beneficial way.
Regardless, reasons for becoming one are numerous. Loss of kin, loss of love, loss of goods or money, loss of heirloom, loss of any kind. Anything that really sticks with you, that you cannot get over, would cause you to become a Slayer. (Insert reference to End Times/Age Of Sigmar here.) what would drive a human to become a drunk or an Elf to waste away in mourning causes a Slayer in Dwarfs.

Dwarfs cannot simply commit suicide or drown themselves in ale forever though. A Slayer may seek death, but they must find it being useful to their race. There are Slayer Engineers who create insane deathtrap weapons, Slayer Runesmiths who work on the weapons of their kin and follow where war goes to ensure the front line always has reliable magic. Slayers with no useful skills just become warriors, constantly improving themselves with training and seeking mentors when not wandering.
Whatever the sin, Slayers are regarded the same; pitiable warriors. Useful, but the hero of a great tragedy that's being written. Holdless, Clanless, loyal to the race as a whole. They migrate to places of conflict, or stay where Dwarfs are needed to protect. Like Rangers, a Slayer can appear from nowhere unexpectedly to help. Unlike Rangers which can be of any temperament, Slayers tend to be in darker dispositions although it is not a rule that they always are (Snorri Nosebiter from Gotrek & Felix for example).

* '''Hammerers'''
Hammerers are the most elite that the Dwarfs have to offer. Equivalent to the White Lions Of Chrace of the High Elves, Hammers are the bodyguards and honor guard forces of Dwarf nobility.

They began in Mount Gunbad, with the great craftsman Kadrin Redmane in the gold mines.
After years of fighting morale was low, resulting in a visit from King Morgrim Blackbeard. Night Goblins attacked during the visit and slaughtered the Dwarf forces protecting the king until the workers, lead by Redmane, took up their hammers for working gold and slaughtered the Goblins until the king was able to escape. The Hammerers were formed then out of seasoned Dwarfs lead by those same craftsmen who were given runehammers as a mark of office. Redmane's descendants followed in his footsteps, becoming Hammerers bearing his own runehammer in turn.

Hammerers since that time exist in all Holds (other than the Norse), and are bodyguards to king and thane. Nowadays they select their own Hammerers however they see fit from any profession, Clan, even Hold. Hammerers are stubborn and unyielding even by Dwarf standards, with absolute devotion to their charge. The hammer they wield is invariably ornate, as it is a personal gift (barring those like the Redmane Hammerers who keep an heirloom one) representing the covenant between lord and servant. They are balanced with a degree of perfection reflecting that of the greatswords of the High Elf Swordmasters and are usually made of Gromril. Note the "usually" there, Gromril is incredibly rare and despite being the king's personal guard and the most respected soldiers in the Hold the Hammerers are not automatically entitled to the best of the best gear; that's for the Ironbreakers below. Hammerers are more likely to be equipped with steel, possibly gilded in gold, although the odd bit of Gromril here and there is fitting for family heirlooms or gifts for particular feats in their career.

Large Holds have many Hammerers, and when not protecting their lords they are assigned to important positions such as guarding gates. Every group of Hammerers is named for what they protect, for example "the Bugman's Brewery Guard".

In battle their blows hit harder than anything that is not supernatural can, and with a rhythm that sounds like the workshops of a Dwarf hold.

* '''Ironbreakers'''
Equal with Hammerers in terms of elite infantry, Ironbreakers were formed after the Time Of Woes. They all wear giant complete suits of Gromril armor (mind you that in Warhammer lore entire wars have been waged over reclaiming lost suits of Gromril armor, and the absolute most legendary equipment a human could ever hope to find in the world is a single piece of Gromril gear) that allow them to survive cave-ins and guard the mines, keeping watch for Skaven, Night Goblins, or the monsters that wake up when Dwarfs dig their mines too deep...
Being an Ironbreaker is a pretty shit job given that they get none of the glory that Hammerers get and none of the freedom of a Ranger. They're hauled out of the deeps to fight on the surface when needed which can be quite often, but simply due to how numerous the rivals that fight for control of the deep spaces are, most of their battles will invariably be done underground regardless of how much or little time they spend there.

Ironbreakers are specialists in underground combat, and immediately form into complex formations designed for subterranean and cramped space warfare as their commanding officers demands.

Ironbreakers take a similar Oath as the Hammerers, although theirs is made to defend the young of their Hold and the halls/remains of their ancestors rather than to a present noble.

A special note on painting Ironbreakers; although they look fairly good dirtied up and banged around, its canon that Gromril never tarnishes and cannot be destroyed with mundane means. As a result, your Ironbreakers should technically be sparkling silver with a polished sheen that would blind an Elf.

* '''Irondrakes'''
Like most armies that got an update in 8th edition, Dwarfs received dual-build kits with new options. Irondrakes were that option, sharing a kit with Ironbreakers. Their lore reflects their meta existence far more than the other 8e additions.

Irondrakes are what happens when shit with the Skaven and Night Goblins goes so badly that prototype technology invented by batshit insane Engineers that are probably heretics against Morgrim is used. Said technology is Drakeguns, <strike>Warpfire Throwers reverse-engineered and powered by alchemy rather than Warpstone </strike> A TOTALLY UNIQUE INVENTION THA' IS THE RESULT OF WEAPONIZING GRUDGES, AN' MAYBE A BIT OF NITROGLYCERINE.

Drakeguns are very large devices with attached fuel (meaning no backpacks) that fire a single blast of flames so hot that the Gromril armor of the initial Ironbreaker testers (Tested on the battlefield?! HERESY!) was insufficient protection, which resulted in even more expense fielding them as the typical Ironbreaker armor had to be modified to show absolutely no skin, cover the beard entirely, and be filled with protective runes. The runes and protective armor were invented for Dwarfs that work in high temperature forges.
That being said, Irondrakes are still basically Ironbreakers with a fuckhuge flare gun. Just better armor on top of that.

It should be noted that the Drakefire technology has been refined to the point that Drakefire Pistols are a thing, having shorter range but can be fired even in melee. These can be seen being carried by many different Dwarfs, including Rangers and Ironbreakers. The pistols are apparently far less dangerous since that means they do not require Irondrake armor to use (Irondrakes with them still use their armor though).

Oh, and if you thought the above was insane the Irondrakes also use Trollhammer Torpedoes, a modification to Drakeguns attached to the end which turns them into '''fucking bazookas'''.

The common use of Irondrakes is standing behind the Ironbreakers until an enemy that would give them trouble appears, whereupon the Ironbreakers move to the sides and allow the Irondrakes to step forwards and incinerate the troublesome opponents before the Ironbreakers move back into formation again.

Irondrakes were a surprisingly popular addition to the army considering how poorly many 8e minis were received by Warhammer Long(neck)beards. They took up the same slot as cannons, and had the game not been summarily executed they may have caused a reduction in the cannon spam that non-Dwarf players hated so much.

* '''Gyrocopters'''
Gyrocopters are surprisingly not a new invention. New enough for Longbeards and Kragg to grumble mind you since they weren't around in the War of Vengeance, but still older than any living Dwarf save Kragg and Grombrindal. They were invented after the loss of the Underway in the Time Of Woe, as a replacement means of communication and supply drops between Holds. They have become so widespread that even small Holds have at least a few. In Dwarf battle tactics the Gyrocopter serves the combined role of dragon, cavalry, and small artillery.

A Gyrocopter is basically a helicopter, capable of taking off straight up (minimizing space needed to land, store, and takeoff) and hovering. They run on a miniaturized steam engine and are piloted by particularly brave/insane (by Dwarf reckoning) Engineers.

They were inspired by dragons flying around a mountain that an unnamed Engineer watched, with parts from Miner drilling machines and grinding machines making the mechanism work. The 6e account of Redmane says that Thane Orgri came up with the idea of sticking a small cannon on one. Since then the Gyrocopters have been armed with rapidfire guns instead, although in 7e this was changed to a steam blast that fired grapeshot like from a cannon, and in 8e this was change to a gun which fired just steam itself. This is on top of an upgrade called the Brimstone Gun, a modified version of a Drakegun. In older editions of the game and in-universe models the pilot would carry bombs to light and throw, although now they have bombs on their stabilizer wings that can be dropped.

* '''Gyrobomber'''
By replacing the steam gun of a Gyrocopter with a Clattergun (just a standard rapidfire gun rather than the shotgun blast of a steam gun) Engineers were able to attach a payload of bombs to an extended body, creating a dedicated bomber. Unfortunately the increased mass despite the same weight caused problems with wind and aerodynamics, preventing the kind of dive and drop that gives Gyrocopter bombs accuracy. To compensate, the Grudgebuster bombs were invented which are designed to create multiple "bouncing" explosions which cover a far larger area and thus are more likely to hit the target.

The most famous Gyrobomber wings are the Skyhammers of Zhufbar and the Blackhammer Bombers of Karaz-a-Karak.

* '''Cannons'''
Its a cannon. Made by Dwarfs.
That's about all there is to know.

Dwarf cannons are smaller than those of other races, and made from pure steel rather than brass and wood (old models showed wood frames and wheels, apparently those are the "newer" cannons while the new models are the "older" ones). They are tested for centuries before being put into use. The first where made by Zhufbar, but now most Holds make their own. Since so much effort goes into them, Dwarf artillerists love their weapons and take good care of them. Saying that Manling powder should be used in them is generally an insult.

Dwarf armies in the meta are known for fielding as many of these low-misfire risk and high accuracy (literally "cannon sniping") guns as they can which basically made big models useless high-point targets for much of the game history. While Dwarfs are already a defensive army, this pushed the tactic to the utmost degree.
Compare to [[Fish of Fury]].

* '''Onager/Catapult/Stone Thrower/Grudge Thrower'''
Its exactly what you think and changed names quite a bit over the years, although 7e put a Dwarfy flavor to it. During the War Of Vengeance the Dwarfs began inscribing non-magical runes naming a specific Grudge being avenged on the rocks they flung at Elves in an effort to clear as many Grudges as possible during the war.

Later on, Dwarfs who's Hold had been lost would use stone from their home with Grudges relating to the fall runed on them.

In the modern day the stone matters more than the device and Grudge Throwing is an important aspect of war.

* '''Gob-Lobber'''
One of the legendary older special models. If you have one, count yourself very lucky.
In a battle for an unknown Hold during the Goblin Wars, an Onager crew ran out of stone to fire and the Goblin army was rapidly advancing. The youngest member of the crew, Gorm Foambeard, offered to be fired instead which inspired his crewmate Gottri Flatnose. Gottri used his mallet to knock out several Goblins that had charged ahead of their force, and the crew tied them up and fired them instead (to the horror of everyone but Gottri).

It should be noted that [[Doom Divers]] were not yet a thing. The idea of being fired caused the entire horde to stop in place, and after a screaming Goblin made a direct hit and splattered on the General and officers the entire army fled. The Dwarfs celebrated the victory to the degree that they would have been unable to defend had the Goblins regrouped. Since then, Gob-Lobbers decorated with Goblin corpses and stocked with struggling Goblins have appeared throughout history.

* '''Organ Gun'''
The organ as a musical instrument which propels steam through pipes was invented by the Engineer Lokri Snarrison. Another Engineer named Durin Kurganssonson (presumably the grandson of a Dwarf named Kurgans) had the idea of using five such pipes (after 7e only four) as small cannons in one iron artillery piece. Inaccurate since they can't be reliably elevated or trained on targets (in real life the ribauldequin is the name of an organ gun, which was useful as anti-personnel artillery between 1300 and 1400 after which point its conceptual successors became inferior to a cannon loaded with grapeshot due to higher expense in production and increased load time) and with a smaller and thus less damaging ammunition.

* '''Bolt Thrower'''
Its a giant crossbow on wheels. Revered by Dwarfs since they were operated when Valaya, Grimnir, and Grungni still walked among their people. Easy to make, cheap to maintain and thus affordable to a ridiculous degree. Produces no smoke and thus does not obscure the vision in a long battle or underground. Highly accurate and reliable, can easily be aimed skywards making ideal defense against Dragons and other beasties. Bolt Throwers are beloved both by traditionalists for their reliability and the fact they date back to the days when the Ancestor Gods sat on the thrones of Holds, as well as reckless liberals who love to innovate and improve new forms of the weapon with ever superior qualities.

Yes, Bolt Throwers are the Dwarf mainstay artillery. But nobody uses them on the tabletop because FUCKYEAHCANNONS! Oh well.

* '''Flame Cannon'''
Step 1: Fill barrel (in older models literally a barrel) with molten tar and hot oil.
Step 2: Fill barrel with air until full of pressure.
Step 3: Insert a small amount of flaming oil into the nozzle.
Step 4: Release pressure, spray burning oil over the battlefield.
Step 5: Extinguish beards.

No real lore other than how to use them.

* '''[[Thunderbarge]]'''
Because some Dwarfs looked at the Gyrocopter and went "Why can't we throw four to six pieces of artillery on that, carry a small army with cargo space leftover, and ram things?" then got to work.

The Dwarf airships have long been mentioned in lore (as well as Goblin airships, Empire flying towers, and High Elf flying castles) but in 8e it finally got a name and stats...kinda. While it has rules, it was not given a points value and sat in the [[Big Red Book]] as a scenario option.

A Dwarf has to be mad in both meanings of the word to fly one of these. Which makes it none too surprising that the most famous and effective one was built by a mad Slayer Engineer and used extensively by none other than Gotrek and Felix.

Although various companies make Thunderbarge proxies, GW never made an official one and recommended scratchbuilding it.

* '''Flame Thrower'''
Similar concept as the Flame Cannon, but a two-Dwarf weapon team <strike>the same as</strike> COMPLETELY DIFFEREN' THAN a Skaven Warpfire Thrower. Dwarf in the back operates a bellows which projects the flames out of the nozzle the front Dwarf holds.

The models are long Out Of Production.

* '''Goblin-hewer'''
Another unique and beloved set you should count your lucky Gromril to own.

Malakai Makaisson was an Engineer who created numerous ill-fated vessels. The Ironclad he built named the <strike>Titanic</strike> Unsinkable sunk on its maiden voyage, killing most of the crew. His Thunderbarge <strike>the Hindenburg</strike> Undestructable exploded on its maiden voyage, killing most of the crew.
For both disasters he was kicked put of the Engineer's Guild and became an Engineer Slayer. He built a final Thunderbarge, the Spirit Of Grungni, which had an illustrious and successful career. He used it to go on adventures with Gotrek and Felix.

But at some point he decided to invent an artillery piece on treads that fires axes. Yes, you read that right.

That is the Goblin-hewer. It is operated by Slayers who are more than willing to get into melee. It was also a Dogs Of War model, so not just for Dwarfs.

* '''Imperial Dwarves'''
Getting way into Oldhammer on this one, as these originate in the time when Games Workshop models were produced by two companies; Marauder and Citadel (they later merged in 1993 with the release of 4th edition). Marauder Dwarfs resembled what we now know as the Empire, basically Landsknecht Dwarfs. This is before most Warhammer lore (not unfair to say "almost all" in fact).
Today the logic of these models in the community is thus;
** "Imperial Dwarves" are Marauder Empire Dwarfs. They are Dwarfs living in the Empire, expatriates. Canon lore calls them Gazani AKA Flatlanders.
** Imperial Dwarfs are what we know now as modern Citadel Dwarfs. They are the Dwarfs of Ankor, loyal to the High King.

Marauder Dwarfs mainly differ in using spears.

<gallery>
Image:Empire Dwarfs.jpg|The Empire Dwarf range.
</gallery>

* '''Ironclad'''
If you played [[Dreadfleet]] or [[Man O' War]] then you know exactly what this is.

An Ironclad is a giant paddle steamship, basically a small Hold (like a modern aircraft carrier is a small city) that contains an entire Clan. Over the years Ironclads are modified by the crew, every change recorded in the ship's Book Of Armaments that are sporadically shared with the Engineers Guild.

The layers of iron require significant damage to occur before boarding is possible, with tough Dwarf Marines waiting inside. Every hatch is sealed by intricate locks that only a captain can unseal. Every Ironclad is full of Engineers, improving and repairing as needed and causing an already tough ship to be able to be repaired even in battle.

Although all Dwarf ships are called Ironclads, the Ironclad is also the battleship equivalent of the Dwarf navy.

Although High Elves technically have the single strongest navy in the setting and fight with Dark Elves to maintain that status, Dwarfs are the uncontested masters of their own waters.

* '''Dreadnought'''
An Ironclad the size of a full-sized Dwarf Hold. Very few have ever been made, and the primary buyers are the Kings of Barak Varr with each commissioning their own personal one upon taking the throne. Hengist Cragbrow was the inventor of the first Dreadnought. Dreadnoughts boast the ability to launch Gyrocopters and Thunderbarges like an aircraft carrier.

* '''Monitor'''
Named after one of the two famous real life ironclads, this is an Ironclad small enough to sail up rivers and lakes. Rarely seen outside Barak Varr's waters. Equivalent to a U-boat.

* '''Nautilus'''
Obvious inspiration is obvious. Invented by Mungrun Steelhammer, Cragbrow's apprentice.

A Nautilus is a Dwarf Ironclad submarine. The most famous one known to players is actually owned by Chaos Dwarfs in Dreadfleet, but Ankor Dwarfs use them too. Dwarfs who shame themselves but decide against becoming Slayers sometimes volunteer as crews.

* ‘’’War Balloon’’’
A hydrogen-filled balloon which lifts a metal gondola, powered by a steam propeller and fins while using release of gas in and out of the chamber to achieve lift. Capable of flying upwind and far further than Gyrocopters. Armed with bombs similar to the Gyrobomber which are dropped from underneath the gondola, and a gatling cannon turret. Presumably without the bombs they could carry cargo.

* '''Dragonslayer'''
You read that bit about Slayers above, right? Well, the Dragonslayer is what happens when a Slayer manages to survive despite all odds, until mere trolls are no longer considered challenging enough to be a likely Doom for them. Dragonslayers, as the name suggests, compensate by going after much, much bigger quarry. In a nutshell, these are your Hero-tier Slayer characters, and so are considerably fightier than their rank and file kindred. Of course, they can't be a leader or a standard bearer, as no sane dwarf is going to follow where a Slayer leads.

While Trollslayers represent the common Slayer, fielded in groups of 10 or more usually, Dragonslayers are solitary warriors that command the same rules as a Unit.

* '''Daemonslayer'''
Somehow, despite it all, some Dragonslayers don't get themselves killed off and dragons, well, they aren't as common in the Warhammer World as they used to be.
So, what's the one enemy that dwarfs hate more than Dragons, who're equally challenging to kill, ''and'' can be easily found wherever you wanna sling your axe? You guessed it: [[Daemon]]s. With no mortal challenges left to face, these Slayers go wandering northwards, either smashing headfirst into a Chaos incursion or dying somewhere in the Chaos Wastes.

A Daemonslayer is a Slayer Character, who accompanies but cannot lead an army.

* '''Engineer/Master Engineer'''
Engineers are the dwarfs who have joined the Engineer Guilds, learning the fine arts of building all the technology that the dwarfs admire so much, as well as striving to control any dangerous ideas they might have about "innovation" or "invention". Master Engineers are, of course, the most experienced and skillful engineers around, with centuries of study under their belts. On the tabletop, these guys tend to be orientated towards ranged combat, and have special rules that let them buff your war machines.

* '''Runesmith/Runelord'''
Dwarfs don't have conventional wizards, and consider the practice a right load of mucking around. No, they stick with a far safer route. Runesmiths have the most difficult and arduous job in all of Dwarfdom; studying for centuries to master the art of binding magical energy into physical constructs through precisely carved runes. These runes can then have their power tapped for a safe, reliable form of pseudo-spellcasting; each rune may only be capable of doing one thing, but it will ''never'' blow up in the user's face like wizardry would. Runelords are the master Runesmiths; they've been around for a thousand years or more, and so can use runes that ordinary Rune Smiths just aren't tough enough to handle yet. As you might have figured, these guys act like wizards in the dwarf army, but they can't manifest the damage-dealing effects of other casters; instead, they're an anti-magic support unit, specializing in destroying spells cast by enemy wizards. Needless to say, they're not as squishy as Warhammer wizards tend to be. Out of combat, these are the ones that make anything important for Dwarfs from the weapons and armor of elite troops to important components of machines.

* '''Anvil Of Doom'''
Mighty displays of dwarven magical craftsmanship that can no longer be replicated in the degenerate modern age, an Anvil of Doom is a rune-inscribed anvil-cum-altar that essentially lets a Runelord act like a more conventional wizard. By striking on this Anvil, they can draw upon the magic bound within its runes to cause various destructive effects.

Created by the great ancestor Kurgaz in the depths of Thunder Mountain, forged from pure Gromril in the way of the first Dwarfs, sealed with the rune of magic tamed itself, the Rune of Sorcery. A dragon was recorded as attacking Thunder Mountain, killing Kurgaz and most of the Runesmiths which caused many of the most powerful and important runes to be lost.

Each is inscribed with intricate runes that modern Dwarfs can't even read, let alone use. That is on top of the central rune, the Rune Of Doom, which gives the Anvils their name. Even beyond that, every Anvil was dedicated to one of the primary trinity; Grungni's requires and bolsters effort, Grimnir's fury, and Valaya's is based on loyalty.
Knowledge of how to use the Anvils was passed down orally and practically from master to apprentice, so the current users of the Anvils have a very incomplete and often completely different understanding of how to use them with the untimely death of a master resulting in many secrets lost forever. Improper use of an AoD can cause great calamity, the worst of which is the loss of the Anvil itself. Very few remain in the world, each belonging to a major Hold. Their loss is a dark day to never be forgotten by any Dwarf.

Most AoD are left in the depths of each Hold, lost with the homeland and reclaimed on joyous days (because its generally beyond the capacity of greenskins and Skaven to destroy them). Rarely, in times of need, they are hauled into battle. The 4e model had them mounted on wheels with the Runelord riding it, striking the front from the back. The 6e model is sedentary, consisting of the AoD sitting in a magic runed stone circle while an apprentice works a nearby forge. Both versions have Anvil Guards, sworn to loyalty of the Anvil above all else who will never abandon it. How exactly the vibrations and lightning from striking don't shatter the ankles of the Runelord in the old model isn't clear, not is how the fuck they haul the thing to a battle or travel when ambushes are a thing in the new one...as a result many modders put the new AoD on the back or in the hands of a Golem, on a flying chunk of rock, or some other transportation.
[[Total War: WARHAMMER]] actually addressed the issue by having the Anvil Of Power carried by four Runesmiths, similar to the Thorgrim's Throne. The only effects are making Runelords much killier and more durable while increasing the "FUCK YO MAGIC" bubble of your army at the cost of a tad bit of speed.

Thorek Ironbrow is the only Runelord capable of using the Rune Of Doom of his AoD, and not safely (or possibly correctly) either. Its unknown if Kragg could, given Kragg is actually older than the Anvils Of Doom, but he was basically replaced by Thorek in the lore when the bit about nobody knowing how to use them was added; if you consider Kragg canon, he may be the only Dwarf capable of using them properly.

* '''Thane/Lord'''
All dwarf clans have a boss, called a Thane, and the boss of bosses is called a Lord. There's not really much more to it than that; these are your bog-standard character units, with Thanes filling the Hero tier and Lords, well, take a guess.

A Thane may be appointed and come from any part of society; these are the Dwarf nobility.
A Lord may only be of royal descent, with royalty descended from the ancestor gods and thus all children of Valaya. Thanes are promoted into Lords as high nobility.
A Lord may become a King upon the death of the previous king. Unlike in other races, this is not an enviable position; happy ascension only occurs on the very rare time a King lives long enough to step down and even then is more the shouldering of responsibilities rather than gain of wealth and privilege.
All Kings are eligible for High King, seen much like promotion from Lord to King. The High King is the supreme leader of the race, loyal to all Dwarfs as if they are his children.

Rarely, females end up as Thanes. The wife of a King is by default a Queen, but rare is the Queen who truly rules; the current Queen of Karak Norn sharing leadership with her husband is the exception. Very few times in history has a Queen ruled alone, and a High Queen has never existed save as wife of the High King.

Some Dwarf Kings take on the tradition of the son of Kurgaz, and are carried into battle standing on an oversized shield (or the shield of a giant of a Dwarf ancestor) by two beloved Thanes.

Oathstones are another tradition, a piece of the Hold of the King, Lord, or Thane which is inscribed in runes describing the user, lineage, deeds, clan, or other relevant information. These are stood on ceremonially or in battle, and to Dwarfs it is representative of the Hold itself; thus by standing on one, the Dwarf is saying to treat it as the home and defend it or be as truthful and sincere as they would to the entirety of what the Oathstone represents. Whether swearing an Oath, making a greeting, or standing with shield ready in front of it.

* '''Steam Tank'''
While the Empire and their famous twelve (which somehow are included in almost every Empire army ever fielded by players) may be the most well known, Dwarfs did in fact create Steam Tanks at some point. A particular story refers to several Dwarfs stuck while trying to clear the Underway after their tank became inoperable.
They are never mentioned anywhere else, so presumably it was either the only one created by a particularly mad Engineer or they are mostly used in the Underway (which does make the most logical sense given its the Dwarf preferred form of travel between Holds and reclaiming it would solve somewhere around 85% of the problems of the Dwarf race, the bulk of the remaining 15% being the eternal need for more Gromril and gold).

* '''Wizards'''
Yeah, technically modern lore is Dwarfs repel magic and only Chaos Dwarfs can be wizards via rune tattoos that force magic into their bodies, turning them slowly to stone like a cancer as their body tries to fight it.
But in the preslotta days that only players who can call themselves Longbeards remember, there were three Dwarf wizard models with one notably whispering anxiously to a small and confused looking frog.

That's all there is to say really. If you're one who likes to blend all of Warhammer lore into your headcanon or the community FLGS canon, there are at least three Dwarf wizards wandering the world.

* '''Golems'''
Another relic of older editions, but this time not quite as far-fetched. Introduced in a Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay supplement, Golems are basically just robots powered by Runes. They are as complex as the creator designed them to be, with some that are permanently inactive because the Dwarf or Dwarfs it was designed to obey are dead. Some are extremely dangerous, still following orders to guard things with no failsafe programmed or at least known if that ever becomes undesirable (or for example "guard this room" meaning to kill everything that enters it's creator's tomb is followed by a wall collapsing and the "room" now including the entire entrance to the Hold). Golems can also be created to do non-military tasks, and follow the same logic of Fantasia brooms for a simple command becoming a major issue. Other Golems are complex enough to have multiple uses and actually have failsafe measures, meaning that not only should perfection in creating the Golem exist but the Dwarf in question should be the sort to fully think through their actions using knowledge of the success and failure of their predecessors...not that those would be rare qualities among most Dwarf Runesmiths, but mistakes can still be made (and probably result in the Slayer Oath).

* '''Rune Golems'''
As Golems, but exclusively military and created during the time when the gods walked among the Dwarfs under the eye of Grungni himself. Made entirely of pure Gromril.

* ‘’’Rune Guardians’’’
Same as Rune Golems, but have more lore and are probably the same thing under a different name.

Rune Guardians were created as ludicrously complex machines powered by the Master Rune Of Waking, knowledge of which has since been lost and would require study of an intact Guardian to obtain. The instructions for the Guardian’s behavior are written with the Waking Rune on its forehead, and cannot be changed. Their primary use is defending abandoned Holds and tombs.

Their hands end in axes, and they are made to look like a Dwarf the size of an Ogre. They can be inscribed with up to two other Runes.

* '''Juggernaut'''
Similar to the Chaos Dwarf Juggernaut ("THA'S A GRUDGIN' YE PANSY ELF WIKI FUCK!"), although they only existed in 3e Warhammer and had no lore behind them, merely an advert crediting them to [[Tony Ackland]] in design. It appeared to be a type of ornate wooden ship on wheels powered by a boiler and armed with a cannon.

* '''Juggernaut'''
Not the same thing as the above entry, rather it's the same thing as the two that preceded it. Juggernauts were described as giant Golems created by Grungni to guard Karaz-a-Karak, of which only two survive. This lore actually preceded the 2e WFRP lore. Whether this counts as stating that only two Rune Golems exist or if these are just a superior form of Rune Golem is entirely up to any player who wants to take them as canon.

* '''Doomstones'''
More artifact than soldier although they can be wielded in a manner that may as well make them the ultimate warmachines, the Doomstones are a set of four legendary artifacts lost around the area now inhabited by humans called the Border Princes and were introduced in a campaign of five books for Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay named after them.
They are best summarized as when Runesmiths attempted to replicate a High Elf [[Waystone]] using pure Warpstone and instead created superweapons that can shake mountains into pebbles and split continents.

In other words the Dwarfs Elf’d so hard they accidently Skaven’d and as a result the whole thing was Slann’d up.

==Descendant Races==
In the [[Age of Sigmar]], at least two varieties of dwarf have survived the apocalypse, besides the normal dwarfs, and preserve the history of the dawi in some way; the fire-spewing, [[Slayer]]-like [[Fyreslayers]], the actual Slayers known as the Unforged and the [[Kharadron Overlords]], which are dwarfs who resided in the Chamon-realm and escaped Chaos by building flying cities which now mine gaseous "ur-gold" from the clouds.

In addition, there are the [[Cities of Sigmar]], which house all manner or Order-Aligned races, Dwarfkind included. That said, the Dwarfs are rather under-represented with only the Dispossessed (The basic Dwarf footsloggers and Runelords) and Ironweld Arsenal (Steamtanks and other war machines) being represented while the rest seem to have been forgotten.

==Interesting facts==
* In 1992 BISP (British Institute of Small People) took Games Workshop to court over the offensive use of the word "Dwarf" as a magical creature predisposed to drink and hoarding gold but came out short and failed to win their case. Games Workshop later counter sued BISP (forcing its closure) for alleged theft from the Games Workshop premises and threatening calls. This event was referenced in several of Terry Pratchett's Discworld novels.
* The video game [[Warhammer: Mark of Chaos|Mark of Chaos]] was marked with scandal after a Games Workshop employee was fired for suggesting the Dwarfs speak with a Scottish accent because "they are greedy overweight alcoholics anyway" in a printed release of Gamesmaster magazine. Games Workshop was forced to issue an apology to the minister of Scotland Andrew MacDonald.
* Dwarfs were the first faction to get lore in any Warhammer setting, as previously mentioned above (not counting the Goblins because fuck Goblins). This bears mentioning again because fuck Chaos and fuck the Elves, Dwarfs were here first and are the eldest sons of the forgotten ancestor god Priestley.
* Games Workshop actually owns a pub decorated like an in-universe inn with shields from various factions, called Bugman's Brewery. Dwarfs also created the setting of [[Blood Bowl]] when they discovered a mysterious treasure chest during a battle with Goblins and their eldest went mad translating the "Amorikan Football" pamphlets and books inside which ended up entirely changing the culture of their world. As a result, Dwarfs in fact have the highest amount of 4th wall breaking with the real world in all Games Workshop properties.
* Lego actually ripped off the Dwarf Slayers in Wave 17 of their blind bag minifigure sets, including a "Battle Dwarf" that is a dead-ringer for a Dwarf Slayer. This Slayer goes with the generic Elves and Dwarves of previous blind bag sets as well as the short-lived Dwarves VS Orcs/Trolls themes of the past. Unfortunately given the strict policy of never glorifying war (outside of Star Wars and Tolkien at any rate) passed down by the founder of the company and still followed today, licensed Lego: Warhammer will never happen.

==See Also==
* [[Warhammer/Tactics/8th Edition/Dwarfs|Tactics/Dwarfs]]
* [http://www.bugmansbrewery.com/ Bugmans Brewery], the primary Dwarfs fansite.
* [[Squats]]

{{Playable Factions in Warhammer Fantasy Battle}}

[[Category:Warhammer Fantasy]][[Category:Dwarfs]]

Kaldor Draigo

2020-01-15T22:28:43Z

65.117.99.152: /* Listings of Deeds */

{{Fail}}
{{MattWard}}
{{Skub}}
[[File:Kaldor Draigo vs M'kar the Reborn.jpg|400px|thumb|right|Mary Sue HOOOOOOOOOO! From the looks of it, things are [[not as planned]] for the Lord of Change.]]

{{Topquote|I'm not locked in here with you, you're locked in here with me!|Kaldor Draigo thinks he is as badass as [[Angry Marines|Rorschach]] in Watchmen, [[skub|which is obviously, utterly false]]}}

Oh fucking hell, where to ''start'' with this poorly-written piece of work. '''Kaldor Draigo''' is the '''Supreme''' Grand Master ''(Don't forget the [[Azrael|Supreme]] part)'' One True Sue of the [[Grey Knights]] probably the greatest living loyalist in the 41st Millenium... and a ridiculously obnoxious thorn in the side of anyone who [[Dark Angels|<s>is an enemy of the emperor</s>]] isn't an obnoxious prepubescent BITCH. And the worst thing is that we can't get rid of the thorn.

==Origins in the Fluff==
Draigo first showed up from out of no-where in [[Matt Ward]]'s [[Skub|famous]] Grey Knights 5th Edition codex, previously there had been no mention of the character anywhere, but suddenly we were presented with this all new guy, with a list of deeds equivalent / greater than any of the established 40k heavies, including several [[Primarchs]], yet somehow completely and unbelievably infallible.

As a lowly Battle-Brother he banished the [[M'kar|Daemon Prince M'kar the Reborn]] and he has risen steadily through the ranks to become the '''SUPREME''' Grand Master Chosen of the most secretive Chapter of [[Space Marines]]. Yet ever since his other battle with [[M'kar]], Draigo has been cursed to a life within the Warp, doomed to walk within the [[Chaos|Realm of Chaos]], [[Mary Sue|to remain pure when constantly assailed by Chaos]] and to show fortitude and personal strength [[Mary Sue|that is beyond comprehensible measure]]. ''(In other words, he's got [[Plot armor]] of a scale equivalent to a 1++ unmodifiable save)''

But while Draigo lives, he will [[troll|prevail]], and one day, he will return.

===Wait this sounds so familiar... Oh, son of a bitch!===
''Long ago in a distant land, I, M'kar, the shape-shifting Master of Chaos, unleashed an unspeakable evil! But a foolish Grey Knight warrior wielding a magic sword stepped forth to oppose me. Before the final blow was struck, I tore open a portal in space and flung him into the Warp, where my evil is law! Now the fool seeks to return to real-space, and undo the evil that is Chaos!''

[[Samurai Jack|Dammit, Matt Ward's ripping off stories better than his own again.]]

To be fair, Samurai Jack <s>[[heresy|is not that good]], so Matt's version can hardly be worse</s>{{BLAM}}{{BLAM}}{{BLAM}}{{BLAM|'''TRIPLE FUCKING HERESY!!!'''}} he could have ripped off, which makes Draigo [[Rage]] inducing to a new extreme.. Samurai Jack is an animated series that itself ripped off from Frank Miller's Rönin; if you haven't read that Samurai Jack's like a less violent, samurai-and-fantasy-based version of [[Fist of the North Star]]. Though Matt Ward's fluff is still awful and unworthy of even sharing the same paragraph as those three.

Another theory poses that Draigo is a copy-paste of Khal Drogo from [[A Song of Ice and Fire]], whose only notable characteristic for most of the series was being literally undefeated forever. Khal Drogo got better later; Draigo didn't.

===Listings of Deeds===
Kaldor Draigo is famous for:
*Killing a Daemon Prince in his first combat action
*Banishing Daemon [[Primarch]] [[Mortarion]] back to the warp, somehow carving the name of the previous supreme grand master Geronitan (a fucking long name) into the heart of said Daemon Primarch ''without contracting space daemon AIDS in the process''
**to put this insanity in perspective, try cursive writing with a Chainsaw (block letters are difficult in wood to begin with, let alone flesh) while in the middle of an industrial toxic waste dump <s>without any protection.</s> wearing a punctured HAZMAT suit. Unless you have Plot Armor, then it's pretty sensible.
***Another idea would be to go and listen to the audio drama "Mortarion's heart", this will resolve the issues that people have with this event.
*Single-handedly holding off a daemon horde for two days in real space
*Killing a Daemon Prince with a broken sword,
*Killing one of [[Khorne]]'s strongest [[Bloodthirster]]s with little to no weaponry
*Taking said Bloodthirster's axe and reforging it into a sword for his own personal use WITH HIS MIND (you know, despite it being an obvious weapon of a Daemon and automatically a corrupting influence just to hold, let alone press your bare mind against(just don't tell this to Logan Grimnar, m'kay?))
*Slaying 6 of Slaanesh's chosen Daemonettes (when setting one's gaze upon them is enough to instantly force submission from any mortal, no matter how strong-willed)
*Setting fire to Nurgle's garden (again, whilst somehow miraculously avoiding space daemon [[AIDS]])
*Walking into the City of Tzeentch and single-handedly smashing it to rubble, which, given that the City of Tzeentch comprises geometry which is literally impossible, MAKES NO FUCKING SENSE <strike>''(maybe he just smashes the impossible buildings into equally-impossible rubble?)</strike> {{BLAM|Who the fuck gave Matt Ward his editing privileges back?!}}'' and slaying countless daemons whilst being trapped in warpspace. He can also be summoned by chaos cultists unwittingly instead of a daemon, no sooner returning to the Warp than after slaying them all.
**To be <strike>fair</strike> a cunt, Great Boss [[Tuska Daemon-Killa|Tuska the Demon-killa]] did that to several different places with impossible geometry during his WAAAGH! into the warp... but then again, those are [[Orks]], for whom impossible shit forms the backbone of their war machinery, he had an army and artillery with him so they could've [[Dakka|fired in all directions]], he had an army with him that took losses as they went and they eventually were defeated, in a sense <span style='color:green;font-size:105%'>'''DEFEETED? WE'Z STUCK IN IN AN ENDLESS WAAAGH!!! WHERE U KAN COME BACK FO' MOAR EVVRY TIME U GET ZOGGED! AN' WE'Z NEVAH RUN OUTTA ENEMIEZ! GREAT BOSS DEMONA-KILLA IZ DA BEST BOSS EVAH!'''</span>)

===Additional Bullshit===
If anyone needed additional proof that Matt Ward is too busy wanking off at the thought of his own fluffing skills to actually pay any attention to what he's writing, just look at the chronology of Draigo's entry. He initially distinguishes himself in 799.M41 during his first encounter with M'Kar, earning the rank of Justicar. The next confrontation with M'Kar occurs 'Two hundred years to the day since Draigo's victory on Acralem' (i.e. 999.M41). 999.M41; this is confirmed in the 'Deeds of Legend' section of the Codex as well. Additionally, 999.M41 is ''also'' the point Draigo is dragged into the warp and begins his centuries-long rampage. Later on in the '''exact same fucking fluff entry,''' when he returns for the first time to the mortal plane, he has been "clearly long adrift in time, for he knew [those Grey Knights he encountered] not". Y'know, despite the fact '''[[FAIL|TIME FLOWS DIFFERENTLY IN THE WARP THAN IN REAL-SPACE.]]''' Doubtless, as we all know, time passes differently in the Warp; Kaldor himself may have been experiencing years or centuries there, but time crawls linearly along for everyone in the Prime Material, and that therefore would have ''zero impact'' on the age and number of surviving, recognizable members of the Grey Knights whom he left behind. So, unless we're intended to assume that his entry is to be read as though in the future, i.e. sometime well after the END of the 41st Millennium, then Kaldor "''I'm-a-fucking-badass-who-can-survive-indefinitely-in-the-Warp''" Draigo has really only been AWAY from the mortal plane for, at most, a few months. Giving Mr. Ward the benefit of the doubt (which seems completely unfair to readers with more than an iota of brain power), either Kaldor has been randomly deposited into points in the distant PAST, or we're intended to pretend all Grey Knight battles that include him are taking place in the distant FUTURE. Without one of these two assumptions, only two other alternatives remain: either Draigo has gone completely fucking senile/[[If the Emperor had a Text-to-Speech Device|has gone completely batshit fucking insane from Warp exposure]], or Draigo was too big a stuck-up, arrogant snob to ever learn the names or faces of those serving under him. This, of course, is if we want to give Matt Ward ''any'' credit at all. In other words, the above is a concrete example of '''BAD WRITING.'''

Seriously, what the fuck more do you want, GW? Who's he fluffing on your board of directors, that you've retained such a piss-poor hack for so long? Are you on drugs? What kind of Slaaneshi death cult has been giving you drugs? Can I have some of your drugs so I can at least make sense of your goddamned incompetence?!

===Wut?===
Clearly, the only explanation for the sheer levels of retardation and gratuitous [[Matt Ward|canon-rape]] Draigo represents is the simplest one: That Draigo is, in fact, defeated - Chaos cannot be beaten in its own realm of non-space because of the mere fact that chaotic beings are immortal, after all, and none of the above is true. (though psykers can "technically" kill chaos daemons for good in the warp, it requires an amount of psychic energy and willpower that's far beyond the norm)

Right now, this very moment, (in the far future) Draigo is in fact a shredded pile of torn flesh and shattered bone after having his ass handed to him by the above Lord of Change and Bloodthirster, who proceeded to step in whilst the Lord kept him distracted - [[Just as planned]]. This pile of broken ex-marine is also gushing ooze and phlegm and pus as he was infected with every blight and pox Nurgle has to offer. This shredded, oozing pile....''thing'', is also being raped and violated in the most unspeakable and vile ways by the Daemonettes of Slaanesh.

And so it shall continue, for all eternity. [[Troll|Because every single Chaos God finds it fucking hilarious]].

The only reason he thinks "all is well" is because Tzeentch thought he'd have a bit fun with Draigo. He stuck Draigo into a matrix-esque dream world where everything goes his way and is just waiting for Draigo to climb as high as he can. This dream world will probably last until Draigo has crushed the Chaos gods themselves and all their armies beneath his feet and caused the God-Emperor himself to rise from the throne and suck him off!

Then, at the "funniest" possible moment, right as his bolter is about to fire its payload (and we're not talking about the one on his wrist), Tzeentch will rip it all away from him, Draigo will wake up and see what has really become of him and weep tears of utter loss and despair! "[[Just as planned]]!"

While all that's happened, Draigo thought to himself: "I have no mouth, but I must scream".

At least that's what the heretics want you to think.

[[File:Jelly thing.jpg|200px|thumb|right|Kaldor Draigo, what really happened to him.]]

<s>Admittedly, Draigo's fluff is pretty badass, but still canon-rape (no pun inten- wait, pun totally intended).</s> There is nothing awesome about someone who just goes around fucking everything up with zero challenge. It's like people who write stories about how their super awesome character killed the [[Lady_of_Pain|Lady of Pain]] or something.

//{{BLAM|''Inquisitor's Note: While the above is no doubt the fevered ramblings of a mind crying out for the Emperor's peace there is a small measure of truth in it. Our [[canon|most blessed and sanctified scriptures]] tell us that Lord Draigo's victories in the warp are indeed empty ones, and that every daemon slain and fortress toppled shortly rights itself. This is his curse and only when, by the Emperor's blessing, he returns to the materium will he be able to enact any lasting defeats on the ruinous powers.}}//

//{{BLAM|''Historitor 165.82.108.238 remanded to custody for Inquisitorial review.}}//

++{{BLAM|''Thought for the Day: Many are the faces of the enemy, many are the hands of the enemy.''}}++

Alternatively you could also accept the less serious but popular fanon that Kaldor Draigo is actually traversing the Warp while high on drugs. His latent psychic abilities and drug-fueled insanity could technically allow him to shape his battles in the Warp to go in his favor. That or Draigo has almost [[Malcador]] levels of psychic abilities, the strain of which has caused him to go completely bat-shite insane, rendering the Warp into his own personal plaything to a certain extent.

===Mat Ward Sez===
''"Lord Kaldor Draigo is a combat monster - there's no other way to describe him. He's lethal against non-daemonic foes, with plenty of Strength 5 force weapon attacks to lay a beat down. When faced with hated Daemons, his Titansword becomes Strength 10, ensuring a pretty one-sided fight in his favour. Even if his enemy survives, Draigo's storm shield is sure to keep him fighting. And on top of all of this, Draigo is a Grand Master, able to bestow extra abilities on his allies. Want your Dreadknight to capture objectives? Draigo can make that happen. Want a Scouting screen of Dreadnoughts? Draigo can make it happen. He's the best possible way to keep your opponent on his toes."''

In summary: HE [[/d/|MAKES IT HAPPEN]].
(So does [[Creed]] but unlike Draigo he does OP with [[awesome|Style]])

==Tabletop==
In lab tests conducted on /tg/, Kaldor Draigo loses to [[Abaddon]] the Despoiler [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rX7wtNOkuHo roughly 73.5% of the time]. But then again Abaddon is meant to be a high-cost, point-sink, cc-beatstick who doesn't have arms or do anything to boost his own army...

===6th Edition===
Like Abaddon, Kaldor's amazing super awesome blade of Mary Sue has been reduced to AP3, but Abaddon was important enough to get FAQ'd back to AP2! This means anything, ANYTHING, with 2+ save will survive combat with Draigo. Even a [[Tau|weaboo space communist]] wearing iridium armor. Or a Meganob. Or a Captain in artificer armor...if you ignore that Draigo's weapon has the Force special rule, which can cause Instant Death in compensation (which is fine and dandy until he gets challenged by a Phoenix Lord). AP3 admittedly is somewhat of a blow, but this is compensated for against more dangerous foes with its latent abilities and his own 3++ save.

That or just charge a Chaos Lord in Terminator armour with <s>Bloodfeeder</s> '''THE MURDER SWORD''' or the Axe of Blind Fury. Naw, the Lord would have to fail a single save to get mindraped.

===7th edition===
While Draigo's beloved Titansword got upped back to AP2, he himself became far more expensive as a tool, as he is now relegated to the Lords of War Slot -- where Superheavies live -- for a heaping 245 Points. This means that he can't be accessed by himself, he needs someone else in the HQ slot to unlock him. Unless you're running unbound, the system used exclusively by [[This Guy]]'s fluff games and [[That Guy]]'s absolute cheesiness. Actually the former sounds kind awesome, to represent a battle where the GK's command structure has been slain but then Draigo pops out of the Warp with a nose full of warp dust.

He still has his insane 2+/3++ save thanks to his Termie Armor and singular Storm Shield. His Force blade is still S+3 with AP2 Master-Crafted, with the ability to re-roll to-wound against Daemons when he uses Force. That said, Force is now deniable, thus you should expect that they will, and in force. Aside from that, he has Banishment (which weakens Daemons' invuls), Hammerhand (Upping him to an S9 murder machine), Gate of Infinity (For sudden Deep-Strikes anywhere), and Purge Soul (To make a sudden hit). This solves one of the reason he was hated: the utter ability to roll whatever you wanted. Without Biomancy or Telepathy, he's no longer invincible.

As a commander, he is now not very worthwhile, with the removal of Grand Strategy and his Warlord Trait now giving him Hatred (Daemons) and an easier time casting Banishment and...that's it. He can no longer make Paladins troops either, so now you've lost more reason to take them over a cheaper ML3 Librarian with both the Domina Liber Daemonica and a Warlord Trait to give him SIX FUCKING POWERS IN SANCTIC. Quite frankly, he's only useful as the mother of all beatsticks.

===8th edition===
Draigo's sword became S+4 AP-4, and does a flat 3 damage now in the place of Instant Death. Also, he gives himself and all Grey Knight units within 6" of him the ability to re-roll all misses in shooting and close combat. Additionally, his Bane of Evil aura grants Grey Knights within 6" to re-roll their damage rolls against Daemons in the fight phase (nice, considering all Nemesis Force weapons comes with D3 damage except the Daemonhammer). He still has his 2+/3++ thanks to his Terminator Armour and Storm Shield. His warlord trait, Daemon Slayer, is still heavily situational at best (read: useless). Basically, he's now not totally useless if he's not in close combat.

==Silver(ed) Knight==
The 6E Daemons Codex ''(and reprinted in the 8th edition codex)'' detailed the journey a "Knight of the Adeptus Astartes in silvered armor "whose will was as strong as silvered adamantium" braving the many circles of the Palace of Slaanesh, cutting down a few daemonettes and mortal thralls, only to kneel before the Prince of Pleasures himself, in the guise of a young, androgynous boy who cowed the Knight with absolute and righteous innocence. Too many people believe that it's Draigo because of their seething spite for the Ward, but a more rational mind could realize that the Grey Knights aren't the only people wearing silver armour. There's still the [[Silver Skulls]], [[Doom Eagles]], and the [[Iron Snakes]], all who wear silver Power Armour and have more of a likelihood to be corrupted (Especially if you consider the presumed origins that the Skulls are actually loyalist Iron Warriors)

'''Alternate take:''' How many other Marines are actually running around the Warp, much less loyalist Marines? At the very least, even if it is Draigo it took the god himself to outright convert him with a touch of his "scepter" so someone at least got the idea of what it should take to cause a Grey Knight to just flip to the side of Chaos for no reason. That or maybe their geneseed makes them hot for traps. Either way it's not clear when this happened, so it could be in the future or an alternate timeline since the Warp doesn't care about your single direction flow of time. Assuming it's not some weird symbolic thing.

==Placed in the hands of other authors==
C.Z. Dunn has recently taken a crack at Draigo in the novelization of the Pandorax Campaign. Here, Draigo is decidedly NOT a <s>Mary Sue</s> Gary Sue anymore, with "Supreme Grand Master" taken in the same context as [[Azrael]]. Dunn doesn't nerf Draigo, he still kicks a ton of daemon ass, but he doesn't go around soloing Bloodthirsters without backup or anything so asinine. Draigo is also shown to be moderately flawed as a character, [[Avitus|hot-headed and aggressive]] -- this is to contrast him with the stubborn and conservative Azrael (who takes until chapter 14 to get off his ass and fight smart, though when he finally does he actually fights ''really smart'' like a true Space Marine). He's also a [[Troll|top-tier dick]] who trolls Azrael about all the prisoners they've been taking back to [[the Rock]] and makes several threats that he'll get the High Lords of Terra to investigate if the Dark Angels don't comply. (Haters gonna hate.)

The Mortarion's Heart Audio Drama, also has him troll his bodyguard, and the Inquisition (in fact his first act as Supreme Grand Master is to tell the one bugging the Knights to go fuck himself). Also we see just what got him the job; he was simply the only one with enough skill to even try to beat Mortarion, even Draigo admitted he was a horrible choice, but that didn't matter since he would most likely die anyway. And, when he does fight Mortarion he gets the shit beat out of him and the entire 1st Brotherhood killed by Mortarion's hand and only gains the advantage with Mortarion's true name which causes the Primarch to have the equivalent of a seizure and then uses Mortarion's antithesis name to banish him.

This isn't too shocking as Draigo is a fairly new character and only has about two pages to himself within the codex compare to Dunn's few hundred. Even a good writer would have trouble balancing both a good character AND a badass who leads an army of daemon killers.

===The Plague of Madness===
The 7E Codex also takes steps to reduce the fucking cheese of Draigo by showing him as a competent commander before his banishment, and how he only became relevant because he was able to beat up M'Kar, the Daemon Prince of Jobbers.

In "The Plague of Madness" witten in 7Ed, Draigo has to bring out three whole brotherhoods of knights because some idiot [[Inquisitor]] tried to mess with a [[Lord of Change]] named "Ix'thar'ganix" by binding it to her will and using his power for the good of the Imperium. Ganix was both amused and infuriated at the prospect of a mortal trying to outdick him, so when the Inquisitor summoned the daemon to bind it; Ganix had a [[Great Unclean One]] named Lurgon take his place. Because the wards meant to bind Ganix didn't work with another daemon; Lurgon possesed the Inquisitor and corrupt her posse to the cause of Nurgle. Things later spiraled into madness after Lurgon corrupted the system of Decimalus after the Inquisitor's drifting ship happened upon it.

Draigo attempted to convince the Grey Knights to send a large force to apprehend both Ix'thar'ganix and Lurgon, which after some political maneuvering, he managed to get. After [[Arvann Stern]] secured an orbital fortress from some daemons, Draigo made it planetside and actually saved some Sisters of Battle from a death by daemon-nomming. After that, Draigo's band of merry men and the surviving Sisters attempted to break through a literal sea of daemons by running them over with Land Raiders and [[Rhino Transport|MEHTAL BAWKSES]], with the intent of taking the spire that housed Lurgon. Draigo's Raider however, got stuck after running over so many daemons and was eventually destroyed after a daemonblade ran through it. Thrown out of the tank, he attempted to solo an entire horde by himself and rescue his brothers still trapped inside the Land Raider.

In a completely different way of portrayal; Draigo was actually pretty close to being overwhelmed. He was struck and held down by the legion of daemons around him and would have died if it wasn't for the surviving battle Sisters coming to his aid and gunning down the horde around him. And instead of something retarded like using the Sisters' blood for protection or suddenly getting super strength and ripping his way towards the spire; he motioned a request for the sisters to buy them time while he and the survivors make a mad dash for the spire and end this insanity. The writer to this has already undone the idiocy of the [[Khornate Knights]], and did so while keeping everyone's dignity. A step up amid a codex widely considered to be a step down crunchwise.

===Other counterpoints===
It has recently been posited that Draigo's ability to traverse the Warp and wreak havoc on the Ruinous Powers with relative ease is due not to Gary Sue bullshit powers, but to the nature of the Warp itself. One of the only constants of the Warp is that it is shaped by the belief and emotion of sentient beings with psychic ability, however small. Because of this, it is possible that a being with vast psychic ability and great faith (say, a Grey Knight ''Supreme'' Grand Master) would be able to use his belief in himself and in the Emperor to [[Ork|shape the surrounding Empyrean to match this belief]] in a manner similar to daemons themselves. It also explains why things go back to normal once he leaves, since he is no longer there to affect that portion of the Warp directly. In other words, Draigo cuts a [[Bloody Path|bloody path]] through the Sea of Souls because he believes he can, and the Warp doesn't really want to dispute his claim. If one asks why other powerful psykers can't do it, they can to a degree; see [[Tuska Daemon-Killa]]. As for Eldar, Slaanesh would nab them the moment they entered the Warp. Other human psykers don't tend to try to interact with the Warp too much but it is quite likely they'd be able to some extent. Incidentally, this effectively makes Draigo a ''Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann'' character, and that is actually kind of awesome.

In addition, people never seem to think that his Aegis warded armour (Terminator armour, which I believe to contain a small Gellar Field, no less) is specifically designed to protect the wearer from the Warp, that and Grey Knight [[Interceptor Squad]]s go through the Warp on a regular basis, so Draigo should, in theory have no trouble traversing the Warp.

Also, as a number of people have pointed out, the Codex itself flat out states that nothing he's doing is having any lasting effect on the Chaos Gods. Plus, his first major appearance in a novel has him delivering an impressive verbal smackdown on [[Azrael]] regarding the [[Dark Angels]]' obsession with making sure nobody discovers the truth about the <s>[[Fallen Angels]]</s> UNRELATED TRATIORS WHO CERTAINLY HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH THE DARK ANGELS. Which makes him slightly more human.

==[[Warhammer Fantasy]]==
There has been a sighting of what might be Draigo in the Warhammer Fantasyverse - specifically, in the fluff book for the ''Khaine'' splat of [[The End Times]].

During Araloth's travels into the Realm of Chaos, to rescue [[Shallya]] from the mansion of [[Nurgle]], the final traveling companion he picks up is a knight, a "giant of a man" whose armor "gleams like silver" and whose "speech is strange" (why does Kaldor decide to help Eldar?). Upon reaching the mansion of Nurgle, the knight sacrifices himself so the rest of the party can enter, explaining he has "made something of a name for himself since his arrival in the benighted realm" and so he is sure to draw their attention. More notably, when he makes his sacrificial charge, it's mentioned that he sweeps out his hand and blue fire explodes amongst the daemon's ranks. It's also been mentioned that the Warp connects Fantasy and 40k.

Worth mentioning that not only are Wood Elves the Spiritual Liege's favorite Fantasy faction, but this was one of the last things he wrote for Games Workshop before leaving the company. Take it as you will.

That said, if this is Draigo, he is certainly not the all-powerful Gary Sue of other depictions; when Araloth finds him, he has been chained down in a glade in Nurgle's garden, at one point he gets ambushed by a [[Beast of Nurgle]] (when it ''jumps out of a tree and lands on him''), and rather than defeating the daemons he distracts, Araloth leaves the mansion to find his broken body impaled upon a spear. Yes, he's still alive, and the mad scholar the Wood Elf is traveling with (who may in fact be Richter Kleiss, the writer of the Liber Chaotica) explains that the knight is "beyond the power of the daemons" and will "take his own revenge in due course", but that is attributed to being "the way of things in the Realm of Chaos" rather than anything inherent to Draigo (if he is Draigo).

It's worth noting that the description would also fit a Stormcast Eternal of the Hallowed Knights chapter from Age of Sigmar, which was under development at the time and is technically the same setting. Though, the Sigmarine couldn't fire blue lightning out of his hands, nor was he "invincible."

In another story, whilst in the warp, Draigo sees a "world ruled over by a self-styled God-king, where magic flows through the very wind." He ultimately decides not to go there, thus proving himself far more intelligent than he has ever been given credit for.

==See Also==
*[[FAIL|Fail]]
*[[Matt Ward]]
*[http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/598617 What Draigo's actually doing in the Warp]
*[[Doom|The character draigo is trying to emulate...but failing]]
[[Category:Space Marines Chapter Masters]]

== Gallery ==
<gallery>
File:Draigo.jpg|[[Warhammer 40,000 7th edition|We spoke too soon.]]
File:Draigo2.jpg| well that just got weird...
File:Raven.jpg|STEEL REIHN
File:RAPE TRAIN.jpg|HE MAKES IT HAPPEN
File:Supreme_Grand_Troll.jpg|PROBLEM, DAEMONS?
File:Samurai draigo.jpg|Foolish Grey Knight.
File:Dreadknight.jpg|U Mad, Dreadnoughtfags?
File:Draigo codex2.jpg|Son of a bitch even gets his own codex.
File:Hemakesithappen.png|Still a shitload better than a Primarch
File:DraigoDullSurprise.png|Draigo is a very emotive person.
</gallery>

{{Marines-Characters}}

[[Category:Mary Sue]][[Category:FAIL]][[Category:Warhammer Fantasy]][[Category:Grey Knights]]

Grand Alliance: Destruction

2019-11-25T23:35:13Z

65.117.99.152: /* Pantheon */

Led by that big git Megaboss Gordrakk of the Ironjawz, the Grand Alliance of Destruction is comprised of terrible beasties from all across the realms, joined by their affinities to Gorkamorka. Primarily dominates the Realm of [[Ghur]].

==Aleguzzler Gargants==
You spot a huge, terrifying, slobbering giant, wielding what appears to be a fairly venerable tree and about to turn you into tomato puree. What is the first thing you remember? Their fondness for drink, apparently. Named after their tendency to MUI (Murder Under the Influence), Aleguzzler Gargants spend their days getting completely wasted and then wandering into battlefields. They then stagger around the mayhem, plucking out strange meats and eating it on the go (like your local kebab shop) or shoving it down their pants for safekeeping (again, like your local kebab shop). Forgeworld has the Bonegrinder Giant, which is bigger, meaner, and drunker, like your dad. Tactics page [[Age of Sigmar/Tactics/Edition 1.1/Aleguzzler Gargants|here]].

==Grots==
As sneaky and crafty as ever. Now even further down the green totem pole with even bigger greenskins about.

'''Gitmob''' - Every Grot faction has a thing, and the Gitmob's thing is wolves. Even apart from Wolf Chariots and Wolf Riders, the Gitmob gets the most units out of the little greens, and more of an ability to make a balanced army. Led by Shamans (who can also ride wolves), as well as Goblin (Grot?) Warbosses who can also ride wolves, they have some fun artillery pieces and the trollish Nasty Skulkers in their arsenal. Also... [[Snotling|Snotlings]], I guess. Tactics page [[Age of Sigmar/Tactics/Edition 1.1/Gitmob Grots|here]].

'''Moonclan''' - As before, these gents are generally still fanatical, squig-humping nutters. Have access to the Colossal Squig, when it takes a break from eating them. Tactics page [[Age of Sigmar/Tactics/Edition 1.1/Moonclan Grots|here]].

'''Scuttlings''' - Weird Grots with four legs. You'd think that these half-spider gits would be in with that Spiderfang lot, but nope. Get poison and web attacks. A bunch took a severely wrong turn and unfortunately ended up in Tzeentch's [[Warhammer Quest: Silver Tower|Silver Tower]].

'''Spiderfang''' - Spider-botherers. You get a spider, and you get a spider! Everybody gets a spider! Their Big Bosses ride atop gigantic spiders, and they have access to the mighty Arachnarok Spider. Also, lots of lovely poison attacks. Tactics page [[age of Sigmar/Tactics/Edition 1.1/Spiderfang Grots|here]].

'''Gloomspite Gitz''' - A [[Gloomspite Gitz|loose coalition]] of the Moonclans, Spiderfangs, Troggoths (and Gargants) that all worships the Bad Moon. Current posterboys of the Destruction faction. Tactics page [[age of Sigmar/Tactics/Destruction/Gloomspite Gitz|here]].

==Ogors==
The fat bastards are back, and in a fair few flavours! Apart from their old [[Ogre Kingdoms|kingdoms]], the big lugs remain the same - hungry, belligerent and fat.

'''Beastclaw Raiders''' - [[Beastclaw Raiders|Ogors riding big monsters]], eternally chased by an enchanted winter. Wherever they go, shrinkage occurs. Have a total of one Ogor unit that isn't mounted on something big and nasty, with everything else being additional beasties to support them. Outdated tactics for these frosty boys [[Age of Sigmar/Tactics/Edition 1.1/Beastclaw Raiders|here]].

'''Ogor Mawtribes''' - [[Ogre Kingdoms|Ogre Kingdoms, now in Travelling Packages!]] Contains all the old Ogre units (including the Beastclaw Raiders) and a host of different tribes, like the Underguts who are pale and love cannons. Firebellies and Maneaters are featured here as well. You can find their tactics here: [[Age of Sigmar/Tactics/Destruction/Ogor Mawtribes]].

==Orruks==
Still green. Still mean. Still ready to Waaagh!

'''Greenskinz''' - Oh, how the Boyz have fallen. This faction is comprised of the dregs of the Orruks, mashed into the category of "Greenskins". Led by Warbosses, who are probably a bit cheesed off that they've shifted down a couple of notches on the green scale. Better kick that Grot extra hard to relieve your size envy issues when them Ironjawz lads start laughing at you and your stunty mates. On the bright side, your army is more balanced, with decent ranged options and the choice of having your Warboss ride a Wyvern or Warboar. You've also got lighter (and cheaper) cavalry and chariots to play with, at that. You also have a good bank of old school Orc Warboss special characters to draw from in the Orcs and Goblins Compendium on the GW website. In terms of fluff, these guys are basically the recruiting pool for the other two Orruk factions. Particularly 'ard lads get a bunch of armour scraped together and go off to be footmen for the Ironjawz as 'ardboyz. Gits that feel the call of the Waaaagh! a bit too much or kill a big monster and go a bit mental afterwards go and wander for a bit until they find some Bonesplitterz. Tactics page [[Age of Sigmar/Tactics/Edition 1.1/Greenskinz|here]].

'''Bonesplitterz''' - The [[Bonesplitterz|"savage" Orruks]]. Because your run-of-the-mill Orruk wants to drink tea and discuss politics, right? The Bonesplitterz are led by shamans (Wurrgog Prophets and Wardoks), who point them to big and mean monsters to kill and eat in order to consume their strength. You see, the Bonesplitterz believe that Gorkamorka's strength is squirreled away in the living shells of big monsters, meaning that they need to RIP AND TEAR! They have a bunch of options for taking out Monster units on the table, which is handy if your opponent thinks he's clever for spamming them. These guys are as naked as the day they were spawned, with only strategically-placed trophies covering their spore sacks. They have a thing for magical tattoos, which have a chance of saving their green skins from getting mulched. Tactics page [[Age of Sigmar/Tactics/Edition 1.1/Bonesplitterz|here]].

'''Ironjawz''' - Remember those dead 'ard [[Black Orc]] gits from [[Warhammer Fantasy|way back when]]? Those are the [[Ironjawz]]' basic troops. Yeah. These are the biggest and the baddest Orruks, and the "main" Destruction faction. They wear a crap-ton of armour, and generally their bigger lads seem to be the fantasy answer to Warhammer 40k's [[Meganobz]]. Also present: huge, beasty dragon things called Mawkrushas, who share the Orruk traits of headbutting things until they stop moving, and then sitting on them. With [[Grimgor Ironhide|Grimgor]] gone, Megaboss [[Gordrakk]] has big boots to fill. Luckily, he's got some big feet, which are ready for stompin'. You're quite slow (which is deceptively to your advantage as you have a massive potential charge range) and no ranged options whatsoever, barring the shout attack that Mawkrushas get. Tactics page [[Age of Sigmar/Tactics/Edition 1.1/Ironjawz|here]].

==Troggoths==
Includes the Sourbreath (stupid), Rockgut (magic resistant), and Fellwater (bulimic). All of them spew buckets at the drop of a hat and melt anyone stupid enough to stand in front of it. Have the Troll (Troggoth?) Hag as a Leader option, so that you may seduce your opponent with the delicate sway of her sausage-like tits. Tactics page [[Age of Sigmar/Tactics/Edition 1.1/Troggoths|here]].

==Fimir==
[[Fimir|Swamp rapists]] return!

==Pantheon==
'''Gorkamorka''' - The combined form of Gork and Mork, mirroring the true potential of the numerous Destruction races when united under a common cause/iron fist. Otherwise, when they're divided and fighting, Gork and Mork split and fight each other too. The Orruks worship him by assaulting bulwarks of civilisation, leaving great effigies in his image cobbled together from lumber, scrap and dung. To the Gutbuster Ogors, he is The Great Beast who will Consume the World, and they worship him by working towards eating everything within the Mortal Realms. The Firebelly tribes revere him as the Sun-eater, and honour him by eating as much combustible material as possible to incinerate their enemies with flaming breath.

'''[[Gork]]''' - Brutal but cunnin'. Will hit you hard when you're not looking.

'''[[Mork]]''' - Cunnin' but brutal. Will hit you even harder when you are.

'''Bad Moon''' - The deity of those sneaky Moonclan Grot (and [[Gloomspite Gitz]]). They believe that Gorkamorka tried to take a bite out of the Bad Moon and broke his teef, which rained down upon the Mortal Realms and became the mountains in which they dwell.

'''The [[Spider-god]]''' - Worshipped by the venomous Spiderfang Grots. Bit Gorkamorka on the toe and took on some of his divine essence as a result.

'''Balor''' - Daemon Prince worshipped by Fimir.

'''Kroll''' - Daemon Prince worshipped by Fimir.

'''Lisaart''' - Daemon Prince worshipped by Fimir.

'''[[Morr]]''' - Worshipped by Fimir.

[[Category:Age of Sigmar]]

Doctor Who

2019-11-25T23:23:39Z

65.117.99.152: /* The Doctors */

[[Image:tardis.gif||center]]

'''Doctor Who''' is a long-running (and we do mean ''long''; it predates [[Star Trek]]) British science-fiction television show. And it is ''glorious''. The Doctor, an immortal/regenerating alien that has been portrayed by a variety of actors since the show's inception, travels through space and time in a <s>1960s-era police box</s> super-advanced, living spaceship called a TARDIS. Joined by a variety of companions (mostly female), he solves kinks in time and sees the wonders of the universe. It's also famous for the various monsters it created, most notably the Daleks (cyborg [[Imperium of Man|space Nazis]]) and the Cybermen (cyborg [[Tau|space Communists]])...and especially, the Silence and Weeping Angels.
'''Don't blink!'''

==The Show==
Doctor Who is the longest ongoing sci-fi series in the history of television. It started in 1963 and ran until 1989 where it was temporarily frozen. It attempted a restart with a 1996 movie, but the circumstances were not yet ripe. The show finally started again in 2005 and is currently still running. Throughout this history the show has maintained the same continuity, thanks to the fact that the main protagonist The Doctor (aka Doctor Who) is an alien capable of "regeneration" upon the time of death or when he grows old. This rejuvenates and replaces all the cells in his body, effectively changing his appearance and somewhat his mannerisms and personality (because it also changes the brain). In this way, the series has been able to continue with different actors without resorting to "remakes" or "reimaginings" or "spinoffs" like Star Trek or Battlestar Galactica. There were a couple of unsuccessful attempts at making spinoffs (One during the original run and one more recently, both based on the rather twee K-9 the tin dog), and two more successful, the recent Torchwood and Sarah Jane Adventures (cancelled during its fifth year due to the death of the lead actress). Torchwood is Doctor Who with a large dose of GRIMDARK (if you're a horny 12 year old and just comedy for those who aren't, Children of Earth is when Torchwood becomes worth watching), along with a literally immortal lead character with a Charisma score so high that Alpenhorn-mancers turn gay for him within a sixteen mile radius. Everyone is gay for Captain Jack Harkness. He even has a [[Harkness_Test|sexuality test]] named after him.

The show is heavily episodic, with the Doctor travelling through time and space in his TARDIS (Time and Relative Dimension(s) in Space) and landing in different historical periods on Earth and elsewhere in the universe, often when there is some sort of trouble or disturbance nearby. The Doctor protects the flow of history, preventing paradoxes and manipulations and attempts to stop evil and violence everywhere. This gains him the enmity of his own race, the Gallifreyan Time Lords who have pledged to use their time-travelling technology only to observe but not interfere. Even so they often ask the Doctor to act on their behalf. The time lords got a bit shit towards the end of the original run, and were unceremoniously killed off en masse during the gap between the original and new runs in an offscreen "Time War".

The show has become iconic in British culture and science fiction fandom around the world for many reasons, amongst them:

*Having been around for fucking ever. Even if you were born during the window when Dr Who was not being made, the chances are you remember it from re-runs or carefully archived bootlegged copies made by [[Neckbeard|that one uncle you had]] (No, not that one).
*Cheesy low budgeted effects and monsters which gave the show a special charm and made it rely on story instead of flashy visuals.
*The TARDIS machine which has a "chameleon circuit" which allows it to change external appearance to fit into different environments where it "lands", its inside is much bigger than the outside, potentially infinite, thanks to the space-time technology it uses. The Doctor's TARDIS got its chameleon circuit busted and is permanently stuck in the iconic shape of a 60's British Police Box. And when we say iconic we mean ''the British police have to ask Doctor Who before they can use its likeness'', not the other way around.
*The character of The Doctor and his eccentric figure, with his alien traits like regeneration and a double heart.
*The show has been known to be aimed at a younger audience but scare them at the same time, so "hiding behind the sofa" has become a phrase connected to it.
*It also retains a big following amongst older fans because its two-sided nature; it is largely easy-going, tongue-in-cheek and comical but often turns to darker and serious tones, with good storytelling.
*Comical yet fearsome enemies like the Daleks (Genocidal [[Nazi]] Pepper-pots with death rays and the best E-VIL VOI-CES E-VER while exterminating FUCKING EVERYTHING, think of the already-overpowered and omnicidal [[Necron]]s mixed with Nazis and turned up to 11 billion), Sontarans (Huge domed heads, eyebrows and foreheads of a 4e [[Tiefling]]-basically Mr. Potato Head), Autons (Shop Dummies of Death), Weeping Angels (Scared the shit out of children everywhere, don't ever blink) and memorable "supervillain" antagonists like The Master, a rival Time Lord, and the ever-wrinkly Davros, who's basically Palpatine, the Joker, Honsou, Abaddon, Trayzn the Infinite, Asdrubael Vect, & Kheradruakh the Decapitator all rolled into one.
*Hiding behind the sofa from the aforementioned Daleks was such a common event in the lives of several decades of children that the phrase "Hiding behind the sofa" has entered [[Britfag]] slang as a slightly tongue-in-cheek way of saying "Scared shitless".
*Various toys, gadgets and gags the Doctor uses, including a 'Sonic Screwdriver' tool and the use of Jelly Babies candy to distract or bribe people.
*The theme tune. You know it, you love it. Yes you do, stop lying.
*Not being your average Science-Fiction story. While many normal Space Opera-style Sci-Fi stories are samey and bland, Doctor Who has practically every kind of adventure imaginable taking place. From dinosaurs on a space ship to gas-masked zombies (who are creepy as all Hell) to literally going to hell, Doctor Who has it all.

==The Doctors==
[[Image:Doctor_Who_alignments.jpg|250px|thumb|right|But compared to anyone else besides himself he is irrevocably Chaotic Good]]
Originally the Doctor could only regenerate 12 times, resulting in 13 different versions of himself (12 because David Tennant once managed to regenerate into himself) but during the 2013 Christmas special he managed to restart a new cycle (something that the Timelords offered The Master in The Five Doctors all the way back in 1983.). He is currently in his 12th incarnation (13th counting John Hurt who doesn't get an official number for watch-the-damn-show reasons), meaning that he's had thirteen official actors so far. That's most of them around that logo, starting top-left and not including Matt Smith, John Hurt, Peter Capaldi, or Jodie Whittaker. Man, it might be time to update that thing, innit?

*William Hartnell (1963-1966): A mysterious grumpy old professor. Didn't like to have humans tag along with him, but changed his mind after a while. Extremely intelligent (like all Doctors, duh), but also short-tempered. And a pretty good fighter, despite being old: Once beat up a big man in fisticuffs, while laughing. The Daleks and Cybermen were introduced during his time. (Evidently, one of the replacement actors for Hartnell is a fan of 40k. Duncan got a request to paint flayed wracks from either Hurndall or Bradley, Hartnell been died in 1975 so it couldn't be him.)
* Patrick Troughton (1966-1969): A cosmic hobo. Likes music, and plays recorder. More of an anti-authority figure than his predecessor. Looked like a total idiot, made his enemies underestimate him, and ran away quite a lot. It was also during his time that his race, the Time Lords, was first introduced. At the end of Troughton's run they banished him from Gallifrey for breaking the [[Star Trek|Prime Directive]], and forced him to regeneration as punishment.
* Jon Pertwee (1970-1974): A gentleman and a dandy. Spend a lot of time stuck on Earth, thanks to his stupid race putting him into exile. Could do Venusian Aikido and liked fast cars. The Master, his arch-nemesis and a fellow Time lord, was introduced: He tried to conquer the world with plastic chairs! We're not kidding.
* Tom Baker (1974-1981): The bohemian, a total weirdo, who liked candy and had an extremely long, very colorful scarf. Very good in playing a fool: No one could be as stupid as he seemed. Could switch from manic to serious in a single moment. The most iconic Doctor from the old series, probably due to his long tenure. Davros, the creator of the Daleks and a total maniac, was introduced. Baker briefly married and then divorced Lalla Ward, who played his travelling companion; their marriage difficulties contributed to Baker's end in the role.
* Peter Davison (1981-1984): Pretty much the complete opposite of his predecessor. Very much human, very noble, liked cricket. Was the youngest actor in the role, until Matt Smith some 25 years later. Some people hated him just for replacing Tom Baker. People died a ''lot'' during his time: Sometimes there was literally no one left but him and his companions - or, in case of his last story, only his companion. Is the father-in-law of David Tennant (Tenth Doctor).
* Colin Baker (1984-1986): An unstable maniac. More violent than the rest of his incarnations put together. The whole show became bloodier during his time. Thought he was awesome, despite always wearing that awful coat. Generally regarded as being the worst Doctor, at least in the TV shows, but became much more awesome in the audio.
* Sylvester McCoy (1987-1989): Started like a goofy wacky fellow, but became more serious later on. Seemed like a god walking among lesser people, and could probably out-manipulate Tzeentch. During his time, they started to turn onto some big questions, like who the hell the Doctor actually ''is'', but then the show got cancelled. Bummer.
* Paul McGann (1996): A romantic. Told people to make the best use of their limited time on this world and embrace their lives instead of being all emo and crying in a corner. But he also stated that he was half-human, which is a lie. The books and audio fleshed him out a bit. Too bad his movie didn't do well enough in America to spawn a new series <s>(damn you America!).</s> Fuck you britfag. We have Star Wars.
* John Hurt (''secret bonus Doctor'', 2013): The Doctor as he was fighting in the Time War, known by some as the "War Doctor". In setting chronology, this incarnation fits between McGann's and Eccleston's, but due to committing some horrible war crimes in order to end the Time War, he denied himself the title of "the Doctor" and later regenerations refused to acknowledge his existence; so much so that Matt Smith's version is still referred to in-universe as the Eleventh Doctor, even in mysterious prophecies, despite technically being the twelfth incarnation. He was seen only briefly in the finale of season 7 played a major role in the 50th anniversary special, and had a set of audio adventures, but probably won't be seen again (RIP, John).
* Christopher Eccleston (2005): The only survivor of the horrible Time War, which will never be fully shown, but we have seen parts of. All the other Time Lords died in it ([[Just As Planned|or did they?]]). Dark and moody, probably because of the survivor's guilt, tended to hide it behind a horribly manic and happy outward appearance. Was pretty dependent on his friends and companions when it came to moral issues. Often found himself in a kind of fix where he couldn't do shit without blowing the hell out of the area around him (the guy dropped missiles on his own head to kill a damn alien threat near him for fucks sake). The first Doctor not to wear (particularly) weird clothes. "You were fantastic. Absolutely fantastic. And you know what? So was I."
* David Tennant (2005-2010): Probably the outwardly happiest of all Doctors... or maybe the most Machiavellian. A total crackpot. Talks a lot of [[Star Trek|technobabble]], at like 90mph, sometimes of something completely unrelated. Attracts a lot of women. For some reason, one of the last monsters featured was EAT. Yeah, that EAT. Oh and, when he'll offer you a chance of redemption and says that he can help you, you ''bloody well'' should take that offer! Because he doesn't believe in second chances, nor in letting someone walk away (Unless you're an arch villain). "I've gotten too old, Wilf, and too clever; I don't kill people, but I get them to kill themselves." (you just read that entire paragraph in his voice, didn't you?) Alternatively a child on Christmas morning and the '''MASTER''' of the ''resting bitch face'' whilst he destroys you, or ''he watches you destroy yourself''. His performance was so good that BBC actually considered to end the series after his tenure because they thought that the show would fail without him.
* Matt Smith (2010-2013): The biggest nutjob since Tom Baker's Doctor. His stories tend to feature fuck-terrifying monsters and situations, including: an army of quantum abominations who only move when you're not looking at them, but logically should be of no threat to anyone who owns a time machine, being trapped in a false-awakening loop, a crack in the wall that ''eats reality,'' and an entire fucking race of Slendermen (whom you completely forget even exist when you aren't looking at one). Two of his assistants are insanely hot and another spends most of his time getting killed (and rest of the time being awesome). "I wear a bow-tie now; bow-ties are cool."
* Peter Capaldi (2013-2017): Something in between the Ninth and Fourth Doctors, making him an all-out sinister badass if you know anything about those Doctors. The actor has appeared twice in Doctor Who (well, once in Torchwood) in other roles before becoming the Doctor, which was explained as the Doctor trying to tell himself something. Thus far fans have imagined him in the role as the Doctor in the same style Peter Capaldi has appeared on the show The Thick of It, where he was exceptionally foul-mouthed. It turned out he's pretty damn hilarious. And Scottish. Quite eccentric, though. Apparently a lot of the female fans were [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RzWOlMif-Fw outraged] that an older guy got the role. It says a lot that the closest thing he had to a catchphrase was "Shut up!"
* Jodie Whittaker: (2017-present)): The first female Doctor in canon. The precedent for Time Lords changing gender was established earlier during the Eleventh Doctor's era, when he mentions banging a Time Lord named the Corsair when he became a she. An actress from ''Broadchurch'' to go along with the producer of the same show. Meanwhile David Tennant fangirls [[butthurt|cry out in horror. For the third straight time in a decade.]] [[Rage|Oh and her actress is a]] [[Tumblr|feminist]]. Many fans of the Doctor up until this point [[Skub|cried out in horror]] when she was announced. Other fans simply shrugged and settled in for new ''Who'', gratified to know that they still weren't having to wait 16 years between episodes anymore. Her first season ranged between mediocre to just above average with an awesome season finale that made the Daleks the powerful threat they should have been during Twelve's tenure, where a Scout takes out an a whole armored Platoon with no effort. However it seems that the BBC is trying to compete with [[Star Trek|Paramount, CBS]] and [[Star Wars|Disney]] on who can run a decades old franchise into the ground first, as regardless of quality, the next season won't be out until 2020. Making Capaldi's comments about "The Beeb" neglecting the show prophetic. Well this is typical for the BBC dramas. Long breaks between seasons will have the typical viewer lose interest. For fans it's hard to generate hype for a Sci-fi show that won't have another season for at least a year or more.

===Non-[[canon]] and other Doctors===
There have been a number of Doctors who were either the Doctor in strange circumstances, were later retconned or were never intended to be canon in the first place.

* Peter Cushing (1965-66): Yes, THAT Peter Cushing, the guy that played Grand Moff Tarkin in [[Star Wars]] and was so oldschool he once played alongside Laurel and Hardy. He played a human scientist called Dr. Who (yes, his last name is Who) in two movie-length remakes of early episodes featuring the Daleks. The movies were not very good and rumours had it that Cushing was taking any work he could to keep his mind off the recent loss of his wife. He is easily the best thing about the movies, mind, and his sweet, grandfatherly Doctor is a flavour almost worth seeing if you don't mind wading through all the crap. It also featured a set of groovy-coloured Daleks (who had decorated their base with lava lamps!), which was considered silly because Daleks are supposed to be drab... at least until they returned in Matt Smith's run as a group of happy fascist murderous rainbows.
* Rowan Atkinson, Richard E. Grant, Jim Broadbent, Hugh Grant and Joanna Lumley (1999): The BBC has a tradition of making silly parodies of their shows for charity. Dr. Who got one called Doctor Who and the Curse of the Fatal Death, where the aforementioned actors played the Ninth through Twelfth Doctors in quick succession. Rowan Atkinson played the role magnificently as the Time Lord Blackadder. He announces to the Master that he is going to marry the only companion he ever ''had'', but the Master enlists the help of the Daleks to kill his archenemy once and for all. Belayed explanations, Zektronic energy, [[Nurgle|communication based on breaking wind]], a couple of [[Wat|Dalek chairs]], and LOTS of hijinks later, the Doctor burns through pretty much all of his regenerations in two minutes. It is a very funny short and should be watched, if only for the magnificent snark that only Rowan Atkinson can produce.
* Richard E. Grant (2003): Just a few years after playing the Tenth Doctor in Curse of the Fatal Death, Grant returned as the Ninth Doctor for the "webisode" Scream of the Shalka. This incarnation was angry, moody, looked like a [[vampire]], and compared to Sherlock Holmes by the actor himself (which is funny when you consider that Benedict Cumberbatch, of ''Sherlock'' fame, was in the running to be the Eleventh Doctor), but he was still a good man who left no monster rampaging (or at least unstudied) and no woman unsaved. He fought the exeptionally creepy Shalka, whom he defeated with... no, no spoilers, you wouldn't believe it anyway. He also traveled alongside none other than the Master, who was confined to an android body stuck in the TARDIS. They share homoerotic subtext to the level it becomes homoerotic SUPERtext; the author commented that this was intentional.
**As a side note, while they were making the special, some kid pretty much kicked down the door, ranted about how much he loved Doctor Who, and begged for a role in the short. The producers gave him one, causing the kid to all but explode. The kid's name? David Tennant.
* David Morrissey (2009): In the episode "The next Doctor", the 10th Doctor stumbles upon cybermen, cybermonkeys, and a man who calls himself the Doctor, played by David Morrissey, in 1851. He claims to be an incarnation of the gallifreyan time-traveler we have had for 50 years, but something is amiss; his memory is practically gone, his sonic screwdriver isn't sonic, and his TARDIS is a balloon. In the end, it turns out he was actually a regular person who absorbed all information the cybermen had about the Doctor and only thought he was him.

==Miniatures and Doctor Who==

Miniatures based on Doctor Who have been around since the Eighties. In fact, one of [[Citadel Miniatures|Citadel's]] earliest plastic kits was a Dalek and a Cyberman, and a few Who-inspired models were also manufactured and sold by [[Games Workshop]] itself. [[FASA]] also made a few models.

The license got picked up by Harlequin in the Eighties, who made a few minis as well as some skirmish rules. The game was a skirmish combat affair that didn't really fit the show. Harlequin went bust decades ago and the official license lapsed at some point, but BlackTree Miniatures "own a huge stock" of unsold models (or they own the moulds and simply claim they have a huge stock. No one really cares).

Character Options produced a version of Heroclix called Doctor Who Microuniverse. It wasn't really a game, and the minis were pretty awful pre-painted, 28mm-scale minis. It is now out of print, thankfully.

[[Warlord Games]] acquired the license for a Doctor Who miniatures game in 2016, which has yet to be released as of 2017. Gale Force Nine is also licensed to produce a card game based on the series.

==The Doctor Who Miniatures Game==

In part thanks to so many terribly produced games and models in the past, small firm Crooked Dice wrote a scenario based action adventure miniatures game and called it The Doctor Who Miniatures Game. Slick, clever, quick to play and simple to get in to, it went down very well amongst nerds.

Originally produced for fun, it found a great deal of popularity in the part of the UK wargames community who wore tweed and smoked pipes. Buoyed by this success, Crooked Dice approached the BBC for an official license. Auntie Beeb said it would cost ££££ for an official license, but they it was aluded that they could continue to produce the game provided no direct profit was made.

Crooked Dice give the Doctor Who Miniatures Game away for free, and also produce a more generic action-adventure scenario based game called 7TV (Seventies TV, you see). So in a weird reversal of the way things are done, the generic rules cost money but the specific rules are free.

Unfortunately Crooked Dice, who already was producing "look alike" miniatures - started selling hard copies of the rules. This led to problems for them when Warlord Games acquired the Doctor Who license to produce a Miniatures Game and Miniatures - and not only was their Ruleset dropped, but also their range of unofficial Miniatures.

==The RPGs==
[[Image:DoctorWho_charsheet.jpg|250px|thumb|right|sample charsheet from the Cubicle 7 game]]
There have been three Doctor Who RPGs published to date. The first was produced by FASA, using the Star Trek RPG system . The FASA game was notable for its strange use Doctor Who continuity and official fluff. For example, it overused the Celestial Intervention Agency from the The Deadly Assassin episode. An odd choice.

The Time Lord RPG was closer to the series and sported a simpler system, along with mechanics that tried to emulate the show (macguffins, bench thumping etc). Published by Virgin and written by Ian Marsh and Peter Darvill-Evans, it can easily be found on the web. Legendary in the Australian con scene for one of the fastest Total Party Kills ever (GM: "You're in a moving TARDIS..."; Players: "We get out.")

A new game was made in 2010 (and remade in 2011) by Cubicle 7 Entertainment (SLA Industries, Victoriana, Starblazer Adventures), this time in conjunction with the BBC and based on the most recent series. It is rules lite, and biased against combat (much like the teevee show itself). For example: initiative depends on what you're doing, and goes in this order: Talkers, Movers, Doers and Fighters. It is a much better game than the last two, in the sense that it has modern mechanics and actually reflects the show.

===External Links===

*[http://drwhominiatures.co.uk/index.html Doctor Who Minatures Game] website with free downloads. Regularly updated.

*[http://www.torsononline.com/hobbies/timelord/main.htm Time Lord RPG by Marsh] Now out of print, you can download this game for free.

*[http://shop.cubicle7store.com/Doctor-Who-Adventures-in-Time-and-Space-Core-Set Cubicle 7 RPG store (10th Doctor edition)] Cubicle7 doesn't have any promo material of it's own about the game. Odd.

*[http://shop.cubicle7store.com/epages/es113347.sf/en_GB/?ObjectPath=/Shops/es113347_shop/Products/CB71109 Cubicle 7 RPG store (11th Doctor edition)]

*http://tardis.wikia.com A wordy wiki if you want to read up on the series and lore.

[[category:Roleplaying]] [[category:Television]]

The Last Church

2019-11-19T22:21:11Z

65.117.99.152: /* Alternative view */

{{Awesome}}

[[File:The Last Church on Terra.jpg|200px|right|thumb|THE LAST CURIOUSLY DENOMINATIONAL CHURCH!]]
'''The Last Church''' by [[Graham McNeill]] is a short story describing the conversation between an old and lonely priest named Uriah Olathaire of the very last church on Terra (The Church of the Lightning Stone) during the Unification Wars (where the Emperor banned religion and the worship of gods) and a mysterious character named [[God-Emperor of Mankind|Revelation]], the story is pretty deep and thought provoking and shows you that you don't need '''XTREME GRIMDARK''' and violence to make a great 40k story (even though the story doesn't take place in the 41st millennium). As well as being the earliest complete story in the 40k canon, it deals with morals, religion, atheism and humility and the benefits and costs of each. And also, Uriah is probably running for 'most badass non-augmented human' in the setting at first place. What's more badass than [[Ollanius Pius| getting killed by Horus]]? Telling the Emperor, ''to his face'', why he sucks (note that the Emperor was never Jesus: at most, and in fairly old lore he was implied to be Jesus's 13th disciple, which in turn means not only that he knew Jesus, but purposely tried to do better than God at guiding humanity with [[Horus Heresy|predictable results]]. What is more, other than its being called a "church," there is not really anything specifically Christian about Uriah's religion explicitly described–rather it seems like a vague syncretic religion that venerates miracles, saints and nature.)

==Plot Summary==
In the titular last church, the very last worshipper and priest on Earth, Uriah Olathaire, is visited by a mysterious figure. They talk about why the church is the last of its kind, and what happened to all of the faithful who once cherished it so much. This figure, "Revelation", argues about all of the harm that religious worship and organizations have inflicted on humanity throughout history, whilst the priest attempts to refute it. Finally, Revelation reveals himself as the Emperor of Mankind, and more specifically as the being who originally (unintentionally, more or less incidentally due to Uriah's experiences during a brief and dramatic encounter between the two during the Unification Wars) inspired the priest to believe in his religion. He then gives the priest a chance to recant his false beliefs and leave; the church will be destroyed, but he does not have to perish as well.

The priest refuses. Instead pointing out the Emperor's hypocrisy in the various things he has done and in doing that, makes him to be no different to the crusaders and fanatics of the past. Despite this, the Emperor disregards Uriah's words and escorts him outside before his troops start destroying the church. As his church is destroyed, Uriah gives the Emperor one last warning about the folly of his plan before calmly walking back in to the church, preferring to die with it, and prays while he waits for death before he is crushed beneath the rubble.

The Emperor dismisses him as a lost cause and moves on. As the rain lifts, and the morning sun rises over the smoldering remains of the last church on Terra; inside, a broken clock, prophesied to chime only when the world is at an end, begins to softly ring...

==Moral==

The moral of the story is a lot more complicated and relevant than most would think. The Emperor is a well-intentioned extremist fighting against four monstrously powerful daemonic gods and trying to starve them out by spreading the Imperial Truth. He made mistakes, yes, but his intentions were pure. ([[Tolkien|Ah, but good intentions matter not. Only good deeds]].) In this he had the stereotypical view towards religion that some atheists have: that it is the cause of most of humanity's problems including much of the killing and/or all the wars in human history, ignoring any and everything else that was a factor in said problems/wars, the fact that those same negative behaviors and actions are also found in non-religious people and ignoring the fact that '''other''' modes of thought (such as his own) also cause untold suffering. It also ignores the fact that any time extremists act on their religion, their beliefs are almost always directly contradictory to their religion (any successful religion teaches tolerance, extremists are anything but). So, if anything, the Emperor should have made religions enforce their own teachings. The story also is about the Emperor's adamant refusal to accept that extremists are extremists, whether religious or secular. On top of that, the extremists who might have become religious extremists instead become secular extremists thanks to his own secularization of his Imperium and this comes back to bite humanity horribly for the next ten thousand years. The story is about why people really do what they do for their beliefs. The Emperor was prepared to do whatever it took for his beliefs because it appeared to him that he was undeniably correct, just like extremists. The moral is that any reason based on rejection is immoral reason.

He was also under the belief that it was faith in general that makes the Chaos Gods stronger and the [[Imperial Truth]] was an attempt to stop them. What the Emperor failed to understand was that the Chaos Gods were powered not only by faith, but by emotions. People going about their daily lives experiencing their normal emotions would still empower the Chaos Gods. It has been argued that if the Emperor had not destroyed the other religions and actually WARNED people about Chaos ([[Interex|like some other people]]), Chaos would have been less powerful because people would have directed their belief to religions (such as the Abrahamic faiths) or outright have nothing to do with it at all (which is still better than falling to it). If anything, belief and faith grant power in this setting and even [[Ork|make gods real if they weren't before]], so while [[Interex|an atheistic approach guarding against Chaos]] could help, at most it would just result in a stalemate; theistic religiosity in the 40k verse not only defends but allows adherents to [[Ynnead|take the fight to Chaos and provides the only possibility of defeating them]]. Therefore, by abolishing religion (especially purging the theistic ones) [[FAIL|the Emperor HELPED the Chaos Gods]], albeit [[Tzeentch|unintentionally]]. As such the Emperor's own ignorance in this regard led to the [[Horus Heresy]], bringing about his own downfall. The Emperor may have been tens of thousands of years old, vastly intelligent and unbelievably powerful, but even he could not predict everything. Perhaps that was his greatest failing: he attempted to ''predict'' how to defeat Chaos instead of applying the scientific method. From his words throughout 40k it is clear he saw Warpcraft and science as completely separate and distinct fields. Had he applied the scientific method to studying Chaos, he would have learned the above information about Chaos's strengths and combating it with faith. As with most genii, he outsmarted himself.

===Alternative view===

Makes you think though - The Emperor knew about the Chaos Gods (even if he didn't refer to them as such), since he talked to Horus about them, who then passed it on the Garviel Loken to soothe his mind (not strictly true - Horus and Loken only learned about Daemons - Loken is totally mystified when an Interex soldier explains the nature of Chaos/Kaos to him). The Emperor also might have had an inkling that it wasn't just belief that powered them, what with him being in such close contact with the Warp 24/7. This begs the question - was he, in fact, out-Just As Planning Tzeentch and, as [[Erebus]]' false(?) memories showed Horus, did he ALLOW the Primarchs to be taken, just so Lorgar would land on Colchis, be raised by Kor Phaeron, learn about Chaos, fall to Chaos, turn Horus, allow the Horus Heresy to happen, teleport to Horus' Battle-Barge, kill his son while being mortally wounded himself, and be installed on the Golden Throne just so the billions upon billions of humans would have someone to worship other than the Chaos Gods, as a God that can be seen, touched and interacted which is nowhere near as powerful as a God that must be believed in purely through faith. Probably the only hiccup that The Emperor didn't foresee was Magnus ripping through his psychic shields and wrecking the Golden Throne/Webway Gate, which could've been avoided if The Emperor had fucking told his sons what he was doing.

In other words... did the Emperor plan to be worshiped all along? Probably not, but it makes you think

===Author's Opinion===
[http://graham-mcneill.com/ McNeill's website] has an explanation for his thought processes when writing the story as well as his opinion of it on [http://graham-mcneill.com/last-church/ its own page], but it's been copypasted here for convenience. Strangely, Graham states that "he didn't want to preach", but then states he wanted Uriah to be "wrong" and the Emperor to be "right" (see below).

<blockquote>I came late to this anthology, as I was finishing a novel while the bulk of writers were thrashing away at their keyboards. So when it came time to start developing a story, I asked the editors to send me a one-line pitch for each of the other stories so I didn’t waste time replicating a story that had already been written. When I got them, they were mostly bolters blazing, chainswords hacking stories, which is great, but I felt needed balancing by one that had a more thoughtful pace, with less fighting. One of the aspects of the Heresy I’ve liked the most has been the dichotomy between a growing secular empire butting heads with humanity’s urge to worship things in the sky. I saw this story as a challenge to myself, the readers and to BL. Would I be able to write a story like this that was exciting and engaging? Would the readers buy into it or would they be bored without the action? Would BL publish a story like this? Turns out that it seems all three were answered with a resounding yes. There’s a lot of me in this story, though I’m certainly not preaching to anyone with it. It’s more like I wanted people to talk about the story, to ask themselves questions and look at things in a different light. Some folk have said that Uriah is a straw man, and that the arguments made on both sides of his and Revelation’s debate are simplistic. Part of me agrees with that, as I’m not a theologian (and, crucially, neither was Uriah. He was a drunken rake, called to be a priest by a personal experience. No years of training in a seminary for him…) and I wasn’t trying to write a treatise on religion or belief, but rather a story that got people talking and entertained them. It’s also the first time the Big E turns up in a Heresy story in any real form. He’s appeared a few times to deliver the odd line of dialogue, but this was the first time we’d seen him talk, interact and appear for any length of time (even though most of it is in another guise) so I needed to be careful. In the end, to really stir the pot, I wanted to end the story in a way that, while Uriah might have been wrong, he was the one you liked better and who came out with the apparent moral high ground. The Emperor was right, yet he came across as the arrogant, short-sighted tyrant – the very kind he rails against in the story. Now go back and read it again and see if you agree!</blockquote>

==Trivia==
*Isandula Verona's paintings depict 3 events of old earth (both factual and presumably fictional), one painting depicts "nude figures disporting in a magical garden", likely the Garden of Eden. The second is a painting of "a battle between a golden knight and a silver dragon", undoubtedly based of the battle between the Emperor and the Void Dragon in ancient Syria. But the third painting is by far the strangest, it depicts a "wondrous being of light surrounded by a halo of golden machinery" (couldn't possibly be foreshadowing the Emperor on the Golden Throne) ... Also, there is the description of an "explosion of stars", possibly referring to the creation of the Eye of Terror.
**However, if it is a Christian or quasi-Christian church (it is almost certainly not contiguous with Christianity as we know it today, though) it's more likely that these scenes (along with many other undescribed panels) depicts scenes of Christian mythos - Eden, St. George (except this is not the first time the Emperor has been described fighting a dragon. It's implied that He IS St. George) and resurrection/second coming of Jesus (the machinery part may seem strange, but Christian Renaissance art tended toward anachronisms, as in "XVI century Italians doing Biblical cos-play," seen in just about every Biblically based piece of art; i.e. why does Mary dress like a contemporary nun instead of a pious Jewess of the 1st century? Because visual historicity wasn't the point but rather devotional artwork that people could relate to!) The explosion of stars could represent the Creation or possibly events of the End Times. Big E is the centerpiece of 40K, but there is no need to stuff him in every single piece mentioned. Especially when it makes more sense not to. The paintings and church itself is foreshadowing, no doubt, but also look what examples The Emperor chooses to trash religion - crusades, witch-hunts (actually witch trials was more of a Protestant thing), the Inquisition (which is blamed for the punishments of the secular governments, and, in fact, some people who were being persecuted by the latter would actually take it upon themselves to blaspheme in court so they would get the Inquisition instead of the royal courts), the purging of Cathars and other heretics all both inspired certain elements and aesthetics of the 40K universe and presumably transpired as "ancient history" in-universe.
**The Last Church, the building itself, is a physical manifestation of what the Imperium will become (and it makes sense as the setting is '''strongly''' based on Christianity). Uriah represents the part of religion that is not killing the infidels, but love and turn other cheek, etc. And the Grimdark part is that The Emperor sees this - he does not consider Uriah to be an enemy or bad in general, and he admires Isandula's work. But he is ready to destroy all this to prevent the Crusades and the Inquisition, [http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/MoralMyopia EXACTLY what the Emperor did to try and destroy religion] and EXACTLY the things that go to the top of the "Imperium of Man's most popular things" chart the very moment The Emperor (almost) dies. And as he himself was more like Stalin than Jesus, the new Church has all the zealous "burn the heretics" of the old one, but none of its compassion or "turn the other cheek". Also, The Emperor had political reasons to destroy religions (most likely they would've disapproved of the Emperor's brutal dictatorship/had more influence over people than he liked; making the Emperor part-Hitler in addition to part-Stalin), but they are touched very little in this story, so its not important.
*The church in question appears to be [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lindisfarne Lindisfarne]: perched on "a rocky promontory jutting from [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Britain an island] that was said to have [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_empire once ruled the world]". Uriah even references it being raided by [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lindisfarne#Vikings Scandi].
*Many of our currently existing countries and continents are mentioned in the story, however they are spelled and pronounced differently.
*The Mariana Canyon where the giant stone figures are carved in is most likely the remnants of the Mariana Trench, the deepest point of the Earth's present-day oceans -- given that this place is now exposed, you can grasp just how much the Earth has changed... For example, the oceans boiled away due to various factors. Some of the new land that became exposed became known as the "Panpacific".
*Given Uriah's knowledge of (and ability to travel to) other countries, and his reaction to the Emperor's plans to conquer the galaxy, it seems likely that the Age of Strife on Terra was less of a complete societal breakdown and more of a regression to the dark ages in which knowledge of the past remained largely intact but functionally useless. Ironic, considering the state of the Imperium ushered in to save humanity from that.
*The Emperor's theological quibbles with religion in the story are very sophomoric. Most of them are refuted in the writings of St. Augustine and Thomas Aquinas, two writers any Catholic priest is overwhelmingly familiar with, but Uriah's refutations of the Emperor are quite amateur as well (although, he's not Catholic, and doesn't seem to be highly educated himself regardless. His religion is vague but implied to be a highly syncretized quasi-Abrahamic faith. Jesus doesn't warrant a mention, somehow, although the excesses of the Catholic church are front and center in the Emperor's arguments, just as they are among many edgy athiests of our day.) Graham McNeill, not being a philosopher or theologian, and not, as far as we know, even religious, is probably unaware of the counter arguments a real priest would realistically have used, and evidently didn't do a lot of research in that arena, or want to.
*The fact that attempts to abolish religion in real-life have proven harmful rather than good isn't addressed in the story either; as in Uriah doesn't mention any of those cases to refute the Emperor (look at Soviet Russia, North Korea and Cambodia under Pol Pot for three examples - it's even possible the Emperor was Stalin in this universe). Again, Uriah is most probably simply ignorant of those things happening in the past.
*Lastly, The Emperor's claim that "humanity will not be free until the last stone of the last church falls on the head of the last priest" is a (mis)quote of [http://www.qotd.org/quotes/Denis.Diderot Denis Diderot]. He could have at least tried to be original.
{{40k-Timeline}}

[[Category:Warhammer 40,000]]

The Last Church

2019-11-19T22:20:48Z

65.117.99.152: /* Alternative view */

{{Awesome}}

[[File:The Last Church on Terra.jpg|200px|right|thumb|THE LAST CURIOUSLY DENOMINATIONAL CHURCH!]]
'''The Last Church''' by [[Graham McNeill]] is a short story describing the conversation between an old and lonely priest named Uriah Olathaire of the very last church on Terra (The Church of the Lightning Stone) during the Unification Wars (where the Emperor banned religion and the worship of gods) and a mysterious character named [[God-Emperor of Mankind|Revelation]], the story is pretty deep and thought provoking and shows you that you don't need '''XTREME GRIMDARK''' and violence to make a great 40k story (even though the story doesn't take place in the 41st millennium). As well as being the earliest complete story in the 40k canon, it deals with morals, religion, atheism and humility and the benefits and costs of each. And also, Uriah is probably running for 'most badass non-augmented human' in the setting at first place. What's more badass than [[Ollanius Pius| getting killed by Horus]]? Telling the Emperor, ''to his face'', why he sucks (note that the Emperor was never Jesus: at most, and in fairly old lore he was implied to be Jesus's 13th disciple, which in turn means not only that he knew Jesus, but purposely tried to do better than God at guiding humanity with [[Horus Heresy|predictable results]]. What is more, other than its being called a "church," there is not really anything specifically Christian about Uriah's religion explicitly described–rather it seems like a vague syncretic religion that venerates miracles, saints and nature.)

==Plot Summary==
In the titular last church, the very last worshipper and priest on Earth, Uriah Olathaire, is visited by a mysterious figure. They talk about why the church is the last of its kind, and what happened to all of the faithful who once cherished it so much. This figure, "Revelation", argues about all of the harm that religious worship and organizations have inflicted on humanity throughout history, whilst the priest attempts to refute it. Finally, Revelation reveals himself as the Emperor of Mankind, and more specifically as the being who originally (unintentionally, more or less incidentally due to Uriah's experiences during a brief and dramatic encounter between the two during the Unification Wars) inspired the priest to believe in his religion. He then gives the priest a chance to recant his false beliefs and leave; the church will be destroyed, but he does not have to perish as well.

The priest refuses. Instead pointing out the Emperor's hypocrisy in the various things he has done and in doing that, makes him to be no different to the crusaders and fanatics of the past. Despite this, the Emperor disregards Uriah's words and escorts him outside before his troops start destroying the church. As his church is destroyed, Uriah gives the Emperor one last warning about the folly of his plan before calmly walking back in to the church, preferring to die with it, and prays while he waits for death before he is crushed beneath the rubble.

The Emperor dismisses him as a lost cause and moves on. As the rain lifts, and the morning sun rises over the smoldering remains of the last church on Terra; inside, a broken clock, prophesied to chime only when the world is at an end, begins to softly ring...

==Moral==

The moral of the story is a lot more complicated and relevant than most would think. The Emperor is a well-intentioned extremist fighting against four monstrously powerful daemonic gods and trying to starve them out by spreading the Imperial Truth. He made mistakes, yes, but his intentions were pure. ([[Tolkien|Ah, but good intentions matter not. Only good deeds]].) In this he had the stereotypical view towards religion that some atheists have: that it is the cause of most of humanity's problems including much of the killing and/or all the wars in human history, ignoring any and everything else that was a factor in said problems/wars, the fact that those same negative behaviors and actions are also found in non-religious people and ignoring the fact that '''other''' modes of thought (such as his own) also cause untold suffering. It also ignores the fact that any time extremists act on their religion, their beliefs are almost always directly contradictory to their religion (any successful religion teaches tolerance, extremists are anything but). So, if anything, the Emperor should have made religions enforce their own teachings. The story also is about the Emperor's adamant refusal to accept that extremists are extremists, whether religious or secular. On top of that, the extremists who might have become religious extremists instead become secular extremists thanks to his own secularization of his Imperium and this comes back to bite humanity horribly for the next ten thousand years. The story is about why people really do what they do for their beliefs. The Emperor was prepared to do whatever it took for his beliefs because it appeared to him that he was undeniably correct, just like extremists. The moral is that any reason based on rejection is immoral reason.

He was also under the belief that it was faith in general that makes the Chaos Gods stronger and the [[Imperial Truth]] was an attempt to stop them. What the Emperor failed to understand was that the Chaos Gods were powered not only by faith, but by emotions. People going about their daily lives experiencing their normal emotions would still empower the Chaos Gods. It has been argued that if the Emperor had not destroyed the other religions and actually WARNED people about Chaos ([[Interex|like some other people]]), Chaos would have been less powerful because people would have directed their belief to religions (such as the Abrahamic faiths) or outright have nothing to do with it at all (which is still better than falling to it). If anything, belief and faith grant power in this setting and even [[Ork|make gods real if they weren't before]], so while [[Interex|an atheistic approach guarding against Chaos]] could help, at most it would just result in a stalemate; theistic religiosity in the 40k verse not only defends but allows adherents to [[Ynnead|take the fight to Chaos and provides the only possibility of defeating them]]. Therefore, by abolishing religion (especially purging the theistic ones) [[FAIL|the Emperor HELPED the Chaos Gods]], albeit [[Tzeentch|unintentionally]]. As such the Emperor's own ignorance in this regard led to the [[Horus Heresy]], bringing about his own downfall. The Emperor may have been tens of thousands of years old, vastly intelligent and unbelievably powerful, but even he could not predict everything. Perhaps that was his greatest failing: he attempted to ''predict'' how to defeat Chaos instead of applying the scientific method. From his words throughout 40k it is clear he saw Warpcraft and science as completely separate and distinct fields. Had he applied the scientific method to studying Chaos, he would have learned the above information about Chaos's strengths and combating it with faith. As with most genii, he outsmarted himself.

===Alternative view===

Makes you think though - The Emperor knew about the Chaos Gods (even if he didn't refer to them as such), since he talked to Horus about them, who then passed it on the Garviel Loken to soothe his mind (not strictly true - Horus and Loken only learned about Daemons - Loken is totally mystified when an Interex soldier explains the nature of Chaos/Kaos to him). The Emperor also might have had an inkling that it wasn't just belief that powered them, what with him being in such close contact with the Warp 24/7. This begs the question - was he, in fact, out-Just As Planning Tzeentch and, as [[Erebus]]' false(?) memories showed Horus, did he ALLOW the Primarchs to be taken, just so Lorgar would land on Colchis, be raised by Kor Phaeron, learn about Chaos, fall to Chaos, turn Horus, allow the Horus Heresy to happen, teleport to Horus' Battle-Barge, kill his son while being mortally wounded himself, and be installed on the Golden Throne just so the billions upon billions of humans would have someone to worship other than the Chaos Gods, as a God that can be seen, touched and interacted which is nowhere near as powerful as a God that must be believed in purely through faith. Probably the only hiccup that The Emperor didn't foresee was Magnus ripping through his psychic shields and wrecking the Golden Throne/Webway Gate, which could've been avoided if The Emperor had fucking told his sons what he was doing.

In other words... did the Emperor plan to be worshipped all along?

===Author's Opinion===
[http://graham-mcneill.com/ McNeill's website] has an explanation for his thought processes when writing the story as well as his opinion of it on [http://graham-mcneill.com/last-church/ its own page], but it's been copypasted here for convenience. Strangely, Graham states that "he didn't want to preach", but then states he wanted Uriah to be "wrong" and the Emperor to be "right" (see below).

<blockquote>I came late to this anthology, as I was finishing a novel while the bulk of writers were thrashing away at their keyboards. So when it came time to start developing a story, I asked the editors to send me a one-line pitch for each of the other stories so I didn’t waste time replicating a story that had already been written. When I got them, they were mostly bolters blazing, chainswords hacking stories, which is great, but I felt needed balancing by one that had a more thoughtful pace, with less fighting. One of the aspects of the Heresy I’ve liked the most has been the dichotomy between a growing secular empire butting heads with humanity’s urge to worship things in the sky. I saw this story as a challenge to myself, the readers and to BL. Would I be able to write a story like this that was exciting and engaging? Would the readers buy into it or would they be bored without the action? Would BL publish a story like this? Turns out that it seems all three were answered with a resounding yes. There’s a lot of me in this story, though I’m certainly not preaching to anyone with it. It’s more like I wanted people to talk about the story, to ask themselves questions and look at things in a different light. Some folk have said that Uriah is a straw man, and that the arguments made on both sides of his and Revelation’s debate are simplistic. Part of me agrees with that, as I’m not a theologian (and, crucially, neither was Uriah. He was a drunken rake, called to be a priest by a personal experience. No years of training in a seminary for him…) and I wasn’t trying to write a treatise on religion or belief, but rather a story that got people talking and entertained them. It’s also the first time the Big E turns up in a Heresy story in any real form. He’s appeared a few times to deliver the odd line of dialogue, but this was the first time we’d seen him talk, interact and appear for any length of time (even though most of it is in another guise) so I needed to be careful. In the end, to really stir the pot, I wanted to end the story in a way that, while Uriah might have been wrong, he was the one you liked better and who came out with the apparent moral high ground. The Emperor was right, yet he came across as the arrogant, short-sighted tyrant – the very kind he rails against in the story. Now go back and read it again and see if you agree!</blockquote>

==Trivia==
*Isandula Verona's paintings depict 3 events of old earth (both factual and presumably fictional), one painting depicts "nude figures disporting in a magical garden", likely the Garden of Eden. The second is a painting of "a battle between a golden knight and a silver dragon", undoubtedly based of the battle between the Emperor and the Void Dragon in ancient Syria. But the third painting is by far the strangest, it depicts a "wondrous being of light surrounded by a halo of golden machinery" (couldn't possibly be foreshadowing the Emperor on the Golden Throne) ... Also, there is the description of an "explosion of stars", possibly referring to the creation of the Eye of Terror.
**However, if it is a Christian or quasi-Christian church (it is almost certainly not contiguous with Christianity as we know it today, though) it's more likely that these scenes (along with many other undescribed panels) depicts scenes of Christian mythos - Eden, St. George (except this is not the first time the Emperor has been described fighting a dragon. It's implied that He IS St. George) and resurrection/second coming of Jesus (the machinery part may seem strange, but Christian Renaissance art tended toward anachronisms, as in "XVI century Italians doing Biblical cos-play," seen in just about every Biblically based piece of art; i.e. why does Mary dress like a contemporary nun instead of a pious Jewess of the 1st century? Because visual historicity wasn't the point but rather devotional artwork that people could relate to!) The explosion of stars could represent the Creation or possibly events of the End Times. Big E is the centerpiece of 40K, but there is no need to stuff him in every single piece mentioned. Especially when it makes more sense not to. The paintings and church itself is foreshadowing, no doubt, but also look what examples The Emperor chooses to trash religion - crusades, witch-hunts (actually witch trials was more of a Protestant thing), the Inquisition (which is blamed for the punishments of the secular governments, and, in fact, some people who were being persecuted by the latter would actually take it upon themselves to blaspheme in court so they would get the Inquisition instead of the royal courts), the purging of Cathars and other heretics all both inspired certain elements and aesthetics of the 40K universe and presumably transpired as "ancient history" in-universe.
**The Last Church, the building itself, is a physical manifestation of what the Imperium will become (and it makes sense as the setting is '''strongly''' based on Christianity). Uriah represents the part of religion that is not killing the infidels, but love and turn other cheek, etc. And the Grimdark part is that The Emperor sees this - he does not consider Uriah to be an enemy or bad in general, and he admires Isandula's work. But he is ready to destroy all this to prevent the Crusades and the Inquisition, [http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/MoralMyopia EXACTLY what the Emperor did to try and destroy religion] and EXACTLY the things that go to the top of the "Imperium of Man's most popular things" chart the very moment The Emperor (almost) dies. And as he himself was more like Stalin than Jesus, the new Church has all the zealous "burn the heretics" of the old one, but none of its compassion or "turn the other cheek". Also, The Emperor had political reasons to destroy religions (most likely they would've disapproved of the Emperor's brutal dictatorship/had more influence over people than he liked; making the Emperor part-Hitler in addition to part-Stalin), but they are touched very little in this story, so its not important.
*The church in question appears to be [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lindisfarne Lindisfarne]: perched on "a rocky promontory jutting from [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Britain an island] that was said to have [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_empire once ruled the world]". Uriah even references it being raided by [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lindisfarne#Vikings Scandi].
*Many of our currently existing countries and continents are mentioned in the story, however they are spelled and pronounced differently.
*The Mariana Canyon where the giant stone figures are carved in is most likely the remnants of the Mariana Trench, the deepest point of the Earth's present-day oceans -- given that this place is now exposed, you can grasp just how much the Earth has changed... For example, the oceans boiled away due to various factors. Some of the new land that became exposed became known as the "Panpacific".
*Given Uriah's knowledge of (and ability to travel to) other countries, and his reaction to the Emperor's plans to conquer the galaxy, it seems likely that the Age of Strife on Terra was less of a complete societal breakdown and more of a regression to the dark ages in which knowledge of the past remained largely intact but functionally useless. Ironic, considering the state of the Imperium ushered in to save humanity from that.
*The Emperor's theological quibbles with religion in the story are very sophomoric. Most of them are refuted in the writings of St. Augustine and Thomas Aquinas, two writers any Catholic priest is overwhelmingly familiar with, but Uriah's refutations of the Emperor are quite amateur as well (although, he's not Catholic, and doesn't seem to be highly educated himself regardless. His religion is vague but implied to be a highly syncretized quasi-Abrahamic faith. Jesus doesn't warrant a mention, somehow, although the excesses of the Catholic church are front and center in the Emperor's arguments, just as they are among many edgy athiests of our day.) Graham McNeill, not being a philosopher or theologian, and not, as far as we know, even religious, is probably unaware of the counter arguments a real priest would realistically have used, and evidently didn't do a lot of research in that arena, or want to.
*The fact that attempts to abolish religion in real-life have proven harmful rather than good isn't addressed in the story either; as in Uriah doesn't mention any of those cases to refute the Emperor (look at Soviet Russia, North Korea and Cambodia under Pol Pot for three examples - it's even possible the Emperor was Stalin in this universe). Again, Uriah is most probably simply ignorant of those things happening in the past.
*Lastly, The Emperor's claim that "humanity will not be free until the last stone of the last church falls on the head of the last priest" is a (mis)quote of [http://www.qotd.org/quotes/Denis.Diderot Denis Diderot]. He could have at least tried to be original.
{{40k-Timeline}}

[[Category:Warhammer 40,000]]

The Last Church

2019-11-19T22:19:14Z

65.117.99.152: /* Moral */

{{Awesome}}

[[File:The Last Church on Terra.jpg|200px|right|thumb|THE LAST CURIOUSLY DENOMINATIONAL CHURCH!]]
'''The Last Church''' by [[Graham McNeill]] is a short story describing the conversation between an old and lonely priest named Uriah Olathaire of the very last church on Terra (The Church of the Lightning Stone) during the Unification Wars (where the Emperor banned religion and the worship of gods) and a mysterious character named [[God-Emperor of Mankind|Revelation]], the story is pretty deep and thought provoking and shows you that you don't need '''XTREME GRIMDARK''' and violence to make a great 40k story (even though the story doesn't take place in the 41st millennium). As well as being the earliest complete story in the 40k canon, it deals with morals, religion, atheism and humility and the benefits and costs of each. And also, Uriah is probably running for 'most badass non-augmented human' in the setting at first place. What's more badass than [[Ollanius Pius| getting killed by Horus]]? Telling the Emperor, ''to his face'', why he sucks (note that the Emperor was never Jesus: at most, and in fairly old lore he was implied to be Jesus's 13th disciple, which in turn means not only that he knew Jesus, but purposely tried to do better than God at guiding humanity with [[Horus Heresy|predictable results]]. What is more, other than its being called a "church," there is not really anything specifically Christian about Uriah's religion explicitly described–rather it seems like a vague syncretic religion that venerates miracles, saints and nature.)

==Plot Summary==
In the titular last church, the very last worshipper and priest on Earth, Uriah Olathaire, is visited by a mysterious figure. They talk about why the church is the last of its kind, and what happened to all of the faithful who once cherished it so much. This figure, "Revelation", argues about all of the harm that religious worship and organizations have inflicted on humanity throughout history, whilst the priest attempts to refute it. Finally, Revelation reveals himself as the Emperor of Mankind, and more specifically as the being who originally (unintentionally, more or less incidentally due to Uriah's experiences during a brief and dramatic encounter between the two during the Unification Wars) inspired the priest to believe in his religion. He then gives the priest a chance to recant his false beliefs and leave; the church will be destroyed, but he does not have to perish as well.

The priest refuses. Instead pointing out the Emperor's hypocrisy in the various things he has done and in doing that, makes him to be no different to the crusaders and fanatics of the past. Despite this, the Emperor disregards Uriah's words and escorts him outside before his troops start destroying the church. As his church is destroyed, Uriah gives the Emperor one last warning about the folly of his plan before calmly walking back in to the church, preferring to die with it, and prays while he waits for death before he is crushed beneath the rubble.

The Emperor dismisses him as a lost cause and moves on. As the rain lifts, and the morning sun rises over the smoldering remains of the last church on Terra; inside, a broken clock, prophesied to chime only when the world is at an end, begins to softly ring...

==Moral==

The moral of the story is a lot more complicated and relevant than most would think. The Emperor is a well-intentioned extremist fighting against four monstrously powerful daemonic gods and trying to starve them out by spreading the Imperial Truth. He made mistakes, yes, but his intentions were pure. ([[Tolkien|Ah, but good intentions matter not. Only good deeds]].) In this he had the stereotypical view towards religion that some atheists have: that it is the cause of most of humanity's problems including much of the killing and/or all the wars in human history, ignoring any and everything else that was a factor in said problems/wars, the fact that those same negative behaviors and actions are also found in non-religious people and ignoring the fact that '''other''' modes of thought (such as his own) also cause untold suffering. It also ignores the fact that any time extremists act on their religion, their beliefs are almost always directly contradictory to their religion (any successful religion teaches tolerance, extremists are anything but). So, if anything, the Emperor should have made religions enforce their own teachings. The story also is about the Emperor's adamant refusal to accept that extremists are extremists, whether religious or secular. On top of that, the extremists who might have become religious extremists instead become secular extremists thanks to his own secularization of his Imperium and this comes back to bite humanity horribly for the next ten thousand years. The story is about why people really do what they do for their beliefs. The Emperor was prepared to do whatever it took for his beliefs because it appeared to him that he was undeniably correct, just like extremists. The moral is that any reason based on rejection is immoral reason.

He was also under the belief that it was faith in general that makes the Chaos Gods stronger and the [[Imperial Truth]] was an attempt to stop them. What the Emperor failed to understand was that the Chaos Gods were powered not only by faith, but by emotions. People going about their daily lives experiencing their normal emotions would still empower the Chaos Gods. It has been argued that if the Emperor had not destroyed the other religions and actually WARNED people about Chaos ([[Interex|like some other people]]), Chaos would have been less powerful because people would have directed their belief to religions (such as the Abrahamic faiths) or outright have nothing to do with it at all (which is still better than falling to it). If anything, belief and faith grant power in this setting and even [[Ork|make gods real if they weren't before]], so while [[Interex|an atheistic approach guarding against Chaos]] could help, at most it would just result in a stalemate; theistic religiosity in the 40k verse not only defends but allows adherents to [[Ynnead|take the fight to Chaos and provides the only possibility of defeating them]]. Therefore, by abolishing religion (especially purging the theistic ones) [[FAIL|the Emperor HELPED the Chaos Gods]], albeit [[Tzeentch|unintentionally]]. As such the Emperor's own ignorance in this regard led to the [[Horus Heresy]], bringing about his own downfall. The Emperor may have been tens of thousands of years old, vastly intelligent and unbelievably powerful, but even he could not predict everything. Perhaps that was his greatest failing: he attempted to ''predict'' how to defeat Chaos instead of applying the scientific method. From his words throughout 40k it is clear he saw Warpcraft and science as completely separate and distinct fields. Had he applied the scientific method to studying Chaos, he would have learned the above information about Chaos's strengths and combating it with faith. As with most genii, he outsmarted himself.

===Alternative view===

Makes you think though - The Emperor knew about the Chaos Gods (even if he didn't refer to them as such), since he talked to Horus about them, who then passed it on the Garviel Loken to soothe his mind (not strictly true - Horus and Loken only learned about Daemons - Loken is totally mystified when an Interex soldier explains the nature of Chaos/Kaos to him). The Emperor also might have had an inkling that it wasn't just belief that powered them, what with him being in such close contact with the Warp 24/7. This begs the question - was he, in fact, out-Just As Planning Tzeentch and, as [[Erebus]]' false(?) memories showed Horus, did he ALLOW the Primarchs to be taken, just so Lorgar would land on Colchis, be raised by Kor Phaeron, learn about Chaos, fall to Chaos, turn Horus, allow the Horus Heresy to happen, teleport to Horus' Battle-Barge, kill his son while being mortally wounded himself, and be installed on the Golden Throne just so the billions upon billions of humans would have someone to worship other than the Chaos Gods, as a God that can be seen, touched and interacted which is nowhere near as powerful as a God that must be believed in purely through faith. Probably the only hiccup that The Emperor didn't foresee was Magnus ripping through his psychic shields and wrecking the Golden Throne/Webway Gate, which could've been avoided if The Emperor had fucking told his sons what he was doing.

===Author's Opinion===
[http://graham-mcneill.com/ McNeill's website] has an explanation for his thought processes when writing the story as well as his opinion of it on [http://graham-mcneill.com/last-church/ its own page], but it's been copypasted here for convenience. Strangely, Graham states that "he didn't want to preach", but then states he wanted Uriah to be "wrong" and the Emperor to be "right" (see below).

<blockquote>I came late to this anthology, as I was finishing a novel while the bulk of writers were thrashing away at their keyboards. So when it came time to start developing a story, I asked the editors to send me a one-line pitch for each of the other stories so I didn’t waste time replicating a story that had already been written. When I got them, they were mostly bolters blazing, chainswords hacking stories, which is great, but I felt needed balancing by one that had a more thoughtful pace, with less fighting. One of the aspects of the Heresy I’ve liked the most has been the dichotomy between a growing secular empire butting heads with humanity’s urge to worship things in the sky. I saw this story as a challenge to myself, the readers and to BL. Would I be able to write a story like this that was exciting and engaging? Would the readers buy into it or would they be bored without the action? Would BL publish a story like this? Turns out that it seems all three were answered with a resounding yes. There’s a lot of me in this story, though I’m certainly not preaching to anyone with it. It’s more like I wanted people to talk about the story, to ask themselves questions and look at things in a different light. Some folk have said that Uriah is a straw man, and that the arguments made on both sides of his and Revelation’s debate are simplistic. Part of me agrees with that, as I’m not a theologian (and, crucially, neither was Uriah. He was a drunken rake, called to be a priest by a personal experience. No years of training in a seminary for him…) and I wasn’t trying to write a treatise on religion or belief, but rather a story that got people talking and entertained them. It’s also the first time the Big E turns up in a Heresy story in any real form. He’s appeared a few times to deliver the odd line of dialogue, but this was the first time we’d seen him talk, interact and appear for any length of time (even though most of it is in another guise) so I needed to be careful. In the end, to really stir the pot, I wanted to end the story in a way that, while Uriah might have been wrong, he was the one you liked better and who came out with the apparent moral high ground. The Emperor was right, yet he came across as the arrogant, short-sighted tyrant – the very kind he rails against in the story. Now go back and read it again and see if you agree!</blockquote>

==Trivia==
*Isandula Verona's paintings depict 3 events of old earth (both factual and presumably fictional), one painting depicts "nude figures disporting in a magical garden", likely the Garden of Eden. The second is a painting of "a battle between a golden knight and a silver dragon", undoubtedly based of the battle between the Emperor and the Void Dragon in ancient Syria. But the third painting is by far the strangest, it depicts a "wondrous being of light surrounded by a halo of golden machinery" (couldn't possibly be foreshadowing the Emperor on the Golden Throne) ... Also, there is the description of an "explosion of stars", possibly referring to the creation of the Eye of Terror.
**However, if it is a Christian or quasi-Christian church (it is almost certainly not contiguous with Christianity as we know it today, though) it's more likely that these scenes (along with many other undescribed panels) depicts scenes of Christian mythos - Eden, St. George (except this is not the first time the Emperor has been described fighting a dragon. It's implied that He IS St. George) and resurrection/second coming of Jesus (the machinery part may seem strange, but Christian Renaissance art tended toward anachronisms, as in "XVI century Italians doing Biblical cos-play," seen in just about every Biblically based piece of art; i.e. why does Mary dress like a contemporary nun instead of a pious Jewess of the 1st century? Because visual historicity wasn't the point but rather devotional artwork that people could relate to!) The explosion of stars could represent the Creation or possibly events of the End Times. Big E is the centerpiece of 40K, but there is no need to stuff him in every single piece mentioned. Especially when it makes more sense not to. The paintings and church itself is foreshadowing, no doubt, but also look what examples The Emperor chooses to trash religion - crusades, witch-hunts (actually witch trials was more of a Protestant thing), the Inquisition (which is blamed for the punishments of the secular governments, and, in fact, some people who were being persecuted by the latter would actually take it upon themselves to blaspheme in court so they would get the Inquisition instead of the royal courts), the purging of Cathars and other heretics all both inspired certain elements and aesthetics of the 40K universe and presumably transpired as "ancient history" in-universe.
**The Last Church, the building itself, is a physical manifestation of what the Imperium will become (and it makes sense as the setting is '''strongly''' based on Christianity). Uriah represents the part of religion that is not killing the infidels, but love and turn other cheek, etc. And the Grimdark part is that The Emperor sees this - he does not consider Uriah to be an enemy or bad in general, and he admires Isandula's work. But he is ready to destroy all this to prevent the Crusades and the Inquisition, [http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/MoralMyopia EXACTLY what the Emperor did to try and destroy religion] and EXACTLY the things that go to the top of the "Imperium of Man's most popular things" chart the very moment The Emperor (almost) dies. And as he himself was more like Stalin than Jesus, the new Church has all the zealous "burn the heretics" of the old one, but none of its compassion or "turn the other cheek". Also, The Emperor had political reasons to destroy religions (most likely they would've disapproved of the Emperor's brutal dictatorship/had more influence over people than he liked; making the Emperor part-Hitler in addition to part-Stalin), but they are touched very little in this story, so its not important.
*The church in question appears to be [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lindisfarne Lindisfarne]: perched on "a rocky promontory jutting from [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Britain an island] that was said to have [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_empire once ruled the world]". Uriah even references it being raided by [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lindisfarne#Vikings Scandi].
*Many of our currently existing countries and continents are mentioned in the story, however they are spelled and pronounced differently.
*The Mariana Canyon where the giant stone figures are carved in is most likely the remnants of the Mariana Trench, the deepest point of the Earth's present-day oceans -- given that this place is now exposed, you can grasp just how much the Earth has changed... For example, the oceans boiled away due to various factors. Some of the new land that became exposed became known as the "Panpacific".
*Given Uriah's knowledge of (and ability to travel to) other countries, and his reaction to the Emperor's plans to conquer the galaxy, it seems likely that the Age of Strife on Terra was less of a complete societal breakdown and more of a regression to the dark ages in which knowledge of the past remained largely intact but functionally useless. Ironic, considering the state of the Imperium ushered in to save humanity from that.
*The Emperor's theological quibbles with religion in the story are very sophomoric. Most of them are refuted in the writings of St. Augustine and Thomas Aquinas, two writers any Catholic priest is overwhelmingly familiar with, but Uriah's refutations of the Emperor are quite amateur as well (although, he's not Catholic, and doesn't seem to be highly educated himself regardless. His religion is vague but implied to be a highly syncretized quasi-Abrahamic faith. Jesus doesn't warrant a mention, somehow, although the excesses of the Catholic church are front and center in the Emperor's arguments, just as they are among many edgy athiests of our day.) Graham McNeill, not being a philosopher or theologian, and not, as far as we know, even religious, is probably unaware of the counter arguments a real priest would realistically have used, and evidently didn't do a lot of research in that arena, or want to.
*The fact that attempts to abolish religion in real-life have proven harmful rather than good isn't addressed in the story either; as in Uriah doesn't mention any of those cases to refute the Emperor (look at Soviet Russia, North Korea and Cambodia under Pol Pot for three examples - it's even possible the Emperor was Stalin in this universe). Again, Uriah is most probably simply ignorant of those things happening in the past.
*Lastly, The Emperor's claim that "humanity will not be free until the last stone of the last church falls on the head of the last priest" is a (mis)quote of [http://www.qotd.org/quotes/Denis.Diderot Denis Diderot]. He could have at least tried to be original.
{{40k-Timeline}}

[[Category:Warhammer 40,000]]

Beast: The Primordial

2019-09-19T20:43:20Z

65.117.99.152: /* Lairs */

{{Game Infobox
|name = Beast: The Primordial
|picture = [[File:Beast_the_Primordial.png|200px]]
|type = [[RPG]]
|publisher = [[White Wolf]] / Onyx Path
|system = [[Storytelling System]]
|authors = Matt McFarland
|year = 2016
}}
{{Fail}}
{{WoD-stub}}

'''Beast: The Primordal''' is one of the newer games to come out for the New [[World of Darkness]], and probably the one most scorned on [[/tg/]]. You are a Beast, a living embodiment of humanity's deepest and darkest fears, driven by an inescapable need to sate your Hunger, a manifestation of fear. You may be driven by the urge to Ruin or Dominate, but you cannot help but Feed. Of course, where a Beast lurks, Heroes inevitably arise, driven to slay the Thing lurking in the Dark...

Sounds awesome, right? A chance to both completely blow off the supernatural wangst that bedevils almost all of the other WoD lines (except [[Geist: The Sin-Eaters]] and maybe [[Demon: The Descent]]) and revel in being the bad guy you truly are: what could possibly wreck that idea?

Then the preview edition came out, and the problems began to show themselves.

For a start, you don't get ''any'' shapeshifting powers at all. That's right, you have a "Beast's soul", but not a Beast's '''body''' - even your Atavisms are ''completely invisible'' to normalfags, even when you're squeezing through a too-tight space, ripping them apart with claws or breathing fire (unless you decided to drop your Lair (the fancy domain thing that is tied to you) on top of their asses. Though, if that happens, subtlety has gone right out the window). This fact alone got /tg/ mocking the game as appealing to Otherkin: one of the mercifully rare, but not non-existent, branches of nutjob that heavily overlaps with the [[furry]] fandom, except that even ''other furries'' think they're out of their minds. It would have been bad enough, but coming in the wake of [[Demon: The Descent]], which gave excellent modular rules for building a demonic form, fans were expecting a similar level of cool shapeshifting powers in a game that was advertised as "be the beast that haunts humanity's soul".

Next, though the intended flavor of the game was "screw the Heroes, they're really nothing but nutjobs who think they're the Good Guys and insist you're the Bad Guys", the writing of it came off as so sneering and condescending that not only did hordes of people start defending the Heroes (no thanks to that screwy "if you Critical Fail on your Rampage check, you spawn a Hero" rule), but /tg/ began writing Beasts off as otherkin fodder. The "special people with the souls of mythical creatures, picked on and bullied by the normies who just don't understand" (with the latter part going so far as to equate them with persecuted minority groups): that's what /tg/ saw and derided, in a repeat of [[Changeling: The Dreaming]], mixed with an alarming amount of juvenile revenge fantasies. It didn't help that the author openly mocked the people who argued in favor of making Heroes less unsympathetic.

But, in a surprising show of self-awareness, Onyx Path actually took the time to respond to the criticisms and began an immediate rewrite of the book to address them, rewriting large portions of the book to be relatively more neutral in tone, though in many cases these rewrites either failed to address the original issues or were exactly the same as the original. And in at least a few cases, "optional interpretations" trying to shoehorn in the original depiction of Beasts were added in an attempt to circumvent the rewrite.

In some cases, the rewrite actually made the issues with Beast '''worse''' by attempting to give the Beasts the moral high ground. "They're merely teaching people important lessons through fear, honestly!" is a common refrain through the book, because apparently the only way for someone to become wise is to be constantly scared shitless by nightmare monsters. That that's almost the exact same justification the [[Night Lords]] used, it didn't give them the moral high ground either. And Jigsaw, of the iconic Saw franchise - which looks like one of the foremost Beast's inspirations - may be liked by many a maniac admirers but hardly anyone sane argues him not a villain.

The methods of dealing with Hunger suggested by the book ranged from the ludicrously petty to the outright murderous, and the addition of the "Family Dinner" mechanic in which a Beast could sate its hunger just by watching another supernatural being hunt or feed made the double-edged sword that Hunger could have been completely irrelevant.

Combined with openly dismissing all non-asshole Heroes as too boring to be of interest (despite sympathetic villains being a good thing), compelling all other supernaturals (except Demons for some reason) to be friendly towards Beasts despite several in-character reasons for them to oppose each other, and generally trivializing any harm a Beast might cause to others in fulfilling its Hunger, /tg/ has quickly come to the conclusion that it is by far the worst of the Chronicles of Darkness books.

There are supplement rules released such as the "antagonists" book that features such wonderful ideas as a giant snakeman who totally sunk the Titanic, a "scary" unattractive gamer girl/Internet troll named "Null Snyper," and The Blind Man, who must be read about to be believed:

<blockquote>''"The Blind Man's blotted clothing is as result of a thick trail of what resemble fish eggs progressively leaking from his navel, urethra, and anus. Particularly around his navel area, a coagulated mass of pink and black eggs comes forth when the Blind Man strains his abdominal muscles. Horrifyingly, the Blind Man has from time to time passed these eggs off as salmon roe or sturgeon caviar, as they bear a sour, fishy odor. Those who consume his “produce” have their fertility dramatically increased, and gradually produce their own eggs in a similar fashion to the Blind Man, the only difference being that mortal-produced eggs possess a coat of thin white fur. This invariably drives the afflicted unfortunates insane, as they cannot stop the egg production, resulting in self-destructive harm. The Blind Man believes that by participating in the birthing, they increase the speed at which the Primogenitor will be reborn."'' --Night Horrors: Conquering Heroes</blockquote>

Yes, it's basically saying that he pisses, shits, and cums fish eggs, and tricks people into eating them so they also piss, shit, and cum fish eggs. Truly a creation even [[/d/]] would be hard-pressed to appreciate.

Later on, it was discovered that author Matt McFarland was accused of sexually assaulting a teenage girl and was quietly let go from Onyx Path. Following further accusations of sexual harassment in 2019 involving the abuse of his position as a senior writer, Onyx Path stripped McFarland of his remaining assignments with them and publically condemned his actions.

When you look at all the above stuff about Beasts being entitled to indulging their Hungers and that they're actually doing their victims a favor in the light of said accusation...well, it starts sounding an awful lot like the sort of thing a [[FATAL|registered sex offender]] would say in an attempt to justify his actions.

==Family==
To condense down what each family group of beast "souls" are, there are seven different families of monsters (which again are each an abstract conceptual basis to come up with your own style of monsters). Each beast is the nightmare manifested, a primal fear given shape, and the Beast is always the first inflicted upon by this nightmare, and are no longer troubled by it.
These families are then mixed with seven hungers to help build your own monster.

===[[FATAL|Anakim]]===
[[Giant]]s, [[ogre]]s, and the powerful [[primordials]] of an earthy disposition. The fear that makes up your soul is the fear of powerlessness. Something that you will likely never allow to happen to you again. These are not your BFG friends, because even the nicest ones feed on the fear of powerlessness and dominate their opponents. As for their powers, expect strength, presence and for a fight in their lairs to become a titanic struggle. Like [[Anime|Attack on Titan]] where you're the Titan and your enemy forgot their jet pack and cables.

===Eshmaki===
Lurkers, dwellers in the dark places, and sometimes capable of breathing fire or shredding opponents. Eshmaki are the beasts of the fear of darkness and the things that go bump in the night. Because they have conquered their fear, they never feel alone, though they might be. Did I mention you can be a [[dragon]] with this? Maybe one day you can use your incarnate powers to rule the world as force of change... Or just make a really, really good thief and/or killer. After all, what's to stop a dragon except a [[knight]]? And knights are just more tinned food.

===Inguma===
Nightmares of the Other. The youngest Family, "only" dating back to the dawn of civilization and the xenophobia it fostered. This is where you find stuff like [[Doppelganger]]s, the Pod People, The Thing (from the John Carpenter film), and various other monsters that can be called almost but not quite human. Ironically, they're the most humanlike of the Families despite their schtick of being the perpeutal outsiders.

===Makara===
For those wanting to say they are the Kraken, Leviathan, or any other sea monster. The Makara are the beasts of the fear of the depths. At its simplest this translates to a fear of drowning, but can easily be extrapolated further into overwhelming knowledge or circumstance. They tend to have the more lethal kinds of lairs. Drop one into reality and watch the world face a natural disaster level threat.

===Namtaru===
Those that believe in beauty being skin deep might have been referring to these things. Probably before being horribly fossilised. Namtaru are the fear of revulsion, and have Gorgons, insectoid terrors, and various other fuck-ugly things in their background. They can inflict a single condition once per scene, but they also are potentially some of the easiest people to hide evidence. After all, a statue can't expose you if you're simply a talented stone carver.

===Talassii===
Nightmares of Confinement. They embody fears of being kidnapped, imprisoned, and otherwise held against one's will. After an especially unwise brood attempted to re-enact the Rape of the Sabine Women on a band of Heroes, the entire Family got saddled with an Anathema which causes them to be followed with an air of menace that makes people think any Captor they encounter is "out to get them". Naturally, they try to avoid brutalizing or raping their "prisoners" now. Most of the time, anyway. Don't really end up mapping easily to a popular monster archetype like the others, so they mostly end up being giant spiders. Could probably work folks wanting to be Jigsaw or Leatherface-style slashers.

===Ugallu===
Monsters of the air that represent everything from harpies to dragons (again), to great birds like the majestic [[Phoenix]] or Roc. They are the fear of exposure, and too few people ever look up. Flight is something that falls among the realms of ease for these creatures. What's terrifying is their birthright ability to breach through facades. That means no glamour or special obfuscation can escape these eyes. It only inflicts a condition, but sometimes that's all it takes.

==Hunger==
Your Beast's Hunger is what defines the kind of dark monstrous things you need to do to keep your Horror happy and full. There is always the feeding on flesh and blood but sometimes a beast can satisfy their craving in other ways. Feeding your Beast is what gives you power, and how full your beast is is the satiety stat. High satiety gives you a lot of power to fuel your awesome abilities like unleashing your dragon breath or using your titanic strength to kick a vampire through a skyscraper, and also passively enhances your Nightmares. However, high satiety has risks attached. Your soul could become gluttonous or picky, refusing to feed on anything other than rare and high quality heists or stimulations. A collector might not be satisfied until you have Fort Knox gold, for example. At maximum Satiety, the Horror goes into a food coma, leaving the mortal body kind of helpless in the mortal world (and since it takes some pretty heinous shit to reach that point, the now-mortal Beast will have a lot of enemies waiting to take advantage of his weakness).

By contrast, not feeding your beast enough means your Horror rampages through the dreamscape more often. At its minimum, you take lethal damage every day you don't feed and your Horror starts attacking the same dreams more than once. This leads to Heroes showing up and cause extreme problems, especially since you're probably not equipped to deal with the murderous glory hounds after the kill of their lives- but on the other hand it makes your Atavisms stronger, among other stuff. Walking the middle road between keeping your beast from rampaging and not having it become a glutton is manageable, but also has risks of its own. You gain none of the benefits for being at either extreme, and Heroes will find it easy to saddle you with Anathemas.

In practice, it's best to rapidly ping-pong between high and low satiety without hitting either the minimum or maximum so you gain the benefits of either extreme without needing to suffer the drawbacks for long.

There are seven Hungers. When combined with the seven families this creates 49 types of Beasts, so even Beasts of the same Family can be widely different (but in practice, several Hungers and Families overlap with each other or aren't well-defined enough to be distinguishable). These Hungers are:

===Collectors===
The Hunger [[Warcraft|for the Hoard]]. Simply put, the Collectors like to obtain all sorts of stuff. Not because of what it's worth to them, but for what it's worth to others. Anakim Collectors prefer trophies that show off their own strength such as things taken from Heroes or mementos from worthy enemies, Eshmaki Collectors like to terrify the owner before taking things, Makara Collectors prefer ancient relics for their worth and to learn more about the world, Namtaru Collectors collect what seem to be items of great beauty, but look too close and the horror sets in like the stench, insects everywhere or the ground being filthy; other Natamu like to vandalize valuable things. Ugallu Collectors are dragons. Or at least close to them: they look down at the world looking for something they like, mainly hidden objects. If they find something like that they swoop down, grab it and fly up to their out-of-reach lairs.

===Enablers===
Hunger for Transgression. The tempters to the Nemeses' punishers, they push people to break their own moral codes, then gain Satiety when the transgressor feels guilty or ashamed about giving into their vices. They can't take the easy way out of using mind control though, the victim has to make the choice to transgress of their own will.

===Nemeses===
The Hunger for Punishment. The boogeymen of the Beasts, delivering retribution upon transgressors big and small. Anakim Nemeses solve violence with more violence, going after violent criminals and serving the dish best served cold. Eshmaki Nemeses work by reminding the perpetrator of a crime long forgotten of what they did, stalk them and drive the criminal to paranoia by (reasonably) making them think that there's a monster out to get them. Makara Nemeses protect certain places. Those who break these codes (transgressing somewhere where they shouldn't or killing animals somewhere) will face the wrath of such a Beast, but because of the nature of their Hunger these Beasts will require support from broodmates to help them feed regularly. Namtaru Nemeses tend to be scorned, and repay those who pick on those like them. Bullies, abusive spouses and other cruelty coming from hate will face one of them sooner or later. The Ugallu Nemeses punish secret crimes and other transgressions that are difficult to prove: hypocrisy, deceiving romantic partners, falsely professing belief in a religion and so on. These Beasts too like to torment their prey days or weeks before striking, making the retribution all the better.

===Predators===
The Hunger for Prey. Not as straightforward as you'd think: while some Beasts do kill their prey it's more about besting the prey than to outright eat it. Anakim Predators prefer to chase their prey down, uncaring about who sees them. Eshmaki like to hurt their prey in subtle ways: either physically or psychologically: for them it's about stalking rather than hurting. Makara Predators prefer to use traps, tricks and bait to lure others to their doom, when the prey falls for it the Beast considers it a job well done. Namtaru Predators tend to do bizarre (and often violent) things with their prey: drink blood from various cuts on their body, lap the sweat from their foreheads or leave a nasty, but not lasting, mark. Ugallu Predators prefer to plan, plot and scheme, picking their prey carefully. But when that's done the Beast strikes swiftly, brutally and efficiently.

===Ravagers===
The Hunger for Ruin. The most destructive of the Hungers, these Beasts live to destroy, pure and simple. They only go for non-living targets though, because those who target people Hunger for Prey, not Ruin. Anakim Ravagers like to smash first and think later, forcing them to live lives on the road lest they be found out quickly. Eshmaki Ravagers like to break things in the most guarded of places, ruining only their target and nothing else to prove their skill and scare people. Makara Ravagers make the damage they do look like forces of nature, reminding people they are not safe from the fury of nature. Namtaru Ravagers prefer to pollute instead of destroying. Their horror sets in the moment people think themselves to be safe only for them to realize the depth of the damage. These Beasts don't just burn the fields, they also salt the earth. Ugallu Ravagers strike suddenly and precisely, destroying what they need to feed and move on. They are like the drone strikes of the Beasts, terrifying people of the open sky.

===Tyrants===
The Hunger for Power. Tyrants want to assert their power over others, making people feel small and helpless. Anakim Tyrants like to see people be defeated, Eshmaki Tyrants relish the hunt and give their prey a sporting chance, Makara Tyrants prefer to make people feel like the malevolent forces they face are being guided by some kind of intelligence, Namtaru Tyrants scare people by being impossibly monstrous looking and Ugallu Tyrants make people feel they're being watched all the time, driving them to paranoia.

===Whispers===
Hunger for Secrets. These Beasts like nothing more than to expose or uncover the secrets that others want to keep hidden. Depending on Satiety, this can mean anything from catching a coworker who got out of work by feigning illness to exposing a vast conspiracy.

==Powers==

===Atavisms===
The powers granted by your Horror and the most conventional of powers. All Atavisms are linked to a particular Family: the core five have five each and the two new ones each have three. Any Beast can learn any Atavism, as long as it matches with their Horror's identity. Atavisms become more powerful when used in a locations that resonates with the Beast's Lair, allowing the use of a more powerful version of the Atavism by spending a point of Willpower instead of Satiety (but this can be done only once a turn). Aside from this optional effect all Atavisms have a more potent variant that is used if the Beast has low Satiety. A starting character starts with two Atavisms, one of which has to be from a Beast's own Family. It can learn all the others too: all non-Family Atavisms are simply one XP more expensive.

===Nightmares===
Nightmares invoke the fears commonly found in nightmares: "nobody likes you", "something's chasing you", "you're covered in bugs", and so on. (A notable exception is "Behold, My True Form!", in which you can scare people to death with your presence alone).

They require either eye contact or physical contact, followed by the Beast speaking a few words. Lasting for one Scene, Nightmares provide powerful negative modifiers on targets that give the Beast an edge when dealing with them. Nightmares come in three forms: the regular one, an additional effect gained if the Beast has 7 or more Satiety, and one that is activated by spending Satiety (if your Satiety drops to 6 or lower because of this you still get the high Satiety effect). Because all Nightmare rolls involve rolling a Beast's current Satiety, this means that at high Satiety you're easily looking at dice pools of 10+.

===Lairs===
Your home sweet home in the Primordial Dream, this is where your Horror "lives" when it's not out giving people nightmares. Lair is also the name of your power stat: it's your supernatural tolerance trait, once you have more than five dots in Lair you can increase your traits beyond the normal maximum, etc. Lairs are composed of '''chambers''' (the dream-mirrors of places where somebody got scared so bad it left an impression on the Primordial Dream; you can open a gateway from a chamber to the place the chamber is based on to enter and and exit the Lair) and '''burrows''' (connections between chambers). The first and most important part of your Lair is the '''Heart'''. Your heart can't be used to warp to the real world as it's based on you and not a physical location, but that's a good thing on account of if somebody destroys your heart you get instakilled. From there you add chambers, connect them with burrows, and choose your '''Lair Traits''', the shit that makes your lair deadly to anyone who isn't you. Lair traits are environmental Tilts divided into minor (a raging blizzard, poor lighting, a sticky floor) and major (anyone who stays for too long becomes a pillar of salt, bottomless pits) categories; at least one of your lair traits has to be minor. If one of the tilts is already present in the real world, you can bring up to (Lair) other traits along for the ride for free. (Every WoD splat has its super-murder cheese combo, and this is the one for Beast: turn off the lights, then activate all your major traits and sit in the dark while your enemies die horribly in your magical pocket universe which kills in minutes and leaves no evidence.)

All the chambers in an area are called the '''Hive''', which is where your Horror goes when it ''is'' out scarring people for life and whatnot. Generally, the nature of the Hive is influenced by its Apex- the meanest, scariest thing in the area, which need not be a Beast or even a supernatural. Their sway over the fears of humanity creates an additional trait in every chamber connected to the Hive, but unlike other Traits you ''don't'' get free immunity to it. Depending on the trait, this can be either mildly annoying or a good reason to move your brood somewhere else.

You can cut your Lair and its Chambers off from the Hive if you like, but that means your Horror is going to keep fucking up the same people again and again, which will either attract or create a Hero to bust your ass.

===Kinship===
Beasts consider themselves to be part of an extended family originating from the being they call "The Dark Mother", and claim that all other supernatural beings are basically their distant cousins who just don't know where they ''really'' come from. The only exception is the [[Demon: The Descent|Unchained]]; not only do Beasts not claim kinship with the scions of the God-Machine, they actively hate them.

Naturally, some supernatural beings like the [[Werewolf: The Forsaken|Uratha]] and the [[Mummy: The Curse|Arisen]] who already have their own origin stories don't buy it, but even then they're not normally the type to pass up free allies. As for when they come to blows...well, Beasts know that family members can still end up in fights with one another and see nothing wrong with making such fights lethal.

In crunch terms, this means that Beasts can detect other supernatural beings, disguise themselves as other supernaturals, gain Satiety by watching said supernatural beings "feed" (the aforementioned Family Dinner mechanic that torpedoes the whole issue of managing Hungers), empower other supernaturals to make their powers work better, create new Nightmares based on their kin's abilities, and even open Primordial Pathways from their Lairs to other spiritual dimensions (e.g. the Shadow and the Hedge).

It should be noted that the True Fae, Centimani, Slashers, and other fucked-up sorts are also recognized as Kin by Beasts. That...is probably not a good sign.

===Others===
Birthrights, Obcasus Rites etc.

==Allies==

===Cults===

===Horrorspawn===

==Heroes==
The designated antagonists of Beast: The Primordial. We say "designated" because despite the game's best efforts to make them look as terrible as possible, they are actually not that evil as CoD antagonists go. Far less so than the writers intended them to be, if their statements complaining about how people weren't supposed to sympathize with them are any indication.

The basic premise is that while Beasts "dream deep", Heroes "dream wide" and skim the surface of the Primordial Dream, where they can detect the distubances caused by Beast activity. Back in ancient times, they supposedly helped Beasts teach the lessons they embodied, but because of modern cultural narratives they're only concerned with killing Beasts now.

Given that the average Beast is a shameless monster that literally feeds on terror, you might assume that this technically makes them the good guys. But since Beasts can do no wrong as far as the writers are concerned, Heroes are instead murderous sociopaths who would gladly send a thousand people to their deaths as long as they can claim the glory of killing a Beast. The very idea of Heroes not being assholes is brought up only in a sidebar, where they are dismissed as being too dull to be worth discussing.

One of the example heroes provided is basically a nerdy, selfish neckbeard with delusions of grandeur, complete with trenchcoat, trilby, and unironically referring to people as "milady". Let that set the tone for how Beast views Heroes.

Anyway, Heroes can instinctively track Beasts (an ability that the book has no crunch for, instead suggesting that the Storyteller just say it happens when the plot calls for it) and impose Anathemas in combat, which are weaknesses that the Hero "discovers" that either constrain a Beast's behavior or make them easier to hurt in some way. Stuff like the single scale Smaug was missing on his belly, or taking bonus damage from the Hero's "Chosen Blade". As a Hero kills Beasts, they get more powers like built-in armor against attacks from a Beast or placing an Anathema by denouncing a Beast as evil to the Beast's face (and since the only way to interrupt it is to physically attack the Hero, it creates ''interesting'' challenges for Beasts if there are witnesses present).

===Hero-Bashing===
Amazingly, the Heroes were portrayed as being even worse than they are in the old Kickstarter version despite their being explicitly created as the result of Beasts fucking with their dreams. They're described as having the personality of "a high school bully crossed with a rabid dog", and an entire section of their chapter is dedicated to a slang lexicon that sounds like it was invented by stereotypical frat boys. Several other chapters discussing them can similarly be boiled down to "Heroes are all evil lunatics because we say they are, never mind the fact that their only crime was being victimized by a Beast".

Between this and the Heroes' final depiction, the implications should speak for themselves.

==Inheritances==
Inheritances are the "endgame" for a Beast, the result of how they reconcile their mortal lives with their Horror's Legend, the metaphysical framework that provides context to their existence.

===Merger===
This Inheritance happens when a Beast's lair is destroyed, either intentionally by the Beast or by someone else's actions. The Horror merges with the Beast, destroying any trace of self-awareness or humanity and devolving the Beast into a monster that exists only to feed.

===Retreat===
Normally if a Beast dies, the Horror dies with it. But when a Beast dies while its Horror is slumbering, the Horror survives and continues to exist as an ephemeral being that continues to fuck with human dreams.

===Divergence===
A more obscure form of Inheritance, where the Beast deliberately starves himself nearly to death while keeping the Horror cooped up in its Lair until the Horror tries to eat him out of desperation and fury. The Beast responds in kind, and after enough time eating each other the Beast and Horror both become half dream and half flesh. They remain connected to one another to some degree, but the Beast no longer has to appease the Horror's Hunger for it. However, both halves are also somewhat less powerful for it- the Beast can't use most Atavisms, the Horror can't use most Nightmares, and both of them draw from the same pool of Satiety. More importantly, the Horror gets to manifest outside of the Primordial Dream at will, and the Beast can't control what it does. And it'll probably be pissed at the Beast for trying to starve it.

===Erasure===
Some Beasts really want to be human again, but since the Horror eats your soul when you become a Beast they need to get creative. To do this, they need both a new soul and some way to kill their Horror (most likely involving another supernatural or even a Hero). If they're successful, they become more or less human but can still use Nightmares and Birthrights. The catch? They can only regain Satiety by eating the flesh of other Beasts and can never become another type of supernatural due to pissing off the Dark Mother.

===Inversion===
Some Beasts look at themselves and realize that they hate what they've become, but don't just commit suicide or seek Divergence or Erasure. Instead, they go a step further and seek revenge against the Dark Mother directly: they travel to the Bright Dream (better known as the Temenos to mages), study their effects on the world around them until they can craft an Anathema weapon against their Horror, and use said Anathema to bring it to a state of near-death. When this happens, they lose the ability to gain or use Satiety in any way but retain most of their powers and gain the ability to place Anathemas on other Beasts. From there they quickly go on to begin hunting other Beasts in the hope of hurting the Dark Mother as much as possible before they die.

===Incarnate===
The most complex Inheritance and the one that the game pushes as the "best" one. After reaching a certain amount of Lair, an aspiring Beast must do one of the following things:
*Subvert a Hero's narrative by thoroughly destroying the Hero before he/she can even retaliate
*Become the Apex of the local Hive and visit their hunger on other Beasts
*Spawn a Legend by feeding their Horror in a spectacularly grandiose manner.

By changing their Legend into a Myth, an Incarnate gains the following powers:
*They can transform into their Horror in the physical world, gaining a bunch of stuff like extra limbs, natural armor, and so on when they do so.
*They become immune to Anathemas and can in fact de-power Heroes just by touching them.
*They can enter the Primordial Dream at will.
*They can never become Ravenous or Slumbering, though they still retain the ability to use Satiety and can gain the benefits/drawbacks of high and low Satiety.
*Their Life and Legend is replaced by a Myth. However, if they lose control of their Myth, they lose all their Incarnate powers and anybody can place Anathemas on them. Good fucking luck with that when you remember all the shit they can pull.

== Attempts to fix ==

Strangely enough, players have tried tying the splat with the "Inferno" blue book, since the splat shares a lot of terminology with said-book. This begs the weird comparison where Demon: the Descent v. Beasts is like the Demons vs Devils Blood War in D&D. Does it fix the splat? Depends on who you ask.

Another, less malefic option is that you play as a guardian protector Beast who stays his darker nature by being around those less villainous kin. This is done by abusing the shit out of the "Family Dinner" mechanic, which essentially allows a Beast to never go hungry so long as they watch kin feed, eg. Changeling's harvesting glamour, mage's doing oblations, Promethean's fucking power outlets, etc. And, to be honest, it's not a half-bad metaphor, that we are all of us more vulnerable to our darker impulses when we try going at life alone. But, when surrounded by friends who care about you, who will stick by you through thick and thin, you can become something truly indomitable.

= In short =

The ''real'' NWoD/CoD equivalent of [[Changeling: The Dreaming]], without the few redeeming values and written by a pervert who probably got beat up in school a lot.

==See Also==
*[http://projects.inklesspen.com/fatal-and-friends/kurieg/beast-the-primordial/ FATAL and Friends' scathing review, which sums up everything wrong with Beast]
*[http://projects.inklesspen.com/fatal-and-friends/kurieg/beast-night-horrors-conquering-heroes/ The review for Conquering Heroes, which brought us The Blind Man up there]

{{WoD-Games}}

Khornate Knights

2019-09-13T21:39:42Z

65.117.99.152:

{{sick}}
{{Fail}}
{{MattWard}}
{{Heresy}}
{{editwar}}

We make no claims to be a fan of the [[Sisters of Battle|Bolter Bitches]], but this is one of the most grievously, mind-numbingly [[Edgy]] offenses [[Matt Ward]] has transcribed to paper.

Not to be confused with [[Warriors of Chaos|Khornate Knights or Skullcrushers]]

[[File:1304057080538.png|right|200px|thumb|SoBs make shmancy [[hat]]s as well. Grey Knights have apparently taken a page from Necron Flayers.]]
[[File:Sisterhat.jpg|right|200px|thumb|But that this were real.]]
[[File:Sister Brofist.png|200px|thumb|Really though, the Grey Knights and Sisters are total bros. Disregard [[Matt Ward|Ward]]. As usual.]]

==Context for the Rage==

Basically one story in the 5th Edition [[Grey Knight]] Codex, "The Bloodtide Returns", lists the Grey Knights as coming across a planet wherein a powerful Dark Age of Technology nanite weapon controlled by a bloodthirster resided - one so powerful that it was corrupting the populace by flying into their pores and driving them crazy. There was a convent of Sisters that were being slowly wiped out near the site whose faith was keeping them pure and untouched by the taint except for all the ones who were corrupted, and instead of asking for the Sisters' assistance the Grey Knights proceeded to slaughter them all and make wards from their blood, then go about banishing the daemon. [[What|'''All after the codex literally stating that their faith is strong enough to protect them from any kind of daemonic corruption, so they wouldn't have even needed those wards.''']]

Think about this, for just a minute. The Sisters' faith protected some of them from being corrupted. Yet, as has been shown before, there have been a few Sisters of Battle that have fallen to Chaos. In come the Grey Knights, whose faith is so powerful it is quite literally their strongest weapon and their most potent protection. These Grey Knights' faith is not strong enough to withstand the NANITE WEAPONS of Chaos, while the Sisters' is? Does that make ANY sense at all?

Even when the Sisters would be truly useful against Chaos, why the FUCK would the Grey Knights, a purely Imperial faction who keeps faith the highest measure of existence would downright TURN ON THEM AND MURDER Emperor's servants and pour their blood on themselves like some insane chaotic cult? Infighting due to conflicts of interest is possible, as seen in Dawn of War: Dark Crusade and Dawn of War: Soulstorm, yet this goes against all logical explanation.

This is a classic case of not just heresy, but of [[Extra Heresy|''extra'' heresy]]; canon to this point had explicitly detailed 3 things:

* That the Grey Knights greatly loathe Chaos and are completely immune to its corrupting influence. They wouldn't need wards made on the spot to withstand daemonic corruption, given that just their Aegis armour's own built-in wards would deflect any corrupting influence that would try to tempt them (assuming that it COULD tempt them at all).

* That no Grey Knight in the history of the chapter has ever fallen to the temptations of [[Chaos]] due to the massive amounts of spiritual and physical indoctrination and training they go through that would make the Space Marines' training and creation regimen look like the Guard's conscript training, along with their anti-daemon Aegis armours. In addition, in older fluff, the Grey Knights COULD fall to Chaos, in theory. However, in addition to their intense faith and rigorous physical and mental training, they closely regulate themselves. If a Battle-Brother's reaction to Chaos was anything less than [[Angry Marines|"NO FUCKING WAY!"]], they would have a force halberd to the face in record time.

* That very few sisters have ever fallen to Chaos.

And yet we have this - evidence of the darkest kind of heresy, if not outright [[Khorne]] worship. Thankfully it has been retconned, but this was still canon for a time, a sign of how bad some things were under [[Matt Ward]].

Fucking [[Matt Ward]]. Next thing you know, [[Kharn]] will be working for the Tau or something. <s>'''Yeah about that...in the novelization of [[Warhammer 40,000: Fire Warrior]], it was revealed that the protagonist was actually being aided by [[Khorne]]...*nervous laugh*'''</s> {{BLAM|'''*BLAM*''' HERESY!!!!!}}

And the Sisters of Battle get mutilated a lot whenever Ward comes near them.

==Seriously, what the fuck?==
The very fact that we were even having the above conversation means that even in a best-case scenario, something has gone horribly wrong in the storytelling department.

Within the context of the 40k verse, there is some basis that the Grey Knights would do something that we would otherwise consider being pants-on-head retarded. Note that GW isn't shy of inventing reasons to justify [[Grimdark|otherwise allied forces to kill ''the fuck'' out of each other]]. First, the GKs are stone cold pragmatists who burn planets just to keep secret [[Extra Heresy|something particularly heretical]] some guardsmen might have witnessed. Second, is that they are all-around stone cold motherfuckers, despite the whole incorruptible nobility thing and finest-of-the-Emperor's-finest thing. There's [[Exterminatus|a pretty good reason]] that they aren't really trusted by the other factions that would fight Chaos too, since the Knights seem to think everybody else as a bit more expendable than themselves. Killing the SoB in that story was just one story of dicking around the other Imperial elements, and the Knights apparently do this sort of thing at least semi-regularly.

BUT!!

Why the GKs killed the SoB for ''extra'' protection is a plot hole that they really don't fill in. Remember, this is in a book that played up the Knights as literally impossible to corrupt. Might have been for extra physical protection to make sure they don't get killed by the Bloodtide rather than for spiritual protection, but that makes no sense; how the blood of the innocent provide any extra PHYSICAL protection at all, let alone to someone already wearing blessed POWER ARMOUR?

==On GK/Ordo Malleus Teamkilling==

"Only the Grey Knights survive in the service of the Ordo. All other troops die when given over to them. The reason for non-survival among military units attached to the Ordo Malleus is simple. Any troops that an Inquisitor Ordinary has commanded have been exposed to Daemons. They are privy to one of the most closely-guarded Imperial secrets: that daemons are real and Chaos is a terrible threat. Those that survive a battle or campaign are executed, with full honors, shortly afterwards. They are expendable, and entire Imperial regiments and corps have been dispatched by the Ordo Malleus."

This is from Realms of Chaos (1988) and paraphrased in Codex: Grey Knights. Ordo Malleus and Grey Knight types are not nice. They euthanize or mind scrub nearly anyone who finds out about Chaos/Daemons. No reason was needed to kill the SoBs at all. The Ordo Malleus/Grey Knights kill practically everybody they run into no matter how you cut it. This of course still doesn't explain why they used the blood to make wards, instead of just killing them and leaving them at that.

In ''Incorruptible'', by David Annandale, the GK teamkill their own after falling to genestealer/tyranid corruption. Only slightly better than their initial assumption of having to kill their first in-chapter heretics. That's a plus.

So we still blame Matt Ward, just for bad conveyance instead of continuity errors.

Except that explanation still doesn't make any sense, considering SoB already know about Chaos/Daemons, fight them now and then and are part of the <s>Inquisition, which lords over both factions</s> Ecclesiarchy, which maintains some knowledge of daemons so they can be exorcised. Also, consider that a battle force of SoB sent to purge a heretical cult may encounter daemons and request the Grey Knights' presence.

This also doesn't make a whole lot of sense when considering that the Guard regularly fights off Chaos warbands and the like who frequently make use of daemons, and they most certainly do not purge the entirety of Cadia every so often, nor do they purge the various Cadian armies that are going around the Imperium whenever encountered, despite said Cadians almost certainly having at least some knowledge of Daemons. So this whole concept really doesn't work to start with.

In short, killing every Imperial that has encountered Chaos and daemons, would very quickly lead to being no more Imperials to kill.

==7th Edition Unfucks Things==

As of the 7th Edition Grey Knights Codex, there have been some minor revisions to the fluff. While Supreme Grand Master Kaldor "Sue to end all Sues" Draigo is still around, the Bloodtide incident also still exists...albeit, all mention of the Sisters being turned into paint - or even being there at all - is removed (so this is now likely retconned). Instead, the Sisters get to share in another short story within the new Codex, entitled "The Plague of Madness", where they are not used as Armour Paint by the Grey Knights at least. Instead, they get a good (by W40K standards) death after actually saving the Knights' asses. In fact, the Sisters manage to rescue Kaldor from a horde of Plaguebearers via purging flame. This could probably be seen as overcompensation on the part of GW for the Bloodtide Incident, but no one seemed to mind, since the Sisters could desperately use a win.

tl;dr Edgy meets Grimdark and makes it Grimderp, with a final saving grace turning it Nobledark.

==Gallery==
<gallery>
File:The sacred rose by celeng-d57pms2.jpg| What REALLY happened that day. (Heck, this is half-canon now)
</gallery>

[[Category:RAGE]][[Category:FAIL]]

Darkest Dungeon

2019-09-13T21:30:44Z

65.117.99.152: /* The Story */

{{/vg/}}
{{topquote|In time, you will know the tragic extent of my failings...|Your Ancestor}}

'''Darkest Dungeon''' is a [[Grimdark]] sidescrolling [[Dark Fantasy]] turn-based videogame with [[Cthulhu Mythos|Mythosian]] overtones that has become very popular on /tg/, thanks to its surprisingly accurate feel of [[Old School Roleplaying]], [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eRh_mlAwxTI its unique and moody artstyle, the constant and quality narration,]. and general difficulty.

==The Story==
You are the last scion of a fallen noble family, one brought to ruin by a hedonistic ancestor who squandered the family fortune pursuing decadence and ultimately turned to dark pursuits in search of forbidden pleasures. This resulted in your family estate becoming the site of a sprawling excavation project filled with horrible monsters, while the surrounding lands are similarly corrupted, populated by nightmares of the Ancestor's own creation. The only (mostly) safe place is the Hamlet, which acts as the hub area of the game. Using the last of your family's money, you have returned to the estate to begin hiring [[adventurer]]s to try to and clear out the dark things lurking in the dungeon, gathering the riches that lie beneath to finance further and further expeditions beneath.

After all, not all of your explorers will return alive, or even sane...

The quote at the top of the page is something of an understatement in regards to the background of the game. His failings are as follows (so far):
* In his youth, he enjoyed the debauchery and general 120 Days Of Sodom (don't look it up if you don't know it already) behavior of the nobility in the courtyard of the estate. One day an attractive woman appeared and fluidly navigated the assembled nobles...so the Ancestor tried to kill her. She revealed herself as a vampire but he succeeded at killing her. He then promptly did what any sane, rational being would do and hung her upside-down to drain out all her cursed blood, mixed it with a prized vintage of wine, and threw a party. After enjoying his new "Really Bloody Mary" invention, the attending nobles and servants all became vampires and tore their own bodies to pieces while the Ancestor, who had only drunk a single drop of blood, gained a vision of the Eldritch horrors that lay beneath his mansion and began his obsession with them. As the mosquitos were lured by the blood, the wine, and the bloody wine, the Ancestor sealed the '''Courtyard''' away where it has since sunk back into the swamp and contained the now mosquito/vampire hybrid court. They now break loose periodically requiring you to send heroes to eliminate one of the original members of the court to send the creatures back to the swamps for awhile. Ignoring them results in the vampirism spreading, called the Crimson Curse, which has very little effect on heroes other than making them constantly need blood to avoid stacking debuffs and irrational behavior plus eventually death if unsated. Well, that and a zealot called the Fanatic who your Ancestor was aware of and is obsessed with purging the Curse by attacking any party with at least one cursed individual.
* As a child a small homeless girl had a crush on the Ancestor while he played in the town, which was nice when he was a kid but as a young man he found her irritating. So when he needed money to fund his newfound Eldritch fascination he cut a deal with the fishmen (not fish''er''men, Kuo-Toa style humanoid fish) who lived on the coast. He lured the girl to the pier and shackled her to an idol, both of which were the Ancestor's end of the deal in exchange for gems to fund his ambition. The girl was transformed into the likeness of the fishmen while destroying the human portion of her mind, and is their queen/mother/slave. She occupies the '''Cove'''.
* Starting his journey into madness began with the purchase of rare books, which drew the attention of a young woman skilled in the arts of herbalism and magic (read: a witch). While he enjoyed her company early on, she was just as obsessed with the creatures beneath the manor as he was and her path of study was in experimentation with edibles. Her body was twisted by the concoctions and he no longer found her physically attractive, banishing her to the '''Weald''' to dwell with the beasts. She's now a cannibal by the way (although there's some implication she'd always been one), and has been preying on your villagers.
* As he became more skilled in magic he obsessed over prolonging his life. After making a dead mouse's leg twitch, he invited experts in life and death from foreign nations to share knowledge with him, using his newly-acquired expertise of alchemy to make them trust him. After learning everything he could he killed each one in their beds and raised their corpses from the dead with their knowledge intact. Said undead Necromancers proceeded to raise more corpses, and so on creating a growing empire of the undead with no end, which now occupy the '''Ruins''' of the estate itself. The Ancestor considered this a massive success, then disregarded the fact that there's a growing army of the undead literally right outside his door.
* As his skill in magic improved, the Ancestor moved on from animating bones with a human mind to summoning creatures from beyond into flesh using blood rituals. He found that pigs were useful for rituals "since their flesh is most similar to that of humans", and managed to summon a gigantic "Great Thing" into the form of a gigantic pig. The thing required a massive amount of food to survive and both the Great Thing and the lesser things, all in the form of pigs, now occupy the '''Warrens''' and prey on the Hamlet. They have joined sides with the fungus monsters that already occupied the area, which have now overcome the former human residents.
* Eventually an old man arrived in the town telling prophesies to the locals about what would happen and riling them up against your family. The Ancestor threw him in the stockades, attempted to drown him, and literally covered the prophet's back in daggers but each time the old man returned and warned the peasants about the end of the world. Having given up, the Ancestor simply showed the prophet the Great Thing and explained what he planned to do. As a result, the poor bastard tore out his own eyes and fled to the Ruins, where a cult has gathered under his leadership and now works against your attempts to reverse your Ancestor's doings.
* The byproducts of his experiments (which weren't stable enough to remain pigmen and/or pig demi-gods) began to stack up, and when the excavation of the place beneath the estate broke through into the ancient tunnels and aquaducts he shoved all the various twitching semi-dead fleshy things down into them until the abominations all fused together in the Warrens. Now the giant chunk of random organs and flesh threatens not only lives of the Hamlet, but the very sanity of anyone who sees it.
* In order to enforce order on the town once the folk and local guards turned against him, the Ancestor employed bandits using a massive cannon. Calling them his militia they slaughtered many of the townsfolk and became the secret police through which he ruled. By the time you arrive, they've returned to being mere bandits, living by raiding the town from their base in the Weald. They are the very first threat you encounter, trying to stop you from even reaching the Hamlet in the first place. Their attacks on the Hamlet will continue even after your arrival, making even the '''Hamlet''' a potentially deadly battlefield from time to time.
* When bandit raids and the delicate nature of his shipments became too unsafe for the main roads, the Ancestor employed pirates to bring him his evil goods via a small section of the coast inaccessible save by a stairway leading to the estate. Eventually they increased their prices knowing they obviously had the market cornered, and the Ancestor had again bankrupted himself so he used his magic to curse their anchor with his ambition and resentment, dragging them to the bottom of the sea...sort of, they came back to be a pain in your ass as ghosts still bound to the anchor.
* Some time ago, the Ancestor "helped" a local Miller whose farm provided food for the Hamlet's commoners. The farm was struck with blight, but rather than fixing the problem, the Ancestor set up the "Slabs edge with certain celestial designs" around the farm as bait for the things from beyond the stars. An answer came in the form of an alien comet, striking the farm's windmill, warping the land into a wasteland of crystals that distort space-time. Devastation to the poor miller caught in the disaster, while a harvest for the Ancestor. Oh, and it turns out the alien comet is but an infant form of the same creature behind the Darkest Dungeon.
* In the end your Ancestor broke through to an ancient underground site of Eldritch horror. He sent you a letter which would draw you to the Hamlet, and seemingly committed suicide, not out of shame but because the peasants had formed a mob of angry torch-wielders at the gates of the mansion and his only other option was a public execution. The manor has since fallen apart and the creatures from below have overtaken it, which makes it the hardest area in the game, literally the titular '''Darkest Dungeon''' which your Ancestor liked to end his sentences referencing. First you must clear out the ruins (which lay within the Ruins making the last level technically just outside the first) before cleansing the ever-shifting architecture in the tunnels below.
* Finally (as far as we know, which extends in every DLC) the Ancestor left one last “fuck you” to the player character yourself. Should you conquer the Darkest Dungeon and kill the final boss you get his final message, which (spoiler, but not really if you’ve read anything Lovecraft or Lovectraft-inspired) is that everything he worked for was to awaken the ancient unknowable terror that birthed humanity itself, with the entire world as its (either metaphorical or literal) egg. He lets you know that it’s now your job and eventually the job of your descendants to forever keep the thing he helped create at bay. So his last message to you actually taunts you with the fact he made this mess, and its your job to manage it since it can never be cleaned up. With a suggestion you should just follow in his footsteps. There is also an interpretation his messages are not for you, but all of humanity given his references to the “human family”, which is even darker (but shifts some responsibility off you at least).
* By the end of the game, the player character himself is traumatized by the knowledge he has gained. The final boss pretty much requires you to kill off two of your characters, so at the very least you have probably sacrificed two people for your goals, but you’re almost certainly responsible for more. You’ve left a trail of broken individuals scrambling away from the Hamlet, and the horrors your Ancestor unleashed continue to spread, or are at best contained temporarily, despite you having dealt with the origin of each problem. You begin to hallucinate, seeing the landscape twist into tentacles from darkness below into red light from above (or, as Ancestor implies and in classical Lovecraftian fashion, you're starting to see the world ''as it really is''). Your Ancestor himself may not have been dead, as your mercenaries encountered an abomination in his form (although it could also have been a madness-wrought delusion or a creature in his form), and according to the Ancestor-thing’s words the result of his actions are an ongoing curse on your lineage. The player is left wondering if their future is to repeat the Ancestor’s mistakes (as you’re now essentially in the same state he was after sealing the Courtyard, albeit far less sadistic) or to spend your days keeping the evil at bay using an unending supply of the poor unfortunates who come to the town (in other words, keep playing and buy future DLC).
* The Ancestor ''does'', however, sound '''utterly''' '''''amazing'''''. The voice actor, Wayne June, had a copious amount of fitting experience for the role via narrating the likes of audiobook adaptations of Lovecraft and most would agree that the game would not be the same at all if his dramatic, flowery narration had not existed for it.

==The Heroes==
The coach will deliver a fresh batch of would-be heroes to the hamlet every week (which is the length of time that a trip into one of the dungeins takes), allowing you to assemble many different possible teams to send into the dungeon. Each has a canon comic giving a view of their backstory, and beyond that many give clues with their dialogue about their backstories and goals.

The '''Abomination''' is a man possessed by an inhuman fiend (basically a demon/werewolf), which grants him unholy strength and the ability to vomit caustic slime at his foes causing Blight. If he needs greater offensive power, he can let the Beast out, transforming into a monstrous form - but this can be as crippling for sanity - his ''and'' the rest of the party's - as the other monsters he's battling. He can stun by using a chain as a whip, and his ability to prostrate himself before the enemy heals his health AND sanity. His backstory is as a tortured victim kept in a dungeon until the pain of his head being branded allowed his beast self to take over and for him to escape. He learned compassion and healing from his time in captivity.

The '''Antiquarian''' is a female archaeologist well-versed in the arts of exploring ancient tombs. This allows her to assist the other members of the party by healing their wounds, hurling flash-bombs and curing them of whatever noxious blights they may encounter. She can also use poisonous mixtures to bedevil her enemies, but she's awful at protecting herself and in general is very weak, but she brings additional gold back in parties she is in. In her backstory she brought a magical censer to her master who was going to sacrifice a girl to empower it. Instead she killed him... and continued the ritual herself.

The '''Arbalest''' is [[musclegirl|an immensely strong and brawny woman]] who carries a '''huge''' crossbow. A back-row fighter, she can cut down foes with barrages of massive bolts, but she has some support skills as well. She was given her crossbow by her father, who forced her to flee as an angry mob killed him for unknown reasons.

The '''Bounty Hunter''' wields an axe and a hook on a chain, specializing in singling out specific targets and dealing massive punishment to them. He hunts for money and vengeance, though there are hints that he only hunts things or people that really need killing and care quite a lot for his team-mates.

The '''Crusader''' is a hardened, well-armored veteran of many holy wars, who combines brutal melee offense with defensive and bolstering magic, courtesy of his prayers. He left his family to go on the Crusade, and when he returned he was too traumatized and haunted by what he had seen and done to live their life and instead came to the Hamlet. His panicked raving dialogue suggests he may have been abused and/or molested by his father and/or a priest as a child.

The '''Grave Robber''' is the last daughter of a noble family fallen into poverty, who was forced to turn to graverobbing to pay her debts. Quick and agile, she is the classic rogue of the party, specializing in dodging attacks and dealing bleeding or poisoned wounds with her daggers and pickaxe. She actually enjoys her new profession and is quite greedy.

The '''Hellion''' is a glaive-wielding, howling, barbarian woman who lives for the thrill of combat, specializing in brutal, bloody attacks with far reach. When her people attacked a caravan of crusaders, she hid in fear. Everyone else in her raiding party died, leaving her to wander in self-hatred as a coward.

The '''Highwayman''' wields dirk and pistol to become a highly tactical fighter, capable of attacking from any position in the party, unlike some. In his backstory he robbed a carriage, but found out that he accidentally killed the woman and child inside during the fight which haunts him with guilt. Some have noticed that the woman and child resemble the Crusader's family, and the fact you begin the game with a Highwayman and Crusader further suggests the connection. His Crimson Court item set reveals he carries a locket with their images, as well as his blood-soaked mask, still.

The '''Houndmaster''' is a tough, uncompromising lawman with a faithful hound, whose diverse skillset makes him a truly welcome addition to the party. He was once a hero who set out in search of a missing girl only to find that the authorities of the town had in fact sacrificed her. Adorably his healing abilities are displayed as him hugging the dog, and upon taking damage he shields the dog with his own body to take the blow.

The '''Jester''' is a manic, morbid figure who can unsettle the enemy as much as he buffs his own party, leaping back and forth with dagger and sickle to hew a bloody path through his enemies and singing inspiring/calming songs. He escaped from a tyrannical king and his court's abuse by snapping and killing every single one. A comic panel implies that he isn't sane at all.

The '''Leper''' is a plague-riddled king whose body is slowly betraying him. Immensely tough and resigned to death, he carries a huge (broken) sword and excels at dishing out punishment as well as taking it. Heavily inspired by Baldwin IV of Jerusalem as shown in Kingdom of Heaven.

The '''Man-At-Arms''' is a skilled, battle-hardened veteran whose toughness and tactical abilities allow him to brutally break up the enemy's ranks. He is a broken soldier who fought valiantly to protect his unit, but emerged from a pile of their corpses after the battle as the only survivor.

The '''Occultist''' is a student of dark magics, a terrifying figure whose rituals can demoralize, blight and destroy those who oppose him. He investigated the forces of darkness, finding the bodies of those who had taken up a pact before making it himself; it is revealed the same forces beneath the estate are the ones he is sworn to in his dialogue during the final boss fight.

The '''Plague Doctor''' is a masked student of anatomy, whose alchemical interests allow her to whittle down her foes with barrages of noxious fumes and plague grenades as well as patching up her allies. She seeks to cure the diseases originating from the Hamlet, and is so focused that once her former teachers died of one of those diseases she dissected him without emotion.

The '''Vestal''' is a holy warrior-nun, who combines divine light and strength of arms to lay waste to her foes. She considers herself the un-favourite of her convent and its mother superior and have huge issues with her sexuality, constantly dreading that others wish to rape her due to being raised chaste.

The '''Flagellant''' is a masochistic warrior who yearns to accomplish something great through his sacrifice. The closer he comes to death, the harder he fights. This adventurer was added as part of the Curse of the Crimson Court DLC. He was once a beggar who found that the beatings from those better off than himself gave him purpose, as well as the ability to inspire and save those who'd harm him out of spite.

The '''Shieldbreaker''', added in the DLC of the same name, was a harem slave that killed her master and lost her hand in the ensuing carriage crash, swearing herself to snake spirits for a new one and the bonus magic that goes with it. She moves around a lot with her attacks like the Highwayman and Jester, dealing a fair amount of damage along with Blight effects. She has two major abilities, the first being the ability to break enemy Protect while pulling the target closer, allowing you to quickly finish off high threat foes. The second mitigates her glass cannon nature, an ability she can use twice per fight that gives her two stacks each time of immunity to damage (but not debuffs, Stress, and importantly Bleed or Blight). Anytime you camp with her in the group there is a chance to be attacked by snake monsters, even if using an ability that prevents ambushes; these snakes can drop her trinkets or items any hero can use which grant her damage immunity for one attack, so snake ambush isn’t bad if you plan for it. She herself is designed to end fights quickly, and she is very bad to use against most bosses or enemies with AOEs or ample Blight/Bleed. She becomes more effective with the Man-at-arms to guard her, and/or a Flagellant to remove her Bleed/Blight. Unless farming for immunity items, take her on short dungeons to speedthrough them faster. Avoid using if the Fanatic is a concern.

==Regions==
The Ancestral Estate is a sprawling affair, with many different segments that must be cleansed.

The '''Ruins''' are the first place you will begin exploring, in the form of the dusty halls of the ancestral manor and its attendant buildings. This region crawls with both the undead, servitors of a [[necromancer]]-[[lich]] who has taken up residence there, and mad cultists serving an insane Prophet.

The '''Weald''' is the local forest, which has become overwhelmed by grotesque fungus and slime monsters ever since a deformed, cannibalistic [[hag]] took up residence there. It also plays host to the local bandit population, who terrorize the roads surrounding the Hamlet with stolen cannons.

The '''Warrens''' are your first delve into the underground proper, an ancient labyrinth of aqueducts and tunnels that your ancestor unearthed in his expeditions. He used them as a dumping ground for his experiments in summoning demons, filling them with a grotesque civilization of man-pigs and writhing abominations of animated flesh.

The '''Cove''' was where your ancestor consorted both with pirates, who have since returned as water-logged undead after he betrayed and murdered them, and malevolent fish-people from the depths.

The '''Courtyard''' was where your ancestor held his debauched revels, until it became the epicenter of a truly horrific outbreak. Now the twisted, bug-like vampires who were once some of society's elite still hold their gory revels in the gardens that have merged with the swamp, creating a damp, miasmic maze where blood and rot compete in the air. This region only becomes available in the Curse of the Crimson Court DLC.

The '''Farmstead''' was a land bought by the ancestor from a poor old miller. The ancestors purposely set up the entire place as a bait for some crystal alien abomination being just so he could harvest them. "The Thing" crash down to the place like a comet and plague the entire area with "fuck you physics" plague, trapping everybody within range and distort space/time and even made the sky unrecognizable. The plague also affects living beings, for the victim gets "parasites" by the crystals like being from "The Thing", turning them into Husks, cold-blooded beings made of crystals and stone. This place is where the endless mode takes place. It is one of the place where you can get crystals to buy unique trinkets. Since the dungeon itself is endless, monsters will keep coming at the player until if the player decided to quit at any time.

The '''Darkest Dungeon''' is your ultimate goal, the place where your ancestor's experiments in summoning gave rise to the ultimate evil that now threatens the world. Few will ever enter this locus of corruption. None will enter twice.

==/tg/ Tips==
* The Colors Of Madness update, which is applied to the game regardless of whether you buy the DLC, changed the base game substantially. Among the biggest changes are: The Abomination can now group with religious heroes, the addition of the Musketeer (Arbalest reskin), various changes to Crits/Procs/buffs/class abilities/stats among MANY other things (processing the various changes has taken quite a bit of time and debate among the community, suffice it to say that it can all by summed up as "what everyone was doing is nerfed, what nobody did is buffed"), monster AI and hitpoints have been altered to make things less invincible but more damaging, District buildings cost more making them far more endgame, Crimson Court no longer replaces quests allowing you to ignore it for longer once activated.
** The biggest change in the game is heavy nerfing of Stuns and monsters being more lethal means that stalling tactics while you regenerate health/sanity via combat abilities are far less effective. The game now adds reinforcements to the enemy fight when there's only two opponents left alive as opposed to when there was only one, unless one of them is big enough to take up two spaces (since these are generally at least miniboss tier and not worth the stalling risk beyond a turn or two), and certain abilities of heroes being pegged as "stalling moves" in the game code meaning even if you keep three weak enemies alive, the game may still send something big and nasty your way in the 4th slot to punish you. This makes the game '''FAR''' more difficult than it was at launch since there are no longer cheap tricks to rely on for all your trash fights. On the plus side, running stronger heroes through weaker missions became MUCH easier.
* Keep your very first Highwayman (Dismas) and Crusader (Reynauld) alive. You get an achievement at the end if you can manage to make them reach the final level. If they do die, keep your graveyard as empty as possible so the resurrection event has a chance to bring one back. If you are an achievement hunter, you may need to simply accept your first playthrough will not result in that achievement; if you cannot keep them both alive, consider restarting once you feel confident you can get a better start by knowing the game better.
* The first big tactical lesson of the game is realizing characters shuffling back and forth in the ranks through abilities, and their ability to hit and/or be hit by certain enemies in certain ranks, is a large chunk of your strategy and how you basically rules-lawyer the mechanics of the game. Characters who swap ranks a lot like the Jester and Bounty Hunter can hinder rigid team comps so many newbies avoid them. Use the abilities of characters like the Crusader, Grave Robber, Highwayman, or Hellion who can launch themselves back to the front to keep your ranged specialists in position.
* You are NOT meant to continue to work on heroes other than the above. ALL of them are disposable, and should be dismissed via the bottom of the top left buttons once they become too insane or diseased to be of use. You are not a member of a noble brotherhood, you are a True Neutral nobleman recruiting insane and criminal mercenaries to become even more insane as throwaway pawns in your battle against unending evil.
* Don't neglect the provisions! At the least, bring all of the food you can get, plenty of torches, shovels to clear blockages, antivenom and bandages to cute bleed or blight (they usually may not seem like they do much damage, but they add up and can easily be cleared with one of these items without using the hero's own action. ''Cure'' them). You can mess around with skimping on provisions as you get more experience with your party's and expected enemies' capabilities.
* Invest all of your early energy into the Guild (to get better abilities), the Blacksmith (to get better base stats), and Wagon (to get more adventurers, higher levels reliant on the preceding two). That way you can recruit straight off the wagon and send them straight into battle.
* Once you max out the above buildings, feel free to invest into the remaining buildings so that you can eventually guide a team that is decent (as you cannot recruit max level heroes straight off the cart). Remember that if your hero levels up but you don't upgrade their abilities and gear, they are still basically the same level.
* You can only use abilities during their phase. As frustrating as it is, the Vestal can spam heals during combat but will let her party bleed to death while poisoned, including herself, as soon as a fight ends.
* Certain classes in certain positions cause a title of the type of party to appear, for example a party full of classes prone to causing Bleed will show the title Blood For The Blood God. These are all comedic or thematic commentary (from the Ancestor, your player character (the noble), or creators, whoever you prefer to imagine it being), and do not affect gameplay.
* To get additional gold, use a combo of the Antiquarian and the Highwayman. Highwaymen have an attack called Riposte that they can use to move forward one space and attack back at any enemy that attacks him, while Point Blank Shot sends him once space back and deals high damage. The Antiquarian allows you to stack gold higher per space in your inventory and also finds more money-making goods while having an ability called Cover Me which allows another character in your party to take attacks for her; as a result the Highwayman will essentially solo most fights while the Antiquarian makes you money. Technically speaking once you get the items which buff the Antiquarian's healing you can make a party entirely made of four Antiquarians, causing MASSIVE gold gains. As of the Color patch the Antiquarian even brings along her own Skeleton Key, saving you money on a treasure run!
* Similar to the above Antiquarian/Highwayman combo is using the Man-at-arms riposte ability on top of his guard ability and the Protect Me of an Antiquarian. Each time he guards another member of the party he gains a Prot bonus, although it was nerfed in CoM. So 3/4 of the party being attacked will result in him dealing a moderate amount of damage back to an enemy, he will take all the damage for those 3/4 characters so long as it isn’t an AOE attack and will negate a large chunk of it, and can end up with decent damage output. Sadly his guard will cancel a Highwayman riposte and the Flagellant won’t likely take enough damage to use his heal, but this combo goes with anyone else in various capacities. His Stress may become an issue without some Stress relief plan. Thankfully CoM gave him improved Stress healing via his own Crits, so as long as he's bashing he's also chilling.
* Ensure that in any party which goes on a non-Short mission has at least one Camp Ability that prevents nighttime ambush. Plague Doctors can have an ability which will cure the disease of another hero, for free, making Sanitarium treatment unnecessary.
* Put a stun skill in your party! They tend to have higher accuracy than most other attacks, and even if they don't cause much if any damage and won't work consistently one after another due to combatants gaining a resistance bonus after being stunned, they still prevent enemies from attacking or building stress, making them a safe bet to do at least once in a fight.
* Buffs, debuffs, and damage over time attacks stack. This means you or your opponents can cripple their enemies, boost their allies into superheroes, and kill even the strongest bosses entirely though indirect damage. That last point is very important; generally speaking every round each character will have a turn in order of their speed, but bosses will go multiple times per round, so as a result they will take damage from any DoT each time they get their turn but by the same token any debuffs will fade quickly and Stun effects are only a minor annoyance to them. Creating a party specifically through one of the two damage over times, Bleed or Blight, will deal massive damage although make sure to prepare for enemies unable to be affected by a certain effect. Generally speaking Blight affects more enemies in the game, but Bleed has more heroes who can apply it meaning you will be able to stack it higher on a target. Keep additional Herbal Remedy to use to instantly remove a debuff, and extra Holy Water to provide a buff that will reduce the chance of certain debuffs and DoTs affecting your heroes. These can be used during a fight and do not take up the hero's turn, although the hero can only use it on themselves.
* Prefer to use skills that your heroes have trinkets boosting their effectiveness at. It's not an issue for the Apprentice difficulty expeditions, but Veteran and Champion ones will be more difficult from the enemies being tougher and more resilient to effects - stuns, debuffs, bleeds, etc. can no longer be applied consistently without a trinket increasing the odds of it happening.
* Take note of a dungeon's general occurences - their best resistances will tend to be almost insurmountable at later difficulties. It's pointless to try to bleed most of the unholy enemies in the Ruins, the Weald's enemies are most diverse and usually hard to blight (and the giant enemy's going to make having a damage-reduction debuff invaluable against them) while blockages are highly likely, the Warrens is also very blight-resistant, causes a lot of diseases, has a decent amount of prot but also has plenty of potential food curios (if you can purity them with medicinal herbs or bandages), and the Cove's eldritch fishies are very bleed-resistant, has some enemies with a lot of prot, and has curios that can be safely obtained with shovels or medicinal herbs.
* Damage heals at the end of the dungeon, Stress does not. Crusaders, Flagellants, Jesters, and Houndmasters are the best characters to remove Stress while in the dungeon, and most classes have good campfire abilities for removing or reducing Stress gain as well. Abominations have an ability to remove their own Stress.
* There is a button to unequip items. Use it. Characters you throw into someplace to get better such as the Bar can result in them losing their equipped items. Don't trust those fuckers. You also don't want to forget that your best gear is on someone so insane you send them on a suicide run. In general, unequip everything from everyone who you aren't immediately sending out. The only danger when you are holding onto the items is a fairly weak boss stealing them, and that happens very rarely after the first time.
* You can also change skills during a dungeon (but not during an actual battle). Feel free to swap out the Crusader's Inspiring Cry ability for the larger heal ability Battle Heal for the next battle if a hero got unexpectedly beat up.
* Speed is a very useful stat in general for most characters (...until they're on Death's Door with bleed or blight on them and act before a healer. Try to avoid this scenario from happening).
* Lepers are high damage, low accuracy, and can only hit the first two ranks while having minimal abilities to help the rest of their party. They were previously one of the worst characters in the game in general, although in the same ongoing theme of Color Of Madness the weak were buffed and now the Leper is decent to take (which shouldn't be surprising since in a patch FULL of nerfs he only got buffs). Even before the patch they were useful for things such as the Vvulf boss, but were by no means mandatory in any situation. They are particularly useful in the early game for having high damage and hitting both ranks with one of their primary attack, but even after the patch their use against bosses is minimal given that most bosses hide behind obstacles in the first two ranks.
* In the reverse of the Leper, the Occultist who was formerly one of the best classes in the game and usually auto-include when you weren't taking a Vestal has been nerfed as a healer substantially.
* CoM taking an axe to stalling was harshest for the Crusader, who’s main role was stalling. His Speed is low, his damage is middling, and unless you are using Antiquarians his durability doesn’t matter much in the new high damage/lower durability monster meta. Currently he is like the Leper where he is amazing in the early game, but is not as useful outside of the Ruins (many monsters are Unholy, high Stress) and Cove (same). His Stress Camping heal is very useful, but outside of the Darkest Dungeon itself you won’t likely need him much anymore for anything but Ruins runs. The exception is teams of four Crusaders, since those non-stalling abilities got buffed and they can shuffle/buff. Like the Leper their inability to hit rank 3 and 4 is their main weakness, keeping them out of most boss fights as a viable pick.
* Your party doesn't need to be in a logical melee-front, ranged-behind formation if they can just use shuffle skills. Combine characters with shuffle skills in the same party while considering the speed to determine their generally-expected turn order to let them do these skills repeatedly - these skills tend to be well compensated in effect for having to deal with this caveat (not much will last long against two Highwaymen up front repeatedly using Point Blank Shot).
* A character doesn't die when they drop down to zero health, they enter the Death's Door state. Every time they take damage there's a chance they will then die, and upon being healed they are no longer on Death's Door although the debuff lasts for the rest of the mission. The Vestal AOE heal as a result is very useful. A character with a damage over time effect on them however could die at the start of their next turn.
* The Crimson Curse DLC begins as soon as you finish the first mission. Avoid it in the beginning, it is a newbie trap which will result in almost all of your heroes being afflicted by the titular Crimson Curse and causing the very difficult boss The Fanatic to randomly spawn in dungeons where he will most likely wipe your party.
* Your Flagellant and Crusader can act as free Stress relief similar to how the Plague Doctor can cure Disease for free. The Flagellant has an ability that allows him to absorb a large amount of Stress from an ally but takes a medium amount himself. The Crusader has an ability which heals both the Stress and health of a party member while also increasing Torch level. In easier fights, the two can be used together to mellow put a party. Combine with the Houndmaster and/or Jester Stress heals for a therapeutic stroll through the estate. Note that if a hero gains a mental issue during the dungeon from recieving too much Stress, healing their Stress back to 0 removes it. This will not remove Quirks unfortunately. Such a Stress-relief party has only the Flagellant as a major healer, and abandoning the quest results in Stress gain, but this should be negligible if you manage to remove most of their Stress and still bring back some loot.
* Speaking of the Flagellant, there is a very good reason that the game forbids you from taking more than one of them in your party at a time: While at first glance they are an inconsistent class oriented around heavy risk-and-reward tradeoffs, a second glance at their abilities reveals that the debuffs a flagellant receives from performing his strongest abilities do not actually penalize his functionality, as being a bleed-based fighter he cares little about weapon damage debuffs, and being a character who can only perform said abilities at 50% health or below means that the Defense debuff is more of a benefit. And then there's the fact that he can heal stress, remove bleeds and blight AND can heal for large chunks of maximum health while being a durable frontliner with a soft-taunt, freeing up your backline slots to have more damage or another healer to ensure that your party will never, ever die. Add that to the fact that his offensive attacks have reasonable bleed damage AND inflicts bleed debuffs, making even the bleed-resistant fishmen vulnerable, and you've got a rock hard wheel of cheese in the form of a diseased beggar that can make many, many of the game's most frustrating encounters trivial. He took a nerf in CoM that makes his healing more debilitating to himself, but is still very good.
* The most debilitating Quirks are those which cause a character to irrationally act in the dungeons. When they investigate a Curio they do not use the correct tool, so they usually suffer the negative effect be it poison, minor Stress, summoning a fight, or massive Stress gain. Even worse, you lose out on potential resources. When scouting new recruits be on the lookout for these, and on your favorite level 6 heroes or your two achievement starters its fair to consider giving them mental treatment.
* Speaking of Curios, it is not cheating to look up what they do and what to use on them. Its sometimes counter-intuitive, and given you'll be running through these areas a LOT there's no surprise to ruin when you learn that using bandages to check something that might be poisonous somehow will help when an antidote to poison will not, or that adding that antidote to rotten meat will make it edible, or using a simple object on a strange statue you encounter early in the game will immediately send your party against a boss in another dimension that endgame parties would usually be butchered by.
* If frustrated, remember that the character which represents you does not accompany the heroes. You are more or less paying to stock them up for battle and sending them with a plan, what you the player control during the dungeon is them attempting to execute your orders. Thus remember that if the party wipes, its THEIR fault, not yours. YOU aren't losing, they are failing you.
* Remember that Curio tip about the boss that will kill your party? Well, spoilers, do '''NOT''' put a torch in the Shambler's Altar, unless you're extremely well-prepared for a very hard fight. The reward is an Ancestral item, though.
* The Color Of Madness added an Endless Mode at the Farmstead. This differs in that rather than trying to survive to complete the mission, the mission is obviously endless until you are wiped out or simply quit. You should either focus on killing encounters as fast as possible, focusing on anything you know deals high damage and/or Stress first, or surviving anything thrown at you and relying on the fact you can heal but they cannot. Stress will be the bigger concern, so Jesters/Houndmasters are recommended as are Vestals since most encounters will have attacks that hit most or all of your party at once. Corpses turn into crystals, which grow until they explode which forces you to deal with them, although since destroying a crystal heals the hero they give you an easy way to keep injured heroes going. Shovels and Skeleton Keys are useless, Bandages and Herbs are VERY useful as is food.
* The Thing From The Stars is the Color Of Madness wandering boss that can be found anywhere. The Shieldbreaker is the most effective against it for breaking the Protection buff it has, the Grave Robber is also recommended for ignoring Protection, as is any Bleed or Blight you can stack. It causes massive Blight and Stress, so any character who can remove Stress or cleanse Blight is also useful.
* The modding community is...colorful. Usually its best to stick with the official game, although there are many decent mods available and some to the same degree of quality that they are indistinguishable from official content. Just be prepared to sift for them. In particular the Marvin Seo mod classes are top notch and Muscarine's class mods are also excellent and tastefully lewd.

==/tg/ Relevance==
*Considered a spiritual successor by many to [[Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay]].

*The rules are actually basically already a tabletop game, and could easily be converted into one.

*The final boss is a reference to Nssu-Ghahnb/The Heart of Ages from the Call of Cthulhu Role-Playing Game. This is supported by Nssu-Ghahnb being trapped within an alternate dimension and being responsible for spawning all the monsters in the known universe, just like the final boss.

*It is inspired by Torchbearer, a tabletop game

==Sequel==

As of February 12, 2019, Red Hook Studios has officially announced that they are creating Darkest Dungeon 2.

The trailer is [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JlGMsJgyORk here].

[[Category: Approved Media]]
[[Category: Not related]]

If the Emperor had a Text-to-Speech Device

2019-09-13T21:26:38Z

65.117.99.152: /* Team Friendly Crusade of Friendly Friendship */

{{Cleanup}}
{{Spoilers}}
[[File:If-the-emperor.png|500px|right|thumb|]]
{{Topquote|'''The LORD:'''<br>"You've nothing more to say to me? You come but to complain unendingly? Is never aught right to your mind?"<br>'''Mephistopheles:'''<br>"No, Lord! All is still downright bad, I find.|Goethe's Faust, Prologue in Heaven.}}

A Youtube series created by Bruva Alfabusa, the show follows the exploits of [[Emprah]] himself in his quest to bring the Imperium of Man to its former glory, helped by the Captain-General of the [[Adeptus Custodes]] (nicknamed "Little Kitten" by his disrespectful underlings), Magnus the Red (now both ensouled and forgiven), and a hilarious cast of other major 40k characters. The series has become a huge success mostly by poking fun at many of the memes, traditions, and quirks of the 40k universe and the fandom, but also by some very awesome scenes, and, of course, great music. This shit has become so popular that it has its own fanfiction (one of which ended up gaining multiple meta-Fanfictions of its own (Does that make them a fanfic... within a fanfic... within what's essentially the video version of a fanfic?)), and there's even a few quotes from the show scattered through the affected characters' pages here. Seriously.

Most fans agree that, while a wild and very unserious take on the 40k universe, and the episodes are often littered with injokes (to the point of one regarding Magnus's VA taking up an entire special), the plot itself isn't actually that outlandish. If the Emps would wake up, it's pretty much a given that he would remove the worst parts of the Inquisition in short order, as well as enacting extensive reforms throughout the rest of the Imperial bureaucracy, while probably being an ass, as he always was. The unsure part is if the Emps would have learned from his 10,000 years of mistakes, which the series believes he has, deep inside. Doesn't help his [[Rage|temper]] though.

The series began back during the unending plot stagnation that has happened since third edition, though now that the plot's actually begun to move forward for a change, it is unknown how this will affect the series.

The so-called "TTS-verse" also includes Karl the Deranged's series [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5enLrHSMuIs Chaos Descends], and Eliphas the Inheritor's unfinished [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o1cXYan0NQA Behemoth] trilogy. "Specials" are slated for story content that takes place outside the throne room. The show also has an in-character podcast that reviews [[Black Library]] books called ''If The Emperor Had a Podcast.'' As in, they go to the Webway Black Library, and pick up books published by GW's Black Library.

==Dramatis Personae==
Starting off with a few characters, the series has evolved to encompass a fuckton of major and minor characters, with their own small arcs and all. It's not quite [[Order of the Stick|OotS]] level, but it's getting there.

===Team Emperor===
[[Image:Pleased Emprah.jpg|thumb|right]]
*'''[[Emperor of Mankind]]''': The Emprah, who's now able to verbally communicate with people after Techpriests installed a text-to-speech device on his throne. Do you know how Roboute Guilliman is a 'jerk with a heart of gold'? Well the Emperor is a massive frothing plasteel power ceramite spiked dickbag with tourettes and a heart of gold/platinum alloy <s>studded with diamonds</s> that menaces with spikes of diamond. Is currently planning to rebuild the Imperium after hearing the clusterfuck of stories from his Captain-General caretaker. He also has a pet [[Centurion Squad|Centurion]] (who turns out to be rather an important person of the Primarchial variety), which he finds adorable, while finding [[Dreadknight]]s abominable. He is a jerk, frequently insulting the Captain-General with little reason other than he can (and because it's funny), and dialogue with Magnus implies he's always been a prick. Nonetheless he is ultimately a sympathetic character who wanted to create a better future for humanity and the comedic outrage he displays at all the bad news he gets is justified given how he frequently hears about costly victories that could have been avoided if the men in charge were less incompetent and how the Imperium has been destroying itself (usually because of the Inquisition). The Emperor has a new plan for defeating Chaos after the "starve them out by getting rid of religion" plan didn't work, but like before, he refuses to tell anyone what that plan is (although this time around, it's apparently not because he doesn't trust anyone, but because he doesn't want to spoil the surprise. Though it's probably sending the Ultramarines to destroy Chaos). As of certain revelations post-Gathering Storm, he's definitely a lot nicer than canon Emprah. Such as getting incredibly furious when he hears that the Inquisition has been murdering his people and such. This Emperor seems to honestly care about each individual human but accepts that his decisions cannot be based on that compassion.
**'''The Star Child''': Spoiler alert on this one, but Emps on Terra isn't the only part of Emps still sticking around. If the foreshadowing is anything to go by, he seems to be the largest non-Throne fragment of the Emperor's soul that contains his compassion and love for mankind. Saved the remainder of the Inquisition and Leman Russ from Skarbrand and is currently hijacking Fyodor's body in order to get back to the Material Realm.
[[Image:Sad Kitten.jpg|thumb|right]]
*''' Custodes Captain-General (aka Kitten (Real Name: Captain-General Kittonius etc. etc. etc. (as far as Spacebattle’s concerned)))''': Captain-General of the [[Adeptus Custodes]] and <s>the only Custodes who appears to have retained his sanity after the near-death of the Emperor </s>, as of Episode 27 there are revealed to be more sane and normal Custodes. He serves as both the Emperor's personal caretaker and assistant, and pretty much the only person he regularly talks to and his main link to the outside world. Generally, the only person the Emperor trusts and treats like a son, albeit constantly berating him whenever he does something stupid, or because he just feels like it. He also seriously hates [[Tau]]. One episode implies that it is because [[Shadowsun]] spurned him for the Greater Go'''OHISWEARTOFUCK THAT WAS ''NOT'' CANON!''' He is named ''Little Kitten'' by his fellow Custodes, for "purring his way so far into their ranks", but his real name is a long seemingly nonsensical word salad supposedly based on his accomplishments... But given how he's been stuck in the palace for the last ten thousand years said accomplishments include things like "Goldilocks-Sunshine-Graham-Corncob". His frequent emotional outbursts despite the supposed emotionless state of the Custodes is intentional and played for humor. After being forced out of the position of the caretaker by his fellow Custodes, Kitten fell into a depression, to which Magnus ominously is taking advantage of by making Kitten his ally in making the Imperium great again and totally not get back at the old man. So far all he has done was kill a bunch of Lacrymoles that were impersonating the High Lords of Terra. It has been revealed that his uncanny knowledge of the outside world (considering the hate of knowledge in the Imperium in general) could come from the Black Library itself. Has become a master of [[Yu-Gi-Oh|Paradox-Billiards-Vostroyan-Roulette-Fourth Dimensional-Hypercube-Chess-Strip Poker]], defeating not only the Emperor (because of his refusal to unplug Guilliman) but also Tzeentch of all things. <s>He has recently been turned silver</s> by Tzeentch while playing a children's card game (again) and winning over Magnus the Red’s soul. As of Episode 27, GLORIOUS GOLDEN ARMOR RESTS UPON HIS BREAST ONCE AGAIN, albeit with a bit of silver. In episode 25, the duo arrived on Nocturne and went to 'borrow' the Engine of Woes. At this point, Magnus accidentally kills Vulkan with the engine, which releases Corvus Corax, who was in there the whole time. The Salamanders and Corvus quickly became hostile to Magnus, however, so he teleported himself and Kitten away. He later gets lost in the warp, encounters Crotalids, and plays COD with Apollo Diomedes and Indrick Boreale. He's now going off to Mars to find and retrieve the Proteus Protocol, a mythical technology that can supposedly bring back Big E, with a retinue of Custodes (including the most FABULOUS dreadnaught in the entire Imperium).
**Is most likely ''not'' Constantin Valdor or Trajann Valoris, given the latter didn't exist when the series was first made and the former's fate is unknown in the canon. The entire point of the running gag regarding his name is likely to distance himself from any of the canon Captain-Generals. However, it is worth noting that the armor he starts wearing as of EP27 is directly based on Valoris' miniature, though with silver parts thanks to Tzeentch's sorcery, and with the feather on his armor replaced with one of Magnus' instead.

*'''[[Magnus the Red]]''': The closest thing to a sane person besides the Captain-General (who plays the straight man depending on the situation), and occasionally plays "devil's advocate" as a result. He was retrieved from wherever within the Warp by the sheer plot-armor-powered efforts of [[Cato Sicarius]] and then brought to the Golden Throne, followed by the Emperor bullying [[Tzeentch]] in order to steal back Magnus' soul. Touched, he somehow managed to forgive the Emperor (sort of) and decided to help the Emps with his plan to fix the Imperium, but Emps being a jerk to him is starting to test his patience. The shiny new bike he was given helped with their reconciliation... buuuut, Emprah being Emprah, it didn't take long enough to start insulting and mocking Magnus back and forth constantly. (Nice Dad skills, really). He may not be actively working for Chaos anymore, but he also quickly runs out of patience with his father and is attempting to fix the Imperium without his help, partly because he has serious doubts about his current sanity (which is kind of justified), and partly just to spite him. Fortunately, as a Primarch and a particularly knowledgeable one at that, Magnus can probably get it done just fine on his own. Magnus turns into a [[neckbeard]]ed daemon cyclops [http://wh40k.lexicanum.com/mediawiki/images/9/9a/MagnusEpic.jpg that is a bit reminiscent of his] old [[Epic]] model, whenever he enters [[rage]] mode - usually prompted by any mention of [[furries|Space Wolves]], causing him to flashback to the Burning of [[Prospero]]. He's currently undertaking some obscure schemes with the unwitting aid of the Captain-General Kitten, including the attempted assassination of the [[High Lords of Terra]] and "borrowing" the Engine of Woes from Nocturne. While playing with an ouija board on board a ship with Kitten, Tzeentch arrives to "reclaim" custody of him from his "abusive" father and morphs him back into his Daemon Prince form. It took Kitten playing a child's card game (again) with Tzeentch to keep Magnus out of his clutches. On the other hand, Magnus is stuck in his Daemon Prince form while Kitten theoretically owns his soul (much to his embarrassment and dismay). In episode 25, the <s>couple</s>'''Partners*''' arrived on Nocturne and went to 'borrow' the Engine of Woes. Magnus decides to sneak into the base instead of using his OP invisibility though after a bit of poking at Kitten (it involves Tau, guaranteed to piss him off) then decides to go yell in a North England accent at a guard. The Engine of Woes, a green hatchback car (<s>the infamous Fiat Multipla</s> a Smart Fortwo) then released Corvus Corvax after Magnus killed Vulkan for hugging him, prompting the entire chapter of the Salamanders to pop up and become very hostile with Magnus (which basically equates to ''purposefully'' hugging you so hard your spine snaps, instead of accidentally doing so). Corax isn't happy either, as he was released from his super dark hole after thousands of years, which forces Magnus to teleport himself and Kitten away. Vulkan suddenly super healed himself again and wants to hunt/hug Magnus. Later, when Kitten chooses his <s>army list</s> delegation for the trip to Mars, Magnus seems to embrace his inner neckbeard in a different way. After Kitten went on his trip, he met the Emperor to inform him about their return, and as predicted earlier, he was bombarded with chicken jokes instantly. Surprisingly enough, Dorn was the one who complimented him on his new visage. Dawwww... Magnus controversially thinks Taco Tuesdays should be [[Extra Heresy|held on Fridays.]]

*<s>'''[[Rogal Dorn]]'''</s> '''Lord Ador(n)able:''' Primarch of the [[Imperial Fists]]. Is revealed as the Emperor's personal Centurion, with whom he had nightly cuddling sessions prior to his reveal. He came out of hiding after Kitten brought up the topic of discussing the [[Space Wolves]], where he vehemently suggested not to discuss the Wolves to prevent Magnus from spazzing out. His extreme bluntness is shown to be less because he is an asshole and more because he is extremely oblivious and literal-minded and his stubbornness, a trait ingrained also in his legion, grants him such a closed-minded view and lack of understanding of social situations that he almost always fails to read sub-texts or commonly understood jokes/innuendos. Then again, given at one point he drops his stoic facade to chuckle at the Emperor being hypocritical about skeleton worship (while claiming his favorite humor is actually the analysis of reality, e.g. "Slapping your hands together to make noise is a strange way of expressing praise"), he could just be trolling everyone by acting the laconic fool in response to "fool-proof" metaphors. Additionally, in episode 24 it is greatly implied he is fully aware of everything going on, including the Emperor's plans, implying he has some form of "super-sanity". Or maybe it's due to using a fucking chainsword to scratch his head. Before his disappearance, he used to consult his "magic pain glove" until his hand fell off. Despite his eccentricities and his probable inability to understand sarcasm, he can still make surprisingly lucid observations such as that the End Times are coming and that not even the Chaos Gods will survive the inevitable heat death of the entire Universe. He even manages to, perhaps unwittingly, [https://youtu.be/ihskUz0obzY?t=390 deliver one of the sickest burns yet on the Emperor], leaving him speechless. Actually, nearly every line he spouts is full of unintentional hilarity. Is fully capable of "The Laughter". Also believes fully that the "Taco Tuesday" is the true path, and disbelieves that "taco Friday" is a thing, accusing his father of being a liar for implementing such a belief, making Rogal start the "[http://www.bolterandchainsword.com/heresy/thedornianheresy.pdf Dornian Heresy]", end of the taco Friday, and possibly the end of Emps---{{BLAM}} Very protective of Boy, to the point of actually becoming emotional at the prospect of him being traumatized, and also willing to risk a fortified window or two in order to chuck the Pillar-stodes from them should they keep threatening the child.

*'''Boy''': A one-eyed young serf boy who operates the voxcaster during the Emperor's podcasts. He has another name, but because he was too slow in saying it, The Emperor decreed that his name is "Boy". Incredibly meek and timid due to serving Big E himself, so he has recurrent bouts of hyperventilation and anxiety. Apart from operating the vox caster, his other role is representing the knowledge of the average Imperial citizen, which is unsurprisingly abysmal due to lack of education (or in the case of some people, the need to make up for their comprehensive education). Recently became more intelligent due to summarising the Black Templars in their entirety based on weak information and pointing out chapter flaws AND possibly [[Chapter Master (game)|immense numbers of Chaplains and Apothecaries of which even the High-Marshal apparently was not aware off]], [[Administratum|nor the Emperor & company noticed]]. Is friends with Billy, and in the process of bonding with Magnus the Red of all people. Additionally, he wishes to be an Astartes, and due to the fact that there's a Chapter of them who keeps their Star-Fortress Monastery parked in orbit most of the time with their [[Rogal Dorn|Primarch]] being basically his adoptive father, it isn't that far fetched. Recently managed to get the only surviving [[Warhammer_40,000/Tactics/Talons_of_the_Emperor_(30k)#HQ|Tribune]] to dawww at his child-like wonder, and told the Shield-Captain to [[Imperial Guard|"Eat the death-porridge, sir!"]]

===Imperials (So sorta good guys)===
[[Image:Pillar-Stodes.png|thumb|right|From right to left: Wamuudes, Custodisi, and Karstodes.]]
*'''The Pillar-stodes (Wamuudes, Custodisi, and Karstodes)''': Some of the Emperor's personal companions from the Great Crusade days, and the current Tribunes of the Adeptus Custodes. As far as the main TTS-Reaction thread's concerned, their real names are Karius Dolman, Disistan Flavius, and Whamusus Balik. After his interment into the Golden Throne, the rest of the Custodes have shed their armor as a sign of mourning. This, however, has also caused them to become fabulous hedonists, which greatly disturbs the Emperor. Not only do they somehow not take it to a Slaaneshi-tier extreme, they actually despise Slaaneshi daemons the most, much to the Emperor's confusion. They also have no respect for their Captain General and don't even seem to remember that he's their superior, actually [[Just As Planned|taking away his job as the emperor's caretaker by doing something for him]]. They constantly slip innuendos into their conversations, much to the discomfort of everyone involved, except for Rogal (who is too literal-minded to notice). A running gag with them is that whenever the Pillarstodes come into a scene, they would dynamically jump in from nowhere with their own [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XUhVCoTsBaM personal theme song], and also make obscure Jojo references at times. The three Pillarstodes' appearances are based on the Pillar Men from [[JoJo's Bizarre Adventure]]: Battle Tendency; a group of fabulously well-built, half-naked Aztec vampire demigods seeking immortality. They do have discernible personalities; the one who makes all the innuendo, the one obsessed with greasing his body parts, and the one who isn't the other two. Two (Custodisi and Wamuudes) wind up encountering Cegorach in front of the Black Library. They manage to gain entrance and retrieve a surprising amount of literature on the White Scars, but are traumatized by the Laughing God & are mentally exhausted from sifting through so much knowledge. Apparently, Cegorach was quite scary, as they are terrified after hearing his "[BAZINGA]" cue; although it may simply be a reference to that one time when two Harlequins managed to enter the Imperial Palace and slaughtered a shit load of Custodes while claiming to have come in peace and simply want to deliver a message to the Emperor (and the best is that [[Heresy|one of them was saved by the Inquisition]] [[Extra Heresy|in the name of inter-species friendship]], in spite of the Captain-General being hell-bent on killing both), so it is actually no surprise at all that some Custodes have got massive traumas. Recently, after the trip to the Black Library, Custodisi and Wamuudes have been semi-corrupted and began spouting Khornate speech and wishing to genocide the normies in the anger intervention against Helbrecht, high marshal of the [[Black Templars]]. (Actually, back in 2nd edition where you could play <s>Chaos</s>{{BLAM|'''REDACTED'''}} bands in an RPG fashion style, there was a tiny possibility for your lord of Choas to be a Custodes! So, <s>Chaos</s>{{BLAM|'''REDACTED'''}} Custodes are (were) canon... and compared to modern Geedubs, this show relies quite a lot on old [[fluff]]). Recently, Custodisi has been theorized to have been Horus’d by Emps after he mentioned the sheer concept of “wincest” within metaphysical earshot of '''YA BOI'''.
*'''Diavodes''': Another crazy Jojo-Custodes (this one is based on Diavolo from part 5), he appeared out of the blue and asked Kitten and Magnus if they knew who he was, and was content to hear that they didn't. Once alone, he started to laugh maniacally, declaring that soon the new Emperor would be him, Diavodes! Also [[Alpha Legion|may or may not]] be [[Alpharius|a familiar face]] in disguise. He appears about 11 minutes into episode 22, and hasn't been seen since.
*'''Mars Delegation''': As part of the Captain General's mission to secure some choice intel from the Fabricator-General, he decided to grab a few particular allies from the various shield hosts.
**'''Hammurabi Unferth''': Shield Captain from the Emissaries Imperiatus. Apparently, the entire host is skilled in being passive-aggressive with the guilt trip, and he's the best at it.
**'''Lockwarden of the Shadowkeepers''': The Shadowkeepers are the shield host specialized in guarding the vaults of Terra and the abominations within, one of which is an archaeotech monstrosity formed from a Singing Billy Bass. The Lockwarden seems to end all his sentences with shades emotes and has a...peculiar manner of speech. <s>He seems to have helped Kitten deal with his break up with Shado</s>'''NOT FUCKING CANON''' <s>and still gives him advice on the ma</s>'''NO NO NO'''. Love is a strange thing, dude ;)
**'''Santodes''': Yep, you guessed it, a fourth Pillar-stodes, referencing Santana from JoJo, and voiced by none other than Curtis "'''Takahata101'''" Arnott himself. Santodes is a FULLY CLOTHED blue Contemptor-Achillus Dreadnought with a fabulous head of golden hair and a fascination for his frame that's on tier with his living counterparts. Santodes had previously been identified as the Custodes who threw himself in front of the Emperor (stripped down to his loin-cloth, no less) to try to upstage Ollanius Pius' sacrifice.

[[Image:High Lords Text.jpg|thumb|right]]
*'''The [[High Lords of Terra]]''': The people responsible for running the Imperium itself. Despite this the majority of the High Lords never really discuss or do anything to the betterment of the Imperium and just act senile, once planning to outlaw breathing for everyone but them. For this reason, Magnus wants them all dead and handle governing the Imperium directly, but Kitten may have succeeded in convincing them not to fuck over the Imperium so much. Apparently, the High Lords are commonly recruited from the Old Folks' planet, a retirement home so terrible that the High Lords have banned ever saying its name. There are currently 5 (technically 7 if you count the Head Scribe and Fyodor) High Lords featured, aside from the Captain-General. The High Lords are currently enjoying their time off/wallowing in misery thanks to the fact that the Emperor has pretty much made them obsolete, especially after he made making new laws illegal.
[[Image:High Lords 2.jpg|thumb|right]]
:*'''[[Ecclesiarchy|Ecclesiarch]] Decius XXIII''': The only non-senile High Lord (so far, there's still more we haven't seen) aside from the Captain-General, who legitimately takes his post seriously, even standing up to Fyodor and forbidding him to shed a single drop of blood from Terra's population ([[rules lawyer|which Fyodor circumvented by using incendiary weaponry]]). For not screwing up the Emperor's plan, not being an overzealous bag of insanity, and rushing to try to save the Emperor when Fyodor stormed Terra's Palace he is allowed to stay leader of the Ecclesiarchy, even as the Emps is disbanding it/just changing every mention of '''God'''-Emperor to '''Man'''-Emperor, due to the fact that he and those who obeyed Emprah now are in charge of reforming the Imperium from the craphole it has sunk in. [[Space Marines|Loyalty to the man rather than the word]] finally paid off. Just about everyone mocks him for his hat, which gets limp or...stiff depending on his emotional state, leading to his nickname of Pope Shafthat XXIII [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pq-6aj9sNvo He proved that despite the crap others give him, he can make some pretty rousing speeches on the fly]. The Emperor is honestly pleased that Decius is genuinely loyal. When told by the Emperor that Emps is not a god, Decius is disappointed, but does not hesitate to accept it because his loyalty is strong enough that if the Emperor says he is not a god, then he is not a god. He also was ready to do his best to disband the Ministorum despite knowing what the priesthood would do to him for such "heresy" because the Emperor said to. Ultimately, his genuine loyalty is heavily rewarded by the Emperor. It probably also helps that the Emperor doesn't force Decius or the Ecclesiarchy to stop worshipping him altogether, just as a God, instead allowing them to worship him as [[Humanity Fuck Yeah|the pinnacle of humanity and what everyone should aspire to]].
:*'''Fabricator-General of Mars''': The head of the Adeptus Mechanicus. Is so old that his voice stutters every time he speaks like a broken version of Stephen Hawking in addition to always speaking in little tunes. Constantly does nothing but insult his fellow High Lords for being made of flesh and recommend they swap out their fleshy bits for mechanical augmentations. According to other Magos, the Fabricator-General is also a massive junkie and party animal, and is currently drunk on margaritas on Mars. Has recently been revealed to be utilizing the Proteus Protocol to survive repeated explosions.
:*'''Grand Provost Marshal''': Head of the Adeptus Arbites, who does nothing but propose to make everything illegal. [[Judge Dredd|HE IS THE LAW]]... at least until The Emperor declares the act of making new laws to be illegal, something which utterly devastates him.
:*'''Master of the Administratum''': The head of the Imperial bureaucracy. A bit less inept than the rest of the High Lords, he acts like your everyday senile grandfather.
:*'''Commander Militant of the Imperial Guard''': The leader of the Imperial Guard. Doesn't do much, apart from comparing war to the good ol' days. Aware enough to know that the removal of minor luxuries (laxatives, breathing) may have detrimental effects on the Imperial Guard. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fUrhqCkYwps Lays a sicknasty dilarius biznasty beat.]

----

===The Ultrasmurfs===
Very obnoxious and accompanied by the Ultramarine Chant from Chaos Gate. They apparently cannot be defeated due to their literal use of the "holy Codex" from their "Spiritual Liege." Managing to do nigh impossible feats. While the Emperor is not amused with them at all, he tolerates their OP plot armor to do impossible tasks for him such as retrieving Magnus from the Eye of Terror (with their Gellar Field turned ''off'', of all things) with minimal casualties, finding and sneaking the rest of Vulkan's artifacts onto Nocturne, and (currently) outdancing the best Harlequin dancers in the Webway while searching for Jaghatai Khan. Other impossible tasks in the past include using a giant Necron Pylon as a melee weapon and outfighting a Transcendent C'tan shard.
*'''[[Marneus Calgar]]''': Chapter Master of the Ultramarines. He's currently depressed and frustrated at the state of the Ultramarines where they basically win everything (due to their plot armor) as well as their strict adherence to the Codex Astartes to the point that it's no longer fun, nor satisfying, to win anymore. Due to this, his mood is eternally grumpy, only made worse by Sicarius' constant gloating. He actually seems to care deeply for the men under his command as he gets extremely pissed off when Sicarius put his marines at unnecessary risk to achieve another victory to inflate his reputation, so one could assume Sicarius is the exception. He also appears in a flashback during the second [[Tyranid]] war in Ultramar, where he did battle with the Swarmlord. [https://youtu.be/cB79pnU2f2I?t=5m30s While he put up a valiant fight, he found that they were equally matched, and thus, declared it a draw.] Blatant hints point towards a deal he made with [[Matt Ward|something]] to give his Chapter more victories (hinted to have begun during the Second Tyrannic War), which he deeply regrets.
*'''[[Illiyan Nastase]]''': Chief Astropath of the Ultramarines. He received a brief mention during Episode 25, when he delivered a message to the Ultramarines Chapter Master, but did not receive any screentime. Marneus Calgar is deeply resentful of Illiyan's existence, and very adamantly insists on pushing him out of the spotlight and removing all mentions of the half-Eldar's existence. Because yes, Half-eldar serving the Ultramarines are canon. (Seriously, why does everyone forget Nastase was never a marine to begin with?)
*'''<s>[[Cato Sicarius]]</s> Cunto Shitarius''': Current Captain of the Ultramarines 2nd company. His persona's played as Cato's canon need to be a glory hound and the embodiment of the Ultramarines' plot armor, turned up to eleven, where he only cares for his advancement in the ranks of the Ultramarines and not much else. He apparently undertook the mission to capture Magnus the Red. Alone. Without his gellar field turned on, and his survival at such mission greatly pissed off Calgar to no ends (and if we take the Main TTS reaction thread on Spacebattles into consideration, '''''HIS OWN PRIMARCH!!!!!!!'''''), who was hoping he would die. He is also very verbal about his intention to take the position of Chapter Master, which ''greatly'' upsets, or rather, very pisses off, Calgar (as Cato's dialogues largely implies that he's better than him and wishes for his death), to the point where he threatens to perform an [[Imperial Fists|"Imperial Fisting"]] upon Sicarius with his Gauntlets if he continues such thoughts. He also has a very egotistical, effeminate voice that can only be described as "the incredibly sanctimonious love child of tinnitus and a jackhammer", and he always refers to himself in the third person. [https://youtu.be/bM8YGsAmeqE?t=1m56s It's goddamn hilarious.]
*'''[[Uriel Ventris]]''': Current Captain of the Ultramarines 4th company. He doesn't have a lot of development yet, but appears as a close friend of Calgar and is the only one who's noticed the Ultramarines' theme of somehow always completing utterly suicidal missions. He comes to realize that some unknown force is tampering with space and time to rewrite history,([https://youtu.be/eG82ruvH0jc?t=120 Probably has to do with an ''itsy bitsy little'' '''SHARD''']) covering up the Ultramarines past failures and playing up their successes to impossible levels, and starts to suspect that Calgar knows more about this than he's letting on. He also loves to talk about the unique green trim in his armor. He ALSO hates Cunto Shitarius. Who doesn't?
*'''[[Roboute Guilliman]]''': The Emperor has regularly made a point of ordering the Custodes Captain-General to have him taken off life-support. Currently, the only reason he's still alive is Kitten winning an epic duel in a [[Yu-Gi-Oh|children's card game]] against the Emperor. The result of his actions and the Codex Astartes horrifies his father. Going by the previous canon of Guilliman perhaps actually regenerating from the wounds that supposedly killed him, the Empra likely wants the time stasis field deactivated so he can finally get off his fucking ass. Though if we're going by official canon, it seems that the Emprah's intervention is no longer necessary. Amusingly, canon Guilliman's reaction to the Imperium upon being woken up isn't ostensibly that different to TTSD Emperor's (minus the swearing, bullying, and psychic temper tantrums).

===Team Friendly Crusade of Friendly Friendship===
*'''[[Ferrus Manus]]:''' Primarch of the [[Iron Hands]]. Due to him being dead, he only appears as a ghost. Strangely, only Vulkan and Corax are able to see and hear him, leading other people like Magnus to think that his brothers have gone insane (probably because they were at Isstvan V and watched him die). He does nothing but tells Vulkan and Corax that they [[Adeptus Mechanicus|(and flesh)]] are weak. As for the latter "-is weak" statement, Vulkan bonks said Skhost saying "the real Ferrus Manus would say the opposite, ya' dumb ghostface idiot" which raises some questions about if it really is Ferrus' ghost. Only his head is visible, leading to Vulkan calling him a skull-ghost, or a "Skhost".

====Salamanders====
The Salamanders are a bunch of pyromaniacs in Cataphractii Terminator armor, infamous for their obsession with fire. They appear to be severely deaf, and are at least prone to talking in very loud voices, not hearing Kitten freak out next to them or the Ultramarines sneak the artifacts past them while their infamous theme song was blaring, and later not hearing a trapped Corax called out for help. They also seem to be oblivious to their Primarch's perpetual abilities, given that they're utterly shocked whenever Vulkan dies and resurrects again, despite personally witnessing it happen 5 times already, so far. The Emperor wonders if the Salamanders' pyromania had to do with his act of keeping their gene-seeds closer to the candle for warmth when he was creating them.

*'''[[Vulkan]]:''' Primarch of the [[Salamanders]]. After the Ultramarines found the remaining artifacts of Vulkan in secret for the Salamanders, Vulkan returned to the chapter, where his return was greeted with great adulation (VUVUZELAS). He is notably quite crazy, both haunted by the not-ghost with a not-face of Ferrus Manus. He speaks with a distinct South African/Jamaican accent and loves friendship, brotherhood, and cute animals (including Catachan Barking Toads, leading to some snoot-booping hilarity in the spin-offs). Died during his battle with the Beast, after pushing it into a reactor of WAAAGH energy, causing him to occasionally gain an Ork's eyes, violent vocabulary and speech patterns after his inevitable resurrection (which is hilarious when juxtaposed with his normally friendly speech). Dies again after Magnus unintentionally telepathically crushed him under The Engine of Woes, the trunk of which Vulkan had locked Corvus Corax in, then promptly got better within mere minutes. Has used the [[Grimdark|darkest corner of the universe]] as a place to relax for over 9000 years and work on his hobby, Battlemace 42,000,000. He is currently traveling with Corax & the Salamanders across the Imperium before returning to Terra to finish giving the spine-crushing hugs he wants to give to Magnus. Also, as of Ep.27, Magnus suspects Vulkan had his soul fused with a piece of the Ork gestalt consciousness, effectively making him a half-ork. Vulkan can apparently tap into said energies and channel it through his faith in the Emperor, and can also apparently communicate with animals via the power of friendship.
*'''[[Vulkan He'stan|He'stan]]''': Forgefather of the Salamanders. He is seen sleeping on an anvil on fire when Cato Sicarius delivered the remaining artifacts to the Salamanders, literally driving them through the wall of the fortress into the Forgefather's personal chambers. Thinking he found the artifacts in his sleep, he subsequently declares himself to be best forgefather (and doesn't know that Vulkan was actually hiding for 9000 years in a very dark corner on the same planet). He also has a very Girlish Scream.
*'''[[Tu'Shan]]''': Chapter Master of the Salamanders. Rocks a sweet set of dragon armor and has a very knightly manner of speech. Expect to hear the phrase "My Primach!" in some form a few times per appearance.

====Raven Guard====
A bunch of emotional, apologetic emos in Corvus armor with Jump Packs and Lightning Claws.

*'''[[Corvus Corax]]''': Primarch of the [[Raven Guard]]. Apparently spent the past few millennia on [[Nocturne]], trapped in a 3rd millennium smart car referred to as the "Engine of Woes" while writing edgy poetry. Is accidentally freed by Magnus when he uses the Engine of Woes to fight off Vulkan. Currently accompanying the Salamanders on a trip to the Imperial Palace. His personality is, hilariously, one of an edgy teenage goth, with his self-hate and moodiness turned up to eleven. Wants to show the Emprah his edgy poetry. Magnus and Kitten freak out when he appears. Looks surprisingly like John Wick, or Samurai Jack during Season 5 with unwashed ammonia encrusted long hair. Willing to accept his own death rather than bring it upon his friends and allies. Is currently traveling the Imperium with Vulkan, where he constantly acts as the morose voice of reason to contrast Vulkan's joyful insanity.
*'''[[Kayvaan Shrike]]''': Raven Guard Master of Shadows (AKA Chapter Master - '''because why not'''.). He seems to be fairly bipolar, going from jovial to depressed at the drop of a hat. Also makes bird noises. Vulkan noted he was also extremely polite and apologetic; often saying sorry for things that weren't even his fault or deflecting apologies to him for misfortune by saying he deserves it for being neglectful.
*'''Kadus''': In lore, Kadus is one of the most esteemed Space Marines in the Raven Guard Chapter and is one of Chapter Master Kayvaan Shrike's closest personal friends, having served together with him alongside his other friend, Corus, since their time as initiates. In the series, he accompanies Shrike and acts as his more level headed counterpart.

===The Deathwatch===
*'''Calato''': A [[Deathwatch]] Champion from the Dark Angels. Originally from BEHEMOTH, Calato served under Inquisitor [[Kryptman]], spending more time irritably fixing recaf rather than fighting Xenos. Calato later shows up trapped in the warp with Karamazov and the rest of the Inquisition, where he had the balls to call Leman Russ a dogfucker to his face. Naturally, Russ was not amused. Later they made up over a pint of Fenrisian Ale, with Calato drunkenly embracing Russ as his "uncle... dog... my duncle!" He is later seen fighting against [[Plaguebearers]] during their defense of Khaine's gate, where Wilford forcefully dragged him out of combat after failing their squad's morale check, all the while demanding vengeance.

*'''Wilford''': A [[Deathwatch]] Apothecary from the Ultramarines, who mostly agreed to join the Deathwatch as he is unable to stand his chapter's insufferable self-superior attitude. Originally appeared in BEHEMOTH, but accompanied Calato during Fyodor's assault in the Emperor palace, and subsequently banished to the Warp during that event. He's obsessed with keeping everyone's health optimal, constantly berating and advising them to avoid further or future injury and illness.

===The Dark Angels===
The Inner Circle are a ragingly paranoid group of neurotic basketcases, far more so than in canon. Keep having to make non-circle marines [[RIP AND TEAR |"repent"]] for overhearing them discussing the Fallen very loudly.

*'''[[Azrael]]:''' Chapter Master of the [[Dark Angels]]. He's depicted as an overly paranoid wreck, obsessing about [[Cypher]], the [[Fallen Angels]] and constantly telling any non-inner circle member that reports to them that they're doing nothing suspicious and secretly heretical. The fact that he had two newly indoctrinated inner circle members killed because they stumbled onto knowledge of the fallen (that he spat out in front of them) is played for laughs.
*'''[[Belial]]:''' Grand Master of the Deathwing. His emo personality is hilariously turned to eleven whenever he perceives himself or his chapter as not being perfect, which is every waking second. This curiously allows him to become more reasonable than the rest of the Inner Circle, allowing him to converse with other people that doesn't outright accuse or threaten them. He has an effeminate yet whiny voice similar to Thurston Howell III.
*'''[[Asmodai]]:''' The Dark Angels' Master of Repentance (which basically means "Violent Murdering" to him). Not nearly as a fun police officer as his canon counterpart; his personality is psychotically intense, often telling people to redeem themselves or he'll do the actual redemption. However, given his views on "redemption", it usually doesn't end well (it tends to involve a crozius to the face). He's also as every bit as paranoid as Azrael. [https://youtu.be/M56aycpd9kA?t=19m55s REPENT, MOTHERFUCKER.]
*'''[[Watchers in the Dark|Watcher in the Dark]] (aka Snurko):''' A Watcher that accompanies Azrael, who is apparently the only one of its kind who can talk. It suddenly spoke of Cypher while in the presence of two newly indoctrinated inner-circle Angels, [https://youtu.be/M56aycpd9kA?t=17m48s prompting Azrael to hilariously beat the shit out of it.] His speech and mannerisms appear to be based off Orko from the He-man series.

===The White Scars===
*'''[[Jaghatai Khan]] (Honoured Be His Name)''': Primarch of the White Scars. During the Horus Humbug, he managed to pull off the amazing feat of standing still for more than 20 seconds (while standing on a Razorback going at 200 miles per hour, but still). After the Codex announcement, he may be in [[Commorragh]], as he desired to [[meme|go fast]] and beat [[Dark Eldar|"those knife-eared assholes"]] in their jetbike races. Not much is known about his whereabouts right now, but it does mean that we will get to see him. Also, the Emperor has stolen at least one of his bikes from his room. There are many bets on his character vibrating rapidly in place.
*'''[[Kor'sarro Khan]]''': The White Scars' Master of the Hunt and "the only White Scar worth mentioning". While he hasn't appeared, he is talked about at length in a public broadcast on the subject of the White Scars chapter. While Emps and co. spend more time mocking Voldorius, The Emperor does briefly question why he isn't their Chapter Master, which is probably the biggest endorsement an individual Space Marine has gotten since the Horus Heresy.

===The Black Templars===
According to Rogal Dorn, the Templars are absolute lunatics obsessed with "PURGING WITH MY KIIIIIIIIIIIIIN". They enjoy listening to Linkin <s>Loyalists</s> Purge in their drop pods and ramming swords through Xenos skulls. Actually not that far off canon. They may be slightly improving after being forced/convinced to have ordinary humans, psykers, librarians, ratlings and all other sorts of abhumans in their ranks.
*'''Chaplain [[Grimaldus]]:''' Shows up in a filler short where he tries to ban the holiday of Sanguinala. The other Black Templars tell him he can't, prompting him to go to his bed and throw a loyalist tantrum.
*'''High Marshal Helbrecht:''' Received an anger management course from the Emperor and the custodians and was semi-convinced to teach the Black Templars to not be ''completely'' batshit insane. Also has a voice like that of a clown goblin gargling marbles. Prefers sitting on things that are [[Space Marines|''stiff'' and very ''hard'']] to things that are [[Tau|''soft'' and ''limp'']]. Was very pleased with the prospect of the Emperor shitting on the UltraSmurfs, a phrase he interpreted as being a literal desire to defecate upon them. [[/d/|'''Nasty.''']]

===The Space Corgis===
Renamed by official decree by the Emperor himself after being informed of how everything in their vernacular seemed to have been prefaced by the word "wolf", including curse words, such as Leman Russ replacing the word "fucking" with "wolfing". Their initiation rites for aspirants culminates in sending them through the Gate of Morkai to endure a [[Tzeentch|"squid"]] screaming at them without getting a boner (your guess as to ''how'' that might even occur).

*'''[[Leman Russ]]''': Primarch of the Space Corgis, been hiding in the Warp for eons and has the punching speed of a Super Saiyan. Has a verbal staredown with Karamazov, then proceeds to relentlessly mock him while obsessing over wolves. He also gives a thorough dressing-down of the 3 branches of the Inquisition, as well as the Deathwatch, Tempestus Scions and Sisters of Battle accompanying them (delivering the infamous line "Daemons of Khorne are gonna eat ya out like ice cream sandwiches once your Red Rage begins!"). He even has his own version of the [[meme|Navy Seal Copypasta]]. Despite being a Viking, he has a pseudo-Scottish accent. Magnus has accused him of being a furry-fuck. He is currently teaching the Inquisition how to survive in the Warp by turning them into a drunken mob and killing innocent daemons. This includes pranks of various sorts, such as crank calling Furies, cockblocking a Daemonette at a bar (which actually kills it), and assaulting one of Nurgle's daemons with a fuckload of soap ''(and a bathtub)''. After learning that Magnus is currently located in the Imperial Palace, he decided to get out of the Warp and go back to Terra; this journey currently includes surviving an army from all the Chaos Gods led by some of the most infamous Daemons, then walking through the Gate of Khaine into Commuragh, and being escorted to the Dark Eldar Overlord Vect, alongside with Karamazov and Kaldor Draigo.

*'''Space Wolves [[Wulfen]]''': Any mention of the Wulfen is normally echoed with someone bellowing "[[Gorkamorka|Digganobz]]" in a demented manner. This is referred within a Youtube short: the Grandmaster of the Grey Knights, Sir Covan Leorac, was presented an image of the Wulfen and he called them Digganobz. And yes, they really ''do'' look like Digganobz.

===The Grey Knights===
*'''[[Kaldor Draigo]]''': The Supreme Grand Master of the [[Grey Knights]], who is cursed to wander The Warp for eternity. Centuries wandering unrealspace however, eroded Draigo's sanity, which might not be a bad thing as his craziness allows him to both stay in the warp without any trouble and murder daemons left and right (remember: the warp is a reflection of the minds of mortals and psykers can influence it to a higher degree. Draigo's insanity and powerful psychic talents allow him to shrug off the madness of the warp, simply because he believes without a shadow of a doubt that he can). He's made several appearances, first is annoying Fyodor's attack force after being banished into the warp by Magnus and later summoned by Kitten to handle Magnus' tantrum, which he does so in a split-second offscreen using inexplicable Mary Sue powers to defeat him. He now hangs around with Russ and company and is the only one besides Russ who can safely traverse the warp sober and troll daemons without his head exploding. Has apparently been sending Daemons (in the form of ordinary villagers, with jobs and families) into the "Super Warp" by throwing vortex grenades at them (given that they're already in The Warp, the grenades would suck them to an even deeper version of The Warp). Unfortunately, his [[Matt Ward|Wardian plot armor]] is not enough to protect him from one of the most powerful forces in the Warhammer universe: bad dice rolls. This shows quite painfully during the battle at Khaine’s Gate, where he repeatedly fails his psychic tests and charge attempts, though he’s still a beast in close-combat, as the Masque of Slaanesh can attest.

*'''Covan Leorac''': A Grand Master of the Grey Knights. He appears in a short video where some Grey Knights report <strike>solid evidence of the [[Wulfen]] among the Space Wolves</strike> FAHCK YOU! DIGGANOBZ. However, Covan is absolutely convinced that they're [[Gorkamorka|Digganobz]] and not Wulfen, even hitting a Knight in the head for disagreeing with. Whether this is a jab at GW heavily basing the look of Wulfen on Digganobs or is in conscious denial to prevent the Grey Knights from waging a costly war upon the Space Wolves (again) is up to interpretation.

*'''Dread Knight''': The Emperor thinks its design is silly and looks like a baby cradle), but the Dread Knight proves to be as brave as it is massive, heroically charging at Skarbrand only to be made into a red paste after it initiated physical contact with him.

===The Blood Angels===
*'''Sanguinius''': Fabulous Hawkboy, and Primarch of the Blood Angels who is very, '''very''' dead. BUT he can appear lying face-up, head somewhat melty, in the visions/dreams of the faithful. (Though apparently only whilst they are heavily drugged on Ork Fungus...)

===The [[Imperial Guard]] (Aka:'Astra Militarum', 'Imperial Army', or 'the wall of guns')===
The billions upon billions of baseline human, GIs, squaddies, grunts, footsloggers, meat shields which does the majority of land based warfare. They normally dont grab much of the medias attention as a image of a man sitting in a soggy trench with a torch and cardboard armour whilst super powered beings and aliens march over them isnt that uplifting.
*'''[[Sly Marbo]]''': [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1kXU14hkuSI The One-Man Army] and [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jCMNWAJiz5Y Hero of the Imperium!], he first appears in the April Fools episode where he was apparently recruited by Horus. Appeared in the real series, saving Little Billy and some farmers from the Kabal of the Flayed Skull in the middle of their raid on a random Agri-World. Later showed up at the invitation of Lucius to the Slaaneshmas Special where he begins beating up Typhus, Ahriman, and Lucius. While the scene turns to static, Lucius and Ahriman later show up on screen again. They commented that he was apparently a pretty great guy. Lucius apparently mixed up his contact info with Kharn's at one point. Later shows up to save Corvus Corax from the Catachan Barking Toad perched on his head. He's stated to be the single most decorated soldier in the entire history of humanity despite only being a Private, and "his aerodynamic musculature and knowledge of Catachan jungle tree buoyancy" help him "simulate flight" (which is apparently interstellar). Confirmed to NOT be a missing Primarch. Exclusively communicates by screaming (and sometimes body gestures, since he bowed slightly to Corax), specifically the one from the Dawn of War I opening cinematic where the sergeant orders the charge up the hill. He also weaponizes the subtitles of the scream by hitting enemies with them both as a ram and as a club.
*'''[[Ollanius Pius]]''': Makes a split-second appearance in [https://youtu.be/0Vh_N8CpcL0?t=900 in Rogal Dorn's flashback] before being headbutted to death by Horus. (''Shame on you if you don't know this super dude, so read his history now!'') In another episode, the Emperor takes the time to set the record straight that while Ollanius did, in fact, sacrifice himself for the Emperor, a Terminator and Custodes quickly followed suit in order to not be shown up by a mere mortal human. He was not amused by their transparent attempt to outshine Ollanius.
*'''[[Death Korps of Krieg]]''': As of the second voxcast, they can ''finally'' rest assured that the Emperor has personally forgiven them. What the Death Korps will do now that they've officially redeemed themselves remains to be seen, assuming they actually want to do something other than fight and die in battle.
*'''[[Catachan Jungle Fighters]] (pronounced "Kata-kan")'''(by Straken, confusing everyone): Elaborated on in the first episode of "BRO TRIP 40,000: A Tale of Two Primarchs", being saved from a Slaaneshi Daemon invasion by the intervention of Vulkan and Corvus. Armed primarily only with knives (albeit some of the best knives in the universe due to the special Catachan metals) and basic clothing (shirts optional) in one of the most hazardous places in the universe, their survival and natural Space Marine-like physique provides a massive boost to the morale of the Imperium in a manner known as "marketability". Their culture is similar to that of Orks, measuring knife size to determine rank.
**'''Colonel "Iron Hands" Straken''': Leads the Catachan II regiment and is extremely good at guiding(tongue lashing)his troopers. Sly Marbo is also officially designated to the II regiment.
*'''[[Attilan Rough Riders]]''' Mongolian/Hun/Wide sweeping steppe based cavalry. Very superstitious (they try and kill Vulkan!) and hard to be completely converted by the Ecclesiarchy. As is typical of legendary guard regiments, they are brave and self-sacrificing. They can also pilot aircraft whilst still atop their horses (Some suspect the horses are the real pilots).
**'''Captain Mogul Kamir''': Leads the Attilan regiment who are going with the 'Friendship Force'. Likes drinking from the skulls of his fallen foes (a nod to Pre-Islamic Turk practices).
**'''The King of Khanasan''': Head of the Attilan Rough Riders and fellow skull-goblet enthusiast, to the point of draping his entire outfit in them. Voiced by Alfabusa himself.
**'''Starass''': The sole Astropath of the Attilans, and naturally an actual ass. Apparently, more than adequate enough for the Riders, though her language has no concept of the words "mass planetary destruction."

===Sisters of Battle===
*[[Ephrael Stern]]: The infamous Daemonifuge has finally reached the Black Library, but she's none too pleased with the Eldar's selection of food. [[-4_Str|Treads the path of the swole]]. She tells off Cegorach to his face, causing him to sulk off (incidentally allowing Custodisi and Wamuudes to enter the library).

===Adeptus Mechanicus===
*'''Reimleiz the Theorist:''' An attendant techpriest whom the Emperor calls "random mechanicus guy". He was originally searching for a motorbike for Rogal Dorn to use, inside Jaghatai Khan's shed. As of the Black Templars podcast, Emps made him an Inquisitor and then commanded him to find out more about the Omega Vault. He was inexplicably on the floor at the time. Is incapable of making any statement without phrasing it as a question and is constantly asking himself trivial questions for no real reason (such as asking if legs are actually vehicles driven by tiny snotlings). Also has a penchant for slapping his cyberdong on toasters, which many mechanicus adepts around the system appear to be visibly fixated upon.
*'''Dolphan Gruss''': A Magos Explorator sent to Orior by the [[Adeptus Mechanicus|Admech]] to investigate the planet's STC. He is very blunt and dismissive when dealing with "fleshbags", and does so while speaking with a German accent. His most remarkable feature, however, is a drill that replaces his right hand, which, predictably, makes him the butt of many [[anime]]-related jokes, much to his dismay.
*'''[[Belisarius Cawl]]''': He hasn't done anything to Gulliman (yet, anyway), but Rogal Dorn apparently did see him talking with Gulliman about something in the past. Apparently, he's not that great at keeping secrets, as there are rumors circulating about him working on [[Primaris Marines|something related to Thunder Warriors]] that even managed to reach the Imperial Palace. The Emperor understandably expects little to come from this (he will be completely surprised), expecting Cawl's work to be hindered by the Mechanicus' usual dogma.

===The Inquisition===
*'''Lord [[Inquisitor]] Fyodor <s>Karamazov</s> Krazypantsoff''': Inquisitor of the [[Ordo Hereticus]] and a colossal jerk even among inquisitors. When the Emperor disbanded the Inquisition, he went ballistic and led an entire crusade to Terra to purge what he thinks is heresy. Ended up in the Warp via Magnus for his troubles, after being trolled in a magnificent manner by being told he is a fragment of the Emperor. This was all [[Just As Planned|the Emperor's plan for sending out the message in the first place]], to lure in all the more destructive Inquisitors to get rid of them. He's not out of the game yet, though, and is determined to return to the Emperor. He has become substantially crazier after Leman Russ' Warp Survival lessons. Completely convinced he's the Emperor and seems to regret what a horrible father "he" was more than Emprah himself.
**'''Star-Fyodperor''': After a huge messy battle at Khaine's gate, Karamazov became the host of the Star Child. So basically he ''is'' the Emperor for real now. Apparently, the Star Child needed to possess someone extremely entitled and hypocritical like big E himself. Thanks to Star Child basically doing all the talking, planning, and overall thinking He now represents the kind, fatherly side of the Emperor that is sorely lacking from his throne-bound counterpart, complete with dad jokes.
[[Image:Domi.png|thumb|right|''"KILL THEM ALL, KILL THEM ALL!"'']]
*'''Dominique''': Voiced by Gonzo the Great. The sentient scribe servitor on Fyodor's Throne of Judgement. He comically makes fun of Fyodor on several occasions and generally breaks the serious atmosphere that the Lord Inquisitor tries to project. He also has a curious predilection for sandpaper cigarettes and a rapacious drug habit. Died inexplicably during the Inquisition's drunken rampage, most likely due to alcohol poisoning. It is never explained why Fyodor tolerated his nonsense for so long, but as Dominique regularly got away with sass sufficient to warrant a summary execution for a planetary governor, let alone a servitor, and Fyodor is not portrayed as being a particularly stable or calm individual, it's clear *something* was in play keeping Dominique employed and alive.
**Turns out he had a fate-bound duty to mold Fyodor into the Star Child's ideal host, an ill-tempered hypocrite with a god complex. He was allowed to see Fyodor one last time in exchange for that service, then got ferried to the afterlife by [[Saint Celestine]] her-holy-fucking-self to the tune of ten thousand fans weeping manly tears. His carcass is still perched on the Throne of Judgment, but most of the meat has rotted away by now. He's currently interred into a white-and-gold sarcophagus created when Fyodor became the Star Child's host.
[[Image:Mall.png|thumb|right]]
*'''Grand Master Elirush''': A Grey Knight Grand Master, who represents the Inquisition's Ordo Malleus. The most level-headed person in the group, who speaks with a smothered accent that Alfa masks as "waffles" (due to his VA being Eliphas, who is Belgian. If it isn't obvious, that's also the basis for his name). He attempted to avenge his fallen brothers who were killed by Kairos during the battle at Khaine's gate, but mistakenly attributed it to Skarbrand (much to the former's dismay). He was killed after inconveniencing Skarbrand, who despises such things.
[[Image:Here.png|thumb|right]]
*'''Inquisitor Adrielle Quist''': One of the Inquisitors accompanying Fyodor whom you'd recognize if you've ever seen them. A Xeno fetishist, evidence suggests she is actually a tsundere for [[Genestealers]], and only dreams of being held in the strong, manly arms of her [[Extra heresy|Broodlord-kun]]. She appears to be the bad cop of the group with a short temper and a rough, Russian accent. She claims that the letter of disbanding inquisition was written by a genestealer cult under the Emperor's name. While stuck in the warp with Fyodor and the rest, she assaults [[Lord of Change]] Kairos Fateweaver after asking if he's a Genestealer, naturally not caring which of his heads answered "Yes". Even mentioning Genestealers in her presence causes her to fly into a berzerker rage. Later, during the Halloween special, she is apparently able to briefly manifest into realspace, similar to Kaldor Draigo, whenever someone mentions anything about Genestalers. She was last seen during the defense of Khaine's gate while intoxicated, where she mistakes Skarbrand for a Genestealer (further angering Skarbrand as he dislikes misinterpretations) and ascended after being killed by him.
[[Image:Xen.png|thumb|right]]
*'''Inquisitor Donklas''': One of the Inquisitors accompanying Fyodor, who represents the Ordo Hereticus. He appears as an Inquisitor dressed in black and using a bolt pistol with a sight mount (which is exactly from the front cover of [[Dark Heresy]]). Don't let his soft-spoken tone fool you - this guy gets aroused at the thought of executing other people regardless of what they've done. He is in favor of the door-kicking-and-burning-building type of [[Exterminatus]], just like a medieval witch hunter. He is possibly the same Inquisitor as the one in the mask (who snickers arousedly at executing friendlies and wonders where the mask came from). He is so far the only Inquisitor who managed to survive the battle at Khaine's gate, mainly due to "enforcing discipline at the back". He is so far the only one of 3 main inquisitors who has survived up to this point.
*'''Inquisitor Javerticus''': An Ordo Hereticus Inquisitor and the most dedicated and charismatic of them all, and also an awesome singer and swordsman. Sadly, the Grey Knights don't seem to comprehend his awesomely dramatic greatness. Named after the [[Lawful Stupid|obsessive]] Inspector Javert (from Victor Hugo's ''Les Misérables'').
*'''[[Jokaero|Torquemada Coteaz]]''': One of the Inquisitors who joined Fyodor's assault into the Imperial Palace. He shows up after Fyodor's forces was blocked off by a force of loyal Ecclesiarchy priests led by Decius in the palace, but breaches their defenses by throwing a barrel of Jokaero at the defenders. This plan causes Fyodor to lose any respect for him, which solicits a disheveled response from Torquemada, [[Awesome|telling him to get off his Throne of Judgement and tell him to his face or use his multi-melta to do what he's too pathetic to]]. Fyodor backs off and lets him leave. So far he appears to be the only sane Inquisitor, snarling at Fyodor to not execute the Emperor for whatever offense he may pull out of his ass. He's also busy with [[The Lord Inquisitor|making a film]], which is why he didn't stay to see Fyodor's plans go to the Warp.
*'''[[Militarum Tempestus|Tempestus Scions]]''' - A hapless squad of Inquisitorial Stormtroopers comprised of Scions: Grant, Valentine, Matilda, Stuart, and led by Tempestor Cromwell. They constantly bicker between each other due to Stuart's pessimism, Matilda's blind optimism, and Grant's panicky disposition, but is constantly held in-line by Tempestor Cromwell. They're seen during the battle at Khaine's Gate, where they're all surprised that they've somehow survived, despite their [[Taurox]] roadblock being destroyed and the Grey Knights being slaughtered.
**Coincidentally ([[Just as Planned|or not]]), they're all named after Allied [[tank]]s from World War II (probably not, what with their thick English accents, and Matilda's preoccupation with "tankyness.").
*'''Inquisitor Headsmash''': Hangs around on a ship in low orbit waiting for heresy to occur. Has a heavily reinforced Exterminatus button which he gets a LOT of use from - as the name implies, he hits it repeatedly using his head. Has the enviable talent of hearing heresy from orbit. He was about to retire after his 40,000th straight Exterminatus, but due to Draigo, he got sent to Commorragh along with his entourage (which includes a Jokaero and his Exterminatus button). Was the only one in the assembly to resist the fyodperor's psychic persuasion.
*'''Ex-Inquisitor Kryptman''': It's a bit weird that this guy is hanging around since all the other Inquisitors hate him, but whatever. Considered too violent and too hypocritical for the Inquisition, as amazing as that achievement is, he is nonetheless really good at his job; claims he's even able to survive against Eldar mind games by seeing through the truth being disguised as a lie, knowing full well that the humans will assume it's a lie while knowing the Eldar are lying about telling the truth about lying. Also carries a pimpin' cane with a gun in it.
*'''Inquisitor Obiwan Sherlock Clousseau''': Yep, he appears in episode 26 part 2! He's from a more [[Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader|'jovial' time of early 40K]].

===General Populous of the Imperium ('Plebs')===
*'''Little Billy''': A running gag character in the series. His appearance is a psychic child who made himself a crude power-armor costume using cardboard boxes, with Alfabusa's grey and blue livery for colors. The gag about him is that Billy is constantly subjected to lethal/traumatizing events, yet still survives to appear again, leading to a joke that he is actually a perpetual. So far he's been: run over by a space marine attack bike, kidnapped and thrown into a Dark Eldar slave pit ''twice'', and implied to have been molested by Lucius after contacting him using a psychic link and suddenly appearing before him, then hunted across the cosmos by Lucius during Slaaneshmas, and hammered in the face by a Deathwatch member before almost getting eaten by Tyranids in [https://youtu.be/mabM64rAd4k?t=25m32s Behemoth]. He's also apparently talked to the High Lords at least once, since the Grand Provost Marshal hallucinates him. To date, the only good thing to happen to him is Sly Marbo rescuing him from the Dark Eldar after some internal deb-'''AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA'''-ting.
*'''The citizens of Hive World Purgatory''': Originally appearing in Alfa's Upper Hive games, hive world Purgatory appears a few times in the series proper. Its citizens are extremely idiotic and prone to murdering each other over the slightest suspicion. It's also been the victim of a recent Crotch Rot epidemic, and multiple Genestealer invasions.
*'''The Citizens Of The Imperium''': In special episodes where the Emperor answers mail from citizens of the Imperium (most of which is questions asked by watchers of the series), Loyalist humanity plus an odd Xeno or Chaos entity ask questions of him. These are supposed to be sorted by ''Little Kitten'' and later Magnus as well, but quite a few stupid ones get through to the point that without the aid of the cuddly Centurion, the Emperor's frustration causes Warpstorms which obliterate chunks of the universe.
*'''Detective Bruce Norring''': Appears in the Halloween specials. With most of the Inquisition missing, Bruce is put on the case of chasing down shady heretics on hive world Purgatory, [[Lovecraft|Innsmouth-style]], before unwittingly uncovering a Genestealer cult and nearly made into a genehost - only to get saved by a completely sloshed Inquisitor Quist from the warp.
*'''Hobo Guardsman''': also known as "Hobo-chan." Like Billy, he exists to be traumatized by the grim darkness of the universe. First he becomes an unwilling recipient of Lucius' charity efforts, that being a sandwich made from ''"freshly milked [[daemonette]] [[trap|milk]]"'', then later he gets harassed by the [[Adeptus Arbites]] for adding rat meat to his rations to make them more edible. Fed up with the bullshit, he decides to join Chaos, getting warped away before his planet is destroyed by Exterminatus. He was later seen smashed by Lucius during the Slaaneshmas Special, and then spotted in the Webway with the Ultramarines. Last seen in the dungeons under the Imperial Palace.
*'''Tour Guide''': A guy who gives tours of the Imperial Palace. He gets summoned(dragged) into the throne room and abruptly told by the Emperor to read the names of a bunch of Dark Eldar weapons without any given reason, which he does without hesitation. He may read other lists later. He appears to be some sort of psyker as he could sense Magnus' return before he teleported into the throne room. Poor guy is also losing his sanity due to all the batshit craziness happening around him.

===Eldar===
After the Eldar Collapse, these Eldar decided that unlimited Lust and Violence wasn't a positive influence to their souls and thus became elfy space-monks, all calm and serene until they decide to fight then its elfy warrior-monks!.
*'''[[Eldrad]] Ulthran:''' Eldar Farseer of Craftworld Ulthwé who is one of the biggest dicks in the Galaxy. Is preparing to do pretty much exactly what he ends up doing in Gathering Storm. Tried to convince Asdrubael Vect to distract the Imperium while he attempts to awaken [[Ynnead]], but to no avail. Apparently, he's already contacted Cypher at least once before and seeks to do the same with "the Machine-man from Mars" (most likely Cawl).
*'''[[Cegorach]]''': The Laughing God, shown guarding the Black Library. He encounters Ahriman trying to enter and forcefully boots him out after a bit of trolling. Cegorach has his own spectral audience that laughs at his jokes, and even a voice that adds '''[BAZINGA.]''' to his punchlines. He is plotting the demise of the [[Flesh Eaters]] for saying his Harlequins are in poor taste. In both meanings of the word.
*'''[[Isha]]''': Despite being a kidnapping victim initially, Isha is now (due to Stockholm Syndrome) in a relationship with Nurgle. She hates Tzeentch and Slaanesh, mocking the former and encouraging Nurgle to plague the latter.
*'''[[Khaine]]''': Disappointed and annoyed by all the young Gods around him, sounds like an old man beat-down by life. He mostly hangs out in the warp chat and goes to the gym with Khorne.

===Dark Eldar===
The true descendants after the collapse of the Eldar Empire. There are A LOT of Dark Eldar living in their webway city of Commorragh and with access to a ton of lethal weaponry, its impractical to invade their realm without leaving yourself open to other forces’ attacks.
*'''[[Asdrubael Vect]]:''' Dark Eldar leader who is another one of the biggest dicks in the Galaxy. Is completely disinterested if not mildly amused/irritated with Eldrad's plans and his insistence on dragging him in; believing both Eldrad's visions and Ynnead to be utter nonsense unworthy of his time after 10,000 years worth of pessimistic doomsaying. He appears to have plans of his own that seem to involve Leman Russ, Karamazov, and/or Kaldor Draigo, who emerge from the Gate of Khaine just as he finishes his conversation with Eldrad. Has a habit of setting up violent, hedonistic parties before gassing all the guests (including all rivals) after he leaves early.
*'''[[Lady Malys]]:''' Vect's bitter ex (don't say that to her face, though) who wants to take over Commorragh because "Vect's a prick." Seems to have been taken over by Cegorach, which is not surprising given real lore had her conduct heart transplant surgery on herself with Cegorach's crystal heart. Also French. [[Magical Realm|Sexily]] so.
*'''[[Archon Tahril]]:''' An Archon who is reluctantly under Malys' employment and passive-aggressively lets her know whenever he has to talk to her. He deals with her personality quirks reluctantly. Is also secretly an agent of the C'tan known as the Deceiver.

===Adversaries===
*'''[[Abaddon the Despoiler]]''': Has yet to personally appear in the series, but has so far has been contacting various Chaos Champions to enlist their help with the next Black Crusade. He will ALSO be voiced by the aforementioned Takahata101 (Nappa and [[Hellsing|'''THE CRIMSON FUCKER''']]) of Team Four Star fame.
*'''[[Fulgrim]]''': Has yet to personally appear in the series, but appears to have already joined Abaddon in his plans. He makes his appearance as the person who called Lucius to get him to join Abaddon. Based on the [[Vulkan|current]] [[Corvus Corax|trend]], it wouldn’t be too surprising if he, too, can see Ferrus Manus’s ghost, especially considering he was the one who ''killed him'' and all that.
*'''The Gods of [[Chaos|<s>Chaos</s> <s>Choas</s> <s>Chaos</s> <s>Choas</s> <s>Chaos</s> Choas]]''': The gods here are less chaotic than their canon counterparts. More-or-less they just sit around and talk to each other, the way they did prior to the Emperor showing up and making plans to wreck their collective shit.
**[[Tzeentch]] is a petty schoolyard bully/prankster who also likes to engage in pointlessly overthought pseudo-philosophy. He also plays Paradox-Billiards-Vostroyan-Roulette-Fourth-Dimensional-Hypercube-Chess-Strip Poker, shamelessly abusing a [[Yu-Gi-Oh#Archetype|hybrid Spellbook/Jar]] deck made [[WAAC|ENTIRELY FROM BANNED CARDS]]. So far, he is the most prominently featured of the Chaos Gods. Tzeentch lurks behind the Gate of Morkai, fucking with the aspirants sent through by Space Wolves priests; if they're to be believed, he's done something involving "wolf tits" at least once, and [[Wat|Emprah only knows how we're supposed to interpret that]].
**[[Slaanesh]] is a hyperactive masochistic camwhore who steals from Khorne and trolls him and others with sexual innuendos.
**[[Khorne]] is the only half-way normal Chaos God (if that term could ever be applied to the Gods), who is often heard screaming at Slaanesh for being a creepy whore. Has a fairly good relationship with Khaine, though, and they work out together at the gym - he never skips leg day, unlike the Emperor. Ironically, despite being the most prominently featured Chaos God in canon, he's made far fewer on-screen appearances than the other Gods.
**[[Nurgle]] is the only one actually doing any scheming. Has a voice that's really hard to understand without subtitles, and is more focused on his waifu Isha than actually doing anything. When he's upset, he known to release extremely potent [[Wikipedia:Tinea cruris|Crotch]] [[Wikipedia:Candidal intertrigo|Rot]] on Hive-Worlds, which is as nasty as it sounds.
**[[Malal]] makes several short appearances, conversing with the various gods on Spacebook where he declares he will ruin everyone once he becomes canon again by escaping the "Retconnian" (a dimension where the Squats, Horus' soul, and other things that don't exist anymore are banished to) and a second time is shown to exist in a pocket outside canon where he is able to influence things that are canon in subtle ways using the [[Dark Heresy|"Tyrant Star", a wandering sun that gives off black light and incites anarchy and chaos on whatever planet it shines on]]. It appears that his obsession to become relevant again is a harmful one, as Horus and a Squat talk him down from his attempts and console him when he breaks down crying about his futile attempts.
**The [[Great Horned Rat]] appears as a joke to cancel Slaaneshmas forever due to Slaanesh getting demoted in Age of Sigmar and announces "Great Horned Rat Day" as its replacement. Enjoys mocking "non-existent" lesser Chaos Gods and seems to be incapable of not breaking the fourth wall. Coughs near-constantly.
*'''[[Lucius the Eternal]]''': Slaanesh's premier champion, who sounds like what would happen if Mickey Mouse turned to Slaanesh and became a drag queen in the process (his first appearance is a direct reference to [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g56q3j8NAcw this]). First shown fucking up some Imperial Guardsmen (in all senses of the word) with his warband, laughing like a maniac all the while. He then got a call from Fulgrim, inviting him and his band to join one of Abaddon's [[Black Crusade|"huge parties"]], which he accepted. His absolutely creepy portrayal in the series is quickly becoming one of the scariest (and most enjoyable) things in the franchise, sorta an impressive achievement. Runs a prank show in his spare time, and posts the results to Spacebook. Also planned the 'Slaaneshmas' holiday event, which is broadcast to the whole universe to spread goodwill to humans and overall death to xeno species. Lucius makes a great holo vid host.
*'''[[Ahzek Ahriman]]''': Most powerful sorcerer of the [[Thousand Sons]]. Appears in a short scene where he finally gets access to the [[Black Library]], only to be dicked with, and eventually booted out by [[Cegorach]]. Decided to quit trying to get into the Black Library for a while and take a break, but decided against the latter after being summoned by Abaddon for the Black Crusade. Teamed up with Lucius for Slaaneshmas for the shits and giggles. So far appears to the only rational Chaos Space Marine, acting as a snarky straight man to the antics of the others. On a side-note, he [[Old Man Henderson|huffs grimoires of Big Bad Jujus]], which impresses Lucius. He apparently wants to murder the stars as he finds them too bright for his taste. At the end, he gives a speech about how despite the different worldviews, both sides are still humans and offers the Imperium to have one day per year when instead of killing each other, both sides would have a ceasefire and unite to exterminate aliens instead. Imperials were oddly receptive to that idea...
*'''[[Typhus]]''': Chaos Lord of the [[Death Guard]]. Has the voice of Gilbert Gottfried, with a Strong resemblance to the voice of Real life Comedian Norm McDonald, or Gilbert Gottfried, which he uses to read [[Squad Broken|erotic fanfiction]] for Lucius. Like the other chaos champions, he's been summoned by Abaddon for the Black Crusade. Later shows up to the Slaaneshmas Special to talk about his latest book, which is just his own shit smeared on every page.
*'''[[Kharn|Khârn the Betrayer]]''': The most infamous Khornate Berserker in the World Eaters. He has yet to appear directly in the show; Lucius invited him by Vox to the Slaaneshmas special but only received angry grunts in reply, leading Lucius to believe Angron picked up instead. Apparently, Lucius also mixed up his contact info with Sly Marbo at one point.
*'''[[Huron Blackheart]]''': We cannot confirm his appearance in the series proper, but it appears that he is with [[Abaddon]] in the Season 3 intro, perhaps pointing to an alliance of sorts. Why in the all the names of Chaos he is there, only Alfa (or maybe his voice actor) know.
*'''[[Fabius Bile|<strike>Fabius</strike> <strike>FABULOUS Bile</strike> Bob]]''': Joins in on Lucius' and Ahriman's Slaaneshmas special to announce that he's starting a solo Black Crusade to show up that man-baby Abbadon. Is triggered very seriously if called Bob. He's clearly insane, insisting that a solo Black Crusade means doing things on his own, which even Lucius thought was crazy, not helped by Bile following up by boasting he can clone anyone. He showed off an abomination of a clone of Ahriman (which psychically self-destructed) during the Slaaneshmas Special. Naturally, Ahriman was horrified and disgusted and even Lucius was disturbed.
*'''[[Miriael Sabathiel]]''': The infamous Chaos Sororita shows up, only to get dismissed everywhere she goes and not be taken seriously. Upon learning it was Slaaneshmas, she dons a Santa hat and joins the fun. Earlier, she was in a bad mood for being talked down by a captured Inquisitor (before she beheaded him in frustration), lamented the lost opportunity to torment him, and was enraged at some Noise Marines' amusement at her situation.
*'''The [[Tyranid]] Hivemind''': Attempted to hijack the Chaos Gods' warpchat, but was kicked after too many synapses attempted connections. The Emperor claims that talking to the Tyranid Hivemind is like talking to a herd of hungry sheep.
*'''[[The Masque]]''': A Slaaneshi Daemonette. First appears in BRO TRIP 40,000: A Tale of Two Primarchs while attacking Catachan, apparently because an ample muscle harvest (shaped into Slaanesh's symbol) would please Slaanesh enough to end her (yes, a canon her) eternal damnation to unending dancing. After Space Marines show up she flees, due to their artificial muscles being displeasing to Slaanesh and fighting them not being worth potential banishment back to the Warp. Her motives lead her and an army of Daemonettes to the battle for the Gate of Khaine, where she implies some familiarity with Kaldor Drago before trying to bring him down, only to fail spectacularly.
*'''[[Skarbrand]]''': A "renegade" Khornate Bloodthirster; Khorne officially disowned him after he attempted to kill the Chaos God with a strike to the back, but still recognizes his talents. Skarbrand appears in the Warp Hijinks special as a victim of a ding-dong-ditch prank by Leman Russ and Fyodor. He refers to himself exclusively in the third person and, being a Bloodthirster, [[RAGE|hates literally everything]] (it didn't help that all emotions besides anger were throttled out of him by Khorne); when faced with the prospect being outside or inside after being pranked, he actually remains in the doorframe, which he hates '''''slightly''''' less. He later joins the Chaos Undivided daemon horde that assaulted Khaine's gate as it was being opened by the Inquisition's forces, where he further espouses his hatred against everything. Such as named characters, some of whom he fucking murders. Extremely open and vocal about his feelings, funnily enough. {{BLAM|SKARBRAND '''HATES''' MISCONCEPTIONS!}}
*'''[[Kairos Fateweaver]]''': A Tzeentchian Lord of Change. He still has two heads and the second, mottled one will constantly contradict the 'dominant' head while speaking (which Kairos neither seems to address nor notice). First appears during Russ and crew's rampage throughout the Warp, where he tries his usual "Knights and Knaves" shtick on Inquisitor Adrielle Quist - but since she's drunk, not listening and mistakes him for a Genestealer, he gets one of his faces fucked up for his troubles, and holds an eternal grudge against her due to that. Kairos reappears during the battle at Khaine's Gate, where he tries his damnedest to get even with Quist, but had to "settle" for destroying most of the Grey Knights, but his work was mistakenly attributed to Skarbrand, much to his eternal dismay. Funnily enough, he does more damage to Skarbrand than any of the Imperials completely by accident: Kairos' psyker powers hit Skarbrand while he fought Inquisitor Quist, his grudge briefly turning him into a [[Kharn|team-killing fucktard.]]
*'''[[Epidemius]]''': A Nurglite Plaguebearer. Fitting for a daemon of Nurgle, he's incredibly polite even under duress, and cares significantly about the loss of his fellow daemons. First appears during Russ and crew's rampage throughout the Warp, where he was pelted into submission with hundreds of bars of soap and a bathtub. He later appears during the battle at Khaine's Gate with a retinue of [[Plaguebearers]], and was enraged when one of them was killed by the Deathwatch. He later commanded a charge against them that ended with most of the Deathwatch being slaughtered, while Wilford and Calato, the only survivewere forced to retreat.
*'''The [[C'tan]]''': The Necron's star gods seem to be wedging their way back into current affairs after being turned into [[Pokemon]] by their servants. Of all of them, only The Deceiver has made an appearance so far, the rest being confined to the paper puppet flashbacks (except when Decius brought up The Nightbringer when he was convincing the Ecclesiarchy that [[The Emperor|Easy-E]] isn't a god).
**[[The Deceiver]], when not playing Paradox-Billiards-Vostroyan-Roulette-Fourth Dimensional-Hypercube-Chess-Strip Poker with the Emperor and pals, seems to be [[Just As Planned|pulling strings]] all around the Materium. Has a special interest in stopping Kaldor Draigo from returning to realspace. Presumably, because he would become the avatar of Matt Ward, the <strike>[[Malal|Fifth]]</strike> Sixth god of Choas, and bring utter ruination to the material realm before the C'tan can bring utter ruination to the material realm.
*'''Clancy''': The traitor menial of an Imperial Cruiser who wants to kill a Primarch, and is obnoxiously polite and civil about the entire affair. His plans fail when Vulkan, Corax and all the other ~~important~~ characters survive the shipwreck he engineered and capture him; his backup plan (Exterminatus from via some "pals" dropping a Melta or Cyclonic-esque torpedo on Attila from orbit) ends up similarly falling short, though he does escape captivity.

===Others===

*'''[[Horus|FUCKING HORUS]]''': Appears in the April Fool's episode, where he breaks into the Emperor's throne room and incapacitates him. The Emperor declares Horus can't win because he's all alone, but says he isn't as he gathered allies while he was clawing his way out of The Warp, all of whom are some of the dead/retconned/obscure characters in the fluff: [[The Beast]] (an Ork who waged one of the most successful WAAAGH!s in human history), [[Goge Vandire]] (the man responsible for the worst chapter in Imperial history after the Horus Heresy), [[Sindri Myr]], the Megarachnids (a footnote insectoid race in the fluff, who were hunted to extinction by the Astartes in the Great Crusade), the [[Squats]] (we all ''know'' who they are), [[Hermann Von Strab]] (one of the most inept commanders the Imperium has ever seen, who met his end in the 3rd War of Armageddon), the [[Old Ones]], the Techno-Barbarians of olden Terra, 3ED [[Carnifex|Old One Eye]] and [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1kXU14hkuSI SLY MARBOOO!] (*cue explosions*) He subsequently declares himself as the new Emperor. Later appeared for real in the second Q&A in the "Retconnian" with Malal and the Squats, and calms Malal's tantrum like a parent consoling a child.
*'''[[Ghazghkull Mag Uruk Thraka]]''': Currently beating up the Overfiend of Octarius, as in official lore. It's still unknown where Ghazzy's gonna fit into things, though it will likely be to assemble all Orks into a single Great WAAAGH!! Also seems to love making bad jokes.
[[Image:Cyph.jpg|thumb|right]]
*'''[[Cypher]]''': He has a very vague, mysterious plot involving the planet Orior and its STCs. This seems to take place not long after the [[Fallen_Angels#Ophidium Gulf Crusade Incident|Ophidium Gulf Crusade Incident]], as the Dark Angels managed to locate him by tracking his ship. He also seems to be skilled at disguise, as he manages to just waltz right into the Thunderhawk behind Azrael without any further comment. He's on his way towards Mars with the Dark Angels.
*'''[[Gork]] and [[Mork]] (or was it Mork and Gork?)''': The two Ork gods. They're a couple of dumbfucks who argue with each other in other people's conversations on Spacebook, with Gork not actually knowing he's using the Interwarp and trying to figure out how to use it while already on it.

[[Image:Text Marines.jpg|thumb|right]]
[[Image:Eliphas.jpg|thumb|right]]
*'''[[Felinids]]''': [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iUuvHPr4BGk The ultimate let-down.] Possible inspiration for the news Cats film.
*'''[[Necron]]s''': They appear initially in a mini-episode by Karl. Necrons all speak with low-quality Text to Speech devices, except for the Lords who can afford higher quality devices. (Wait, does this mean the Emperor's communicator is technically Xenotech?) Shennanigans ensue when an unnamed Necron Lord discovers that his lowly minions can't pronounce certain things, so now all necrons make roflcopter sounds as their war cries. '''SOI SOI MOTHERFUCKER'''
*'''[[Stormcast Eternals|Ground Marines]]''': Introduced as a short spoof episode after the release of [[Age of Sigmar]], a group of Ultramarines determined to bring their superior selves to the service of [[Sigmar|"other Emperors"]] enter a portal and come out transformed as Stormcast Eternals, their appearance crushing a small group of [[The Empire (Warhammer Fantasy)|Empire]] Flagellants. Text then appeared expressing condolences for [[Warhammer Fantasy]] fans. Although non-canon, it's a jab at Games Workshop's need to crowbar Space Marines everywhere ([https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_-MzNpMD1K8 as the Stormcast Eternals largely resemble the Space Marines]. Heck, their posterboy group even takes after [[Ultramarines|The Greatest Of Them All]] with the blue, white, and gold color scheme).
*'''[[Eliphas The Inheritor]]''': Makes a cameo in the second Q&A episode having sent a letter to the Emperor saying "Dear Corpse Emperor, Furk You." The episode then cuts to him laughing manically thinking he's so clever before the Emperor psychically punches him, promptly shutting him up.

*'''Ahriman 2.0''': [[Fabius Bile]]'s horribly disfigured clone of Ahzek Ahriman which he unveiled in the Slaaneshmas special, much to Lucius and the original Ahriman's horror. Fabius claimed it was a "work-in-progress", something which caused the clone to become so enraged that it psychically self-destructed moments after.
*'''The [[Angry Marines]]''': ''Might'' exist in the TTS-verse, but nobody knows for sure. "Angry Marines" was a popular answer in a poll on which loyalist chapter best embodies the concept of hatred, but nobody in the Imperial Palace knows who this might be referring to, and it was speculated that it may simply be a nickname. Either way, they were beaten by several other chapters, most notably the Black Templars and the [[Marines Malevolent]].
*'''[[Hassan]]''': First appeared in the Chaos Descends series attempting to sell camels to two of the main characters in the middle of nowhere, eventually convincing them to put up flyers for his business as a form of payment. He later appears in the main series, apparently having sold camels to the Ultramarines at some point.

*'''Voldarius''': An unfortunate Daemon Prince which got the attention of the Pillarstodes after reading about him in one of the books they got from the Black Library. They along with the Emperor and Rogal Dorn publicly mock him for being completely ineffective and incompetent to the point of having to rely on his subordinates to do everything for him.
*'''Uriah Olathaire:''' Yes, its the old man that the Emprah had a theological debate during [[The Last Church]]. His soul was summoned from The Warp by The Emperor, who was horrified that he turned into a Chaos worshiper. Ironically he is perfectly sane despite following Chaos. Unlike their first encounter, this time he actually IS a theologian and can shut down the Emperor's rather sophomoric arguments easily. He worships Chaos Undivided and paints them in a more neutral, legitimately non-malevolent light, highlighting how humanity needs Chaos to stay human and how Chaos needs humanity to continue to exist, making it a mutually-beneficial relationship. He originally wanted to justify the existence of Chaos, but due to the Emprah being a dick; he got fed up and instead started calling him on the hypocrisy of his Imperium and his ideals, such as his constant use of religious iconography and terms (despite wanting a secular empire), essentially doing the same thing old terran religions did to propagate their influence (although with a higher death count), among other things. He was eventually banished back into The Warp after dissing the holiness of the taco.
*'''Alfa Legion:''' Some of the creator's 40k self-inserts into 40K appear in Episode 10 after Emps makes an oddly specific remark about how "THERE COULD EVEN BE CHAPTERS CONSORTING AND ACCEPTING BOTH XENOS AND CHAOS WORSHIPPERS INTO THEIR RANKS. MAYBE EVEN CHAPTERS SO FUCKING RECLUSIVE AND HISTORICALLY INEPT THAT THEIR MERE EXISTENCE SOUNDS LIKE SOMETHING OUT OF A DISGUSTINGLY HORRIBLE AND SHITTY FANFICTION." Taking the main TTS reaction thread into consideration, '''EMPS WAS ONE OF THEM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!''' Currently have their souls contained in a box owned by Magnus, while [[Indrick Boreale|Boreale]] and [[Apollo Diomedes|Diomedes]] have become Magnus' idiot pets.
*'''Asterion Moloc:''' [[Minotaurs]] Chapter Master who appears briefly towards the end of the Slaaneshmas special, pwning a Tau with a Chaos Terminator.

==The Order of The Primarchs' Returns==
During the season 3 intro, the silhouettes the miniatures of all the primarchs seems to appear in the order they will first enter the show, as the order roughly corresponds with their actual in-series appearances so far, though this may just be the order of their apearances, not the order in which they return...

* [[Rogal Dorn]] - Around since the beginning of the series, although we don't find out it's Dorn until Episode 20.
* [[Magnus]] - Pops up in Episode 13 after being captured by the Ultrasmurfs.
* [[Vulkan]] - Returns after Cato Sicarius delivers the remaining Lost Artifacts of Vulkan in Episode 20.
* [[Leman Russ]] - Appears in the Warp in Episode 21, after Magnus banished the Inquisitors there in Episode 18.
* [[Corvus Corax]] - Can be heard attempting to get out of a building on Nocturne at the End of Episode 21, and appears in person during Episode 25.
* [[Ferrus Manus]]- Appears as a 'brainghost' in Vulkan's head when Vulkan returns at the beginning of Episode 20. Vulkan claims in the Bro Trip spinoff that he isn't the real Ferrus.
* [[Lion El'Jonson]] - Not yet featured, but Rogal Dorn might know where he is. Then again, maybe not. This IS The Lion we're talking about after all. Taking current events into consideration, he maybe awakening soon.
* [[Jaghatai Khan]] - Talked about extensively in Episode 24. The Ultramarines are on the rescue!
* [[Angron]] - Hasn't appeared in person, though Lucius mentions he and Kharn may be out on business.
* [[Perturabo]] - Hasn't appeared in person, but was prominently featured in a flashback in Episode 24.
* [[Lorgar]] - given a roasting in Episode 2, but nothing of note since then.
* [[Mortarion]] - A couple of jokes have been made at his expense, but he has yet to appear.
* [[Fulgrim]] - Hasn't appeared in person, although he did contact Lucius the Eternal to inform him about Abbadon's 13th Black Crusade.
* [[Alpharius]] & [[Omegon]] - Emps refers to them as if they are one person.
* [[Konrad Curze]] - A few mentions, but it is safe to assume Konrad may not reappear in the current era. Emps briefly flashes back to a decision Konrad made that unwittingly starts off the whole Inquisition tyranny; a small portion of his appearance is seen during this flashback.
* [[Roboute Guilliman]] - No appearances, although occasionally referred to in the form of The Emperor demanding his life support being cut off. Hilarious in hindsight, given the events of Gathering Storm.
* [[Sanguinius]] - appeared in vision form during the Flesh Eater short and was spoken of at the end of the second Q&A, Episode 18.5 (may or may not consider the Sanguinor appearing as his first appearance)
* [[Horus]] - No appearances in the main series, although he has been seen in the April Fools and the second Q&A.

==Main Theme Lyrics==
'''WE ARE THE GODS OF THE NEW WORLD ORDER.'''

'''WE ARE THE SOLDIERS, THE LEGION OF LIGHT.'''

'''WE ARE THE CENTER, THE DEATH OF THE SUN (SON).'''

'''FIRE AND FLAME.'''

'''WE ARE ONE.'''

(excerpt credit: Triarii - We Are One)

==Trivia==
* The Emperor's motivation for creating the Human Webway was obtaining [[Love Can Bloom|Eldar prostitutes]], and was affraid the Primarchs would [[Penitent Engine|tie him up]] [[Inquisition|if they heard about it]]. The other benefits were an afterthought.
* The Emperor's nose is plagued by a phantom-itch, courtesy of Nurgle. Tzeentch believes the frustration will cause him to explode, destroying humanity and causing him to become a new Chaos God.
* The Emperor firmly believes in Taco Friday, whereas Dorn believes in Taco Tuesday. This disagreement causes a minor civil war (A.K.A. the TTS-Version of the Dornian Heresy). Magnus ups the ante by believing that [[Warp|Taco ''Tuesday'' should be on ''Friday'']].
* The Emperor did not create any [[Female Space Marines]] because "girls are yucky."
* The Emperor's left eye was accidentally poked out by Rogal Dorn's iron halo while attaching him to the Golden Throne. However, in older depictions of the Emperor's duel with Horus, it was one of the wounds inflicted upon him (he also broke many bones, burned the Emperor's hair, poisoned him, etc.).
* Some of the Emperor's previous personas included Moses and [[Chris-Chan]].
* The Emperor's shattered psyche can access knowledge of the 4th wall. This is not always available.
* The Emperor approves of the Tau in theory, although in practice only those willing to engage in melee. So basically just the [[Farsight|Farsight Enclaves]].
* In fact, the Emperor is fine with tolerating any xenos that aren't a threat to mankind. Absolute eradication is unnecessary if regulation suffices.
* Despite his intentions for the Imperial Truth involving suffocating the Chaos Gods, the Emperor's attempts at atheism were in fact making [[Necoho|an actual god of disbelief]]... according to Magnus.
* The Emperor can shape the [[Astronomicon]] so that he can flip the bird to the rest of the galaxy.
* Has a known hobby: Plays a children's card game (Yu-Gi-Oh) with a clearly cheesy, overpowered and unfair deck... that, like most [[cheese]], was destroyed as soon as it came across a hard counter. [[Horus Heresy|Apparently Emprah still hasn't learnt the lesson about why using OP stuff is a very bad idea.]] It later turns out that Tzeentch is the only person he can play with. Tzeentch's deck is similarly cheesy, but relies more on combos. Both of them also make heavy use of banned cards and have a rather... loose grasp on the actual rules.
* The Emperor has called for a second Council of Nikea. This one has nothing to do with Magnus; ironically, it's centered on the Space ''Corgis'', and the fact that the [[wikipedia:Woodland Critter Christmas|friendly woodland critters]] of Fenris that the Wolves commune with are actually daemons. We've yet to see Magnus' and Leman Russ' reaction to the news, but it's guaranteed to be hilarious.
* He has also ordered [[Logan Grimnar]] to deliver presents to all the good little boys and girls in the Imperium on Sanguinala.
* While he has a number of colorful insults for his subordinates, including the primarchs, he also has pet names for his sons, such as "my little Magnymagic", "RogalyDonDon", and "my Fabulous Fucking Hawk-Boy".
* The First Founding was originally named the [[Only Founding]], and was renamed after [[Codex Astartes|Guilliman's fuck up]].
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RuE2waTrXKk The Emperor disapproves of the saying "Life is the Emperor's currency"].
* The Emperor's flaming sword sounds like a squeaky toy hammer (at least when he bashed Tzeentch's faces in).
* Magnus identifies with Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.
* The Emperor believes gold is the greatest color of them all, and that all other colors are equally inferior.
* There is a chance that the popularity of TTS has influenced Warhammer Gaming as a whole. Every big Warhammer game that has come out since TTS has had cutscenes somewhat similar to those of the series, and actual canon for 40k has progressed in a generally similar direction. Some have accused Games Workshop of copying what they like from it, while others say the series inspired GW writers to get off their asses and make something actually new.
** [[Aaron Dembski-Bowden]] is [https://www.reddit.com/r/Warhammer/comments/7igatt/im_aaron_dembskibowden_ask_me_anything/dqykv2l/ confirmed to be "a big fan" of TTS], actually. Ironically, he started watching it after people drew comparisons between Master of Mankind and the series.
* Reading the book ''Inquisitor'' by [[Ian Watson]] causes disgust and trauma to several of the characters present, in no small part due to [[Jaq Draco]] constantly lusting after his [[Callidus]] assassin disguised as a [[genestealer]], as well as the overly long description of the Slaaneshi planet in the Eye of Terror. Even Boy has horrifying visions in his missing eye after what he's experienced. Karstodes, on the other hand, seems to have confused it with an exceptionally weird ''[[Harry Potter]]'' story in a bout of impressive illiteracy, while Magnus seems to halfway enjoy the reading, even if only to riff off several of the excerpts and provide a contrast to the less-than-enthusiastic approach of the others present.
** Additionally, there are apparently in-universe surviving records of fucking [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanley_Kubrick Stanley Kubrick] briefly considering adapting Draco as his next movie. This is based on the movie ''A.I. Artificial Intelligence'' coming about partly because of a 90-page treatment written by Ian Watson under Kubrick's supervision, a fact brought up several times throughout the podcast, along with [http://www.visual-memory.co.uk/amk/doc/0094.html Kubrick seriously considering Inquisition for his next movie]. Interestingly, this makes Kubrick one of the oldest known historical figures in the TTS-verse, although his name has been corrupted over the millennia.

==Gallery==
===Quotes and snippets===
<gallery>
Image:Text To Heresy.png| If [[/d/]] still existed in 40k you can bet the Emperor would purge it.
Image:NotCanonShout.gif| What happens whenever someone mentions Shadowsun around Kitten.
Image:EmperorSureal.gif| Emp's reaction to most things that have happened to the Imperium.
Image:EmperorDisgraceful.gif| Likewise.
Image:EmperorPunchesTzeentch.gif| The Emperor taking out his frustration on a certain [[Tzeentch|indecisive mollusk]].
Image:MagnusRant.gif| Magnus is not a fan of the Imperium's general intelligence levels.
Image:DeciusHatBoner.gif| What passes for "Religious Ecstasy" in the Ecclesiarchy.
Image:UltraFucknCrying.gif| Calgar's disappointment over the flanderization of the Ultramarines is palpable.
Image:PillarstodesEntrance.gif| [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XUhVCoTsBaM| *Cue Awaken.mp3*]
Image:AhrimanEXCUSEME.gif| Ahriman is a very grumpy boss.
Image:SlaaneshPatrol.gif| If you hear EDM outside, don't answer the door. EVER.
Image:HighLordsIllegal.gif| The High Lords in a nutshell.
Image:SuddenlyDaemons.gif| Magnus' original fuckup barely phased him at the time.
Image:EmperorSpanking.jpg| The Emperor is the ideal father figure.
Image:UltraSmurfingNecrons.gif| Calgar engaging in a little Ultraviolence.
Image:RussWolfWarfare.jpg| Leman Russ' version of the infamous Navy Seal Copypasta.
</gallery>

===Fanart===
<gallery>
Image:NOT CANON.png|Kitten with his TOTALLY NOT CANON girlfriend [[Shadowsun]].
File:Kitten and shadowsun tragic story by khornez.jpg|''Tale as old as time...''
File:KittenCustodesbyAdeptusAdamaris.jpg|Turns out the nickname wasn't an accident.
File:NotCanonbyMagnifical.jpg
File:Luscious lucius prankz gone heretical 2016 by sexual yeti.png
File:TTS Rogal by eightball6219.jpg|When a tech-priest asks for a toaster, you give him a damn toaster!
</gallery>

==External Links==

* [https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLyiDf91_bTEgnBN0jAvzNbqzrlMGID5WA The entire series.]
* [http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/WebVideo/IfTheEmperorHadATextToSpeechDevice TV Tropes's page, for extra references.]
* [http://if-the-emperor-had-a-texttospeech-device.wikia.com/wiki/If_The_Emperor_Had_a_Text-To-Speech_Device_Wiki And a whole wiki to cover the show, too]
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qqbQ_oKmflM A remix cover of the ending theme by StringStorm, check his other remixes too.]
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bzPuK1vib_c Not content with his first remix, StringStorm made a second one.]

[[Category:Warhammer 40,000]]