Signs of the times

http://www.flickr.com/photos/arenamontanus/sets/72157594323393196/with/264116790/
So I've been listening to "No Children" by The Mountain Goats. I haven't any links to them as all of the links I have found give popups. but they're a worthwhile band. I think My brain is melting out of my ears. but now there's a rituals section on the vampire.echoesofempires.org I am trying to get the wraith stuff out on time but if any of you readers have anything you want to see in a wraith supplement you let me know.

I thought this might be helpful

A larp conversation with a group of prospective players. I think this may be helpful to others, new and old. if you know any newbs, point them this way

Hi *** and Gang,



A fellow office member expressed some interest about D&D, Gaming Groups, and LARPs.



As to D&D, I can loan her the player’s handbook to give her a general idea. As to describing the current game we are playing, I am at a bit more at a loss… Any comments, observations, etc will be passed on as will your email addresses (if, of course permission is given to share them).



As to the LARP; she expressed interest in attending one also, but here (in addition to your general description and responses on LARPs in general) I would appreciate several specific questions answered:



1) If she were to attend for the first time, could a player-character be created so that she could participate?

YES

a. If yes, about how long does this take?

Depending on pre-reading 30 min to an hour

i. Any reference material she should/could pre-read?

Why, Yes. All of the rules and detals of our larp are available at http://vampire.echoesofempires.org
If she has questions or needs feedback we have a Larp Advice Blog at
http://malkuthmadness.blogspot.com
you're both welcome to use these resources.



2) How long does the gaming session last?

4-5 hours

a. Average start – finish time?

People are encouraged to arrive at 7 for check in and back actions, official game clock starts at 8 but play can begin sooner and if you have backstory or between game scenes to run 7-8 is really the right time. some players arrive earlier but the staff does not guarantee that they can be super hepful during the 6-7 setup hour.

Game ends officially at midnight, usually we'll do cooldown and closing announcements at 11:45 ot 11:30 but sometimes we'll go as late as 12:30-1. Aftergame events happen at the newark diner until 2, some scenes are handled as well as setup for the next game. participation in after hours diner chat is super optional buit often helpful for new players



3) What is the real (physical) setting for the game (a bar, night club, gaming room, college location, etc)?

The larp has 3 locations to serve you better. Saturday night larp, the main larp that I have been discussing is on the college campus of Udel in a building called Purnell hall. its a big building with senate chamber-style seating and several courtyards and fountains.
The Chester game a different sub-larp happens once a month on mondays it is held in a nice suburban home, a little more cozy than the wilmington larp, but a good place for the feel of immediacy and paranoia a sabbat game deserves.

Incidentally we're currently doing an experimental 3 rd changeling larp. the rules for it are not on the echoesofempire site but are present as expansion posts on the malkuth madness blog. this larp takes place once a month and goes from 4 pm to the mid to late evning, it is at a beach house in Lewes Delaware a colonial manse with english gardens and a few acres of property to realy get that Arcadian changeling feel.. rides can often be arranged

The dates, times and locations of all three larps are in vampire.echoesofempires.org in the ooc section for out of character.

a. Admission fees?

None, all of the larps in the EoE family are free, People sharing rides to he beach game may be asked to contribute gas money if they are being driven however. Donations are accepted to help keep us in ink, paper, and such, with every $10 donation you get a free copy of our Larp rulebook

b. Does the action all take place at one location or throughout DE

EoE is a shared universe larp system. the action takes place throught delaware and areas called the 'philladelphia Compact' each city has zones it regularly uses, for example, the monday, chester, sabbat larp takes place mostly in chester, west chester and media, even though the larp is held in neark de, the wilmingotn game, th emain game takes place thoughout all of delaware but mostly north of thre c&d canal, although the acton can take people as far as baltimore or new york. The changeling larp takes place in the tourist areas in and around rehobeth and tends not to move around much beyond that.

?

c. Is a “costume” required/suggested?

this is a complex question. a costume is not required...unless.. if you are playing a character with horns it is required that you at least twirl some pencils into your hair or stykle it to look like horns. if you are playing a character that is scarred or hideously ugly you should wear a mask or make sure the character has a power that lets them change into a less ugly shape. if you are playing a character with a sword, you should at least have a broom handle or cardboard tube to act as a prop for the sword for blocking purposes. more details on this are on the site but by and large we try to follow the 10 steps rule. If I can't tell what your character is supposed to be from 10 steps away, you need to change the costume or the character. With some people you wouldn't be able to tell that their costume was a costume. A character, ****, dresses in shorts, a t shirt and flip flops because that is what his character wears. his player, out of character usually doesn't wear shorts and definitely prefers boots, a very industrial goth look, Costumes don't have to be difficult or complicated but be aware your character will be perceived however it is you present them.



4) How friendly (helpful) is this group to newcomers?



I like to think we're quite helpful but this requires many caveats. Most vampire games are closed, cliquish and mean to newcomers. This group has been far less cliquish than any vampire larp I've ever seen but the people involved are still gamers, so some of them are rude and some of them are jerks. That having been said, We try to make sure there's someone in and out of character to help guide and assist any new players up until the end of their first year or so of play. Also most of the larp environment is a vampire environment. the people out of character may be nice and friendly and never hurt a fly, but in character they are playing soulless, undead, monstrous bastards. This has led to some misunderstandings. **** is a staffer and a schoolteacher and one of the few genuinely kind people i know. Her character is a enchantress, seductress, poisoning, backstabbing witch. so some people have trouble differentiating. In one case she pretends to be nice and then can be cruel. In another case she is about the best help for new players I know. As long as you make it clear that you need help or assistance out of character, say by making the various out of character handsigns, I have found this group to be helpful, friendly and willing to give new players the benefit of the doubt at the expense of their own character's well being. But if you ask them for aid in character, this is a game of politics and paranoia and some of these people have been playing a long time and playing for blood.

(**, *****, and ***) A collective answer to my questions would be nice, but three individual impressions might be more useful.



I hope this is helpful. feel free to email me with any more questions and post comments to the blog if you have any.
Hoping to See you all at Game
Ben

Thanks alot,



Unknown Newbs

Kiths 2 of 6

Darklings: insubstantial wispy creatures of smoke shadow and darkness. Blessing A merit retest to any stealth or subterfuge challenge. can spend glamour on mentals as per vampires spending for physicals. Curse: 3 trait penalty to all actions performed in daylight. -2 penalty to all actions performed during the day. Their contract is Darkness.
Darkling Kiths:
Antiquerian: scholars and historians
Blessing: Discipline retest on all academics or investigation challenges
Gravewight: goths, necromancers
Blessing: for 1 glamour, shroudsight as per necromancy for one hour
Leechfinger: horrible swamp things like leeches
Blessing: on a successful unarmed attack, drain a point of blood from creature touched, Leechfinger turns an ag to a lethal or a lethal to a bashing or heals a bashing from himself.
Mirrorskin: creepy putty people, Dopplegangers
Blessing: Discipline retest to any disguise attempt as their body and face shift to look different.
Tunnelgrub: gooey worm people
Blessing: spend a point of glamour and become a liquid for a round, still susceptible to damage but can slip through cracks or around things.

Wyrd Science

Wyrd is a measure of how much Wyld or Dreaming or flat out supernatural energy is in the changeling. how close they are becoming to being a creature of pure idea no longer clad in flesh. Wyrd is also one of those words like faerie, or wyld or olde tyme that has an extraneous and pretentious y to show that its all mystycal and magykal. Its moderately irritating but it does help differentiate it from being just plain weird or wild. All Changelings with a high Wyrd are very weird but not all changelings or people for that matter who are verry weird have high wyrds and acting weird won't particularly help your Wyrd. The difference between a girl gone wild and a girl gone wyld is that a girl gone wyld may well have piranha teeth or a third breast or breathe fire. Either way its a better video series than just some college lesbian experimentation on camera at mardi gras. Although I think I might pay to see Brian Froud's Girl's Gone Wyld with maybe Neil Gaiman or David Bowie as Snoop Dogg.





Now Game Mechanics

Wyrd costs 8 exp times desired level to increase, Wyrd can only be increased by spending a month in the Never Never in an area at least as deep as the dreamtime. A changeling 's Clarity cannot exceed 10 - their Wyrd. Wyrd costs 10 points per level to buy down. A character can buy off their first point of Wyrd for 30 exp and upon achieving clarity 10 become mortal. They must not have any supernatural intimacies, and must not have a living fetch in the physical world. At a Wyrd of 6 a changeling's trait max increases by 1 and they gain access to lvl 6 powers, and lvl 6 abilities. at Wyrd 8 they get access to level 7 powers, at Wyrd 10 they become a Denizen, their mortal body crumbling before the might of their glamour.


A changelings Can only have a number of vows active equal to Wyrd + intimacies. Any attempt to forge a vow beyond the character's maximum causes all involved to know the vow has failed. A changeling's Wyrd rating


A character ages at a reduced rate per point of Wyrd, 1/2 speed at Wyrd 1. 1/3 at Wyrd 2, 1/4 at Wyrd 3 and so on.


Creatures of Wyrd 6 and higher cannot catch mortal Diseases

Creatures of Wyrd 8 and higher cannot be poisoned by mundane means.

Creatures of Wyrd 6 or higher must gather their Wyrd -5 in glamour per night or their Wyrd drops by a level permanently.

Clarity

Not to be confused with
Celerity:



Clarity is a measure of how closely a changeling's senses hew to the tapestry of creation. How well they can see what is actually going on. Their alien perspective can sometimes grant the kind of insight only an outsider can have on a situation.

now a system dump

Clarity

Clarity is the connection between the changeling's senses and the tapestry of creation. an average human sees the world as if they had a clarity of 6. Clarity works as a measure of sanity as well as the capacity of the changeling to see what is really going on, mundane or otherwise.

Clarity is equal to conviction + temperance to start but can change with play.

A changeling's clarity cannot exceed 10 - their Wyrd

Clarity has breaking points. If a character performs an action listed as a breaking point they face a temperance challenge equal to the difference between the point and their rating. For example if Sam has a clarity of 7 and kills a changeling (a lvl 5 problem) it is a difficulty 2 Temperance challenge or lose a clarity. Anyone who takes a Code of Honor loses a point of clarity, no test if they break the tenets of their code.


10 - Bodily entering the Never Never, Dream Crafting, Using magic to accomplish a task when it could be done just as well without. Minor Unexpected life changes i.e. the canceling of one's favorite tv show.

9 - Knowingly using Tokens or other magical Items, Going a day without human contact,

8 - Breaking mundane promises or commitments, Having someone else break a commitment to attend to faerie matters. Changing courts, Major life changes, being Threatened with eviction, being fired, breaking up, injuring a mortal.

7 - Taking psychotropic drugs. Serious unexpected life changes e.g. sudden illness, house is broken into

6 - Revealing one's true form to a mortal, going a week without human contact, obvious displays of magic in front of witnesses, being injured.

5 - Killing another changeling, killing a fetch

4 - breaking formal oaths or pledges, Extreme unexpected life changes such as pregnancy or losing one's home.

3 - Ravaging, Being Ravaged (see dream crafting), Going a month without human contact. Kidnapping, Being Kidnapped Having No mortal or mundane world intimacies.

2 - Killing a mortal, having no intimacies

1 - Going to the ever after, one month of contact with a true fae or intimate contact with a true fae Abandoning one's current mortal identity. torturing or being tortured.


Clarity consequences

10 - +3 traits to perception Kenning Power, 3 retests per kenning use

9 - +2 traits to perception Kenning Power, 2 retests per kenning use

8 - +1 traits to perception Kenning Power. 2 retests per kenning use

7 - Kenning Power

6 - Kenning Power

5 - -1 to all perception

4 - -1 to all perception -1 to all empathy challenges

3 - -2 to all perception -1 to empathy, -1 to all socials interacting with mortals

2 - -2 to all perception -2 to all empathy -2 to all socials interacting with mortals

1 - -3 to all perception -2 to all empathy -3 to all socials interacting with mortals

0 - Catatonia, Wyld Madness, Generate New Character, your former fae master is alerted to this and may react.


The Kenning power is an automatic discipline retest on any awareness challenge. It also can be called for actively to tell what creatures/items/circumstances in the area are supernatural in nature. Kenning will also tell the user the nature of the spell/item/creature as per auspex 2.


Regaining lost clarity - spend exp, teaching helps as normal.

Celerity is a word that means very fast. It is the name of a power that in old world of darkness vampire tabletop makes you win combat. In Traditional larp combat it is a power that people who do not have access to thaumaturgy or obtenebration use to win combats with other lesser characters. In Requiem larp and tabletop it is a power that gives you cool bullet time special effects and make you look like you're going fast but ultimately does nothing of significance. In our larp system it is a power that means very fast.

Changeling Morality

Morality


Morality - In place of one's nature and demeanor, a changeling regains willpower from their motivation. A motivation must be a goal or task. When achieving a portion of one's goal, or action in the furtherance of their goal a character may at the staff's discretion regain a willpower. Changelings have four virtues.

Compassion - the character's empathy and forgiveness

Conviction - a character's resistance to physical or mental pain and hardship

Temperance - a character's self control and clearheadedness

Valor - a character's bravery and courage

A person's starting Clarity is their Conviction plus Temperance

Starting Wyrd is 1

Glamor - Valor+Compassion+Wyrd

everyone starts with 9 dots of virtues, with one free in each.

A character can spend as much of their glamor pool as they like per turn.

Willpower starts at 3 + lowest virtue and has a maximum of 7 + lowest virtue.

Characters have a number of intimacies equal to their compassion. an intimacy is a noun, person place thing or ideal, a character is up one trait on challenges dealing with their intimacies. intimacies cannot be changed except by losing a point of compassion and when a new point is purchased a new intimacy is chosen.

Trait max = 12 +2 for primary +1 for secondary.



------------------------------------------

Notes on changeling condition.


changelings take an additional level of damage from cold Iron and also continue to bleed from lethal damage.

They also heal as per changeling healing chart.
Changelings have no soul and no True name. effects targeting either fail utterly for no discernible reason. A changeling who has no fetch still has gained something in place of a soul so diagnostic and various sensory powers that sense the soul can function however the soul is a little "off" to the reader. Powers that affect the soul however (obeah, soul steal, etc) still have no effect for good or ill. A changeling that has reduced their Wyrd to 0 Has both a true name and a true soul. A changeling cannot reduce their Wyrd to 0 while they still have a fetch.

This

This

Changeling Contracts part 3 of 4

Court Contracts come in two varieties, fleeting and eternal. Fleeting contracts can be purchased if you have the favor of a court. Anyone who is a member of a court automatically has favor. Every member of a court can grant a point of Favor equal to their level of rank in the court. More on that in the court section. Eternal contracts can only be purchased by court members no matter how much favor one may have. A changeling can only learn and use up to their rank rating in the eternal contracts. If they lose rank they do not unlearn the contract but it cannot be used until they get their title back.

Court contracts--------


for all court contracts one must have status 1 for that court to learn the fleeting contracts although they retain their function after one has quit. to learn the eternal contracts one must have a status equal to the level of contract and said status must be current for the contract to work. The powers do not disappear once one loses rank but they cannot be used unless one has rank equal to level of power.


Contracts of Fleeting Spring: Fleeting spring uses Awareness as a retest. Catch: caster must burn a heartfelt (writer had intimacy towards intended) love letter that has been seen and read by its intended for each casting of the power.

lvl 1 Cupid's Eye - social challenge against 10 traits, success reveals one of the victim's intimacies, victim's choice, successive uses of the power on the same target reveal additional intimacies at 15, 20 etc trait difficulties.

lvl 2 Pulling Heartstrings - costs one awareness, Social challenge success suppresses the bonus trait gained from an intimacy for an hour.

lvl 3 Binding or Red Thread - costs one awareness one glamour, social challenge with target, cannot be used on self target gains for one hour an intimacy of the caster's choice.

lvl 4 Golden Apple spend a willpower while crafting an item. anyone who holds or uses that item has an intimacy towards it/when using it. item lasts 28 days no more than the user's Wyrd in items may be active at once. when an item becomes inactive it falls to sparkling dust, even if it were made with the sturdiest of materials.

lvl 5 Young Man's Fancy spend one willpower 2 glamour. engage a social challenge with target, Target suffers a -2 penalty on temperance checks.





Contracts of Eternal Spring: Uses survival Catch: caster must sacrifice animal with a number of blood traits equal to the level of power used.


lvl 1 Bright new day - spend a survival touch a subject, can be used on self. all penalties and damage associated with fatigue, poison, or starvation vanish, it is as if the recipient has received a full meal and a good night's sleep without the concurrent regain of will.


lvl 2 Planting stick - Spend a survival, walk around a farm, field or patch of growing plants. must be able to be paced around in an hour. running is fine as are travel powers but no steeds, bikes, or conveyances of any kind. crops and animals treated this way are cleansed of blight, disease, parasites, infestations, the land is made healthy and nutritious and plants grow as if it were spring for a day. crops yield their maximum possible bounty, livestock is healthy and clean. Three days of this treatment is enough to reverse the effects of Witch Blight.


lvl 3 Graceful Hand of Renewal- touch target wound, spend one glamour wound is downgraded one stage from ag to lethal or from lethal to bashing or bashing to healed.



lvl 4 March of Passing Days- spend a willpower, touch a subject, subject grows as if they had a season of perfect health, nutrition and exercise in a day. this provides 3 months of 'convalescence' for healing times. works on plants, the season for plants is as per their growing season. counters Ache



lvl 5 Grass Underfoot - spend one willpower and 5 glamour. Grass and flowering plants spring up under the feet of the caster. All plants in the room bloom and grow as if they have had a season of growth. Everything in the room with the caster except the caster himself, friend or foe, for good or ill, is cleansed of toxins and diseases and regains one bashing health level, if they have no bashing a lethal is downgraded to bashing, if they have no lethal an ag is downgraded to lethal. this effect costs 2 glamour per round to maintain.



Contracts of Fleeting Summer: uses intimidate as retest Catch: character must sacrifice the liver of a rabid animal per level of power used. must have made sacrifice within 3 days of use. each sacrifice only works once and is expended.

lvl 1: Find Flaw: engage in mental challenge with subject, if successful, know their lowest virtue.



lvl 2: Object of Scorn: point at a subject and loudly and in a clear voice deride them. engage a mental challenge subject is down 1 social trait for an hour.



lvl 3: Mockery and Pointless Obfuscation: caster must engage subject in conversation for a full minute, incites a difficulty 3 anger frenzy in the target resisted with self control, even if subject is in no way subject to frenzy a killing rage overtakes them, aimed at the caster in which the frenzy rules apply. get a staffer.



lvl 4: Tripping Your Fellow Man: Mental challenge expend a glamour and change the target of any existent occurring frenzy. You decide who someone is frenzying on.



lvl 5. Outrunning The Bear: spend a willpower caster cannot be frenzied upon for one hour, frenzies still occur as normal but choose another target. caster cannot be target of effects produced by a frenzying creature, this includes creatures in permanent frenzy.


Contracts of Eternal Summer: uses occult as retest. Catch:character must give away an ounce of pure 24 karat gold per level of power to be used. Per use. said gold cannot come into contact with the character again. lest his powers cease functioning for one day per ounce.


lvl 1: Home and Hearth: expend one occult retest. the room is toasty and warm or cool and pleasant for one full hour, brought to the comfort level of the caster, if caster is outdoors field goes for 50 feet.



lvl 2: Brilliance of Hyperion: spend an occult character glows with the light of the sun for 200 feet in every directions, cannot engage in stealth challenges, gains 2 trait equipment bonus to leadership. light is not true sunlight but reflected doing merely 1 lethal per round to those affected by sunlight. and triggering a difficulty 3 fear frenzy.



lvl 3: Prometheus Fist: spend an occult and a glamour. character's hands glow with unearthly light. does an additional unarmed damage of solar fire. (1 ag) lasts one hour



lvl 4: Sunray: spend 1 willpower 3 glamour. for one hour caster manifests a beam of sunlight. the bolt is a weapon that does 2 ag, can be fired once per action and grants 1 physical trait. uses firearms.



lvl 5: Unblinking Eye of Appolyon: spend 1 willpower and 5 glamour, all illusions, all obfuscate, concealment or stealth magics, ends unless the caster of the illusion spends a willpower for the round. as the caster radiates sunlight for 100 yards in every direction. elder level powers (6 and up) are maintained at no cost, all things or people hidden through mundane means are revealed. costs 2 glamour to maintain,


Contracts of Fleeting Autumn: uses empathy retest. subject must not have ever seen the character's face.



lvl 1: as per cupid's eye (fleeting spring) except reveals a number of mental flaws or derangements(if any)



lvl 2: Phobos Kiss: spend a glamour social challenge with subject applies a -1 valor penalty to the subject.



lvl 3: Whispered Mantra: expend a glamour touch subject, subject has a +2 bonus on valor checks.



lvl 4: Fear of The Reaping: character gazes upon a target, target is subject to a 3 trait valor check or fear frenzy with the caster as stimulus. this happens even if the subject is of a creature type not given to frenzies. stimulus lasts for one round



lvl 5: Barghest Mien: spend one willpower, character is a 2 trait fear frenzy stimulus to all who behold her. must spend 1 glamour per round to maintain. this stimulus affects even those creatures of a type not given to frenzy.


Contracts of Eternal Autumn: uses survival Catch: caster must sacrifice animal with a number of blood traits equal to or greater than the level of power used.

lvl 1: Feast of famine:caster must touch subject, expend a survival. subject loses one glamour/blood/etc and if human takes one level of bashing from fatigue/starvation



lvl 2: Witch Blight: spend a survival, walk around a farm, field or patch of growing plants. must be able to be paced around in an hour. running is fine as are travel powers but no steeds, bikes, or conveyances of any kind. crops and animals treated this way are stricken with blight, disease, pests and the soil is turned to salt. nothing can grow upon this land for a full season. attempts to cause any kind of growth are 2 difficulty categories higher.



lvl 3:Fester: Spend a single glamour when you touch a wounded person, a single existing bashing becomes a lethal a lethal becomes an ag. touching unmarred flesh produces a bashing but frankly you could just have spent your effort punching someone for that effect. Does not work multiple times per strike. This effectively makes a character's strikes one wound category more deadly on any victim that is already wounded. e.g. they gain a bashing from the punch you are now throwing and turn a previous punch into a stab.



lvl 4:Ache: spend a glamour touch a creature already wounded. the creature cannot be healed by time, non supernatural medical help or convalescence for a full season.



lvl 5: Killing Frost - spend a willpower and 5 glamour all plants in the room wither and die, frost lines the room. Everyone except the caster, friend or foe must spend an extra willpower to heal or activate or maintain healing magics until the effect ends. costs 2 glamour to maintain.


Contracts of Fleeting Winter: no skill retest, Catch: Each use consumes one pounds of ice per level of power used. per use. caster must be in contact with said ice.

lvl 1: Evito - as per celerity 1

lvl 2: Guidiamo - expend a glamour, your steed or vehicle gains an additional step per round or 10% of its speed whichever is higher.

lvl 3: Colpisco - as per celerity 2

lvl 4: Progredico - as per celerity 3 except each level of fleeting winter must be paid for separately still, this just removes step penalty.

lvl 5: Morite - as per celerity 4


Contracts of Eternal Winter: uses Science as a retest Catch: character must giveaway Permanently a level of resources. and cannot have their resources rise above this new level for one month lest they lose their powers for one month. burning this resource allows use of the power for free for 72 hours


lvl 1: bank the blaze: a chill breeze whips through the room, extinguishing or dampening all fires or sources of heat. every fire (not sunlight, fire) is suppressed, doing one less damage, fires reduced to 0 levels go out. at the end of the round, those not extinguished return to their former size.



lvl 2: heart of ice: spend an science, touch a subject, their temperance gains a 2 trait bonus.

lvl 3: numbing touch: spend a glamour touch a subject, subject is not affected by wound penalties for one hour



lvl 4: Winter's Sabre: spend one glamour, for one round the character's weapon gains 2 lethal of cold damage and one trait offensively



lvl 5: Armor of Frost: spend a willpower and a glamour, the character's skin is covered in armor of ice, granting 2 defensive traits and an additional health level. fire and all heat (including sunlight) does lethal instead of ag

Closure

Sometimes it helps after a game to give you players an epilogue as to what happened and clear up any little mysteries they have left over.
Steve Moffat agrees with me

Mists of Memory

Masks/Mists
every changeling has a mortal mask and a changeling Seeming. Their seeming gets its own chapter later but the mortal mask is what people without supernatural powers see. A changeling looks like a normal human in all ways. when a changeling attempts to spend a point of glamour for any reason their seeming 'slips' causing them to briefly appear blatantly supernatural. spending an additional glamour when using a power or performing other glamour intensive task can strengthen the mask causing the changeling itself not to appear bizarre and outlandish. however spending an extra glamour when throwing a fireball will keep people from seeing your elven ears but it will in no way disguise the fact that you have thrown a fireball.
The mists are an effect that erode the name of the changeling in the world. Since they have been kidnapped and a fetch placed in their place their names have been overwritten in the tapestry of fate. Any changeling can only be remembered by those they have ensorceled or Dreamwoven into remembering them. sea oaths and dreamweaving respectively. Records of the changelings name including titles and property deeds become blurry and fade, police records, personal memories, all fade. This does not keep a changeling out of trouble. if they are arrested and put in jail the jail will lose the records of who they are and why they're there leaving no way out. their lawyer will lose their case, it's a bad scene. Any changeling that wishes to maintain an influence above 1 must do so through a retainer or enchanted mortal. This has its own problems. A changeling cannot have a number of retainers higher than their leadership nor a number of ensorceled higher than their Wyrd. This forgetting extends to other supernaturals although they may spend a willpower per 3 days to remember the changeling the documents will disappear by the end of the lunar month.
----------------

A Sense of Scale.

It is vitally important that your pcs posses a sense of scale. Sometimes they will have phenomenal cosmic powers and great wherewithal but feel like an underdog or downtrodden or put upon because they are up against far greater threats. From time to time put in a few under challenging encounters. Have them beat up a few random thugs. My personal favorite is a homecoming scene in which they have to go back to their starting area and deal with the problems that seemed so insermountable a mere few hundred experients points ago. It helps keep everything in context. When you're building a mood or trying to maintain suspension of disbelief, context is king.

Changeling

Changeling Part 1

Changeling is a game about what lies outside ourselves, our borders. Changelings are those people who have lost their soul and their name to the chaotic depths of the ever changeling Wyld. Some were kidnapped as in the old stories by elves or strange dryad; perhaps they went bowling with some strange men beneath a tree and today they find themselves back in the world. Most commonly these people are escapees who had been kidnapped by the gentry and made to live strange lives as servants, pets, or in some cases furniture and scenery for the fey lords and ladies. The openings that allow escape began in 2001 with an event called the Returning in which the portals, gateways, and paths of the Wyld were once again connected to the tapestry of creation, allowing those who had been trapped to be capable of working themselves free. Characters can be from any time after 1700, but can only have been active on earth since the Returning. Not all changelings are abductees, although most are. Some have found the secret paths and song lines into the land that the escapees have used to find earth and followed them the wrong way. These brave, foolish, or unlucky people find themselves in the Never Never without the dubious benefit of a master to protect them and some few have returned to earth to tell of it. It is a big, strange world that has such people in it.

Secret Projekt Evil

I have been spending the last 6 hours trapped in a bunker in the library working on a secret evil project. This is why there have been few updates. and why I write to you know. believe me, when you see it it will be glorious.
Also My gaming not of the day, little artifacts make all the difference. If there's someone who can make character sketches that's great, but a character diary or a prop or if you can, a costume or a map of the character's home, a day planner. all of these are great for tabletop. They;re essential in larp. In larp you need to set the scene far more to create a deeper sense of immersion.
assignment, think of 5 things you character has in his pocketses that don't normally appear on the inventory sheer, bits of string, half eaten candybar, someone's phone number, feel free to use your own (or other people's with permission) pockets for inspiration.

How to Succeed as a Storyteller

Nobody tuns games for a living, even those who write game fiction or game books don't run for a living. Therefore anything you do in your game is not for profit as a rule. So as long as your players don't catch on, steal mercilessly and often. The key is to steal from obscure sources or to put on a palette swap or two. Few people will recognize the story from Breakfast Club if its set in a prison for noblemen like say the tower of London in a fantasy Middle age setting. Personally I like recycling stories from Veggie Tales and other children's cartoons. The stories are simple and easy to follow and tend to have recognizable quirky characters. Because the characters don't have bodies they need to have exaggerated vocal quirks or mannerisms to help differentiate them, this translates to spoken word or rpg play easily. When in doubt mix 2 things that are similar, like Breakfast club and High School Host Club. Or two things that are very Dissimilar, like Care Bears and Kult.

Templates

This is just an idea for complicated systems for quick start. Perhaps a set of template pre-made characters that are actually well built, unlike the p.o.s. pregens White-wolf always puts out and D&d usually gives that come with the book? I end up running a lot of long running games with people joining slowly over time so that about 1 out of 3 sessions is taken up by someone new making a character. if I could just hand them a sheet that actually works and is competitive, they could begin play immediately. then they could tweak it between games. I have a policy, one I urge every storyteller to adapt. for the first 3 and sometimes first 5 sessions of every game I run, even larps, I allow players to completely re-spec their characters.

Often you want to play a worthwhile warrior or a puissant mage or even a talented florist. Then you find that the super ultimate sword technique, or the super damage ball spell or even the peony blossom arrangement style you picked and spent so many starting points on is in fact mathematically far weaker and lamer than advertised or doesn't even do the thing it says. Cleave doesn't let you cleave through opponents, the conscience virtue does not in any way reflect the strength of your conscience, and the peony blossom style is all about sword fighting. I've found the usual character or player learning curve to find out what attacks or spells or skills are actually at all useful is about three games. after that if you bought it, you have it. This also encourages players to try and use all of the various things on their sheet during the first three games to give you as the storyteller a chance to see what they can and can't do.

as an update to the previous post, I specifically dissagree with Jesse's take in this article.

The word Science could just as easily be replaced with storytelling.

Music, Interview, and Radio Blogging

Now the Textbook we have recently downloaded for class, Journalism 2.0,says that in order to have sound podcasts on your blog you need some kind of ftp or other file hosting site. I ran this idea past the wonderful human being who A. thoughtfully archived my interviews from last year's Otakon and B. runs the servers in my house and he says such sites have at least one standard deviation more viruses and horrible spyware than any other net site. So I am at a quandary, if anyone out there has any good ideas how to host 2.2 gigs of sound without catching something nasty please do speak up. Since I had planned to upload one of my old interviews in my trademarked soothing baritone and am stymied by the lack of hosting, here's Steven Fry once again with a much better story.

If You're Thinking 'Bout My Blog

Does it matter if this is black or white? Apparently according to every study everywhere, yes all of them, Websites work best as black text on a white field, not white text on a black field. This is odd as I generally prefer sites that are white on black. Come to think of it almost everything I browse are white on black, its mostly webcomics and music but still. It makes the site hurt my eyes less. So now I have Dark text on a light field on a grey field. I wonder if the compromise is worth it.



comic from Edible Dirt by Matt Rosemier