Magical Sailor Fuku

For those of you who are wondering what the hell Changeling: the Lost (the game that in addition to Monte Cook's World of Darkness that has kept me too distracted to post much of anything recently ) is, follow this link.

Now to my rant: I finally got my grubby mitts on White Wolf's latest game two days ago and thus far, my reaction to it is mixed. On the upside, the book is brilliantly written, has some fantastic artwork, satisfying nuanced character creation, and it has a ton of fun ideas and concepts that really capture elements of Faerie (both light and dark) to it's fullest (the way oaths work, the idea of your powers being oaths with concepts, the methods for gaining glamour, the mask, dream riding/crafting, seeming/kith, entitlements, the Hedge, Tokens, goblin markets, etc.). no offense to Changeling: the Dreaming fans, but Changeling: the Lost is a definite improvement over it's predecessor.

On the downside, it's irritating how much the book wastes it's word count by telling you over and over again that your changeling character is an abuse victim whose undergone horrific tortures at the hands of the Fae and is trying to everything in his/her power to keep from going back. The whole first chapter just screams "ABUSE VICTIM" while neglecting to elaborate on any of the more interesting points of Changelings (which is really a shame cuz there is a LOT more about changeling life than the history of abuse).

I know White Wolf's products are aimed at a more mature demographic, and that many of the fairy tales Changeling is based on are quite dark (I think one particular tale involved a faerie biting off it's own finger to use as a key to his house; I imagine he must have been quite pissed when he found the original key under his doormat ) but the game's basic assumption (and disturbing amount of focus on said assumption) that all Changelings are kidnapping/trauma/rape victims bundled into one nice psychotic package really just bothers me and strikes to close to home for comfort. Plus, the "True Fae" and the bulk of Fae creatures are regulated to purely antagonistic roles and there really is no way to spend long periods of time in the lands of Faerie without A.) dying horribly, B.) going insane, C.) getting captured by some wicked fae, or D.) all of the above; to me, this seems to limit the overall avenues and styles of play.

Overall, once you get past the first chapter and the annoying focus on abuse, Changeling is a great game. Well, that's my list of grievances with Changeling; I just want to see what everyone else familiar with the game thinks about it.

Its meant to be a horror game. Sure its a game about beautiful madness but the idea is that its supposed to be horror.(not that that would stop me from playing/running it different....*blatant plug*) Thus the abuse thing is played up.

Of course that's a general default take on other worlds in the NWOD, to make the other places SCARY and not escapist fun time.

Yes, I understand that. In the aspect of horror Changeling excells. It's just the game's choice to center around abuse that bugs me. Maybe I'm just too spoiled from Dark Ages: Fae

Well the idea is you are playing Changelings and not some alien creature thus playing up an inversion of the Dreaming where the horror comes from the Mundane from the idea that all that was once great and glorious will fade away because we just don't care(abit of the horror in Mage too)


But it was a conscious decison to make the unknown dangerous in the NWOD thus why the spirit world is filled with nasty things.. it was consciously made so people won't want to go off into fairyland forever..

I'll concede to you on that; the land of the fae should only be a place you'd wanna visit not stay forever in. I suppose my opinions are being colored by my personal tastes (I enjoy a wide variety of horror and dimension hopping) color my judgements. Plus, there is pleanty of horror to be found in the mundane as well. In the end, both the world of the fae and mortals should have their merits, short comings, and reasons why you would want to be a part of both not just "the unknown is horrible and the mundane is flawless!"

I really hated the old mage; too preachy for me. The new mage may be a bit bland but it is a step foward and does have the kind of horror elements that meet my fancy (yes, nMage does have a fair amount of horror for all you haters out there )

I prefer old mage I liked the philosophy I liked science as magic..


There still is plenty of world hoping in the New changeling.. its just not "This world is all ways better" like the dreaming.

Science magic was an interesting twist, but the metaphysics of the game made my brain hurt. It made the mistake of being much to grandiose. I despise the technocracy, nothing's gonna change my mind on that and for the sake of not starting a flame war, let's just leave it at that

It's a good thing that a lot of elements of Dreaming were dropped (I still shudder in fear when I look at Pookas ) but a lot of the nWoD does seem to gloss over the fact that there is pleanty of horror to be found in the mundane and not just in the supernatural.

The Fungus from Yuggoth wrote:Science magic was an interesting twist, but the metaphysics of the game made my brain hurt. It made the mistake of being much to grandiose. I despise the technocracy, nothing's gonna change my mind on that and for the sake of not starting a flame war, let's just leave it at that

It's a good thing that a lot of elements of Dreaming were dropped (I still shudder in fear when I look at Pookas ) but a lot of the nWoD does seem to gloss over the fact that there is pleanty of horror to be found in the mundane and not just in the supernatural.

There is, but that's not the theme the idea is to play up that the supernatural is not escapist funtime..

I agree with you on that. Escapism can be fun, but having supernaturals as real people who have to deal with their own headaches and woes unique to their world adds a bit of depth to them. It's not the downplay of escapism that I have an issue with (it's perfectly appropriate); it's the use of abuse as the primary source of horror that I'm uncomfortable with.

The Fungus from Yuggoth wrote:I agree with you on that. Escapism can be fun, but having supernaturals as real people who have to deal with their own headaches and woes unique to their world adds a bit of depth to them. It's not the downplay of escapism that I have an issue with (it's perfectly appropriate); it's the use of abuse as the primary source of horror that I'm uncomfortable with.

Well what would you use as the primary source of horror in a game about abductions?

Probably should have specified: I'm not too thrilled about the abduction or abuse aspects; I guess I was hoping for a game more centered on the fae (just a personal quirk and fairy tales were more than just kidnappings). It'd be a stretch to expect everyone to be 100% sastified with every aspect of the game so views like mine are to be expected. At the very least, we both can agree that the new changeling is a great game...

From a horror perspective, most of the Fairy tales where a man/woman/child goes to the fae and is changed by it are pretty much abductions.... so are you saying you'd have prefered changelings to be nonhumans who wise up to the truth fo what they have been all along.. because that would make it fairly close to werewolf..

I actually kind of like werewolves, so that's not a big deal to me ^^ (though I can see the need to deviate from something that's already been done from a creative stand point). But why can't there be any other kind of changeling besides the abuctee? You couldn't have a changeling who got turned when he accidentily wandered into the Hedge for a few days (or what seemed like a few days), ate and did things he wasn't supposed to and then find his way out only to find that his durance has left him permanatly changed and that several years have passed in his absence? Is his situation any less horrible or tragic than an abducted changeling? I just would have like to have seen more than one take on changelings personally.

The Fungus from Yuggoth wrote:I actually kind of like werewolves, so that's not a big deal to me ^^ (though I can see the need to deviate from something that's already been done from a creative stand point). But why can't there be any other kind of changeling besides the abuctee? You couldn't have a changeling who got turned when he accidentily wandered into the Hedge for a few days (or what seemed like a few days), ate and did things he wasn't supposed to and then find his way out only to find that his durance has left him permanatly changed and that several years have passed in his absence? Is his situation any less horrible or tragic than an abducted changeling? I just would have like to have seen more than one take on changelings personally.

I like werewolves I am just saying its a retread. I mean they could make a game about breath taking ghosts who hide as mortals but that starts to become vampire....


I'd say yes. The idea of accident being the entire source seems abit weak especially when you need large numbers for certain styles of play.. while I can see it as an option..((and it looks like that iwll be added in equinox road) it comes down to needing the fairy to take you.. now it could be "the fairy take you to be champion of.." but then we start to get into escapist fun fairy time..

Kether wrote:I'd say yes. The idea of accident being the entire source seems abit weak especially when you need large numbers for certain styles of play.. while I can see it as an option..((and it looks like that iwll be added in equinox road) it comes down to needing the fairy to take you.. now it could be "the fairy take you to be champion of.." but then we start to get into escapist fun fairy time..

Maybe, but I like scenarios where sh*t happens when fate throws you a curve ball and you have to deal with the aftermath. And there are fairy tales where a hapless human will wander off into faerieland for a few hours only to emerge several decades later. I'm not saying it's the only way changelings can be played, just a diffrent one. As for the faeire champion escapism thing, it'd depend on how you choose to play it. the Fae may tell you that you're going to be a champion of light and love only to use you as it's personal assassin to get slaughter changelings that no longer intrests the "noble" Fae Lord.