General WoD Discussion #2: Its time to Celebrate!

[Sith_Happens]

I'd say to make sure you have at least one combat monster in the mix, since the combat rules seem to be the ones most in need of testing.

[Lady Serpentine]

I'm not playing it, since I have a hard time coming up with a good concept, but I'd love to see what happens with the Psychokinesis rules, too... From my readover, they look fairly broken.

[SiuiS]

I'd say to make sure you have at least one combat monster in the mix, since the combat rules seem to be the ones most in need of testing.

Conversely, a combat monster may skew things to an i recognizable degree. No one disagrees that a big discrepancy holds a lot of weight, but we are in disagreement how big a single die or two comes out in play. A combat monster risks breezing through everything. Untested, or worse, getting everyone else killed by the crocodile man who can match him!

Still, probably a good idea anyway. What do I know? Every game ha that guy who likes to beat folks up. ;)

[Friv]

Conversely, a combat monster may skew things to an i recognizable degree. No one disagrees that a big discrepancy holds a lot of weight, but we are in disagreement how big a single die or two comes out in play. A combat monster risks breezing through everything. Untested, or worse, getting everyone else killed by the crocodile man who can match him!

Still, probably a good idea anyway. What do I know? Every game ha that guy who likes to beat folks up. ;)

My suggestion - split the difference.

Have a guy who's Physical primary, has 3-4 dice in a combat Skill and Athletics 3, has a specialty in combat, and has 2 combat merit dots. Not a combat monster, but a guy for whom combat is one of his key roles.

[SiuiS]

My suggestion - split the difference.

Have a guy who's Physical primary, has 3-4 dice in a combat Skill and Athletics 3, has a specialty in combat, and has 2 combat merit dots. Not a combat monster, but a guy for whom combat is one of his key roles.

Looks like we have that covered. At least one character will ahve high defense, and at least one character will be a surprise brute in combat.

What other news do we have on the WoD front? or is everyone so busywith their V/W20 that they aren't posting?

[MugaSofer]

I'm mostly appreciating all the hard work that must have gone into B&S, fiddling with stuff for a similar project for Genius over on RPG.net.

[hiryuu]

Starting a new Changeling campaign soon set in a highly fictionalized version of Idaho. I have a cover for it, working on a fake "Wiki" entry and a whole new court system, at least two new kiths, and eight new contracts. Also looking for a bit of input for NPCs and maybe even some Hedge locations to shake things up.

Here's the "cover" for my binder.

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I also made a back cover >_>

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Anybody feel like contributing? Shall I make a new thread over in World Building?

[Lady Serpentine]

Anybody feel like contributing? Shall I make a new thread over in World Building?

I feel heavily disinterested in contributing... But only because I want to be able to play.

Edit: Assuming you don't already have people and it's on here, naturally. If you do or it's not, I might be.

[MugaSofer]

So ... new kiths, new courts ... what exactly are you going for here? A complete reskin or just a few local quirks?

[comicshorse]

Starting a new Changeling campaign soon set in a highly fictionalized version of Idaho. I have a cover for it, working on a fake "Wiki" entry and a whole new court system, at least two new kiths, and eight new contracts. Also looking for a bit of input for NPCs and maybe even some Hedge locations to shake things up.

Here's the "cover" for my binder.

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I also made a back cover >_>

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Anybody feel like contributing? Shall I make a new thread over in World Building?

That looks.............interesting

[One Tin Soldier]

I'm mostly appreciating all the hard work that must have gone into B&S, fiddling with stuff for a similar project for Genius over on RPG.net.

Speaking of Genius, does anyone know the general consensus on playing Genius with the GMC rules? Katastrofi in particular seems like it might need adjustment, what with new standard weapon ratings and the initiative penalty system.

[The Glyphstone]

Genius in general could use an overhaul....it hasn't been updated for a long time, and there were still a bunch of odd/wonky/unbalanced things when the creator stopped working on it.

[hiryuu]

So ... new kiths, new courts ... what exactly are you going for here? A complete reskin or just a few local quirks?

Local quirks, mostly. Game is set in Idaho, want to go with a more Tall Tale/Native theme, with some new-agey stuff here and there, mostly because it is really easy for a Changeling to hide in the new age movement.

The Four Courts are White, Blue, Green, and Red. They're a variation on the directional courts, tied to totally different emotions and reactions to returning from Faerie.

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Throughout North America are sacred stone circles, astrological signs that point to stars or gateways to other worlds, markers of the seasons and directions. These sacred hoops have been built up or broken down over generations, and serve as indelible markers of those who inhabited these places in the past. Many of them are still used for ceremonies, and rumors of strange lights and odd people coming and going from them mark many of the towns where they are present. In the days before, the land was our kingdom, our untouched and unsullied captor to our whiles, as we took beauty from our own god and projected it as pain and demarcation over the frightening Other with our powers undirected and our sight clearly made just, for what is success but not the very judgment of ourselves as right by the gods we made by hand? So, we exulted our gods, our John Henrys and Johnny Appleseeds and our Uncle Sams, and our Steve Rogers. They became our national heroes, our folkloric kings. They were, however, not alone in their great strides. Oh, as Pecos Bill pounded across the land, Glooscap was there to show him the ropes. When Tom Walker became a dark a diabolist as any, the devil that was already here, he was right there with old Tom to show him the art of poison-sings and become a beast, cackling through the night in the shape of a wolf. The seasons may be fickle with us, but in America, we have our own brand of legendary history, where normal men and women slay giants of industry and battle dragons of persecution, all the while riding their own foul beasts. The great monsters of liberalism and conservatism, coupled with the ancient prejudices that any society has unleashed to ride of a wave of greed and use hope as the rocket that carries it into the night is alive and well.

The True Fae capture, enslave, and transform their victims for their own pleasure and drudgery, forcing changelings to toil or endure cruel and unusual tortures, and the warriors of the Sacred Hoop are numbered among those who won freedom. These changelings clawed and crawled their way back to the soil of their birth and find they still wear the shackles of their imprisonment. They can now see the metaphorical assaults on dreamers and the world as what they are, and a new war of independence is stirring. A war of freedom from alien monsters, a war of freeing oneself and others from the shackle of slavery – not just by words – but by blazing deeds lit by the rocket's red glare.

So those taken and bound for freedom once again re-emerge to daylight in the center of the sacred hoops, the stone circles, or pull themselves free of basement windows or sewer grates or the back alleyways strewn with urine and liquor. They band together for themselves and find the land's already got pacts and contracts ready-made, old as time and laughing in the dust and deep down into the pine forests and along the wind. They pick it up and carry on, like a flag left behind on the battlefield, right back where they started, a ring turning like a wheel, the sacred hoop. All people got a hold on it now, all use the colors gold and black amidst their own court colors, and they all use American flags wrapped in olive branches in their symbols, as well as the signs of the new age movement: crystals, pentacles, coins, and so on. All the courts use the rifle in their universal rituals. The tool of conquest shall be made the bell of freedom across the land.

[MugaSofer]

So ... sort of on a par with Kindred of the East, then?

[hiryuu]

So ... sort of on a par with Kindred of the East, then?

Not as extreme - they're still Changelings. Their backstory and the Hedge and everything else is still the same. I just want to include some parts of faerie lore that weren't really touched on in the books, and that is that more than just Victorian England had stories with themes recognizable as faerie stories.

This is changeling, but with the addition of Glooscap and Pecos Bill mixed in with Tom Tildrum. Crooked Mick and Big Bill, Joe Magarac, Davy Crockett and Mike Fink rubbing shoulders with the mythic princes.

Northern Court

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The Northern Court
The Court of the White Buffalo, The White Court, The Court of Stars, The Many-Spangled, The Court of Death

White is the color of all things washed away to be dyed. When bones are left to the sun, they bleach to white. When snow covers the ground and drowns out all sound and life, it is white. White is the color of the stars and the moon, and white is the color that surrounds every eye. It is the color of death, silence, and, at the same time, purity. Those of the Northern Court express sadness as to what they have lost, and though they are happy to return to the world of their birth, they know what fantastic wonders they have left behind in Arcadia can never be reclaimed. Make no mistake, no member of the Northern court wishes to ever return, but they are instead saddened that they had ever been taken in the first place. They have been made anew, however, and with their freedom comes the ability to begin a new life however they choose.

The White Court sees all things as holding a boundless potential, even the end. Every story must stop, and only eternity holds any ultimate sadness. This can lead to darker ends, with a changeling reluctant to change of any sort, desiring the purity of nothingness forever, or a driving need to make everything within reach pure by burning it down or starting over from scratch, never finishing a project and urging others to abandon as much as they can, forever re-entering the cycle at its beginning.

All changelings are interested in contracts, but the Northern Court makes it part of its practice to squirrel away knowledge of magic and the supernatural, not to deny it to others, but to make sure that before starting any new endeavor, all the information is available to those who need it. Those who do not remember what was destroyed and why it was paved down to make room for the new are doomed to rebuild the same thing once more when the cycle comes around again. Members of the Northern Court believe that their lives were the price of admission for such knowledge, and rarely seek to return to what they once had.

Courtiers
The Court of Stars attracts those who accept what they cannot change, wishing to leave their past behind them and move on to a new future, but are uncertain as to what that future may be. It also draws in those who have finished burning the bridges of their past and who wish to do little else than watch the ash fall away. Most courtiers have already left their pasts behind; the person they once were no longer exists, and many of them have written their former names on grave stones scattered around the town.

Rituals
As keepers of death among the Sacred Hoop, they know a wide variety of death rites and displays, and unlike most around the area, they are typically celebrations of life. A Samoan wake with mango, pineapples, and coconut liquor is not uncommon, though they are just as likely as somber sky burials and pyre-flames. They have rites whenever the powwows come to the midwest in which courtiers load up trucks and drive out, howling and hooting to drinking and dancing. They draw with ash on the ground and scream to the heavens that they are new vessels, waiting to be filled by whatever comes next. At the end of years, no matter the country or time of the actual year, they hold a New Years' celebration. They practice Mardi Gras and Dia de Los Muertos with an equal fervor, typically by descending on the road of nations and joining in with the parties.

Heraldry
The White Court is the court of old age, and with it comes the stereotypical symbols of the elderly and retirement. Golf balls, pills and medicine, the smell of antiseptic, all these things have a place among the court. Their color is white, and their sacred animals are the wolf, the ant, the turtle, and of course, the white buffalo. Needles and other symbols pointing up or to the north are common, and other symbols of cleansing, such as ash, drywall, and bleached hair can be found in their dreams, as well as the stars on the American flag. Sometimes courtiers are known as Sleeping Buffalo among other courts. Their ritual weapon is the war rattle, to light the way into the future.

Melancholy
Not quite sadness, not quite happiness, the melancholy of the White Court is more a state of contentment than anything else, though the court is especially interested in the pure state of mind that encompasses those who have discarded their pasts or just recently reached a place of safety and contentment. Their emotion is a sort of purity, a blazing, unsullied star that is more of a starting point than anything else. It is the relaxed freshness of arrival home after a long trip, the sensation of sweet air on one's face after an eternity in sweaty darkness, and the releasing ache of the muscles on the verge of sleep or the slow contentment of waking. A scab is terrible to have, but the sensation of it finally coming off is freeing and exhilarating. Thus, the sensation is not one of sadness, not quite happiness, but instead an unsullied state the represents the transition into another emotion. The calm after a runner's high or the unbridled relief felt when danger has finally passed is a specialty of the court, and the purest form of the melancholy they seek to retain.

As the northern mantle progresses, the changeling begins to look more distant and stellar. At low mantle, the changeling may exhibit one or two points of light, like stars, following them or adorning their person. At higher levels, the changeling may experience other changes, such as hair turning white, eyes turning the dark color of night, ash clinging to the body or face, blowing on the wind, or dusting the changeling's boots. Eventually, the changeling may turn all they touch white with smears of sand or dust, with large white patterns dancing across their clothing.
Mantle (●): The changeling gains a +1 bonus to all Occult pools.
Mantle (●●●): The white courtier gains a 2-die bonus to Resolve, Stamina, and Composure rolls to resist supernatural abilities. In addition, the changeling treats his resistance traits as two dots higher when subtracting them from the die pool for supernatural abilities used on him that subtract a resistance trait from their activation roll.
Mantle (●●●●●): Once per day, the changeling can re-roll any Contract activation roll. The results of the second roll stand.

[hiryuu]

Now for another pair of Courts

Eastern Court

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The Eastern Court
The New Court, The Blue Court, The Court of Sudden Strikes, The Empowered Thinkers

The time a body spends in Arcadia is a challenge. Life is full of sharp and harsh lessons, with tests, challenges, and attempts at both a body's physique and mental health. It is also filled with unknowns, truths and acknowledgments not yet uncovered. It takes an active hand to push over stones, though the downside is that there's sometimes a scorpion down there. Regardless, an unturned stone bears no treasure. In addition, the thrill of discovering that one has returned from Arcadia and lived to tell the tale is a profound feeling indeed, and the Eastern Court revels in the joy of discovery, both of their own potentiality and the happiness of watching another experience this awe.

To outsiders, Wild Hounds seem chaotic, and to an extent, they are, but with the intent to explore the unknown by exposing themselves to danger. Of course, they also have a tendency to think it's perfectly okay to expose others to danger so long as their victims stand to learn from it. They're not so much likely to tell someone a stove is turned on as they're likely to let harsh reality take its course.

Courtiers
The Blue Court is made up of many of those changelings who escaped from Faerie rather early on in their Durances, though there is a host of those who've been there for much longer. They accept that their time has changed them, and dwell on it constantly, sometimes leading to deep depression, but always grinding their teeth into the newest challenges to their psyche. It takes those changelings who approach their situation with a scientific bent, testing themselves and others with elaborate games or experiments, and those who want to do nothing more than meddle in the affairs of others with intent to improve them or disavow them of their deeply held beliefs. The changeling who openly mocks Christianity or the changeling who sets up pranks with friends are the types who come easily to the Eastern Court. There are violent individuals who also come to the court, mostly to test themselves among the constant struggle for power among them.

Rituals
The Wild Hounds are likely to set up competitions just to test themselves; they're not fighting to win, they just want to be testing each other. They copy and rival just about anything the Western Courts are up to just because they think that there should be an opposition in everything, and host parties during holidays just to show that they're around, they say, “to give those season fellows something to think about.” It is also the Blue Court's responsibility to organize pow wow every July, provide an MC, and put together the committee, an event during which tokens are distributed, food and resources are spread among Changelings, and alliances made. During this time the Blue Court holds mystery plays, often with random and unexpected stars, dressing as goblins or worse and chasing other Changelings around to remind them that even outside the Hedge, no one is entirely safe.

Heraldry
The symbols of birth and of the early dawn are among the Blue Court. Soft pastels, coffee, infants, the sound of babies crying, the chill of an office door opening to you. They are also the Blue Court in more than name, and their clothing dances with blue and gold patterns to clash and match the place from which they draw their power. For animals, the bear, deer, flicker, turkey, and hound all adorn many of their flags and motleys. They are known among other courts as the Wild Hounds, and the carry the axe to symbolize their desire to chop down what lies ahead.

Hardship
The test of exploration produces hardship. That source of opposition comes from your colleagues, your friends, your family, community, or even the sheer difficulty of the task itself. When you take it all in, your body seems overwhelmed by the task but still excited by the possibilities of solving all those problems and either dives into a haze of joy or collapses under the strain. From hardship, our lives are filled with illumination, through clarity caused by understanding what opposes us, we become more than who we are. Some members of the group inflict suffering upon themselves, or provide challenges for others, becoming their villains and rivals in an attempt to spur them on to better things. They tend to have a reputation for being extreme sports fanatics and short-sighted thrillseekers pushing the next extreme sport to the limit, but they're more likely to be found in laboratories and classrooms or on open fields of challenge pushing themselves and others ever-harder for a goal they can't even nail down for themselves.

At a low mantle rating, the Eastern Courtier seems a little grating, their presence somewhat uncomfortable and tinged with some vitalizing force that seems to exist merely to get under the viewer's skin. As the mantle grows in power, it tinges the Changeling with blue and turquoise gemstones, painting blue marks on their skin or clothes, surrounding them with the smell of coffee or soft, powdery smells, growing seals of the court's animals on their aura and cutting the Changeling a sharp outline among the world.
Mantle (●): The changeling gains +1 to all Perception rolls.
Mantle (●●●): Once per day, the changeling can focus her efforts to gain a +3 dice bonus to any one action.
Mantle (●●●●●): Once per combat, if the changeling is unseen by his opponents, he can tap one opponent with a stick and shout. He can continue to do this, and each time he does this before actually attacking the opponent, the changeling regains one glamour and can add a +1 bonus to all his attack rolls against that opponent for the scene. The changeling must be under the effects of no protective contracts save for those that grant stealth bonuses when he approaches his opponent in order for this to work.

Southern Court

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The Southern Court
The Blazing Court, The Court of Open Doors, The Honorable Ones, The Green Court

Time in Arcadia changes a body; that's an indelible truth. There are other truths, buried in the core of the world. You can trust a contract to be followed to the letter. You can trust the bonds of a promise to work as it wills. You can trust the world to try to yank everything out from under you, and you can trust yourself to come out stronger. To the Blazing Court, they place their trust in laws, in the world around them, and the world which they've placed themselves. Bargains and pledges are nothing more than absolute trust in the ironclad terms of the obligations spelled out within them. This is the firm belief of the Southern Court, that in the bare truth of a matter, anything can be learned.

In reaction to their suffering at the hands of the True Fae, members of the Green Court learn to cherish their time in their lives on Earth again, to love everything about it, and to trust in its rules, and the rules of the Hedge and Arcadia to protect them. They exult in reforging ties to the human world and seek out the truth inherent both in themselves and the world around them. They place their trust in others and expect the same in return. They believe in open doors, the ability of others to come to them with their ills or troubles and be relieved of burdens without fear. In a way, they make the courts of the midwest a little more stable. At the same time, there are rumors among changelings that a great many privateers and loyalists that hide among their members, and nothing in the pledges of the Southern Court requires the truth out of its members. As a final note, there's that niggling detail of Coyote among their patron animals.

Courtiers
Changelings of the Southern Court seek to nurture and grow themselves, and sometimes extend these actions to others. Most of them are more concerned with teaching themselves to trust the world around them again, having come from Faerie no longer able to trust their senses or own judgment. The issue with placing too much trust in anything can often mean that it turns to worship, as well, and many Thrashing Sturgeons have built up little new age cults throughout the American west.

Rituals
As heralds of care and growth, many Southern Court rituals are elaborate festivals of thanks in return for the gifts of the world; you can always trust the sun to rise and the moon to rise again in turn, and so many of the rites practiced by the court are in recompense for bargains imagined or real to return this symbol of trust to the world. Many in the Southern Court hold their true friends in high esteem, and shower them with gifts, boisterous parties, and florid poetry. They delight in harvest festivals, picking form the land what seeds they had planted in the spring as part of the bond of trust they hold with the mortal world itself, and often make Pledges during this time just to have them there.

Heraldry
The Blazing Court gets its name from flamboyance; bright greens are prominently displayed, along with the golden colors common to the Sacred Hoop courts. Along with these earthy tones, the court uses the coyote, northern flicker, brown bear, and sturgeon in many of its seals, as well as the signs of youth, the midday, and growth. Baseball gloves and cards, the noon sun, a needle pointing down, and knives are all common among the Blazing Court. They have the knife among them, to symbolize the final stroke in a done deal.

Trust
There comes, with trust, also a faith. Unlike the faith that drives the West, the Southern trust is in objects and laws. Intangible things such as contracts, and any system composed of parts that works the same way every time. What then, of the unexpected, others often say. Of course, any system has the right to a few quirks here and there, but trusts is never absolute, that's a fool's errand and leads to a quick death. The old Southern courtier gets other people to trust in her and her abilities. Perhaps to love her, or worship her. Too many Southerners have built up small cults out in the backwoods of America – you've probably heard of a few on the news, where the worshipers all trust the changeling as divinity made flesh, the unreal made real and given a name and power over the contracts of this world.

As the Green mantle grows, the changeling begins to glimmer with a turquoise sheen. Perhaps her jewelry looks like jade or other green stones, or her eyes flash green when she blinks. Her seeming might develop a little feathery cap like a woodpecker, and she may seem youthful and innocent. As the seeming grows, her aura may flash with the colors of the bright sun, be surrounded by the smell of warm popcorn, the crack of a baseball bat, and be adorned with all manner of green jewels.
Mantle (●): The changeling gains a +1 bonus to all Persuasion rolls.
Mantle (●●●): The changeling gains a +1 bonus to Clarity rolls and tests for degeneration if anyone she trusts is able to comfort or witness her.
Mantle (●●●●●): The changeling refills her entire glamour pool when she gets someone to completely and implicitly trust her. By the same token, when that same trust is broken, and the changeling betrays their confidence, even accidentally, the changeling's glamour pool empties out and they suffer a Clarity violation (two dice).

[hiryuu]

And finally.

Western Court

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The Western Court
The Red Court, The Tired Court, The Court of Clenched Jaws, The Old Fellows

To the west is the color red of the setting sun and the deep purple of the late evening. Those changelings who escape their captors and decide they are truly safe stand firm against the dark night to come and face their fear, drawing a line in the sand across which nothing should pass. They draw a line at the boundaries of the Hedge and forever prepare themselves for the inevitable arrival of their old masters, and they will not allow those masters a reprieve.

While other changelings may believe that the Western Court has given up, those of the Sacred Hoop courts know better. The Red Court is awash in the blood of its enemies, and though it may grow tired from long and harsh battles, it never lets that weariness show on its face. For that, they are known as the Court of Clenched Jaws, the firm and the stoic, and they try to bolster themselves and others to facing the darkness of a Hedge-hole with the same bravery and aplomb. They believe in raw strength, personal introspection, and the wisdom of experience. They know what monsters the True Fae are, and they know that the only difference between an abusive human and an immortal monster is merely the level of power the True Fae can bring to bear.

Courtiers
Monsters live in the soul. They hide, hunt, and slumber, waiting for just the right moment to emerge into daylight. The good Old Fellow is prepared for that inner monster just as much as they are prepared for a Hedge beast or something worse emerging from the maze. A Western Courtier, they say, is one who escaped from their tormentor, ran all the way back to the mortal world, and turned around, not to go back, but to plant feet on the other side of the door and wait for the tormentor to come, though, this time the fight would be between a god and a human, but against two matched opponents, and only one of whom who feels like he has anything to lose. Most courtiers are seen as a little stodgy when they're not trying to make friends, but when they are, they can be a little rough about it.

Rituals
The Court of Stoicism is a court of tests, and unlike the Eastern Court, the Western Court's idea of a “test” is to see how long someone can endure a task without a cracked smile, laughing, sighing, or showing signs that they have been through struggle. Rather than test themselves through direct attempts to challenge themselves, the Red Court is happy to hold contests of archery, axe throwing, and hunts to scour the local Hedge of dangers. As the court is so fond of saying, “to the East they make axes. To the West, we use them.” They have also incorporated a wide variety of other rites into their gatherings from around the world, including many practices such as gardening to allay volatile karma and painting to chase away nightmares and to depict dreams in solid form. The Red Court also engages in ritual drinking, preparing a quiet and somber party in which participants ready themselves for a battle in which they must take the first step.

One common rite to the court of Clenched Jaws is taking coffee, in which groups of changelings will descend upon a coffee shop or bookstore and arrange themselves in tables based upon their rank within the court. More prominent members of the court sit closest to the Red President, and as they perform deeds of import to the court's common diplomacy, they move closer in time. This is also the ritual in which the Red President gives new titles and makes pronouncements, and a reward for a good deed done is to sit at the president's table for a day, and even be asked for counsel.

Heraldry
The Red Court is, as its namesake, a court of brilliant hues of red and red-violet, like the sky just before the setting sun, blood on the ground, and magma just beneath the peaceful Earth. Nearly every animal associated with the court is an animal of freedom, with elk, snakes, snow geese, and golden eagles prominent among their displays. To the court, the snake symbolizes the hunt for monsters in the mind, and the elk serves as a beast of warning. Golden eagles keep a keen eye out for dangers, and the snow goose is a symbol of protection and friendship. In addition, the sign of the setting sun, apple pies, bright red convertibles bought during a mid-life crisis, and houses all symbolize aspects of the Western Court and middle age. Revolvers, ten-gallon hats, and jackets with fringe have been creeping into the heraldry as of late, and don't seem likely to leave any time soon. The weapon of the Red Court is the spear, ready to mark out the edges of the battlefield.

Resolve
At first glance, the stoic resolve of the court is a good thing. They stand firm. They have their beliefs and they stick to them. The trouble comes when the belief is clearly wrong, but as a matter of the courts philosophy, it is right to them. To become resolute, you must be absolutely right in what you believe, to the point of turning to face the True Fae should they come calling and you still tell them “no more” to their faces. This can have other detrimental effects than the obvious: a changelings ties to its mortal faith become ever stronger. They are not concerned so much with the truth as their neighbor, only in what they believe is right, and they will lose their feet rather than change that belief. A changeling could be a liberal defender of the people while another could be a mad Baptists preacher, but unchanging and unyielding in their beliefs.

As the Evening Mantle grows, the changeling becomes covered in red tracery; symbols that look to be made of red silk or even wet blood begin adorning the changeling's clothes, starting out as thin marks and becoming more complex as the Lost becomes more in tune with the west. She may take on a red hue as if lit by the setting sun.
Mantle (●): The changeling can spend a point of Willpower to gain four dice for heroic effort rather than three when a penalty is going to be applied to the roll.
Mantle (●●●): The changeling benefits from 1 point of armor.
Mantle (●●●●●): The changeling may reroll any failed resistance roll once per story. You must use the results of the second roll.

[MugaSofer]

Maybe they could do with being a bit more focused? There are some good ideas there, but they often seem unrelated.

[Lady Serpentine]

I just recently (as in, in the past couple of days), picked up Geist. While I like it so far, a few things I'm finding odd:

The Prey are specifically called 'The Drowned Ones'. The Silent are also called out as drowning victims, due to the fact that they die from a lack of air. Yet neither of them gain access to the Tear-Stained Key as part of their Threshold, that, instead, being the purview of... Those killed by poison or disease?

Also, is there any support for playing a Geist that, while not entirely human, is certainly much less alien than most of those presented in the book, and is in fact actually designed to mesh fairly well with her Bound?

At least one of the powers mentions getting certain effects 'at higher dots'... Then proceeds to provide no explanation of the term in that specific context. For all the elaboration I could find, it could just as easily have meant two dots as five. Is it meant to be up to the ST exactly when you start receiving those benefits?

[Water_Bear]

Also, is there any support for playing a Geist that, while not entirely human, is certainly much less alien than most of those presented in the book, and is in fact actually designed to mesh fairly well with her Bound?

I think that conflict is supposed to be part of the point though, like dealing with The Beast in Vampire or being a werewolf in Werewolf. Sin Eaters are already the most laid-back splat (unless Mummies have stolen that title, never read the book), if they were any less conflicted they wouldn't fit in the WoD's pseudo-tragic theme.

[Mewtarthio]

Sin Eaters are already the most laid-back splat (unless Mummies have stolen that title, never read the book).

Mummies are in no way in contention for the title of most laid-back splat. The premise of MtC could be phrased as "You are an amnesiac god with a few weeks to live."

[Lady Serpentine]

I think that conflict is supposed to be part of the point though, like dealing with The Beast in Vampire or being a werewolf in Werewolf. Sin Eaters are already the most laid-back splat (unless Mummies have stolen that title, never read the book), if they were any less conflicted they wouldn't fit in the WoD's pseudo-tragic theme.

Mm. Maybe. The thing is, you can have a Geist that meshes well with a Sin-Eater without taking away other sources of conflict.

You're constantly bombarded by ghosts as part of being a Sin-Eater, and whether you choose to ignore their plight or try to help, that's going to take its toll.

You came back from the dead and quite possibly can never see your loved ones again, depending on how you died - and even if you can, to be near them puts them in danger from the ghosts seeking you out, as well as, potentially, other Sin-Eaters. For that matter, even just looking at them might make you see the way they'll die whenever you do.

And even when the entity inside your head is not entirely alien to you... You still have another person living in you. They may be trying to adapt, and picked you because you're compatible with them, but still. They'll have their own wants and needs - ones you can't always provide, at least not without compromising your boundaries and/or morals.

Too, just as it lessens some challenges, it also raises new ones. If your Geist is no longer human enough to be relatable, you'll likely never have to worry that you're getting too close to it, and its very nature as a repulsive and/or terrifying thing keeps you from wanting to focus too closely on death - but if you have, for instance, a twisted mermaid haunting your dreams, seeking desperately to be loved by the person she's part of, is it so easy to ignore her, even if you have a mortal partner who would be hurt by doing so?

[SiuiS]

Mummies are in no way in contention for the title of most laid-back splat. The premise of MtC could be phrased as "You are an amnesiac god with a few weeks to live."

Man. I wanna play mummy so bad D:
Need to get the book first though.


Also, you're mean, C'nor. Now I want Geist too.

[WitchSlayer]

Mummies are in no way in contention for the title of most laid-back splat. The premise of MtC could be phrased as "You are an amnesiac god with a few weeks to live."

Well they can be kind of chill when it's a Sothic Turn.

[CN the Logos]

I just recently (as in, in the past couple of days), picked up Geist. While I like it so far, a few things I'm finding odd:

The Prey are specifically called 'The Drowned Ones'. The Silent are also called out as drowning victims, due to the fact that they die from a lack of air. Yet neither of them gain access to the Tear-Stained Key as part of their Threshold, that, instead, being the purview of... Those killed by poison or disease?

Well, all sin-eaters get two keys at character gen, and one of those can be outside the ones tied to their threshold, so your Prey or Silent character can have Tear-Stained. As to why that key was assigned to the Silent, none of the other elemental keys fits with illness at all, the Stigmata key obviously had to go the victims of violence, and death by water would presumably cover pneumonia, edema, severe vomiting, diarrhea, etc... Messy, but it fits better than the other options, I guess.

Also, is there any support for playing a Geist that, while not entirely human, is certainly much less alien than most of those presented in the book, and is in fact actually designed to mesh fairly well with her Bound?

You can totally play with a friendly geist. There are no mechanical bonuses or penalties for your geist's personality, and all three of the sample free-roaming geists described in the book have very human motivations. If you want your geist to be the shade of Saint Nicholas, walking the earth to give aid to the needy via his sin-eater companion, that's between you and the ST. I actually think something like that could be an interesting basis for a chronicle. Conversely, if you want your geist to be a Viking berserker who constantly chants "KILL! MAIM! BURN!", you can do that too. Whatever floats your boat.

At least one of the powers mentions getting certain effects 'at higher dots'... Then proceeds to provide no explanation of the term in that specific context. For all the elaboration I could find, it could just as easily have meant two dots as five. Is it meant to be up to the ST exactly when you start receiving those benefits?

Currently away from the book, but which power was this?

[Lady Serpentine]

Well, all sin-eaters get two keys at character gen, and one of those can be outside the ones tied to their threshold, so your Prey or Silent character can have Tear-Stained. As to why that key was assigned to the Silent, none of the other elemental keys fits with illness at all, the Stigmata key obviously had to go the victims of violence, and death by water would presumably cover pneumonia, edema, severe vomiting, diarrhea, etc... Messy, but it fits better than the other options, I guess.

Hm. Starting to suspect I may have misread the rules here... Is the Keystone that's tied your Geist's threshold and has a Key attached separate from the second key that you get at char gen? If so, that makes a lot of concepts, much easier to work with...

You can totally play with a friendly geist. There are no mechanical bonuses or penalties for your geist's personality, and all three of the sample free-roaming geists described in the book have very human motivations. If you want your geist to be the shade of Saint Nicholas, walking the earth to give aid to the needy via his sin-eater companion, that's between you and the ST. I actually think something like that could be an interesting basis for a chronicle. Conversely, if you want your geist to be a Viking berserker who constantly chants "KILL! MAIM! BURN!", you can do that too. Whatever floats your boat.

I know that's the case mechanically, it's just that all the Geists in the Threshold examples were... Highly creepy, to say the least... so I wasn't sure if there was anything at some point that went into less horrifying types. Especially as there were a few lines early on saying that the more anchors the Geist converted, the more inhuman it gets.

That said, while I don't know if it's directly applicable, I'll definitely go look up the three freeroaming Geists; thanks!

(Oh, also, I did, in fact, talk it over with my ST, and apparently it's a go. So the mermaid from above will, in fact, be coming into existence.)

Currently away from the book, but which power was this?

I believe it was the Elemental Rage. I'll look it up more precisely when I'm not pressed for time.

Also, you're mean, C'nor. Now I want Geist too.

If you can manage to get it, Moonwolf has agreed to ST a crossover game that incorporates it. If not, well, seeing as it's a crossover with Changeling, you could probably still be part of the game (read: discussion indicates that we'd both be quite happy if you joined) itself and get a better picture of Geist than my ravings about my character concept can provide.

[Moonwolf727]

Moonwolf has agreed to ST a crossover game that incorporates it.

I'll try to make it turn out as well as I can, here's hoping that it lasts long enough to satisfy all of us. (Excuse my brief-ness in writing this, I'm on my phone for the moment).

[Mr.Bookworm]

I believe it was the Elemental Rage. I'll look it up more precisely when I'm not pressed for time.

IIRC the general rules for the Rage manifestation are in the header. You spend plasm, roll, and deal a certain amount of damage. The stuff under each Key talks about anything unusual the Key does and I don't believe the Elemental Rages do anything other than deal damage.

Speaking of Geist, I just remembered that I never asked what was up with the 1.1 thing I kept hearing about. I have a physical copy of the book, so is there errata floating around?

[Lady Serpentine]

Ah, right. It was Rage itself, apparently:

The target takes one point of
damage (bashing, lethal or aggravated depending on Rage
rating) per success.

In some cases, it's pretty spelled out, but there are several that say nothing about when you change damage types, including at least the Tear-Stained Rage.

[SiuiS]

Ah, right. It was Rage itself, apparently:

In some cases, it's pretty spelled out, but there are several that say nothing about when you change damage types, including at least the Tear-Stained Rage.

I believe the default is if there is no change, use the original.