Changeling: The Dreaming

Changeling: The Dreaming was part of White Wolf Game Studio's original "World of Darkness" role playing game line. Player characters are changelings, fae souls reborn into human bodies, a practice begun by the fae to protect themselves as magic vanished from the world. The game explores the balance between imagination and practicality, and the struggle of art and beauty against the dark, banal "gothic-punk" World of Darkness. Changeling draws primarily from Irish mythology, particularly stories of the sidhe and Tuatha Dé Danann, but also uses mythology and folklore from various other cultures including Native American nations, Greece, India and the Middle East.

While Changeling developed (and maintains) quite a devoted following, its themes and subject were often perceived as too complex or too childish, and White Wolf discontinued the game more than a year before the end of the World of Darkness line. World of Darkness: Time of Judgement, published in early 2004, included a chapter on the end of the world from a Changeling perspective, and was the last published material for the game. Dark Ages: Fae is a new World of Darkness - Dark Ages game with strong links to Changeling. There is no indication yet that a game about the fae will be part of the new World of Darkness. Justin Achilli, a developer with White Wolf, reportedly submitted a request to write a new Changeling game for the World of Darkness 2.0 line; even if such a request were approved, the current backlog of work in updating other games means a new Changeling wouldn't emerge until 2006 at the very earliest. There have been indications that a few of the finished although unpublished books may be released by a different publisher, although no concrete details are known.

Overview

The fae are creatures of imagination, drawing magical power and their very existence from "glamour", the creative energy of humans. Glamour created and maintains a separate realm of imagination known as the Dreaming, from which the fae originally came to the mortal world. During the Renaissance and the subsequent rise of rational thought and science, glamour became less common in the real world, and the opposing force of banality could injure or kill the fae. In response, the fae nobility (the sidhe) withdrew to Arcadia, their home deep in the Dreaming, and the commoner fae developed "the Changeling way", and became changelings.

Traditionally, a changeling is a fairy child substituted for a human baby, but Changeling: The Dreaming uses a very different interpretation. In the game, a changeling is a fae soul born into a human body. Early in the human's life, usually before puberty, she undergoes the "Chrysalis", a magical awakening of the fae soul which previously lay dormant. Once through the Chrysalis, the Changeling exists simultaneously in both the real world and in the "chimerical" reality of the fae, where creative ideas and imagination have substance. (The metaphysical aspects of this are the complex concepts present in the game.) The human soul becomes joined with the fae soul.

As well as the usual roleplaying traits representing their skills and abilities, Changeling characters are further defined by their ties to the Dreaming. Each Changeling has Seelie and Unseelie aspects of their being, one of which dominates a given Changeling. The courts do not easily map onto human ideas of good and evil, but instead represent a host of philosophies - light and shadow, law and freedom, duty and passion. In days past rule would be divided between the courts, the Seelie court ruling in the Summer months from Beltaine to Samhain, and the Unseelie court in Winter from Samhain to Beltaine, but now an uneasy truce exists and each court rules its own regions. Each Changeling has two legacies, one for each court, which represent how the dual nature of her fae soul is expressed.

Each Changeling is also a member of a "kith". Somewhat like different species of fairy, a Changeling's kith indicates the kind of dreams which birthed her soul in the Dreaming. The kiths are based on fairy archetypes from various sources, and while the most common kiths are drawn largely from Irish mythology, many others also exist. The descriptions below touch on only a few of the types of stories or traditional fairies which correlate to each Kith.

Each Changeling also falls into a certain seeming which is related to their age. The seemings include Childlings , which are the youngest group between the ages of 3 and 13, Wilders, which are between the ages of 13 and 25, and Grumps, which include any older changelings though they rarely make it very long before becoming undone. As Changelings age and pass through the various seemings they lose some of their Glamour which is the stuff changeling magic is made of. They also gain Banality which is a force created by mortal disbelief.

A note on the Seelie and Unseelie courts as used in Changeling: The Dreaming; Seelie Court: The Seelie have a reputation as the guardians of fae traditions. They are the peacekeepers, protectors of the weak, and the ideals of chivalry. Most seelie seek the reunion between the mortal world and the dreaming, and would like to be back to the time before the realms became divided. The Seelie Code:

• Death before dishonor

   Honor is the most important virtue, the
   source of all glory.

• Love Conquers all

   Love lies at the heart of the dreaming.
   True love transcends all and epitomizes
   what it means to be Seelie.

• Beauty is life

   Beauty is a timeless, objective quality
   that, while it cannot be defined, is
   always recognized for itself.

• Never forget a debt

   One gift deserves another.  The
   recipient of a gift is obligated to
   return the favor.

Unseelie Court: Where the Seelie dedicate themselves to preserving the traditions of the fae, the Unseelie style themselves as mockers of those traditions. They stand for the principles of constant change and impulsive action. They have a reputation for fostering war and madness, despising those weaker than themselves, and valuing freedom and wildness over any chivalric code. The unsellie see themselves as radical visionaries, bringing about vital change and transformation through whatever means necessary, including violence. Most members of the unseelie court believe that the dreaming has abandoned them, and therefore, that they owe no special loyalty to it or to their lost home of Arcadia. Unseelie Code:

• Change is good

   Security does not exist.  The slightest
   of circumstances can transform a king
   into a peasant.  Chaos and discord rule
   the universe.  Adapt or die.

• Glamour is free

   Glamour is worthless unless used.
   Acquire it by any means possible, and
   you will never be without a constant
   supply.

• Honor is a lie

   Honor has no place in the modern world.
   It is a fairy tale constructed to cover
   the essential emptiness behind most
   traditions.

• Passion before duty

  Passion is the truest state of the fae
  spirit.  Follow your instincts and act
  on your impulses.  Live life to the
  fullest without regard to the
  consequences, they will come about
  regardless of what yo do.  Youth passes
  quickly, so have fun while you can.
  Death can come at any time, so live
  without regret.

• The Standard Kiths
  • Boggan - workers and busybodies, house fairies, gnomes. (See also gnome.)
  • Eshu - African or Indian spirits; travellers, storytellers, adventurers.
  • Nocker - master artisans, critics, kobolds.
  • Pooka - tricksters, shapechangers, animal spirits.
  • Redcap - murderers and cannibals, monsters, hobgoblins. (See also redcap.)
  • Satyr - lovers and revellers, horned god, Pan. (See also satyr.)
  • Sidhe - the nobility, Lords and Ladies, elves, the Shining Host. (See also sidhe.)
  • Sluagh - keepers of secrets, bogeymen, shadows.
  • Troll - honour-bound warriors, titans, giants. (See also troll.)
• New Kiths (Introduced in Sourcebooks)
  • Clurichan - From the Immortal Eyes: Court of All Kings Sourcebook; leprechauns. (See also leprechaun.)
  • Piskies - childish tricksters, imps, pixies.
  • Selkies - Sea and seal spirits, skin changers. (See also Selkie.)
  • Ghille-dhu - tree spirits, dryads, the Green Man. (See also dryad.)

References

The Shining Host- Changeling: The Dreaming for Mind's Eye Theatre - White Wolf Game Studio