OD 12.10.2001 [5:03 p.m.]

I. NAME, PLAYER, CHRONICLE

Obvious.

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II. COURT

Unseelie, mostly. But since she's Sidhe, she's gonna swap once in a while, usually when things aren't going her way when they should for someone of her House (like for Fiona, when their true love is in danger, or quits loving them, etc).

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III. LEGACIES

Here are the ones I thought might kinda work. Feel free to disagree *grins* A lot of these I noted aren't quite right, but work well as "demeanors" (even though you don't hafta pick demeanors for changeling).

a) Seelie Legacies

From corebook:

1) Beast. Conquer all who oppose you, destroying them if possible. Do anything it takes to get yourself ahead. This is really the one I would go with, even though the name sounds nothing like it. Machiavellian is another way to say it.

2) Knave. Cause people to act opposite to their better judgment. The tempter and the perverter, turning the sweet into the sordid. Not quite as good for her. Probably better for a Leanhaun.

3) Outlaw. This is pretty good, too. Selfish and pitiless, you take advantage of people because they're asking for it by being so damn stupid.

4) Peacock. You're the best, and you're out to prove it.

5) Rake. Not too good, but could be considered just cuz sometimes taking something people DON'T expect is cooler. Cuz remember, what we've seen of her is probably mostly her demeanor, and her nature (aka legacy) is something only you, the player, would really know. Anyway, Rake is a hedonist, in short. But a selfish one. Heh, I'm picking all the selfish legacies. Pretty much Natalia would be a great rake. It's all "me-me-me". Charity would NEVER occur to you.

6) Riddler. An enigma, a mystery...the sphinx. Jacinth would be a great riddler. You're not necessarily the one out to ask questions - you ARE an unsolvable riddle. You ARE the secret.

7) Rogue. You take what other people have worked for, be it objects, love, credit...

From the Player's Guide:

8) Schismatic. You're a destroyer. You take social institutions from governments to families and you take it apart, thread by thread. This is a cool legacy. Maybe not hers, per se, but it rocks: basically, you're an artist of chaos. You sow dissention (imho) in order to get people to realize they don't NEED institutions and teamwork and all that. You destroy the regimented so the creative can burst forth.

Sidenote: NONE of these legacies are "evil". They SEEM evil, but there's always a reason for it - sorta like schismatic above destroys to allow creation to shine. The others, I just never meditated on any particular reason *grins*

b) Seelie Legacies - I really haven't seen her Seelie side, so I have NO clue. Heh. I'll just list some I thought were cool-ish.

From corebook:

1) Courtier. The social butterfly - something like a fop, except you do it to deflate volatile situations. You're the charming settler-of-fights.

2) Crafter. Sort of like an Architect in vampire: you want to make something (not necessarily an object) of great beauty and lasting value.

3) Dandy. Despite the IDIOTIC name, this is a social climber. Like the Seelie version of Beast, really.

4) Paladin. A competitor.

5) Panderer. So COMPLETELY opposite her Unseelie side that it might be fun: you make people happy because you enjoy it.

6) Regent. King Arthur. Nobility. A leader.

7) Troubadour. An idealist, a TOTAL Don Quixote. If you make her ideal true love, it could work *grins*

From Player's Guide:

8) Arcadian. This one's COOL. It's exactly as the name implies - your fae side far outweighs your human side. However, I don't really see her like that, as such people are impractical and easily destroyed, whereas she's pretty strong.

9) Aspirant. Always improve yourself. Kinda like a competitor, but for self-betterment rather than beating others.

10) Stoic. Shit happens. You'll live.

11) Virtuoso. Another one of those included-cuz-it's-cool ones: you're just TOTALLY driven to pursue a certain art.

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IV: HOUSE

Ailil. Manipulators, competitors, dark royalty seeking a return to the old rule of 1/2 a year for each Court. Kinda like Lasombra and ShadowLords and the like...but more noble - because notice they don't want COMPLETE power for the Unseelie. They just want their share.

a) House Boons

1) All manipulation at -1 difficulty.

2) Cannot botch subterfuge or political manipulation (leadership, politics, intrigue, etc) rolls.

b) House Flaws

1) In non-combat situations, an Ailil can only admit she is wrong if she succeeds in a WP vs diff 8 roll - even if she, and everyone else, knows she is.

2) If an Ailil backs down from any challenge, even those she knows she can't win, she's at a +1 difficulty in all social rolls with other Ailil until she proves herself again. Basically, it's a House that won't admit its weaknesses, and frowns on those who do.

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V. SEEMING

Wilder. Glamour 4, WP 2, Banality 3. These are the movers and shakers of Sidhe society - young enough to be reckless, old enough to be merciless.

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VI. KITH

Arcadian Sidhe (as opposed to the Scathach, which are mostly non-Arcadian...bah, Nellie made me make him non-Arcadian. Heh.). Nobility, recently rearrived on Earth...always a little distant, always a little tragic. Always, always stunningly beautiful, terrible and magnetic.

Some notes on Sidhe: they only recently reappeared on earth en masse. 1969, when man walked on the moon, was when the Resurgence began. Since then, nobles have regained their positions, but it's sorta a Magna-Carta'd world now, and it's not a good idea to oppress the commoners the way they used to, because commoners have the advantage of knowing the lay of the land, so to speak.

Commoners' faerie soul always get reborn. Sidhe, however, haven't shown any signs of getting reborn yet, and this scares the holy bejeezus outta them, much like death scares people - but even more so, because these are immortal creatures who suddenly don't know if they're mortal now, or what. Some think they go back to Arcadia. Some think they get reborn - AS COMMONERS. Still others think they simply die, period.

More about Undoing and Death and whatnot, later (way later).

a) Boons

1) Beauty. +2 appearance in their changeling mein. If her appearance exceeds 5, it's so hauntingly beautiful that mortals more or less fall in love with her on sight, as though she had used something like Presence 3 on them. And app 7, which I hope you aren't gonna give her, is stuff to inspire even the most jaded Tremere elder to tears. Poor Maelduine only gets +1 app. But then again, I don't think he's a pretty boy *smirk*

2) Awe. When impassioned, a Sidhe makes all Social rolls at -2 difficulty (especially Intimidation and Empathy). Anyone who tries to attack her head-on must make a willpower roll, 6 for an average Sidhe, 8 or 9 for one of suitably high station. I usually take that to mean 6+(rank divided by 2, rounding up). So like, a Duke would be 6+2.5-->9.

Yeah. It can be awful twinkish *smirk* They're pissed off, they're cutting you to bits, and you can't even fight back.

3) Noble Bearing. Any attempt to make a Sidhe look foolish, magical or mundane, will fail. No exceptions. Also, a Sidhe can never botch an Etiquette roll.

b) Flaws (no one ever seems to play 'em, 'cept Jess...)

1) Banality's Curse. If a Sidhe takes a point of temporary Banality for any reason (see later for some such reasons), it translates into TWO. If she has to roll against Banality, the difficulty is Banality+1 for her. They're awe-inspiring, terrifying and beautiful BECAUSE they're creatures of another world - and this is the flip side of it. They're also very frail in many ways, unable to cope with the mundane world. The Earthbound Scathach, actually, don't have Banality's Curse (they have Battle Rage instead). So I guess it's good that he's earthbound, cuz I don't see him as a very fragile type of guy *smirk*

2) Devil and the Deep Blue Sea - for lack of a better way to put it. The mundane world makes them melancholic and miserable. Too much of the Dreaming drives them into Bedlam (insanity). When they get overwhelmed by their depression, they go swooping into the other Court. This is especially important because Commoners, usually, stay with the same Court for all their lives. When their faerie soul is reborn, though, they're reborn as the other court. Nobles, on the other hand, might switch every month or year or so, and when they do, must stay in it from moonrise to moonset, or sunrise to sunset. At least.

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VII. MOTLEY

Ignore that. Mostly for commoners with their crew.

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VIII. ATTRIBUTES

Pretty obvious. I think you can handle this *grins* 7/5/3, as usual. 5 freebies each, current x4 XP.

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IX. ABILITIES

13/9/5. 2 freebies each; 3 XP for new Ability, current x2 otherwise. I'm just gonna go over the few that are specific to Changeling.

a) Talents: Kenning. This is an affinity for the Dreaming, like a deep-in-your-gut tug whenever something involving Glamour, cantrips (aka, magic, an Art paired with a Realm and used) or the Dreaming is around. You can see chimera, and at higher levels, you can find freeholds without knowing where they are beforehand, and recognize "sleeping" Changelings (aka - someone who hasn't Chrysalized, or someone who's succumbed to the mists).

b) Skills: nothing specific, but give her at least a little bit of melee. It's one of those noble "Things".

c) Knowledges: Gremayre. Similar to Kenning, this is KNOWLEDGE OF the Dreaming, Glamour, Arts and etc. At higher levels, you can discover lost arts, or even create arts of your own.

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ADVANTAGES

This is the fun part, heh. Instead of breezing through them the way I did Abilities and Attributes, I'm gonna break this down. So, first up:

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X. BACKGROUNDS

Start with 5. 1 freebie each. Usually cannot be bought w/ XP.

a) Chimera. These are either items, or companions. Companions actually have a new background now, called (appropriately enough) Companions. So we'll deal with that next. First off let's do Chimerical Items.

This is anything other than your clothes. Mostly, this is USEFUL equipment (aka: a mirror won't count, but a mirror that lets you see the future will. Likewise, a suit won't count, but armor, which is useful in combat, will). There's a chart on pg. 288 you should look at. If you want something, you need to sink that many dots into Chimerical Items.

A note on magical items: it always has a power that pretty much mimics ONE specific Art. So like, Arc'hantael, which is a greatsword that allows the user to disappear when it is sheathed, mimics Chicanery 2. As for costs, treat it as item cost +1 OR the listed cost in the chart for its Art, whichever is highest. Again using Arc'hantael as an example, even though the Chicanery is only 3 in cost (level 2 art), the greatsword's normal cost is 3, and a magical greatsword is 4. So Arc'hantael costs 4 points.

Here's the cool thing, though. You don't have to pay twice. Like, Maelduine has Sidhe Plate and a magical Greatsword (that would be Arc'hantael) - but he only pays 4 points, total. But be reasonable. That's ST's discretion - so while Nell's fine with two items "sharing" costs, I doubt she'd be happy to see you in heavy armor, carrying a battle-axe, a bow, a crossbow, a dagger, a mace, a magical mirror, a spear AND a sword all for 3 points *smirk*

Make sense? Hope I haven't confused you too much :P

b) Companions. This is gonna be fun. Heh. Pretty much this is like a Familiar Spirit in WtA. It's a Chimera that's befriended you, or that you've unconsciously dreamed up. The point values range from 1-5, and like Items above, it denotes different levels of power. However, Chimerical Companions' powers are a bit more flexible. Every dot you put into it sinks power points into the Chimera (just like dots you put into Totems of Familiar Spirits buys them neat little charms and health and whatnot). 1 dot = 10 points, 2 = 15, 3 = 20, 4 = 30, and 5 = 50. See pages 220-223 for more details.

As a quick sum-up:

1) Attributes: 1 point for three dots of attributes. Cheap, huh? A note: not all chimera have all three kinds of attributes, so be careful here. There are a lotta non-physical chimera who can't be destroyed physically, and likewise can't harm people physically. There are also lotsa non-sentient chimera, but companions usually do have mental traits *grins*

2) Abilities: 1 point for three ability dots. Usually chimera are a lot more narrow-ability'd than a Changeling.

3) Glamour: 1 point per glamour dot. Attributes cannot go above total glamour.

4) WP: THREE points for 1 dot of WP. NOT so cheap *smirk*

5) Health levels: 1 point for 2 levels. This is only if they're sentient. They can only have Stamina x5 in Health - but if you have a Dragon chimera (which had BETTER be level 5), he might well have stamina 7, which is gonna be pretty damn tough to kill.

6) Attack: Str+1 damage, unless they have Redes (think Charms) that let them attack for more.

7) Redes: they have differing point costs when "learning", and also differing Glamour costs when being used. See the list on pages 221-222.

A quick note on Chimera - they're damned hard to kill. They start out (duh) Chimerical. You can only hurt 'em with Chimerical weapons. If you "kill" them like that, they make a WP roll vs. diff 7 to maintain integrity. If they fail, that's the end. It dies, and rots chimerically, which returns its Glamour back to the Dreaming.

If they succeed, they become Incorporeal - and you can only harm them with Arts (start throwing fireballs...). If you kill it again, it becomes Corporeal (which is diff from Chimerical in that it's now in the Real World, instead of the Dreaming). A corporeal Chimera that is killed is dead-dead. If their permanent Glamour was higher than the highest onlooker's Banality, they fade away slowly, and changelings can use the Glamour drifting apart in new chimerical objects. If, however, its permanent Glamour was lower than the highest onlooker's Banality, it fades instantly, devoured by Banality, and that bit of Glamour is gone forever.

Finally, if someone with high Banality sees a Corporeal chimera and disbelieves in it, it takes damage and eventually dissipates. It can resist w/ WP for a while, but sooner or later, unless it runs away, that's the end of the road.

...okay, enough on Chimera.

c) Dreamers. Sorta like Herd - these are people you can pull Glamour from. They're also good for minor favors, sorta like very low-level Contacts, Allies and Retinue combined.

d) Holdings. You have a freehold. You might consider sinking some points into this to account for her County somewhere, but more or less it'll be "empty" points, useless in Charleston.

e) Remembrance. Think Past Life, sorta. This is your connection to Arcadia - what you remember. You can roll your Remembrance for extra etiquette dice. More importantly, you can only have Dragon's Ire (see below, far below) dice up to your Remembrance level.

f) Retinue. These are enchanted humans or commoners, and occasionally other Sidhe, under their sway. Just think Retainers. I guess you COULD count Maelduine as a retainer, but he's got a bit more free will than that *grins*

g) Title. You're going to need a 4 here for Countess. It's 1 - Squire, 2 - Knight, 3 - Baron, 4 - Count, 5 - Duke.

h) Treasures. This is a lot like magical chimerical equipment, except it has a real-life counterpart. Remember that EVERYTHING in the real world has a chimerical appearance to Changelings, so unless it has some magical power (aka: Art), you don't need to pay for it. For example, Maelduine's got that motorcycle/warhorse thing, but since it doesn't do anything special (like fly), he didn't pay any dots in treasures.

Treasures are a bit more special than a magical chimerical item, simply because they're not so easily created. A Nocker can make you really cool magical chimerical items. Making a Treasure, though, takes a lot of time (like - years, if not generations) for all that glamour to seep in. Accordingly, they are at once more rare (read: harder to approve) and more powerful (read: always AT the level you buy, instead of one below the way it is for lower magical chimerical items). At the same time, note that you can't double-up the points. That is, 5 dots won't get you one of each level.

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XI. ARTS, REALMS, CANTRIPS

Here's the REALLY fun part. Heh. This is how I'm gonna do it. First, the Arts I feel are important for her, and why. Then, the Realms that are important, and why. Finally, the rules for casting Cantrips are way, way down the page, after the char creation is done.

a) Arts - Start with 3. Extras are 5 freebies each (not 7!), Current x4 XP, 7 for new.

1) Sovereign. Uses Charisma. Arguably the MOST important one, simply cuz it's the trademark of Arcadian Sidhe. It's also DAMNED powerful - but you'll notice all the Arts seem to be very powerful. This is because usually you can only use them easily on other Fae, and inanimate things. Using it on a mundane mortal who's hostile to you takes a 5 in the Actor (mortals) Realm. Also, ALL arts are easily screwed up by someone saying "I don't believe it."

Anyway. On with Sovereign.

At the first level, it maintains decency in people, and usually is used in court. When cast, people can't speak out of turn, and sudden combat and other ridiculousness is out of the question. It's kinda like Presence 1, plus Dominate 2 - maintain etiquette. At the second, it's pretty much Dominate 1&2 combined - only it lasts for exactly one hour. So it's both more and less powerful than Dominate 1/2. While you can't send someone to do something x days later, you CAN tell them what to do for a whole hour. The third level is roughly like Presence 5. BOW DOWN, PEASANTS!

At the fourth level, it deviates from the presence/dominate examples - you can cast a ward that'll keep everything of one type (commoner, noble, chimera, specific person, etc) out, or prevent unwanted cantrips, or even shut someone up but good by Warding their mouth *smirk* And finally, the fifth level is just freakishly powerful, in that you cast a holy Geas or a Ban. For more info on all this, check out the book. Heh.

2) Chicanery can be pretty cool. Uses Manipulation. Like Sovereign, it's a pretty diverse Art (that is, its effects seem to change from one "discipline" to another). Then again, they all are.

1 and 2 resembles Obfuscate - the first creates minor, personal illusions, the second makes things invisible - 3, 4 and 5 start approaching Dominate and Dementation. 3 is causing someone to forget things; 4 is controlling emotion, and 5 is complete personality control. Pretty freaky at high levels.

3) Legerdemain is kinda fun. Uses Dexterity. At lower levels it's mostly telekinesis a la Movement of the Mind. At higher, it's a lot like Chimeresty - you make touchable illusions (as opposed to illusions in the subject's mind alone). It's not really for her, though, I don't think.

4) Primal isn't for her at all. Uses Stamina. And since I'm giving him high levels of it, you won't need it, anyway.

5) Soothsay. Uses Intelligence. I've never really looked at this. It doesn't seem to fit her character, though it IS cool. Though it seems to be just a soothsaying Art, it's not. It's pretty much a "Seeing" art. The lowest level IS seeing briefly into the future. 2 lets you change luck from good to bad or vice versa. 3 lets you see things from far away, like Spirit Koldunism, and 4 lets you make one small alteration to your target's destiny - but you can't say WHEN it'll happen. 5 lets you bring the ultimate fate of the target smashing down on their head immediately (though you can't change it).

6) Finally, there's Wayfare, which is neat, but not much for her. Uses Wits. It's the Art of Movement - at lower levels, it lets you move farther and faster; at higher levels, it lets you move through solid objects, fly, or even appear anywhere in the world instantly.

There are two more Arts (Pyretics and Naming) that are in the Player's Guide, but I think they're restricted. If you really want to know what they are, though, let me know.

Okay, so, if I were you, I'd give her at least Sovereign 3. Maybe 4. I wouldn't hope for 5. Chicanery at 3 or 4 would be reaaaaally nice, too, and the combination of both is more or less devastating. The rest I wouldn't worry too much about. Soothsay would be cool in TT, but for online RP, it requires too much ST involvement.

Wayfare 2 is nice for running away, and would be nice to cast on Maelduine for Celerity-like effects...but I think you're starting to push the limits. I think Nellie might let you have an Art at 4, another at 3, but if you want a 4, a 3, and a 2, that's a bit much. You could try if you want, though.

Finally, I would give her a single level of legerdemain, for desperate defense. More explanation below.

b) Realms. Start with 5 dots. Extras are 3 freebies each, Current x3 XP, or 5 XP for new Realm.

1) Actor - "prodigals" - aka, non-fae. I wouldn't worry about it too much. If you intend to use it against strangers and enemies, you need a 4 or a 5, and at that point, it's probably easier to Legerdemain their clothes over their face and run for it *smirk* I more or less ignore this Realm.

2) Nature. Maybe give her a dot or two here. You never know when you might need to command a tree to fall (and yeah, I believe you can do that with Sovereign+Nature 2), or Legerdemain a rock at someone.

3) Fae. THIS is important. Give her 3 here. I wouldn't go with more, cuz commoners, sidhe and chimera are pretty much all she's up against. Though, at 5, you can counter cantrips (like, Sovereign 2: command a cantrip to fail). But that's a lotta points.

4) Prop. Give her a dot or two here. With one you can move clothes; with two you can rip swords away or, possibly, command it to break.

5) Scene. This is kinda nice, and a "modifier" Realm. Give her a dot here to affect ALL of one primary realm within 25 feet. I wouldn't give her much more than 2, though (200 feet).

6) Time. Set a magical time bomb - a modifier Realm that lets your cantrip take effect later. Not too much use, though, unless you're planning a VERY precise ambush.

So, if this were up to me? I'd do something like, Nature 1/2, Fae 3, Prop 2, Scene 2/1.

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XII. TEMPERS

Okay, almost done!

a) Glamour. 3 freebies per dot, current x2 XP. Arguably the most important thing on the whole sheet - the defining characteristic of the Dreaming. This is, in short, creativity. A Wilder's base Glamour is 3, but I'd jack that up if I were you. It's expensive, but given how often you'll need it, and all its uses, it's worth it.

So what uses are there?

1. Cantrips. Magic spells. Unless you do bunks (see below for more info on all this), you need a Glamour point for every spells. Sometimes Glamour is also used to extend durations of spells, or to modify difficulties, etc etc.

2. Enchantment. 1 point of Glamour per day Enchanted. See Enchantment, below.

3. Invoking Dragon's Ire. Spent Glamour, roll permanent Glamour. More info below.

You can gain Glamour by Epiphany (Ravaging, Rapture, or Reverie - and also the dread Rhapsody), Sanctuary (sleep in a freehold), or Dross (Glamour coins).

b) Banality. No freebies cause, no XP cause. VERY BAD!!!! You probably wanna read this whole section, 152-153...it's not very long. Here's a sum-up, though:

1) Effects. If your temp Banality ever exceeds your permanent Glamour, you begins to forget who you are (Undoing). I believe you can bring a temporarily Undone Changeling back with some Glamour. However, I think if your permanent Banality ever exceeds your permanent Glamour, that's it for this lifetime - you're Undone until your mortal body dies, freeing once more your faerie soul. Who knows what happens to Sidhe, though?

Other effects: you always roll against a diff of the caster or target's banality +4, whichever is higher, when you cast a cantrip. The difficulty to enchant is equal to the Banality. Critters with Banality 8+ will actually physically affect Changeling, making 'em sick.

2) Gaining Banality. If you use your Banality to resist a cantrip; if you try to overcome a being's Banality - by casting a cantrip, for example - and fail; if you destroy treasures and some chimera; if you kill changelings' chimerical form; if you spend time near cold iron or banal people; finally, if you deny your fae nature for too long.

All of the above gives temporary banality. When that reaches 10, you switch it for a point of permanent banality. Also, getting chimerically killed gives you an extra permanent banality.

3) Getting Rid of Banality. Temporary banality can be exchanged for Nightmares (see pg 207). Or, instead of gaining temp Glamour, you can choose to remove temp Banality. Finallly, you can undertake a longass quest to remove permanent Banality.

c) Willpower. 2(!!!) freebies per dot; current x2 XP per dot. You'll start with 2, but I suggest you jack that up. Heh. You can use it the way you always use WP - to get 1 success per WP per round; to control Bedlam, etc. More on Bedlam later.

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XIII. MERITS, FLAWS, RAVAGING/MUSING THRESHOLD

Woohoo! Almost there!

a) Merits and Flaws. You can figure that one out yourself. It's in the book, pp. 153-169. At a glance, Dark Secret would work (she did kill her mentor, in a way); so would Vengeance, maybe, Driving Goal, Self-Confident, Fast Learner, Changeling's Eyes, Prestigious Mentor (maybe), Reputation, Enemy, Mansion, and some sort of Ties, maybe.

b) Ravaging/Musing Threshold. This is how she gains Glamour. She might, for example, destroy love in Unseelie, and nurture caring in Seelie, etc. I never really picked one, and most of the times you don't really need to. It's like how no one online ever plays out vampires hunting except to c-sex *smirk*

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......and, that's it! That's the end of the character sheet. The rest of this is just a quick overview of some other things that I thought of while writing this. It's mostly stuff that might be important in the game itself.

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CANTRIPS

Okay. CANTRIPS. This is the confusing part. To make any sort of magical effect, you combine an Art with at least one Realm. The Art is HOW something happens, and the Realm to WHO, WHERE, WHEN and WHAT it happens to.

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Before we get started, ALL this info is in the book, pages 204 to 206. Then again, everything I've been telling you is in the book, heh.

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To cast one, you use the Attribute associated with an Art + Realm. That's the dice pool. Sometimes you'll use a modifier Realm (like Scene). In that case, the Modifier is the Secondary Realm. The base difficulty increases by one, and you must spent 1 Glamour. Finally, if it has a physical effect, its difficulty rises by one with each additional target.

Sometimes, you'll use a secondary Realm, too. In that case, decide on a Primary Realm, and then for every extra Realm, the difficulty is LOWERED by one.

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I've been talking about difficulties a lot. The base difficulty is subject or caster's Banality +4, whichever is higher. So, as you can imagine, these run up pretty high. That's why you need bunks to lower them.

After you get the Realms squared away, you choose a Bunk. That's the ridiculous thing you do to lower the difficulty *smirk* Some sample bunks from the Player's Guide:

1) Chicanery - requires some sort of verbal bunk.

-1 difficulty: a single word. Example, swear loudly.

-2 diff: a short phrase. A clever lie, etc.

-3 diff: at least a sentence. Sing part of a song.

-4 diff: a paragraph, a short poem. Make up a curse in a foreign language.

-5 diff: several paragraphs, an entire poem. Recite a portion of an epic poem, etc.

2) Legerdemain - some sort of action or movement.

-1: subtle motion. Cross your eyes. Pull earlobe 3x.

-2: noticeable physical action. Leap as high as you can and touch the ceiling.

-3: blatant action. Raise arms to sky, shout.

-4: complex action requiring 1 turn. Stand on your head. Write a poem in calligraphy.

-5: complex action, 1+ turn. Make an origami figure.

3) Primal - attainment and use of natural element.

-1: common element. Listen to a seashell. Imitate a bird call.

-2: uncommon element. Sprinkle subject w/ fresh spring water.

-3: rare element. Burn mushrooms.

-4: uncommon element, crafted. Break solid oak branch in hands.

-5: rare element, crafted. Bite off the head of a small animal (smirk - hi Ozzy).

4) Soothsay - use of divination items.

-1: minor div. object. Roll a pair of dice.

-2: major div. object. Shuffle a deck of Tarot cards.

-3: perform simple div. Read a 10-card Tarot spread.

-4: perform complex div. Perform I Ching reading.

-5: perform extended div. Create a voodoo doll of subject.

5) Sovereign - conduct self like royalty.

-1: simple word or gesture. Put on white gloves.

-2: make a commanding statement. Issue an order.

-3: adorn a garment. Touch a jeweled necklace crafted by a friend.

-4: issue a proclamation. Stand on a chair and recite Shakespeare.

-5: make an oath of vow. Henceforth call the subject by a new name. Swear loyalty to subject; swear an oath to kill subject.

6) Wayfare: physical movement of body.

-1: simple quick movement. Jump in the air.

-2: simple one w/ prop; multiple movement w/o prop. Eat a butterfly. Flap your arms.

-3: action which causes you to move from current location.

-4: action requiring great physical force. Make pile of sand in hand, blow it off.

-5: action involving prop. Thrust blade into the blood.

...and then they wonder why everyone thinks Changeling is the happy-cute-funny-fuzzy system *guh*

Anyway. These bunks lower the diff by their respective point values.

***

Then there's Glamour cost:

1) Wyrd cantrips cost one Glamour (for every level, it'll tell you if it's Chimerical - dreamworld - or Wyrd - which means it affects the real world. Example: Wayfare 2, causing changelings to move superfast, if obviously Wyrd).

2) Chimerical cantrips on enchanted beings or inanimate objects don't cost any Glamour.

3) Any cantrip cast on a banal target (mortals, unenchanted supernaturals, anyone w/o a Glamour rating) costs 1 Glamour.

4) Casting a cantrip without a bunk costs 1 Glamour.

5) Up to 5 points of Glamour can be spent to lower difficulty.

6) Modifier Realms cost 1 point of Glamour.

...so, obviously, it can add up.

***

You can counter a Cantrip by invoking Banality. You roll your permanent Banality against the caster's permanent Galmour. Each success reduces the caster's successes by 1. This doesn't use an action, but it DOES give a point of temporary banality, whether it succeeds in stopping the Cantrip or not.

You can also counter w/ Wits+Gremayre vs. caster's Glamour. Partial successes do NOT affect the cantrip.

***

Okay, so let's do an example. Magdalena is pissy. She's hurling fine crystal around with Legerdemain 1 - Gimmix. Her Dexterity is, say, 4. Her Prop is 3, which is more than enough (she only needs 2). Her dice pool is 4+3, 7.

Difficulty is banality (3) +4 = 7. Since the crystal has no banality, we only worry about hers. She doesn't like having to use Glamour, though, so she does a very simple bunk: she snaps her fingers. That lowers the diff by one and eliminates Glamour cost. 7 dice, diff 6. Lastly, since this is a Wyrd cantrip, it takes 1 Glamour.

She rolls: 3,2,8,9,7,7,4. Woohoo, that crystal goes flying (see the actual Art's description for a descrip of results).

Now Maelduine walks in. He's like, oh shit, that crystal's expensive. So he tries to counter the effect. Wits 3, Gremayre 1. 4 dice vs. her Glamour, which is, let's say, 6. 2,3,5,7. 1 success, vs. her 4 - it doesn't do jack shit.

But now Magdalena's pissy that he was trying to counter her magic. Since Glamour swirls around those using it, whether in a cantrip or in a counterspell, she KNOWS what he was up to. So now, she hurls ALL the crystal in the room at him.

Legerdemain 1, Prop 2, Scene 1 are the specific Art/Realms she's using. The corresponding traits are Dex 4, Prop 3, Scene 2, Fae 2 (because she's throwing 'em at him).

Base difficulty is banality (theirs is the same, 3) +4 = 7...but then you have to add 1 because she's using Scene 2. Since it has a physical effect, she has to add one for every target she's using it one (every piece of crystal), which probably raises the difficulty to 10 (cuz there's probably half a dozen pieces left to shatter). BUT, since she's using a secondary Realm, that lowers the difficulty by 1 again. As to whether the lowering happens before or after the raising by Scene - that's up to the ST. We'll say after, so the diff is 9.

That's gonna be hella hard. So, since it's pretty appropriate anyway, she throws her hands up and yells. -3 difficulty - final diff, 6.

1 Glamour for Scene, 1 Glamour for Wyrd. She spends 2 Glamour and the spell goes to work. Half a dozen pieces of crystal go flying at our hapless knight.

Heh. Okay, let me know if you have any more questions on that part of it.

=====

UNDOING, DEATH

a) Undoing. There are three ways to undo a Changeling (that I can think of right now).

1) Temporary banality exceeds permanent Glamour. This is pretty easily reversed - just give 'em a bit of Glamour. However, in the meantime, while they're "slumming" with the banals, they may have gained a heckuva lot more banality. I'm not sure this makes sense to me, cuz when they come back, won't their temp banality STILL exceed their permanent Glamour? Strange.

2) Permanent banality exceeds permanent Glamour. This is permanent Undoing, I think - at least for this lifetime. Unless they miraculously drop a permanent banality point, they're lost. I'm not too sure about this one, though.

3) Chimerical death. That leads us to the next section...

b) Damage and Death. First off, a quick discussion on damage. There are three types: chimerical, real, and aggravated. Chimerical is from chimerical weapons. Real is from real weapons. Aggravated is from cantrips like Holly Strike (Primal 4), vampire and werewolf teeth and claws, acid, fire, toxic waste...and of course, cold iron.

Damage ALWAYS heals at a mortal's rate unless the Changeling is getting Primal 4 (the other side: Heather Balm) used on him/her, or is in a freehold. In a freehold, it heals at 1 level per night; in the Dreaming, purely chimerical damage (but not real damage) heals at 1 level per hour. Aggravated damage can only be healed with cantrips if 1 Glamour is spent per level healed, and otherwise heals at normal rate. In a freehold/Dreaming, it heals at normal rate divided by two.

Cold iron, btw, causes chimerical AND real, aggravated damage. Plus, it leeches off 1 Glamour point per health level. VERY nasty.

Okay, on to the three ways to die.

1) Chimerical death. When a fae reaches incapacitated on the chimerical damage thang, they fall into a coma and must heal in a freehold. They usually wake up the next day, though Grumps take longer.

If they die chimerically, though, they immediately pass out and go into a coma, the length of which depends on Permanent Banality (pre-death). After they wake up (it's 12 hours for banality 3), they can only be restored if someone pops them some Glamour. They gain 1 permanent banality from the ordeal.

2) Banal death. This is when the mortal body dies, and is terribly feared among Sidhe. Commoners aren't too bothered by it because they're be reborn elsewhere, elsewhen. While that changeling will never exist again (since the human half is dead), the fae soul will live on. For Sidhe, though, it's not certain what happens to the fae soul.

3) Fae death. This is the WORST of the worst. This is when the killing blow is struck by cold iron. The mortal body is dead, and the faerie soul dissipated. There's absolutely no chance of the fae ever coming back.

=====

BEDLAM

In a nutshell? Going nuts. There are three levels of Bedlam (pp. 208-209), and usually happens when Glamour exceeds both Banality and WP, or when they have too many faerie treasures, spends too much time in freeholds, etc. Bedlam isn't just simple insanity, though. At higher levels, the insane starts to spawn nervosa (insane chimerae), which work to protect him/her. Eventually, Bedlam will drag the character kicking and screaming into the Dreaming, never to be seen again.

=====

DRAGON'S IRE

This is pretty much artistic, cool, faerie combat. To invoke it, spend 1 temporary Glamour, roll permanent Glamour against char's Banality. For every success, the character gains 1 dice, though the cap is the character's Remembrance. It cannot be stacked. Some situations, such as a Sidhe in a duel, will lower the difficulty (in that example, by 2). When invoking it, the character is surrounded by a pale corona, and generally looks very cool and badass.

However, if invoked while the char is in Bedlam, it's dangerous. They make very deadly foes, gaining 2x or even 3x the dice they would normally gain, and when it's down, sink one level deeper into Bedlam. If they were in level 3 already, they zoom off to the Dreaming and take a lotta people with them.

=====

EPIPHANY, ENCHANTMENT, THE DREAMING

Last section.

a) Epiphany. This is how Changelings get Glamour. There are four ways to do it. The first two are primarily Seelie ways, and slower; the third is primarily Unseelie, and quick; the last is forbidden.

1) Reverie, which is when you inspire a dreamer so that they create art, and you can tap some of their creative energies.

2) Rapture, which is when you yourself create art, and create Glamour for yourself.

3) Ravaging, which is when you forcefully rip Glamour from a mortal, leaving them devoid of creative energy for 1 day per point stolen.

4) Rhapsody, which is when you flood the mortal with your own Glamour. He more or less flips out and starts churning out Glamour like crazy, pouring it into one final, utterly brilliant piece of work. After that, he's done - he'll never make anything else EVER again. Then you take that last piece of work and destroy it. All the Glamour comes pouring out and you grab it up, stash it away in dross, etc etc...meanwhile, poor artist probably goes insane.

Glamour can always be stored as dross, which are small coins that can be caused to release their Glamour.

b) Enchantment. This is when a char gives a non-changeling char a bit of Glamour, and opens their eyes to the Dreaming for a little while. The Mists descend soon after, though, and they tend to forget everything. While Enchanted, they're more or less changelings themselves - chimerical damage will hurt them.

c) The Dreaming. This is a lot like the Umbra. Chars can only step in from trods in freeholds, or trods opened elsewhere with Wayfare 3, Fae 5. In the Dreaming, there are Silver Paths that you can follow. Time in the Dreaming flows differently. While it takes the Changeling just as long to get there, he arrives only seconds after he left - in essence, he loops time out.