Changeling House Rules for "Scarlet and Shadow"

Changeling: The Dreaming

In my world, the fae were not created by human dreams, although those dreams did influence their current forms. The fae do not come from "The Dreaming," but from another dimension called "Faerie" (a/k/a Underhill, Alfheim, Avalon, Tir Na Nog, etc.). The "human seeming" (sometimes referred to as a "glamour" [spelled with a lower-case g to differentiate it from "Glamour," the source of faerie magic]) in the Changeling rules is a form of protective camouflage – "hiding in plain sight," if you will – not a defense against Banality (which is lower in my world anyway). The mortal seeming can be "dropped" at will to show someone a changeling's fae mien, without the need for Enchanting a viewer (as in Changeling: Second Edition). Note also that the human seeming must be dropped in order to use Wyrd cantrips, since much of a character's Glamour is used to maintain her mortal seeming.

The age ranges for the various Seemings in the Changeling rules is superseded by the following breakdown in my games:

All fae-created weapons (chimera and Treasures) are considered to be made of chimerical silver, and thus inflict unsoakable Aggravated damage on Garou (and other shape-changers affected by silver). Note, however, that a character must "drop" the mortal seeming (as above) in order for a chimerical weapon to affect a non-fae opponent.

In my games, the Realm Fae 4 (Elusive Gallain) allows a changeling character to affect other supernatural beings (Vampires, Werewolves, Kinain, etc.).

In my games, the Resurgence and the Accordance War happened during the 1770s (i.e., during the American Revolution), not the 1970s. Thus, the sidhe have been on earth for about 200 years longer than in White Wolf's cosmology. There is also no "War in Concordia," and the High King is alive and well in Tara-Nar.

All sidhe characters must be a member of one of the Noble Houses detailed in the Changeling rulebook (pp. 106-111), and are strongly encouraged to take at least one dot in the Title Background. Sidhe characters may have up to four dots in Title (Count or Countess).

Any non-sidhe character taking the Title Background must be affiliated with one of the sidhe Noble Houses. Non-sidhe characters may have up to two dots in Title (Knight or Lady). Note that affiliated commoner fae do not gain the House Boon, nor are they affected by the House Flaw.

Any "magical items (or creatures)" (chimera, Treasures, companions) must be thoroughly detailed and submitted to me for approval before play. Remember to include what the item (or creature, in the case of companions) looks like, what powers it has, where it came from, and how your character got it in the first place. Keep in mind that more powerful items or creatures will require more detailed background stories, as such things are not common in my game world.

I am using the Botching, initiative, and to-hit/damage rules from White Wolf's Revised Edition games, not Changeling 2nd Edition, in this game. This means, in brief, that:
- A Botch only happens if you roll ones and no successes. If you have at least one success, the roll simply fails.
- Rather than a dice pool of Wits + Alertness, Difficulty of 4, initiative is derived from the sum of a character's Wits + Dexterity for a simple score. The result of a single 10-sided die roll is added to this score to determine a character's initiative.
- Any additional successes on a to-hit roll beyond the first one (after subtracting successes due to successes on an opponent's dodge roll) are added to the Damage pool for all attacks (not just guns).
The following books and plotlines are not being used in this game:
- War In Concordia
- Book of Lost Houses: The Second Coming
- Land of Eight Million Dreams
- Denizens of the Dreaming
- Inanimae: The Secret Way
- Supplements for other games (Vampire: The Masquerade, Werewolf: The Apocalypse, Mage: The Ascension, Hunter: The Reckoning, etc.), or the various World of Darkness... supplements
- Internet or other "unofficial" supplements (material from B.J. Zanzibar's World of Darkness, etc.)
- The Changeling metaplot (the disappearance of High King David) begun in Kingdom of Willows and continuing in various other sourcebooks
- White Wolf's "Time of Judgement" plotline

This page first posted -- November 10, 2003
Last revised -- November 17, 2003