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What's This All About, Anyway?
Okay, if you came to this link, you're either 1) brand new to roleplaying, or 2) brand new to Changeling: The Dreaming. If you want to understand roleplaying, click here. If you want to read more about Changeling, click here.
What is this Changeling thing all about? Well, what we do is engage in a roleplaying game. Basically, it's pretty much like the make believe you played as a kid, like cops and robbers, cowboys and indians, stuff like that. The only differences are that the rules are spelled out a bit more, and the players are hopefully a wee more mature than your 3rd grade playmates.
What we do is create a character, like one might see in a novel, play, or movie, and then step into that character's shoes. There is no script. The storyteller has created the world, has made some background details, and then plops you into it. What you do from there is up to you. Usually, the storyteller has some plot in mind for the players to stumble upon. For an example of this plot, see our story page.
There are no winners or losers in a roleplaying game. It's all about telling a story. It's about having fun. It's about escaping your everyday life of Joe Computer Analyst for an evening to become Gren Avensfall, the Troll Knight, or Selena Silverleaf, the Sidhe princess. It's harmless escapism. Great way to relax, if you let it be.
Things roleplaying is not include a cult, Satan worship, a cleverly disguised plot to steal your children, brainwashing, REAL, etc., etc. Pretty much all the bad things you've heard about roleplaying are because of a few kooks who went way overboard into their own special version of reality. If we got rid of all things that people went nuts over, we'd have no religion, businesses, books, or post office. It's a game, pure and simple.
Basically speaking, if you've got a creative and open mind, you're prime material to roleplay. If you like good stories, you're prime material for roleplay. If you like to daydream, like I said, you're prime material for roleplay.
If you'd like to join us, click here.
Changeling: The Dreaming is a roleplaying game created by White Wolf Studios. It's the fifth game in their World of Darkness series, which includes Vampire: The Masquerade, Werewolf: The Apocalypse, Mage: The Ascension, and Wraith: The Oblivion. The World of Darkness is basically an alternate Earth, which is more violent, scary, and dark than our own. It's inhabited by all sorts of supernatural creatures (thus, the games).
Changeling is the 'lightest' of the WoD games. It's based on an old myth that Faeries will, on occasion, inhabit human bodies. This type of being is called a Changeling. Basically, your character has a Human nature and a Faerie nature. Both co-exist together, and it's up to the being to find a balance between the two natures. It's not like a possession kind of thing, mind you. The Human and the Faerie are the same person, but just different aspects of that person.
The two forces that work on a Changeling's life are Glamour and Banality. Glamour is the stuff of dreams, and is produced by human hopes and dreaming. In fact, the Fae owe their entire existence to human dreams. Fae need Glamour to live. If a Fae loses his Glamour, he perishes. Banality is that force in our lives that causes us to lose our ability to dream, whether that comes from adult responsibility, belief in scientific logic, physical/sexual/mental abuse, spending too much time watching TV, or any other human activity that leads to a loss of hope and creativity.
The Changeling's goal is to find the precarious balance between giving in to Glamour, and giving in to Banality. If he gives in to Glamour, his human half is destroyed and he basically goes insane. If the Changeling gives in to Banality, his Fae self is destroyed, and his human life becomes dull and emotionless. Pretty icky either way.
Anyway, if you'd like to make a character, White Wolf has a pretty handy startup kit that you can download for free from here. Or just show up about an hour early for the next game, and we can teach you how to play. Or, if you just want to show up and observe, you're perfectly welcome to do that, too. When's the next game? Email Matt to find out.
If you want to get a better idea of what Changelings are all about, click here for a list of books and films that might inspire you.
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Any comments or questions should be sent to thunderfist@lastcarriageout.freeservers.com.