The Anatomy of a Changeling Part 01: Wyrd

Wyrd reflects the amount of faerie magic the Changeling has tapped into, and in a more metaphysical sense how much she has tethered herself to the power of narrative, using its power as her own.

Wyrd affects numerous factors in gameplay:

·         Wyrd determines maximum traits. At Wyrd 6+ a changeling can achieve trans-human levels of ability.

·         Wyrd acts as the Changeling’s supernatural tolerance, adding to her dice pool to resist some supernatural effects.

·         Wyrd determines how much Glamour a changeling can hold as well as how much can be spent per turn.

·         Wyrd determines a Changelings connection to Arcadia, each dot of Wyrd adds a die bonus to any fae creatures attempts to track or find her to a maximum of +5

·         Wyrd determines the number and severity of frailties a Changeling suffers.

·         Wyrd reduces penalties from mundane illness and fatigue. This represents a dice bonus to resist mundane diseases outside action scenes.

·         Wyrd determines how many Goblin fruits a Changeling can carry into the mortal world.

Wyrd	Attribute/Skill Max	Glamour/Per Turn	Longevity	Disease/ Fatigue penalty reduction	Goblin fruits	Total Frailties
1	5	10/1	+10 years	By one	3	-
2	5	11/2	+20 years	By one	7	1 Minor
3	5	12/3	+30 years	By one	7	1 Minor
4	5	13/4	+40 years	By two	13	2 Minor
5	5	15/5	+50 years	By two	13	2 Minor
6	6	20/6	+75 years	By two	13	1 Major, 2 Minor
7	7	25/7	+100 years	By three	29	1 Major, 3 Minor
8	8	30/8	+200 years	By three	29	1 Major, 3 Minor
9	9	50/10	+500 years	By three	101	2 Major, 3 Minor
10	10	75/15	Immortal?	By four	unlimited	2 Major, 3 Minor

Remembered Dreams:

A Changeling’s Wyrd also affects the way she dreams. Add the changelings Wyrd in dice to all rolls made to remember or interpret dreams when she is awake (but not to rolls that generate onieromancy successes). As her Wyrd rises, a Changeling’s dreams of Arcadia grow in clarity and frequency.

At Wyrd 1-3 she barely remembers her durance beyond her trigger, recalling only fragments.

At higher Wyrd (4-6) she recalls some of her dreams with relative clarity.

More powerful Changelings (Wyrd 7-9) frequently dream of their time in Arcadia and remember it clearly, as though watching it happen outside arms’ reach.

The paragons of Fae power (Wyrd 10) dream often of Arcadia and remember it so clearly that they feel they are actually reliving their durance.

Frailties

Legend ascribes alien behavours, aversions and desires to the Fae. The more powerful the Fae being, the more stranger and powerful these quirks have a hold over their existence. Changeling’s call these weaknesses frailties, and they come in two forms:

Taboos: a taboo is either a compulsion or a behavoural restriction. These occur in a situations unique to each Changeling.

Banes: A bane is a weakness many supernatural creatures possess, something that can cause the changeling great harm. Banes cut instantly through all forms of armour and protective magics, and cannot be healed until the bane is removed from the changeling's presence. Even acting against the source of the frailty is difficult. Acting against a frailty requires a point of Willpower, which does not add to the dice pool. Additionally, the character suffers a -3 penalty on all rolls related to acting against the cause of a minor frailty. This penalty increases to -5 when acting against a major frailty.

Minor Frailty: Minor frailties are difficult to manage but uncommon to encounter. Taboos require very specific circumstances, and banes are rare items or situations. Examples of minor taboos include being unable to enter a dwelling without permission, a compulsion to count spilled rice grains, or an inability to step on lines. Minor banes include touching wolfsbane, an aversion to the sound of church bells or wind chimes, hearing one's name said backwards, or revulsion to milk set out to ward away the fae. 

A character can spend one Willpower point to resist the behavior associated with a minor taboo for the rest of the scene. Exposure to a bane causes continuous lethal damage at a rate of one per turn until the bane is removed. A bane weapon inflicts lethal damage that cannot be healed until the changeling has escaped the bane's presence.

Major Frailty: At this level, frailties come to dominate some aspect of the changeling's life. Taboos become major behavioral restrictions or compulsions that are difficult, cropping up every day. Major banes are common substances or situations, and rapidly prove fatal to the changeling. Some major taboos could be an inability to go outside while the moon (or sun) is in the sky, being forced to walk backwards or hop at all times, and perform a favor for anyone who recites the character's true name. Major banes include things like holy symbols or effigies, pain when around a certain class of people (such as children), or touching glass. 

Overcoming a major taboo requires one Willpower point per turn or one Willpower dot to do so for the rest of the scene. Major banes inflict one aggravated damage per turn until the changeling escapes the bane's presence. Bane weapons at this level inflict aggravated damage. If the changeling is killed by a bane, her entire body unravels in spectacular fashion, exploding into thorns and leaves or hundreds of torn gossamer wings.