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Average Customer Rating:

Hard to Be a Changeling

Customer Rating:

Changeling: the Lost is a marvellous RPG game, brimming with ideas and atmosphere which is, in accord with the authorial intention, bittersweet. The Lost really ARE a Storytelling game of beautiful madness. However, there is a catch. The authors have had such an amount of ideas that it is very, very, VERY difficult to put them together without loosing this beautifully insane, bittersweet melancholy. In fact, it's so difficult that the authors themselves failed in this and presented their awful Miami setting which is anything but beautiful, or bittersweet, or even insane. Imagine rather simplistic punks on a fairy-tale party. That's Miami. In a sense it is a bastard version of the Requiem. A withered, old hag with a 9mm gun in her handbag? Don't make me laugh. But it's something you can easily slip into without even knowing how. And this would be a pity. Really. Because the Lost are one of the most beautiful and breathtaking things the White Wolf have ever done. Different from the Dreaming, it is still the most demanding RPG I have ever played. And one of the RPGs I appreciate most.

Finally, a way to play a childhood nightmare

Customer Rating:

I loved this booK! Sure, it was a bit grim, and it wasn't for anybody, but it was put together in an extraordinarily versatile way. It allowed you to be literally anybody, and anything, you could imagine, unlike a few RPG's I could name *Vampire: The Requiem*. The Seeming/Kith mechanic is superbly adaptable, covering almost any faerie type that you could find in any book. If you can't, there's always Winter Masques, but I don't know about that yet. The Contracts system gave it an Faustian light that emphasized the idea that everything comes at a price in this strange little world. The only problem with pledges is that they don't make any immediate sense until you suddenly figure it out. Of course, it has a way to blend any kind of story you want into something playable and fun. I would have ranked it higher, but the rating system wouldn't allow it.

Twisted. Perhaps broken.

Customer Rating:

This is not a game about fairies. This is a game about people who have been pulled into faerie, changed, and escaped. Sadly, the prcess has changed them into something that is not quite human any more. Comparing it to Changeling: the Dreaming is a lot like comparing the most recent Batman movies to the earlier ones. There's still the scope for melodrama and cool SFX, but there seems to be more focus on character depth. Also, proper fae are now alien and ultimately unknowable, their world one of constant peril to unwary mortals, which is as it should be.

Typos Ain't So Bad

Customer Rating:

This is the first White Wolf product to actually entice me into the World of Darkness. Accomplishing that was done by making the setting truer to the myths of changelings. If you're like me, and like to get a basic understanding of the whole book before you attempt to run or play, be warned: it's long, and it's heavy; armchair reading it ain't. Knowing that it was part of limited run series, I understand White Wolf had to cram a lot of information into only a few books. Although I understand why role playing books do it, I don't like seeing things I already understood re-explained ad infinitum. The largest problem with this book is that certain words are missing from sentences, and in one case, the whole first part of a paragraph is missing. Sure, I can tell what is intended, but it's more distracting than simple typos. Overall, a good buy, maybe they just need a better editor?

Grim Fairy Tales

Customer Rating:

The second in White Wolf's limited run RPGs for their World of Darkness gameline, Changeling takes you into the world of the fae. Not your white-washed Victorian fairy tales for children, but the darker stories of trolls that lurk under bridges looking for mortal flesh, goblins who kidnap children, and dark things hiding under beds; creatures born of nightmare and madness. Like I said before kids, its the World of DARKNESS. It's all about Gothic horror! Whereas in it's predecessor, of sorts, 'Changeling: the Dreaming' you took on the role of a human with a fairy soul, Changeling: the Lost goes back to the original folklore. This time around, you take on the role of a human who was kidnapped and abused by the Lords of the Fae, warped by the very nature of Arcadia, yet somehow, through sheer force of will, escaped and made your way back through the Hedge to find your old life gone. Changeling is a very intense game, but thats part of what makes it so appealing. If thats not up your alley, though, you might want to consider looking for a different game. I've found that theres not necessarily any correlation between fans of Changeling: the Lost and Changeling: the Dreaming. Some fans of C:tD absolutely LOVE Changeling: the Lost, others hate it with a passion. For that matter, some people who hated the old C:tD love the new C:tL. Go figure. This book is the core of the gameline. Although it contains everything you need to run a Changeling, you still need the 'World of Darkness' corebook in order to play the game (for the basic rules). This book expands upon the life and society of the Changelings - it gives full details on the different Seemings and Kiths, the four Seasonal Courts of the Changelings, the basic Contracts (Changeling's 'magic'), rules for Oneiromancy, information on the Fae, Hobgoblins, Arcadia and the Hedge, sample Tokens and Pledges, systems for Wyrd and Clarity and even a number of sample Entitlements for more advanced characters. Of all the gamelines in the new World of Darknes, Changeling is perhaps the most rich, evocative and inspired. Almost every part of the book will give both Storytellers and Players new ideas. In addition to giving all the details necessary to run a Changeling game, it also includes the sample Freehold of Miami (Changeling's signature city) and several NPCs. This is great for ST's planning on running a game set in or around Miami. If you are a fan of White Wolf's World of Darkness, then you have to check out this gameline. Its a perfect fit for anyone who wants to incorporate the darker side of fairy tales into their games, or just add trolls, bogeymen, goblins and other creatures from folklore and nightmares. And the book has several supplements available as well: Autumn Nightmares (which expands on the True Fae), Winter Masques (a book for customizing Seeming and Kith to fit your favorite myths), Rites of Spring (all about Changeling magic) and Lords of Summer (covering the politics of Freehold, Court and Entitlements), all of which are brilliant, as well as the forthcoming Equinox Road. However, you can run Changeling with just this and the corebook. Either way, you'll definitely want to pick this book up.