Ask a Simple Question, Get a Simple Answer: Changeling Edition

[Neos01]

I think that the statement of that possibility is filtered through the facts of:

• The most common psychic inhabitants are animate scenery that variously ignores you, talks to you like you're the person you're walking around inside, or attacks you if you attract attention.
• The individual soul shifts constantly when not in deep sleep or meditation.
• The system for changing beliefs and opinions in the Bright Dream, while largely ported from Mage 1e's systems for changing public opinion through the Temenos, does not differentiate between sections of the Bright Dream, and the lowest target number for its extended action is inclusive of a single person.

You can influence a person's thoughts and emotions from inside their Oneiros, but it'll take multiple rolls if you don't get an exceptional success and there'll be a penalty commensurate to the strength of the belief you're trying to alter.

Ok
So, considering that this membrane exist and it s tangible (and that from dark eras 2 we know that it is in fact the Hedge), do you think that it s possible to interact physically between the two "realms"?
I would be inclined to say yes, because the dreams are a mechanism of interaction between conscious and subconscious mind

[espritdecalmar]

I recently noticed that the Hunterheart's Trickery only uses Attribute + Wyrd for its dice pool, despite being a contested roll. Is that intentional?

[Maina]

In first edition, I recall that it was common for Changelings to use an alias, either because they forgot their original name or because it provided some manner of protection (names have power). Does 2e cover this topic in any way? I see True Names for the Gentry having power in their section, but I couldn't find anything about Changelings hiding their own.

[Satchel]

In first edition, I recall that it was common for Changelings to use an alias, either because they forgot their original name or because it provided some manner of protection (names have power). Does 2e cover this topic in any way? I see True Names for the Gentry having power in their section, but I couldn't find anything about Changelings hiding their own.

Same section, first paragraph. It applies to everyone, but changelings knowing what they know incentivizes them to protect against that vulnerability in particular through assumed names.

[Vintervalpen]

I know the Tumult contract requires you to know someone's true name to use it against them. Apart from that, I can't find anything that suggests that someone knowing a changeling's true name gives them any power over them.

[Neos01]

I know the Tumult contract requires you to know someone's true name to use it against them. Apart from that, I can't find anything that suggests that someone knowing a changeling's true name gives them any power over them.

See pag 270 of the 2ed core book, the names and pledges paragraph, for a very solid reason to using Aliases

[Maina]

Thank you.

I'm also having a very hard time finding a clean way to explain the difference between Seeming and Kith to my players. The various sections in the book where either are described seem to contradict and overlap, so I can't get a solid understanding.

Kith is described as "a refinement of Seeming" but they are now completely detached from Seeming, as they say two sentences after calling it a refinement of one. They call Kith the result of being crafted to a purpose of coping a specific way, but these are both descriptions used for what a Seeming is, as well.

Is there a simple and easy rule-of-thumb or method to explain to players what the difference is, narratively? The mechanical differences are pretty clear, but I need to explain what they mean for the character.

[Vintervalpen]

See pag 270 of the 2ed core book, the names and pledges paragraph, for a very solid reason to using Aliases

If there is a True Fae around then having the Obsessed condition is one of my least concerns. It's a very niche and (in my games at least) extremely rare situation. I think a Changeling not keeping their true name concealed isn't really all that much of a deal.

[espritdecalmar]

Thank you.

I'm also having a very hard time finding a clean way to explain the difference between Seeming and Kith to my players. The various sections in the book where either are described seem to contradict and overlap, so I can't get a solid understanding.

Kith is described as "a refinement of Seeming" but they are now completely detached from Seeming, as they say two sentences after calling it a refinement of one. They call Kith the result of being crafted to a purpose of coping a specific way, but these are both descriptions used for what a Seeming is, as well.

Is there a simple and easy rule-of-thumb or method to explain to players what the difference is, narratively? The mechanical differences are pretty clear, but I need to explain what they mean for the character.

Seeming is broad where Kith is specific. Any given Seeming can represent a wide swath of characters through a generalized fairy tale archetype, while a Kith serves to narrow that down. A Seeming continuously colors a changeling's experiences, whereas a Kith only comes up on certain occasions. You could also think of Kiths as the adjective to Seeming's noun: An Artist Ogre carries a different connotation from a Gristlegrinder Ogre, though an Ogre can also stand unqualified.

[Stupid Loserman]

A seeming is a broad archetype or a kind of story from which you emerged from your durance in Faerie: the noble, the laborer, the brute. Many possible stories can be told within each seeming. A kith is like a flavoring or a coat of paint, aesthetics and defined expression: what kind of noble, what kind of laborer, what kind of brute, a story of dragons or flowers or thunder.

Think of Urashima Taro and Rip van Winkle as examples of two characters with the same seeming but different kiths.

[Neos01]

If there is a True Fae around then having the Obsessed condition is one of my least concerns. It's a very niche and (in my games at least) extremely rare situation. I think a Changeling not keeping their true name concealed isn't really all that much of a deal.

But a privateer or a goblin could learn your name and sell it to a true fae.
With this advantage a true fae can make a changeling obsessed visiting his Bastion, and the hedge would react to it automatically pointing the changeling to the corresponding arcadian realm on the next hedge trip.
If you consider how paranoid some changelings are, they would likely avoid this risky situation i think

[Tessie]

As already stated by everyone else, one's the broad archetype while the other is the specialisation.

Seeming is broad where Kith is specific. Any given Seeming can represent a wide swath of characters through a generalized fairy tale archetype, while a Kith serves to narrow that down. A Seeming continuously colors a changeling's experiences, whereas a Kith only comes up on certain occasions. You could also think of Kiths as the adjective to Seeming's noun: An Artist Ogre carries a different connotation from a Gristlegrinder Ogre, though an Ogre can also stand unqualified.

I kinda disagree with the bolded part. I think it can vary a lot.
Seemings are supposed to colour the whole changeling experience but they really don't do much after character creation aside from the Blessing/Curse (and even those might not show up much).
How much Kiths matter really depends on how they're designed. In most cases they are probably quite situational (more like a profession than anything) but sometimes they can be absolutely defining for a character.
Either can also affect the mien to very varying degrees. A Human Torch looking Elemental is definitely based on their Seeming and you might not be able to guess at their Kith at all, while a changeling that looks like Count Orlok might be from any Seeming (though probably not Elemental or Fairest) but their Kith is highly likely to relate to vampires (maybe a Leechfinger, or a variation of it).

[Wade L]

Is there a simple and easy rule-of-thumb or method to explain to players what the difference is, narratively? The mechanical differences are pretty clear, but I need to explain what they mean for the character.

I've struggled with this, especially since it has shifted from 1st edition.

I think the best answer now is that your Seeming is the role in the story you played in Arcadia, while your Kith is how it shaped you (or you shaped yourself to it).

Note how the Seeming descriptions don't really focus on cosmetics anymore. There's usually some flavour text that give an example, but that doesn't really seem to define anything. An Ogre could be a big hulking brute...or they could be a malicious needle-toothed little pixie...or a tall and slender sidhe warrior with cruel blades... what defines you as an Ogre isn't a particular archetypal appearance or shape, but the fact that your story was one of Brutality. You were an enforcer or an executioner or a torturer. Your story was one of hurting people.

Kith is the shape that story made you take - whether it be hulking brute, wee pixie, or slender and pointy-eared sidhe. Not just cosmetic by any means, but it is your adaptations to the role you played.

Anyways, that's how I see it breaking down.

[Tessie]

An Ogre could be a big hulking brute...or they could be a malicious needle-toothed little pixie...or a tall and slender sidhe warrior with cruel blades...

Or a wide eyed little girl... like my current character. (Also an example of how the Kith can be absolutely defining for a character, as I pointed out above, since the Kith I designed is what stopped her from ageing.)

[Anteros]

What is exactly the distinction between Mien and Mask? Does the Mask merely hides the supernatural parts of the changeling's appearance, or is it a completely different visage? For example, if a Changeling with Many Masks should change their facial features or sex, would their Mien be affected by those changes as well? or would the changeling's Mask and Mien have completely different features or sexes?