Court Creation

[Gaius]

Changeling's main appeal - for me, many of my players, and quite a few others I know - is how the game acts as a metaphor for abuse survivors. Straying away from that is like a Wraith game without depression; I hate to see the lessened focus.

This really doesn't ring true to me, though. What is being lost, exactly? Please help me see that, because right now I just don't. To my understanding of that common reading, the default circumstance of the seasonal Courts suggests that there are four broad responses to abuse. Compared to 2e's more flexible system, allowing for greater variety and nuance, that strikes me as pretty reductive. There are and have always been a multitude of possible ways for survivors to respond and live their lives. All the better that the new system suggests these are often localized, just as different communities can have their own means of coping.

It may also be that you're not looking at this holistically. Do you also feel the 1e Seemings did a better job of furthering the survivor metaphor than the 2e Seemings?

[The Kings Raven]

I totally knew it. I knew how Bulwarks were going to work... and I didn't mention it to anyone so I can't boast. Ah well.


So on the whole I liked it, a lot. My biggest issue is not in the text, but something I feel is a very important omission from the text. That is explicitly tying it into the core theme of abuse survivors rebuilding their lives.

The reason I say "explicitly" is that it's kinda there "implicitly". Snow want to rebuild their ties to mortal society. Hart want to explore their new fae existence. In short, I think these new courts are in the same place as the seasonal courts.

Every time I pointed out that Spring could be the court that wants new lives in the mortal world; Autumn wants new lives in the fae world; Winter just doesn't want to be hurt again - I had people (including veteran Changeling storytellers) saying it was the single best piece of Changeling advice they've seen.

And IMO these new courts are in the exact same spot. They are life-aspirations for Changelings trying to rebuild after the durance, but if it isn't made explicit people won't notice just like they didn't notice that about the Seasonal Courts.

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There was one particular area that didn't work for me. This section entitled "Step 3: Ideals and Emotions". What I didn't like is when it went through the courts and gave them charachter roles like this:

It is the court of woodsmen, politicians, and professional duelists

I would much prefer it if the game made it clear that a fighter, a woodsman, and occultist, etc could belong to any court but how they'd approach the role is different.

A copper occultist would be an archaeologist digging up the past, or a necromancer surrounded by the ghosts of the past. A Pine occultist would perform dangerous experiments for knowledge or perform risky rituals with confidence. Hart occultists would brave the hedge or hunt the gentry for their knowledge. A Snow occultist would collaborate with mortals or just study mortal occult practices.

My suggestion would be to just remove the sentence "it is the court of" from each write up and discuss the concept that Courts don't provide a profession but an approach that could be applied to many somewhere else in the text.

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Something else I would have liked is more mechanical weight on the individual Court rituals. Currently there's the bulwark ritual, which is a Big Deal, and there's Court Rituals that don't have any mechanical effect.

This is IMO, especially important when the Bulwark ritual falls heavily onto one court. The Iron Freehold's Bulwark ritual is a literal hunt, and what do you know, they have a court based on the hunting industry. I'm completely fine with that, but I would like to see some mechanical weight to the idea that the other courts can't just slack off.

I could see Courtiers loosing their affinity contracts, emotional harvisting bonus, and/or mantle bonus if the court rituals aren't upheld; but I have a better idea.

If one Court forgoes it's rituals then there's a crack in the Bulwark:

Members of the slacking court can be targeted by any Approach in the Freehold. Every other court can be targeted by their own Approach and the slacking Court's Approach. (Personal Approaches still apply).

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One final thing. I wasn't too keen on Mantle providing a Personal Approach. That said if you also got Personal Approaches from Wyrd I wouldn't mind it (I'd still prefer it if it wasn't called "personal" but that's a non-issue)

[ArcaneArts]

On Court Rituals, not everything has to have a mechanical effect. Some things should be done, in character, because they're just good things to bring the community together and reinforce their sense of self with and, out of character, because they make for interesting set pieces, whether it really is a block party or it's a setup for something more sinister.

EDIT: Also, look at Toronto.

[Jhiriit]

This really doesn't ring true to me, though. What is being lost, exactly? Please help me see that, because right now I just don't. To my understanding of that common reading, the default circumstance of the seasonal Courts suggests that there are four broad responses to abuse. Compared to 2e's more flexible system, allowing for greater variety and nuance, that strikes me as pretty reductive. There are and have always been a multitude of possible ways for survivors to respond and live their lives. All the better that the new system suggests these are often localized, just as different communities can have their own means of coping.

It may also be that you're not looking at this holistically. Do you also feel the 1e Seemings did a better job of furthering the survivor metaphor than the 2e Seemings?

I can only give my take, which is that a broader focus removes the potency of the orignal approach. If you come into the game in 2.ed, the survivor angle will be less prominent. The 4 original courts maps easily to coping mechanisms, while I cannot see that the court of Copper does the same. That was the main draw in 1.ed., that it was a game about overcoming and surviving abuse or tradgedy disgusied as a fairy tale RPG. It seesm that the new edidtion is dillutiong that theme. I mean, at an extreme you could say that it is possible to make a GURPS abusve survivor RPG, but you would have to paint the theme yourself. So I guess you can still play that kind of game with Changeling 2.ed. but it is no longer the central theme in the smae way.. But that is of course just the feeling I get from these spoilers.

I also felt that the new Seemings have strayed quite a bit. I really thought I would enjoy the new Kith/Seeming interaction, but I findd the implementaiton of the new idea less powerful than I though I would. The original Beast, Ogre and Fairest descriptions were powerhouses of abuse methaphors and farytale logic, these new ones seems tame in comparission. Not to mention too free-flowing, I find that my best characters comes from limitations instead of options, I have hundreds of potential character ideas but need some limits to inspire them. Not a fan of anything goes approaches to character creation.

[The Kings Raven]

On Court Rituals, not everything has to have a mechanical effect. Some things should be done, in character, because they're just good things to bring the community together and reinforce their sense of self with and, out of character, because they make for interesting set pieces, whether it really is a block party or it's a setup for something more sinister.

This is true, but I think there's room for both mechanical court rituals and block parties.

[ArcaneArts]

Maybe in a later book. Keep it simple for the core.

[The Kings Raven]

I wouldn't mind if it was in a later book, but I can't see how it would need more than a couple of paragraphs of text.

[Illuminated Minutia]

I can only give my take, which is that a broader focus removes the potency of the orignal approach. If you come into the game in 2.ed, the survivor angle will be less prominent. The 4 original courts maps easily to coping mechanisms, while I cannot see that the court of Copper does the same. That was the main draw in 1.ed., that it was a game about overcoming and surviving abuse or tradgedy disgusied as a fairy tale RPG. It seesm that the new edidtion is dillutiong that theme. I mean, at an extreme you could say that it is possible to make a GURPS abusve survivor RPG, but you would have to paint the theme yourself. So I guess you can still play that kind of game with Changeling 2.ed. but it is no longer the central theme in the smae way.. But that is of course just the feeling I get from these spoilers.

I also felt that the new Seemings have strayed quite a bit. I really thought I would enjoy the new Kith/Seeming interaction, but I findd the implementaiton of the new idea less powerful than I though I would. The original Beast, Ogre and Fairest descriptions were powerhouses of abuse methaphors and farytale logic, these new ones seems tame in comparission. Not to mention too free-flowing, I find that my best characters comes from limitations instead of options, I have hundreds of potential character ideas but need some limits to inspire them. Not a fan of anything goes approaches to character creation.

Speaking both as someone with PTSD and as someone who knows a lot of other people with it, I feel like the way 2E Seemings are expressed hit much closer to home for me (trust issues, acting out, overdeveloped sense of responsibility, etc) whereas the old Courts/Stages of Grief parallel, while interesting, honestly feels kind of textbook in comparison. The way Courts work now, as TKR mentioned above, seem to be more as a "what now?" kind of thing.

Note: I'm not saying 2E Seemings are literally stand-ins for "types" of PTSD (whatever that means ), simply that the effects of each Seeming (particularly the Clarity mechanics) are very similar to the ways many people cope after going through a traumatic experience. Granted, the Seemings we have yet to see could break this trend, but from the hints we've gotten I strongly doubt it.

[ArcaneArts]

Note: I'm not saying 2E Seemings are literally stand-ins for "types" of PTSD (whatever that means ), simply that the effects of each Seeming (particularly the Clarity mechanics) are very similar to the ways many people cope after going through a traumatic experience. Granted, the Seemings we have yet to see could break this trend, but from the hints we've gotten I strongly doubt it.

I'm glad you brought this up. Seemings are more than a function for trauma reaction, they have faerie tale icons at the least to fulfill as well, and more asides.

Nothing is exactly one-to-one.

[Metamurpho]

I have a question concerning monarchs. From my reading of the the court creation doc, it seems that not only does each court get a reigning monarch but the freehold-at-large does as well. Seems like a lot of royalty to me, but perhaps that's by design to create conflict. Does only the freehold monarch gain the benefits of the Crown, then?

My confusion may stem from "freehold" and "court" being used a bit interchangeably. Aside from this, though, I love this system. It really gives the troupe a way to build up their setting, and in a very different way than the Werewolf pack-building system does. Kudos, Mr. Machine.

[branford]

If I had the time, I'd really love to try to write-up a Freehold for my hometown of NYC where each court is based on the unique history and culture of each of the 5 boroughs, including such items as the CEO of Manhattan, the Don of Staten Island, and even the King of Queens.

[Metamurpho]

I'd like to try to write up Las Vegas and Los Angeles, myself!

[Illuminated Minutia]

I'm trying to write-up one for Malta for a crossover setting I've been working on.

[ArcaneArts]

All right, so, what I have so far!

STEP ONE! THE STORY!

So, as I've mentioned before, I have two stories that form the core of my idea. The first is Beauty and the Beast, in particular Jean Cocteau's version (also check out Kyle Kallgren's amazing review of the piece)-not only because it's a classic faerie tale, and a classic French faerie tale at that, but because of it's surrealism and many, many parallels towards Changeling's own symbolism. Also because it's awesome. Mainly because it's awesome.

The second one is my favorite faerie tale, Little Red Riding Hood by Perrault, and the story it gets it's roots from, The Grandmother's Tale. I would be remiss, though, if I also didn't admit that I'm drawing a lot on my personal favorite incarnation of the tale, that being The Path-seriously, explore the website and it's many tidbits of information, then go buy this game and get emotionally traumatized by it, it's amazing. Not only is there surrealism, but all the incarnations have a lot to do with adolescence(as a concept-I'm 26 and I hope am an adolescent in the way I use that word), which is one of my favorite things to play around with in stories, and it neatly captures cynicism that is missing from Beauty and the Beast.

While I'm not going full tilt with it as a story, I'd also be lying if I said it wasn't in here, so I must mention that I'm also drawing a lot from Revolutionary Girl Utena, which is also amazing* and why haven't you watched it yet. Like seriously, if I tried to leave it out, it would sneak in anyways. It's my favorite anime. Now it does carry a similar motif triad of the Maiden, Wild One, and Woodsman in the form of Princess, Witch, and Prince(albeit, with more stuffed in there), and that dynamic plays out a lot, but I wanted to include something like the Dueling system, particularly as it's executed in the Third Arc(based on the Nozomi releases), because I wanted to include some of that swashbuckler feel from the Dark Era to color both the romance and cynicism of the setting, and also because the dueling for the role of the Engaged and the utilization of 'brides' were motifs I wanted to use to bring in intimacy with the setting and as a concept. The words'll probably be different, though the grand roles of the Freehold for the Bulwark might be referenced as the Engaged still. I also want to find a way to incorporate the Rose Gate into the setting of the Bulwark. But mostly, I liked the idea of Dueling as a mechanic that is a regular enough thing in the Courts, something that's important for the society.

So, the basics of the story, the common points: You have the Maiden(Hood/Belle/Princess), an icon of innocence(and several more concepts), wandering into the woods(Hedge/World) to benefit another(the Grandmother/the Father/…Wakaba? Is there a fourth archetype here, easily forgotten?) and ends up in the clutches of the Wild One(The Wolf/The Beast/The Witch), who brings the Maiden into greater knowledge with the risk of ruin.* A Woodsman(….The Woodsman/Avenant aka Gaston/The Prince) comes along in time and, seeing the Maiden in danger of the Wild One, attempts to kill the captor. The particulars of the story and its conclusions varies throughout history, and creates a feature of the Bulwark.

*Yes, I know the Beast from Cocteau’s version is actually already kind and just has to be loved, essentially, but the icon on an older level has to do with either being consumed by the avatar of the world/subconscious self or taming the avatar.

STEP TWO! THE BULWARK!

So, the Freehold finds people to fill in the three central roles of the Maiden, Wild One, and Woodsman, collectively called the Engaged(complete with all double entendres), possibly as a result of duels related to the role, probably to refine the character of each role. The Wild One, in particular, should be risky ‘character’-I don’t want to absolutely say it’s a role reserved for enemies and traitors, but the person in the role must be openly dangerous or disruptive. I imagine the other roles try to generate people who most fit the role too, but the Wild One is the most important one to nail. The Engaged have a period of time where they…engage one another, redeeming or seducing one another away fulfillments. The sum point and fulfillment of the Bulwark comes, on the appointed day, when the three gather around the Rose Gate and ‘kill’ one of them by shoving them. The base idea is that if the Wild One is ‘tamed’, the Woodsman is considered to be a murderous representation of the Huntsmen and thrown out, and if the Wild One ‘consumes’ the Maiden, then the Wild One is the representation of the True Fae and the goblin worlds and must be slain, though various interpretations have since happened, in particular the Death of the Maiden and the various interpretation that support that. So long as two unite to defy the third and throw them beyond the Gate, everything works. It’s romantic for two, it’s cynical for one, it asks some hard questions about roles and outsiders and all that stuff.

Thiiiiiiiis is up in the air, though. When I first had the idea, it really was “If the Wild One can be ‘redeemed’, then the Huntsman dies, if the Wild One is more like the Wolf, than he dies”, this sort of binary conclusion. The Maiden is a ‘judge’ of sorts, with the Wild One and the Woodsman as ‘executioners’ at the Maiden’s call. I’m not wholly sure if I like this form though, and I have no idea what happens after someone is consigned beyond the Rose Gate(allegorical death, obviously, but in regards to Utena, no one actually dies, and instead claims the ire of the Millions Swords of Hate. Possibly banishment for the next cycle). I imagine they can come back, but there is a risk with that thought.

One thing I like about this setup, though, is that on top of the basic reward from the Bulwark, a ‘Fate’ can play out as a result of the remaining Engaged, kind of a small bonus for the turn out(I have no idea what sort of rewards). This runs the risk of making the ritual ‘political’ rather than ‘spiritual’, which risks ruining the Bulwark, although again I don’t know exactly what does what. The story demands sincerity, but the Sovereigns demand resources.

STEP THREE! IDEALS AND EMOTIONS!

Here I only have a motif and an idea. I’m endeared to the idea of calling them the Rose Courts of Paris, with each court being a colored rose(yes, that reeks of the war of roses, so I’m not sold on it). I want three or five(not four), with the first three being the White Rose, the Red Rose, and the Black Rose, followed by the Blue Rose and the Yellow/Gold Rose. Each court should revolve around ideas of what the signature roles should be like-What defines the Maiden, what defines the Wild One, and what defines the Woodsman, and has a romantic ideal and a cynical outlook. And finally, each should have something exterior to that. Oh yeah, and a summary emotion.

I don’t have anything for that.

STEP FOUR! DESIGN THE COURTS!

Aaaaand nothing here. I haven’t had a lot of time to really dig after I got this far thanks to school. Dueling should come back in here.

So, that’s where I got!

[That Other Guy]

Arc, I had some ideas, but of a slightly different line. In this, the chosen Hope and the Despair (Maiden and Wild One, in your terms) engage in a chase across the snow-shrouded streets of a city at midnight, with it ending if the Hope evades the Despair for an hour, or the Despair catches the Hope. In either case, the Judgement (the Woodsman), a member of a local Entitlement, comes in, and draws a sacrifice from the loser. The sacrifice must be something important, and it must be sealed in blood. The Winner then is crowned the monarch for the year. So the loser represents, retroactively, the old year, a painful (literally) reminder of what has been lost and the scars that bind the Lost together, and their sacrifice of aprt of their life keeps the True Fae at bay.