Changeling Important Info

[Saber Sloth]

Since Changeling has had it's ups and downs over the last few years I'll be consolidating all the Rules and helpful points in this post.



Pledges

As said in Changeling 2017

Changeling has historically had a pretty lax take on Pledges. For the most part they've been used as a goodie grab-bag and rarely (if ever) have Sanctions been enforced. That's going to change, and Pledges will revert to RAW with a few tweaks. While this may seem a bit harsh, the truth is that soured bargains are just as much a part of fae tradition as anything else. Ignoring such is a disservice to the setting. Some might point out that Pledges are the main reasons for Motleys, but sharing Hollows confer a ton of benefits as found in all venues. So let's run through the changes.


Freehold Oath
(If voted to be done away with)
Will be going away entirely. For years it's been mechanically un-sound and unwieldy in-character. All current Freehold Oaths are dissolved and no new ones are required.


Duration
Until a character has been in play a year, only Lesser and Medial Durations are available. These range from a single day to a season and offer plenty of flexibility. Once a character is proven to reasonably be expected to fulfill a Greater Duration by being in play for a year, they can then use Greater Durations in their Pledges.


Sanctity
Once a Pledge is made, it is either fulfilled or broken. This is per RAW. Their is no 'mutual dissolution' or 'hand-waving' if a character leaves the game. If a character leaves, the Pledge is broken. Period. Be careful with your Pledges. There are no more 'freebies' or ignoring Sanctions.


Mechanics
Pledges have been one of the traditional time sinks of Changeling Storytellers, and mostly because players aren't doing their due diligence with the rules. If you don't understand the mechanics of Pledges, you have no business making them.

We have a pretty amazing table/walk-through on Pledges.

When a Pledge is made, the wording and mechanics should be recorded in the appropriate thread. It is up to all parties to vet both (feel free to discuss OOCly). If the mechanics are sound, an ST will note the Pledge has taken hold. If the mechanics are not sound, the Pledge will simply not take hold and be wasted breath. The Wyrd is not a teacher or babysitter.

You will have two attempts to make a sound Pledge before it is nixed entirely. This will keep the back-and-forth with Storytellers to a minimum and put the burden on the player(s) to do due diligence with the rules. A nixed Pledge cannot be re-attempted for two months. However, each dot of Pledgesmith will give a character an additional attempt. So if a character has Pledgesmith (●●), they may take four attempts.


Bookkeeping
Successful Pledges should be recorded in the Signature or Minisheet of a Changeling including a link to the post with the details.

Questions about this, or Pledges in general, should go in the OOC Discussion thread.

XP Spend Requests

This has been a rule for a long while, but it might need to be restated for all our wonderful new people!

When you're making your XP Spend Requestions, please limit them to ONE request per month. So, for instance, instead of asking to buy:

#Attribute: Stamina 3 = -15 on the 7th, and #Merit: Fast Reflexes 1 = -2 on the 11th, please instead group them all into ONE spend request for that month. For example:

#Attribute: Stamina 3 = -15
#Merit: Fast Reflexes 1 = -2
#Skill: Computers 1 = -3

In other words, yes, you can buy multiple things in the same spend request.

If there's 10 players in a venue, that's 10 requests a month already. Splitting up your requests across the month multiplies that and increases ST overhead. Furthermore, if you want help tracking all of your spend requests, we have a helpful notepad which can be found beneath your account name in the control bar (between Account and Notifications).


Note: Remember, you can only increase merits, skills, contracts, etc by ONE DOT per month. So you can't buy Allies 5 in one month. It would take 5 months.

Also! Purchasing Equipment As determined by the Rules. You can only make ONE Resources purchase post per-month, like the XP Requests.

So, if you have Resources 3, you can only buy one cost 3 item that month. OR! You could buy three cost 1 items, or one cost 2 item and one cost 1 item.

BUT!

You couldn't buy a cost 1 item, and then days later, buy another cost 1 item.

[Saber Sloth]

Freehold Membership

As said in the Freehold Membership thread the person responsible for your character Acknowledgement is a member of the Hierarchy.

Current Hierarchy members are:


Director Head Fae In Charge. Leader of the Freehold.

Rhodes

Notary Recorder of Pledges

Vacant

Groundskeeper Head of Security,

Circe


This method of Acknowledgement is to promote fun RP, and to hopefully avoid confusion on how Changeling can gain Status 1.

The only exception to having a Hierarchy Member Acknowledging your character is when the Solstices, or Equinoxes occur.

If your character attends the Solstice/Equinox and are unacknowledged, then by attending you will be Formally Acknowledged

For the Director, Notary, and Groundskeeper, they gain an extra scene slot for when they need to preform their duties.

eg. Overseeing the Freehold, Seeing to Pledges, Seeing to security concerns, or Acknowledging new arrivals.



This has been included on the Freehold wiki page since the change over, but I thought I should include it here, to make sure everyone's seen it.



Leadership

To provide structure and to reassure the Lost who remain, and to the Lost who come to Sacramento it was decided that something needed to change. Three new roles were created, The Leader, the Oath Keeper and the Sheriff. The Oath Keeper records and observes all the Pledges made within the Freehold, and the Sheriff patrols the Borders, protecting the Freehold, and enforces the Laws.

• Activities Director - Overall leadership of the Freehold and final adjudicator.
  
• Notary - Observes and records formal Pledges, and go-to for gossip and news.
  
• Groundskeeper - Security, law enforcement, Hedge patrols, etc.

To Receive Status 1 within the Freehold, new arrivals must speak with a member of the Hierarchy, or wait until the next Solstice or Equinox to be formally welcomed into the Freehold.


Seasonal Courts

The Seasonal Monarchs form an advisory council to assist the Director, but they may or may not be heeded. While the Freehold leadership does not answer to the Monarchs, neither are they wholly inviolate from them.

• Should a leadership role be vacated, the current Season's Sovereign may assume the role or appoint someone to fill it at their sole discretion.
  
• At any time (but only once per Season), a Monarch may summon a 'monsoon' - a seasonal wind of change, representing a new poll/pulse-taking for one or all of the positions.

[Saber Sloth]

Pledges Calendar!

Previously all Pledges needed to be recorded into the Pledges (Past and Current) thread, now with the miraculous wonderful work of West , we can now record them in the Calendar and have a more accurate date as to when your Pledges are fulfilled!

You will find the Calendar under the Jump drop down menu under Pledges! You will be brought to the Calendar, and you can add or review Pledges!

You will click on the cross circled in green! This will take you to where you can add your Pledges to the Calendar!

You will need to include the Date the Pledge was formed, and the Date the Pledge will end. Choose the appropriate Mechanics in the drop down menus for the Pledge and include a link to the scene where the Pledge was made in the provided text box below.


Everyone who has Currently Active Pledges ( Seraphina Orianna to Angel and Yamiyo Lillich ) will need to place these Active Pledges in the new Calendar, currently there is an example of Sera's Pledge with Angel, but it will be taken down when the official Pledge posting it up.

Going forward the Pledges (Past and Current) thread will be renamed Pledge Talk and be placed in the Changeling OOC forum, as a place to discuss Pledges and see if they are mechanically sound before recording them within the Pledge Calendar.

[Saber Sloth]

Wyrdstone!

The Wydstone is an alternative to the Freehold Pledge. It will not eat at Pledge Slots, or at WP. But it will take away the uncertainty of who's truly an ally or an enemy.

It feeds off Glamour.

Needing the Reigning Monarch's Glamour during their Coronation/Solstice/Equinox to bind all of their Court to the Freehold,

If there is no Reigning Monarch, then the Freehold Director can spend the Glamour for the Season.

For the Courtless Changeling the Wyrdstone needs a Glamour point from each individual Courtless Changeling, as they obviously do not have a Court to bind themselves to the protection of a Seasonal Monarch. The Courtless Changeling will spend 1 point upon their arrival and presentation to the Wyrdston, if they have arrived after or too far before a Equinox/Solstice. After which they will then they'd pay up at the next Coronation, and hopefully fall into the normal Seasonal structure of paying. Hopefully showing the Courtless as an outlier, and the benefits of being a part of a Court.

Once everyone is bound there will be a low key sense of belonging, making those who haven't payed the Glamour stand out.

The Wyrdstone isn't a device that will make impossible for IC conflict or drama, it's just something to say, 'yeah this person's part of the Freehold.' That you can trust them not to be an agent of the Gentry.

Enemies of the Freehold (Loyalists, Privateers etc) CANNOT be brought into the sense of belonging the Wyrdstone provides.