What I Like About Changeling: The Lost

 What I Like About Changeling: The Lost

There are a lot of things I like about Changeling: The Lost - I really enjoy the Court system, the notion of miens and appearing differently to other Changelings as opposed to everyone else, the creativity of Contracts...so much about this system works for me. But let me tell you what I unexpectedly learned to love the most about this game. Almost to the point where I would have difficulty running it any other way.

The politics. I love the politics of this game.

Before I explain why, I want to offer a little bit of background for anyone unfamiliar with this table top RPG. Basically, each player is one of the Lost: a human who was stolen away by the Fae and brought to the beautiful and terrible and alien realm of Arcadia, wherein the Fae dwell. During their time there, each person was fundamentally changed, mentally and physically, to better suit whatever task(s) for which the Fae had kidnapped them. Perhaps they are the newest prey the Fae and their cohort hunt, and so the Changeling develops a sixth sense when in danger, the ability to blend into their surroundings, and bigger eyes that allow them to see predators from any direction. Maybe the character's job is to maintain the oddities growing in a massive Fae garden, so their hands become shear-like, they develop a tougher skin so as to withstand brambles, and they can even do some healing of damaged plant life. Or maybe their job is to be one of the many candles that lights a Fae's library and so they are transfigured into a living flame, perched on a large candle overlooking one of countless shelves of tomes that the Fae never even reads.

The point is that characters are transformed into the stuff of dark, grim fairytale. And then, whether they were released, escaped, or whatever, they find themselves back in the "real world." But altered. Perhaps they felt like they were in Arcadia for 75 years, but only 15 minutes had passed on Earth when they return. Conversely, maybe they served for a year and a day in Arcadia before being released, but upon their return, they've been missing for 30 years. So how does one go on with life? Especially knowing the Fae are still out there, not only stealing other humans, but often delighting in terrorizing or "reacquiring" escaped Changelings.

There are a variety of answers to these questions because the setting is really excellent. But here's what I was getting at earlier: the Fae operate in absolutes, and because they're not human in the least, there are human behaviors and ideals they cannot grasp. Sharing power, for instance. So one of the best ways Changelings can protect themselves from the Fae is to be part of a system of power that allows for the regular and voluntary transfer of authority. As unchanging monoliths that cannot comprehend such a notion, the Fae are perplexed by this and so the Changelings are afforded protection. And these systems of power called Courts are based on the wax and wane of seasons, of day and night, or of cardinal directions (north, west, east, and south).

There are all sorts of politics at play between the Courts as the Changelings do what so many humans do: vie for power and influence. But they (ostensibly) have to balance those desires and aims with protecting themselves from the ever-threatening Fae. This is the part of the game I love. The powers and such are cool, but the politics of the Courts in any given Freehold (generally how the book refers to a settlement of Changelings) is what had me playing this game for so long.

See, Changelings aren't like so many other supernatural beings featured in other role-playing games: they're actually fairly frail. They've got tricks up their sleeves, but they can crumple very quickly if they get hit. So Changeling doesn't lend itself to the kind of combat slogs other RPGs sometimes feature. I think this game is all about shoring up defenses against the Fae and other supernatural beings, and a lot of that comes down to the idea that there is security in numbers. But numbers often bring disagreement, conflict, and treachery.

It has been my experience in a lot of RPGs that we do the fighting, we do the treasure-seeking, or we do the rescuing. But the politics usually last maybe half a session and are often treated as a means to an end. It's rarely my experience that everything the characters do must be considered through the lens of how their actions will resonate from a political standpoint. I rarely feel as though political aims are a consideration, and subsequently, subtle plays for the long game are rarely rewarded. Changeling lends itself extremely well to this notion while including so much weird that creativity is incredibly welcome in deal-making. 

I'm not saying this is the ONLY way to play Changeling; I just happen to think it's the best.