The premise was beautiful, haunting and possibly terrifying: In short, players take the role of people who were spirited away to another dimension (Arcadia) and made playthings for their new masters, the True Fae. It was with these experiences in mind when I was introduced to the first edition of Changeling: The Lost. I’ve heard the joke, “The best element in Exalted is fire…because you burn the books and then pick a better system.” The ideas were great, but a beautiful mess is still a mess (we won’t even touch on OPP’s timetables on fulfilling their Kickstarter projects). Exalted was the first tabletop I tried when I got back into gaming, and while I had fun, I am not lying when I say that a single combat could tie up half a session.
![changeling the lost 2nd edition sheet changeling the lost 2nd edition sheet](https://data.formsbank.com/pdf_docs_html/301/3010/301023/page_1_thumb_big.png)
Exalted, a game about mortals being empowered explicitly to do the things that were impossible for Gods, tend to be all about constantly pulling out impossible stuff. The first Mage game, Ascension, was incredibly vague on what constituted Paradox, which meant that a lot of what players could try to do would be incredibly reliant on what that GM allowed. Exalted has a beautiful, epic backstory about the revolts of the Gods, the vengeance of the Primordials who came before them, and the foibles and pride of the humans the gods had chosen as their champions, advisors, and soldiers.Īnd yet, when it came time to actually put those gorgeous ideas into playable games, very often the result was a mess. Mage is about humankind with magic, as the inertia of the world pushes back against it. Vampires, creatures who fear nothing but time, are now running out of it. On one hand, they have a knack for creating premises for games that I find utterly fascinating: The original Vampire: The Masquerade, throughout all of the backstabbing and power brokering, has the meta-plot of the approach of Gehenna, an apocalypse where their ancestors will all rise and devour them. I have a special relationship with products from White Wolf Publishing, and with its successor, Onyx Path. And for that, these Changelings will join together to stay alive.
![changeling the lost 2nd edition sheet changeling the lost 2nd edition sheet](https://i.ebayimg.com/thumbs/images/g/2SUAAOSwU39gIZpy/s-l225.jpg)
It might seem as if all of these characters have nothing in common, were it not for their enemy: the beings who took them away to a far off land, and who may come to take them again.
![changeling the lost 2nd edition sheet changeling the lost 2nd edition sheet](https://icv2.com/images/article_thumbs/650x650_da09aaefccc08006c3ecfa15f771831b54a98530fb403e81ab292fb2.jpg)
It’s a bit odd how so many have seemed to disappear, but no body, no crime. He’s been following up on a number of abusive husband cases lately. His smile, while charming, seems to have a few too many teeth. His eyes are quick and dart to the sides wildly. The private eye has streaks of grey throughout his raven black hair.
![changeling the lost 2nd edition sheet changeling the lost 2nd edition sheet](https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Concordia_3219.jpg)
What is odd is the number of filled shot glasses he keeps over the lintel as a marker. He’s quick with a smile, and a drink, and is always willing to hear a gripe or a complaint, and offer a quick word of comfort to the concerned bar patron. The bartender is a short man, barely noticeable behind the counter. If you agree to them in jest, you may be surprised when you are compelled to follow through. She is a master of the boardroom and has a knack for deal making, even when the terms seem a bit, well, strange. The political kingmaker is the fairest of them all, with a designer suit, a killer intellect, and a smile that will make men follow her anywhere.