Changeling: Leaving the Nest
When last we left, we'd escaped from the hedge with the goblin fruits that we needed as our tithe/rent (for a more complete version of the events of the game before the one I describe in this post, see buffaloraven 's post.) We met up with the winter seneschal, who took tithe from the winter court changeling in our party. After that, we set out to return home.
Or that was the plan at least. Mostly we ran into the wrong part of town and got accosted by thugs who kicked the crap out of the sassy face-man in the party (me). Eventually we made our way back home and went to sleep. And there we dreamed of a terrible white queen who ordered us to return in no uncertain terms. We relayed this (eventually) to our patron, William. He immediately recognized this as a terrible warning from the faerie whose section of the hedge we had trespassed in to take the goblin fruit. Knowing that we were in danger, we still had to go about adjusting to our new lives in the mundane world.
- The Ogre (Olaf?) wandered down to the docks and threatened/begged/intimidated his way into a job as a longshoreman. They weren't very impressed with his knot tying or spear throwing skills, but he got a job lifting things.
- The Darkling (Shylock? may not be his real name) finagled (translation: bluffed) his way into a job with an art dealer.
- The Beast (Ket) completely blew off anything resembling responsibility, and went off on a quest to get a friend. Specifically, a tiger. She went down to the goblin market and traded away a cherished memory for a young tiger to train and hug and squeeze and make excuses for.
- The Fairest (Trevor) tried to get a job as a political consultant for the free democratic party of Germany. While he doesn't have the job yet, he's got a one week window in which to demonstrate his political savvy.
- The Elemental, feeling the sting of low glamour, went on a quest to harvest some fear. Specifically, he gathered up spiders and then threw them on a small child, terrifying the crap out of the poor kid. While the glamour was sweet, the aftermath was messy.
After that, we reconvened and exchanged stories about our acts of varying productivity. The next day dawned with a chilling threat from a stranger; there was a bounty on our heads now, and someone would be sure to come to collect.
What went well:
I kind of love the characters. Everyone's kind of crazy in their own way. The Ogre's all there for the most part, but still slips into his Viking ways at inopportune moments. The Beast has this perfect, crazy, child-like innocence; quick to shift from smiles to tears and back again as the mood takes her, and slow to grasp ponderous cerebral matters, but quick to understand matters of the heart. The Darkling keeps to himself and mostly plays it straight. The Elemental is probably the smartest of all of us, but communicates in brief bursts of coherence and falls back readily on his blue lipstick when stressed. My character, the Fairest, is reasonably sane, but he's earnest and relentlessly positive. The dynamic at the table is great, and I know the GM loves watching us sort out our absurd viewpoints at the table.
The story we're in works well as a moderately paced introduction to the world of changeling, both for the players and characters (for most of the table, this is their first time playing changeling.) Last game we were introduced to the hedge, now the concept of a fetch and (for one player at least) the goblin market.
The Winter Queen is pretty freaky yo
What could be improved:
It's rough having only one copy each of the NWoD book and the changeling book. Even doing stuff round robin, we often have to pause at the beginning of a scene so the person in question can see the details of the contract they want to use. Hopefully this'll get better as people get a better grasp of their own contracts though.
Or that was the plan at least. Mostly we ran into the wrong part of town and got accosted by thugs who kicked the crap out of the sassy face-man in the party (me). Eventually we made our way back home and went to sleep. And there we dreamed of a terrible white queen who ordered us to return in no uncertain terms. We relayed this (eventually) to our patron, William. He immediately recognized this as a terrible warning from the faerie whose section of the hedge we had trespassed in to take the goblin fruit. Knowing that we were in danger, we still had to go about adjusting to our new lives in the mundane world.
- The Ogre (Olaf?) wandered down to the docks and threatened/begged/intimidated his way into a job as a longshoreman. They weren't very impressed with his knot tying or spear throwing skills, but he got a job lifting things.
- The Darkling (Shylock? may not be his real name) finagled (translation: bluffed) his way into a job with an art dealer.
- The Beast (Ket) completely blew off anything resembling responsibility, and went off on a quest to get a friend. Specifically, a tiger. She went down to the goblin market and traded away a cherished memory for a young tiger to train and hug and squeeze and make excuses for.
- The Fairest (Trevor) tried to get a job as a political consultant for the free democratic party of Germany. While he doesn't have the job yet, he's got a one week window in which to demonstrate his political savvy.
- The Elemental, feeling the sting of low glamour, went on a quest to harvest some fear. Specifically, he gathered up spiders and then threw them on a small child, terrifying the crap out of the poor kid. While the glamour was sweet, the aftermath was messy.
After that, we reconvened and exchanged stories about our acts of varying productivity. The next day dawned with a chilling threat from a stranger; there was a bounty on our heads now, and someone would be sure to come to collect.
What went well:
I kind of love the characters. Everyone's kind of crazy in their own way. The Ogre's all there for the most part, but still slips into his Viking ways at inopportune moments. The Beast has this perfect, crazy, child-like innocence; quick to shift from smiles to tears and back again as the mood takes her, and slow to grasp ponderous cerebral matters, but quick to understand matters of the heart. The Darkling keeps to himself and mostly plays it straight. The Elemental is probably the smartest of all of us, but communicates in brief bursts of coherence and falls back readily on his blue lipstick when stressed. My character, the Fairest, is reasonably sane, but he's earnest and relentlessly positive. The dynamic at the table is great, and I know the GM loves watching us sort out our absurd viewpoints at the table.
The story we're in works well as a moderately paced introduction to the world of changeling, both for the players and characters (for most of the table, this is their first time playing changeling.) Last game we were introduced to the hedge, now the concept of a fetch and (for one player at least) the goblin market.
The Winter Queen is pretty freaky yo
What could be improved:
It's rough having only one copy each of the NWoD book and the changeling book. Even doing stuff round robin, we often have to pause at the beginning of a scene so the person in question can see the details of the contract they want to use. Hopefully this'll get better as people get a better grasp of their own contracts though.