Changeling Game Style Sheet – Draft only
Introduction
Tish’s intro – needs to be revised in the same tone as the rest of the website:
Imagine Kanberry as a city of half a million souls and a million dreams: a place where dreams and banality strive for dominance in the sunlight of wishing for a better times, a time where the privileged squander precious resources while the rest fight over scraps; and a place where hunger and thirst are never far from mind. Now imagine the sound of night terrors and the silence of anticipation, and what strange bedfellows they make. Imagine the supernatural denizens of such a place --vampires, werewolves, mages, ghosts and faeries -- listening and watching for the unknown that stirs in the night -- the thirsty night -- to stalk illusions with the truth. Then picture yourself among them -- in Kanberry --in Faemused.

Kanberry is known to changeling in the World of Darkness as a troubled city, rife with Autumn People and more unsavoury activity in this place that is in the latter days of Autumn, with the threat of an Endless Winter about to reach its cold banality.  Or is it a Winter that is simply a prelude to a even more glorius Spring?  Its history is clouded in banality and order. Some say that the city had been home to several previous courts, all decimated by misdeed or misfortune. The city has attracted mystics and opportunists of all persuasions.
Kanberry is also Australia's largest inland city. It was built on the banks of the Molonglo River, now dammed to form Lake Burley Griffin, named after the city's architect, Walter Burley Griffin. Kanberry is surrounded by its own territory -- the Australian Capital Territory -- that is in turn, surrounded by the State of New South Wales. The capital is independently governed and covers 4,067 square kilometres. Kanberry is linked to state capital cities and major regional areas by regular air, rail and bus services.
Game Information
	Name: 	???
	Chapter: 	Monkey’s Paw
	Domain: 	Carpe Civitatem (Canberra)
	Venue: 	Sanctioned Changeling
Time and Location
	Where?	Australian National University, Copeland G030
	When?	Fourth Sunday of every month
	What Time?	1 pm arrival for 2 - 6 pm game.
	How do I get there?	Turn right into Kingsley Avenue from Barry Drive and use the car park at the end of that road. 
Cast and Crew
	Storyteller:	Marissa Harris	Ph – 0402474409 or 02 6278 4469
	Narrators:	Mark Bruckard
		Xole
		Mike Walker (Occasional Special Guest Narrator)
	Assistants:	David James (Website)
		Andrew Smith (Website and Art)
		Pixie (Photography, Art, Makeup and Costuming)
		Michael Cornell (Downtimes and other Paperwork! :)
		Michael Cornell	(News Articles)
		Mark Bruckard	(Props)
		Pixie	(Props)
		???	(Props)
Style of Play
Talk to other storytellers, but generally Arthurian setting, courtly love in the context of World of Darkness Canberra, a city controlled by vampires, Autumn people, where Dauntain have had free reign.
Style Element Ratings on a Scale of 1 (Less) to 5 (More):
	Intrigue: 	4
	Action: 	3
	Mystery: 	3
	Drama: 	4
	Darkness: 	4
Character Approvals
Timing:
Approval Level Required*	Timing	
CST (Low)	Preferably at least 1 week before the game, but it can also be done at the game if a full character sheet is supplied.	
DST (Medium)	Allow 2 weeks to a month for approval.	
NST (High/Top)	Allow up to 2 months for approval.	
*You can figure this out using the Character Creation Section of this Style Sheet.
Approval Requirements:
Approval Level	Item	Timing	
Low 	A complete character sheet indicating your MC
A half page (at least) background + filled in character questions* + additional information on backgrounds**	Prior to approval 
Within a month of approval	
Medium, High, Top	A complete character sheet indicating your MC
A half page (at least) background + filled in character questions* + additional information on backgrounds**
A completed Character Creation Certificate	Prior to approval 
Prior to approval

Prior to approval	
* See Character Creation Section
** If appropriate – see Character Creation Section
Visiting Characters:
Sanctioned Changeling Characters from other cities are welcome. Please provide the Storyteller with the following information at least 48 hours prior to game time:
•	Approved Character Sheet 	If there are Medium, High or Top approval elements indicate who approved this and when.
•	Membership Details	Membership number and current MC class
•	Brief Background
•	Brief Note of Intent 	Describe your character’s reasons for coming to Canberra and his/her intentions while in Canberra.
Sanctioned Characters from other Venues are welcome, but may be refused at the Storyteller’s discretion. Please provide the Storyteller with the following information at least two weeks prior to game time:
•	Approved Character Sheet 	If there are Medium, High or Top approval elements indicate who approved this and when.
•	Membership Details	Membership number and current MC class
•	Brief Background
•	Brief Note of Intent 	Describe your character’s reasons for seeking out Changelings and his/her intentions in doing so.
Banality, Bunks and Glamour – Oh my!
Banality
Banality has been a way of life for the changelings in Canberra for quite some time and it doesn’t look like letting up anytime soon. For a daily report on Banality Levels in Canberra click here <insert link to banality weather report>.
Glamour
Glamour still lurks around the edges of Canberra, and has even been known to scurry through some of the more populated areas on occasion. However, in general Glamour, Freeholds and Dross are very scarce in Canberra and the Court in Canberra has been known to wander quite far afield for their personal glamour or tithes of Dross.
In game terms this means that at the start of each game each player needs to do a simple test. If:
•	Successful	Starts with 4 points of Glamour + Dreamers
•	Tied	Start with 2 points of Glamour + Dreamers
•	Fails	Start with 1 point of Glamour + Dreamers
Holdings also produce only half of their normal value of Glamour per night until further notice.
Magic and Bunks
Even so, magic (Fae Arts) is still a way of life for Canberra’s Changelings and the Jester’s Bunk System <add link here> is used in game – be creative! 
Magic can be done without performing a bunk, but this costs one point of Glamour.
Costuming and Props
Costuming is strongly encouraged and we even have help available if you’re not sure how to dress or where to get things like wings and horns. If you’d like help, please contact <props people email> at least a week before the game. There will also generally be make-up help available at each game.
Weapons and other items that may cause harm to other players are not allowed, even as costume accessories. If you are uncertain about an item, please contact <props people email>.
Character Creation
More details on the information in this section can be found in:
•	The Shining Host + Supplementary Rules (5.0 Aus Series)
•	The Shining Host Players Guide + 5.0 Australian Addenda
•	Laws of the Hunt + Supplementary Rules (5.0 Aus Series)
•	Laws of the Hunt Players Guide
•	Rules Supplement Prime (5.1 Aus Series)
Kith Types
Approval Level	Changelings	Mortals 	
Low/Storyteller	Boggans, Eshu, Nockers, Pooka, Redcaps, Satyr, Sluagh and Trolls	Mortals and Kinain (of any Kith)	
Medium*/DST	Clurichaun, Ghille Dhu, Selkies, Piskies and Sidhe	Characters with Psychic Numina	
High or Top*/NST	Members of House Scathach, Thallain (Beasties, Boggarts, Bogies, Goblins and Ogres), Members of the Shadow Court, Inanimae and Nunnehi	Autumn People, Dauntain and characters with Sorcery Numina	
* These approval levels require a completed Character Creation Certificate to be forwarded to the Storyteller.
Seeming 
Starting Traits for Changelings
Seeming	Age	Glamour	Banality	Willpower	Max Attribute Traits	
Childlings 	Up to 13 years 	5	1	1	10	
Wilders	13 to 25 years 	4	3	2	12	
Grumps	25 years and older	3	5	3	14	
For Changelings of any seeming:
	Maximum Glamour: 	10
	Maximum Willpower: 	10
	Maximum Ability Level: 	5

Starting Traits for Kinain
Seeming	Age	Glamour	Banality	Willpower	Max Attribute Traits	
Childlings 	Up to 13 years 	4	2	1	9	
Wilders	13 to 25 years 	3	4	2	9	
Grumps	25 years and older	2	6	3	9	
For Kinain of any Seeming:
	Maximum Humanity: 	8
	Maximum Faith Traits:	8
	Maximum Willpower: 	7 (5 for mortals who are not Kinain)
	Maximum Ability Level: 	5

With Storyteller approval, a character can have a mortal self that is up to 10 years different in age from their Fae Seeming. 
Some Kith Advantages give permanent Attribute Traits or Abilities. These Traits act as normal Traits but can exceed Trait maximums.
All characters assign:
•	5 Background Traits
•	5 Ability Traits
•	Up to 7 Merits
•	Up to 7 Flaws 
•	Up to 5 negative traits
Plus, For Changelings:
•	7/5/3 traits to Physical, Social and Mental attributes
•	3 Arts
•	5 Realms
For Kinain:
•	6/4/3 traits to Physical, Social and Mental attributes
•	3 Fae Gifts
•	Fae Marks (if desired)
NB: Faerie Gifts may be taken by Kithain as Merits with Mid approval. Fae Marks can be taken by Kithain as Flaws with Top approval.

All characters then have 5 free traits, as well as the player’s MC level multiplied by 5 extra free traits that can be spent as if the character had taken further negative traits.
Eg Bob who is MC3 can add 5 + 5x3 = 20 extra points to his character, while Tom, who is MC1 can add 5 + 5x1 = 10 extra points to his character.
Venue Crossovers
Characters may occasionally be played in other venues, provided Mid Approval is given on a case by case basis. High Approval is required to approve a character for permanent cross venue play, or for all occasional cross-overs that exceed three in one year. 
Court and Status
All Fae (including those visiting from other cities) are subject to the free venue flaw: Cyclic Court Change (-1) while in Canberra. The game effects of this are that all Fae are Seelie (or Unseelie in the case of Redcaps) most of the month, but change to Unseelie (or Seelie in the case of Redcaps) for one day per month, from lunchtime the day of the full moon, to lunchtime the day after.
Status/Title at creation:
•	Level 1 (Squire)
•	Level 2 (Knight) requires MC 3.
•	Level 3 (Baron) requires MC 6.
•	Level 4 (Count) requires MC 9 
•	Level 5 (Duke) requires MC 12 
In addition:
•	Status of levels 1 to 3 (Squire to Baron) at creation requires Storyteller Approval only. 
•	Status of levels 4 to 5 (Count to Duke) at creation requires NST Approval for commoners.
•	Status of level 4 (Count) requires DST approval for Sidhe
•	Status of level 5 (Duke) requires NST approval for Sidhe
After creation, if characters are rewarded with status or title, experience points must be paid as soon as possible and approval requirements still apply, but the MC levels required do not apply.
Secret Societies
Secret Societies listed in the various Handbooks require High approval. However, feel free to make up your own secret societies! If you’d like to do this, please send the Storyteller one page that outlines:
•	The history of your secret society
•	Its goals
•	Current status/activities
Abilities
Based upon the written background of the character, the Storyteller may waive the Experience Point cost of some of the character's Craft, Linguistics, Lore, and Performance Abilities at character creation. A character may be allowed a combined number of levels not to exceed three plus the player's Member Class.  This bonus is only available at character creation and only if a background is received prior to approval. 
Generally each character will be given one free level of Lore: Court: Seelie and Lore: Kith: <appropriate Kith> at creation regardless of whether a background is received.
The following abilities are accepted in the Changeling game:

Academics 
Animal Ken
Archery 
Athletics 
Awareness 
Bureaucracy
Blind-Fighting 
Brawl
Crafts 
Demolitions 
Dodge
Drive 
Empathy 
Enigmas
Etiquette 
Expression 
Finance
Firearms
Fortune-telling 
Gremayre
History
Intimidation 
Investigation
Kenning *
Law
Leadership
Linguistics** 
Lore*** 
Medicine
Meditation 
Melee
Occult
Performance
Repair
Research
Science
Scrounge
Security
Stealth 
Streetwise
Subterfuge
Survival
Throwing 
Torture 

* Kenning is a background for Kinain rather than an ability.
**There is only one Linguistics Ability, which allows a character to know languages other then his native language.  A character with one trait allows one additional language, two traits allows two additional languages, three traits allows four additional languages, four traits allows eight additional languages, and five traits allows sixteen additional languages. 
***Lores at level five require High Approval. Each Lore must have a specific topic. Eg. Lore: Dreaming.
NB: After the character attains the third level in an Ability, the player may choose to spend an Experience Point (or Free Trait) to specialize that Ability. Whenever a task is performed within that specialization, the character gets a bonus Trait for use in any associated challenges, so long as she has not spent all of her levels of that Ability for the session. A character may only have a single specialization in any particular Ability, and may not gain more than one bonus Trait from specialization(s), regardless of the number of Abilities that might apply to a single challenge. 
Other abilities may be accepted at Storyteller discretion.
Backgrounds
The following backgrounds are accepted in the Changeling game:

Allies
Chimera1, 2
Companion1, 3
Contacts
Dreamers
Fame5
Holdings2,4
Influence
Mentor1
Patron1
Political Connections1
Remembrance
Resources5
Retainers
Title1
Treasure1, 2
Trod1,2

1 Require DST approval for Level 4 and NST approval for Level 5.
2 Requires a one paragraph description prior to character approval.
3 Require a one page description of history, motivations and powers prior to character approval.
4 Talk to the Storyteller prior to taking this background.
5 Level 5 requires NST Approval. 
Other backgrounds may be accepted at Storyteller discretion.
For Kinain: 
•	Dross Requires Mid level approval for levels 1-4 and High approval from levels 4-5. 
•	Feth Fiada requires Mid approval 
•	Faerie Mentors may teach as per any other mentor. Arts can be taught by PCs without recourse to the Faerie Mentor background. Note that one Kinain cannot teach another an Art. Only the Fae can teach the Arts. 
•	Further levels of the Faerie Blood, Feth Fiada, or Kenning backgrounds after character creation can only be purchased with High approval. 
Arts
The following Arts are accepted in the Changeling game:

•	Aphrodesia 	(Low level for Merfolk. Mid Level for Eshu and Satyrs. High for all others & requires IC teacher)
•	Chicanery
•	Chronos  	(Requires NST Approval)
•	Contempt  	(Requires NST Approval)
•	Delusion  	(Requires NST Approval)
•	Dreamcraft
•	Infusion  	(Low for Nockers and Goblins. Mid for Sidhe of House Dougal; Boggans, Eshu and Trolls but with an IC teacher. Top for all others and requires an IC teacher)
•	Kryos  	(Low for Merfolk. Mid for Redcaps and Trolls. High for all others and requires an IC teacher)
•	Legerdemain
•	Metamorphosis 	(Low level for all commoners. Mid level for Ghille Dhu and Nunnehi. Top for all others and requires an IC teacher)
•	Naming   	(Requires NST Approval)
•	Oneiromancy  	(Mid level for Thallain. High level for Sidhe and requires an IC teacher or Remembrance 5. Top level for all others and requires an IC teacher)
•	Primal
•	Pyretics
•	Skycraft  	(Low level for Merfolk. Mid level for Ghille Dhu, Nunnehi, Pooka, Satyrs, Selkies and Trolls. High level for all others & requires an IC teacher.)
•	Soothsay
•	Sovereign 	(Commoners require NST approval)
•	Wayfare
Realms
•	Actor
•	Nature
•	Fae
•	Prop
•	Scene
Merits and Flaws
All Merits and Flaws in the Shining Host are accepted in the Changeling game, with the following additions and amendments:
•	Ability Aptitude (1 M) 	You have a natural affinity for a particular (but not combat related) Ability. You are up two Traits on all tests directly related to that Ability only (but not with powers that would use the Ability for a retest).  This bonus only applies to one specific ability for those that require a specific form or specialization (such as Crafts or Performance).
•	Ambidextrous (1 M) 	You are equally skilled at using either hand. You do not suffer the normal two Trait penalty for performing actions with your off hand. In addition, you do not need to have the prerequisite number of Ability levels appropriate to a weapon in order to get the advantage of using two weapons (or a shield) in combat.
•	Destiny 	This Merit is not allowed for Sanctioned play.
•	Endless Frustration (3 F)	The cost of this Flaw has changed for Sanctioned play
•	Fae Songs (1-5 M)	These only work on mortals
•	Iron Will (3 M) 	This Merit gives the character a free retest when attempting to resist Dominate and Dementation (unless the vampire has Superior level), or when fending off other mind-altering magics, etc.
•	Luck/Lucky (3 M) 	The character gets one free retest per session on any non-combat challenge.
•	Natural Linguist (2 M) 	You have a remarkable grasp of any languages that you speak or write (as per your Linguistics Ability). You gain three bonus Traits on all challenges related to language. You may also know twice the number of languages your Linguistics Ability allows.
•	Poetic Heart (3 M) 	Requires National Storyteller approval
•	Quiet Heart (4 M) 	This Merit gives the character a free retest when attempting to resist Presence and Fascination (unless the user has Superior level), or when fending off other emotion-altering magics, etc.
•	Supernatural Ally (3 M)		One or more of your Retainers that is a supernatural being (Vampire, Werewolf, Wraith, Changeling, or Mortal with Numina) perhaps even from a different venue.  You must purchase your retainer separately from this Merit, but the first trait gets you a basic creature of the appropriate type.  Supernatural Allies are always of the same level as those created by Member Class one characters and they never have Advanced powers.  Storytellers may limit the use of your supernatural ally at any time.
•	True Faith (7 M)	This Merit requires High Approval. 
•	Unbondable	This Merit is not allowed in Sanctioned Play.