Freehold of Broken Dreams (Very Provisional Title)

Pronouns
They/Them
Alright, so, here! Please post/repost your stuff! And then we can start talking and going back and forth.

@TenfoldShields , @Estro , @Hydroplatypus , @Omicron , @ManusDomine , @Scia , @Romv , @Joebobjoe , @runeblue360 , anyone else who is interested.

Okay, a few things. If you wanna do something Talecrafty...well, honestly you're probably too low-level to do much conscious stuff, but I can work with you for that and tell you about my vision and stuff. Same with if you wanna go full Sorcery and stuff.

I am also thinking about some rules involving Clarity loss. Here's the write-up, for anyone who missed it.

Yeah, 1e, and pure Changeling. Also, here is the 'I literally threw this together and the sarcasm is strong in this one' write-up I had based on a random idea. Because that's how you should run a campaign, by the seat of your pants. (Pls don't do so.)


"There are great and powerful Freeholds in the world. The Freehold of the Burnt Spire in London, a fading economic powerhouse whose reach and scope cannot be underestimated. The Allied Freeholds of New Tokyo, the Cartel of Mexico City, the wonder of the Changeing Pope-Emperor and his four Archibishops of the Seasons, of Rome, or the vast power wielded by Thousand Trods, the Kingdom of the Library in Alexandria…and yet more.

There are names and monarchs in places like these that not only shake but define the very fabric of Changeling society. When two such Freeholds squabble, the very foundations of the world shook, and even their pettiest grudge took on the quality of the epic when the figures involved were the closest thing to lords that existed outside of Arcadia, commanders of potentially hundreds of followers.

And there are lesser Freeholds whose power was still considerable. Marble Arch, The Sultanate of Rum, the Paris Communes, the Freehold of New Elysium, which rested upon a vast store of unknown power...dozens and dozens whose names are not household words, and yet whose powers would have made Shakespeare drop his quill in fright.

And there are even small Freeholds that nonetheless manage to work. The Mended Quilt and the Duchy of the Drum, and yet other, even smaller Freeholds that nonetheless provided some measure of safety and security to its members. For when their ambitions were not grand, they could focus on the true task that all Freeholds were formed for.

Then, there's your Freehold. Big enough to be ambitious, but small and out of the way enough, in the Hedge, that their ambitions stood little chance of being fulfilled. There's also the fact that each of the four main Courts is a mess.

Spring Court is led by a venal, drug-addicted puppet who flounces around dancing and singing like an idiot, and has none of the sheer charisma to back her pretensions up. Those that puppet her are little better, though they are at least clever enough to keep power: that's about the only talent they show, honestly.

Summer Court is led by a moron. A brave moron, the sort who charges into certain danger sure that she will come out of it alive, and whose grand ambitions of conquering the Hedge run straight into the 'too small and out of the way to do much.'

Autumn Court is led by a poseur, everyone suspects it. All of his mystic wisdom seems carefully crafted to avoid anyone challenging him, and his insistence on ceremony and layers between him and his subjects could work if he was truly fearsome or if the court was large enough, but when there's a total of eighteen people, or so in the entire Autumn Court, setting up layers of secrecy and security makes no sense at all.

Winter Court has someone competent in charge...who is also a monster. He sees very little difference between smuggling Changelings to safety and smuggling sex slaves into captivity. Both can be quite profitable, and so he does both, in addition to being deeply involved in the worst parts of the criminal underworld. His fist at least is iron, and he's at least *scary* which is more than you can say about the other monarchs, but the fact that everyone hates him and the other Freeholds look down their noses at him doesn't help.

So yeah, Freehold of the Year, woo!

Then something happened...what is it? Not sure yet!

  1. Refugee Crisis: A few Freeholds that have Trod connections to this Freehold alone were attacked, and so for the moment some are camping out while trying to figure out where to go. Obviously, most really wanna get assurances that they can join into some more important Freehold, like Thousand Trods that always welcomes refugees (but doesn't at the moment due to a certain squabble that of course doesn't count as a squabble because of course there is no way that such a powerful Freehold's grudges could be petty), but for the moment they're stuck in the Hedge. Some people want them gone, while others want them to stay because free recruits! But what if they overwhelm the special and unique culture of Freehold yet Unnamed? (Also, in this scenario you could play either as native or refugee, whatever matters)

  2. King Tut's Tomb: A huge, huge bounty of Tokens and other artifacts has been uncovered nearby. Someone apparently wanted to hide them where nobody would ever even bother to look, in some random American shithole Freehold, but you've found them! And now everyone wants them. Wants the magic and secrets and lore and power...good luck.

  3. Religious revival: Apparently something miraculous happened because there are a lot more Faith courtiers around than usual and they're holding tent revivals and the Monarchs are starting to worry that they will be overthrown by the influx of Faith Courtiers with their strange powers and weird beliefs and stuff!

  4. Something else: Feel free to suggest some sort of disaster/windfall (it's both) that happens that makes the Freehold actually matter to someone for the first time in its history.

*****

Okay, I admit I was grinning the whole time I wrote this. So, it's definitely going to need some polish, and I'm of course open for ideas other than this."

And then Earthscorpion proposed a pretty cool fourth idea that I sorta like, so it's going here too.

Hob Mongols Sea Pirates. Oh dear, a little empire has formed in the Hedge. Well, not so little, really. Not little at all. Cohesive, disciplined and organised, the rivers and lakes of the very aqueous Hedge are now ruled by kin-bonded hob pirates who have - it is rumoured - even managed to take overconfident True Fae who ventured to put them down as captives. Their green-sailed living ships know all the secret paths through the hedge, and only the 'shores' close to the mortal world hold a barrier to them.

But - and this is the silver lining to this cloud - this hob empire with its raiding and its pillaging is extracting wealth from everywhere and bringing it all to the area. The goblin markets are safe and prosperous, because the hob pirates crucify anyone who threatens their weapons dealers and provisioners and fences. And oh my, do they fence a lot of goods here.

Thing is... the hob markets are starting to sell goods from Earth, too. Either someone's selling to them (and eyes turn to the local Winter Court), or the hobs and their ships have found a way into the real world. Or both.

*****
Finally, Mantle Stuff. Only up to Mantle 3 because that's the max I'm going to allow you to start as for obvious reasons.

Spring 1 gives a specialty in Crafts, Expression, Socialize or Persuasion, because if you've gotten a Mantle, it means you've probably been doing one of those things.
Spring 2 adds a die to Socialize rolls.
Spring 3 gives two free dots of Allies, Contacts, Fame, or Retainers, because part of being more integrated into the Court means certain things, like new Allies, are likely to come up.

Summer 1 gives a specialty in Intimidation, Streetwise, Survival or Athletics.
Summer 2 allows you to add 4 instead of three when using Willpower for a Strength check.
Summer 3 gives you two free dots for a very specific purpose...Fighting Styles!

Autumn 1 gives a specialty in Invesigation, Occult, Intimidation, or Stealth
Autumn 2 adds a die to Empathy and Investigations rolls involving the Fae
Autumn 3 gives you two dots to spend on either Harvest, Mentor, Token or Archive

Winter 1 gives you a specialty in Stealth, Subterfuge, Politics or Larceny
Winter 2 allows you to add 1 die to all Subterfuge rolls.
Winter 3 means you have 2 dots to spend on Anonymity, New Identity, Fleet of Foot, or Hollow, because blending in, making a new life, running away and having a hideout makes sense.


*****
Might do more stuff in a sec. Just wanna post this first.
 
Alright, so, here! Please post/repost your stuff! And then we can start talking and going back and forth.

@TenfoldShields , @Estro , @Hydroplatypus , @Omicron , @ManusDomine , @Scia , @Romv , @Joebobjoe , @runeblue360 , anyone else who is interested.

Okay, a few things. If you wanna do something Talecrafty...well, honestly you're probably too low-level to do much conscious stuff, but I can work with you for that and tell you about my vision and stuff. Same with if you wanna go full Sorcery and stuff.

I am also thinking about some rules involving Clarity loss. Here's the write-up, for anyone who missed it.



And then Earthscorpion proposed a pretty cool fourth idea that I sorta like, so it's going here too.



*****
Finally, Mantle Stuff. Only up to Mantle 3 because that's the max I'm going to allow you to start as for obvious reasons.

Spring 1 gives a specialty in Crafts, Expression, Socialize or Persuasion, because if you've gotten a Mantle, it means you've probably been doing one of those things.
Spring 2 adds a die to Socialize rolls.
Spring 3 gives two free dots of Allies, Contacts, Fame, or Retainers, because part of being more integrated into the Court means certain things, like new Allies, are likely to come up.

Summer 1 gives a specialty in Intimidation, Streetwise, Survival or Athletics.
Summer 2 allows you to add 4 instead of three when using Willpower for a Strength check.
Summer 3 gives you two free dots for a very specific purpose...Fighting Styles!

Autumn 1 gives a specialty in Invesigation, Occult, Intimidation, or Stealth
Autumn 2 adds a die to Empathy and Investigations rolls involving the Fae
Autumn 3 gives you two dots to spend on either Harvest, Mentor, Token or Archive

Winter 1 gives you a specialty in Stealth, Subterfuge, Politics or Larceny
Winter 2 allows you to add 1 die to all Subterfuge rolls.
Winter 3 means you have 2 dots to spend on Anonymity, New Identity, Fleet of Foot, or Hollow, because blending in, making a new life, running away and having a hideout makes sense.


*****
Might do more stuff in a sec. Just wanna post this first.
I see a slight problem with the fact that if you have mantel 1 it is point neutral for you to get mantel 3 as the stuff that it gives you at chargen is stuff that you already want so I would assume that most of the people that via concept, would start with a good mantle are better then those without a strong one.
 
OK, so here's my character idea. Reposted from the general thread. Will polish it up a bit later once I get him stated out.

A University Student working on a PhD in chemistry. Unfortunately, he had the misfortune to start talking about his work to a pretty woman he met at a bar. They ended up getting into an argument, with her accusing him of taking the wonder out of the world, while he accused her of wanting to live in a world of make believe.

Eventually their argument ended though, as they agreed to talk about other things. As they talked about other things, he thought she had grown to like him, and when she invited him back to her place, he gladly accepted. He happily followed her she started dragging him through the thorns, but by then it was too late to escape.

She told him that she would make him see the wonder in the natural world. To teach him not to reduce things to mere equations and formulas, but to always gaze upon it with the eyes of a child. And to help him on his journey, she would give him first hand experience in the wonders of the natural world. Throughout his time in Arcadia, he spent time as a glacier, a tree, a flowing river, and a part of the evening sky. But most of all he spent his time as a burning fire, to show him the wonder that even a simple chemical reaction could bring.

But eventually the fae got bored, and careless. For months she left him alone, burning in his pit, until finally the plants grew near enough that he could spread his to them. And as he spread, he retraced his steps from oh so long ago, until he found the thorns once more, and forced his way back through them.

While he has retained his scientific mindset - and will deny it to anyone who asks him - the fae did manage to inspire the sense of wonder she sought. The magic of faerie facinates him, and though he will insist his interest is merely scientific curiosity, there's always a little voice in the back of his mind, wondering if this sense of wonder he feels is his own, or just something left by his keeper.

After talking with The Laurent in PMs it has been decided that my guy will be the freehold's sole Reason courtier.
 
I've only just started but my working concept right now is Coming Down From The Power High.

Essentially a character who was set up by her Keeper as the grand opponent of her tale, incredibly powerful yet defeated again and again by the 'hero.' Escaping from her Durance involved aknowledging that this power wasn't real and she was just a prop to the protagonist. But she still has memories of it, and her shameful secret is that her Durance was an amazing rush of feeling godlike whereas now she's... nothing.

Probably with a plant/thorn theme, using the Contract of Thorns and Brambles.

Buuuut I might just drop that and do a character who a wizened artisan instead... If I can figure what to use Craft for.
 
I see a slight problem with the fact that if you have mantel 1 it is point neutral for you to get mantel 3 as the stuff that it gives you at chargen is stuff that you already want so I would assume that most of the people that via concept, would start with a good mantle are better then those without a strong one.

You have to justify it, for one, and having a higher Mantle does get you stuff...it also gets you obligations up the wazoo. I mean, being fair, half the character concepts I've seen so far are 'total losers who couldn't be justified having more than Mantle 2' and they're pretty good at it, actually. :p

Some really fun and interesting concepts going around here.

I've only just started but my working concept right now is Coming Down From The Power High.

Essentially a character who was set up by her Keeper as the grand opponent of her tale, incredibly powerful yet defeated again and again by the 'hero.' Escaping from her Durance involved aknowledging that this power wasn't real and she was just a prop to the protagonist. But she still has memories of it, and her shameful secret is that her Durance was an amazing rush of feeling godlike whereas now she's... nothing.

Probably with a plant/thorn theme, using the Contract of Thorns and Brambles.

Buuuut I might just drop that and do a character who a wizened artisan instead... If I can figure what to use Craft for.

Interesting!

Also, have a free tidbit/opening sentence I thought of if we went with EarthScorpion's idea.

"It began, as all great modern epics must, with an angry blogger."

:V
 
Once there was a girl who was born with a silver spoon in her mouth. As the child of two members of the vaunted old money and older blood, she never lacked for anything in her life.

Well, except for the presence of her parents. Alas, as usual for such a modern little princess, they were often away dealing with work, a holiday in Cannes or Aspen, and she was left alone in the grand old manor together with her little sister.

As usual for the princesses left alone in such a dark tower, they bonded well with each other and the older acted like a mother to the younger, even if she herself never felt this touch before. And so, she became a bit unruly as she grew up into a beautiful woman, being fairest of all of them. Not unusual during the day as she was occupied with not being in school, then she was riding, starting to train in the art of pugilism, and other digressions of the idle. While at night, she was occupied with midnights trysts, and the southern snow.

But dark days loomed ahead of her as those that she never saw, she would never see again. And so, she was the warden of her sister and wondered what she would do with her life as she found a distraction that had entertained many of her peers, the keeper of the pool. Alas as it happened, it happened as she became with child. What became of the father is not our concern in this cautionary tale, but she spent time with her child and then visited the halls of ivory and dust as someone was enchanted by her and so enthralled her...


Going for a Spring fairest there , mainly focused on social interaction with a minor in self defence/crime. Her story is about comming back and now falling victim to the distractions of the world again. Which will not be easy considering the drugpushers in spring , and what winter is up to. Summer, a nice tale but she is to cynical and throwing her life away when her family might need her for a real cause instead ...
 
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Two questions:
1) is the standard trading-Merit-dots-for-Wyrd rule applied here? It is by default but I'd like to check.
2) is the optional trading Humanity-for-XP rule applied?

I swear I'm not building a minmaxed monster... But a bit.

It makes perfect sense tho! You'll see!
 
Updated character sheet!

Name: Jameson Blackwell

Virtue: Fortitude (A soldier's place is to fight and die. I should be the one to get hurt, I should be the one to get shot.)

Vice: Pride (Someone who isn't willing to stand up and fight, deserves whatever he's getting.)

Seeming: Wizened (Places where soft human flesh should be, shining metal replaces it, instead of bone, tungsten rods and carbon nanotubes support an artificial body.)

Kith: Stonebones (A cybernetically enhanced soldier of the future)

Court: Winter

Physical Attributes: Strength 2, Dexterity 3, Stamina 3
Mental Attributes: Intelligence 2, Wits 2, Resolve 3
Social Attributes: Presence 1, Manipulation 2, Composure 3

Physical Skills: Athletics 2, Brawl 1, Firearms 3 (Specialty: Pistols), Survival 2, Weaponry 2
Mental Skills: Academics 1, Computer 1, Medicine 2, Craft 0 (Specialty: Infantry-grade Weapons), Occult 0 (Specialty: Faerie)
Social Skills: Intimidation 3, Persuasion 1, Subterfuge 1(+1 from Mantle) (Specialty: Nothing to see here, move along.), Streetwise 2

Merits: Atavism 1 (From Slashers. Cognitive implants allow Jameson to respond to external threats with swiftness), Winter Goodwill 1, Combat Marksmanship 3 (Armory. He's a trained soldier and able to handle himself very well in combat), Mantle of The Winter 2 (Hard lines, cold eyes and a freezing gaze), Resources 3 (Working for the Winter Court is surprisingly lucrative), Armory 1 (A simple man of simple pleasures)

Contracts: Contracts of The Sorrow-Frozen Heart 1, Contracts of Oath and Punishment 2, Contracts of Stone 2

Willpower: 6/6

Health: 8/8

Clarity: 7/10 (I might lower this to 6 or 5)

Wyrd: 2

Glamour: 11/11
 
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Two questions:
1) is the standard trading-Merit-dots-for-Wyrd rule applied here? It is by default but I'd like to check.
2) is the optional trading Humanity-for-XP rule applied?

I swear I'm not building a minmaxed monster... But a bit.

It makes perfect sense tho! You'll see!

Hmm, max Wyrd of 3, and even that might be a bit of a stretch. The big rule I have in place is 'justification is key'. Justifying choices is always a good thing. Also, everyone, feel free to join Entitlements.

Also, can't remember how much XP it went for, so that's sorta a 'maybe.'
 
Hmm, max Wyrd of 3, and even that might be a bit of a stretch. The big rule I have in place is 'justification is key'. Justifying choices is always a good thing. Also, everyone, feel free to join Entitlements.

Also, can't remember how much XP it went for, so that's sorta a 'maybe.'

I would strongly, strongly recommend that you just give people a fixed level of Wyrd, and if someone's character concept wants a lower Wyrd than the level you give them, they just don't have to pay to raise it to that level in play, it's just RPing.

The "fuck you" in XP caused by not spending Merit points on raising your power stat is actively painful. In fact, bluntly, I'd recommend (less strongly) that you remove control over the power stat from XP entirely, and just give people Wyrd raises when player and GM see fit to raise it. Because either you a) give people bloated amounts of XP so they can afford to raise their power stat, which warps the rest of the power curve, or b) no one can afford to raise it at all in play so the only way to get it up is to buy more of it at the start. Neither are good end results.
 
I would strongly, strongly recommend that you just give people a fixed level of Wyrd, and if someone's character concept wants a lower Wyrd than the level you give them, they just don't have to pay to raise it to that level in play, it's just RPing.

The "fuck you" in XP caused by not spending Merit points on raising your power stat is actively painful. In fact, bluntly, I'd recommend (less strongly) that you remove control over the power stat from XP entirely, and just give people Wyrd raises when player and GM see fit to raise it. Because either you a) give people bloated amounts of XP so they can afford to raise their power stat, which warps the rest of the power curve, or b) no one can afford to raise it at all in play so the only way to get it up is to buy more of it at the start. Neither are good end results.

That's a good point. Not sure whether that fixed amount should be Wyrd 1 or Wyrd 2. I'll think that through. As for the 'removing Wyrd from XP' that could certainly work, though I don't necessarily see this as a chronicle that would have a lot of raises anyways. Wyrd is something that takes its time to grow, usually, after all. But that's a good suggestion.
 
The "fuck you" in XP caused by not spending Merit points on raising your power stat is actively painful. In fact, bluntly, I'd recommend (less strongly) that you remove control over the power stat from XP entirely, and just give people Wyrd raises when player and GM see fit to raise it. Because either you a) give people bloated amounts of XP so they can afford to raise their power stat, which warps the rest of the power curve, or b) no one can afford to raise it at all in play so the only way to get it up is to buy more of it at the start. Neither are good end results.

Or alternatively, one could link it to overall, accumulated XP.
 
I really would prefer not to start at Wyrd 1. Wyrd is included in a ton of rolls and powers, and the success rate of low dice pools in the nWoD system is pretty abysmal. Failing at skill rolls can be fun and story-driving, but most rolls that involve Wyrds are just "you don't get to use the cool stuff that is the reason you play a Changeling in the first place."

I would honestly really like Wyrd 3 but I can do with Wyrd 2 if we must.
 
I really would prefer not to start at Wyrd 1. Wyrd is included in a ton of rolls and powers, and the success rate of low dice pools in the nWoD system is pretty abysmal. Failing at skill rolls can be fun and story-driving, but most rolls that involve Wyrds are just "you don't get to use the cool stuff that is the reason you play a Changeling in the first place."

I would honestly really like Wyrd 3 but I can do with Wyrd 2 if we must.

I second this.
 
I really would prefer not to start at Wyrd 1. Wyrd is included in a ton of rolls and powers, and the success rate of low dice pools in the nWoD system is pretty abysmal. Failing at skill rolls can be fun and story-driving, but most rolls that involve Wyrds are just "you don't get to use the cool stuff that is the reason you play a Changeling in the first place."

I would honestly really like Wyrd 3 but I can do with Wyrd 2 if we must.

Probably with Wyrd 3 is, big secret here, the strongest people in the Freehold have, like, Wyrd 4. Maybe 5, but that's stretching it, you know? So putting you at three actually puts you at pretty powerful, though I suppose having few Contracts contrasts with that somewhat. Wyrd 1 is out, though, then.
 
Probably with Wyrd 3 is, big secret here, the strongest people in the Freehold have, like, Wyrd 4. Maybe 5, but that's stretching it, you know? So putting you at three actually puts you at pretty powerful, though I suppose having few Contracts contrasts with that somewhat. Wyrd 1 is out, though, then.
Ah, that's fair. I do tend to assume "elders everywhere" because I'm a sucker for gonzo urban fantasy play but yeah. Wyrd 2 sounds fine in that context?
 
Probably with Wyrd 3 is, big secret here, the strongest people in the Freehold have, like, Wyrd 4. Maybe 5, but that's stretching it, you know? So putting you at three actually puts you at pretty powerful, though I suppose having few Contracts contrasts with that somewhat. Wyrd 1 is out, though, then.
I'm fine with wyrd 2 - or even 1 - as a starting point, as we're not supposed to be the top of the block yet. Wyrd 3 seems a bit too high given the freehold's power level.
 
Ah, that's fair. I do tend to assume "elders everywhere" because I'm a sucker for gonzo urban fantasy play but yeah. Wyrd 2 sounds fine in that context?

My Quests have tons (relatively) of people at Wyrd 6, 7, and even 8. But they also take place in places that matter.

Speaking of Gonzo Urban Fantasy, you were asking about Faith and Reason? Reason was founded by Charles Steelhand. He's a high-Wyrd, high-Mantle person. Reason Mantle tends to make someone look...not normal/human, but explainable. Like, the girl with pointy ears looks a little more like they're just a girl that got cosmetic surgery with a high Mantle.

Charles Steelhand has a steel arm, and leg, and other parts. High Wyrd and High Reason Mantle means these are in fact CYBORG LIMBS (he can even shoot them at people, no seriously) instead of, you know, living crafted steel like they were when he got out of the Hedge.

There, I have satisfied your Gonzo urges!

*****

I'm still thinking about it. Remember, just got home from six hours of work as a janitor, have been home only an hour and a half, so there's a lot to think about. But yeah, any and all peeps, post concepts and/or sheets here.

Even if you already posted it over there, because people can comment on it here without crowding out the thread.
 
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I still need to write her backround out a bit more detailed especially in regards to NPCs And I am debating if I am pennyless enough or trade a dot of mantle for it.


Character Name: Prudence Francine Diana Leighton
Age: 22
Concept:Who cares for the Caretaker?
Virtue: Hope
Vice : Pride
Seeming: Fairest
Kith: Succubus
Court: Spring
Wyrd:2

Clarity : 7
Physical Attributes : Strength 2, Dexterity 2, Stamina 2
Mental Attributes : Intelligence 2, Wits 3, Resolve 2
Social Attributes : Presence 3, Manipulation 2, Composure 3

Mental skills : Academics: 2 Occult: 1 Politics : 2 Medicine : 2 (Drugs)

Physical Skills :Athletics: 1 (Bends like a snake) Brawl: 1 Drive: 1 Weaponary: 1

Social Skills :Streetwise: 1 Empathy : 3 (Altered State) Persuasion : 2(Trustworthy) Socialize : 3 (Formal Events) Subterfuge: 2


Contracts:
Vainglory :1 Fleeting Spring: 2 Omen :2
Merits: Striking looks: 2(+2) Soul Sense :2 Mantel Spring :2 New Identity 1 (Mary Ann Rutherford, Waitress)
 
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Made my character sheet. (Mostly)

Let me know if you can't see it, so I can move it somewhere better.

Still need virtue/Vice, and to confer with the Laurent about the Reason contracts a bit more.
 
Lash the Summer Courtier, still in withdrawal from what felt like godlike power.

A homebrew request, not sure what rating would be appropriate:


The Thorned Whip (Token X)


This long coil of vine was found not in the darkest or deepest recesses of the Hedge, but in its most entangled ones - places where the vegetation becomes more treacherous than ever, ensnaring the traveller until they can't move - dooming them to a cocoon of slowly shifting thorns that rips them apart. The hardest of these vines were selected and braided into a single vegetal rope, surprisingly soft to the touch - until it is activated, at which point it bristles with a thousand light thorns.

The Thorned Whip was designed as a channel for Glamour, specifically as a support for the Contracts of Thorn and Brambles. Its nature as a vegetal whip fulfills the catch for Bite of the Wooden Fang. More strikingly, when activated it can be infused with Leechweed; on any turn in which Bite of the Wooden Fang is successfully activated on the whip and it hits an opponent, the thorns expand and drain a single point of Glamour from the opponent to the user.

The whip's mask is that of an elegant piece of fabric, such as a scarf or a tie. Knots made with it unravel easily, allowing the user to turn it from a piece of ornament to a ready weapon at a moment's notice. Owing to its superior nature, it is a 1(B) weapon rather than a 0(B) like other vegetal whips.

Drawback:
The Thorned Whip is a jealous instrument, and once awakened it does not easily let go. Thorns that erupt from its handle do not hurt the user, but grip her skin, preventing her from releasing the weapon. She cannot use her hand for any purpose other than wielding the whip until the end of the scene. If she is forcibly disarmed, she suffers one point of bashing damage from the sudden tearing off of skin.


Catch:
the user may rouse the whip to life by lashing their own body with it, causing one point of bashing damage.
 
Concept: Struggling Alt-Rock Frontman
Name: Mikhail Cook Age: 23
Seeming: Darkling (Carrion Crow) Kith: Nightsinger (from Winter Masques)
Court: Autumn Court Wyrd: 2 Will: 4/4 Glamour: 4/11

Clarity: 7
Virtue: Charity
Vice: Gluttony

Social Attributes: Presence 3, Manipulation 3, Composure 2
Mental Attributes: Intelligence 2, Wits 3, Resolve 2
Physical Attributes: Strength 1, Dexterity 3, Stamina 2

Social Skills: Expression (Performance) 4, Empathy 2, Socialize (Carousing) 2, Subterfuge 3
Mental Skills: Investigation (Examining a Crime Scene) 3, Medicine 2 (Narcotics), Occult 2
Physical Skills: Stealth (Shadowing) 3, Larceny 1

Contracts/Abilities:
Ghostly Presence: This clause allows the changeling to see, hear and speak to any ghosts in her area (same room, or conversational distance outside) in Twilight for a scene. Presence + Wyrd. Cost: 1 Glamour. Catch: The ghost is someone the changeling knew in life, or the changeling is a Gravewight.
The Wrong Foot: This Contract allows the changeling to change the nature of the marks he leaves when passing through a certain locale. Mikhail leaves in his wake the sickly-sweet scent of carrion and a few jet black crow feathers, his footprints those of some monstrously sized avian thing. Cost: 1 Glamour. Catch: The changeling licks his thumb and smudges it on a mirror, thereby leaving another mark of his own passing.

Nevertread: When the changeling invokes this clause, all traces of his passing vanish. He leaves no footprints in mud, sand, snow or any other surface that would normally hold a mark. Likewise, his wet feet leave no prints on dry ground. Intelligence + Wyrd. Cost: 1 Glamour. Catch: The changeling must have spent at least an hour barefoot within the past day.
Kith Skill: Make a Performance + Wyrd roll; listeners may contest the roll with Composure + Wyrd. Success makes the affected listeners more suggestible; such listeners suffer a -2 penalty to Resolve, Empathy and Subterfuge rolls for the duration of the scene.
Witch's Intuition: The character dredges knowledge of one fear from the subject's mind or subconscious. Wits + Wyrd - subject's Composure. Cost: 1 Glamour Catch: The Contract's subject does not know the character's name.

Merits
Rank One: Investigation Specialty (Examining a Crime Scene).
Rank Two: Added die to Empathy and Investigation roll involving Fae.
Insofar as the area has one. A regular of the club scene, Mikhail knows many of the people who move in those circles and is known by them. Ranging from the aboveboard (managers, bartenders, and other bands) to the more illicit (regular dealers and sex workers).
Mikhail's relationship with the police is an odd one and is perhaps best qualified as "suspiciously important informant". He has performed personal favors for a number of officers and aided in the resolution of several cases. Easy enough to work with, the local precinct views him as a fairly useful resource worth cultivating. The feeling is mutual.
This Merit reflects how well liked and respected you are in a Court other than your own. While members of a given Court will always be true to their own members and agendas above all, they are more likely to give you the benefit of the doubt in a dispute, or come to your assistance if it does not undermine their own position
Rank One: Withstand casual inspection by civilians.
Rank Two: Withstand most forms of cursory professional inspection.
Anyone attempting to see through his lies or figure out what your character's real emotions are suffers a -2 to all rolls to do so. All attempts to use devices such as lie detectors or voice-stress analyzers on your character are made at a -4 penalty, because your character can mimic emotions with great skill and has learned to suppress almost all of the physiological cues that would normally reveal his emotions.

Mikhail hated his home town. This small, dying place in the heart of the Rustbelt. A boomtown once upon a time, now wasting away and decaying. Here an office block that nobody has the money to tear down, now so much crumbling concrete and filthy glass. Here a row of foreclosed homes between empty, overgrown lots. The kind of place that placed so much reverence on family, on hearth and home, even as the community itself drew farther apart. Even as the people grew colder to each other and ugly things festered in the dark.

But then, it was an ugly place.

But he was going to get out. He was so much smarter. So much cleverer. So much more sensitive than all the other miserable people in this small, dying place. He was going to get out, going to be Someone Important in an actual city. The shy, softspoken but secretly brilliant, loners end up running the world, isn't that how it's supposed to go? So he convinced himself that he loved science (he didn't) and that he was talented at math (he hated it). He told himself that community college was just the first step-stone on his path out. So, when he found a private garden between ruined buildings, a single red-leafed tree surrounded by stone benched, he told no one. It was to be his place, his secret spot where he would plan the conquest of his circumstance.

And, because he was a good person, he always obeyed the rusted, faded sign pinned to the fence. That noted the garden's hours as strictly from noon to seven.

Until he didn't. And the crows that gathered in the boughs of that crimson tree carried him, struggling and screaming, into the dark.

He remembers a machine the size of a city, dead and broken beneath a bleeding sun. He remembers rust-red metal, rust-red leaves, and rust-red puddles of tacky blood. He remembers the dead piled high in open, empty rail-streets. Plants twining, growing through the city's corpse. He remembers the horned thing, the titan with a stag's fleshless face, the giant on the crumbling throne.

He remembers the men-who-were-crows, the crows-who-were-men.

They taught him how to eat the tongues of the dead, the accumulated lost of Arcadian wars. Taught him how to pluck out their eyes and savor their secrets. Taught him how to mock the Huntsmen and trapworms with raucous, hoarse, tones yet to sing in a lovely voice as they flocked 'round their master's head. He remembers teaching other crows in turn, murmuring to frightened, shivering, fledglings in the night. Their feathers not even in yet. Telling them to eat, before the Huntsmen found them.

He remembers the forest burning. Cyclopean gears grinding. He remembers fleeing as it all fell to chaos. A panicked bit of black, winging its way through the dark.

Mikhail still has his youth but he's a little older now. A little thinner, almost fragile looking. He has a habit for pills and fine, white, powder; just enough to get him to sleep and wake him up again. He buys his medicine from the Winter Court with secrets and rumors. He does his best not to think about what use the Winter King puts his payment to and tells himself he has no choice, it's not as if his own Autumn liege is willing to help.

Mikhail isn't so proud anymore, but he still sings. In dingy divebars and abandoned warehouses. The band backing him's pretty bad but everyone agrees:

Mikhail has an amazing voice.

Feedback would be appreciated, my first sheet so its got some rough spots I'm sure. >>

I like this. One note: Huntsmen aren't a thing, if you're talking about the 2e thing. If you mean lowercase huntsmen, like the jerks that hunt men (see, a pun), that works. Pretty interesting that we're going towards the Autumn/Winter end of things so far.

Nah nah I figured they were just his Keeper's dudes. His personal model of Fae, two parts hunter to, like, one part industrial butcher.
 
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Posting my concept again. I'll work out a sheet after lunch.

You were eleven when he came. Tall, wise, and with a beard so long it was tucked into his belt, he was everything a little girl had imagined about magic. He arrived, and said that you – you – were special, capable of things no one else could do. Your parents hugged you, and you were off to a castle where there were ghosts and lake-squid and bat teachers and more! They told you of magic, and taught you it, coaxing more and more out of you as the months went bye.

At the end of the school year, the headmaster pulled you aside and told you that your parents weren't actually your parents, and that this man with the same blonde hair and blue eyes as you was. So you went home with your new dad who spoke of fabulous creatures and wonderful things you had never heard about. Too soon it was time for you to leave him, and back to the school you went.

And so the years went by, with you learning greater and greater magics. But underneath this all was a current of danger. A once great wizard who turned his power to evil had returned from his thought vanquishment to harass this world. But all was not lost! One of your friends was destined to slay him, having already been the cause of the first vanquishing. So the old bearded headmaster told you, and after facing down the wizard at the end of the year, you belived him. The next year was more of the same, but this time the evil wizard was even stronger than before and we barely escaped.

The next year was your last, and you heard that outside these magical walls of the school that the wizard had taken control and that the entire world was close to coming under his dominion. So you trained harder than ever before, buoyed by the messages your father sent you as he fought outside those walls. The final battle came, and the Evil wizard sent his forces in fully, thousands of cruel beings flooding the castle. But fear not! You fought bravely, and your friend fought the wizard in an epic duel in which he --- lost. He lost, and the castle was overrun and you died, and everything was for nought.

Then you opened your eyes, and your father was wishing you farewell, and it was your first day at the wizard school and you were so excited. And yet a little voice inside your head said "Wait, hasn't this happened before?". But you ignored it and carried on, learning of an evil wizard who planned to rule the world. You and your friends fought against it, only to lose at the cusp of victory.

So went the story, again and again, endlessly repeating and with that voice in your head getting stronger and stronger before you could recite what would happen before it did.

One day, at the final battle when all the forces were allied against you, you did something you never did before. You left, walking off into the great forest that bordered the castle-school. You walked, and the trees became narrower and more closely packed until you were wandering in a hedge, monsters at your heels. You ran, and ran, until suddenly their was no more hedge. Suddenly, you were free.

In case you couldn't tell, my character concept is... well, to sum it up crudely, Luna Lovegood crossed with Alice in Wonderland. A girl who was a little bit mad, immersed in magic and wonder, until suddenly she wasn't.
 
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