Changeling: The Lost, one you may have missed

It's not new, having launched in 2007, and like many of the lesser-known World of Darkness titles, flew under a lot of peoples' radar.  I'm bringing it up again because I feel like it's a game that deserves a lot more attention than it got.  This is a truly deep, compelling game, with some stirring themes and imagery.

I feel like White Wolf got it right. This game has a purer feel to it than its precedent title. The faerie tale elements are all there. The supernatural element is what it should be: raw, elemental, potent, and terrible. Dreaming changelings had to carefully husband the faerie parts of their lives; Lost changelings run the risk of being overwhelmed by it.  This is a game about people who are victims of something greater and more terrible than themselves, but ultimately turn those victimizing forces into essential aspects of a new identity.  It has a timeless quality found in the writing of Charles de Lint and Neil Gaiman and the Brothers Grimm.

Published by White Wolf as another installment in their reincarnated World of Darkness line, The Lost is drastically different from its ancestor, The Dreaming. In the Dreaming, changelings were mortal people who housed faerie souls and lived in two worlds: the physical world we all know, and an immaterial overlay of living dreams. The supernatural half of this dual reality existed only for its participants, and was vulnerable to the forces of disbelief and denial. Children's imaginary friends or monsters under the bed were real to the changelings, as were more classic faerie beings. This world of enchantment was fragile and prone to vanishing for individuals who wander too far into day-to-day drudgery, but those that strayed too far into it were often driven mad.

However, The Lost takes a more archetypal approach, drawing more on traditional faerie tales. Changelings are mortals who, at some point, were abducted by the True Fae, and carted off to Faerie. There, they slaved and served at the whims of their ethereal, godlike masters in a realm more beautiful and terrible than anything they'd imagined could exist. Memories of former lives dwindled and faded, and the magic of Faerie inundated these people until they were no longer truly human. Eventually, they escaped from Faerie, through the barrier between the worlds called the Hedge, back into their own world.

Except it wasn't their world anymore. Many return to find that time has passed dramatically. Oftentimes, the changelings return to friends and family to find that they were never missed; they had been replaced by a fae-made imposter called a Fetch. Frequently Changelings have flawed memory of life before their abduction, and recall their time in Faerie only through dreams or vague (but overwhelming) sensations.

Unable to return home, or not even knowing where home is, the changelings find each other. Mortal eyes see changelings as normal people, but they can see each other's fae aspect. They band together for camaraderie, friendship, mutual understanding, and protection. The enchanted world they share is not the fragile fantasy of The Dreaming, it is an awful, brutal reality that seeks to hunt them down and drag them back, through the Hedge, to their immortal Keepers.

This new iteration of Changeling has one of the most open-ended character generation systems I've ever seen. In the past, there were a handful of kiths that a player could choose (Nocker, Boggan, Eshu, Sidhe, Satyr, Troll, Pooka, Sluagh... did I forget any?). Now, there are six Seemings: Darklings (the insidious things from the deep dark places in Faerie), Ogres, the Wizened (sage in appearance and ability), Beasts (changelings with one or more animal aspects), Elementals (those that were shaped by their keepers into material objects or overexposed to raw natural forces), and the Fairest (humans abducted to be singers, dancers, courtesans, and lovers to the True Fae).

Each Seeming has six or seven Kiths associated with it, which takes the overall role and appearance determined by Seeming and refines it by detailing specific powers, and expanding on particular aspects of the Seeming's role. For example, Darklings might be Antiquarians (hoarders of books and forgotten knowledge), Gravewights (those who deal with the dead), Leechfingers (who steal life from mortals), Mirrorskins (changers of shape and appearance), and Tunnelgrubs (goblinesque creepers capable of squirming through extremely narrow spaces).

Each changeling also has a Mantle. Rather than being simply Seelie or Unseelie, each changeling is (usually) allied with the forces of a particular season. The Winter Court embodies Sorrow, the Spring Desire, the Summer Wrath, and the Autumn Fear.

Finally, changelings frequently can have Entitlements. These represent membership with particular houses, factions, or secret societies that grant supernatural boons, and instill an agenda. The Duchy of the Icebound Heart, for instance, grants its members supernatural influence over those whose hearts they have personally broken.



The theme of The Lost is beautiful madness, and like many of White Wolf's other titles, it asks a great deal of its troupe.  The potential for gripping, tragic storytelling is there, if the players and storyteller are ready and able.  The strong fibers of loss, isolation, confusion, and insanity are interwoven with myth, beauty, poetry, and raw elemental power to create something that can inspire players.  It certainly inspired me.