Changeling: The Dreaming

This book holds a lot of nostalgia for me; it takes me right back to 1995. Marketed as the last of the five White Wolf core game lines (before Hunter: The Reckoning and Mummy: The Resurrection, and [Noun: The Evocative Verb] proved them wrong, it was by far the brightest of the five lines. Many people say it is the lightest, this is misleading. It is the brightest, the most colorful and evocative. The other games like Vampire, and Wraith in particular can get bogged down in the dreary weeds of the World of Darkness; Changeling offers an alternative, a game where you play a character half mortal and half immortal fairie (a creature native to the realm of Dreams). You are literally awash in the dreaming life of mortals, their fantasies, idle fancy and darkest nightmares. This means that Changeling can be as dark as you wish it too, or as light-hearted as well. In fact, it is the only core game that has rules for playing children (and believe me after four years of playing angst-ridden Kindred or brutal Garou that was a revolutionary change).

Not everything is light, like the other WoD games there is an apocalypse built in, that involving the death of creativity in light of the cynical nature of our postmodern world. For a changeling, this means the terrifying prospect of the permanent loss of their fairie soul.

As much as I love the game in theory, it is a challenge in practice. First is the challenge of finding players and storytellers who really grok the game. Many gamers just can't wrap their mind around it. Secondly is the magic system: Hopelessly Broken. Changelings are also underpowered compared to other WoD characters, but this doesn't really matter as the game is a nightmare to crossover anyhow, as the Changeling characters exist halfway in their own separate reality of the Dreaming. As time went by, I also found the character creation to be rather restrictive, but back in 1995 it was still new and fresh.

The design of the book is top notch, particularly the first chapter where the authors take a playful break from the "opening fiction" of previous material. The artwork by Tony DiTerlizzi and others is top notch, and really helps you grasp the theme and feel of the game.

Changeling: the Dreaming is a game with few but passionate fans. I hope if you find it you enjoy it as much as I did the spring of 1995. ( )

A game in that whole White Wolf family. This one is a little lighter in tone, being set in and amonster the world and peoples of faerie and the fey. A lot of sneaking around and fooling the mortals, and hopefully not being disappeared by mages, eaten by werewolves or tormented by vampires.

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