Character Creation: Changeling: The Dreaming 1st Edition

 And now:

The Game: Changeling: The Dreaming (1st Edition)
The publisher: White Wolf
Degree of familiarity: Lots. Ran it, played it extensively, and developed the last old World of Darkness material for it
Books required: Just the core. If I had the Player's Guide, I'd use it, but it's long gone.

 

Ah, Changeling. Some serious wonkiness, especially with mechanics, but it's such a great game. Yes, some of the precepts put forth in the game are almost offensive to me now, but when I was a twenty-something, still in college, terrified of growing up, it was almost revelatory.

Anyway, Step One: Character Concept. I want to play a wilder, but someone at the end of that spectrum. He's 24, just about ready to graduate with an MFA in Acting. He's a superb actor, possibly because he's also a changeling and can really embody a role, but he's afraid. The real world, particularly where theater is involved, isn't as glamorous (or Glamourous) as most people think. He knows the truth, because has contacts there, and he wants to stay in college where it's safe, forever. That's why he's taking a semester off before his last one (in a chronicle, that would give him a lot of free time, which is good).

As for Court, I'll go Unseelie. He's a bastard, but he's a glorious bastard. I'd play a sidhe, but I don't want to deal with that "not really human" thing (I played a Humanist sidhe once, and that was a lot of fun). I'll look over Legacies before I choose kith.

He's definitely a Fool. He wants to keep everything light, because that means he doesn't have to deal with the future. His Seelie Legacy is Troubadour - he has the potential to be a truly great artist, if he ever faces his talent.

OK, now the hard part: kith. It's between eshu, satyr and pooka. Eshu is appealing, but I don't see this guy as a wanderer; he's been fine where he is for years. Satyr is nice and all, but that's not what he's about. God help me, that leaves me with pooka.

Pooka, BTW, are the magnets for bad players. They're animalistic, which means that those players like them, and they're all fluffy and they have to lie, which means the fishmalk players like them. I've seen some truly great pooka characters, but they've been few and far between. And I do not play silly characters. So, my guy's a pooka, and I need to pick an animal. I think I'll go classic and make him a cat pooka. He's not a clown like many pooka wilder, but he is a Fool, so he tries to distract his friends when things get too serious.

Chimerically, he's got light brown fur, cat-like ears and bright green ears. He talks with his tail as much as his hands, but his tail lies, too. His name among humans is C. J. Moore, but he insists that changelings call him Elliot, and that he has a third name that he can't tell anyone. Cats, you know.

Step Two: Select Attributes. 7/5/3. Well, Social first, duh. Then Mental, then Physical. He's a skinny guy, though I may buy up Dexterity later.

Social: Three into Charisma, two each into Manipulation and Appearance. He's cute, but his real strength is just being a charmer.

Mental: One into Intelligence, two each into Perception and Wits. Quick, clever, not entirely bright.

Physical: One each across the board. He's in good shape, but nothing special.

Step Three: Select Abilities. 13/9/5. OK, hrm. I think it'll go Talents, Skills and then Knowledges.

Talents: Three into Alertness and Kenning; I want Elliot to notice everything. Three also into Empathy and Expression. That's 12 already. I'll put one into Dodge; I might raise that later. I see him as being nimble. I hate that Dodge is an Ability. You'll notice that in Orpheus, we changed that, due largely to Jon's suggestion.

Skills: Three into Performance right off the bat, two each into Etiquette and Stealth, and one each into Drive and Melee (stage combat).

Knowledges: Two into Computer (college student), one each into Enigmas, Mythlore and Politics.

Step Four: Select Advantages.

OK, I get 5 Backgrounds, first off. I want a little bit of Resources - his family had some money. Two dots. I'll take one dot of Dreamers (an actress that I've been grooming to play the lead in my directorial debut), one dot in Holdings (last year there was an outdoor production of Midsummer Night's Dream that was so successful that it formed a freehold, and I claimed it) and Retinue (one's a secretary in the dean's office, the other is a dim-witted campus security guard).

Now, Arts. 3 dots. I'll take the first dots in Legerdemain, Chicanery and Wayfare (love Hopscotch!).

Realms. I'm dumb if I don't take Nature, and I'd like to be able to affect myself in cat form, anyway. So I'll take three dots there. The other two, I'll split into Actor and Fae.

Step Five: Finishing Touches. I start with Glamour 4, Banality 3 and Willpower 2 (OUCH). And then I get 15 freebies. Well, gee, I guess first off I'll spend four points to raise my Willpower to 4 so I don't totally suck. I'll spend 5 to raise Dexterity to 3, and two to raise Dodge to 2. I'll buy a dot of Athletics, and boost my Performance to 4. That also gives me a Specialty, which I'll call Stage. I have Charisma 4, which gives me a Specialty there, which I'll call Eloquent. Elliot's got a way with words.

I figure he underwent his Chrysalis a few years back, while in college, but he hasn't done much as a changeling except use his skills to help him with his acting. He's getting ready to direct his first play this semester, but isn't taking any other classes - I think the play will be at a community place, not the university. He's leaning toward something with a strong female lead, so he can give his dreamer a good showcase for her skills. He's got this weird feeling that closing night of the play is going to change everything for him, somehow, and he desperately hopes it's for the better.

With a good troupe, this guy could be a lot of fun. Other folks involved with the play would be awesome, I think.