Changeling: The Cambria Chronicles

Background Information Changeling: The Dreaming is a White Wolf game designed along the same lines as their Vampire, Werewolf, Mage, and Wraith games. The basic premise is that faeries do indeed exist and are living among us. At one time in the distant past, humans and faeries lived together in relative harmony. As humans began to turn away from magic and glamour and turn towards science and banality, the fair folk found their lands, influence, and power rapidly shrinking. Sometime in the early middle ages, most to the Sidhe (a faerie kith that comprise most of the nobility) abandoned the earth for their mystical realm of Arcadia. The commoner faeries, including the kith called trolls, eshu, boggans, satyrs, redcaps, nockers, pooka and sluagh, mostly remained behind along with a few renegade sidhe, to survive as they could. In order to live in a world of mundane humans, faeries began being born into human bodies. At some point in their lives, these changelings would experience a revelation of who and what they truly were. Groups of changelings formed to be better able to find and guard precious troves of Glamour, the essence of creativity that faeries need to survive. By the 20th Century, the remaining fair folk were dwindling down to insignificance as humanity became more and more mundane. All this changed in the 1960's. The Apollo Moon landing and the counterculture movement brought dreaming back to humanity in a big way. The deluge of Glamour inspired by these events was so great that it paved a road straight to the heart of Arcadia. Galloping down that road came several noble houses of the sidhe, returning to claim their former kingdoms on Earth. The Mists that veil the Dreaming and Arcadia from mortal lands contrived to take away the sidhe's memories of Arcadia, along with memories of the reasons they returned to Earth.

Some theorize that they are exiles from a war raging in Arcadia; others, that they are the vanguard of an army of conquest. Anyone who truly knows isn't talking. Shortly after arriving on this world, these newcomers tried to take back their ancestral lands by right of conquest.

Despite opposition from the commoner fae, who had been doing quite nicely by themselves, thank you, they won back most of their old rights and now rule the realm of Concordia (North and Central America), and the old kingdom of Hibernia (Ireland). Relations between this new ruling class and the dispossessed commoners are still tense. All of these events were shielded from human eyes by the Mists that protect the changelings faerie nature from discovery.

Players in the game assume the role of changelings. In their faerie form, they fight chimerical monsters, go on quests to find a path back to Arcadia, foil the plans of political groups, secret societies, and opposing forces, and strive to make the world a little less mundane. Chronicles often include some of the following themes: the isolation and alienation of changelings from both human society and their heritage in Arcadia; changelings' interactions with other races (Kindred, Garou, Mages, and wraiths) in the World of Darkness; the battle against the coming Winter of banality heralded by the forces of mundanity such as the Technocracy, human Autumn People (really mundane types), and Dauntain, faerie renegades who reject their birthright and instead hunt down and kill others like themselves; and the constant struggle between the Seelie (good and noble) side of the fae and their Unseelie (self-serving and occasionally evil) side. Faerie folk also have to contend with several enemies from both Earth and Arcadia - it is thought that the faerie's ancient enemies, including the dread Fomori, have returned to Earth. If that wasn't enough trouble, the native fae of North and South America, the nunnehi, aren't too fond of these foreign interlopers at all.

There is no strict division between good and evil in this game. Changeling characters have two natures, Seelie and Unseelie. It is not obvious on meeting one what court, Seelie or Unseelie, a fae belongs to. Some fae, especially the sidhe, switch back and forth on a regular basis. Player characters can have either court predominant.

The adventures will take place in and around the Duchy of Cambria (San Diego). It is the same game world that the Archimagos campaign took place in. It is possible that a few mages or even garou and kindred could show up from time to time.

Home