Changeling: The Lost Update [CofD]

[skew]

I don't see any post about it, so I figured I'd make one!

The guys over at OnyxPath have released a bunch of new big giant chunks of the C:TL 2E/CofD book. Figured all the 'Ling players might wanna have a go at it!

http://theonyxpath.com/changeling-the-lost-tinkering-and-toying/

One of the big changes... Contracts system is changed. They are no longer series, but instead purchased ala carte at 1xp per dot. Some contracts range, and grant different abilities/bonuses as you invest more in the contract. Some are just whatever dot value. Contracts are also the same cost for all Seemings, and instead, certain contracts grant additional abilities/bonuses to certain Seemings. Neat!

[ThatGuyThere]

Are they still doing the thing where Seeming is determined by how you escaped?
Honestly that was kind of a deal breaker for me and Lost 2.0.

[Misadventure]

So change it for your own game.

[ThatGuyThere]

Grins, Nah just curious if it was in there rather then changing it I would just keep using first edition. No need to spend money on something if it is not what I am looking for.

[Misadventure]

That's a lot of system fixes to pass by just because one changeable element is not to your liking. Not like the players read the rules.

[ThatGuyThere]

From a table top perspective, Mine do or at least should since I do little rules hand holding except for the first session on a new system.
Second I mainly buy games for settings slash themes not systems. If there is something in a system I ma using that is too broken or I don't like I have already changed it most likely. Bad systems I will tinker with, things with themes I don't like I likely read once at most then shove on a shelf to sit there. For example the next game I am likely to buy is AMP Year One and Amp Year Two. I like the setting and the near Aberrant take on supers even if what i see from the system is not really my bag. I can either make some fixes or just cannibalize ideas from. Or my personal gaming white whale of turning the Rifts system into something playable.
Don't mean to derail the thread I was mainly asking to see if the link was worth my time to follow it looks like the answer is no.

[skew]

@ThatGuyThere I don't think the above post mentions any changes to the earlier seeming post.

That said, I really do like a lot of the things in this system, and feel it creates a better theme. From what I've seen so far, this is a game I'd enjoy playing much more, by way of how the mechanics support the theme.

[ThatGuyThere]

@skew
That is cool like I said did not mean to derail, different tastes for different folks and all that.

[Thenomain]

The Wyrd trait is so improved (so very improved) that I'm going to pour over the rest. Not sure how I feel about breaking down Contracts, but they are all Universal now and specific Seemings get specific extra effects. I suspect some consternation, but I'm keeping an open mind.

[Warma Sheen]

I think having the Contracts be universal is an excellent idea. I think a lot of players chose their seeming based on the contracts they could get more than the Seeming itself which left a lot of the story and connection to the seeming completely ignored. Players are players. And this helps preserve certain choices to be more "genuine". Of course you'll still have people who choose their seemings based on the extra bonuses. But I suspect you'll have much less of that sort of thing than you did before.

[Coin]

I just printed the shit out of all this stuff on my work printer. >.> Later I might print out Kiths and Seemings, too. I'm making myself a little Changeling 2e corebook, bitches!

[Pyrephox]

Man, I love most of that. I love having Lost use Touchstones, the universal contracts, the changes to Wyrd. I'm not thrilled by the changes to glamour harvesting, but honestly, it was needed - as it was, Lost received their power fuel pretty much at no moral cost, which isn't really in tune with the WoD's overarching theme. One thing where they have, I think, missed a major opportunity, though, is in the nature/demeanor analogue. It looks like they're using the tired old Vampire one. With Lost, they REALLY should be letting people pick fairy tale archetypes. My Mask is the Princess, but my Mien is the Grand Vizier, that sort of thing.

[Coin]

@Pyrephox said:

Man, I love most of that. I love having Lost use Touchstones, the universal contracts, the changes to Wyrd. I'm not thrilled by the changes to glamour harvesting, but honestly, it was needed - as it was, Lost received their power fuel pretty much at no moral cost, which isn't really in tune with the WoD's overarching theme. One thing where they have, I think, missed a major opportunity, though, is in the nature/demeanor analogue. It looks like they're using the tired old Vampire one. With Lost, they REALLY should be letting people pick fairy tale archetypes. My Mask is the Princess, but my Mien is the Grand Vizier, that sort of thing.

Or at least have Mask be a dull human-type archetype and Mien be something fairy-tale ish.

[Pyrephox]

@Coin said:

@Pyrephox said:

Man, I love most of that. I love having Lost use Touchstones, the universal contracts, the changes to Wyrd. I'm not thrilled by the changes to glamour harvesting, but honestly, it was needed - as it was, Lost received their power fuel pretty much at no moral cost, which isn't really in tune with the WoD's overarching theme. One thing where they have, I think, missed a major opportunity, though, is in the nature/demeanor analogue. It looks like they're using the tired old Vampire one. With Lost, they REALLY should be letting people pick fairy tale archetypes. My Mask is the Princess, but my Mien is the Grand Vizier, that sort of thing.

Or at least have Mask be a dull human-type archetype and Mien be something fairy-tale ish.

And, while I'm critiquing, use different words. "Mask" and "Mien" ALREADY MEAN SOMETHING within the game mechanics - don't reuse the words to mean something else. That's just asking for trouble.

[Coin]

@Pyrephox said:

@Coin said:

@Pyrephox said:

Man, I love most of that. I love having Lost use Touchstones, the universal contracts, the changes to Wyrd. I'm not thrilled by the changes to glamour harvesting, but honestly, it was needed - as it was, Lost received their power fuel pretty much at no moral cost, which isn't really in tune with the WoD's overarching theme. One thing where they have, I think, missed a major opportunity, though, is in the nature/demeanor analogue. It looks like they're using the tired old Vampire one. With Lost, they REALLY should be letting people pick fairy tale archetypes. My Mask is the Princess, but my Mien is the Grand Vizier, that sort of thing.

Or at least have Mask be a dull human-type archetype and Mien be something fairy-tale ish.

And, while I'm critiquing, use different words. "Mask" and "Mien" ALREADY MEAN SOMETHING within the game mechanics - don't reuse the words to mean something else. That's just asking for trouble.

Yeah, I noticed that, too.

[tragedyjones]

Guys someone make a ctl game so I can maybe try it for once.

[Ganymede]

@tragedyjones said:

Guys someone make a ctl game so I can maybe try it for once.

No one ever likes my ideas for this kind of game.

[Arkandel]

@Ganymede Aw, we don't hate your ideas. Don't be silly.

We hate you.

[Pyrephox]

@Ganymede said:

@tragedyjones said:

Guys someone make a ctl game so I can maybe try it for once.

No one ever likes my ideas for this kind of game.

Right there with you - although what I want is a strongly urban-focused dark fantasy game of Lost desperately seeking allies against ever-present threats of being hunted (and, often, trying to prevent other humans from going through the traumatic events they have), having to balance their need to connect with mortals and the mortal world against the danger such connections can provide - I don't mind the people who want to play pretty fantasy princesses, or insane paranoiacs who are incapable of interacting with mortals for more than a moment or two, but it's not where I get the most enjoyment.

Although I do find myself wanting to see the Huntsman and Pledge rules for this version - if the former are as interesting as I think they might be, and the latter are as streamlined as some of the rest of the new rules, I may be back in true love with the game. I think I'd want to give people Beats for doing things that flag them for the Huntsmen (maybe have a Huntsmen channel for staff that PCs could post to when they do - when you get above a certain threshold (or if a staff member is on who wants to) then the Huntsmen come for you, wherever you are and whatever you happen to be doing at the time). No auto-XP, obviously - CoD rules provide more than enough ways to get XP, particularly for Lost, who should be gaining and resolving negative conditions on a regular basis. Much less focus on politics and helpful hobs in the Hedge, more on the nasty things in the world that want to make people and Lost into their prey, and that /come looking for you/.

[skew]

@Ganymede said:

No one ever likes my ideas.

That's true.

@tragedyjones & @Pyrephox: I think I might set a goal for 18 months out to get a C:tL game going. Depending, of course, on how long BITN lasts. I don't think the story needs to go more than 18 months, in truth.

Issue is, my read of the entire C:tL story seems at odds with a lot of other peoples. I like my "waking" life to be an underground resistance spy thriller, not unlike D:tD or The Matrix or some such. I like my Hedge to be fantastical and whimsical, yet wholly deadly. I believe part of the fun of playing Changeling is the balance between those two worlds. The juxtaposition of gritty, realpolitik against a dire battle for your life against dragons. I love the idea that, by day, I might play a garage mechanic who is also serving as a dead drop for a team battling against the loyalists that occupy a city, and by night, I put on a suit of armor and charge into a sea of hobs to slaughter them and defend a village.

I kind of lost my point. But that's what I want!