Seeming Blessing: Gain 8-again to Animal Ken rolls and gain a free Animal Ken Speciality for the animal that most reflects the Beast's seeming. Also, spend Glamour to add to Presence and Composure dice pools on a 1:1 basis.
Seeming Curse: The penalty for using untrained Mental skills becomes -4. Also, lose 10-again on dice pools involving Intelligence.
Seeming Contracts: Contracts of the Den; Contracts of Fang and Talon; Contracts of the Wild
| Kith | Description | Blessing | Reference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Broadback | Changelings who are attuned to animals that are renowned for their endurance or stubbornness, such as camels, elephants, horses, mules, goats and the like. | Stoic Forbearance: Spend 1 Glamour to gain +2 to all Stamina dice pools for one scene. | Changeling 102 |
| Chimera | Homer's Iliad was pretty clear about the creature known as the Chimera: "A thing of immortal make, not human, lion-fronted and snake behind, a goat in the middle." The Chimera kith is not necessarily these constituent parts, but it does represent a changeling who bears parts and limbs from not just one beast but many. | Goblin's Tongue: Spend 1 Glamour to gain +3 on any Social rolls involving hobgoblins for a scene. | Winter Masques 106-017 |
| Cleareyes | These Beasts have been granted exemplary senses akin to an animal's. Theirs are the eagle's eyes, the bat's ears, the hound's nose, the raccoon's elegant sense of touch. | Primal Senses: Gain +2 to Wits + Composure rolls to perceive things that involves their specific hallmark sense (sight, hearing, touch, or taste/smell). Also, spend a point of Glamour to heighten the sense to extraordinary levels for a scene. | Winter Masques 67 |
| Coldscale | Kin to reptiles both mundane and mythical, the Coldscale has inherited the nature of serpents, lizards, crocodiles, basilisks, wyverns and the like. They are marked by scales, reptilian eyes and sometimes cool blood. | Reptilian Blood: +1 to Composure rolls to resist emotional manipulation and +2 to Stamina rolls made to resist damage from biological venoms and poisons. | Winter Masques 67 |
| Coyote | It's curious, perhaps, that most of the Beasts reflecting this rare kith seem to bear only one true physical change to their mien, and that is the head. Human features are often entirely gone (with the eyes being the only exception) as the head and face become that of a coyote borne upon human shoulders. Some, of course, manifest different coyote physiology – a tail, perhaps, or claws with which to dig or strike. Of course, in the folktales of old America, what's significant about Coyote is not how he looks but how he acts. Perhaps the predominant trickster figure in mythology, Coyote is the master of manipulating circumstances to obtain what are often the simplest of desires. | The Trickster's Truth: Spending Willpower to improve a Persuasion or Subterfuge roll grants a +5 bonus. Also, if the character's vice is Gluttony, Greed, or Lust, purchase Manipulation dots at only (new dots x 4) | Winter Masques 107 |
| Hunterheart | Changelings who have something of the predator about them: wolves, bears, cats, crocodiles, snakes and birds of prey, but also those that embody the hunter in a more conceptual sense. | Tooth and Claw: Deal Lethal damage (instead of Bashing) when fighting unarmed. | Changeling 102 |
| Nix | The nix, or nixie, is a river mermaid from Germanic lore. One often possesses the features of a snake and a fish in some amalgamation (fish eyes, snake fangs, skin spotted with reptile scales and shark cartilage). Some legends posit that the nix are truly beautiful, while other tales suggest that the nix are actually quite hideous to behold, but possess golden voices. | Consumptive Voice: Once per day, spend 1 Glamour to give those who have listened to you a penalty on Social rolls equal to half your Wyrd for the rest of the scene. | Winter Masques 107 |
| Riddleseeker | Truly unusual among Beasts, Riddleseekers hone their seemingly natural cunning and curiosity to a razor's edge. The mien of such a changeling usually reflects animals noted for especial wisdom or cunning: snakes, owls, cats or foxes, for instance. In some cases, however, these Beasts are attuned to more fanciful composite forms, legendary creatures associated with riddles (such as the sphinx) or with great knowledge (like the Iranian Angha). | Inquisitive Instinct: Spend 1 Glamour to gain +2 to all Wits-based dice pools (except for Wits + Composure perception) for the rest of the scene. Also, gain a free Investigation specialty in Riddles. | Night Horrors: Grim Fears 102 |
| Roteater | Fed on carrion and offal, the Roteater is akin to the vulture and the hyena, the crow and the worm. | Scavenger's Nature: Gain +2 to resisting poison or disease, or +3 if it stems from something the changeling ate. Also, gain 9-again on perception rolls to scrounge up useful items from an area. | Winter Masques 67 |
| Runnerswift | Changelings who move like the wind, reflecting hares, rabbits, antelopes and the like. | Runs Like the Wind: Add 2 to the Speed trait. | Changeling 102 |
| Skitterskulk | Changelings who have an affinity with flies, spiders, beetles, centipedes and other creepy crawlies. | Impossible Counterpoise: When dodging, triple Defense rather than doubling it. | Changeling 102 |
| Steepscrambler | Changelings who are at home in high places, and who are attuned to animals such as monkeys, raccoons, squirrels, some insects and some lizards. | Gifted Climber: Gain +3 when trying to climb any surface, and may attempt to climb slick surfaces (including wet glass) as long as they will support her weight. | Changeling 102 |
| Swimmerskin | Changelings who draw affinities with aquatic or amphibious creatures: seals, otters, ducks, salmon, and the like; mermaids, too. | Natural Swimmer: Hold breath underwater for 30 minutes and swim at full Speed. | Changeling 102 |
| Truefriend | These Beasts learned not savagery, but loyalty. They are infused with the nature of animals who have accepted humans as their own. Truefriends are hunting hounds, loyal cats, favored horses, beloved parakeets, animals valued for the companionship they offer. | Companion's Boon: Spend 1 Glamour to grant an ally +3 on any roll. This is an instant action that requires the Truefriend to be able to see and be heard by their friend. | Winter Masques 67 |
| Venombite | Changelings who have an affinity with poisonous creatures, such as poisonous spiders and insects, or poisonous reptiles. | Poisonous Bite: Once per scene, spend a point of Glamour to make a normal brawling attack that delivers poison with Toxicity equal to the changeling's Wyrd. The damage is automatically taken with no chance to be resisted. | Changeling 102-103 |
| Windwing | Changelings who are confined to the earth, with their hearts in the skies, drawing affinity with birds, butterflies and bats. | Gift of the Sky: Spend a point of Glamour to glide for one minute per Wyrd, moving at normal speed (though without gaining altitude without updrafts). Also, only take one point of Bashing damage per 15 yards fallen, and only start taking lethal damage for falls over 150 yards. | Changeling 103 |
Seeming Blessing: Spend Glamour to increase Wits, Subterfuge, and Stealth dice pools on a 1:1 basis. Also, gain 9-again on Stealth rolls.
Seeming Curse: -1 to activating contracts during daylight hours, and -2 if the sun is directly visible.
Seeming Contracts: Contracts of Darkness; Contracts of Shade and Spirit
| Kith | Description | Blessing | Reference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Antiquarian | Those dusty, quiet and diligent Darklings who surround themselves with dusty tomes of lore and the artifacts of long-dead lands and peoples. | Keys to Knowledge: Gain 9-again on Academics and Investigatino rolls, and spend a point of Glamour to gain the benefits of the Encyclopedic Knowledge Merit for a question. If this Merit is already possessed, spend 1 Glamour to gain 3 dice to the roll. | Changeling 106 |
| Gravewight | Cold-skinned Darklings who draw comfort from consorting with the dead, both restless and in repose. | Charnel Sight: For a point of Glamour, see ghosts for the rest of the scene. The changeling still cannot touch or control the ghost. | Changeling 106 |
| Leechfinger | The faeries who steal life from humans, grain by grain, drop by drop, with just a touch. | Sap the Vital Spark: Once per scene per Wyrd, spend a point of Glamour and make a touch attack to deal a point of Lethal damage to the target. This heals a point of Lethal or Bashing damage or downgrades a point of Aggravated damage to Lethal. | Changeling 106 |
| Lurker | The thriving criminal underworld of the Victorian era was mirrored in Arcadia, where devious Gentry criminal masterminds employed gangs of changelings to steal from their rivals. Darting from one shadow to another and either slipping unnoticed into dwellings or snatching valuables from wealthy pockets, lurkers are used to taking what they want without regard for whom it belongs to. | Larcenous Fingers: Larceny gains 9-again, and rolls never suffer penalties for poor equipment. Also, spend Glamour to gain +2 to any Larceny roll. Lurkers also gain 8-again on Stealth dice pools instead of 9-again like other Darklings. | Victorian Lost 22 |
| Lurkglider | Raised among the twisted treetops of Arcadian forests or the spires of palaces lost in dark storm clouds, the Lurkgliders are at home watching from the shadows far above. | Gargoyle's Grace: Spend a point of Glamour to dive from up to 100 yards unscathed, and gain +2 to rolls made to balance on small footholds. | Winter Masques 71 |
| Illes | In Iceland, the Illes (pronounced eels) are troll-like under-folk who linger beneath the surface of the earth and only come out at night. They're said to lure humans away from the surface and into the darkness below where the Illes either breed with the humans or suffocate them (depending on which legend you care to believe). The Illes of the Darklings are similar, to a point, though they needn't be as clearly malevolent. They do tend to be tremendously ugly in the mask and mien. | Shadow Beauty: Once per day, spend 1 Glamour to look beautiful for one hour (gaining the equivalent of Striking Looks ••••) and gain an additional +2 to Social rolls against members of the opposite sex. | Winter Masques 107 |
| Mirrorskin | Darklings who hide in plain sight from the eyes of humankind. Their bones are malleable, their faces like flowing quicksilver. | The Mercurial Visage: At will, change features to resemble (if not completely mimic) anyone the Darkling has met. Gain +3 to Wits + Subterfuge disguise rolls. This applies to both mien and Mask. | Changeling 106 |
| Moonborn | The lunatic children of the moon, those who dance by their mother's pale light. They are sometimes insightful, sometimes foolish, sometimes calm and sometimes wrathful. Their moods wax and wane with the moon, their humours affected by its tides. | Lunatic's Kiss: Once per 24 hours, a Moonborn may affect themself with a mild derangement and a touched target with its severe version. They must spend 1 Glamour and roll Intelligence + Wyrd vs. the victim's Resolve + (Supernatural power trait). This madness lasts until the next sunrise (if the target is supernatural) or for a lunar month (if the target is human). | Winter Masques 71-72 |
| Nightsinger | The Darklings are not without their music. Darkling music, however, is largely heard without ever catching a glimpse of the musician. Nightsingers compose operas of wolf howls and owl cries, sing banshee songs and play hauntingly devilish tunes on fiddles strung with unwholesome gut. | Haunting Nocturne: Spend 1 Glamour and make a Performance + Wyrd (vs. Composure + Wyrd) roll while playing an instrument or singing to force listeners to take a -2 penalty to Resolve, Empathy, and Subterfuge rolls. Also, gain a free Performance speciality. | Winter Masques 72 |
| Tunnelgrub | Those of the Darkling faeries who slide and slither through tunnels and sewers and chimneys, the better to do terrible things in the night. | Slither and Squirm: Spend a point of glamour to squeeze through narrow spaces that are usually too small, and roll Dexterity + Athletics to wriggle out of ropes or handcuffs. | Changeling 106 |
| Palewraith | Many Darklings are pallid, but the Palewraiths are colorless to the point of partial translucence. Their flesh is hazy and partly indistinct; some look spectral, others smoky. In some cases, their bones are still visible through their skin. | Light's Aversion: When within shadows, spend 1 Glamour to receive +1 to Defense, which also applies against firearms. This lasts for a scene or until the Darkling enters a brightly lit area. | Winter Masques 72-73 |
| Razorhand | Some Darklings are embodiments of the promise of nighttime violence. They are the sudden slash in the darkest alleys, the gleam of metal under a flickering streetlamp. They may come silently, or whistle tuneless little ditties learned in Arcadia. | Ripper's Gift: Spend a point of Glamour to turn a hand into a knife that allows unarmed strikes to inflict +1 lethal damage. Also, gain a bonus Weaponry Speciality (Knives). | Winter Masques 73 |
| Skogsra | This Darkling-of-the-wood kith stems from old Swedish and Scandinavian folklore. In these fairy tales, the skogsra are vicious trolls protecting the dark forests, leading travelers astray and either killing them or stealing their goods. Other tales have the skogsra luring wanderers off the trails where they are enslaved, certainly speaking to legends of the True Fae who have done that very thing. The changelings known as the Skogsra are Darklings in appearance, but often possess miens adorned with dark vines and leaves (sometimes growing beneath the surface of the flesh where the veins should be) or have eyes like black pools of water. | Keepers of the Feral Heart: Look into the eyes of an animal and spend 1 Glamour to enslave it until the next sunrise or sunset. The animal must do anything the changeling demands, as long as it's possible. | Winter Masques 107-108 |
| Whisperwisp | Spies flourish in the dark, hiding from their false allies and whispering to their true friends. Some have achieved an artful perfection in the trade. Whisperwisps flit from alcove to alcove in the grand halls of the Gentry, worming their way into the confidences of servants and eavesdropping on the masters. | Turncoat's Tongue: Gain 9-again on Empathy and Subterfuge rolls involving conversation and gathering information. Also, spend 1 Glamour to whisper a message to anyone within earshot, regardless of line of sight. | Winter Masques 73 |
Seeming Blessing: Once per day, spend 1 Glamour to add Wyrd as temporary Health dots for a scene.
Seeming Curse: Lose 10-again on Manipulation, Empathy, Expression, Persuasion, and Socialize dice pools.
Seeming Contracts: Contracts of Communion; Contracts of Elements; Contracts of the Wild
| Kith | Description | Blessing | Reference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Airtouched | The Elementals of wind, cloud, smoke and sky, who can be as healthy as a fresh breeze or as pestilent as the miasma that surrounds the dead. | Velocity of the Zephyr: Spend 1 Glamour to add Wyrd to Speed or Initiative for the rest of the scene. | Changeling 109 |
| Apsaras | These elementals of cloud and fog are spoken of in Hindu myth. These nymphs, ostensibly female (though the kith doesn't require it), were said to tempt ascetics with their beauty and seductive dances. Those within this kith tend to give off a kind of mist or fog – sometimes warm, sometimes cool – that drifts in languid wisps from their oft-unblemished flesh. | Enthralling Mist: Spend 1 Glamour to change a character's Vice to Lust for 24 hours. Also, add Wyrd to any Manipulation rolls made to affect that individual during that time. | Winter Masques 108 |
| Ask-wee-da-eed | The Abenaki people of the northeastern United States tell stories of a will-of-the-wisp-type creature formed of fickle fire. This creature, the Ask-wee-da-eed, is tied to meteors and comets and is said to bring bad luck and death by its presence. Those of this kith in some way embody the meteoric fire, but are also able to foretell the misfortune of others, in a way. | Taste of Ill Luck: Once per day, spend 1 Glamour to force another to re-roll a successful roll at -1. Also, gian an automatic +1 to activating Contracts of Hearth. | Winter Masques 108 |
| Blightbent | Some of the most tragic of Elementals, the Blightbent are children of pollution. They were altered by choking smogs, toxic waters, blighted land, diseased forests and chemical fire. | Caustic Caress: Gain +3 to rolls to resist man-made toxins. Also, once per day, spend 1 Glamour to touch a target and make them take 1 Lethal damage with a Dexterity + Wyrd - target's Stamina roll. | Winter Masques 78-79 |
| Di-cang | In Buddhist lore, his name means "Womb of the Earth." As one of the bodhisattvas, he was said to calm the suffering of those poor souls lost in the many hells. Born of the earth, one might suggest that Di-cang is a kind of "jewel elemental," for in his hand he usually holds a precious gem that salves the pain of others. The Elementals of this kith tend to possess mostly human features, but have skin or extremities studded with various jewels (some might even have multi-faceted eyes such as rubies, sapphires or emeralds). | Peace of Suffering: By spending 1 Glamour, remove wound penalties and pain from those within 10 yards for a scene. Also, Larceny dots can be purchased at half their additional cost. | Winter Masques 108 |
| Earthbones | Changelings who have the mark of earth and stone: lumpen Paracelsian Gnomes, sand spirits, dour men of peat and dwarfs made of mountain granite. | Terrestrial Might: Spend Glamour to add to non-combat Strength-based dice pools on a 1:1 basis. | Changeling 109 |
| Fireheart | Elementals marked with fire, heat or electricity. | Flickering Acumen: Spend Glamour to add to Wits-based dice pools on a 1:1 basis. | Changeling 109 |
| Levinquick | Electricity has caught in the heart and blood of these changelings; their flesh is as a lightning rod that calls down the levin bolts into their bodies. Where some Firehearts have had their wits honed by the lightning, the Levinquick are more bodily affected. | Fireflaught's Vigor: Spend 1 Glamour to gain +2 to Speed and Initiative, which lasts for one turn per Wyrd. | Winter Masques 79 |
| Manikin | Changelings who have the character of human-made objects, such as caryatids, mannequins and other, stranger things, such as enchanted beings powered by clockwork or steam or living bodies made of mercury or glass. | Artificer's Enchantment: Learn Contracts of Artifice for (new dots x 5) experience points rather than the usual cost. Also, make untrained Crafts rolls at -1 rather than -3. | Changeling 109 |
| Manikin [Homebrew Variant] | Changelings who have the character of human-made objects, such as caryatids, mannequins and other, stranger things, such as enchanted beings powered by clockwork or steam or living bodies made of mercury or glass. | Artificer's Enchantment: Treat the Contracts of Animation, Contracts of Artifice, or Contracts of the Forge as affinity Contracts. Also, take no untrained penalty on Crafts rolls. The original Artificer's Enchantment was underpowered and difficult to translate into the God-Machine Chronicle rules update. |
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| Metalflesh | Changelings who were remade in Arcadia's foundries, the Metalflesh are infused with bronze or copper, gold or silver or brass – but never pure iron. | Forge's Endurance: Once per day, spend 1 Glamour to gain +1 to Stamina, Resolve, and Composure rolls for the rest of the scene. | Winter Masques 79 |
| Sandharrowed | The howling deserts of Faerie produce their own children. The Sandharrowed are embodied with the merciless grace and power of the shifting sands. | Enveloping Sands: +2 to all rolls made to grapple an opponent or escape a grapple. | Winter Masques 79 |
| Snowskin | The children of the cold, who can be as powerful as the Arctic ice or as delicate as a snowflake. | The Voice of Ice: Gain 9-again on Intimidation and Subterfuge, and spend 1 Glamour to re-roll a failed Intimidation check. | Changeling 110 |
| Waterborn | Changelings who are imbued with the nature of the waters, soft and brutal, gentle and mighty: undines and nymphs, man-eating river demons, water babies, ladies of the lake. | Gift of Water: Spend 1 Glamour to breathe underwater and swim at double Speed for a scene. However, the character loses the ability to breathe air for this duration or until they spend another point of Glamour to cancel the blessing. | Changeling 110 |
| Woodblood | The children of plants: Green Men, flower fairies, spirits of mandrake, rose, thorns and all manner of medicinal herbs, fair and foul. | Fade into the Foliage: In any outdoors area where plants grow from the earth, gain 9-again on Stealth and Survival dice pools. Also, spend a point of Glamour to hide in a place with some foliage where it would be normally impossible. | Changeling 110 |
Seeming Blessing: Spend Glamour to increase Presence, Manipulation, and Persuasion pools on a 1:1 basis. Also, no untrained penalty to Social rolls.
Seeming Curse: -1 to rolls to avoid losing Clarity.
Seeming Contracts: Contracts of Separation; Contracts of Vainglory
| Kith | Description | Blessing | Reference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bright One | Changelings who came from light; will-o'-the-wisps, bright elves, White Ladies and other beings of light and fire and ice from all over the world. | Goblin Illumination: At will, illuminate a 15 x 15 x 10 foot area with a soft, pale, diffuse light for one scene that stays where it's created. Spend a point of Glamour to make the light painfully intense and gain partial (-2) concealment. | Changeling 113-114 |
| Dancer | Those among the Fairest blessed of particular agility and grace, for whom motion is itself beauty and art. | Fae Grace: Gain 9-again on Expression or Socialize rolls involving agility, and add 1 to defense when attempting to Dodge. | Changeling 114 |
| Draconic | Changelings who bear within them the blood of dragons or other Great Beasts of Faerie, including celestial bureaucrats and tithe-payers to Satan alike. | Dragon's Talon: Gain +1 to Brawl rolls. Once per scene, spend 1 Glamour to re-roll a failed Brawl check. | Changeling 114 |
| Flamesiren | These burning Fairest represents the entrancement of flame – when people stare at a flickering candle or gaze into a crackling bonfire, the force that holds their attention is the essence of the Flamesiren's appeal. It's the beauty of danger and destruction, together in one sinuous, lambent package. | Burning Hypnotism: Once per scene, spend 1 Glamour to force anyone looking at the Flamesiren to take a -2 to all actions unless they succeed on a Resolve + Composure roll. This lasts for as long as the Flamesiren wishes, up to one scene. | Winter Masques 83-84 |
| Flowering | Flowers blossom on bare earth where these changelings have stood (although they take months to appear in the human world rather than seconds, as they did in Faerie). Their skin is soft like the petal of a rose or a chrysanthemum and bright with a bloom of health. | Seductive Fragrance: Gain 9-again to Persuasion, Socialize, and Subterfuge rolls. | Changeling 114 |
| Gandharva | In Hindu lore, these often androgynous messengers of the gods were beautiful and strange, sometimes having animal or plant parts as part of their heavenly flesh. The changelings of this kith are similar, often pale or golden-fleshed, equally androgynous (leaning toward the feminine, even when male). They are, just as their mythic counterparts, said to be beautiful speakers and musicians. | Heavenly Articulation: Spend 1 Glamour to gain an exceptional success from Expression or Persuasion rolls with three successes for a scene. | Winter Masques 108-109 |
| Larcenist | The Larcenist kith is very close to the Fairest's Dancer Kith, except here, the alien grace of the Wyrd is applied in part to one’s ability to pilfer and plunder. | Thievery's Grace: Gain 9-again on Larceny and Socialize rolls involving agility, and always gain +1 to Dodge total. | Night Horrors: Grim Fears 63 |
| Minstrel | The Gentry love to be entertained and moved, especially by music. Fairest trained as Minstrels spend their durance serenading their Keepers, sometimes with an instrument, sometimes using only their voices. | Perfect Pitch: Spend a point of Glamour to re-roll any failed dice on an Expression roll. Also, gain 8-again on attempts to harvest Glamour from the audience of the Minstrel's performance. | Night Horrors: Grim Fears 43 |
| Muse | Their beauty inspires the arts. Whether a Rubenesque beauty, a sedate and delicate daughter of the Heavenly Ministry, a grotesquely beautiful masquer garbed in yellow tatters, or a Dark Lady who drives her beloved to destruction, the Muse inspires the creation of things of beauty and horror and love and hate and fear. The growth of confidence can precipitate a headlong rush to doom, and the Muse knows how to make it happen. | The Tyranny of Ideas: Spend Glamour to improve a human's (and only a human's) Expression, Persuasion, Socialize, or Subterfuge roll on a 1:2 bonus (+2 per point spent). | Changeling 114 |
| Playmate | A changeling taken by a Keeper who just wants someone to play with might become a member of the Playmate kith. | The Circle of Friends: Gain +2 to any teamwork roll where the Playmate is the primary actor. When he is the secondary actor, he can automatically give the primary actor 9-again instead of rolling. | Night Horrors: Grim Fears 122 |
| Polychromatic | They are the sons and daughters of the rainbow, fae who are living embodiments of color itself. Their hair and eyes flash all number of vibrant colors, sometimes shifting to match the Fairest's temper. In a world of leaden skies and rain-slick gray concrete, the Polychromatics are a form of beauty that can never be dimmed. | Prismatic Heart: All Empathy rolls against the Polychromatic suffer a -1. Also, spend 1 Glamour as a reflexive action to gain a +2 to rolls made to resist emotional manipulation for the rest of the scene. | Winter Masques 84 |
| Romancer | Some Keepers recognize that a Gentry's greatest and most enduring love is itself. Lost who become Romancers were taken to act as a form of mirror, reflecting things not as they were but as the Gentry wished them to be. Those who view Romancers are subject to a subtle illusion that emphasizes those aspects of the changeling that the subject find most appealing, sometimes going so far as to convince the subject that small aspects of the changeling are utterly different than they really are. | Narcissus's Blessing: Characters take a -3 penalty when trying to describe the Romancer to others, including on recorded footage or photographs. | Night Horrors: Grim Fears 46 |
| Shadowsoul | The antithesis of the Bright Ones, these fae are the most beautiful chosen of the night. Their beauty comes from the darkness they swathe themselves in rather than the light they radiate. | Unnatural Chill: Add Wyrd to Intimidation rolls and gain 9-again to Subterfuge rolls. Also, treat Contracts of Darkness as affinity Contracts. | Winter Masques 84 |
| Succubus/Incubus | Whether the Jewish Lilitu or the Arab um al duwayce, the core idea of the succubus or incubus is the same: a demon or spirit possessed of beauty that is used for malevolent purposes. Their beauty is darkened inevitably by something that happened to them in Faerie, and this hangs upon them in some way that colors their splendor with hints of the diabolical (blood-red eyes, bat wings, black nails, teeth filed to points or other demonic characteristics). These changelings are temptresses, creatures who are imprisoned by lust but can also wield it like a weapon. | Vice to Vice: If a character shares a Vice with the Succubus or Incubus, the changeling gains a +1 to Social rolls with that character. If the Vice is Lust, gain a +2 instead. Also, gain Striking Looks •• for free. | Winter Masques 109 |
| Telluric | Those who walk the skybridges in the vaults of Faerie heaven, the stars in their hair and comets in their eyes. Tellurics are Fairest imbued with the essence and spirit of celestial bodies. They shine with empyrean light, have hair like a starry nebula, or are marked with the signs of a specific planet – the red skin and fiery temper of Mars, the quicksilver wit and quicksilver hair of Mercury, the pale beauty of the moon. | Music of the Spheres: Always know the exact current time, giving a +3 to actions that require precise timing. Also, gain a free Academics Speciality in Astronomy and a free Occult Speciality in Astrology. | Winter Masques 84-85 |
| Treasured | Far more than any other Fairest, the Treasured were treated as nothing more than prized objects for display. They are jeweled, gilded, alabaster, like Michelangelo's David given the faintest hint of color or a figure that has stepped away from Alma-Tadema's The Roses of Heliogabalus. | Alabaster Fortitude: Once per scene, re-roll a failed Stamina, Resolve, or Composure roll (except one to avoid gaining a derangement through Clarity loss) by spending a point of Glamour. | Winter Masques 85 |
| Weisse Frau | The Weisse Frau ("White Lady") in German lore is a beautiful matron said to protect children. Wearing all white, she is thought to be benevolent and sad (compared quite often to the Mexican La Llorona, the "weeping woman" who waits by the river-side crying for the children she has lost). It's said that a kiss from the Weisse Frau confers protection, and this is true for those of the kith. | Kiss of Life: Kiss a character and spend a point of Glamour to give them two points of invisible and intangible armor. If the target is a child under the age of 13, they gain three points of armor instead. | Winter Masques 109 |
Seeming Blessing: Spend Glamour to increase Strength, Brawl, and Intimidate rolls on a 1:1 basis.
Seeming Curse: Lose 10-again on Composure dice pools (although Wits + Composure perception rolls suffer no penalty) and suffer a -1 penalty when using Composure as a defense trait (i.e. when subtracting it from another character's dice pool).
Seeming Contracts: Contracts of Oath and Punishment; Contracts of Stone
| Kith | Description | Blessing | Reference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bloodbrute | Veterans of the fighting pits frequented by jaded Gentry, the Bloodbrutes were kept for one purpose only: to fight for their Keepers' enjoyment. | Improvised Mayhem: Spend 1 Glamour to create the equivalent of any melee weapon given appropriate materials at hand. The Bloodbrute doesn't suffer from the -1 improvised weapon penalty. | Winter Masques 90 |
| Corpsegrinder | Some Ogres are fed upon death. The Corpsegrinders are survivors of massive charnel pits, brutes maintained on a diet of bones and carrion, the hulking guardians of burial grounds. They gnawed like Nidhogg at the roots of great dead trees, or tunneled into graves like ghuls to search out the freshest corpses. | Sepulchral Hunger: Gain +1 to attack rolls against enemies at half Health or lower, and gain +1 to attack rolls against undead creatures like vampires. | Winter Masques 90-91 |
| Cyclopean | The Cyclopeans are like the ancient hunters and herdsmen of legend who sought men for their cooking pots: changelings who resemble Cyclops of Archaic Greece, the one-legged Fachan of Scots legend, the three-eyed oni of Japan, the elephant-eared rakshas of India or the wind-borne footless Wendigo of North America. | Smell the Blood: Gain 8-again on Wits-based Perception rolls. Deficient senses (such as from the One Eye Flaw) are made up for by the Cyclopean's sense of smell. | Changeling 117-118 |
| Daitya | In Hindu myth, the Daityas are giants and ogres who opposed the gods and reviled those sacrifices given to the gods. They went to war against the heavens and, for a cycle of history, remained victorious. The kith associated with this legend is said to be composed of those Hindu Ogres who went against their Keepers – some stories even suggest that a great battle was fought in Faerie, with a passel of Daityas bringing down a pair of callous and mighty Fae. Many Daityas are large and reptilian in features, inheriting the serpent's flesh from their Keepers (who in turn plunder said flesh from the old legends of the dragon-serpent Vritra, the demon who was said to have spawned the Daityas in the first place). The Daityas were apparently potent warriors who could topple pillars and cut the gods' weapons in twain with a single blow. | Cutting Might: Spend 1 Glamour to ignore the Durability of a single object for one attack. Also, gain a free Weaponry Skill Speciality. | Winter Masques 109 |
| Farwalker | Changelings who resemble the abominable men of mystery, the possibly savage hairy creatures of the wilds whose existence straddles the divide between folklore and cryptozoology: the Sasquatch, the yeti, the Russian Alma, the Australian yowie and dozens of other wild men. | The Elusive Gift: Gain 9-again on Stealth and Survival dice pools. Spend a point of Glamour to re-roll a failed Stealth or Survival check. | Changeling 118 |
| Gargantuan | Captured by giants, these changelings had to grow to a greater stature, perhaps being stretched on racks or forced to drink noxious potions. | Spurious Stature: Spend 1 Glamour to add Wyrd to Size for the rest of the scene (which gives temporary health dots). When returning to normal size, take a point of Lethal damage. | Changeling 118 |
| Gristlegrinder | Man-eaters and gluttons, taking their cue from the English Black Annis, Scottish Red Caps or the rakshas of India, but also sometimes resembling more modern Ogres, such as the masked unstoppable lunatics of slash-and-stalk horror movies. | Terrible Teeth: Gain a Bite attack that does Damage 2 (L), but can only be used in a grapple. | Changeling 118 |
| Oni | Japanese legend speaks of the oni, vicious red-skinned ogres with hirsute bodies, horns upon their head and many eyes. The oni came to represent sin as demons, and in many stories were responsible for visiting the wicked upon their deathbeds and consuming their souls. The Oni kith visibly resemble their fairy-tale counterparts, though many have skin colors other than red: blue, jaundiced, green, black and so forth. | A Mouthful of Sin: By spending 1 Glamour after a successful bite attack once per chapter, the Oni drinks the opponent's blood. Each point of damage dealt to the opponent heals one Lethal or two Bashing damage to the Oni. However, this ability only works on characters with Morality (or equivalent) 6 or lower. | Winter Masques 110 |
| Render | The Renders were kept as living engines of destruction. They may have been used as shock troops in a besieging army, charged with ripping open the gates and tearing down the enemy's towers. They may have been woodsmen without axes, quarry-workers reliant on their talons rather than chisel and mattock. | Sundering Talons: Ignore up to 3 points of durability when damaging an object barehanded. | Winter Masques 91 |
| Stonebones | Changelings who resemble the rocky giants of folklore: Nordic trolls, Native American mountain spirits and the like. | Obdurate Skin: Once per day as an instant action, spend 1 Glamour to add Wyrd to Armor for the rest of the scene. However, take a -1 to Dexterity rolls when this is active, and reduce Defense by 1 for every two points of Wyrd after the first. | Changeling 18-119 |
| Troll | In Nordic myths and fairy tales, trolls are certainly ogrish – tall, featuring exaggerated and grotesque features, sharp teeth and cruel hunters. But trolls are more than that. They're not hunters, instead choosing to wait and hide in places (in barrow mounds, deep inside caverns, beneath bridges) and then trick victims with riddles and double-talk. While many trolls are strong, they're often savvy, capricious, consumed of a kind of subterranean cunning. | Unyielding Voice: Spend 1 Glamour to add dots in Strength to any Manipulation dice pool. | Winter Masques 110 |
| Water-Dweller | Changelings who resemble the legendary water-demons of many cultures, from life-demanding river spirits through to the trolls of coastal caves and under-bridge shadows. | Lie Under the Waves: Hold breath for 30 minutes and suffer no penalties to sight-based Perception rolls when underwater. | Changeling 119 |
| Witchtooth | The embodiment of the cruel, man-eating hag and the selfish, mystical monster, the Witchtooth is among the wisest and most cunning of Ogres. The Witchtooth have a penchant for dark magic, particularly curses. While many of the most famous examples of this monster are female – Baba Yaga, Spearfinger, Black Annis – male changelings can learn the ugly secrets of Witchtooth wisdom as well. | Black Hex: Spend Glamour to increase Occult rolls on a 1:1 basis and gain a +1 to activating Contracts that involve cursing another person. | Winter Masques 91 |
Seeming Blessing: Spend 1 Glamour to gain 9-again on Dexterity dice pools for the rest of the scene. Also, spend a point of Glamour to add Wyrd to Dodge total for the rest of the scene.
Seeming Curse: Lose 10-again on Presence dice pools. Also, the untrained penalty for Social rolls becomes -2.
Seeming Contracts: Contracts of Animation; Contracts of Artifice; Contracts of the Forge
| Kith | Description | Blessing | Reference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Artist | The Wizened who create startling works of art and craft: seamsters, sculptors, painters and builders | Impeccable Craftsmanship: Gain 8-again on Crafts rolls, and spend 1 Glamour to make any one Crafts roll a rote action once. | Changeling 121 |
| Author | In Faerie, these changelings composed words of all kinds for their masters, from poetry to plays to nonfiction. Authors may even have been their Keepers' only connection with mortal language, having to explain precisely what words are and how they held power. Authors still see things in terms of words – ideal nouns and adverbs swim unasked through their minds. | Polyglot's Riddle: Gain 8-again on Expression rolls dealing with writing. With a successful Wits + Academics roll, deduce the meaning of any text written in a mortal language. | Winter Masques 96 |
| Brewer | Changelings who spent their durance in Faerie learning how to create mind-bendingly potent drinks or peculiar alchemies. | The Inebriating Elixir: Once per scene, roll Wits + Crafts to ferment a pint of drink with 1 point of Glamour. The Potency of the drink is equal to successes + Wyrd. If the Potency is higher than the Health of the person who drinks it, that person suffers the effect of having drunk one more drink than their Stamina (see World of Darkness 177). Gain +4 to any Stamina roll to resist poison or intoxication. | Changeling 121 |
| Chatelaine | Preternaturally skilled manservants, organizers and house-managers. | Perfect Protocol: Gain 9-again on Social rolls that depend on manners, etiquette, or proper social practice (including when using Presence). Also, spend 1 Glamour to gain +2 to Manipulation and Presence pools for the rest of the scene. | Changeling 121 |
| Chirurgeon | Changelings who master surgery and pharmacy, sometimes from altruism, and sometimes simply because they can, ranging from scary back-street surgeons to strangely alien experimenters. | The Analeptic Charm: Gain 9-again on Medicine rolls, never suffer from equipment penalties as long as something can be jury-rigged, and any patient of a Chirurgeon receives the benefit of hospital intensive care (see World of Darkness 61) | Changeling 122 |
| Drudge | The lowest and most menial of Wizened, Drudges were given the most unpleasant tasks to perform. They suffered all the privations and modifications of their fellow Wizened, and did not even learn a faerie trade in return. Drudges are the long-suffering inheritors of house elves, domovoi and other such faeries. | Unseen Labor: By spending 1 Glamour, complete a simple task in an amount of time equal to the usual time divided by Wyrd + 1, long as no mortals are watching. The task must require fewer than 5 successes on an extended roll to complete. Also, gain 9-again to Stealth rolls. | Winter Masques 96 |
| Fatemaker | This Wizened may have skin like old parchment, with indecipherable words drifting across her papery flesh. | Turn of the Tale: When Talecrafting (see Swords at Dawn 60), spend an additional 2 Glamour on a Talecrafting roll to ensure that a Cruel Twist of Fate does not occur. | Swords at Dawn 64 |
| Gameplayer | The True Fae adore games, even if they despise the possibility of losing. Some Wizened were kept precisely to empower the Gentry's love of games. The changeling was forced to play against her Keeper, or against canny goblins and cheating imps; or she was made a part of the games, a chess piece in a game that repeated over and over again, or the queen of spades in a long poker game. | Grandmaster's Stratagem: By spending 1 Glamour, automatically win any mental-based game such as chess or checkers. Also gain a +3 bonus to games that require a combination of mental strategy and random chance such as poker or sports betting. | Winter Masques 96 |
| Gremlin | Gremlins are born more of modern folktales than anything, with their first official entrance into the lore appearing during World War I. Malevolent little gremlins were said to tinker with planes, causing them to malfunction and potentially crash. Many such malfunctions were blamed on gremlins (as a joke and, for some, a very real fear), and they entered the modern canon as any kind of faerie-like creature said to disrupt the workings of machines. (Worth noting is that the term may come from the Irish Gaelic, gruaimin, meaning "ill-humored little man.") | Gremlinizing Touch: Once per day, touch a device and spend 1 Glamour to negate any equipment bonuses it gives for one scene. | Winter Masques 110 |
| Miner | These changelings are the knockers and kobolds, the Coblynau and Telchines. Miners labored in deep mines to extract rare and precious metals, and perhaps other things – chipping out veins of fossilized blood from the rotting gut of a mountain-sized great beast, or tunnelling for the root of all evil. | Tappingspeak: Spend 1 Glamour to tap out a message less than 3 sentences long that can travel through sufficient mediums for up to 1 mile per Wyrd to an intended recipient, who understands it automatically. | Winter Masques 96 |
| Numerist | Changelings who spent their durance dealing in some way with mathematics or numbers: driven mad by orders to comprehend nonsensical physics, tasked to build non-Euclidean structures, or even repurposed as grotesque living abacuses. | Quantitative Sight: Spend a point of Glamour to roll Wits + Composure as perception. For each success, derive an observed character's numerical statistic (such as Health, Willpower, Defense, Speed, Initiative, or dots possessed in a certain Attribute or Skill). Such facts manifest as strange calculations and abstractions that flood the character's mind. This can only be attempted once per character per scene. Additionally, gain a free Occult (Numerology) or Science (Mathematics) Skill Speciality. | — |
| Oracle | Changelings who, like many imps and goblins, can, in a limited way, see the future. | Panomancy: Once per chapter, tell fortunes using any method to gain the effects of the Common Sense Merit. | Changeling 122 |
| Pamarindo | Italian folklore makes fearful mention of the Pamarindo, the shriveled pot-bellied faeries with salacious appetites. Legend has them often covered in slick fats, guts, blood and greases associated with the butchering of their prey. Their appearance as a kith among the Wizened sees the Pamarindo manifesting similar physical traits: their cheeks are often smeared with red, their teeth sharp and serrated, their flesh glossy and oily. | Gourmand's Grotesquerie: Spend 1 Glamour and touch a piece of raw meat, which can be fed to as many people as the Pamarindo's Wyrd score to nourish them for 24 hours. Also, gain Iron Stomach as a free Merit. | |
| Smith | Changelings who were forced to labor under the watchful eye of the most unimpeachable Faerie blacksmiths, tinkers and toolmakers. | Steel Mastery: Spend 1 Glamour and make an extended Dexterity + Crafts roll (4 successes required; 30 minutes of tinkering per roll) that gives a tool a +1 equipment bonus for a day. This only works thrice; the fourth time it's attempted, the tool is destroyed. | Changeling 122 |
| Soldier | Members of the vast goblin hosts of the Fae, the Soldiers fought strange, inconclusive battles and now find that fighting comes easier to them. | Blade Lore: Gain a free Weaponry Speciality with all edged weapons. | Changeling 122 |
| Soldier [Homebrew Variant] | Members of the vast goblin hosts of the Fae, the Soldiers fought strange, inconclusive battles and now find that fighting comes easier to them. | Gun Lore: Gain a free Firearms Speciality with all ballistic weapons. | — |
| Thusser | In Norway, they speak of the Thussers (known as Vardogls in Iceland) that come out of their faerie hills beneath the full moon and sing, dance, and fiddle away the night. Humans seem compelled to try to join in with the Thussers' carousing, though no mortal has ever been able to truly dance or sing with the diminutive strange-bodied creatures. The Thusser kith is similar to those wee-humans of folklore, often small and moon-eyed. | Fiddler's Delight: Spend 1 Glamour and either sing or play some instrument (with an Expression roll as usual), hypnotize one individual, who cannot do anything but listen to the Thusser until the Thusser stops playing or they are forced to defend themselves. | Winter Masques 110 |
| Woodwalker | The Wizened who, like their captors, live within and protect the wilds, sometimes jealously, sometimes violently. | Wildcraft: Gain 8-again on Survival rolls and survive by eating any plant, no matter how poisonous. | Changeling 122 |
As stated in Autumn Nightmares, the True Fae can posses up to three mien blessings, chosen either from the kith blessings above or from the following list. These blessings cannot be taken by changeling characters as kith blessings without permission from the Storyteller (who may create new kith types based on these blessings).
| Blessing | Description | Effect | Reference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Binding Skin | The Fae's flesh regenerates. Wounds expunge blood, then start to heal. Bones shift and pop while knitting back together. | Heal one point of Bashing damage per turn and one point of Lethal damage every 15 minutes. Aggravated damage is unaffected. | Autumn Nightmares 68 |
| Blurflesh | The Fae's body seems to radiate an odd blur or mirage-like effect. It could be like looking at the fiend through water, smoke, fog or heat vapor. | Apply full Defense to incoming ranged attacks. | Autumn Nightmares 68 |
| Flicker | The Fae gives off a distracting, even hypnotic aura. Whether it's a shifting interplay of light and shadow or a effervescent parade of dizzying colors, the aura serves to distract and weaken one's ability to attack. | Spend 1 Glamour to make everyone who sees the Fae take -5 to Initiative for the rest of the scene. | Autumn Nightmares 68 |
| Lyrical Voice | The Fae's voice possesses magical qualities. Perhaps it is lilting and lovely, or it could be that it carries with it an unmistakable authority. Her words might sound as poetry, or remind one of a babbling brook or a keening violin. | Gain 9-again on Expression, Persuasion, and Subterfuge rolls. | Autumn Nightmares 68 |
| Many-Eyes | A Fae with this "blessing" might have multifaceted fly-eyes, eight eyes like a spider or a head riddled with blinking human eyes. | Add Wyrd to Perception rolls. Also, spend 1 Glamour to double Defense for a turn. | Autumn Nightmares 68 |
| Nightmare Aura | In a nightmare, someone may find himself hampered – he cannot run, he cannot flee, as if his feet were mired in concrete or he were running on some kind of invisible treadmill (and meanwhile, one's nightmarish adversary approaches with eerie confidence). This ability grants the Fae a similar effect, except one that occurs in the real world, not in dreams. The Fae's physical manifestation can be diverse, ranging from ghostly tentacles that seem to lash out and coil around ankles to a radiant effect in which the ground literally seems to turn to mush or mud (concrete may even appear to turn to its unsettled form). | Everyone within 50 yards suffer from halved speed. | Autumn Nightmares 68 |
| Quillbarbs | The flesh of the True Fae is riddled with quills, barbs, hooks, spikes or the cartilaginous skin of a shark (rubbed the wrong way, a shark's skin causes abraded burns). | A successful Brawl attack against the Fae incurs a point of Lethal damage upon the attacker. A successful Weaponry attack makes the weapon take one point of Structure damage. | Autumn Nightmares 68 |
| Sicktouch | The Fae's touch is rife with disease. Perhaps her fingers fester with sores, or maybe little biting fleas leap off her skin. | Spend 1 Glamour and touch a target to confer a disease, which manifests after 8 hours. The disease causes a point of Bashing damage per day and a -3 to all rolls. To beat the disease, the afflicted character must gain 5 successes on an extended Stamina + Resolve roll (one roll per day). | Autumn Nightmares 68-69 |
| Shocking Caress | The Fae, like an electric eel, can deliver a jolting shock of electricity through his skin. | Once per scene, spend 1 Glamour while grappling an opponent to shock them, dealing (Wyrd) points of Bashing damage. The victim must succeed on a reflexive Stamina roll or lose the ability to act (other than move) and suffer from halved Defense during the following turn. | Autumn Nightmares 69 |
| Somnolent Perfume | The Fae gives off a fragrance similar to the scent associated with the Flowering kith, but this perfume's effect is slightly different. The scent radiates off the Keeper in sometimes-visible vapors (it may look like a heat haze or a faint violet fog). The fragrance might be sweet, or it might be pungent, but its effect is the same: it can put others to sleep, en masse. | Spend 1 Glamour and succeed on a Wyrd vs. highest present Composure + Wyrd to make everyone within (Presence + Persuasion) yards fall asleep for (Wyrd) turns or until they take a point of any damage. | Autumn Nightmares 69 |
| Sovereign Limb | The Fae has an appendage that acts independently of the Fae. It might be a lashing tail, a whipping tongue, a third arm, even a barbed and braided length of ivy. The limb can be also something ethereal and unreal – a tentacle formed of shadow, perhaps, or an orbiting metal sphere. | The limb has an Initiative modifier equal to the Fae's Presence and shares the Fae's Defense and Speed. On its turn, the limb can attack with a dice pool equal to the Fae's Wyrd (it deals Bashing damage). Attacking the limb incurs a -2 penalty, but all damage (including Bashing damage) taken by the limb transfers to the Fae. | Autumn Nightmares 69 |
| Swarmcloud | The Fae is surrounded by a persistent swarm of some ilk. This generally means something alive: biting flies, bees, locusts, gnats, moths, butterflies. The swarm can alternately manifest as non-living things – whorls of paper, a dusty sirocco of sand, even sparks of static electricity whipping and snapping in the air. | Gain +2 to Defense but -2 to all Social rolls. | Autumn Nightmares 69 |