Changeling/Becomings

When joining Changeling with a character that is already on grid, there is a process to be followed. Changeling will require a few different (and variable) things from a player and their ST for their Becomings, which may be different from other spheres. This guide is meant to provide a step-by-step instruction for how to perform one. Staff does ask that players have patience with how long this process can take. When staff is very busy it can take up to a couple weeks to get everything approved. However, this process towards approval could also be completed in a single evening if everything is available and sorted properly.

Staff recommends that players not make snap decisions to do Becomings into any sphere and Changeling in particular. While we do encourage people to join the sphere, the Becoming will be a very traumatic experience for a character and there is always the possibility that your PC could be killed. Becomings into Changeling are inherently dangerous and your character will not come out the other side of a Durance as the same character that went into it. It is required that all players doing Becomings read the 'Changeling: The Lost' core rulebook for the sphere. This is necessary to keep our players and sphere on-theme for what a Becoming should and should-not be.

Application Process

After deciding that this is a process that a player wants to pursue for their character, there is a process to be completed before approval can be given. Both ST's and Becoming players should review this page and section prior to any movement into the Becoming process.

1. The player who wishes to do the Becoming should submit a +request to Changeling staff. In this +request there should be a pitch of your character concept, the bitname of your storyteller (ST), and your acknowledgement of the dangers involved in the Becoming as well as the minimum requirement of two weeks off grid. If you see you character angling towards a certain court or activity within the sphere, please include this as well. The minimal requirement for this will be to include a pitch concept, Seeming, and Kith, confirmation of dangers, and understanding of time off grid. The Durance player must inform their current Team Lead that they are intent on a Becoming at this time, and approval must be given by any applicable family staffer. There are no exceptions to this.
2. The ST will need to submit a separate +request that confirms that they will be running a Becoming plot for the character going through a Durance. If there will be an original Keeper used, there will be additional requirements. This +request will include a pitch write-up of the concept of the Becoming and intents with it. The write-up will also include a scene outline, one for each scene, that will give Staff an idea of what the Durance will be like. A paragraph for each scene is acceptable with proper details and the scenes run will need to, at a minimum, loosely follow the pitched scenes. Additional scenes can obviously be run but the pitched and approved scenes are minimum requirements. If an original Keeper is being used, there will need to be an outline done of that Keeper as well.
3. Assuming both +myjobs are acceptable or have reached a state of approval, both players will be notified via their independent +myjobs. With approval, the PC's should be given appropriate start dates or the approval may say that RP may begin at any time. The PC's two weeks off grid start the day that RP begins on the Durance plot, not the day of approval. Staff must be notified of the day that RP on the plot begins in a job. Typically the original ST's pitch job will be kept open to keep everything organized in one place and the date of start can be notated here. If the ST fails to note the start date into a +request, this could potentially hold up time returning to grid.
4. Once the Durance PRP has been complete, the ST will need to post the logs to the wiki. It is suggested that this be done as the Durance progresses. Once the logs have been posted to the wiki, links to those logs should be placed into the +myjob and the staffer notified that RP has completed on the Durance. Once this is done, XP will be awarded as necessary and the Durance player should submit a new +request to be put through cgen again to start over as a Changeling.

Things to Avoid

There are a few things that should not be done that have been noticed in the past:

• If your character returns from a Durance at a low Wyrd level and they ICly remember their Durance, this is highly suspicious. Memories of Durances are directly proportional to a PC's Wyrd level. There may be investigations and consequences from ICly claiming to remember everything at low Wyrd levels as this tends to be indicative of a threat. This is outlined in the book. Staff will not intervene to IC consequences if this happens. Durances should not be remembered with great detail until Wyrd 7+ and having sustained, vivid dreams of Arcadia is a Clarity break.
  
• Do not do a Becoming into the sphere and expect the community to educate your character. Most experienced Changeling players have seen this in the past and it burns people out. The much preferred alternative is to OOCly read the CtL core book and skim the relevant/interesting areas of others while assuming that an IC education is being given in the background somehow. However, if your PC is doing a Becoming and you have found players willing to do an IC education through scening, this process is allowed.
• Do not ask that your character come back as a Loyalist or Privateer. These are Restricted concepts and will not be approved. Anyone who acts in behavior fitting either of those two antagonists will lose their PC to staff control and there will be consequences. There may be PC's on grid who are in some grey areas with this and it can be acceptable with proven player behavior and RP to handle a scenario like this - but your character will not be an antagonist. Along the same lines, we do not recommend your character return from Arcadia with the goal of becoming a True Fae one day. If this is your character's personal goal, and it is publicly spoken about and a serious effort of your character, there may be very serious consequences ICly.
• Coming back from a Durance and stepping into your PC's old life is directly contradictory to theme. Being 'Lost' means being separated from your PC's old life. There is usually a Fetch inhabiting that life now and would make it very difficult to return to it, especially after your character just spent X amount of years in a form of slavery and Hell. A Becoming into Changeling isn't a chance for respec into a Super Template and step back into your character's old life.

Things to Do

Staff recommends that these items be done as alternatives to the above.

• Take advantage of your character's lack of memory of their Durance. Use it to ask questions about who your character is, who they were, and even when they are. Some people are gone decades or more. A lot has changed in the world since then. If the last thing that your character can remember is a hazy set of memories from the Battle of Gettysburg, or pinning a dress in a posh mansion in 1934 London, play with that. Use it to enrich your RP and drive your character to explore who they could have been. Remember, those memories are as old as your char's Durance was long. If you char was in Arcadia for 20 years (from their perspective), ask yourself how well you remember things that happened 20 years ago? Use this hole in your character's memories to ask important questions of themselves - like just how much they really want to know about what happened to them. Do they really want to start climbing levels of Wyrd, risking that power, to remember who they were and what happened to them?
• Read the books and educate yourself OOCly on theme. If you can find someone to play with for part of an education, offer it to them as 'We can background my education almost completely, but I was wondering if we could have a few scenes to answer some other questions my char has?'. This will generally go a long way towards getting people interested in helping out your character. It's also a fantastic way to meet people on grid. If, as a player, you've taken the time to read the material and are out on grid asking good questions, it will give you a much larger advantage over those who do not attempt it. The more you know.gif
• Have a healthy understanding of what Loyalists and Privateers are. They are the sphere's primary foes to be dealt with and are often the most dangerous. Some might say 'But Flagstaff, I thought our story was to fear the Gentry?' and you would be correct to ask that. However, the Gentry are the enemy that should not be seen often. They are The Big Bad and do not often leave their realms. They will usually send out Loyalists to do their bidding. Understanding how they, and Privateers, fit into theme is important. Look over the other antagonists like Fetches and briar wolves. Or look at the hobs and the way they interact. Explore the theme deeply. Understand why Changelings fear becoming Gentry. Talk to others on grid about the evolution of a person into Changeling and what might take them to want all that power. Is it corruption by the Wyrd? Is it something deep inside the person? Was it planted?
• Take advantage of your character's Becoming to do something new. Think of it as re-inventing your character. If you are happy with your PC where they are and are just looking for powers, Changeling is probably not right for your character. When your PC comes back from their Durance, they should (normally) find their lives taken over by a Fetch. A Fetch is generally not going to want to let your PC take its life back. It was given your PC's life. Your PC's life belongs to it now. Work with that. Maybe you want to try to get your PC back into its old life. There are plenty of people on grid who would probably enjoy helping your char deal with a Fetch. Explore the idea that your PC is no longer who they were and use that to drive RP while they try to pick up the pieces and find a new life.