Changeling/Want to Pledge

Already Know all this? Pledge Crafting 101 is the link you want for more detailed math stuff.

So You Want to Pledge

This page is the first step in Pledging. There are a few things you should know right off the bat before you get into the nitty gritty details of mathing out the Pledge. Follow along now, and if you have any questions, please feel free to send a +request to Changeling Staff!

How Many Pledges Can I have?

This is the first important question to ask. How many Pledges, and do I have the availability to have another? To Answer this question however we have to ask another

What Kind of Pledges Are there?

There are Vows, Corporal, and Oath Pledges.

Any Changeling may have Wyrd+3 Vows at any one time. These require nothing but the pledge itself, and they are invested with a tiny bit of the changeling's wyrd.

Oath pledges can be sworn on a changeling's True Name, their Keeper's Name, or the name of a Higher Power - Although that needn't be a god, it can be a higher ideal like 'Bravery' or 'Justice'.

Corporal Pledges can be sworn on a changeling's mortal life, their Seeming, their Court, their Entitlement, a single Nemesis, and 1 slot for each mortal Allies, Contacts, Resources, or Status merit you have.

Non Changelings may have 3 Pledges. This does not matter if they are Vows, Corporal, or Oaths. They cannot swear to some kinds of Corporal or Oaths.

What is a Vow, Corporal, or Oath Pledge?

Vows are the simplest of all pledges. They are simply taking the Power of the Wyrd, and investing it into a binding contract with another person. The reason they are limited by a Changelings Wyrd is because the changeling is binding their Wyrd to this Pledge to make it work. Vows are the easiest type to swear, and carry the least weight. They are the types of pledges you swear for a day or a week, something that doesn't need a lot of 'I really mean this!' behind it. There is no additional drawback to breaking a Vow than the Sanction of the Pledge.

Corporal Pledges are bound into some physical representation, or Emblem, of the Changeling. Breaking Corporal Pledges has additional draw backs beyond just the Sanction of the Pledge! Non Changelings, while they can have a Corporal Pledge as one of their 3 pledges, do not suffer the additional drawbacks. They are for more serious pledges, a way to show to the other party you really mean it. A Changeling can typically have only one of each type of Corporal Pledge at once - so a Mortal, A seeming, a Courtly, A Title, and a Nemesis Pledge. These types are further explained on page 176 of the CtL Core Book, but here is a quick summary:

• Mortal Emblem- The Changeling invests a connection of her mortal life into the Pledge to power it. Breaking the pledge breaks that part of their mortal life as well! You can actually have more than one Mortal Pledge if you wish to invest Merits into the pledge to power it - Merits such as Allies, Status, Contacts can all power Mortal Corporal Pledges. Example emblems: Lease agreement, Video Store Card, ATM card.
• Seeming Emblem- The Changeling invests their connection to their Seeming, their very fae being, into the Pledge to power it. The emblem must be something representative of their seeming. Breaking this pledge means they immediately loose a dot of wyrd! If you only have Wyrd at 1, you cannot swear this. Non Changelings cannot swear to this kind of pledge. Example Emblems: Anything that represents your seeming.
• Courtly - You invest your Mantle or Court Goodwill into the pledge, to power it. Breaking this pledge causes your Goodwill or Mantle for that court to be diminished. You must have Goodwill or Mantle to invest in this pledge. Non Changelings CAN swear to this type of pledge, even if they do not have Goodwill or Mantle - only the Changeling forming the pledge has to provide it. You can only have 1 Courtly pledge active at a time, no matter how many courts you have Goodwill with.
• Title - You invest your connection of your Entitlement into this pledge, to power it. Breaking it means you loose all benefits of your Entitlement until you gain a dot of Wyrd, and your Entitlement automatically knows you broke it when they run into you. You have to have an Entitlement to sear this type of pledge.
• Nemesis - This is a pledge sworn on the emblem of a particular changeling. This changeling, serving as the Nemesis, is tasked with enforcing this pledge. The Nemesis activates a contract that will be used against anyone who violates the pledge, like a pishogue, and is made aware of the pledge being violated. The nemesis can be a part of the pledge himself, in which case his own contract will turn against him if he breaks the oath. Each changeling can serve as Nemesis to ONE pledge and each changeling can only swear ONE nemesis pledge.

All of these Types of pledges need some kind of Physical Representation of the pledge. Your Movie Rental card for a mortal pledge, for your connection to the movie rental store. A representation of your Court or Seeming, or your Entitlement

Oaths are the most dangerous of pledges. They should be reserved for the most dire of promises that must be kept. Breaking these types of Oaths has great repercussions through everything the Changeling does. Like Corporal, Non Changelings who swear into an Oath do not suffer the additional drawbacks of breaking a pledge. Non Changelings can be part of any Oath.

• True Name (Unsullied or Sullied) - This is actually two different types, depending on if a Changelings Fetch is still alive. If the Fetch is still alive its Sullied, and breaking it making him weak the next time he encounters his Fetch. If the Fetch is dead or never existed, then it is Unsullied - Breaking this pledge immediately breaks ALL other pledges the Changeling is part of, with their full Sanction and Drawbacks for breaking them applying.
• Keeper - Swearing on the Name of your Keeper to power a Pledge is very serious indeed! If you break this Pledge, your Keeper gets one full scene, at their choosing, where your Keeper has a bonus to all rolls equal to your Wyrd against you!
• Higher Power - Swearing to God, or whatever your Changeling may still believe in is possible. But doing so causes you to loose all Willpower if you Break it, and have a penalty on your next Clarity Check!

Wow thats a Lot, now what?

Now the hard part. The Math. Check out +help pbuild for in game commands and Pledge Crafting 101 for more information therein.

Anything else?

Yes.

When the Pledge is over, it is the PLAYERS responsibility to put in a job to Fae Staff to renew the pledge. Renewing a pledge is not just a 'ok! Its back now!' it is actually all the players involved getting back together to re-swear the Pledge a second time. We do some handwavium for this, allowing players to do so in Jobs, but you are actually speaking the words a second time.

If your pledge goes more than 2 weeks expired without anyone putting in a job to renew it, it will be deleted from the system. Don't worry! We save all old pledges, so we can find the information for you, but it is YOUR responsibility to keep up with your pledges.