Damage Types
Changelings suffer from bashing, lethal and aggravated damage in the same manner as normal mortals. For example, punching a changeling’s jaw would cause bashing damage, shooting him in the stomach would cause lethal damage and certain supernatural sources would cause aggravated damage. Changelings have no inherent bane or anathema. Thus, nothing inherently causes them to suffer aggravated damage from exposure, as sunlight and fire affect vampires. Changelings do have an innate aversion to cold iron
Recovery
Recovery from injury takes the same time for changelings that it does for normal mortals. Because changelings’ bodies aren’t too terribly different from mortals, damaged tissue repairs itself and broken bones knit at about the same rate for changelings as they do for those untouched by the “other” nature of Faerie. However, changelings often make use of certain curatives harvested from the Hedge, called goblin fruits, to heal their wounds.
Changelings recover one point of bashing damage per 15 minutes, one point of lethal damage per two-day period and one point of aggravated damage per week.
Scars and Wounds
At the player’s discretion, a character may form a “signature” scar around the mostly healed site of an especially important wound. While this won’t be the case all the time, the character might like to wear as a badge of honor. Scars of this nature tend to reflect the character’s seeming. A Stonebones’ scar might be a hard, rocky keloid while a Bright One’s wound might issue a light that’s mildly visible from even beneath her blouse. There’s no cost to do this. It’s just a way of allowing players to customize their characters’ appearance to remind them of significant events in their lives.
Cold Iron
Those who know the secrets of the Fae tell a curious tale about the Fair Folk’s weakness to cold iron. Long ago, a powerful Other made a Contract with iron itself, but that creature failed to honor the terms of the Contract. Thereafter, iron swore itself as an enemy to the prodigal people, cold and unyielding in its grudge against them. This elemental animosity passed down to the changelings, as well. In effect, an item made from relatively pure iron (not steel) ignores defenses contrived by the fae and their magics.
A protection Contract will not offer any safety from an iron weapon. A changeling wearing fae armor will find it’s no protection from a spike torn from a wrought iron fence. Iron pure enough to be called “cold iron” is used very rarely in the modern world, and most Lost who look for a weapon to use against their fellows must often hunt through antique stores to find items with the distinctive grain or forge it themselves.
Iron weapons forged by hand have even more power. Mass-produced, machine-cut knives are not “cold iron,” nor is metal that has been conjured, transmuted or even shaped by magic. The most damaging iron has been hammered into its shape with nothing but muscle, a hammer and patience. Hand-forged iron confers an additional benefit, but only against the Gentry — True Fae suffer aggravated damage from hand-forged iron weapons. Even contact with hand-forged iron causes discomfort to the Others. Against changelings, hand-forged iron works the same as pure iron.
Longevity and Decrepitude
Time passes strangely in Faerie. A hapless traveler who stumbled through the Hedge into a midsummer’s party and stayed a few hours might find that weeks or even years had passed upon his return. A changeling stolen on her second birthday might return through the Thorns 19 years later to find her fetch only seven years of age.
So, too, does time occasionally pass oddly for those changelings who have made it back to our world. Particularly as a changeling’s Wyrd increases, the forces of fate and time have less sway over her.
Wyrd itself fluctuates for each changeling as well, though, making its effects difficult to pinpoint at a glance by the casual observer. The old man with the rheumy eyes and fluttering white beard might be 70 years old, or he might be over 100.
In addition, as a changeling’s Wyrd increases, the influence of fate abates somewhat over him. Disease, illness and infirmity all affect the character less than they would otherwise.
The following table depicts the increased longevity in years that a character might experience as his Wyrd increases. The table also includes the dice pool bonus the character receives to ward off the effects of sickness or other physical decrepitude.
Wyrd Longevity Infirmity Bonus
1 +10 years +1
2 +20 years +1
3 +30 years +1
4 +40 years +2
5 +50 years +2
6 +60 years +2
7 +75 years +3
8 +90 years +3
9 +105 years +3
10 +130 years or more +4
If a venerable or diseased character’s Wyrd ever decreases, that may spell his doom, as his changeling’s body is no longer able to stave off the ravages of fate and time with the weakening of his ability to shape them.
Changelings suffer from bashing, lethal and aggravated damage in the same manner as normal mortals. For example, punching a changeling’s jaw would cause bashing damage, shooting him in the stomach would cause lethal damage and certain supernatural sources would cause aggravated damage. Changelings have no inherent bane or anathema. Thus, nothing inherently causes them to suffer aggravated damage from exposure, as sunlight and fire affect vampires. Changelings do have an innate aversion to cold iron
Recovery
Recovery from injury takes the same time for changelings that it does for normal mortals. Because changelings’ bodies aren’t too terribly different from mortals, damaged tissue repairs itself and broken bones knit at about the same rate for changelings as they do for those untouched by the “other” nature of Faerie. However, changelings often make use of certain curatives harvested from the Hedge, called goblin fruits, to heal their wounds.
Changelings recover one point of bashing damage per 15 minutes, one point of lethal damage per two-day period and one point of aggravated damage per week.
Scars and Wounds
At the player’s discretion, a character may form a “signature” scar around the mostly healed site of an especially important wound. While this won’t be the case all the time, the character might like to wear as a badge of honor. Scars of this nature tend to reflect the character’s seeming. A Stonebones’ scar might be a hard, rocky keloid while a Bright One’s wound might issue a light that’s mildly visible from even beneath her blouse. There’s no cost to do this. It’s just a way of allowing players to customize their characters’ appearance to remind them of significant events in their lives.
Cold Iron
Those who know the secrets of the Fae tell a curious tale about the Fair Folk’s weakness to cold iron. Long ago, a powerful Other made a Contract with iron itself, but that creature failed to honor the terms of the Contract. Thereafter, iron swore itself as an enemy to the prodigal people, cold and unyielding in its grudge against them. This elemental animosity passed down to the changelings, as well. In effect, an item made from relatively pure iron (not steel) ignores defenses contrived by the fae and their magics.
A protection Contract will not offer any safety from an iron weapon. A changeling wearing fae armor will find it’s no protection from a spike torn from a wrought iron fence. Iron pure enough to be called “cold iron” is used very rarely in the modern world, and most Lost who look for a weapon to use against their fellows must often hunt through antique stores to find items with the distinctive grain or forge it themselves.
Iron weapons forged by hand have even more power. Mass-produced, machine-cut knives are not “cold iron,” nor is metal that has been conjured, transmuted or even shaped by magic. The most damaging iron has been hammered into its shape with nothing but muscle, a hammer and patience. Hand-forged iron confers an additional benefit, but only against the Gentry — True Fae suffer aggravated damage from hand-forged iron weapons. Even contact with hand-forged iron causes discomfort to the Others. Against changelings, hand-forged iron works the same as pure iron.
Longevity and Decrepitude
Time passes strangely in Faerie. A hapless traveler who stumbled through the Hedge into a midsummer’s party and stayed a few hours might find that weeks or even years had passed upon his return. A changeling stolen on her second birthday might return through the Thorns 19 years later to find her fetch only seven years of age.
So, too, does time occasionally pass oddly for those changelings who have made it back to our world. Particularly as a changeling’s Wyrd increases, the forces of fate and time have less sway over her.
Wyrd itself fluctuates for each changeling as well, though, making its effects difficult to pinpoint at a glance by the casual observer. The old man with the rheumy eyes and fluttering white beard might be 70 years old, or he might be over 100.
In addition, as a changeling’s Wyrd increases, the influence of fate abates somewhat over him. Disease, illness and infirmity all affect the character less than they would otherwise.
The following table depicts the increased longevity in years that a character might experience as his Wyrd increases. The table also includes the dice pool bonus the character receives to ward off the effects of sickness or other physical decrepitude.
Wyrd Longevity Infirmity Bonus
1 +10 years +1
2 +20 years +1
3 +30 years +1
4 +40 years +2
5 +50 years +2
6 +60 years +2
7 +75 years +3
8 +90 years +3
9 +105 years +3
10 +130 years or more +4
If a venerable or diseased character’s Wyrd ever decreases, that may spell his doom, as his changeling’s body is no longer able to stave off the ravages of fate and time with the weakening of his ability to shape them.
