Active is better than Passive
Active is better than Passive
While there is the style of character that spends most of her time sitting back and observing goings on while being too reserved or timid or clever to get involved, we all know that those who generally take the plunge into the midst of chaos are a lot more fun.
Court
I'm planning to center the game around the court of the County of Harvard-Radcliffe, so characters should have some reason to visit it and some connections and hooks within the court. While it's unlikely that courtly scheming will take up all of game play, characters who are loners and willfully ignore all interpersonal issues may be sometimes bored. The court is getting more and more fleshed out, but if you really want to replace one of the already existing NPC's (say you want to be the bard, for instance) it's probably perfectly okay.
Direction
I'm not sure what direction the game will go in yet: a lot of it depends on the will of the people who play it. However, it won't go in all directions at once... so characters who fit together in some way would be nice. I'm not going to spend much time fitting the party together or keeping it together, I expect that to just happen. After all, this is a fairy tale.
Hooks
Yay Feng Shui, for the concept of dramatic hooks. All characters should have at least one big hook for the GM to latch onto and complicate their lives with. The evil twin, long lost brother, protective parent, oath to avenge your comrade's death, inability to say no to a lady... or all of the above. The more beautiful the hooks are which protrude from your character, the greater the chance the GM will play with them a lot... which means more amusement for you. Hooks can also join characters together for more amusement. Talk amongst yourselves.
Make up Stuff
In general, I'm extremely open to players making up stuff. If you want there to be a bar in game called the Purple People Eater, there probably is one. The GM of course reserves his right of veto over stuff that doesn't fit or annoys him, because he's surly that way. This also extends to characters --- if you need a supporting cast, go ahead and make them up. Stuff you make up can go on the web page as well.
Mechanics
The dire and banal word. I'll probably use a decent amount of the mechanics when helping people make up characters, although it's unlikely that characters will be finished out point-wise to the detail level of standard Changeling. I don't want to know that you have a rating of five in swordsmanship, I want to know that you are one of the premier knights of the realm. Mechanics for running the game will involve players saying what they want to do and me deciding either arbitrarily of when necessary with the help of a tarot deck whether they succeed.
Rank and File
Before you ask... your characters can be commoner or noble, up to the level of Baron. The ranking is of course: commoner, landed commoner, squire, knight, landed knight (sometimes called Master or Mistress of their location), Baron, Count or Earl, Duke. And while the GM recommends sticking to the fae types in the Changeling rulebook, if you've got a strong concept, run with it anyway.
Storytelling
One of the nice things about a setting based (as opposed to plot-based) game is that with less work that usual you can let other people in to run stories and generally play about. If you're interested, let me know... a good start would be to lay hands on the Changeling rulebook (the second edition just came out, and I have a spare first edition to lend). While I wouldn't necessarily subscribe to a the more the merrier philosophy, a few more cooks mean more dishes can be served.
Themes
There are a whole lot of possiblities to explore in Changeling. I'm
going to throw out a few here to give you some ideas for where to go
with your characters. You could be a changeling just coming into your
full heritage after years of being just a mortal, albeit one with
peculiar dreams, perhaps. Or an older changeling trying to balance
your fae and human sides. How about one of the beautiful people,
playing out a court drama of love, mystery, and betrayal? Perhaps you
are a young warrior, trying to prove yourself and earn your
spurs... or an older one trying to keep from losing your position to
some upstart. How about being a mischievious prankster, out to enliven
the dull and boring ceremonies of the nobility? A nocker scientist,
crafting swords and building huge and complicated machines in pursuit
of perfection? Human and Fae, Seelie against Unseelie, Plaid Stripes
or Polka Dots? I've barely scratched the surface.
