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I have to begin by saying that I'm all for the "Year of the Reckoning" storyline and such, and I was anxiously awaiting The Fool's Luck: the Way of the Commoner, hoping that it would bring sweeping changes to the Changeling: the Dreaming setting, as well as fixing many of the glaring political problems with the setting.

It really did neither, and I was sorely disappointed.

The opening story is good enough, although rather lengthy. I did enjoy it, and it tied nicely into the rest of the book. Sadly, I sometimes wish that White Wolf would spend less time thinking of great ways to publish books in-character and more time on development and writing.

Reading the history section in the second chapter, I have to say that I thought my hopes had been answered. I got a truly wonderful retelling of the history of the changelings, and especially of the Accordance War in America. It confirmed several ideas that I had previously had to take as assumptions and it was wonderfully organized. The Accordance War section, however, was almost worth the price of the book, as it explained why the sidhe won, and why they kept winning, and even why the commoners almost let them do so. They, like the Heian nobles of the early Japanese "middle ages" simply looked the part so much that they were given the position. Not only that, but they seemingly had the weight of the Dreaming to back them up. The mastery of Sovereign was unparalleled among the commoners, and the sidhe returned with countless chimera, and a knowledge of the Dreaming and the Trods. The sidhe outmaneuvered and outgunned the commoners, and they looked good doing it. How do you fight a warrior-king who seems ordained by God to rule? Appearance can be more powerful than many people imagine.

This is not to say that the commoners didn't try to revolt, most in fact did, but most also failed and were beaten. Combine this with the sheer charisma of the sidhe, their military prowess, their skill at Arts and Realms, their chimerical resources, and their knowledge of the Dreaming with what is perhaps one of the strongest factors in their winning the war.

They "brought" the Indian Summer with them.

Imagine the situation. The commoners have been starving and barely surviving for six centuries. Suddenly, the world is filled with Glamour and power and then beings of unearthly and indescribable beauty and power appear and demand their right to rule. The protective father had returned and wanted the key to the house. The children threw tantrums for a short while, but they eventually remembered their rightful place as subservient.

That's how the Accordance War went.

The chapter includes heart-wrenching tales of battles and episodes of the war. It showcases the darker and sadder side of Changeling. Neither "seelie" nor "noble" mean "nice." I could run game after game on the material in this chapter alone. The only problem I had with it was that the author seemed to have a higher estimation of changeling populations than I did. "Thousands of warriors" on the field of battle indeed. We also get our first look at the Resurgence in other lands, and the sidhe didn't win everywhere.

Sadly, that's where the book should have ended, the rest just seems like a half-hearted farce in comparison.

The culture section is pedestrian, with a few exceptions. Discussions of the Escheat, seemings, and such are fluid and bland, passing through and past the reader with amazing speed. The commoner secret groups seem rather uninspired for the most part. Referrals to other books were common and annoying.

Character creation is similarly empty and largely useless, with the exception of Metamorphosis which is okay, and the Dreamstone, which is really rather nice.

The Storytelling section is an empty void. So little of it is actually interesting at all. To top it all off, the standard "This is what is called a Plot blah blah blah" section was actually cut-and-pasted from Land of Eight Million Dreams at least, if not from an earlier book. Only the specific references were changed, but many, many of the phrases were identical. Enough to spoil the whole chapter even more. There is precious little of use here, and much of that is the artwork.

The People and Places bit was again bland, with a few exceptions again. I quickly became bored with most NPCs and hurried on. The locales were even less well developed and thought out. They were simply a waste of space altogether. How do people let bits like this get to the publisher?

The templates are equally unmemorable, except for the amusing eshu gamer. The seelie redcap re-enactor was interesting, but they, once again, dropped the ball on that one.

The completely and utterly superfluous kiths in the end really bugged me. I'm as much for spiffy new toys as the next guy, but I like them to actually matter one whit and have some use. The piskies are simply klepto-pooka, and the spriggans are the typical "Ogga-booga we're so evil and nasty" thallain with little thought given to them. It wasn't until the spriggans the and the merduacha of Blood-Dimmed Tides that thallain have actually begun to bother me.

I admit I bought Isle of the Mighty solely for the new kith, and that I'll likely pick up Shadows on the Hill or whatever book it was in solely for the menehune, but I think that tossing in the piskies and spriggans was cheap and totally unnecessary. What do they add? Nothing. Nothing at all.

This was a short review indeed for me, I suppose. Kind of sad, really. Usually I have so many good things to point out that I run on and on.

In summary, Fool's Luck is not what it purports to be. It really has nothing to do with the Reckoning, and the secret about the commoner revolution is that there is no commoner revolution. The book had the ball, but like Land of Eight Million Dreams, they dibbled off their feet and lost it.

I'm really worried about the future of Changeling is all the books are going to be like this. The game is rapidly plummeting from my pedestal of best World of Darkness game.

Style: 2 (Needs Work)
Substance: 3 (Average)

The Fool's Luck: the Way of the Commoner
Author: Buck Marchinton and Deena McKinney Category: game Company/Publisher: White Wolf Game Studio Cost: $17.95 Page count: 127 Capsule Review by Derek Guder on 03/15/99. Genre tags: Fantasy Modern_day Horror Conspiracy Gothic	I have to begin by saying that I'm all for the "Year of the Reckoning" storyline and such, and I was anxiously awaiting The Fool's Luck: the Way of the Commoner, hoping that it would bring sweeping changes to the Changeling: the Dreaming setting, as well as fixing many of the glaring political problems with the setting. It really did neither, and I was sorely disappointed. The opening story is good enough, although rather lengthy. I did enjoy it, and it tied nicely into the rest of the book. Sadly, I sometimes wish that White Wolf would spend less time thinking of great ways to publish books in-character and more time on development and writing. Reading the history section in the second chapter, I have to say that I thought my hopes had been answered. I got a truly wonderful retelling of the history of the changelings, and especially of the Accordance War in America. It confirmed several ideas that I had previously had to take as assumptions and it was wonderfully organized. The Accordance War section, however, was almost worth the price of the book, as it explained why the sidhe won, and why they kept winning, and even why the commoners almost let them do so. They, like the Heian nobles of the early Japanese "middle ages" simply looked the part so much that they were given the position. Not only that, but they seemingly had the weight of the Dreaming to back them up. The mastery of Sovereign was unparalleled among the commoners, and the sidhe returned with countless chimera, and a knowledge of the Dreaming and the Trods. The sidhe outmaneuvered and outgunned the commoners, and they looked good doing it. How do you fight a warrior-king who seems ordained by God to rule? Appearance can be more powerful than many people imagine. This is not to say that the commoners didn't try to revolt, most in fact did, but most also failed and were beaten. Combine this with the sheer charisma of the sidhe, their military prowess, their skill at Arts and Realms, their chimerical resources, and their knowledge of the Dreaming with what is perhaps one of the strongest factors in their winning the war. They "brought" the Indian Summer with them. Imagine the situation. The commoners have been starving and barely surviving for six centuries. Suddenly, the world is filled with Glamour and power and then beings of unearthly and indescribable beauty and power appear and demand their right to rule. The protective father had returned and wanted the key to the house. The children threw tantrums for a short while, but they eventually remembered their rightful place as subservient. That's how the Accordance War went. The chapter includes heart-wrenching tales of battles and episodes of the war. It showcases the darker and sadder side of Changeling. Neither "seelie" nor "noble" mean "nice." I could run game after game on the material in this chapter alone. The only problem I had with it was that the author seemed to have a higher estimation of changeling populations than I did. "Thousands of warriors" on the field of battle indeed. We also get our first look at the Resurgence in other lands, and the sidhe didn't win everywhere. Sadly, that's where the book should have ended, the rest just seems like a half-hearted farce in comparison. The culture section is pedestrian, with a few exceptions. Discussions of the Escheat, seemings, and such are fluid and bland, passing through and past the reader with amazing speed. The commoner secret groups seem rather uninspired for the most part. Referrals to other books were common and annoying. Character creation is similarly empty and largely useless, with the exception of Metamorphosis which is okay, and the Dreamstone, which is really rather nice. The Storytelling section is an empty void. So little of it is actually interesting at all. To top it all off, the standard "This is what is called a Plot blah blah blah" section was actually cut-and-pasted from Land of Eight Million Dreams at least, if not from an earlier book. Only the specific references were changed, but many, many of the phrases were identical. Enough to spoil the whole chapter even more. There is precious little of use here, and much of that is the artwork. The People and Places bit was again bland, with a few exceptions again. I quickly became bored with most NPCs and hurried on. The locales were even less well developed and thought out. They were simply a waste of space altogether. How do people let bits like this get to the publisher? The templates are equally unmemorable, except for the amusing eshu gamer. The seelie redcap re-enactor was interesting, but they, once again, dropped the ball on that one. The completely and utterly superfluous kiths in the end really bugged me. I'm as much for spiffy new toys as the next guy, but I like them to actually matter one whit and have some use. The piskies are simply klepto-pooka, and the spriggans are the typical "Ogga-booga we're so evil and nasty" thallain with little thought given to them. It wasn't until the spriggans the and the merduacha of Blood-Dimmed Tides that thallain have actually begun to bother me. I admit I bought Isle of the Mighty solely for the new kith, and that I'll likely pick up Shadows on the Hill or whatever book it was in solely for the menehune, but I think that tossing in the piskies and spriggans was cheap and totally unnecessary. What do they add? Nothing. Nothing at all. This was a short review indeed for me, I suppose. Kind of sad, really. Usually I have so many good things to point out that I run on and on. In summary, Fool's Luck is not what it purports to be. It really has nothing to do with the Reckoning, and the secret about the commoner revolution is that there is no commoner revolution. The book had the ball, but like Land of Eight Million Dreams, they dibbled off their feet and lost it. I'm really worried about the future of Changeling is all the books are going to be like this. The game is rapidly plummeting from my pedestal of best World of Darkness game. Style: 2 (Needs Work) Substance: 3 (Average)