The Inside Scoop on Gaming

There will come a reckoning...? And reckoning touched the fae. So what does this mean?

The commoners - all your cute little boggans and satyrs and pookas and the rest of the cuddly lot.. and of course the not so cuddly redcap and troll folk, are getting ready to wage war on the sidhe feudality. Well, so goes the rumor, anyway.

What "The Fool's Luck" does is, very firmly set the background of the current political situation between the commoner and noble fae, starting from all the way back, taking the reader through the Shattering, the Great War and the Accordance War. All the information in these parts of the book is well and clear presented, and is of great use during roleplaying. It absolutely adds an important depth to the knowledge of any commoner player's view of the fae history, and thus adds very interesting details to a Changeling game.

The information presented about commoner fae's tradition's and dayly life is also very resourceful as one gets an insight as to their vision of the nobility and the courts, and how the different kinds of fae act towards each other. Learning about their internal affairs, dealings and grudges doesn't hurt either, actually it adds a lot to the political stage that a second Accordance War that this book brings tidings for would set.

With the introduction of the 'possibility' of another 'civil war' vetween nobility and commoner's, the book turns into a book of revelations. Every fact/fiction presented in the book from then on is always a rumor, letting the storyteller decide what is true and what is not among all the vagueness - whether you enjoy this attitude or not is a very personal thing, but I will give it credit here, it does leave much open space for letting the storyteller develop her civil war campaign, yet the book, in all its vagueness manages to set a mood and theme on how the fool's luck should be played in such a campaign.

And it does work too. With creativity, an Accordance War II campaign becomes a very interesting affair, and a very serious political and romantic roleplay experience. This alone should say Fool's Luck succeeds in doing what it was meant to do. Or does it? I'd say not - except for the New Art of Metamorphosis presented in the book (and perhaps the Dreamstone..) there is absolutely no new game mechanic in the book. The two new presented Kith are very out of place and if you ask me, lame. The new treasures lack creativity, and the templates are very boring. Perhaps the only creative and really 'new' part of it that is interesting are the commoners of note presented.

The first time I read this book, all the ideas sounded fine, and dandy, and all of them worked out to make my game a fine one, and one that I meant it to be. But the useful things presented here aren't new - only regathered from an original point of view.

As most changeling books are, this book too is very nice to look at and drool on. Beautifully done layout; it could get an excellent too - if it didn't have this many distracting sidenotes and tables.

Fool's Luck is a good addition to any Changeling player's library. Bottom line: Reccomended.

Style: 4 (Classy and well done)
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 Line: Changeling: The Dreaming Cost: $17.95 Page count: 128 ISBN: 1-56504-715-X SKU: WW7010 Playtest Review by Yalaz Ozkanli on 09/24/99. Genre tags: Fantasy Modern_day Live-action	There will come a reckoning...? And reckoning touched the fae. So what does this mean? The commoners - all your cute little boggans and satyrs and pookas and the rest of the cuddly lot.. and of course the not so cuddly redcap and troll folk, are getting ready to wage war on the sidhe feudality. Well, so goes the rumor, anyway. What "The Fool's Luck" does is, very firmly set the background of the current political situation between the commoner and noble fae, starting from all the way back, taking the reader through the Shattering, the Great War and the Accordance War. All the information in these parts of the book is well and clear presented, and is of great use during roleplaying. It absolutely adds an important depth to the knowledge of any commoner player's view of the fae history, and thus adds very interesting details to a Changeling game. The information presented about commoner fae's tradition's and dayly life is also very resourceful as one gets an insight as to their vision of the nobility and the courts, and how the different kinds of fae act towards each other. Learning about their internal affairs, dealings and grudges doesn't hurt either, actually it adds a lot to the political stage that a second Accordance War that this book brings tidings for would set. With the introduction of the 'possibility' of another 'civil war' vetween nobility and commoner's, the book turns into a book of revelations. Every fact/fiction presented in the book from then on is always a rumor, letting the storyteller decide what is true and what is not among all the vagueness - whether you enjoy this attitude or not is a very personal thing, but I will give it credit here, it does leave much open space for letting the storyteller develop her civil war campaign, yet the book, in all its vagueness manages to set a mood and theme on how the fool's luck should be played in such a campaign. And it does work too. With creativity, an Accordance War II campaign becomes a very interesting affair, and a very serious political and romantic roleplay experience. This alone should say Fool's Luck succeeds in doing what it was meant to do. Or does it? I'd say not - except for the New Art of Metamorphosis presented in the book (and perhaps the Dreamstone..) there is absolutely no new game mechanic in the book. The two new presented Kith are very out of place and if you ask me, lame. The new treasures lack creativity, and the templates are very boring. Perhaps the only creative and really 'new' part of it that is interesting are the commoners of note presented. The first time I read this book, all the ideas sounded fine, and dandy, and all of them worked out to make my game a fine one, and one that I meant it to be. But the useful things presented here aren't new - only regathered from an original point of view. As most changeling books are, this book too is very nice to look at and drool on. Beautifully done layout; it could get an excellent too - if it didn't have this many distracting sidenotes and tables. Fool's Luck is a good addition to any Changeling player's library. Bottom line: Reccomended. Style: 4 (Classy and well done) Substance: 3 (Average)

The Fool's Luck: The Way of the Commoner