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Changeling is my favorite flawed game. Every book I get for it is full of interesting concepts poorly executed. Either the ideas just aren't well thought out, or the game mechanics for them are kludgy, or they are buried in poor editing and a lack of apparent playtesting. On the plus side, things seem to be getting better, as evidenced by this supplement, the first Arthaus book for Changeling this year. Well organized and edited with some very good art (it is saying something that I even noticed it, I usually ignore it), the flaws are much less numerous than in previous books.

The opening story is actually very well done, and I'm not a big fan of game fiction. It manages to convey the style, theme, and issues facing the Dark Kin in a concise and entertaining way. The only difficulty is that it is easy to get lost if you don't know the new terms for things covered in the Introduction, but I was able to follow it nonetheless. The rest of the prelude is the usual rundown of what's in the book and the list of important terms. We learn that, rather than dealing with creature of the Dreaming in general, as the title might suggest, this book deals specifically with the kin and allies of the fomorians who were driven from the waking world after losing their war with the Tuatha du Danaan.

Chapter One gives the details of this war, as well as a concise history of the fae, from their birth in the Age of Legends all the way to the nuking of a particular bloodthirsty prodigal last year, whose destruction triggered the opening of old pathways, allowing the Dark Kin access to the Autumn World (their term for the waking world). It is surprisingly well thought out, at the same time epic, surreal, and metaphysical. I was particularly impressed at how much less Celtophilic it was, given the slant of the base material. Despite that it uses the Celtic terms in many instances, it is made very clear that these beings are not specific to a particular culture. Yet, this generalization doesn't come at the expense of specific cultural instances, which save it from the sort of genericism that plagues games like Werewolf. I was somewhat irritated at the centrality of the metaplot (which I don't use) to the recent history, but the rest is good enough that I can overlook it and work around it.

Chapter Two explores the geography of the Dreaming from the perspective of those who live off the Silver Path, in the areas known as the Tenebrous Realms. It starts with a discussion of the various other sorts of paths that exist in the Dreaming, since most of the Dark Kin are prevented from using the Silver Paths by old wards placed by the Tuatha du Danaan. The Twilight Roads and Paths of Balor are much more dangerous than the Silver Paths, but also lead to other spirit realms as well as the Autumn World. Black paths lead sometimes to the Underworld, green paths often lead to the Middle Umbra, and gold paths can ascend to the Astral Realms. Unfortunately, most of them are one-way, making it difficult for the Dark Kin to reliably travel the Dreaming, often stranding them places. It is because of this that I find the addition of the Meridianus, a force which attacks Dark Kin attempting to leave the Autumn World, unnecessary and excessive (that, and it just reeks of the Avatar Winds, which I dislike).

The realms detailed in the Near and Far Dreaming are interesting and give the homes of the Dark Kin some context, while retaining the surreal and archetypal feel of the realm. Unfortunately, there isn't a lot of detail given, a restriction of space. I only wish they detailed more than one of the Deep Dreaming realms they introduce, though the Kingdom of Dan is interesting and has lots of potential for plot hooks.

The chapter ends with a discussion of the Autumn World and the dangers and challenges facing Denizens there. First, we are introduced to the abilities which all Dark Kin have access to allowing them to interact with the waking world: possession of waking individuals, possession of dreaming individuals, and construction of an apparition-like chimerical form. The issue of Banality is dealt with, since most Dark Kin do not start with any and are unaccustomed to it, followed by a discussion of how they get Glamour. The latter introduces the concept of Reaping, which is the acquisition of Glamour by literally scaring someone to death. A nasty form of Epiphany for living nightmares. I approve. However, no alternative mechanics are given for the other common forms of Epiphany which makes them impossible for the Dark Kin to use because they require you to roll Banality. A rather large oversight. Finally, there is some discussion about their relationship with mortal dreams and includes the fascinating concept of 'dream traps', which are particularly vivid dreams which can lure in and capture Dark Kin who are possessing a sleeping individual or even just walking down the street. It adds to the surreal quality of their existence and has numerous applications for plots.

Chapter Three finally introduces us to the various breeds of Dark Kin themselves. Before we get to them, though, we are introduced to their replacement for Seeming and Court, called Aria. I found this one of the weakest parts of the book. The Aria very obviously represent Id, Ego, and Superego and such apparent Freudianisms hurt the mythic feel of the book, in my opinion. Also, the system presented for switching Arias is very clunky, difficult to track, and generally not worth using.

The Adhene themselves are a mixed bag. The concepts are generally very good and I like that specific cultural manifestations are given whenever they represent a general 'type' (like many of the kith). I only wish some more details were given on the differences of each of them. However, the birthrights and frailties are often poorly thought out and many are poorly developed one-trick ponies. The Fir-Bholg in particular was very disappointing. They play a very central role in the world of the Dark Kin, having actually defeated the Fomorians in the Age of Legends. You wouldn't know it by their write up, however. They have one fairly unimpressive Birthright and two Frailties, one of which is crippling and the other of which is still fairly harsh. I would love to use this material, but I'm going to have to develop it on my own because, as stands, it is highly flawed.

However, just to stress how interesting the concepts are, let me detail on of the types. The Keremet aren't like other fae beings, they are the spirits of dead enchanted mortals who are forced to walk the Dreaming as passionless chimerical ghosts. Lacking real emotions, they tend to search obsessively for some meaning or purpose. One such calling which a select group of them has found is serving the sidhe by ferrying the souls of mortals whose bodies they've stolen back to Arcadia. Lots of plot potential in these guys and they are so unique that I fell in love with the concept immediately.

Chapter Four goes on to detail the creation of Denizen characters. Three new lores are introduced, Autumn Lore, Changeling Lore, and Denizen Lore, the former two to account for their general ignorance of the waking world. There isn't much of interest in the merits and flaws, but it is worth noting that there are two merits for Denizens who have experience with the Autumn World (and thus have starting Banality and avoid the ability limitations previously mentioned) and for those who've actually taken the Changeling route and procured a mortal body. Next we get two Backgrounds, Destiny and an application of Title to the Denizens. This latter is a bit annoying, because it mentions a strict caste system that the naraka adhere to but which wasn't mentioned in their writeup at all. Just sloppy.

The rest of the chapter is filled with the obligatory new Arts. The first is called The Autumn Way and is a grab bag of abilities which help the Denizen to deal with the Autumn World (unsurprisingly). From better means of possession, to the ability to comprehend human languages, and even the ability to walk the Silver Paths. It isn't all that interesting and seems to lack a real consistant theme. The next Art strikes me as purely gratuitous, a purely combat-oriented Art called Discord. Not much more to it than that. The last, however, is brilliant. Oneiromancy, the ability to manipulate dreams, is long overdo in Changeling and it is very well executed. Tacked at the end is a note on use of the Fae Realm which is also long overdo. It confirms that the Changelings and Denizens use Fae 3 to effect the other, with 1 and 2 only effecting Commoners and Nobles of their own breed. A similar note would have been very useful for Nunnehi.

Chapter Five is the storytelling chapter and begins with the usual advice on how to run a chronicle and what sorts of 'Denizens versus X' games are possible. Next, we get the Augmen for the various Dark Kin. This is the tendency from Dreams and Nightmares for fae to get more powerful the deeper in the Dreaming they are. It was twinky and stupid in that book and is twinky and stupid here.

The final half of this chapter deals with the Fomorians and is almost irritatingly vague, though I think that this is the only sane way to do it. It talks of the nature of the Fomorians, their relationship towards the Denizens, and their three Courts. Lots of good stuff for plots, even if you don't have the players playing Denizens. I am much more satisfied treating Fomorians as detailed here rather than using the Fomori from Werewolf. These are the ancient, terrible manifestations of all of humanities most sadistic, bloodthirsty, and evil impulses, not silly deformed humans with faces on their ass spitting up acidic maggots. Much more interesting, in my book.

The Appendix gives a few brief write ups of the central figures in the Denizen world. Despite the brevity, there is a lot to work with here, and I prefer the plots that are hinted at, but not detailed. It gives the storyteller much more leeway to fit the characters and plots into their game. The book closes out with the character sheet, which is sufficient except that it doesn't really support the complicated Aria system (another reason to scrap it) and also gives 'generic' ability lists. I would have preferred Drive and Computer being dropped in favor of Ride and Seneschal, given that these beings are not native to the Autumn World. Also, there are many sloppy errors, like no circles for the other traits and the permanent and temporary markers for the pools no being lined up. Seriously, people, a little professionalism, please?

All in all, this is an improvement over previous Changeling books, but only one step. They still need to work on it a lot. Like previous books (most notably Inanimae and Land of Eight Million Dreams) it still suffers from poorly designed systems and sloppy editing. However, it is almost worth the price for the concepts and history presented within. Particularly if you've wondered what the Fomorians really are and want to use them in your plots, this book is quite useful.

Style: 3 (Average)
Substance: 3 (Average)

Denizens of the Dreaming
Author: Christopher Howard with Todd McDivitt Category: game Company/Publisher: White Wolf Game Studio (Arthaus) Line: Changeling: The Dreaming Cost: $15.00 Page count: 93 ISBN: 1-56504-734-6 SKU: WW7310 Capsule Review by Eric Christian Berg on 04/29/00. Genre tags: Fantasy Modern_day Horror	Changeling is my favorite flawed game. Every book I get for it is full of interesting concepts poorly executed. Either the ideas just aren't well thought out, or the game mechanics for them are kludgy, or they are buried in poor editing and a lack of apparent playtesting. On the plus side, things seem to be getting better, as evidenced by this supplement, the first Arthaus book for Changeling this year. Well organized and edited with some very good art (it is saying something that I even noticed it, I usually ignore it), the flaws are much less numerous than in previous books. The opening story is actually very well done, and I'm not a big fan of game fiction. It manages to convey the style, theme, and issues facing the Dark Kin in a concise and entertaining way. The only difficulty is that it is easy to get lost if you don't know the new terms for things covered in the Introduction, but I was able to follow it nonetheless. The rest of the prelude is the usual rundown of what's in the book and the list of important terms. We learn that, rather than dealing with creature of the Dreaming in general, as the title might suggest, this book deals specifically with the kin and allies of the fomorians who were driven from the waking world after losing their war with the Tuatha du Danaan. Chapter One gives the details of this war, as well as a concise history of the fae, from their birth in the Age of Legends all the way to the nuking of a particular bloodthirsty prodigal last year, whose destruction triggered the opening of old pathways, allowing the Dark Kin access to the Autumn World (their term for the waking world). It is surprisingly well thought out, at the same time epic, surreal, and metaphysical. I was particularly impressed at how much less Celtophilic it was, given the slant of the base material. Despite that it uses the Celtic terms in many instances, it is made very clear that these beings are not specific to a particular culture. Yet, this generalization doesn't come at the expense of specific cultural instances, which save it from the sort of genericism that plagues games like Werewolf. I was somewhat irritated at the centrality of the metaplot (which I don't use) to the recent history, but the rest is good enough that I can overlook it and work around it. Chapter Two explores the geography of the Dreaming from the perspective of those who live off the Silver Path, in the areas known as the Tenebrous Realms. It starts with a discussion of the various other sorts of paths that exist in the Dreaming, since most of the Dark Kin are prevented from using the Silver Paths by old wards placed by the Tuatha du Danaan. The Twilight Roads and Paths of Balor are much more dangerous than the Silver Paths, but also lead to other spirit realms as well as the Autumn World. Black paths lead sometimes to the Underworld, green paths often lead to the Middle Umbra, and gold paths can ascend to the Astral Realms. Unfortunately, most of them are one-way, making it difficult for the Dark Kin to reliably travel the Dreaming, often stranding them places. It is because of this that I find the addition of the Meridianus, a force which attacks Dark Kin attempting to leave the Autumn World, unnecessary and excessive (that, and it just reeks of the Avatar Winds, which I dislike). The realms detailed in the Near and Far Dreaming are interesting and give the homes of the Dark Kin some context, while retaining the surreal and archetypal feel of the realm. Unfortunately, there isn't a lot of detail given, a restriction of space. I only wish they detailed more than one of the Deep Dreaming realms they introduce, though the Kingdom of Dan is interesting and has lots of potential for plot hooks. The chapter ends with a discussion of the Autumn World and the dangers and challenges facing Denizens there. First, we are introduced to the abilities which all Dark Kin have access to allowing them to interact with the waking world: possession of waking individuals, possession of dreaming individuals, and construction of an apparition-like chimerical form. The issue of Banality is dealt with, since most Dark Kin do not start with any and are unaccustomed to it, followed by a discussion of how they get Glamour. The latter introduces the concept of Reaping, which is the acquisition of Glamour by literally scaring someone to death. A nasty form of Epiphany for living nightmares. I approve. However, no alternative mechanics are given for the other common forms of Epiphany which makes them impossible for the Dark Kin to use because they require you to roll Banality. A rather large oversight. Finally, there is some discussion about their relationship with mortal dreams and includes the fascinating concept of 'dream traps', which are particularly vivid dreams which can lure in and capture Dark Kin who are possessing a sleeping individual or even just walking down the street. It adds to the surreal quality of their existence and has numerous applications for plots. Chapter Three finally introduces us to the various breeds of Dark Kin themselves. Before we get to them, though, we are introduced to their replacement for Seeming and Court, called Aria. I found this one of the weakest parts of the book. The Aria very obviously represent Id, Ego, and Superego and such apparent Freudianisms hurt the mythic feel of the book, in my opinion. Also, the system presented for switching Arias is very clunky, difficult to track, and generally not worth using. The Adhene themselves are a mixed bag. The concepts are generally very good and I like that specific cultural manifestations are given whenever they represent a general 'type' (like many of the kith). I only wish some more details were given on the differences of each of them. However, the birthrights and frailties are often poorly thought out and many are poorly developed one-trick ponies. The Fir-Bholg in particular was very disappointing. They play a very central role in the world of the Dark Kin, having actually defeated the Fomorians in the Age of Legends. You wouldn't know it by their write up, however. They have one fairly unimpressive Birthright and two Frailties, one of which is crippling and the other of which is still fairly harsh. I would love to use this material, but I'm going to have to develop it on my own because, as stands, it is highly flawed. However, just to stress how interesting the concepts are, let me detail on of the types. The Keremet aren't like other fae beings, they are the spirits of dead enchanted mortals who are forced to walk the Dreaming as passionless chimerical ghosts. Lacking real emotions, they tend to search obsessively for some meaning or purpose. One such calling which a select group of them has found is serving the sidhe by ferrying the souls of mortals whose bodies they've stolen back to Arcadia. Lots of plot potential in these guys and they are so unique that I fell in love with the concept immediately. Chapter Four goes on to detail the creation of Denizen characters. Three new lores are introduced, Autumn Lore, Changeling Lore, and Denizen Lore, the former two to account for their general ignorance of the waking world. There isn't much of interest in the merits and flaws, but it is worth noting that there are two merits for Denizens who have experience with the Autumn World (and thus have starting Banality and avoid the ability limitations previously mentioned) and for those who've actually taken the Changeling route and procured a mortal body. Next we get two Backgrounds, Destiny and an application of Title to the Denizens. This latter is a bit annoying, because it mentions a strict caste system that the naraka adhere to but which wasn't mentioned in their writeup at all. Just sloppy. The rest of the chapter is filled with the obligatory new Arts. The first is called The Autumn Way and is a grab bag of abilities which help the Denizen to deal with the Autumn World (unsurprisingly). From better means of possession, to the ability to comprehend human languages, and even the ability to walk the Silver Paths. It isn't all that interesting and seems to lack a real consistant theme. The next Art strikes me as purely gratuitous, a purely combat-oriented Art called Discord. Not much more to it than that. The last, however, is brilliant. Oneiromancy, the ability to manipulate dreams, is long overdo in Changeling and it is very well executed. Tacked at the end is a note on use of the Fae Realm which is also long overdo. It confirms that the Changelings and Denizens use Fae 3 to effect the other, with 1 and 2 only effecting Commoners and Nobles of their own breed. A similar note would have been very useful for Nunnehi. Chapter Five is the storytelling chapter and begins with the usual advice on how to run a chronicle and what sorts of 'Denizens versus X' games are possible. Next, we get the Augmen for the various Dark Kin. This is the tendency from Dreams and Nightmares for fae to get more powerful the deeper in the Dreaming they are. It was twinky and stupid in that book and is twinky and stupid here. The final half of this chapter deals with the Fomorians and is almost irritatingly vague, though I think that this is the only sane way to do it. It talks of the nature of the Fomorians, their relationship towards the Denizens, and their three Courts. Lots of good stuff for plots, even if you don't have the players playing Denizens. I am much more satisfied treating Fomorians as detailed here rather than using the Fomori from Werewolf. These are the ancient, terrible manifestations of all of humanities most sadistic, bloodthirsty, and evil impulses, not silly deformed humans with faces on their ass spitting up acidic maggots. Much more interesting, in my book. The Appendix gives a few brief write ups of the central figures in the Denizen world. Despite the brevity, there is a lot to work with here, and I prefer the plots that are hinted at, but not detailed. It gives the storyteller much more leeway to fit the characters and plots into their game. The book closes out with the character sheet, which is sufficient except that it doesn't really support the complicated Aria system (another reason to scrap it) and also gives 'generic' ability lists. I would have preferred Drive and Computer being dropped in favor of Ride and Seneschal, given that these beings are not native to the Autumn World. Also, there are many sloppy errors, like no circles for the other traits and the permanent and temporary markers for the pools no being lined up. Seriously, people, a little professionalism, please? All in all, this is an improvement over previous Changeling books, but only one step. They still need to work on it a lot. Like previous books (most notably Inanimae and Land of Eight Million Dreams) it still suffers from poorly designed systems and sloppy editing. However, it is almost worth the price for the concepts and history presented within. Particularly if you've wondered what the Fomorians really are and want to use them in your plots, this book is quite useful. Style: 3 (Average) Substance: 3 (Average)

Denizens of the Dreaming