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The Good: Players who just can’t think up a character to play are sure to find something interesting as they flip through the entries on Seemings and Kiths. Many of the mechanical additions are simple, balanced, and add to the game so as to fill in a useful role not yet covered by the mechanics.
The Bad: Such a diverse product means that while there’s something for everyone, few purchaser’s are likely to use more than a small handful of the ideas presented.
The Physical Thing
This 152 black and white hardcover showcases good production values for its $26.99 price tag. The editing is good, the artwork evocative and closely connected with the text, and the book is easy to navigate.Under the Cover
Evenly split into Chapters covering Seemings, Kiths, and Changelings in other cultures, Winter Masques places a heavy focus on the whys of Changeling behavior. Why does an Ogre behave the way she does? How did she become an Ogre? How are other social groups likely to react to her? What sort of Changeling society is more likely to develop among Eastern cultures? If thinking about and exploring Changeling behavior interests you then you’re in for a treat.Chapter One Seemings - 46 pages.
Seemings (such as Fairest and Wizened) are the basic outward manifestation of a Changeling’s nature. Just by looking at another Changeling others may think they have an idea of what torments that Changeling experienced and how they are likely to behave today. Because of this, prejudice for both good and ill is definitely present in Changeling society. The first chapter breaks each Seeming down, discussing the sorts of locations in the Hedge they may have developed in, their interactions with the mortal world, how they came to be of that Seeming, and their common roles within Freeholds. Mechanical support for each Seeming is included as well in the form of a new Seeming Contract. Darklings, for example, gain access to Contracts of Shade and Spirit that allow for communication with and manipulation of ghosts and the Underworld.
The Seeming discussion surprised me in its creativity. My suspicion is that most Changeling players, such as my friends, have plenty of ideas from the core book alone. However, those who want further inspiration for their character are sure to find it here. For example, it’s suggested that many elementals feel even more distance from their bodies than other Changelings do because of their change towards inorganic matter. A Changeling who spent 30 years as a living flame may very well have some difficulties with accepting her current body as her body. Because of this some have an aversion to mirrors and anything that forces them to confront their current physical form. While this reasoning could hold for many different Changelings, it’s an interesting thought and could easily provide players of Elementals with roleplay ideas to bring out the otherworldliness of their character.
Chapter Two Kiths - 44 pages.
Players simply interested in more raw character ideas will enjoy the chapter on Kith. Each Seeming gets four to six addition Kith, complete with simple but unique mechanical changes, which either cover other classic fairy tale roles or occupy entirely new but fanciful ideas (Ex: pollution elemental). While I don’t find all of these to be equal in terms of quality, especially some of the Ogre Kith that seem better handled by the Wizened, I acknowledge that a given person’s enjoyment of the Kith additions is going to be a definite matter of taste. I do think that there’s enough variety here that everyone will find a few new Kith that they think are fun to play. Optional mechanics for adding a second Kith during play make these new Kith an option even for players who are already playing a Changeling Chronicle.
For those already happy with their chosen Kith, each existing Kith gets about a half page to a page of additional discussion. In addition to general discussion, a section on Durance (what they did in faerie), Folklore (integrating the Kith into existing myth), and Frailties provides a lot of specific ideas for players to further flesh out their characters. As with the first chapter, this material is here to give players (or Storytellers) a better grip on what happened to their Changeling, what their Kith means, and how the Kith can best be roleplayed.
Chapter Three Around The World - 51 pages.
The final chapter moves Changeling further away from its western focus, providing a host of discussion tidbits, new Courts, new Entitlements, and resources generally for a group that wants to embrace the diverse cultural backgrounds of the world. A variety of new Kith are introduced that bring the influence of different cultures to life. Take, for example, Coyote. Coyote is a Beast Kith inspired by Native American folklore which, in addition to its cultural aspects, gains the advantage of The Trickster’s Truth (Willpower gives +5 instead of +3 dice to Persuasion and Subterfuge rolls). With fifteen additional Kith in total players and Storytellers are left with both more options and more examples of taking other folklore and bringing it into their game.
Ideas on different ways to implement the Hedge within different ecologies provide Storytellers with quick ideas to bring faerie into different environments. Distant Freeholds provides new ideas for culturally distinct Changeling communities, Pledges of Man provides a variety of bargains struck between mortals and Glamour-using creatures, and Pledges in Myth provides a few examples of the magic of pledges in historical folklore. The middle portion is, in effect, a scattershot of different ideas and just like the rest of the book some of them are likely to stick while others miss the mark. The pledges, for example, don’t do much for me but I find the discussion of environmentally distinct Hedges to be interesting. My mind was stuck on the idea of the Hedge really being a thorn filled Hedge, and breaking away from that is useful to me.
Two new Courts are introduced. The Directional Courts split rulership of a city between the North, East, West, and South Courts. It’s not easy to break these Courts down like the seasonal Courts, but: North focuses on Buddhism, East focuses on wealth, South focuses on beauty/pleasure, and West focuses on war. The Courts of Day and Night draw on Slavic duality in myth and thus are split into the Sun Court and the Moon Court. Generally the Sun Court is aligned with good, not just moral good but also the sorts of appearances and behavior thought to be aligned with good. The Moon Court is the opposite, supposedly aligned with evil and darkness. The Sun Court rules in the day while the Moon Court rules at night. Winter Masques wraps up with three culturally distinct Entitlements. The Phantom Tong are an openly criminal organization that “keep the courts honest” through their wrongdoing. The Bronze Beylik are dedicated politicians who rule from behind thrones. Finally, The Knighthood of the Dragonslayer function as a police force throughout Changeling society. As with the Entitlements presented in the core book, these provide flavorful organizations for characters to belong to without the sorts of super powers that could upset the balance of a game.
My Take
I find Winter Masques to both be well done and a little bland at the same time. I think it’s that the Seeming and Kith discussions feel like they’re covering the same ground to me. Additionally, this is a very scattershot product. The first two thirds are clearly focused on players, while the last third is a hodge podge of material only connected in that it’s mostly non-Western in focus. It’s also worth mentioning that this product may not be useful to every group. While Autumn Nightmares provides excellent and needed antagonist support, Winter Masques really just chews on the concepts already presented while including a few more ideas for players and Storytellers.That said, this is a well done product. If you just want more options and more discussion of Changelings generally then it’s sure to deliver, and a Storyteller wanting to change the default setting assumptions of Changeling is likely to leave with a variety of interesting ideas. If you want to expand on the base of Changeling: The Lost then pick this one up.
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