VSS Changeling

Part 1: Basic Information

Name: Bastion
Venue: Changeling the Lost
VST: Christopher Margraves
aVST: Sophie Marie Dixon
Time: Games are held on the Third Sunday of the month with check in beginning at 11:30 am, game on at noon, and game wrap at 4:30 

Part 2: Style of Play

Ratings & Rating Descriptions:

1 = Never present / 2 = Sometimes present / 3 = Often present / 4 = Usually present / 5 = Always present

Action (Combat/Challenges): 3

Character Development (Personal Dilemmas/Choices): 4

Darkness (PC Death/Corruption): 2

Drama (Ceremony/Grand story): 4

Intrigue (Politics/Negotiation): 2

Mystery (Enigmas/Investigation): 3

Gameplay taking place in the Real World:3

Gameplay taking place in the Hedge: 4

Gameplay taking place in Dreams: 2

Theme/Mood:

The theme of Bastion is “standing firm against the darkness.” The PC’s freehold has gone through many tribulations in the past, but is finally a place of some security. Not content to simply hide, the members of the freehold will actively work to spread the influence of order throughout the local hedge, and defend the people of the city against the terrors that hide in the shadows.

The Mood of the game will vary between light hearted and thriller-esque, with an emphasis on encounters that can be faced rather than those that must just be run from.

Part 3: Description of Venue

3a) VST Venue Philosophy

Changeling certainly has the potential for incredible darkness. However, in the view of the storytelling staff there are a wealth of stories that lie within the bounds of The Lost that are frequently ignored when all of the emphasis is placed on that “darkness.” The courts exist, in their separate ways, as a bulwark against the machinations of the Gentry, the harsh difference of a world that went on without you, and the strangeness that is the hedge. The courts need not be afraid. Certainly bad things can happen to them, but this game will rely on characters relying on each other and facing those groups that wish to do them harm. There many not be as many compatriots as enemies, but the ones who stand beside you lend you strength.

3b) Where have we been?

“Why do you ask? Is looking backward helping you? Don’t tell me you’re one of those frozen hearted scaredy-cats.  Shhh, I kid. No need to puff up. I love the Winter Court. The past happened, but it seems that sometimes we forgot that it happened to all of us. Not just the other ‘lings, but the ‘regular people’ to. We don’t have some sort of corner on the shitty backstory market. He came, most of them died. She saved us. Anything else is just dwelling. Now, come on. It’s karaoke night at Arches, and they are going to LOVE you.”

~Spring Courtier

"It's true, we've all seen some terrible things. Some so terrible they quiet our tongues and muddle our heads. The stories I've heard of what Peacebloom and Thorne did to those kids... well it just lights me up. But the point is that we made it through those things and we'll make it through the next things because the fight in us is still alive. They can't take that away from us and that will be their downfall. They thought they could break us but they were so, so wrong. Where we've been is less important than where we are now. There's no changing then and all the action is right here. Deep breath, chin up, and give 'em hell."

-Ginny, Summer Court Monarch

3c) What do we do now?

"We live. We can't always retake what they stole from us, but we can make a good life in spite of them. What's better, we can keep them from wounding anyone else. We can make the world hurt less one day, one minute at a time. But we'll never get any closer to that unless we work for it. Unless we stoke that fire inside of us that won't stand by and let that happen anymore. Being the light is the only way to fight back the darkness. And it takes all of us.

But that's a lot to think about, isn't it. I promise that every day won't be a struggle - it can't or the victory is already lost. We have to feel the sun on our faces. We have to breathe the free air. We have to run and laugh and love. If you want, we play softball every Saturday at the baseball field on the corner of Chapell Hill and Scott Boulevard. It's a lot of fun but you can always come and just watch. Everyone's part of the team whether they know it or not."

-Ginny, Summer Court Monarch

Part 4: Storyteller Mechanics

4a) Character Creation Guidelines

Characters should be created according to the Changeling: The Lost main book. As time progresses we will create a list of rules from alternate books that are and are not allowed. Until then all non primary book rules must be cleared with the ST before hand. This includes, but is not limited to, alternate Kiths, Courts, Contracts, and Entitlements. Additionally, all pledges, and non-primary book tokens, must be written up and receive ST Approval.

Players may add an additional 30XP to one character in a given venue. If that character eXPires, or is removed from the venue in some other way, they may create another character with the bonus starting XP. Up to 5 additional XP may be awarded for a character history, a completed wiki page, and photographs and images of the character and/or important tokens, hollows etc.

Characters are subject to Storyteller review before entering play during games.  A complete character record, ideally, should be sent to the VST no later than two weeks before the game. Additionally, while the ST staff will provide players with character sheets with the primary powers of their power type already on them, it is up to the player to record accurately and understand their powers, including their pull, cost, and effect.

Character sheets should be balanced. Characters with clear min-maxing will be brought into question, and have a limited amount of time to re-write their sheets before a penalty is levied. Appropriate concepts for the venue will also be taken into consideration. Outright antagonistic concepts which have no allies locally are unacceptable, and unplayable. With a limited storytelling staff, it is not practical to jeopardize one storyteller to play for one person. As such, characters must have reasonable ties to the freehold to be attached to this VSS.

While loner concepts work as the protagonist of a book or film, LARP is not the sort of venue where you have a star, a co-star or two, and a host of supporting characters. LARP is, above all, ensemble cast story telling. All characters in the story are equally important. In order to fully participate in the telling of an ensemble-cast story, your character should have at least some measure of interest in others, and at least one long-term goal that requires reliance on or cooperation with others (at least four) in the /local/ venue. Characters found to be lacking in any regard will have a limited amount of time to work with the storytellers to change their concept, or risk being de-sanctioned or removed from the VSS.

4b) Starting Glamour

Characters will begin games with an amount of glamour as determined randomly with a Storyteller.  This will be determined by rolling one ten-sided die, then adding the character’s highest ranked Harvest merit to the result.  Any 10 rolled may be re-rolled, adding to the result.  If the character is a member of the current season’s court, the character may also add their mantle rating.

This value may be adjusted by Storyteller as suits the current state of the game.

4c) Experience Award Guidelines

Players may receive no more than 10 XP in any given month. Players receiving 10 XP every month should represent the ideal of LARP and be acting as leaders in the game.
Base Points (Up to 3)

• The STs will award these points at the game, during wrap-up. Most players will receive all three so long as they followed the rules and were committed to the game. They are awarded for
• Engaging in costuming/physical RP
• Advancing Social RP
• Having an up to date character sheet with an XP log.

Player Vote (Up to 2)

• For every 5 players (round up) attending, there will be 1 XP available each for costuming and RP.
  • Ex: 12 players will mean, 2 bonus points available each for Costuming and RP.
• These points will be awarded by the Players through voting.
• Players may not receive more than 2 points (one for costuming & one for RP) from Player nominations.

ST Award (1 possible)

• Each ST will also have one additional point to award to a player who they “caught doing something right”.
• This may include small scenes, creative costuming/physical RP choices, or anything else that benefits the game as a whole.
• Players may not receive more than 1 XP from ST nominations.

In Between Games (Up to 3)

• Up to 2 of these points can come from filling out a Down Time Report Form.
  • A report submitted at all is worth one point, as long as it gets the basic gist across.
  • A well written, and detailed report is worth two.
• Up to 1 point are available for voluntary additional IC information.
  • This can be awarded for work on the Wiki, submitting IC fiction, writing up scenes that you and another character share in downtime, or anything of the like.

Mentoring (1 possible)

• To be awarded point, both players must be active in the venue that month, whether through appearing at game, or in DTR.
• Both players should mention in their DTR what their interaction was IC for the month, and the one being mentored should summarize (there is space in the DTR form) what they learned from their mentor that month.
• The Mentor will be notified in the DTR response if they received the award for the month.

4e) Determining the Crown

It’s important to note that the following procedure is entirely Out of Character – in-character, the members of the Freehold don’t have an indication of how the Monarch is decided, as it is technically decided by the Wyrd in support of popular leaders in the current season.

At any point in a particular season, a player of that seasonal court may “step up” and nominate their character to receive the Freehold’s crown from the current Monarch.  An out of character vote is held among all members of the Freehold between the current Monarch and any contesting character(s).

Each player is asked who their character would support.  Members of the current season’s court cast votes equal to their Mantle;  All other freehold members cast a single vote.  In the end, the character with the most votes will receive the crown.

Note that the Storyteller reserves the right to determine the current monarch in the case of ties, when the position of Monarch is vacant, or when it benefits the venue for the purposes of story.

4e) Freehold Status

At the start of the chronicle every character may begin play with between 1 and 3 points in the Merit: Freehold Status. Characters entering play after the chronicle start may only enter with 1, and all changes in Freehold Status require ST approval, and cost no XP. Any characters beginning chronicle with more than 3 Freehold Status must receive ST approval.

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