[Luxifer]

USCC is the United States Camarilla Convention (for those that don't know, the Camarilla is the White Wolf official club and LARP organization).

National level STs released the following information about CtL and it was posted on a Camarilla Changeling-ooc list. I'll update more as more info is released.

Quote:
Here are some notes from the Changeling Q&A and reading at USCC for those who were unable to attend. This is based on my memory, so please chime in with corrections and additions if you were there also and recall other things! Smile My understanding is that this is all public knowledge now.

1) Kith is a subset of Seeming. Each Seeming has several associated kiths. For example, Fireheart and Mannikin are kiths available to Elemental seemings only. (The STs are not releasing the complete list of seeming/kith associations at this time, though you may be able to infer some from the Demo etc.) Please be careful that you are not building a character concept around a kith/seeming pair that is not going to be possible in game. You are also not required to select a Kith at all; it just adds more flavor (and minor mechanics).

2) There are six seemings, all of which are playable by PCs: fairest, beast, ogre, elemental, wizened, and darkling. Each seeming has several associated kith (see above).

3) There are four courts. Court is a political affiliation. The flavor/theme/way to collect glamour for each court is as follows: Spring:Desire; Summer:Wrath; Autumn:Fear; Winter:Sorrow. (Note it was made explicit that this is the correct list and that the STs believe this is a subtle but important correction over Spring:Passion and Summer:Anger as on the wiki.) The exact dates for when each season occurs may vary by country/DPOTM etc., but in the US, the courts will follow the equinoxes and solstices. Spring is ~March 20-June 20. Summer is ~June 21-September 21. Autumn is ~September 22-December 20. Winter is ~December 21-March 19. (This means that USCC will have a Spring theme, and ICC an Autumn theme, if we continue to follow the same convention calendar.) It is a level 8 clarity sin to switch seasons (so it is possible.) Mantle is status within your court. Court goodwill is something like status with other courts (so if you've done a lot of favors for winter folk, you could acquire goodwill with them even though you are spring.)

4) It would be a valid VSS concept if in some cities (as in the Demo), political power in the city shifts with the seasons so that part of IC politicking will involve working within your court to decide who will get power when your season comes up and/or working against other courts to try to extend your power beyond its usual season. However, it is not a requirement that every city work this way.

5) Regarding simulacrum (or "fetch" as they are called in the Demo and by the STs during Q&A), they are created objects. If and when they are killed, there is no body to "clean up". Someone who was killing a lot of fetch might not generate a whole lot of attention from local authorities (esp. if the associated changeling stepped back into place so there would be nothing to suggest that anything had happened at all), but could generate attention from other changelings, the fae, etc. The level of clarity sin assigned to killing a fetch is not as severe as the level assigned to killing a real person. True fae would *not* play at being fetches for a short or long time just for kicks; they do not like being in the real world -- they are weaker there. True fae are really alien in mindset. It would be a mistake to assume that they have the same kinds of motivations as people.

The long term theme of C:tL is to reclaim your life. Players should not be anxious that making a decision about what to do with their fetch is the sum total of this goal/theme. Your life is more than your past; more than your family/job, etc.

6) The hedge/thorns is not a physical hedge maze. It is the borderland space between the fae world and the human world. It is always present in every place in the human world (like an overlapping plane of existence). You just can't see it unless you are exposed to certain supernatural catalysts and then you may still only be able to see it out of the corner of your eye, etc. It is a little bit like the hisil in Forsaken. It is a place where characters may go during the chronicle, but it is not a place that you would ever hang out just because. It is a very dangerous place. It is very easy to get lost. It is possible that you will be taken from one place, but find your way out of the Hedge in a different place. Timeslip is also possible, though the STs were very cautious to say nothing about the scale of timeslip possible for a PC. Players should expect their characters to spend most of their time in the human world, with the possibility of entering the hedge for brief times on specific missions.

7) There is no major setting event that kicks off the beginning of chronicle (though individual VSSs could insert local history if they want, and the STs will want to work to collect those individual histories so there is a sense of continuity for folks that have traveled in their backgrounds, etc.). People have been taken and escaped for hundreds of years; this activity is still continuing. Nothing has just happened globally that players are reacting to. There will be adversaries for STs to use in local STing (true fae, fetches, mortal authorities, other to be revealed, etc.), and no adversaries are currently "can't use until end of chronicle". However, the STs hope that players and their characters will take advantage of the opportunity to be PVP adversaries as well. Too much reliance on PVE is hard on the VST.

Cool The flavor of C:tL is definitely darker than C:tD. It is a very different venue. Players are strongly encouraged to embrace this mood. Please read the book when it is released and make sure you are really willing/able to embrace the theme and mood of C:tL before volunteering to take a leadership role etc. Once in place, VSTs should work with players early to make sure their concepts are going to be appropriate. Ultimately, the choice of theme and mood is up to the local ST and players, but folks who choose to go astray from the book should be forewarned that they may feel very out of place and uncomfortable when trying to connect with the broader game and attending cons etc.

9) The rough timeline for chronicle start at this point is as follows: Between now and August, interested players are encouraged to network and could do some preliminary OOC/coordinator side planning for the venue ( i.e., scheduling, game site). Players are not encouraged to set up a VSS until the book is available (it will be released at GenCon - August 16-19, 2007). The Changeling game at GenCon is not part of the Camarilla continuity. As soon as the book is available, players could use the book and the time between August-October to set up VSSs and VSTs, ARSTs etc. and flesh out character development (with the book in hand). The chronicle will begin in a soft roleplay mode at ICC, and likely continue in soft roleplay between August and December. Hard roleplay will likely begin January 1.

10) The venue will be more supportive of the LARP community environment than Forsaken (which initially discouraged travel/contact beyond the local city.) There is material in the book which justifies large gatherings of changelings ( i.e., for cons.) There will be e-mail lists that are really e-mail lists.

11) Lesley is going to put together a list of questions that every character ought to be able to answer about their background that should be helpful for local venues trying to get organized. [I can't recall when this list will be available, but probably at the same time as the book.]

12) The opening fiction from the changeling book was read by Kelly. It was a very dramatic reading (set in a really transformed space -- bravo to the decorating team and bravo to Kelly for being such a good reader!!) The story was very dark, and it was written in a way that there were many mysteries never made entirely clear to the listener (or at least, not to me!), but the mood was very very dark and sad.

I can provide a short description of the story from memory if folks are interested, but I'm not entirely sure if that is okay with the STs, so let's wait and see if there is an all clear on that before providing details. (Lesley, Genevive, Kelly -- is it okay to provide a little summary from memory?)

I can confirm that the reading really made me think about taking some of my initial character concept ideas to a darker place!

Anyway, I hope this news update serves to continue to build the feverish excitement about the venue exhibited by the folks who were able to attend! I can report seeing lots and lots of enthusiasm!!!


Cool
_________________
US2004102252
ME-007- D(Bangor,Maine):
ADST Legacy/NPCs
ADC Recruitment
Northeast Region:
AARST Forsaken-NPCs/Characters

"Those who understand do not talk, those who talk do not understand."-Lao-tzu (Epitome of the Sluagh)

[tomewilson]

"The flavor of C:tL is definitely darker than C:tD. It is a very different venue. Players are strongly encouraged to embrace this mood... Please read the book when it is released and make sure you are really willing/able to embrace the theme and mood of C:tL before volunteering to take a leadership role etc"

I'm glad to hear this out loud.


~Tome

[serial_experiments]

I like what I'm reading.
And some of the people I've talked to about what little spoilers we've been given, they like it too.