World of Darkness - Character Creation Help Request - Changeling - Muse - Fleeting Summer

[Montezuma's Lawyer]

I'm working on a character for WOD 4th ed. and could use some help with the finer points.

I basically have my character built, but I need help with a tighter backstory.

The campaign takes place in Auschwitz-Berkenau, during WW2. The group are all prisoners under Nazi experimentation and containment, for various reasons, two of which are werewolves, two of which are changelings.

My character is a changeling, a woman in her mid-thirties, blonde hair, green eyes, and an insatiable rage that she uses to manipulate and control others, you know the type.

I need some help getting my Abduction and Fetch stories to work properly, the DM has agreed to let my fetch be a wealthy German politician, working with the Nazis to both frame me for the murders of multiple political opponents of theirs, and to allow them to perform experiments upon me, seeing as how they were so interested in the occult, their interest in our group seems noteworthy.

My abduction and return are the problems, however, I cant seem to come up with anything, can you help me?

 

[DoPo]

I'm working on a character for WOD 4th ed. and could use some help with the finer points.

Erm...there is no WoD 4th edition. There was 1st, 2nd and Revised in oWoD, the nWoD is just nWoD.

Anyway...I don't actually see the problem with the abduction. There are a myriad of ways it could happen, all of them equally viable. Well, to a point, at least - the Fairest are usually taken because the Fae saw something in them or maybe as payment for something or another. Look into folklore about people dealing with mysterious beings - demons and fairies both work. It is very possible that, way, your character's parents may have struck a deal with a True Fae[footnote]maybe even unknowingly - making some promise in the woods, or as part of a "ritual" they were not aware was real.[/footnote] for their child. Or your character may have struck a deal[footnote]again - maybe unknowingly[/footnote]. But maybe it's just one aspect - your character may very well had been targeted and taken by her (would be) Keeper because...something - her eyes or her hair or something more esoteric (who the fuck knows what the Fae would fancy).

The Durance itself is even less of a problem. The Fairest, and Muses in particular, are most often used similar to baubles or just things for the Fae to amuse themselves with. In fact, the Fairest often don't even have a good recollection of what exactly happened - just a swirl of emotions and fragmented glimpses of events that transpired. Maybe even your character could have been not more than an ornament in somebody's home. A bit like a lawn gnome, only, you know, prettier and more...living.

Finally, for escape - maybe your character's master left, and she took the chance to run, maybe her master got tired of her (or maybe even replaced her with something/somebody else) and put her away in (what would be equal to) a cupboard and stopped paying attention, or maybe something else happened. Maybe even she can't remember what exactly happened - the first thing she recalls clearly after the Durance is the Hedge's thorns tearing her, knowing only that she must run.

That's just suggestions. If you want something slightly more concrete, I'd suggest you look into the "vila" (or sometimes "samovila") from Slavic mythology. In Eastern-ish Germany, there should be a notable presence of Slavic people and/or beliefs, partly because of where (well, at least modern day) Poland and Chezch Republic are. Around WW2, Germany would have been close to Yugoslavia and Hungary as well, both of which are Slavic. At any rate there are grounds for a Slavic being there. And the vila/samovila do fit fairly well into the "beautiful maiden" type of Fae who are also very temperamental. In short, they resemble beautiful young women who usually dwell (or at least can be met) in the woods or meadows somewhere in the wilderness. They could be either helpful or spiteful, especially against males (especially against ones who break their word or worse - try harming them). Sometimes in the stories, the vila try to lure young people (mostly males) to dance with them or just be with them for an eternity[footnote]or presumably until the person dies. Also presumably, this would not be long, since I doubt they'd feed or even care for them outside of just "playing with them".[/footnote]. So it could be your character's father that earned the ire of the vila and they took his daughter or maybe your character herself was "chosen" or even just "taken" by the vila for some reason (be their pet or become one of them). The vila are also appropriate, since they are known for their temper - an angry vila is something mortals in the stories either don't survive or just manage to.

Hope my suggestions help. If you do have a story or ideas for one, I'd love to improve upon it, but for now suggestions is all I have for you, unfortunately.

 

[Godlikebuthumble]

I'm working on a character for WOD 4th ed. and could use some help with the finer points.


The campaign takes place in Auschwitz-Berkenau, during WW2. The group are all prisoners under Nazi experimentation and containment, for various reasons, two of which are werewolves, two of which are changelings.

My character is a changeling, a woman in her mid-thirties, blonde hair, green eyes, and an insatiable rage that she uses to manipulate and control others, you know the type.

The Fetch stuff sounds very much like nWoD... is Banality still a thing in the new Changeling? 'Cause if so, boy, are you screwed in Auschwitz

 

[TheUsername0131]

You can find help here.

http://forum.rpg.net


Your fetch plot hook is adequate. Remember, Fetches aren't always, or even usually, ignorant of what they are. The Others might well explain to the fetch exactly what it is and what role it plays. Do not expect your fetch to not have support perhaps from Hobgoblins or Keeper patronage.

An example of such a nasty surprise would be that the fetch:

Spoiler

"can be granted a single use of one of the Fae?s Contracts." - C:TL p.200

And

Spoiler

Craft Fetch-Beast (Wyrd 4): Powerful and skilled fetches can create creatures much like themselves, but cannot instill them with the capacity for human-like thought. The fetches can, however, make fetches that act like animals, and so a changeling might find his fetch waiting for him with a menagerie of feral dogs and hissing cats, perhaps even astride a fae-steed. To craft a fetch-beast, the fetch needs some raw material (dirt, refuse, dead flesh - nearly anything will do) and must sacrifice an animal of the type the fetch wishes to create. This requires a degeneration check for fetches at Morality 4 or higher. The player rolls Dexterity + Crafts as an extended action. Each roll requires one day of work, and the target number is the Health rating of the fetchbeast. Once the target number of successes is reached, the fetch spends Glamour equal to the fetch-beast?s Health, and the creature comes to life. From there on out, the creature behaves like a member of its species, save that the fetch-beast sometimes displays a disturbingly acute intelligence and shows almost no interest in other members of its species. The fetch-beast obeys its creator without question, and is not subject to communication or control by any supernatural powers that normally work on animals.

Finally

Spoiler

Craft Second Fetch (Wyrd 5): The fetch can create a duplicate of itself, a hollow shell that becomes activated should the fetch die. The system for this is the same as for Craft Fetch-Beast, except that the sacrifice required is a chunk of flesh from the fetch's own body (inflicting three points of lethal damage). If a fetch with a prepared duplicate dies, the duplicate awakens within 12 hours of the death, fully healed and refreshed. A fetch can only have one duplicate at a time, though upon activation the duplicate (or rather, the fetch) can create another.

The Type of Gentry I recommend is the Doctor Archtype:

Spoiler

"The Doctor - who could just as easily contain the Torturer or the Scientist within his archetype - is a cold, methodical operator. He finds everything dictated by logic, even if this so-called logic makes little sense to the changeling. It's all about stimulus and response. How well can the changeling hear without an ear? How does the abductee respond to a parasitic infection? What kinds of children, both monstrous and wondrous, could possibly grow in a changeling's womb? Some Fae literally appear as doctors or scientists: the traditional lab-coat might feature, as could antiquated chirurgeon's tools. Others are far more alien, wearing clean naked bodies of plasticine skin or simply having a form composed of shiny speculums, scalpels and bone saws. Changelings under the Doctor's "care" often experience harrowing imprisonment, ending up as the subject who is operated upon, healed and then operated upon once more. Some are given what is both a reprieve and a curse, however, in that they're allowed to serve as "nurses" to their Keepers. As nurses, these changelings often exempt from more extreme experimentation, but then must aid in the experimentation on others."
- C:TL AN p. 62

As for mad Nazi scientists and occultists, these links might help:

Spoiler

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Ghostapo
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/StupidJetpackHitler
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ThoseWackyNazis

Spoiler

Have fun.

 

[DoPo]

is Banality still a thing in the new Changeling? 'Cause if so, boy, are you screwed in Auschwitz

No, new Changelings are very little alike like the old ones. Where old Changelings were fae trapped in the human world (and a human body) but were all nice and stuff (well, as much as you can be in the WoD), the new Changelings are mortals that have been kidnapped by the Fae, to be brought to their world. This is generally a Bad Thing, since the True Fae embody all the darker aspect of fairy tales - the witch from Henzel and Gretel, the troll under the bridge, Rumpelstiltskin, etc. This is to say that the True Fae are Not Nice?. In very general terms, being a human around them is rather unpleasant. The kidnappees eventually escape (well, some of them - the playable characters at least) but now have horrible psychology scarring to cope with, moreover, there is physcial one as well - they have been change by their stay and resemble humans less, partly they resemble the Fae. And most importantly, there is the fact that when the humans were taken, a Fetch is left at their place - this is pretty much their clone who pretends to be them. So you get sort of a The Sixth Day situation, only with less witty one liners and Arnie, more psychological suffering. Oh, and also - once a Changeling escapes and goes back to the mortal world, that's not the last they would see of their Keepers (a.k.a. kidnappers), as the Keepers are rather keen on getting their property back. So now, the Changelings also have to be on the run. For the rest of their lives.

Auschwitz is also a bad place, though.