Christopher Howard
May 31, 2000 (21:30)
Q: The Autumn Way seems to be worded so that each level, other than the fifth, could only be used on the casters themselves. This makes the fourth level useless to aonides, keremet and moiræ, and most of the Art useless to Kithain who might learn it. Could it be cast on other denizens that don't know it themselves?
A: Absolutely. As with most other Arts, the Autumn Way (except for Level 5) is fully compatible with all the Realms. There’s no particular reason why you can’t use any of the Art’s levels in conjunction with any Realm. Actually I have long agreed with many fans that there are some problems inherent to the whole Art/Realm system. While the combination between the two is highly flexible and, theoretically, quite elegant, I believe there have been some problems with the game mechanics from day one. I think that the Arts/Realms system would benefit from both some streamlining and from a more detailed pairing of individual Arts to Realms. I hope this will be handled in some future book.
Q: Denizen Affinities: WHY THE (expletive) DO THEY HAVE AFFINITY REALMS!?!?! Let's face it, the sidhe have been on earth for 30 years and still have been unable to master a Realm Affinity, yet for Denizens, who have been trapped in the Nightmare Realms for eons [and have been] here for a year, have mastered a Realm.
A: Tempest in a teapot. I wrote it this way because I dislike the notion that the sidhe can’t have a Realm Affinity. This has never made sense to me. Even if you strip away all the so-called "Autumn World Realms," the sidhe should still be able to specialize in the Fae (or Time?) Realms. That’s assuming Realms like Scene, Nature and Prop (not to mention Actor from the occasional humans who bumble into the Dreaming) don’t have any meaning in the dream realms—which they do. Allowing the Dark-kin to have Realm Affinities may contradict the "sidhe rule," but I didn’t feel like limiting them simply because of what I see as a past mistake.
[Daniel Ginn's note: I firmly believe that all sidhe should have a Time Realm Affinity.]
If you need a more game oriented reason than the above, think of it this way: The sidhe have spent the last 600 years in the Deepest Dreaming—in the rarefied environs of Arcadia. Meanwhile, almost all denizens are creatures of the Near or Far Dreaming where there is more correspondence between the Dreaming and the Autumn World. Beyond this, the Adhene are fundamentally different from the sidhe on a number of other levels. For one thing, their alliance with the Fomorian Dream is reason enough for why they would be better prepared to retain these "lost Realms," both during and after the War of Trees. Most sidhe who left Earth during the Shattering no doubt thought that they’d never again need those crude "Autumn Realms" (if you buy into the no-Affinities-for-sidhe argument, which I don’t). The Adhene, on the other hand, always planned on coming back and would have taken precautions to maintain these Realms while in exile.
By the way, just as an aside, most denizens are not from the Nightmare Realms, but from what changelings call the "Tenebrous Realms." These are realms largely unknown to the Kithain, but not necessarily nightmarish in quality. The real Nightmare Realms are a subject for a whole other book….
Q: Holes In Logic: IF MOIRÆ ARE ALL FEMALE, HOW THE HELL DO THEY REPRODUCE!?!?! The book mentions that, unlike Kithain, the Adhene are simply very long-lived and not eternal like Kithain in their primal form. So it’s somewhat strange to have Adhene like the keremet (who can barely muster the libido to eat, much less reproduce) and the entirely female Adhene of moiræ who have somehow survived through the countless eons in the Dreaming being all females but producing offspring.
A: It’s not a hole in the logic if the book doesn’t say any such thing. The book never states that all moiræ are female. Dan Ginn, the author of that section, referred to them using feminine terminology, but that’s because they are traditionally portrayed that way in most folklore. Perhaps I should have included a direct example or mention of a male moiræ, but their omission does not preclude their existence. I’m sorry, but I don’t see a problem here. Remember, as Nietzche said: "That which is not forbidden is permitted." (And, thanks to the Golden Rule, even that which is forbidden is permitted, if you have a sufficiently laid-back Storyteller.) So, in the interest of avoiding any more confusion, and as Dan Ginn has already stated in this forum: Yes, there are male moiræ. Probably not as many as there are female oracles, but they are out there.
Oh, and for those of you who would prefer to have all moiræ as females in your game, simply think of the "oracle gene" as something that is passed from mother to daughter, regardless of the father’s identity. In effect, you only need one parent to be a moiræ to produce an offspring of that nature. Pushing the concept even a step further, realize that Fate is capricious and occasionally touches individuals, regardless of their biological heritage. In my mind, it is completely possible for a moiræ to be born without either parent being of that lineage (Dan may or may not agree with me here). They may simply "occur" in the general population.
The keremet are a special case. Keremet are not born (at least as baby keremet); they are made. As is plainly explained in their entry, the keremet are humans who were brought into the Dreaming at the moment of their death. (Actually, there’s a lot more to them than that, but I have to save some things for future books.) Dead humans? We can always make more of them in the World of Darkness. Oh, and just to clear up a misconception, keremet can feel emotion, it is just difficult for them and not a common occurrence.
Q: In conclusion, the book betrayed the system magically and in some respects conceptually from the main CtD book. Changeling magick is flexible, not static. Changeling difficulty is based on Banality (key concepts of the game) not arbitrary assigned difficulties. The Arts were also weaker than standard fae cantrips; lets face it, Legerdemain and Chicanery make for better Arts of War than Discord will ever be, as it’s written. Secondly, there were the widespread holes in logic, e.g. contradictions with canon and standard dreaming biology (even in the Dreaming I assume one normally needs a male and female to reproduce).
A: Again, while I’m willing to concede to some unfortunate inconsistencies in the book, I think that this comment about "betrayal" is more than a trifle overwrought and just plain inaccurate. Now, since I have already dealt with most of the above points, I’d like to use this opportunity to comment on the general metaphysics of fae magic.
First, on the place of any changeling Arts on the static to dynamic magic[k] continuum: Changeling cantrips are clearly more dynamic than, say, your average vampire Discipline, but they are also generally less dynamic than the Sphere magicks found in Mage. You can bemoan the fact that this is so, and I wouldn’t necessarily disagree with you, but the effects possible with the Arts + Realms (power + target) combination in Changeling will never be quite as dynamic as the Sphere + Sphere (power + power) combination possible in Mage. Changeling Arts are not mage magicks and I think you are missing a major tenet of the game if you are trying to fit them into this mold (not that I am necessarily saying that you are doing this).
Q: The book should have been longer and deeper, giving a more in depth explanation of the Nightmare Realms (not just geographical locations and descriptions), but to convey a sense of horror. Like: "In this realm the fir-bholg scholar Vishkara documented a large, distorted, bloated mass of flesh, fluids, bone, and sinew. It floated endlessly through the dreaming exuding a noxious gas as myriad maws appeared screaming out in pain and agony yelling out: 'Help me', 'Find Me', 'Save me'…."
A: Yes, I would have liked for the book to be longer too.
As to the book’s descriptions: "Myriad maws?" Did it have myriad paws too? Sorry, I couldn’t resist. I’ve had a number of people compliment me on how atmospheric the book was, so I’ll let people make up their own minds on this rather subjective viewpoint. Actually, your "large, distorted, bloated mass of flesh, bone and sinew" was originally in one of the short stories (which I posted here a few weeks ago). I initially thought Jackie and Nicky cut the beast for space reasons, but I’ve since learned it just wanted too much money. Bloated-masses-of-flesh these days…. Things just haven’t been the same since Lovecraft died.
--Chris Howard
Next: Part 3 & 4 of the FAQ.