This essay, of sorts, grew out of some discussions on Changeling-l, the Changeling: the Dreaming electronic mailing list. At the time of the writing, Changeling was still in First Edition only, but some of the suggestions can be applied to Second Edition.

Okay, recently there was some discussion on Linguistics and how the Knowledge is completely unrealistic for play, well, here is how I'm going to run it in my games, if I ever run any. It's cobbled together from various ideas that were posted to the list, so if I mess up on Attribution, because I have no idea who posted what, sort it out for yourselves, I'm not even going to try. Stick this any darn where you want to, I don't flat care. This is rules stuff so I don't care if my name gets left off. All I want is to make this more realistic for those of you with that sort of bent.

Okay, everyone agrees languages get easier to learn as you go along, so the Linguistics Knowledge, which is now renamed Languages, costs in experience the reverse pattern of what is normal, for example, Joe Schmoe is buying his first dot of Languages, it costs him 10 experience points, *and* he has to have a teacher IC because otherwise he'll mux it. Once he spends his points, say he wants French, he has one dot in Languages and two dots in a Secondary Knowledge: French. Later, he can use Experience points to buy another language for 8 points or he can increase his French for half the normal cost of a third point, or full cost, that's ST discretion. A third language would cost 6 points, a fourth 4 points, a fifth, 3 points, and anything beyond that, 3 points per language. With each language he gets 2 dots in the Secondary Knowledge that is appropriate.

If Joe Schmoe wants to invest character creation points in Languages, the costs are what the book lists, out of the 13/9/5, one per dot for Languages, and two freebie points for either Languages dots or Secondary Dots, though Secondaries can cost less depending on what the ST wants.

Okay there was also discussion about Performance, which I decided to handle in a very similar manner. Performance is no longer simply one Skill, but two, Performance: Music and Performance: Acting, because they really are two separate areas. Satyrs automatically lean towards Performance: Music and it is *strongly* recommended that Satyr characters have points put into Music *before* the put it into Acting. Anyway, but as before, each point in either Music or Acting to a degree, get the player one maybe two dots in an appropriate Secondary Skill, such as Singing, or Guitar, or Violin, or whatever. For Acting, try Drama, or comedy, or something, use your imaginations guys, that's why we're here.

If you like to have everything balanced, you can do this same thing with Expression from the Talents, as you did with Performance with Prose and Poetry and (maybe) Spoken, although these are related to a degree, or maybe that's just because I'm kinda good with all three, though it's nothing phenomenal. Prose can have Secondary Talents like Fiction and Nonfiction and Poetry can be, oh, Rhymed and Unrhymed, I don't know, maybe Romantic or epic or something like that, Narrative maybe. Use your own brains for this. Mine's tired.

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