Grim Fears Haunt Every Changeling
I'm going to submit this to awkwardfamilyphotos.com. I mean, the dad isn't even looking at the camera!
When the bizarre magical world of Changeling bleeds over into the mortal realm, fairy tales and urban legends take shape as living, breathing beings. Most of them aren’t especially friendly.
Night Horrors: Grim Fears is a sourcebook for White Wolf’s Changeling RPG, part of their World of Darkness. It is, quite simply, a book of villains (or possibly allies), an entire volume of twisted character studies based in some way on a folk tale. They range from strange creatures like the Bunyip or the giant beast Argemone, to changelings warped by their experiences on the other side of the Hedge. A few of them are even Others, powerful members of Arcadia’s Gentry.
It may seem like a subtle distinction, but I want to note that, for the most part, these characters are not necessarily magical creatures that have been shaped into forms coinciding with fairy tales. Rather, many of them are the sources of the fairy tales. Most of them are immortal, or at least incredibly long-lived, so their past exploits planted the seeds of legend and myth. It is interesting to see how many of these archetypal fairy tale beings have adapted to more modern forms and practices, and perhaps equally interesting to consider those who haven’t bothered.
There are 26 entries in total. Each one includes a black and white rendering of the character in question, and a full character history along with a physical description. Of particular interest to Storytellers are the Secrets and Rumors sections, which provide a look at each persona’s hidden motivations and darkest desires along with some brilliant story hooks that will make it much easier to link them into your campaign. If you can’t find enough story hooks there, you can always check in the section labeled, “Story Hooks.” Plus, each character is fully statted out.
Some of the antagonists are what you might expect: the hedonistic DJ who acts as a modern-day pied piper, or the exotic, seductive woman who is actually a giant spider. But most of them offer unexpected twists, with mournful, tragic tales creating depth and pathos. Take, for example, Gentleman John, the Thistle Thief. He steals, but only things that are irreplaceable, of great personal value, though not necessarily any monetary value. He was tormented by his beautiful Keeper until he stole her heart, but when he made his way back to the mortal world, he found he had lost his own. Literally. Or Long-Tooth Tom, an ogre who guards bridges and exacts a dire toll on those who pass (or sometimes he just kills people). A war veteran twisted by his time in Arcadia, Tom is tortured by faint memories of his wife and daughter.
Of course, a few of them are just murderous beasts, not so much evil as so utterly alien we could not even begin to comprehend their thoughts. There’s The Hook, who’s committed so many murders at lovers lanes around the world that he became an urban legend, and Old Middy, who appears to be a kindly old lady but actually loves to cook and eat young children.
Even if you don’t play Changeling, Grim Fears is designed for use with any World of Darkness setting. There’s a section with tips on conversion to some of the other systems, and the dark nature of the characters ensures they could find a home in any WoD campaign. I simply enjoyed reading the book on its own merits – it’s a fun (if creepy) collection of macabre tales. You could drop any one of them into a supernatural or horror themed RPG if you’re willing to make up your own stats. You can grab a copy of Grim Fears from TrollandToad.com or get the pdf version from DriveThruRPG.
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October 6th, 2009 3:11 PM
I’m not a big buyer of NPC Beastiaries, but you do bring up a good point: drop them into any horror themed game. Definately the way to go. Don’t even worry about “Changeling”-ing them up…just let their internal logic stand & make them Other. Nothing freaks out a jaded player more then showing them they don’t know everything.
October 6th, 2009 5:22 PM
Head games for the win! I like dropping stuff in to freak out players who think they know everything, and I am the player. Take something that doesn’t quite work and throw it in, then just roll with it and see how the players freak out over the rules change. Like, in our Zelda themed campaign our DM tossed in an obstacle that isn’t much of a challenge in D&D but would be near impassable in Zelda. We forgot we had rope. Figured it out after about an hour. Rope comes in handy.