Introduction
Over the last five years I have heard a lot of good stuff about Changeling. At first it was all about Changeling: the dreaming. It was supose to be a very interesting game. I have unsuccessfully made a few attempts to get some of my friends to storytell it so I could experience it as a player.
When the new line of White Wolf games was released the hype was that Changeling: the lost was even better than the predecessor. I bought it not long after the release, but have had it on the shelf unread ever since.
Review
I decided on a whim early in April that I would run a game with 4 sessions the first weekend of May. I started reading the core book and was a once fascinated. One of the things I noticed early on was that between the two version they have changed what your are playing. In the dreaming you are playing the Fae creature left being when the Fae abducted a human. In the lost you play the human that has been abducted and escaped.
The book is well written, and immediately gives you many ideas for a game. It is supposed to be a game of beautiful madness. I was unable to make this mood work during the first sessions. Having said that we had a lot of fun.
The system is the new World of Darkness system. As a player I did not care that much for the system. I disliked that it is much easier to hit some one than it is to avoid being hit, which forces attack to be the "only" form of defense. However, from the other side of the table the system is very nice. It runs much more smoothly than the previous one. It is much easier and quicker to handle the attack/defense of the NPC's as only one roll is involved.
The Changeling setting is as I said very fascinating and easy to make stories in. They system and setting is well thought through, and I discovered no major holes or inconsistencies. Having said that, I wish they could have made the section about gathering glamor better, having a more throughout described system for it. The same goes for gathering and finding thing in the hedge (witch is the part separating our world from the land of the Fae).
Conclusion
Changeling: The Lost is a very well written game, and I would recommend it to anyone.
