Applications: Changeling
The application process is designed to do three things: First, it's designed to make The Supremes' job as easy as possible while still encouraging characters with depth and a richness of flavor; second, it's intended to help guide you (the applicant) to a broad understanding of your own character; third, it's intended to give staff something they can mine for hooks for TPs. You are strongly recommended to read this information before applying.
Contents
First Steps
- Read our news files - everything labeled 'MANDATORY' in particular. The 'setting' section will have good stuff, too.
- Get a rough concept together, figure out what whets your appetite.
- File a +request/fae with a title of your Character Bit Name. Then A 1-5 sentence description of the concept as the body.
- Once The Supremes has given your +request the okay to proceed, then assemble your application proper as described below.
The Application
A Changeling-Sphere application is an email that consists of three parts. Each part is important, and the middle part is often confusing so please read the instructions carefully.
The BG Story
For many of you, you will already have this in mind or written out. It needn't be very long. Anything from 3-4 paragraphs to five or so pages is sufficient - whatever you feel is appropriate for your intent. This is your opportunity to tell us the story of your character, how they came to be, how they got where they are. For most sites, this is the meat of your application. For the Changeling Sphere, this is just the salad course.
The Questions
All changeling applications must include answers to the ten questions listed below. Apps for restricted kiths will have additional questions to answer. Apps with strong ties to the mortal world will need, in addition, to answer questions from those mortal spheres (e.g. Law, Crime, Media, &c.). All questions should be answered in 'short answer' format. An essay is too much (although more information never hurts), but more than a single sentence will often be needed as these are compound questions that dig into a specific part of your character's life, psyche, and relationships to the world around them.
- Kithain must balance their mortal and faerie lives. If you're applying to play a faerie, I trust that I'll know these answers about your faerie side, so this question focuses on the mortal seeming: What role does your character play in mortal society? How does your character pay the bills, where do they live (needn't be specific, but describe it's characteristics)? How do they get around the city?
- How does your character view authority: Mortal civil authority (City Hall, Congress, etc), Mortal Legal Authority (The Courts, The Police), Mortal social authority (societal norms and mores, religions, any particular cliques or social groups your character interacts with regularly)? What about faerie authority (the nobility, the feudal system), and faerie social authority (the seelie and unseelie courts)?
- How does your character keep themselves in Glamour, generally? What is their musing threshold? (Even if Unseelie.) What is their ravaging threshold? (Even if Seelie.) What on earth are they doing in such a Glamour-starved, Banality-ridden hell-hole like Detroit, anyway?
- What are your character's strengths? Discuss your character's merits, but also their personality and skills/abilities. What do you offer to a Faerie County when you live there? What about a motley?
- What are your character's weaknesses? Discuss your flaws, but also your character's personality. What specific things is your character incapable of that they wish they were better at, and why haven't they become better at them in the past?
- How much of your Character's birth family is alive and where do they live? How close is your character to these people? What has your character's past friendships and romantic relationships been like? What is your character's view of romantic love, sex, lust, and related concepts?
- What specific items, equipment, material resources does your character have access to? What level of comfort are they accustomed to? What, if any, material things really matter to them?
- Who fostered your character after their Chrysalis? What about mortal education, how far along did your character get, there? What, coming in, does your character think is wrong with Detroit (if anything)?
- Give me a (brief) timeline of the most important events in your character's past. Does your character believe in destiny?
- Add to your app anything else, a poem, a youtube link, a picture of a cat, whatever you feel helps convey - in a format other than typed-up words - what your character's essence is about.
Additional Questions for Sidhe
- A. How did your liege lord come to let you hang out in Detroit - or what you did to deserve this as a punishment? What deeds has your character performed to date that they are particularly proud of? What deeds have they done that they are particiularly ashamed of?
- B. What are your character's views on the nobility, basic theory of power, etc? What about the commoners?
- C. What is your character's leadership philosophy and leadership style? What about you as a player, since OOC relationships are often an important factor in leading characters in an RPG?
Additional Question for Redcaps
- A. What role does violence play in your character's day to day life? How often do they kill someone or break something to get their way, make a point, or whatever? What are the factors that lead them to choose violence, and by contrast what are the factors that convince them to use social means instead?
Additional Questions for Pooka
- A. What is your animal nature and how does it inform your character's behavior and decisions? Why did you choose this animal nature?
- B. Pookas lie to confuse people, to keep them on their toes, to keep them questioning everything around them. Describe your lying style. How does your style contribute to constructive confusion? How does your pooka deal with a situation where they need to deliver factual information to another person?
Starting Stats
Every app should end with the stat sheet for your character. This should be a standard starting-stat set and should conform to your post-chargen +sheet (or very close thereto). Concepts being Elevated to a higher Tier will have XP applied after-the-fact. This is for record keeping purposes.
Restrictions
| Trait | Limit | Rationale |
|---|---|---|
| Title Background | 2 | Nobility above Knight is landed. |
| Dreamers Background | 0 | Dreamers are incredibly hard to find in Detroit. |
| Holdings Background | 0 | All freeholds on grid are accounted for. |
| Dross Background | 1 | Glades are few and far between, especially here. |
| Influence Background | 0 | No kith or kin has been on grid long enough to develop influence. |
| Kinain Background | 0 | May obtain Kinain through Retinue by spending two picks. |
| Trod Background | 0 | See Holdings and Influence Backgrounds |
| Royal Lineage Background | 0 | N/A |
| Prestige Background | 0 | Not accepting Shadow Court at this time. |
| Political Connections BG | 0 | Chariot County is too dangerous and insignificant for folks this important. |
| Chronos Art | 4 | Reversal of Fortune is simply too painful to run on MUSH. |
| Contempt Art | 0 | Not accepting Shadow Court at this time. |
| Delusion Art | 0 | Not accepting Shadow Court at this time. |
| Naming Art | 3 | And very closely monitored at that. |
Banned Merits
| Merit (Cost) | Rationale |
|---|---|
| Natural Linguist (2) | Obsoleted by 20th Anniversary 'Language (1)' Merit |
| Jack of All Trades (5) | Obsoleted by 20th Anniversary handling of the same merit. |
| Living Legend (5) | Too disruptive on a MUSH. |
| Inspiration (4) | Gift of Pan is already this flexible here. |
| Black Market Ties (1-5) | No kith or kin has been here long enough to establish this. |
| Judicial Ties (2) | No kith or kin has been here long enough to establish this. |
| Media Ties (2) | No kith or kin has been here long enough to establish this. |
| Nightclub (2) | No kith or kin has been here long enough to establish this. |
| Church Ties (3) | No kith or kin has been here long enough to establish this. |
| Corporate Ties (3) | No kith or kin has been here long enough to establish this. |
| Entertainment Ties (3) | No kith or kin has been here long enough to establish this. |
| Police Ties (3) | No kith or kin has been here long enough to establish this. |
| Political Ties (3) | No kith or kin has been here long enough to establish this. |
| Underworld Ties (3) | No kith or kin has been here long enough to establish this. |
| Corporate CEO (5) | No kith or kin has been here long enough to establish this. |
| Blood of the Wolf (4) | Just... no. |
| Werewolf/Vampire Companion (3) | Make friends on grid. |
| Guardian Angel (6) | Too much work for staff on a MUSH. |
| Seeming's Blessing (5) | Obsoleted by house rules. |
| Boon of Fate (1-5) | No invulnerabilities, thanks. |
Banned Flaws
| Flaw (Freebies) | Rationale |
|---|---|
| Twisted Apprenticeship (1) | I'd rather you played pre-chrys. |
| Divided Loyalties (3) | The War isn't happening, this flaw is moot. |
| Hostage (1-5) | Inappropriate for our setting. |
| Lost Horizon (4) | Any such Eshu confined to Detroit are gone with the rest of the County. |
| Nemesis (5) | Too much hassle for staff. |
| Mortal Inhibition (4) | Too hard to interact with the world. |
| Hibernation (5) | Given our time frame, this flaw would prevent you from playing for 8 months at a time. |
| Stolen Tooth (3) | Not appropriate for MUSH. |
| Hag-Ridden (4) | Too much work for staff. |
| Arcadian/Ancient Oath (2-5) | Problematic formulation, consider Geas instead. |
| Absent-Minded (3) | In the age of logs, this flaw is rather meaningless. |
| Vengeance (2) | Not appropriate for MUSH. |
| Chimerical Magnet (5) | Suppressed for now, and beyond obnoxious besides. |
| Oathtaken (4) | The war is not happening, this Oath is not used. Consider Geas instead. |
Approval
Once a concept has been received it will be reviewed. The intent is to review apps every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. In reality, The Supremes is kind of neurotic about checking his email so don't be surprised if you don't wait that long. Sometimes RL bites him in the ass too. If you haven't heard ANYTHING in a week, feel free to send along a gentle reminder via '+request/req <title>=<body text>'. Sometimes +jobs are easier to get at than email.
Once your concept has been approved, you may go through chargen. You can, of course, go through chargen prior to this but you may be wasting your time if the stats need tweaked so it's worth it to wait if you think any of your requested stats might warrant a raised eyebrow. When your stats are done, contact Supes and he'll finalize you, assign any elevation XP (which may be spent immediately via +jobs) and you're good to go!
