Game: Changeling: the Dreaming
Publisher: White Wolf
Series: World of Darkness
Reviewer: RedOgress
Review Dated: 26th, April 2003
Reviewer’s Rating: 8/10 [ Really good ]
Total Score: 188
Average Score: 6.06
Changeling: the dreaming has the potential to be a really excellent game. Unfortunately there are a few problems which move it down to “interesting but mostly unplayable”.
The original concept is fascinating. The fae have been cutoff from the world. The time of the dreaming is coming to an end. The remnants of the fae struggle to hold on to the glamour in small, isolated groups around the world, trying to avoid being discovered by humanity and being destroyed by banality.
Look, it’s a WoD book, of course it’s depressing.
As a player you have a large and varied choice of “races” to choose from. There’s plenty of room for character development. The difficulty comes when you actually have to play the game.
The game itself is magic heavy, which is understandable. But unless you’ve read the book in-depth before you begin, and that’s players and GM’s, you often find yourself wondering “what can I do?” There are so many subtle nuances to play, as well as alien requirements, that it takes a while to get your head around your character.
The GM has a worse job though; they have to constantly keep the ‘feel’ of the dreaming in their game, and avoid ‘banality’. It’s very difficult. Usually the games degenerate into your normal, average roleplay. Which really defeats the purpose of this game.
Changeling was meant to be a deep, angsty, emotional event. Unfortunately, and through no fault of the designers, it really falls short of the mark. I’m not saying it’s not worth trying. some groupds may find it just their style. But it’s definately for dedicated groups only.
