Revision as of 14:47, 13 October 2017

Token Crafting

Crafting tokens is, more or less, a life style and an art with a great number of unexpected results. Sure, you can pour your heart and soul into the work, but your circumstances, your attitudes, your Court and the stories going on around you in the process are all going to influence just what the drawback and catch of the thing end up being.

In effect, while you are creating a token, that token is your life.

You are working on the bugger for 8 hours a day. You don't HAVE another job. Not unless you want no social life. And, speaking of a social life, you'd better make sure to keep the stories around your work in line with what you want the end result to be, or you're going to end up with who knows what Bad Stuff.

A token crafted by a Fairest will likely be very different from a token crafted by a Darkling, and very commonly, the drawbacks of tokens crafted by the same changeling will have a similar theme, a signature, per se, to mark the particular power of their creator.

Basics

Most tokens are crafted by the Fae or found in the Hedge and put to use by changelings clever enough to realize what they are. An uncrafted token, in essence, is a sponge for twisted faerie magic. Something gets lost in the Hedge, absorbs weird amoral powers, et voila.

See the Tokens page for details on a token's basic anatomy.

Howeeeever... there are those rare, few, extraordinarily devoted souls who learn to create tokens themselves. It isn't easy, and it isn't quick.

Tokens may be common, but they're prestige items for a reason.

Crafting your token will, more than likely, take you multiple Real Life weeks.

+Request Format

Please use the following format for all token crafting requests. While filling out the answers to the questions, if you aren't sure whether or not something is possible, please ask about it in your job. The worst that staff will do is tell you that's not quite what tokens are about, and suggest more viable alternatives.

+req/fae Crafted Token

• Token Name
• How many dots is it?
• What does it do?
• Does it have a physical activation cost?
• What is its drawback?
• What is its catch?
• What is its mask?
• What is its mien?

And, lastly...

• What do you intend to make it of?

Tokens do not need to be Hedge objects; you can just as readily use a pretty pebble you once found while walking by the river with your girlfriend. Just be prepared for some of that emotional attachment to show up in the drawback (i.e. make sure the item's story has some effect on what you write).

• Which of the mechanical benefits from the 'Crafting your Token' section below apply to you? List all that do.

Staff will help to settle any details which need tweaking.

Once your token has been approved for creation, +spend 1 or 2 Glamour (see below) to your +myjob and +roll the first of your Wyrd + Crafts [+ other bonuses] creation rolls. After that? Have as much patience as your character does.

Token Maker (•••)

The long and short of it: if you don't have this merit, you can't craft tokens. Period.

Crafting Process

Given the number of variables which can influence the creation of your token, it's no surprise that to get a reliable result, your token first requires some form of recipe or pattern to be made. If you are copying an existing token and don't have a pattern at hand, or if you are just ICly pouring power into making something, steeping it in story and waiting to see what happens, you have only vague IC control over the end result. You are still in full OOC control. Talk to staff if you prefer to lose any OOC control and would like to deliberately screw up your character's work. We will happily find ways to corrupt your token concept.

Recipe research cannot be interrupted until it is complete, or all successes will be lost.

Purchasing a Recipe

Any purchased recipes must involve a staff-approved PRP or a trip to a Goblin Market.

Borrowing/Reusing a Recipe

If reusing an old recipe, please say as much in your +myjob. You do not need to roll for it again.

In cases where you are working off of a friend's recipe, please CC your friend on your +myjob. Please decide, too, which influences your own magical "fingerprints" will have on the design, as the token you create will not be identical to the one created by your friend.

Crafting Your Token

Crafting tokens is a long-term investment for the changelings who devote themselves to the work.

Your character must work on the token for at least eight hours a day.

NOTE: working 16 or more hours a day adds +2 to your Wyrd + Crafts roll per week your character maintains this schedule.

• Any relevant specialties do apply to your Wyrd + Crafts rolls. For example, if your token is a wooden statuette and you have a specialty in Woodcarving, you may choose to use it on your roll for a +1.

• Characters Wyrd 7 and above have a +1 on their Wyrd + Crafts rolls.

• Characters with the Tokenmaster merit gain an additional +2 on their Wyrd + Crafts rolls.

• Characters who created their own recipe get a +2 to their Wyrd + Crafts rolls, as they have a deeper understanding of the object from the inside out.

• Characters doing their crafting in a Hollow gain a +1 on their Wyrd + Crafts rolls, as the power of the Wyrd is more accessible there, and more malleable to their wills.

NOTE: the Good Time Management merit DOES apply, and does stack with having a Workshop. Brownie's Boon, however, does not apply to supernatural crafting.

Reminder: the bonus from your Workshop is the number of dots you have in it. Any relevant Workshop will help. You do not need to have one specifically in Tokens, since the work is the investiture of power and the physical shaping of the object (if necessary). You could feed it power and purpose with every delicate tap of your chisel/scrape of sandpaper in a Workshop, or, you could carry a rock around in your pocket and meditate on it while sitting in your comfy smoking chair out on the porch for eight hours a day. Up to you.

If your token involves acquiring multiple objects (say, you really want to build a freaky scarecrow out of Hedge materials, or stuff from Hong Kong, and only have part of it now) you may run PRPs during the weeks you are creating the token, ICly acquiring the extra pieces. You will take a penalty on all subsequent rolls if you try to add a new material to an existing recipe, and forgo the the recipe bonus.

If you leave off in the middle of the project, your accumulated successes remain for two weeks. If, after two weeks, you have not rolled again to your +myjob, the token must be begun again from ground zero.

Work toward the creation of a token may be claimed once per week as a +activity. Please use your +myjob number in lieu of a log.

Example:

Jacob has watched too many Westerns, and wants to make a wooden horse token that turns into a real horse for a scene when it's given a pat on the flank and told 'Hi-Ho Silver!'

Jacob decides that the token's name will be 'Silver', talks the drawback/catch over with staff, and gets told that something like that would probably be a 2-dot token.

Knowing that a 2-dot token will require 50 successes, Jacob is very glad that he is conveniently a Wyrd 7 Tokenmaster with a Woodworking Workshop. The fact that his girlfriend recently broke up with him means he has plenty of time to put in 16-hour weeks, too!

Jacob rolls Wyrd (7) + Crafts (4) + Crafts Specialty: Woodworking (1) + Workshop (Woodworking) (3) + Wyrd 7 bonus (1) + Tokenmaster bonus (2) + 16 hours a day bonus (2) for a total of 7+4+1+3+1+2+2, or 20 dice, to his +myjob. He gets 7 successes on his first roll!

Feeling pretty confident, he spends 2 Glamour to his +myjob: one for infusing the wooden horse he is working on, and one to grant him an extra success. That boosts his first roll to 7+1 successes, for 8 total.

At this point, he only has 42 to go until he hits the 50 he requires.

Since Jacob has a Workshop, he only has to wait a week between rolls, so he waits until the next weekend, then gets ready to roll again.

Jacob really wants to use the 16 hours a day bonus again, but he figures he can't really justify it; there were an awful lot of +events, and he went to too many of them. This time, his total dice only come up to 18, but he still rolls 6 successes. He spends another two points of Glamour to his +myjob, and goes back to his RP, satisfied that he only needs 35 more successes.

Rolling once a week for the next three weeks and spending double Glamour, Jacob gets 5, 4, 9. That leaves him with 17 successes to go.

Jacob, however, has been doing some work on the side during the weeks he has chosen only 8-hour days. He feels justified in buying the Good Time Management merit, which halves the roll duration one step further. Once his spend goes through, he waits a few days (staff, being sane, does not nitpick the '0.5' of 3.5 days) before rolling again. He gets 7 successes, leaving 10 to go. He will roll again in half a week.

His next two rolls, 8 and 2, take care of the remainder of the token's work. At long last, his hard work has paid off!

Sum total, our imaginary Jacob ICly took 6.5 weeks to create his token. In real time, his player only took 5.5 weeks, as the initial roll to the job is considered a freebie week. Rolls are made at the END of a week of work.

Gewgaws, Trifles & 0-Dot Token Crafting

If you are crafting these, they require only one success or only one Willpower point (depending on which you're making), and take very little time to create. Think of these as practice pieces. A crafter might make a handful of weak gewgaws to test out an idea, to see if he can do what he intends, or purely because he is bored out of his mind and wants some entertaining party favours which will turn everybody's skin blue.

To reiterate what is said elsewhere, gewgaws and trifles are two types of 0-dot Tokens. In the case of gewgaws, anyone can use them. Trifles require Glamour expenditure, or a Wyrd roll, but that doesn't mean a mortal can't have a handful. Maybe they're a trifle pack mule for their Changeling friend.

Gewgaws

These are handled via +req/fae and +note.

Not everyone reads the books, or the wiki and house rules for that matter, and not everyone understands just what level of power a gewgaw is supposed to have, so staff will want to briefly check that your ideas are sane, and will need to approve the +note you write.

You do not need to roll. These are piddly things, and Changelings typically have handfuls of the buggers. You can create as many gewgaws as you have Glamour to spend on them, and yes, staff is aware that this means you may well have pockets full of the things if you are a prolific idea monkey. Staff is pleased with this idea. Gewgaws are thematically tossed in to sweeten deals all the time. Please. Toss them! Make them commonplace.

Note: any references to staff regard Wiz Staff, not ST Staff. ST Staff has no discretion over the creation of items.

Trifles

These are handled via the +equip system. They are consumable one-use items. See Tokens#Trifles for more details.

Accidental Magic

It is entirely possible to toss an item in the Hedge and hope that it becomes a token over time. The problems with this are sticky ones, however:

1. If you toss something down on a trod, chances are good somebody else will grab it before you do.
2. The Hedge is a psychoactive realm with a very tenuous grasp on little details like 'geography' and 'consistency'. If you toss something OFF of a trod, finding it again is not going to be easy.
3. You have no control over what happens, how powerful it is, or what its traits will be.

On the bright side, anyone can do it! You'll still have to pay the xp cost if any of your token-making efforts actually do create something, but that's a long shot.

If you do choose to attempt this option, staff will choose characteristics for you, which your character will have to learn the hard way. Find some friendly Autumns or an amenable hob to help! It is entirely possible, and quite likely, that what you get will not be something YOU will love with all your heart, but that's not to say that somebody ELSE won't salivate over your newest acquisition...

Random Token Mechanics:

1. Send up a +req/fae. Staff will allow you to attempt creating 3 of these each month.
   • Note the word 'attempt' there. If you fail, that still counts as one of the three.
2. Roll 5 dice to your +myjob. If you get the equivalent of a straight, congratulations, you've created a token.
   • For non-Poker players, a straight is a sequence of connected numbers. 2 3 4 5 6 would be a straight, as would 6 7 8 9 10.

   (No, your numbers do not need to show up on the +roll in that order; you could just as well get 3 4 5 1 2)