Pledges

Pledges

Unlike Contracts, Pledges are simple agreements between two or more parties. All pledges require at least one Changeling to be involved, to seal the agreement with the Wyrd's power and one point of Willpower.

The information below is derived from CtL p.175 onward. As House Rules may apply, where the details below differ from those in the book, follow these, not those.

Please use +req/pledge to send in your pledge request to staff.

Anatomy of a Pledge

All pledges have certain characteristics. Please work the details of these out with the other player(s) you are pledging with BEFORE sending up your +req/pledge.

Task: What are you agreeing to do?

Boon: What do you get out of it?

Sanction: What happens if you break your word?

Duration: How long does this agreement hold?

Each of these four building blocks is called an "aspect" of a pledge. They are rated in three levels of power: lesser (1), medial (2) & greater (3).

There is nothing higher than a greater aspect (3).

• A lesser (1) + a lesser (1) = a medial (2)
• A lesser (1) + a medial (2) = a greater (3)
• A medial (2) + a medial (2) = a greater (3)

Types of Pledges

Pledges are divided into three categories: vows, oaths and corporals. The pledge's type determines how/where its power is invested.

Vows

These are the simplest and most basic pledges. You promise to do something, agree on what is expected of each other, on what will happen if you do/don't keep your word, and how long it will last.

Vows are invested into the changeling's Wyrd.

A changeling may have a MAXIMUM number of vows equal to his Wyrd + 3.

Oaths

Oaths are similar to vows, but rather than simply being a declaration of intent, they are sworn by one's true name, the name of one's former Keeper, one's Court, etc.

Failure to adhere to an Oath includes an additional penalty levied by the Wyrd. If you are not a changeling, you do not suffer this additional penalty for breaking one. You just get socked with the regular sanctions.

True Name, Obscured

This oath assumes that the changeling still has a living fetch that also answers to his name. If the changeling breaks his pledge, HE becomes unworthy of that name in the eyes of the Wyrd, which slaps the following penalties on him the next time he encounters his fetch:

• He loses any and all resistance to the fetch's Echoes
• His Defense drops to 0
• He receives a dice pool penalty equal to his Wyrd for all rolls

These penalties last for one scene, and the fetch automatically senses that the changeling is weakened.

True Name, Unsullied

This oath assumes the changeling has no fetch. A changeling's true name is tightly bound up in his ties to Wyrd and, socially, his honour. If the changeling breaks an oath on his True Name, all pledges bound to his Wyrd (i.e. Vows) are immediately broken, and he suffers every single sanction as if he had voluntarily broken each and every pledge. For the full duration.

Plus, everybody he was pledged with wordlessly knows he broke an oath on his true name, which means he's a pretty faithless and untrustworthy guy.

Don't do it. It's not fun. Unless you're a masochist with a death wish, which, in that case, may mean that it's extremely fun. Go at it!

The Name of the Keeper

This is veeeeerry dangerous. It is one way to learn the name of your Keeper, though; they are known to force you to swear pledges with them by it in Arcadia. Violating this oath immediately alerts the changeling's former Keeper to his precise whereabouts, along with:

• A die bonus equal to the oathbreaker's Wyrd rating to all rolls related to finding and recovering the changeling.

This lasts one scene. This bonus may be activated at any time of the True Fae's choosing, within the next year and a day.

Additionally, all parties in the pledge must be changelings for this type of oath to be accepted by the Wyrd. After all, humans don't have Keepers. Yet.

The Name of a Higher Power

This is greyer. Whatever your changeling believes in, it's the belief which matters. It could be a god, it could be a concept/virtue he considers important. If you break an oath sworn by this, you:

• are immediately filled with a tremendous despair,
• lose all Willpower points, and
• have a -1 penalty next time you roll to avoid losing Clarity.

Oaths are invested into the name they are sworn by.

A changeling may have ONE oath sworn on each Name at any given time.

Corporals

These pledges involve at least one party swearing upon a physical symbol of a group/association he is a member of. This can be a Court, a business, a club, a motley, etc. They come in five flavours:

Mortal Emblems

Mortal corporal emblems are things like a wedding ring, a holy text (representing membership in a church), the lease for your flat, a membership card, etc. Your character must frequent the group it represents often, out of entirely mortal interest.

If a mortal corporal pledge is broken, the Wyrd works to separate him from what he swore upon.

He might be ejected from a group, his account may be closed and mysteriously show debts he doesn't owe, etc.

In addition, this is a break of Clarity.

• No matter how high your Resolve is, this roll is always made with 4 dice.
• You suffer a -2 penalty if you broke your oath as part of FAE life, sacrificing mortal concerns.
• If you broke the oath while fulfilling a Virtue, you gain +2.
• If you broke the oath while fulfilling a Vice, you gain -2.

Only one mortal corporal may be sworn at a time, unless you have merits such as Allies, Contacts, Resources or Status to reflect your investment. In that case, you may swear as many oaths as you have appropriate merits (or once per dot, in Contacts).

If you break the oath, you not only roll for Clarity loss, but also lose the merit (or dot) entirely.

Seeming Emblems

You swear on some aspect of yourself. Generally, both parties swear on some aspect of their own seeming, if they are both fae.

Changelings with Wyrd 1 may not use this corporal.

If you break your pledge:

• You immediately lose 1 Wyrd dot.

You may only swear one Seeming pledge at a time.

Courtly Emblems

You swear on some symbol of your Court, or on your Mantle/Goodwill.

If you break your pledge:

• Your Mantle rating is cut in half (round up).
• You immediately lose all dots in that particular Court's Goodwill.

For the next moon, all members of that specific Court immediately know, upon meeting him, that he has broken faith with them.

You may only swear one pledge with a particular Court at a time.

e.g. If you are Spring, and have Summer Goodwill, you may swear two such pledges: one on your Spring Mantle and one on your Summer Goodwill.

Title Emblems

You swear on your Entitlement itself.

If you break your pledge:

• You immediately lose all benefits of your entitlement.
• All members of your entitlement are mystically informed that you are an oathbreaker and betrayer.

The mechanical benefits return if you gain a dot of Wyrd, but the social penalty remains. Please +req/fae to staff if this occurs, and you would like to appeal to your Entitlement to grant you a task to regain their good graces.

Only one title corporal may be sworn at a time. You only have one Entitlement!

Nemesis Emblems

You swear on an emblem of another changeling, binding them as a punisher, your "nemesis" for purposes of this pledge. The would-be nemesis MUST agree to assume this role.

Upon swearing the pledge, the nemesis uses a Contract or other ability.

If you break your pledge:

• You suffer the effect of that power, immediately and without resistance, per the pishogue sanction, of a power equal to your task.
• The nemesis immediately knows exactly which party has broken their oath.

There is no limit on the number of nemesis pledges a changeling may swear with others, but YOU may only be the nemesis for one pledge at a time.

Creating a Pledge

Stuff!