Winning Fae Titles

Okay... So suppose the motley has managed to defeat an Actor in the mortal realm and has it at their mercy.  They decide that instead of destroying the Actor outright, they will offer it mercy.  They will let it return to Faerie... in exchange for giving one of the members of the motley one of the Fae's titles.

If the Actor is only invested with a single Title, of course, the point is moot, as the loss of the Title would mean the destruction of the Actor.  But what if the Actor were invested with two or more Titles?  The choice for the Fae then becomes losing a single Title, or losing all of the Titles invested in the Actor.

If you were the ST, how would you handle this situation?  Would you have the Fae accept the offer (which certainly seems the preferable choice)?  If so, how would you deal with a Lost acquiring a Fae Title, and what would be the effects?

(This is just a hypothetical situation, btw, but one that occurred to both me and friend of mine -- separately -- when reading the "Death or Immortal Mercy" section of Equinox Road.)

I don't think a normal Changeling could get a Title.  However, if you COULD, it would probably function as that Changeling's Entitlement, with the benefit being that one or more of his Contracts might become negociable.  The book seems to suggest that he CHangelings responsible for forging a Court end up with a Title.. perhaps meaning that they would end up with a whole Court under them.

Typically, a Fae wouldn't mind giving up a Prop made up of one of its Titles.  After all, a Prop typically outlasts its mortal holder.. and, of course, the Fae can always find someone to take that Prop back from the mortal.

mb_webguy:

But what if the Actor were invested with two or more Titles?

Well, an actor can only be invested with one Title, so I think its kind of a moot point.  The exception to this I suppose would be if the actor were carrying a prop at the time.

OrbitSown:

Well, an actor can only be invested with one Title, so I think its kind of a moot point.  The exception to this I suppose would be if the actor were carrying a prop at the time.

I'd like to see a page reference to support this statement.  I'm looking at Equinox Road right now, and I don't see anything that says "An Actor may only be invested with a single title."  To the contrary, several places in the creation section mention increases per Title.  True, some of those mentions are phrased "each Title the Other holds" (such as in adding a dot to each Attribute category), but others simply say "per Title" (such as the Actor's Wyrd being "5 + 1 per Title").  The wording could be interpreted either way.

And it makes sense that a Fae with multiple Titles would have the option of investing varying degrees of itself in its manifestations.  A Fae with multiple Titles who manifests itself fully as an Actor should be a terrible thing to behold, while the same Fae who manifests only a part of itself as an Actor somewhat less so.

But this is a bit beside the point.  Even if the Actor was only invested with a single Title, forfeiting that Title would be preferable to destruction.  Yes, the Actor is destroyed either way.  But transferring the Title to another makes it possible for the greater True Fae to reclaim that Title at a later date, where it could not were the Actor simply destroyed.  The scenario is essentially the same no matter how many Titles with which it is imbued.

mb_webguy:

I'd like to see a page reference to support this statement.  I'm looking at Equinox Road right now, and I don't see anything that says "An Actor may only be invested with a single title."  To the contrary, several places in the creation section mention increases per Title.  True, some of those mentions are phrased "each Title the Other holds" (such as in adding a dot to each Attribute category), but others simply say "per Title" (such as the Actor's Wyrd being "5 + 1 per Title").  The wording could be interpreted either way.

Though I don't agree that any of these are meant to say that their attributes and traits are related to how many Titles are personally held by that Actor, I do agree that it is possible for a Fae to invest multiple Titles into the same being.  Of course, I doubt this would be an Actor.  Rather, it'd probably be a little of everything.  I actually used this as one of a few alternate and homebrewed Manifestations.  I called this one the Horror.  It's based on that uber, city-sized monstrosity that ER refers to as being "impossible, unless anyone that has witnessed one could never speak about it".  A Fae that invests multiple Titles into this form gets a certain amount of bang for her buck depending on how many they use AND how many they have Total.  The Horror form itself has qualities of all the other Manifestations.  For example, the Horror gets a number of "Extra lives" (Related to the Wisp's disposability)based on the number they invest.  At the same time, they become vast, so impossibly large that is causes a madness in anyone that sees them (Somewhat like a Realm).  They have a personality and traits, with negociable Contracts (Like the Actor).  They also have a number of uber-powers (Like those of Props) and a few un-Fae powers (Like a Wisp), again based on the number of Titles invested.  In the Games of the Immortals, they again combine the various Manifestations--They are told in first person, impersonal, cannot tell legends about anything outside of their own area, and must have some kind of uncontrolled or conflicting quality that may cause it to do harm or disrupt the legend of their True Fae "master".  As a side note, this is the Manifestation I decided to use for Darmuzh (The big dragon guy).  This is also how most Dragons, Titans, Chthulhu, and similar vast-byeond-comprehension creatures Manifest.  Of course, though, it is entirely houseruled. 

Of course, you can houserule your own benefits for Title-stacking, and they should apply to all the manifestations, not just Actors.  Each Manifestation type could gain certain bonuses for extra titles.

An Actor represents one Title but does get better traits if the ruling Fae had multiple Titles. Getting the Actor to give up the Title probably destroys the Actor, so it's not a sensible Gentry strategy unless the assailant somehow threatens his Name.

You could probably stack multiple Titles in an Actor, but there's no official benefit for it. If a member of the Gentry is really mad at you he'd probably manifest as a martial Actor carrying a Kill Anything I Strike weapon and maybe a Wisp squad.

If the True Fae in question has six titles, it could choose to invest two of those in a single Actor, two in a single Realm, one in a group of Wisps, and one in a second Actor.

It could also invest the whole of it's being in the Actor, or the whole of it's being in a Realm, or a Prop, or Wisps.

Each type of manifestation has a baseline that you get for having one Title in it, each Title after the first adds more dots and/or abilities to the manifestation. A multi-Title Prop has many more powers than a single Title prop.

This does nothing to answer the original question of course.

The motley in my game is in possession of a Title, though they don't quite know what it is, nor what to do with it. They just know they have something, and that powerful Lost want it and that it is dangerous.

If one of them makes an attempt to claim it for their own and make it their Title, I'll likely start the process of apotheosis they talk about for high Wyrd characters, a desire to go into the Hedge, to dream of Arcadia an become one of the Others. If the character fights that, you might play up the hunger for more Titles when they encounter other members of the Gentry.

Another fun thing might be letting them Invade the Dread Gap.

Example: Big Brother has claimed the Title the Border Walker. He's resisted the call of Arcadia, but now an old nemesis of the motley has returned. The Sharp Knife Man walks the mortal realm once more, cutting open the Lost trying to figure out what makes them tick.

Big Brother can feel a break in the story though, and knows that he can step in and wear the Title of the Sharp Knife Man, if he can finish the story, and accomplish what the Sharp Knife Man came here to do, he can win a favor from another of the Fae, or even claim a Title for himself. So Big Brother collects what he'll need, and he steps outside, with a long black coat, a tophat, and a bag full of shap knives. He'll finish this, he'll cut open the enemies of his freehoold, he'll find what the Sharp Knife Man was looking for, because he's the Sharp Knife Man, for now...

literatzi:

Each type of manifestation has a baseline that you get for having one Title in it, each Title after the first adds more dots and/or abilities to the manifestation. A multi-Title Prop has many more powers than a single Title prop.

This is incorrect.  As Malcolm mentioned above, the power of a manifestation is determined by the total number of titles that the True Fae possesses, not the number invested in the manifestation.

literatzi:

If the True Fae in question has six titles

This is somewhat besides the point, but it is stated that a True Fae who accumulates more than five titles "transcends" and becomes something else, although what exactly that means is somewhat ambiguous.

OrbitSown:

This is somewhat besides the point, but it is stated that a True Fae who accumulates more than five titles "transcends" and becomes something else, although what exactly that means is somewhat ambiguous.

They evolve into a Shinma, of course :)

In seriousness, it's possible they become Supernal Fae, Morpheans, Astral Entities of greater power, or almost anything.  In my games, at 6 Titles, a Fae is undergoing the process of Transcendence but hasn't quite finished.  Though they no longer have mortal world stats (They become those godlike creatures of high Spirit Rank, or greater Chthonians/Deathlords).  However, they can still participate in the Games, and they need to get one more Title to fully move beyond Arcadia.  Of course, this is mostly because we wanted to have the Games of the Immortals last longer, and also create a sort of "almost winning" state (Kinda like having to call Uno when you're down to one card in Uno) in which it can challenge or be challenged by anyone.

I actually ran that via house rules in my game. :) The rules that I used were as follows:

If a changeling acquires a fae Title, she must roll her Wyrd, suffering a die penalty equal to her Clarity. If she succeeds, her Clarity drops by 1, but her Wyrd increases by 1 (to a maximum of 10). If she fails, she gains no benefit, and the Title starts to come apart at the seams - this causes hallucinations and glamour leakage, counts as a Clarity sin against Clarity 6, and gives the character one point of Glamour per four hours for the rest of the day. She rolls her Wyrd again once per day, at the same penalty - if she ever succeeds, she gains Wyrd and loses Clarity, moving on to the next step, but if she fails for seven days in a row the Title comes apart at the seams and ceases to exist.

Once the character has succeeded once, though, it is a bad, bad road. Every day (every hour in the Hedge, and every minute in Arcadia) the character must repeat her Wyrd roll, with her newly boosted Wyrd and lowered Clarity. Every success drops her Clarity by another point, and if her Wyrd is lower than 6, it goes up by 1. Failure three days in a row starts the Title collapsing - this acts as listed in the first paragraph, but also takes away a dot of boosted Wyrd for each failure (Clarity is not restored). If the character's Clarity reaches 0, she follows the process listed in Equinox Road for becoming a Gentry at Wyrd 10, Clarity 0.

Characters who understand what is happening, and who wish to become Gentry, may deliberately attempt to scour away their Clarity. They do this by throwing themselves into Clarity degeneration rolls in rapid succession, revelling in the monsters they are becoming. Commonly, this involves forsaking the pledges they made while changelings, murdering their loved ones to remove their sympathetic connections to mortality, or starting their journey to Arcadia while still changelings (very dangerous, all things considered, but possible).

Friv Yeti:

I actually ran that via house rules in my game. :) The rules that I used were as follows:

If a changeling acquires a fae Title, she must roll her Wyrd, suffering a die penalty equal to her Clarity. If she succeeds, her Clarity drops by 1, but her Wyrd increases by 1 (to a maximum of 10). If she fails, she gains no benefit, and the Title starts to come apart at the seams - this causes hallucinations and glamour leakage, counts as a Clarity sin against Clarity 6, and gives the character one point of Glamour per four hours for the rest of the day. She rolls her Wyrd again once per day, at the same penalty - if she ever succeeds, she gains Wyrd and loses Clarity, moving on to the next step, but if she fails for seven days in a row the Title comes apart at the seams and ceases to exist.

Once the character has succeeded once, though, it is a bad, bad road. Every day (every hour in the Hedge, and every minute in Arcadia) the character must repeat her Wyrd roll, with her newly boosted Wyrd and lowered Clarity. Every success drops her Clarity by another point, and if her Wyrd is lower than 6, it goes up by 1. Failure three days in a row starts the Title collapsing - this acts as listed in the first paragraph, but also takes away a dot of boosted Wyrd for each failure (Clarity is not restored). If the character's Clarity reaches 0, she follows the process listed in Equinox Road for becoming a Gentry at Wyrd 10, Clarity 0.

Characters who understand what is happening, and who wish to become Gentry, may deliberately attempt to scour away their Clarity. They do this by throwing themselves into Clarity degeneration rolls in rapid succession, revelling in the monsters they are becoming. Commonly, this involves forsaking the pledges they made while changelings, murdering their loved ones to remove their sympathetic connections to mortality, or starting their journey to Arcadia while still changelings (very dangerous, all things considered, but possible).

I reeeeally like this approach!  Sounds like the best way to handle the situation--It ensures that Changelings aren't going to be out collecting Titles all the time, it has drawbacks, and its a pretty dangerous process.

Friv Yeti:

I actually ran that via house rules in my game. :) The rules that I used were as follows:

If a changeling acquires a fae Title, she must roll her Wyrd, suffering a die penalty equal to her Clarity. If she succeeds, her Clarity drops by 1, but her Wyrd increases by 1 (to a maximum of 10). If she fails, she gains no benefit, and the Title starts to come apart at the seams - this causes hallucinations and glamour leakage, counts as a Clarity sin against Clarity 6, and gives the character one point of Glamour per four hours for the rest of the day. She rolls her Wyrd again once per day, at the same penalty - if she ever succeeds, she gains Wyrd and loses Clarity, moving on to the next step, but if she fails for seven days in a row the Title comes apart at the seams and ceases to exist.

Why, oh why, does this make me ponder very evil ideas about actually acquiring a Title purely for the purpose of causing it to cease to exist?