The adventure is really bad, full of Banality. A shame when you know the message of this game.

For the last few days, I have soloed my way through Yours to Keep: A Changeling: The Dreaming: 20th Anniversary Edition Jumpstart (44 pages, free at DriveThruRPG). I used Tourniquet: Solo rules for Vampire the Masquerade (same place) as the solo engine. I did use the four characters that are included in the RPG rules.

So, during the first scene the PCs are all together and they receive the mission: a “new” changeling came into the area and then disappeared. The PCs go to the beach/boardwalk/carnival area, describe the missing guy, and get some positive results. The PCs are pointed in the direction of a particular warehouse that can be seen from where they are at. What the PCs don’t know (and I am surprised to discover) is that this was actually an illusion. The PCs get to the warehouse, go in, and quickly notice that the guards are not carrying weapons. Erissa uses her high charisma and the conversation gets going. He was never there. The female guard closes her eyes, and then tells them that she can see him holding a small mirror and he is looking into it (yes, I was surprised again).

The PCs go back to the carnival and enter the mirror maze. In the middle of it, they are attacked by four temporarily-enchanted individuals. The PCs knock them out and find Joshua all tied up. He then tells them about the Unseelie causing problems. The group now heads toward the beach. On the beach, they are forced into another fight, this time with the Unseelie. The PCs win that one too, and move on towards their freehold. There they encounter more Unseelie and Erissa goes into diplomacy mode. She tells the Unseelie that they can have a portion of this beach town. They agree and leave the area. Actually, she is not authorized to do this, but this problem can be sorted out at another time. Give this interesting adventure a try! The solo engine was fun.

Small appetizer from the world of Changeling - a Mephisto review

Coinciding with the 20th-anniversary edition of Changeling, there is also a corresponding jumpstart book for the World of Darkness system, which focuses on the changelings – fairy creatures in our world.

The book consists of two parts – the background and rules section and an adventure. The background is presented here in a concise form and introduces, for example, the kith (the types of changelings), and the houses in which they are organized. The rest of the setting is also summarized within four pages and offers only a rough sketch. As a refresher for changeling veterans, this approach may work, but for newcomers, information is very scarce. The combat rules and cantrips (the magical powers of the changelings) are also present in a compact and correspondingly superficial manner. Since the adventure contains several ready-made sample characters, only their cantrips are explained directly with the characters.

The adventure Yours to keep takes the characters to Point Avalon, a setting in which several power groups meet, which are not only divided between Seelie and Unseelie courts. The adventure is structured into short scenes and has a fairly clear course, but the game master has to make some decisions who is responsible for which developments. The book concludes with the five ready-to-play characters.

The idea of the jumpstart for Changeling is undoubtedly a good one, as this system is likely to be one of the least known games in the World of Darkness line. But to combine an overview of setting and rules with an adventure within about 40 pages is too ambitious. For players who know Changeling or at least have heard about the basics, the setting chapter is a good starting point for a quick re-entry. The same goes for the rules. In my opinion, the adventure doesn't guide a novice gamemaster well enough, either. Although the jumpstart made me want to read Changeling 20th Anniversary Edition, I think this appetizer is too small, so it's only suitable for a first quick impression.

(Björn Lippold)

A Decent Jump Start and Good Storyteller’s Aid

I purchased Yours to Keep as a pdf. My goal was to compare an official scenario against the idea I wanted to run. What are the expectations of a freehold? What kind of NPCs and conflicts work? What might I be overlooking as I plan a different game? Those were covered really well.

As a standalone adventure, Yours to Keep features plenty to explore and plenty of NPCs to meet along the way.

I regrettably have a couple of concerns. First, the start of this adventure can require the kind of buy-in that some groups won't deliver. Many players will jump on it, but some may not. Without that buy-in, a storyteller may need to really play up a crucial NPC or two. The storyteller can also focus on the the potential for rewards.

Second, there is a wonderful sidebar on page 20 entitled "Instant Dice Pools." Elsewhere, there are short stat blocks for the NPCs. The sidebar and the stat blocks share no common language. I advise taking a moment before your game to match up how “excellent,” “good,” and “poor” in the stat blocks relate to “master,” “dedicated,” “seasoned,” and “average” in the sidebar.

Once you’ve aligned the sidebar and the npc stat blocks, you will also have a fast, useful system for making your own quick NPCs.

Yours to Keep gives you a lot of brief NPC descriptions, a good story with an idea for how Changeling society works, and a brisk overview of the general Changeling setting The five player characters are fully fleshed out and ready for use with the core rulebook. The five player character sheets are each three pages long, fully fleshed out, and ready to play using the core rulebook as well. The NPCs and working example of Changelings in action make for a very valuable resource. This book has some rough spots, but still makes for a great storyteller's resource.