Changelings

[Torval]

This question goes out to specifically anyone who has played a changeling or been the GM of a game where a changeling was played. Did you see any major benefits or penalties to the character(obviously shape shifting aside)? I noticed in reading over the race description that it says salt makes them sick. What types of food did said changeling eat on a regular basis? I also noticed it said that the changeling is considered a creature of magic. Are there some sort of added benefits or penalties that come from that fact alone that I am missing?

[Prysus]

Greetings and Salutations. Well, I've never played one and only had one player play one (briefly). I'll try to touch on some basic things from general knowledge though.

Pros: Well, shapeshifting primarily. Strong will (M.E.) making them resistant to psionics, and they're generally likeable (M.A.) allowing them to earn the trust of others.

Cons: Low tolerance to salt, low tolerance to drinking, easily get sick, and easily tired. Then there is the fact if they ever reveal their true nature to anyone it will lead to their deaths. Personally, I'd probably do things like pretend to use salt but arrange it so nothing comes out, or something similar to the top being unscrewed so the food becomes covered in salt (and you have an excuse not to use it), pretend to use the salt but make sure it misses the food (trick of angles causing the illusion), and similar tricks with alcohol to help throw people off, but that's just me.

Creatures of Magic: There is some debate whether Changelings are Creatures of Magic or not, but I've always been willing to rule they are. I don't know many advantages to Creatures of Magic except when it comes to vampires (and a few other creatures). First, a Creature of Magic cannot be turned into a vampire (though there is a vampire Changeling in Book 2: Old Ones, I personally believe that is an error in the updating of editions). Second, they can damage vampires (and certain other creatures) with punches and kicks (vampires, and certain others, are vulnerable to attacks by Creatures of Magic).

Other note: Due to their shapeshifting ability, the Changeling P.B. is pretty much pointless. I personally have created an additional rule that limits this fact (to a minor degree only). Some others would say their P.B. remains constant regardless of form (though that would be a pretty horrible ruling for impersonations).

Hopefully some of that helps. If not, I'm sure there are others who have better/more experiences with Changelings who may be able to help more than I. Thank you for your time and patience, please have a nice day. Farewell and safe journeys.

[t0m]

i had a guy run a changeling in a 2+ year campaign. he was coming from a long history of d&d so he was a good roleplayer, but knew little/nothing about pfrpg when he started. he played an assassin and immediately came up with a few alter egos/disguises, and played them all very well. in fact, to the rest of the group, he was multiple different friends/allies for the longest time. he had a human swashbuckler/pirate, an elven bounty hunter, a troll merc and a dwarf merchant. at different times he would separate from the group ('well, im going home now, or 'i have to go meet a client') only to go change form and re-unite with them minutes/hours later. obviously the players knew what was going on, but the characters just thought they had a lot of allies.

in terms of keeping up appearances (pardon the pun), he either didnt eat around them, or only ate with them when they were eating something safe. for the most part he was a vegetarian, with a sweet tooth for candy, candied fruit etc. i ruled that he could eat breads and things with a little bit of salt in them, and that at worst, he would get a bit of an upset stomach or feel like he had a bit of a hangover the next day if he ate too much of anything that contained a little bit of salt. he could only eat meat if the group had been camping/hunting and prepared it fresh, and had to avoid most of the meats that you get in town because they are usually jerked/salted/smoked or prepared in some way. he pulled some tricks like having his own wineskin and not sharing drinks (the group were mostly alcoholics)...he often would end up 'playing drunk' and if pressed to take a swig of booze, would act like he was so drunk already that he would spit it out laughing, make a pp check to see if he could spit it out without anyone noticing etc.

eventually, the group started getting a little suspicious of one of his more common cover identities, and started trying to use psionics to read him. due to his extremely high m.e. that went of for weeks of game time with no one really 'getting anything' from him (we had two minor psionics trying). i was the gm, and i had a fun loving/mischievous gnome alchemist in the town they were in, who would sell them 6 packs of random, unlabeled potions for cheap. at one point during a battle, someone got desperate and drank one hoping for something that would help the battle. it turned out to be x-ray vision...in the book it says that changelings are asexual, so i ruled that by default, he had no 'junk' whatsoever (think barbie/ken dolls). the guy who drank the xray potion happened to look through his clothing while trying to 'fine tune' his vision to see through a book shelf and spot the enemy (once he realized what the potion did), and he noticed the lack of genitals. after the fight was over he told the rest of the group and they started trying even harder to discover the secret. eventually, knowing there was something strange about him, someone finally managed to scan him psionically and find out he was deathly afraid to reveal 'something'...but they had earned his trust, came and talked to him about it and he decided that after months of adventuring/saving eachothers lives etc, that he could trust them with his secret. the group was mostly evil/selfish types and they actually (after the initial shock) though it was cool that they had a legendary changeling with them and helped him to keep his secret.

overall, it was a great roleplaying experience for him, as well as the rest of the group as they tried to uncover his secret. and after it was revealed, it was just a cool added element to our game for the whole group to try to help him hide it from everyone else.

[Torval]

Thanks for the responses so far. They have both given me some more insight to it. I welcome others to respond still so that I can get as whole of an idea as possible about them.

[Veknironth]

Well, I don't think it will be much of an issue in game. You figure that character was ablet to disguise his/her identity long enough to attain the level of training and knowledge he/she already has. So, I would assume the character has figured out some way avoid the alcohol and salt pitfalls. What I think would be really dangerous would be someone seeing the character change shape. That, or the charcter goes into a room and comes out looking entirely different. Someone might notice this and become suspiscious.

For out of game considerations you have to be careful that the character isn't leaps and bounds beyond the rest of the group. Being able to look like anyone is a pretty powerful ability. You don't want the group to just keep using that character to get around plot devices, or to have that character solve a lot of problems while the rest of the group waits for him to return.

-Vek
"No mention of Angelina Jolie?"

[The Dark Elf]

Ive seem alot of changeling action and it hasnt really been an issue (we play down eating tbh). The altering is a benefit but in most of the games the PC playing the changling doesnt tell the others characters or players! Last month we discovered our hob goblin friend was a changeling after about 8 years (RL) of playing even though we hadnt twigged that hob-goblins cant be warlocks (sheesh!).

Only problem was that the characters didnt believe it was really their friend and thought he was an evil changeling assassin who had infiltrated the player group. His persuasiveness was a bit like Wolverine asks cyclops "how do we know its really you?" in the Xman movie.

[Torval]

I'm thinking about rolling up a Changeling Wizard as my next character. I've never played that race or that class so I figure why not kill two birds with one stone? It seems like it will be fun enough and lucky for me, I actually rolled 12 on my P.E. and was able to roll a bonus die. Pretty awesome having a Changeling with 16 P.E. from stat rolls alone considering that P.E. is one of their low stats.

[Torval]

I guess one of the big things that I am worried about is how to go about normal life without being able to ingest salt. Sure, there are fresh fruits and vegetables but even things like bread have some salt in them. Am I missing something about the amount of salt that makes them sick? I would rather not play a vegetarian but I suppose I always could.

[AaronCE]

Good thing about Changeling psychics. Impervious to Poison and Summon Inner Strength. Also Alter Aura is a good one, even though the aura is close to human/Elf/Dwarf. Think of it as Aura Impersonation.

And I was of the belief that it's "a lot" of salt. Like heavily salted stuff, pure salt, salted meats, etc. That marginal salt won't screw up a Changeling too bad. Sort of like sugar for a diabetic, but there's nausea instead of diabetic shock.

Oh and as far as a Changeling's PB. The PB attribute only applies to the Changeling's true form.

And for my money, the Changeling metamorphosis is not magical, but sort of quasi biological. No creature of magic. For more fun, see one of the Rifters, that talks about the Changeling Metamorph.

[The Dark Elf]

Learn create bread and milk and live of that. Fruits for the rest and use the odd gullet of iron or negate poison potions to eat some salted meat once in a while to keep up the pretence.

[ZorValachan]

Resurrected post, but hey, I'll add to it. Isle at the Edge of the world (1st ed), has a whole series of 'tests' that are supposed to reveal changelings, but anyone with a bad attribute or fails in something could be considered a changeling by the. Think witch trials and you get the idea.

[St. Evil]

I'm thinking about rolling up a Changeling Wizard as my next character. I've never played that race or that class so I figure why not kill two birds with one stone? It seems like it will be fun enough and lucky for me, I actually rolled 12 on my P.E. and was able to roll a bonus die. Pretty awesome having a Changeling with 16 P.E. from stat rolls alone considering that P.E. is one of their low stats.

If I ever get to play again that is what I would like to do as well.

But to answer the OP being a creature of magic gives you immunity to the Contagion in the Place of Magic.

[Torval]

Wow, this is one of my older threads.

I haven't actually had a chance to play a changeling yet. I do still have that wizard rolled up and ready to go if I ever need to fall back on him but I haven't actually drawn him into a campaign. Its funny that this thread got revived at this time because I have actually been kicking around the idea of playing a changeling again although I'm not sure what class yet. They just intrigue me as a race and I think it could be very fun. I see a lot of role play potential which has not been experienced by the group of people I play with regularly. I would be the first person in our group to play a changeling.

[Torval]

Changelings are great, I played a Changeling Mind Mage (1st ed.) in a one-shot session. Myself and two, maybe three other players (this was a loooooooong time ago) and the GM. Towards the end, one of the players suspected something was up with my character and tried to convince the others my character was evil (which he was). We we're all basically trapped in the camp of an army, not really prisoners but unable to leave to pursue our goal, which for my character was some treasure IIRC.

The PC that suspected my character tried to convince anyone who would listen that my character was evil but by that time, my PC was in the guise of a very sweet, very busty, doe-eyed serving girl (shapechanging is the s#*t!!!) so it was all for naught. Appearances handled most of it, hypnotic suggestion handled the rest. She (the PC who suspected all was not right) tried in vain but everyone took one look into those sad, glistening doe-eyes, and at that heaving bossom and eventually the soldiers and even the other PC's, all turned on her (PC who knew the "truth"), saying she had better stop slandering/harrassing that "sweet young girl" or else.

My character slipped into a protected area, think it was a mine or cave, obtained the treasure (a magic ring or amulet our PC's had gotten wind of, sort of coming back to me as I type) and broke out. One "change-up" later my character walked out of the camp with none the wiser. It was great Definitely give it a try when you get a chance.

Sounds like a good time. What made that player end up suspecting your character?

[zyanitevp]

I have had the pleasure of having a changeling in my group for years. The rest of the members know, and help protect his identity. As the group already has someone from "another time, another place" as he likes to say (Rifts Earth) they all tend to say the changeling is from another realm- his preferred form is a 12 year old boy. This has also effected his playing of other forms to switch into- they are all absurdly skinny.
The group has always been able to switch plates, Gavin (the changeling) has switched salt for pepper, or pretended to shake salt. No one has caught him yet. The other giveaway is not an issue- he just orders milk or water.

[Torval]

Do you all thing it would be safe to say that any salt that is naturally occurring in food or used to cook said food would be safe to eat but that added salt brings on the sickness?

At first, I took it to mean any salt would make them sick but the more I think about it, most of the foods I can think of will have sodium in them to some extent.

[JuliusCreed]

Do you all thing it would be safe to say that any salt that is naturally occurring in food or used to cook said food would be safe to eat but that added salt brings on the sickness?

At first, I took it to mean any salt would make them sick but the more I think about it, most of the foods I can think of will have sodium in them to some extent.

Honestly, it's a pretty tough call... natuarally occurring salts are in very few foods in and of themselves. Most foods, during preparation, require some amount of salt to make them, among them many breads and even desserts. It is entirely possible to make these foods without salt, thus rendering them absolutely safe for changeling consumption, but the amount of salt used in the making of these foods is so relatively minmal that I don't see them having any serious effect on a changeling in the first place... maybe a bad headache or mildly upset stomach at worst.
The addition of salt to foods already prepared, such as with a plate of scrambled eggs in the morning, or in the preparation of particular foods, such as salted meats and fish, is where it gets into the area of causing a changeling any serious problems with severe nausea, vomitting, etc. Overall, your best bet in avoiding the salt issue with a changeling is to make him a vegetarian and drink lots of water and milk.

[The Dark Elf]

but the amount of salt used in the making of these foods is so relatively minmal that I don't see them having any serious effect on a changeling in the first place... maybe a bad headache or mildly upset stomach at worst.

That is what I was going to say. The changeling might feel sick but can keep it relatively under control and not give the game away.

Anything that is "salted" is kinda I use, including sea water.