Changeling the Lost est un des firmaments du Monde des Ténèbres, celui qui boucle la boucle ouverte par la première édition de Vampire la Mascarade. Le jeu qui réalise le mieux la promesse whitewolfienne de faire jouer du character-driven, en ville, avec des PJs monstrueux mais pleins d’humanité, avec des intrigues politiques à tiroir qui forment le cœur du jeu.
Mais CtL c’est beaucoup plus que cette promesse réalisée. C’est aussi un univers très évocateur, doté d’une ambiance et d’une identité extrêmement abouties, ce que WW a fait de mieux en la matière depuis VtM ou Changeling the Dreaming. On a à la fois l’ambiance lyrique et victorienne de la féerie, et le côté terrifiant de ces “Trues Fae” inhumaines qui chassent humains et changelings. Un univers riche également de cette magie “contractuelle” qui implique souvent un sacrifice (très whitewolfien, toujours), et foule d’éléments comme the Hedge (univers parallèle à la lisière du monde des humains), les hobgobelins, goblin markets, etc. Il faut souligner aussi que l’aspect métaphorique du jeu (le traumatisme subi par les changelins lors de leur séjour en Arcadia, très PTSD) est vraiment réussi et s’intègre très bien dans son esthétique.
Pour revenir à cette promesse whitewolfienne, c’est simple, tout marche bien dans ce jeu. On a un gros potentiel d’intrigue politique grâce aux éléments subtils qui séparent les changelings (courts, seeming, kith, relations avec les True Faes…), les relations avec les humains qui sont réellement intéressantes avec les changelings qui tentent de s’y retrouver une place, et la richesse de cet univers onirique et menaçant. Bref, s’il ne fallait en garder qu’un ce serait celui-là. ( )

A game about playing abused children who have a few powers. Yes, I know it's wrapped around myths and legend, but that's what you're doing. White Wolf threw out all the whimsy and fun of the old version, to replace it with a terribly dark world where survival is the least of your worries, and growing in power will drive you crazy. The system is better; the setting is far worse. ( )

I was a fan of the old Changeling: The Dreaming, but it had it's problems. First, the old type of changeling wasn't based on traditional Celtic and medieval legends of changelings at all. Characters were born different, rather than being stolen away by faeries. In the new edition, changelings are people--children or adults--who are kidnapped and taken to Faery, where their ordeal alters them and gives them magical powers. Second, in The Dreaming, characters had to be children or young adults, because age caused them to 'outgrow' the chimerical side of reality. This was an interesting paean to the lost innocence and imagination of childhood, but the royal courts of children fighting against imaginary monsters, that even other supernaturals couldn't interact with, seemed like they were playing at dealing with serious issues, rather than having true wisdom and hardships or the same life-and-death stakes as other beings in the world of darkness. In this edition, the Lost can be of any age (somewhat independently of the age at which they disappeared) and their Fae enemies are all too substantial. Changelings still have a dual nature--one appearance for public consumption and a magical mien that only Changelings and enchanted humans can see, but hobgoblins, unlike chimaera, are visible and deadly. This is a much darker, more myth-based version of the Otherworld, and it benefits greatly from that fact. Great fun alone or in a mixed party with other WoD character types. ( )

You were taken by the Gentry, otherwise known as the Fae. You were brought to Arcadia, and were abused in ways that are indescribable.

You escaped... only to find that no one missed you.

Do you attempt to take back your life, or make a new one? Do you hide from the Gentry, or fight against them? Will you rise to power among the Courts of the Lost, or will your ending be Grimm?

This is a book about modern fairy-tales, survival, and "beautiful madness". Those who enjoy reading Holly Black will love this book. ( )

An intersting story line with action ( )