Faerie is horrible, beautiful, and upside down. Mortal notions of time, space, and physics cannot constrain it. The changeling, for better or worse, is part of this strange legacy. True Fae and Lost courtiers have all gone before her, striking bargains she too may invoke. Alternately, she can seek out the wily goblins to strike a bargain of her own. Whichever path she chooses, she will never be the same: A Contract isn’t just something the changeling uses — it’s part of what she is. Entering a Contract with smoke makes the world seem a little bit darker, while entering a Contract with stone gives her skin a mottled gray appearance. When the changeling invokes a Contract, she perceives the power it was bargained with, be it as whispers in flames, faces in stone, or shadowy fingers running down her spine.
While Contracts share the same mechanics from changeling to changeling, their outward effects vary. A Contract allowing an Elemental to create lava traps in her path lets a Wizened rapidly craft small clockwork monsters to attack pursuers. Players are encouraged to tailor Contracts’ effects to their characters: When this character invokes Light-Shy, does she hear her Keeper’s raspy whispers, or perhaps see her doom spelled out in the shadows?
Unless otherwise noted, Contracts last for the current scene. A changeling can end a Contract at will. A character can’t shed Conditions a Contract inflicts — either as part of its normal effect, or via dramatic failure — by ending the power prematurely; she must resolve them normally. Tilts end when the Contract that inflicted them does, if the target doesn’t end them sooner. See Appendix 4 (p. 333) for Conditions and Appendix 3 (p. 327) for Tilts. If a Contract costs more Glamour than the character can spend per turn based on her Wyrd, she may spend Glamour over multiple turns and invoke the Contract when the last required Glamour is spent.
If a changeling fails to invoke the effects of a Contract (i.e. the player didn’t roll any successes on the invocation roll), she must still pay its cost. Sometimes, the target contests a Contract’s invocation roll. A willing target may waive this contesting roll; targets who do contest it do so reflexively. Clash of Wills
When two changelings bring their powers to bear against one another, it’s not always clear which ability trumps another. Likewise, a Contract may have effects that oppose the effects of a vampire’s Discipline or a mage’s spells. When the effects of supernatural abilities clash in this way, it’s a Clash of Wills.
Each player involved rolls his character’s Wyrd + appropriate Finesse Attribute. Whoever scores the most successes wins; his power takes effect as normal while the conflicting effects fail. Ties reroll until one player has accrued more successes than all others. A character can only spend a point of Willpower on the Clash roll if he and his opponents are physically present, and he is aware that abilities are in conflict, which may require kenning (p. 107) or other magic. Other supernatural creatures have their own dice pools for Clashes, detailed in their respective books.
Long-lasting effects add a level of supernatural endurance, per the following table.
| Modifier | Duration |
| +1 | Effect would last a night |
| +2 | Effect would last a week |
| +3 | Effect would last a month |
| +4 | Effect would last a year |
Loopholes
Every Contract has a Loophole that lets the changeling invoke the Contract’s basic effect at no Glamour cost (though he must pay Willpower costs, and any cost associated with seeming benefits, as normal). The character can also choose to fulfill the Loophole and still spend one point of Glamour, to change a Contract’s invocation roll from instant to reflexive. He can invoke a given Contract only once per turn reflexively, but may add other reflexive Contracts, including those made reflexive by using the Loophole and paying Glamour for each.