Guide to Pledgecrafting

The Wyrd is not an abstraction. It is a force with opinions about promises. When a changeling gives her word — really gives it, with intention and Glamour behind it — the Wyrd takes notice. This is the foundation of all pledgecrafting: the understanding that words between fae creatures have weight, consequence, and permanence in a way that mortal promises simply do not.

Pledgecrafting is the art of deliberately working within that system. Every fae creature does it, in one form or another. The question is whether you do it consciously, or whether you stumble into consequences you didn't see coming.

There are three types of pledge: Sealings, Oaths, and Bargains. They are not interchangeable. Each has a different structure, a different relationship to who can make it, and a different cost for breaking it.

Sealings

The simplest form. A sealing doesn't require negotiation or mutual consent — it just requires that a fae creature is present when someone makes a statement of intent.

A man says to his son, "I swear, next time you come home late, I'm kicking you out." He doesn't mean it. That is irrelevant. If a changeling heard him say it and spent a point of Glamour in that moment, the Wyrd now holds him to it.

Who Can Be Sealed

Anyone can be the subject of a sealing — mortal or otherwise. However, creatures of the Wyrd (changelings, Huntsmen, Gentry) are generally immune; they can detect the slight fluctuation in the Wyrd and undo the seal instantly by spending their own Glamour. A changeling can voluntarily allow her statement to be sealed, usually to demonstrate sincerity — doing so earns a Beat (once per chapter). Sealing a Huntsman requires a contested roll: Presence + Wyrd vs. the Huntsman's Resolve + Wyrd, plus 1 Glamour. Success lets you levy a heavier consequence (as if you'd spent Willpower to strengthen it) but also gives you the Paranoid Condition. The Gentry cannot be sealed casually — they notice and refute it automatically.

How to Seal

Spend 1 Glamour in the moment the statement is made. You must be present in person, or able to see the subject write or type the statement. You cannot scroll through recorded statements and seal them retroactively.

Spend 1 Glamour + 1 Willpower to create a strengthened seal with heavier consequences.

The sealer can release the seal at any time, unbinding the subject from their words.

When a Seal Breaks

A seal breaks when the subject attempts to fulfill the promise and fails, or becomes incapable of doing so. It does not break merely because they refuse — as long as they could still honor it, the seal holds.

Consequences

Standard seal — choose one when the seal is made or when it breaks:

• Loss of 1 Willpower point
• 1 point of bashing damage
• −1 to all rolls for one scene
• −2 to a specific Skill for one scene
• −3 to one specific roll
• A minor supernatural effect (reflection reverses, milk sours, cats scratch them) for one scene

Strengthened seal (Glamour + Willpower) — choose one:

• Loss of ability to regain Willpower for one day
• 1 point of lethal damage
• 3 points of bashing damage
• Loss of ability to spend Willpower for one scene
• −2 to all rolls for one scene
• −3 to all rolls with a specific Skill for one scene
• −5 to one specific roll
• Activation of one of the changeling's Contracts (rolled at time of sealing; effect applies if/when the seal breaks)

What Sealings Are Good For

The consequences are comparatively light, but mortals don't know that. A subject who knows they've been bound by fae magic and understands that something will happen if they break their word is psychologically vulnerable — leverage the ST should allow to affect Social maneuvering. Sealings are also fast enough to deploy in tense situations: a truce in the middle of a fight, a promise extracted from a useful contact, a catch-22 constructed by sealing two contradictory statements.

Oaths

Oaths are permanent. Not long-lasting — permanent. Once two changelings swear an oath, that relationship is defined forever, even if the oath is violated. The Wyrd doesn't erase history. A changeling who betrays his motley oath and later seeks forgiveness doesn't undo the oath — he renegotiates its terms in light of what happened. He is still "former motley member." That relationship exists.

Only changelings, Huntsmen, and the True Fae can swear oaths. Huntsmen cannot swear oaths to each other. Human beings and other non-fae cannot swear oaths — they can only make bargains (see below).

No magic can compel someone into swearing an oath. Coercion, blackmail, and threats can all be used, but the Wyrd requires genuine speech.

Swearing an Oath

All participants must speak the oath aloud or write it out and seal it with 1 Glamour each. A physical gesture accompanies it — a clasped hand, mingled blood, an embrace, a kiss. Oaths can be open (new participants can swear in later) or closed (no additions after the fact).

All oaths, if violated, bestow the Persistent Oathbreaker Condition.

Without specified consequences written into the oath, the Wyrd has free rein to punish in whatever way it sees fit — and it will.

The Three Categories of Oath

Societal Oaths

Sworn when joining a motley, court, or freehold.

Court: The changeling gains the first dot of the Mantle Merit at no Experience cost, along with the court's restrictions.

Freehold: The changeling becomes recognized in the local supernatural landscape; +1 to all rolls to navigate the Hedge wherever the freehold controls it.

Motley: The motley chooses one of the following effects (or creates a new one with ST approval):

• Once per chapter, treat a Contract roll as a teamwork action (all participants must possess the Contract)
• Members can meditate for one turn to distribute their collective Glamour evenly among themselves; the Wyrd consumes any remainder as a tithe
• Once per chapter, when representing the motley, a member may use the highest relevant Social Skill possessed by any motley member, and apply the effects of any Merit or kith blessing present in the group (consequences come down on the motley as a whole)

Consequences for breaking a societal oath always include immediate revocation of all benefits, and may also include:

• −3 penalty to all Contract rolls within lands held by a forsworn leader
• The Sick Tilt during the season of the betrayed court
• Social penalties or the Notoriety Condition with members of the betrayed group

Personal Oaths

Sworn between two changelings in mutual support: lovers, sworn siblings, protectors, close friends.

Benefits:

• A Beat whenever you suffer a setback or inconvenience in the course of living up to the oath (once per chapter)
• Once per chapter, making a significant effort to express the emotion that inspired the oath in some obvious manner restores all spent Willpower (as if affirming your Needle)

Additionally, choose one of the following (or create a new one with ST approval):

• Once per chapter, one member can suffer an injury on behalf of the other, absorbing all damage their partner would have taken (cannot be reduced by armor or magic)
• One member can suffer a Condition or Tilt meant for the other — decided in the moment it's levied, even if the two are not in the same place (Clarity Conditions cannot be transferred this way)
• Once per chapter, the two can swap their Glamour or Willpower points (not dots or maximums); the swap persists until they naturally change or the next chapter
• Oath-mates can always find each other — wherever the other might be hiding, however far away, however deep in the Hedge, the bond allows unerring tracking (it doesn't shorten the journey or reduce its dangers, only makes the destination unfailing)

Consequences for breaking a personal oath tend to be comparatively minor mechanically — but the changeling has almost certainly made lifelong enemies in the process. Possibilities include:

• Feeling the wound penalties of former motley members (to a maximum of −3)
• −3 to Initiative in any action scene against a former oath-mate
• Breaking a formal oath is a breaking point for changelings, so Clarity may take care of consequences naturally

Hostile Oaths

Sworn to declare undying enmity. Once sworn, participants must remain enemies.

Benefits:

• A Beat whenever your enemy wounds or inconveniences you (once per chapter)
• Regain 1 Willpower in any scene where you wound or inconvenience your enemy

These oaths don't last long — the participants usually fight to the death quickly. Breaking one (e.g., a change of heart mid-conflict) carries the full weight of oathbreaking regardless of why.

Oaths with Huntsmen: Changelings occasionally swear personal or hostile oaths with Huntsmen, usually when attempting to restore a Huntsman's heart or as a high-stakes gamble to resolve a pursuit. The consequences if the Gentry later reclaims the Huntsman are complicated and dangerous — the oath does not end because one party loses their free will.

Bargains

Where oaths bind fae to fae, bargains bind changelings to mortals — or to any non-fae beings who are willing to participate. Changelings cannot make bargains with each other or with other fae.

The purpose of a bargain is twofold. First, it hides you. A changeling who has an agreed-upon function within human society — cleaning someone's house, crafting them goods, visiting them with pleasant dreams — becomes a natural feature of the landscape to the Huntsmen and the Gentry. She has a place among mortals. The Wyrd treats her as belonging there. This concealment doesn't make her invisible, but it adds a meaningful layer of camouflage beyond the Mask alone.

Second, it reconnects you. After the Durance, after the thorns, a bargain forces a changeling to interact regularly with the world she thought was taken from her.

How to Make a Bargain

The changeling must appear to the mortal without her Mask and propose the terms. She doesn't have to reveal the full truth of her situation, but she cannot hide what she is. Most changelings observe a mortal for days or weeks before approaching, to find a service they can reliably provide.

The changeling offers something she can deliver: cleaning the house once a week, crafting goods monthly, sending pleasant dreams three nights a week. The mortal agrees to provide something in return — it doesn't need to be equivalent in value, since the concealment benefit is the real prize. Some changelings word their bargains to bank undefined favors from mortals for future use, building up a web of obligations.

Once the agreement is reached, the changeling gains the Obliged Condition.

Note: Changelings cannot make bargains with other fae creatures, including other changelings. Magical beings unaffiliated with the Wyrd can participate in bargains, but strange side effects sometimes occur.

Benefits

The bargaining changeling gains concealment from Huntsmen and the Gentry that goes beyond the Mask — she becomes a natural feature of the local landscape in their perception, not necessarily seen as human, but as something that should be there. This is not foolproof, but it is meaningful.

Favors accumulated from mortals can serve as one- to three-dot Merit equivalents, once per story, at ST discretion.

Consequences

For the changeling: Breaking a bargain is less catastrophic than breaking an oath — she simply loses the benefits, becoming exposed to her enemies again. Depending on the scope of the bargain, she may also gain the Notoriety Condition. She does not gain the Persistent Oathbreaker Condition.

For the mortal: Failing to honor their end carries the weight of the Wyrd's displeasure. The most common punishment is stumbling through a Hedgeway and becoming vulnerable to the Gentry — not because of any deliberate wording, but because of the nature of the bargain itself. A kept bargain shields those within it; a broken one illuminates them.

Oath-Forged Tokens

Pledges don't just define relationships — they can create objects. When enough Wyrd magic is concentrated into an item through repeated oath-swearing, the item becomes a token forged of promises. One oath is not enough. Some oath-forged tokens require up to fifteen.

The type of oaths sworn upon the item defines what it can do. A motley pact sworn on a rope creates a binding that reflects unity and constraint. Many changelings prefer oath-forging to Hedge-forging because it allows deliberate direction — they can choose what the token will become by choosing what they swear upon it.

For the specifics of token mechanics (activation, catches, drawbacks), see the Guide to Tokens.

The Oathbreaker's Shadow

The Persistent Oathbreaker Condition marks a character who violates an oath. It follows them. It is possible to be forgiven, but recompense must be made to all offended parties — and the Wyrd itself counts as an offended party.

Other changelings can read this mark. Within the supernatural landscape of a freehold, an oathbreaker's reputation spreads quickly. Some Courts take the matter into their own hands.

Specific consequences for oath violation — beyond the Condition — depend entirely on what was written into the oath. The smarter the pledgecraftsman, the more precisely she specifies what happens if someone breaks their word, leaving as little to the Wyrd's improvisation as possible. The Wyrd unrestrained is creative in unpleasant ways.

Quick Reference

Key distinctions at a glance:

• Sealings are quick, require no consent, and carry lighter consequences
• Oaths require mutual willingness, are permanent in nature, and carry the Oathbreaker Condition on violation
• Bargains are changeling-to-mortal only and provide concealment as their primary mechanical benefit
• Only oaths create the enduring relationship-defining bond the Wyrd treats as permanent
• Oath-forging objects by swearing multiple oaths upon them produces tokens
• Violated oaths without specified consequences leave punishment to the Wyrd's discretion — always specify the consequences