Selkie question. Shapeshifter vs Fairie Seemings

[GamingInSeattle]

Good afternoon all.

I'm starting up a new game and a player has chosen to play a Selkie (Wiki Link Here).

The player has initially chosen the Changling template.

Given the nature of Selkies to give up or lose their pelts and become human, I'm thinking it might be more in form to have her take the Shapeshifter template.

Now, it's interesting because in Your Story in the Nevermore/Baltimore section it mentions Selkies in relation to the Summer Court.

Now I think there is room for overlap between these two templates.  Can Fairies also be Shape Shifters?  Sidhe taking on the form of otters or sharks?   Shapeshifters having their own small place in the Nevernever or some status in the Wyldfae or Courts?

Any thoughts?

~ GiS

[solbergb]

Templates are just a guideline.

Shapeshifting faeries are totally canon.   Dresden got shot by a Sidhe warrior who turned from a bird into an archer, back into a bird before he fell, just to pick one example.

I keep wanting to do it the other way around.   Something like have a Pixie who mastered "human form" ectoplasmic body so he could get a job making pizza, or a faerie dolphin who could change to human form with hands and legs so he could drive sports cars, or maybe a house-sized troll who got a human form to take up surfing.

[GamingInSeattle]

Templates are just a guideline.

Shapeshifting faeries are totally canon.   Dresden got shot by a Sidhe warrior who turned from a bird into an archer, back into a bird before he fell, just to pick one example.

I agree, I think it's simply up to me and the player to work out how Selkies work in our universe.  It's about the flavor of the Templates and how the groups interact in the world.  A Shapeshifting Fae will be different from a Shapeshifter who has contacts or status in the Nevernever but is not Sidhe themselves.

~ GiS

[dragoonbuster]

What solbergb said.

At a quick glance at the wiki, I'd start with Beast Change and Human Guise, Aquatic, Incite Lust (and at least the At Range upgrade), probably Glamours, and then a few physical powers (speed and recovery strike me as first choices).

[GamingInSeattle]

What solbergb said.

At a quick glance at the wiki, I'd start with Beast Change and Human Guise, Aquatic, Incite Lust (and at least the At Range upgrade), probably Glamours, and then a few physical powers (speed and recovery strike me as first choices).

Good thoughts.  The player has their eyes set on being a Changeling and this led to an insight on Shape Changers from our world vs the NeverNever.

The Fae, Sidhe in particular, copy and play at being human or of our world.  Just as they copy our clothes, customs, food and appearance, any animal of our world they copies would have Fae adjustments.  Just as they are beautiful beyond measure, their shape changed animals would be striking or exaggerated. 

Whereas in our world, when a human uses magic to take the form of a wolf or bear, it looks much closer to natural wolves and bears.  They would not be perfect imitations and might seem off to naturally occurring animals, but it's closer and less otherworldy in nature.

Like the hexenwulfs, who's nature was demonic in nature or influence, they wolves they turned into were exaggeratedly large and menacing.

While this may be largely flavor text, I think this understanding will help me and my players work out which way to go and inform aspects choices.

Thanks again all!

~ GiS

[Crimson Overcoat]

You could always make the seal pelt and Item of Power that contained the beast change and aquatic nature of the Selkie.

[Taran]

Do Selkie lose their powers when in human form?

If not, it would be covered by human guise.

[dragoonbuster]

Like solbergb said, Templates are pretty much just guidelines. I'd basically agree with your assessment of shapechanging Fae, though I don't remember any evidence in the books that actually provides evidence for it. I don't know if I'd say they would be "exaggerated" so much as just look like ideal examples of that species; remember, Fae are very close to nature and humans, and the issues with a human shapechanger's slight differences between their form and the actual animal have to do with the limits of the human mind to exactly picture every minute detail of a different being. The Fae on the other hand seem to have no similar limitation based on the kinds of magic they can perform, plus they're closer to nature than humans.

You could always make the seal pelt and Item of Power that contained the beast change and aquatic nature of the Selkie.

That's a cool idea, basically makes them a variation on the hexenwulf at that point.

Do Selkie lose their powers when in human form?

If not, it would be covered by human guise.

Obviously the GM and player can do whatever they want, but since the wiki page talked about how exceedingly irresistible human-form Selkies are to the opposite sex, seems like they would at least maintain the Incite Lust...since they player is calling them out specifically as Fae, and the Fae's abilities don't seem to go away when they take a human guise, I figured human guise over human form.

[g33k]

That's a cool idea, basically makes them a variation on the hexenwulf at that point.

More like the hexenwulf is a lame-o copy of the selkie... at least, from a faerie-tale POV; game-mechanically, it might just be a good starting-point!

Obviously the GM and player can do whatever they want, but since the wiki page talked about how exceedingly irresistible human-form Selkies are to the opposite sex, seems like they would at least maintain the Incite Lust...since they player is calling them out specifically as Fae, and the Fae's abilities don't seem to go away when they take a human guise, I figured human guise over human form.

  Except that the Selkie is rather famous for being trapped in human-form if their sealskin is stolen from them...

[vultur]

I agree that a selkie should have the shapeshifting ability (and anything under Human Form, that's directly related to the seal form, too) as part of an Item of Power like the hexenwulf belt.

Any powers that weren't directly related to the shapeshifting or the seal form itself (like Incite Emotion) wouldn't necessarily need to be part of the IoP though.