Changeling

Description

A Changeling, also known as an "oaf", is a fey creature sometimes switched with well-bred human infants in order to strengthen the fairy bloodline. It tends to start out looking identical to the child it replaces, but as time goes on and the fairy’s magic wears off it becomes increasingly ugly and deformed, sporting long, sharp teeth and hideous, bulging eyes. It goes through puberty as normal, but its height tends to remain stunted throughout its lifetime. Known to have a ravenous appetite, a changeling often eats its surrogate family out of house and home, and is frequently ill- tempered and prone to angry outbursts, in part due to real or perceived persecution. Occasionally, a changeling goes back to live among the fairies when life in human society becomes intolerable, though most forget their origins and live on as ugly humans. Due to its fey lineage, many even become powerful illusionists.

A changeling takes +1 damage from attacks that are metal- or fire-based, and -1 damage from all else. It is abnormally strong for its size, and as such does +1 damage to melee attacks. A changeling also has the ability to magically alter its appearance once per day for a duration of two hours, and often does so as adults in order to make itself taller and more appealing to the opposite sex. A saving throw against magic with a -2 penalty will reveal the changeling's true form. The GM may further add illusionist-type spells to the changeling's repertoire depending on its individual background.

Source note: This creature is converted from The Basic Fantasy Field Guide of Creatures Malevolent and Benign – Omnibus Edition, 1st Edition Release 4, © 2010–2025 Chris Gonnerman, R. Kevin Smoot, James Lemon, Matt Sluis, and Contributors. The Basic Fantasy Field Guide textual material is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International; this page adapts that creature to White Box.

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