Changeling

Depiction of changeling in their true form from *Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse*, p. 10.

## Biological Information

### **Abilities**

* Shapechanger
* Changeling Instincts

## Physical Characteristics

### **Lifespan**

* Upward to three centuries (fey)
* About a century (humanoids)

## Sociocultural Information

### **Planes**

* Feywild
* Material Plane

### **Notable members**

Loquatius Seelie

**Changelings** are shapeshifting beings related to the fey who can easily blend in humanoid societies thanks to their powers.

## **Description**

### **Appearance**

In their true form, changelings are generally extremely pale, showing features devoid of distinctive details, with colorless eyes and silver-white hair.

Within this description there are variants of changelings that show subtle differences. Some have opalescence in their skin (as if it contains various colors instead of just being white) and their eyes can be completely black. There are also differences in how the changelings' transformation is seen visually.

### **Personality**

Changelings use their shapeshifting abilities as a form of expression, creating complex stories behind the personas they use, or showing their mood through improvised faces they made up in that very moment.

## **Abilities**

As a playable race, changelings have the following abilities:

* **Ability Score Bonus**: Changelings usually get +2 Charisma and +1 in an ability that varies for each individual.
* **Shapechanger**: Using an action they can change their appearance and voice at will, even adapting their size between small and medium in some cases. However, they can't assume the abilities of other races, neither take a form without the same basic arrangement of limbs they have.
* **Changeling Instincts**: They gain proficiency with two of the following skills: Deception, Insight, Intimidation, Performance, or Persuasion.

As non-playable characters they also gain access to:

* **Unsettling Visage**: They can make someone frightened if said creature doesn't succeed on a Wisdom saving throw. Once a changeling uses this ability they can't use it again until they finish a long or short rest.

Note that for those changelings that are fey, instead of humanoids, some spells have no effect on them, since they target humanoids exclusively, while other spells will affect them precisely because of their fey nature.

## **History**

Changelings are not native to Exandria; they originally came from the Feywild at some point prior to the beginning of the Calamity, and many still live there, with only a few of them living among humanoids in the Material Plane. They seem to be distantly related to doppelgangers, monstrosities with very similar abilities and generally worse intentions.

During the Age of Arcanum a changeling celebrity called Loquatius Seelie lived in the floating city of Avalir, and he displayed both his true form and his shapeshifting powers openly.

The changelings as a race survived the Calamity, partially because of archfey such as Lady Elmenore of the Seelie Court, who opened portals for her subjects on the Material Plane to leave for safety.

In 843 PD the Unseelie Court sent a changeling agent to recover an artifact and kill those who stole it, all under the guise of an elf with amnesia called Dusk; only after a tense negotiation with Bells Hells did the fey assassin stop chasing their targets.

In other worlds, when changelings settle in a non-changeling society they tend to develop an identity they feel comfortable with, although there are also cases (especially with adventurers) in which they have more than one persona prepared, often suited for different situations, such as negotiations or battles.

## **Notable changelings**

* An Emonian tavern keeper seen in "The Terror of Tal'Dorei - Part 1" (LVM1x01).
	+ Possibly their daughter.
* Possibly one of Morrighan Ferus' customers at The Maiden's Wish casino, who had shapeshifting abilities.
* Loquatius Seelie, a warlock/bard from Avalir.
* Yu Suffiad, a warlock/paladin working for the Unseelie Court.

## **Trivia**

* In folklore, changelings were considered the fey babies left behind in the place of human children stolen by the faeries. Some variants of these legends were more general, considering changelings any substitutes for humans kidnapped by the fey.
	+ It is a common theory in modern times that these supposed changelings were most likely just children on the autism spectrum. Other historical cases, like that of the tragically famous Bridget Cleary, involved people falling victim to a combination of superstition and the collective insanity of those around them.
* Changelings were firstly featured as a playable race in *Eberron: Rising from the Last War*, although the term was also used in the *Monster Manual* to refer to the doppelganger offspring of a humanoid woman.

* According to Matthew Mercer, initially he didn't considered changelings as one of the Exandrian races. However, when a poll was organised to choose the gender, race and design for a secondary character in *The Legend of Vox Machina*, the changeling was one of the options, and was eventually chosen for said character. This made Matt accept it as part of the canon despite its accidental presence in the list of available races in the poll. Later on he briefly talked about their presence in Exandria, explaining that many of them still live in the Feywild, so they're an uncommon sight in the mortal realm either way.
	+ Their presence in the canon of Critical Role was reasserted when Sam Riegel created his character for Exandria Unlimited: Calamity.
		- Erika Ishii also played Yu Suffiad in Campaign Three as a guest. In fact, she explained that Matthew Mercer and her had talked around October 2021 about her character, and her desire of playing a changeling, and since those conversations took place way before Exandria Unlimited: Calamity was released, Erika made her character with the idea of them being the first changeling player character, not knowing that Sam Riegel would also play one.
* Fey changelings have platinum blood.
* So far, all the changeling player characters were warlocks with multiclass.

## **References**

1. ↑ See *D&D: Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse*, 5th ed., p. 10.
2. ↑ Wizards of the Coast, *Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse*, p. 10.
3. ↑ See "The Deathwish Run" (3x28) at 4:23:24.
4. ↑ Wizards of the Coast, *Eberron: Rising from the Last War*, p. 17.
5. ↑ Wizards of the Coast, *Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse*, p. 10.
6. ↑ Wizards of the Coast, *Eberron: Rising from the Last War*, p. 17.
7. ↑ Wizards of the Coast, *Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse*, p. 10.
8. ↑ Wizards of the Coast, *Eberron: Rising from the Last War*, p. 317.
9. ↑ https://twitter.com/matthewmercer/status/1204952794475593728?t=Aru7PQIeKmFROSRMBdD6hQ&s=19
10. ↑ See "Excelsior" (E3x01) at 32:49.
11. ↑ https://twitter.com/matthewmercer/status/1465095542933835783?t=55ozbWcj1r7tvAt3dnVRDQ&s=19
12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 See *D&D: Monster Manual*, 5th ed., p. 82.
13. ↑ See "Excelsior" (E3x01) at 32:49.
14. ↑ See "Fire and Ruin" (E3x04) at 3:29:25.
15. ↑ See "Dark Portents" (3x29).
16. ↑ Wizards of the Coast, *Eberron: Rising from the Last War*, p. 17.
17. ↑ Wizards of the Coast, *Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse*, p. 10.
18. ↑ See Tavern Keeper Build | The Legend of Vox Machina
19. ↑ "The Terror of Tal'Dorei - Part 1" (LVM1x01)
20. ↑ See "Exandria Unlimited: Kymal, Part 1" (E2x01) at 0:36:31.
21. ↑ Wizards of the Coast, *Eberron: Rising from the Last War*, p. 17.
22. ↑ See Tavern Keeper Build | The Legend of Vox Machina
23. ↑ https://twitter.com/matthewmercer/status/1204952794475593728?t=Aru7PQIeKmFROSRMBdD6hQ&s=19
24. ↑ https://twitter.com/matthewmercer/status/1465095542933835783?t=55ozbWcj1r7tvAt3dnVRDQ&s=19
25. ↑ See "*4-Sided Dive*: From Dusk Till Faun" (4SDx05) at 0:11:40.
26. ↑ See "Fire and Ruin" (E3x04) at 0:21:11.

**Art:**

1. ↑ Depiction of changeling in their true form from *Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse*, p. 10. This page contains unofficial Fan Content permitted under the Wizards of the Coast Fan Content Policy. Not approved/endorsed by Wizards. Portions of the materials used are property of Wizards of the Coast. ©Wizards of the Coast LLC.
2. ↑ Depiction of changeling using their shapeshifting powers from *Eberron: Rising from the Last War*, p. 17. This page contains unofficial Fan Content permitted under the Wizards of the Coast Fan Content Policy. Not approved/endorsed by Wizards. Portions of the materials used are property of Wizards of the Coast. ©Wizards of the Coast LLC.
3. ↑ Fan art of Dusk transforming, by ElesirArt (source). Used with permission.
4. ↑ Screenshot of changeling tavern keeper, by Titmouse from "The Terror of Tal'Dorei - Part 1" (LVM1x01). This file is a copyrighted work. Its use in this article is asserted to qualify as fair use of the material under United States copyright law.
5. ↑ Official art of Loquatius Seelie, by Hannah Friederichs (source). This file is a copyrighted work. Its use in this article is asserted to qualify as fair use of the material under United States copyright law.