Reverie
Reverie rolls aren't made at the completion of a project. Instead, a changeling may roll at appropriate junctures along the path of creativity. The length of time required to get to know the human artist at the beginning of the process is also the length of time after which the changeling can roll. The changeling can continue to roll at appropriate junctures, provided the dreamer is still creating the work the changeling inspired. Thus, a novel that takes years to write will reap huge dividends over time, especially if the changeling took the time to get to know his dreamer in the early days.
Rapture
Rapture allows the changeling to gain Glamour from her own imagination. In order to achieve Rapture, a changeling must make an artistic or creative breakthrough. Usually, though, it is not necessary to create a finished work of art to create Glamour - merely engaging in artistic practice itself is enough to feed the Dreaming.
The work should challenge the dreamer, otherwise the Glamour it produces will be negligible (i.e., less than a single Glamour point). The first draft of a really good poem or piece of micro-fiction might take half a day, depending on its complexity. A boardwalk caricaturist might jot off easy portraits in 10 minutes, but he will need to spend a few hours to really test his own skills and do something that genuinely excites him. It might require a whole day to write the first draft of a short story, a chapter of a novel, or a scene in a play. Usually, research time is in addition to this, and may double the length of time required (unless the player can show how they have gained inspiration and insight from roleplaying). The dreamer may fail, so long as he actually made an effort, although the ST will only rule that this generates Glamour if the player can show a significant lesson was learned.
System: The player must inform the ST what it is they aim to do: improvise with their latent abilities, flex existing creative 'muscle' through practising a craft, exploring a new idea or method of working, or creating a new opus. The ST will then indicate how long you need to spend on this attempt and how many successes are required to reach your given milestone (success being relative to the intended outcomes). A brainstorming session will naturally take less time, and require fewer successes, than writing a novel, but if it includes a major creative breakthrough, it might still net you some Glamour.
Once the ST sets the number of successes required and the time your character must spend at the attempt, you may roll an appropriate Attribute + Ability (often an extended action with one roll per hour for shorter activities and one roll per day for longer ones) to complete the action. The number of successes achieved indicates the quality of the output but also - crucially - the artistic experience itself. Five successes on any single roll will add an automatic success on the Glamour roll that follows.
If you manage to spend the required amount of time without interruptions, as well as rolling the required number of successes, then you have succeeded. If you fail to reach the required number of successes, this will be considered an aborted, stalled or unfinished attempt. At the ST's discretion, you may take a break and re-attempt the activity later on, but the difficulty will increase by a minimum of +1. Alternatively, the ST may allow you to roll for Glamour on a partial success, but might award half the normal amount of Glamour or less. A botch either destroys the work or means you have to start from scratch.
Once the attempt is completed, the player must roll their permanent Glamour rating to see how many points of Glamour are generated by the experience. The difficulty will directly relate to the objectives outlined before the initial attempt and will assume the required number of successes were achieved:
- difficulty 8 for early drafts or routine exercises;
- difficulty 7 for a penultimate draft or promising new development in craft; or
- difficulty 6 for a finished work or revelatory creative experience.
If the player creates an exceptional work of art and achieves five or more successes on the Glamour roll (excluding any automatic successes), the changeling might even gain a point of permanent Glamour, in addition to any temporary Glamour. A botch indicates a total and utter confidence-shattering failure, causing the character to gain a temporary point of Banality.
Ambient Glamour
If someone uses Reverie in one specific location, such as a Dreamer's loft or studio, or if a Kithain achieves Rapture repeatedly in the same location, the area becomes infused with Glamour. Such residual Glamour can attract other Dreamers as they try to find any inspiration they can. Over time, this Glamour might manifest as dross in the chimerical world: strange magic fungus, for instance, or crystalline formations that grow near the site of inspiration. Typically, such locations can only provide one point of dross per month for every year that the site has been continually involved in creative endeavour, to a maximum of one point per day. It is impossible for locations without a balefire to generate more than one point of ambient Glamour as dross per day.
Ravaging
Ravaging is a kind of psychic assault that strips Dreamers of their Glamour. The Ravager floods the Dreamer with Banality, literally driving the Glamour out of her body, and the Ravager gathers it up.
System: Once the Kithain has established a relationship with the target, the player rolls a number of dice equal to his character's Banality rating (difficulty 6). The number of successes rolled equals the number of Glamour points stolen. Regardless of whether the changeling succeeds or fails, she always takes an extra Nightmare Dice every time she indulges in Ravaging. A botch causes the character to gain a permanent point of Banality. Victims of a Ravaging are unable to create or perform anything original or inspired for at least one day per Glamour point stolen.
Rhapsody
These rules tweak the RAW to make Rhapsody worthwhile. Roll as per Reverie, above, to gain Glamour from the creation of the work, but you also take a single point of Nightmare each time. The Glamour infused in the attempt also adds to the creator's own extended dice pools, meaning they can achieve a more wonderful work. After creating their work, the dreamer cannot create again for a number of weeks equal to the Glamour originally invested. One or more changelings may also choose to destroy the artwork at the end, releasing the Glamour infused into the process at the beginning, multiplied by the number of rolls made in the extended action. This Glamour is then divided by anyone present at the destruction of the artwork. Destroying any kind of artwork counts as a Banality trigger.