Banality

Taken from Changeling: The Dreaming 20th Anniversary Edition (p. 268)

Banality Triggers

• Invoking the Autumn to resist a cantrip or chimerical effect.
• Failing to overcome a target’s Banality while enchanting them (this does not apply to childlings).
• Wilfully destroying a Treasure or any other irreplaceable faerie artifact.
• Killing a changeling’s chimerical self (wilders are immune to this trigger under most circumstances).
• Ending a changeling’s mortal life.
• Killing one of the enchanted, a mortal Dreamer, or Kinain.
• Wielding cold iron.
• Breaking an oath.
• Childlings - A childling risks Banality when she denies a novel idea.
  Immunity: Nothing can stop childlings from trying new things. Failing to overcome Banality does not trigger them. For childlings, it’s better to try and fail than not try at all.
• Wilders - A wilder invites Banality when he denies an opportunity for adventure.
  Immunity: Conflict is part of any adventure. A wilder is not triggered by chimerically killing changelings and chimera as long as it occurs in service of his latest escapade.
• Grumps - When a grump fails to provide a necessity for someone or something in her care, she is triggered.
  Immunity: Sometimes unpleasant things must be endured. A grump may spend as much time around high Banality people or places as needed without gaining Banality (p. 268).

When a character experiences a Banality trigger, the player rolls Glamour (difficulty 8). If the roll fails, the character gains a point of Banality. If the roll is a botch, the character gains a point of Banality for every 1 rolled.
When a changeling’s Banality pool exceeds her Glamour rating, she begins to suffer from the Mists, her memory slipping away by drips and drabs.
To recall anything more clearly than specified on the Mists chart (right), the player must roll Glamour against a difficulty equal to her Banality rating.
Long-term exposure to a concentrated source of extreme Banality (such as a person or an object with a high Banality rating) results in the changeling gaining a point of temporary Banality. This threshold is typically reached after a scene of distinctly uncomfortable interaction — most changelings naturally do their best to avoid such individuals and things, but there are few places outside the Dreaming where one can hide from Banality. Ultimately, the amount of exposure necessary to cause the changeling to gain Banality is left to Storyteller discretion, but she should be quite clear about when that threshold is about to be crossed. Grumps do not gain Banality in this manner.

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Ambient Banality

When deciding the Banality rating of the structure, consider what the Banality rating of the average member of the organization that made it that way would be. Factor in how many of them there are, how long they’ve been there, and how active they are, and you should have a pretty good idea of where on the chart they belong. Any rolls for cantrip use within a Banal structure suffer +1 to their difficulty.
Additionally, for every scene a changeling spends in a Banal structure in excess of her Glamour rating, she gains a point of temporary Banality. Mortals who regularly spend time in a Banal structure with a higher Banality rating than their own slowly gain Banality until they reach an equilibrium with the structure. This gain occurs at the rate of one dot of Banality per month. This assumes they spend a significant portion of their waking hours within the structure, such as for a nine-to-five job. If they spend less time in the structure, they may gain Banality at a slower rate or not at all, at Storyteller discretion. Similarly, if they are locked in or otherwise forced to spend 24 hours a day in such a structure, their Banality rating rises much quicker than usual.

The Mists Chart

Banality Rating	Duration	Effect
0	One Minute	Perfect Recall
1	One Hour	Clarity
2	Six Hours	Partial Memory
3	12 Hours	Disoriented
4	One Day	Uncertain Memory
5	Three Days	Hazy Memory
6	One Week	Vivid Flashbacks
7	Two Weeks	Dreamlike Memory
8	One Month	Distant Dream
9	Four Months	Denial
10	N/A	Complete Blank

Gaining more than 10 points of Banality results in the character’s Banality rating increasing. The only way to remove Banality dots is through a great Quest.