Kismet's Goblin Fruit Guide

 

"Blue Seeds" by Aledin (resized) is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 3.0

 

 

Finding

Changelings can find goblin fruit through pure chance, relying on the Wyrd to guide their steps in the right direction. If you roll within your character’s Wyrd rating on 1d10, you find your way to some random fruit. So if a Wyrd 3 changeling tries to sense fruit, they would need to roll 1, 2, or 3 on a d10 to find it this way.

Fae can also track a Hedge creature in the hopes that it passes near or is seeking out a fruit source. In that case, the Storyteller rolls 1d10; if the result is within the creature’s Wyrd rating, they will travel near some goblin fruit soon. If the Storyteller rolls the exact Wyrd rating, the creature is looking for fruit on purpose and will lead hunters right to it. Following a denizen of the Hedge can be a much more reliable way of finding fruit for low-Wyrd changelings, even if it can be dangerous.

If you need to find a fruit with a particular function, such as healing fruit grown from hope, you can enter the Hedge, feed the Thorns a point of Glamour, and make an extended Manipulation + Expression roll to attune yourself to the related Virtue or Vice. The Storyteller will assign a number of successes needed to reach a location with that resonance; if it matches your key Virtue or Vice, you gain a +1 bonus on the roll. If you are successful, the Hedge will provide clues that lead in the direction of that emotion. You can roll as many times as you have dots of Wyrd to track down the right fruit, but you must pay a Glamour point each time and if you fail to meet the required successes, the trail goes cold before you find what you need.

Roll 1d10 to determine the outcome of finding your destination:

Roll	Result
1-2:	No fruit is currently growing in the area.
3-4:	Fruit with the same resonance but another function is available.
5-6:	Fruit of the desired type is growing but is not yet ripe.
7-8:	Fruit of the desired type is present and ripe.
9-10	Fruit of the desired type is present but has withered.

Successfully activating a relevant Contract before a search for goblin fruit will grant a +1 bonus to find it while wandering or a +2 on the roll to intentionally track it down. It will also adjust the outcome of tracking specific fruit thusly: 1: no fruit is currently growing in the area; 2-3: fruit with the same resonance but another function is available; 4-6: fruit of the desired type is growing but is not yet ripe; 7-9: fruit of the desired type is present and ripe; 10: fruit of the desired type is present but has withered.

Examining

Wits + Survival or Occult + Wyrd might give a gut instinct or dream-like association related to the purpose of an unknown fruit, whether it is on the vine or off. Each success will reveal one of the following aspects (Storyteller's choice):

• how to safely harvest the fruit

• the fruit's predominant resonance (its Virtue and/or Vice)

• whether its net effect is fair or foul

• which of its parts are edible

• what its exact neutral or positive effects are

An exceptional success is needed to determine any side-effects or additional ways it can be prepared to unlock other qualities. Exceptionally rare or exceptional fruit are inscrutable, with only 9s or 10s counting as successes on the roll. Generally, only one such roll is allowed for one type of fruit.

Harvesting

Some fruit will attack, have nearby creatures that will fight over them, will be rigged with traps, or will otherwise be difficult to obtain. Others will require Strength + Brawl to pry off the vine, and some mineral-like fruit need to be removed carefully (with a Dexterity + Weaponry roll to pry it loose) or be shattered into useless powder. A few want to be appeased in some way before releasing of their own "will."

Thus, some harvesting actions will be instant and others will be extended and/or contested. A fruit will generally last for 3 days in its raw form after being plucked. Some plants can be harvested only once before permanently wilting, others can be picked multiple times before they need to be replanted, and a few will regrow so long as they are properly fed and tended.

Preparing

To dry a fruit out well and retain its power, roll Intelligence + Survival. Each fruit may get its own roll, or each handful (to save time). To preserve through cooking (i.e. jam, pickling), roll Intelligence + Crafts (with a cooking specialty). Each fruit may get its own roll or several can be rendered into a form (like jam) that has multiple doses under one roll. Each success grants one month of potency. Each success above five grants one year.

Fruit that remains solely within the Hedge will have double the lifespan. If it ever enters another realm (except Arcadia), the bonus is lost and the fruit will age as normal. Preparing goblin fruit is generally an extended roll requiring 10 to 15 successes, though this can vary wildly from type to type, with a limited number of rolls determined by your Wyrd.

Planting

There are often unique conditions for planting (a requirement of grave soil, blood points, ground children's "baby teeth" - see Rites of Spring pg. 129). Use Wits + Crafts + Wyrd or Intelligence + Survival + Wyrd, with required successes variable. Keep in mind that only raw fruit that has remained in the Hedge or Arcadia can be transplanted; once the fruit has been exposed to the real world or processed, it cannot be used to grow a new plant.

An extended roll is standard, but many plants are fickle and unwilling to adapt to new soil. When in doubt, allow a maximum of rolls equal to the character's Wits + Crafts or Intelligence + Survival (whichever is being used). For particularly stubborn or demanding plants, allow one roll per dot of the character's Wyrd.

Tending

Some plants want special fertilizers, pruning, tickling, singing, or other forms of attention. Many will show signs of wilting or discontent, without much prior warning. To determine what a plant wants and how much, roll Wits + Survival or Occult + Wyrd. To try to gain some idea of when a plant will sprout, roll Wits + Survival or Occult, with only one roll allowed (or use a relevant Contract).

Creating Your Own Types of Goblin Fruit

Determine Virtue/Vice

Most goblin fruits have a benign face and a dark side, and their benefits and side effects are reflections of their Virtue and Vice (see my Virtues and Vices). A few rare fruits only appear to have a Virtue or a Vice and only grant a single positive or negative effect (but this could be because their secrets have not been revealed). This attunement also affects the areas in which the fruit can grow and thrive. Additionally, if there are Hedge gates close by, they will usually open onto real-world locations that resonate with the same Virtue and Vice.

For instance, amaranthine (Changeling main book; Hope/Sloth) flourishes in Hedge locations that are rich with hope but slower and quieter (hence their relative rarity). It will not sprout or will quickly die if transplanted in an area where despair pools or where nothing stands still (the Virtue of Industry), since those resonances are anathema to it. It might struggle to grow or provide fewer fruit in other places but with some careful tending, amaranthine can grow elsewhere.

Describe Appearance

There are a number of questions to answer when describing the plant's appearance.

• What manner of plant is it?

• What parts does it have?

• How many of its parts are edible?

• What does it smell, feel, look, and taste like?

• Are there any special considerations tied to its form?

• How do Hedge creatures tend to react to it?

• What are its fae qualities?

For example: Does its color make it easier to see and impose penalties to noticing it, or does it have spines which make harvesting harder? Does it have a pungent smell that draws Hedge creatures? Does it have taste buds on its skin so that it tastes whoever touches it, or does its nectar taste and look like tears once it's cut open?

Neutral or Positive Effect: Goblin fruits commonly boost skills, heal damage, or restore Willpower on a one-for-one basis, with benefits remaining at or close to +1. Rare types can affect size, speed, initiative, or defense or will negate or delay penalties related to disease, deprivation, fatigue, and similar situations. The rarest of the rare will affect the imbiber and grant penalties to those who are targeting them or trying to find them. Finally, gobin fruits can mimic drugs and poisons, sometimes intertwining these pleasures and torments in excruciating ways. Goblin fruits have a single beneficial effect, which is either instantaneous or lasts for a single scene. No goblin fruits grant supernatural abilities or powers (tokens, however, can and do).

Side Effect

:

Most goblin fruit which provide a benefit also exact a toll. Any category a goblin fruit can boost or neutralize (see above) can be reversed and chosen as a side effect, either immediately or for a scene (either just after imbibing or just after the benefit expires). Fruit with uncommon boons tend to also produce unique aftereffects. If eating more of the same type of fruit grants more of a boost, the side effect is usually more severe or has a longer duration (see jarmyn fruit in the Changeling first edition main book for an example). Goblin fruits have a single side effect directly related to the fruit's Vice.

Hidden Qualities

Decide if the fruit in question will have additional qualities if it is prepared in a particular and unusual way. Such hidden qualities can be uncovered through a roll or through trial and error.

For instance, pitt moss in the main book is simply savory if it is used as an herb in cooking but if a lot of it is eaten raw on its own, that is when its Vice of Despair takes over and the side effect kicks in. It could also provide a real benefit, boosting one's Socialize skill for a scene after twice the normal, safe amount is mixed into a mulled wine (reflecting its Virtue of Confidence).

Harvesting

:

Outline the likely harvesting conditions for that kind of fruit (see above for some more considerations). Its appearance can provide many hints as to how easy it will be to pluck from the vine and how likely it is for certain Hedge denizens to viciously protect it. Likewise, its Virtue and Vice can play into the fruit's willingness to be taken or the methods that are best for collecting it without being damaged or damaging the fruit.

Preparation

:

Answer a few more questions about the way the fruit can be consumed.

• Can it safely be eaten raw?

• Is there a special method that unlocks its potential for good or ill, such as drying, smoking, drinking, steaming, stewing over time, fermenting, juicing, roasting, boiling, pickling, and so on?

• Do certain fruits work best if they are prepared together?

• Will the presence of one type of fruit sour another kind?

Advanced Versions

Goblin fruits that grow in the Hedge "closer" to Arcadian borders or within Arcadian realms themselves are always more potent. They can provide multiple benefits and cause several pitfalls (up to five of each), and affect the imbiber up to a +5 or -5 in severity, but they do not grant effects outside of those already outlined. Such fruit are more fae and difficult to safely acquire and transport, and while those just outside of a realm can be transplanted (with more trouble), fruits that grow within Arcadian borders cannot survive long outside of them in any form.

Arcadian produce has one quarter the shelf life and an exceptional success to preserve it does not extend the duration to a year. Efforts to harvest, preserve, transplant, or tend Arcadian blooms elsewhere suffer a variable penalty, from -3 to -5, and they cannot be hybridized further. A changeling can only carry half as many Arcadian-born fruits as normal.

In order to generate a random type of goblin fruit on the fly, please roll a d10 in each column below. Let the fruit's Virtue and Vice guide all of the other choices about it to speed things up and keep them consistent:

* This means that the Virtue or Vice is twice as severe; the positive or negative effects can have a longer duration or double the normal influence (a + or - 2 instead of only + or - 1).

** This means that there are two Virtues or Vices. This can mean that the fruit has multiple effects or that it has been shaped in particular ways by two separate influences. It could also mean that if it has two Virtues, it will have no Vices or vice versa.

^ As explained above, normally a goblin fruit can raise a single skill by +1.

# Those who look for or at the person who eats the fruit will receive a penalty to find the imbiber, target them, or take a similar threatening action.

* Offering these things will result in permanent loss of the dream or memory.

** Offerings of this kind will be restored in a few days (see Rites of Spring page 129).

 

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