Can True Fae be player characters?

[Becq]

A couple of things mentioned about DFRPG Fae:

YS10: "fae literally cannot step outside their natures or break oaths"
YS75: "If taking on another ability reduces your character’s refresh to zero or otherwise fulfills all the “musts” of a faerie of the appropriate type, the changeling’s Choice is made and he becomes a full faerie, never mortal again, and now fully subject to the will of the Faerie Courts."

These quotes make it clear that Faeries are *intended* to be non-playable as characters.  On the other hand:

YS74: "Eventually, too much transformation will lead to an inability to retain a grip on mortality, and the character slips into faerie (often becoming an NPC as his power costs rise to exceed his refresh)."

The word 'often' implies the possibility that becoming a Fae need not relegate the character to NPC-dom, so long as positive refresh remains.

I think the bottom line is this: in "Harry's World" a Fae cannot be a player, because by definition a Fae's will is subsumed by the Court.  But you will be playing out Your Story, so it's up to you group and your GM to decide.  And it's an interesting concept, so why not?

[HappyDaze]

After reading the posts here - and most were really helpful - I took a long look at this paragraph:

That said, the situation is often grey and not clear-cut. There are those few who are part mortal and part monster: vampires who struggle to fight their hungers and do the right thing; werewolves who chose lycanthropy to get the strength to defend their community; wizards who accept help from dark sources, but hope to restrain the urges that threaten to engulf them. Choice is the overwhelming theme of these individuals’ lives. Will they retain their humanity or will they become monsters? And is there any way that those who are now monsters can perhaps regain some degree of humanity, some capacity for choice? (YS11)

There is also this:

At some point, a changeling must Choose whether to become totally fae or totally mortal. If they go fae, they get all the powers of their type, but lose a lot of their free will. If they go mortal, they lose a lot of their inborn powers, but retain free will and mortal agency. (OW41)

Note that is says "a lot of their free will" rather than all free will, and we seem to have an option for something that is almost a true fae but still appears playable.  This helps me to flesh out a concept even further - a Changeling that made the final choice and went with his faerie nature, but finds that he still possesses some measure of free will (Refresh > 0).  This doesn't free the character from the limitations of the fae as noted in Our World, but I'd imagine such a character following his fae nature - but attempting to guide his actions within the greater limits of it - should be as playable as a WCV.