Changeling

Changelings are shapeshifting fey beings who live in humanoid societies, rarely showing their true forms.

Appearance
In their true form, or their form "at rest", changelings have features devoid of detail, are extremely pale with dark shading around their colorless eyes, and silver-white hair. One individual is described as having very faintly visible black veins marbling across his skin that constantly but subtly move.

Loquatius Seelie demonstrated control over the visual effect of his shapeshifting. He was variously able to shapeshift as if paint was being drained out of his face and replaced with new colors and as if a film edit or cross-dissolve was taking place.

Abilities
As a playable race, changelings have the following abilities:
 * Shapechanger: Using an action they can change their appearance and voice at will, even adapting their size between small and medium. 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, where they are rare, and most of them live in the Feywild. At least one, Loquatius Seelie, lived in Avalir during the Age of Arcanum, before The Calamity. However, it is unclear if his identity as a changeling is widely known, even as he chooses to spend most of his time in his "at rest" appearance.

Notable changelings

 * An Emonian tavern keeper seen in.
 * Possibly their daughter.
 * Possibly one of Morrighan Ferus' customers at The Maiden's Wish casino, who had shapeshifting abilities.
 * Loquatius Seelie
 * "Dusk"

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.
 * 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. The Legend of Vox Machina is of a separate continuity from Critical Role, so changelings did not explicitly appear in the Critical Role canon until the introduction of Loquatius Seelie.