episode 5 – book of storyteller secrets, player’s kit, cantrip cards

Herein we talk about the first proper supplement for Changeling: the Dreaming, 1995's Book of Storyteller Secrets (not to be confused with the identically-named supplement for Vampire: Dark Ages the following year). Following hard on the heels of the corebook, Changeling's BSS clocks in at 64 pages, most of which are taken up by a jump-start adventure that's largely separate from both the overall metaplot of the world and the Immortal Eyes chronicle that shaped a lot of the early supplements. There are also a few pages of crossover rules which, as we discuss, are kind of... just there.

The BSS also came with this swanky Storyteller's screen:

Disclaimer: the story in the book is heavily centered around mental health, forced committal to an institution, and similar psychological issues, which may not be for everyone. (For listeners: we discuss these pretty directly starting around the 18 minute mark and 45 minute mark of the episode, if you want to kind of skip over a few minutes at those points.) But it's also worth saying that this is a theme deeply embedded into the game, especially its first edition, and a prime example of how Changeling handles "darkness" as a concept. It's a more subtle, personalized kind of horror than the gore or edgelordiness that people often point to when they talk about WoD games as a whole; arguably, that makes it more insidious, and many people are less practiced in examining it.

Aside from this book, we also briefly discuss the Player's Kit, which is basically a pamphlet of kith-specific Bunks for each level of each Art (all six, at that point). The Kit also comes with a full-color pad of character sheets that are too pretty to use, really, and some additional templates for your cantrip cards. On that note...!

Here are some of the cards Pooka managed to get their hands on, purely for the purposes of this episode. It's more of a historical curiosity than anything else, but we stand by our overall assessment of them as a concept: quirky and pretty as artifacts, clunky and unnecessary for the actual playing of the game. (There is an undeniable twinge of Glamour when riffling through them, though... connecting with the past, etc.)

This is most likely the closest we'll ever get to an unboxing video on this podcast, but never say never, right?

...

Your Hosts

Josh Hillerup (he/him) rides a friendly tardigrade to work each Thursday.

Pooka G (any pronoun/they) can tune a piano, but can't tuna fish.

...

"One can't build little white picket fences to keep nightmares out." —Anne Sexton

(psst! email us at podcast@changelingthepodcast.com if you want) (and join our Discord at https://discord.gg/SAryjXGm5j !)