Changeling the Podcast

Croeso! We are wrapping up our trilogy of episodes on Isle of the Mighty with an exploration into Wales/Cymru and the fae/Tylwyth Teg that dwell there. The unfortunate news is that Book 3 of this weighty tome has a lot of the same issues we called out previously: clunky choices for the history section, uneven distribution of information in the geography section, several NPCs whose defining adjective is "meh". But the better news is that we are taking the opportunity to do a more thorough chat about the elements of crossover with Mage: the Ascension in this section, and from there, the book as a whole. Joining us for that discussion is Terry Robinson, host of Mage: the Podcast, and a genuinely wonderful person to talk to about such things. Lend us your ears, and we'll do our best to dazzle and enlighten you. (And stick around to the end for some *super secret* Mage 5th Edition-related stuff...) where to find us (and where to no longer find us) Most of our social media links are the same as ever... Discord: https://discord.gg/SAryjXGm5jEmail: podcast@changelingthepodcast.comFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100082973960699Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/changelingthepodcast ...buuut we have elected to put our Twitter on ice for the time being, given a lot of the drama circulating around it these days. Instead, you can find us at our shiny new Mastodon account: https://dice.camp/@ChangelingPod. Check it out for the latest updates! And in the meantime, some places to find Terry include: Mage: the Podcast: https://discord.gg/SAryjXGm5jMage: the Podcast Discord page: podcast@changelingthepodcast.comPain in the Dice podcast (with Chazz Kellner): https://www.paininthedice.com/Systematic Understanding of Everything, an Exalted podcast: https://www.exaltcast.comStoryteller's Vault material: https://www.storytellersvault.com/browse.php?author=Terry%20RobinsonTwitters include @magethepodcast and @terryrobinson ... welsh media Once again, some media items that might help you with getting in a Cymric mood for your Welsh-set game: Films: How Green Was My Valley, Just Jim, Patagonia, Pride, The Black Cauldron, The Corn is Green, The Englishman Who Went Up a Hill and Came Down a Mountain...TV: David Macaulay's Castle (available on YouTube!), The Crown (season 3, "Aberfan" and "Tywysog Cymru"), Dr. Who (post-2005), Pobol y Cwm, Torchwood...Literature: the Mabinogion, y Gododdin, and then a bunch of other stuff: the more esoteric corners of Arthuriana, the poems of Mab Jones and Dylan Thomas (as well as his play Under Milkwood), A Swiftly Tilting Planet (partially), Chronicles of Prydain, the Excalibur comics series by Marvel...Music: Ffynnon, Gorky's Zygotic Mynci, Manic Street Preachers, Stereophonics, Super Furry Animals, Tom Jones... There are plenty of Welsh language-learning resources out there as well! Besides the usual suspects like Duolingo, the BBC has also run Welsh lessons through a variety of programs for decades. (Pooka used to listen to Catchphrase and its affiliated programs, which you can still find at https://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/catchphrase/, but they're no longer updated.) ... your hosts Josh Hillerup (any pronoun) added three castles to their Timecube this week. Pooka G (any pronoun/they) has yet to come across a Welsh word that isn't beautiful, no matter how many L's it has.                                    Though absent long, These forms of beauty have not been to me, As is a landscape to a blind man's eye: But oft, in lonely rooms, and mid the din Of towns and cities, I have owed to them, In hours of weariness, sensations sweet. —William Wordsworth, "Lines Written a Few Miles Above Tintern Abbey"

The legend continues... this week, we're proceeding north to Scotland for Book 2 of Isle of the Mighty. There's more of the same in terms of bizarre history section content management, NPCs who are intriguing and forgettable in equal measure, and a geography chapter that is surprisingly good! Even though in the balance, this section probably leaves more questions unanswered than we had when we started, there are some moments of true enjoyment scattered through. (Lookin' at you, Loch Lads.) It's heavier on the vignettes and side fiction than England was—but we'll take it in exchange for how the book completely skips over some of the country's more important centuries, in favor of talking about random changeling feuds that have no bearing on the game. A little of this, a little of that. the usual suspects Herewith our social media links for the podcast: Discord: https://discord.gg/SAryjXGm5jEmail: podcast@changelingthepodcast.comFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100082973960699Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/changelingthepodcastTwitter: https://twitter.com/changelingcast This might be the last time we include Twitter on the list, at least for a while. Stay tuned for more information about that... And since we also talk about the Appendix and the ghille dhu in this episode, here's a link to Pooka's STV supplement on that very kith: https://www.storytellersvault.com/product/381967?affiliate_id=3063731 ... scottish media Again, here are some media items from north of the border to help you get a feel for the environment and ethos, if you're planning to run a Scotland game. Some are listed and discussed at the end of the recording, and others fall into the "damn, should've mentioned that one too" category. We trust once more that you've enough Films: Brave, Braveheart, Highlander (but not the sequel, eesh), Loch Ness, Macbeth (several versions), The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, Rob Roy, Trainspotting (and okay, why not the sequel), The Wicker Man...TV: Gargoyles (partially), Monarch of the Glen, Outlander... Literature: the poems of Robert Burns and Carol Ann Duffy, Knots and Crosses, Lanark, Diana Gabaldon's Outlander novels (on which the TV show is based), Trainspotting (the novel), The Wasp Factory (content warning!), Witch Wood...Music: Albannach, Bannal, Capercaillie, Clann an Drumma, Mouth Music, The Proclaimers (although "I'm Gonna Be" was likely a Banality trigger for a while back in the day), Silly Wizard, Tannahill Weavers, The Waterboys, Wolfstone... One exception to the "go find it yourself" rule is this album of waulking songs by Bannal, who are decidedly un-Banal. It's a group of ladies making cloth in the traditional Highland way, accompanied by the old melodies and versifications that have a distinctive and beautiful sound. Give it a listen at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R9qsGKWZ6HU: ... caption this Just one image to share this time, and it's hardly a pin-up. We're still trying to figure out who these characters are, what kith they're supposed to be, and what their story is. A green-tinted hornless troll and his ghoul redcap friend? Two mortals under a mysterious curse? What even is going on with the sun in this picture? We're at a loss, so feel free to send your suggestions. ... your hosts Josh Hillerup (any pronoun)'s tartan is a crisscross of every color you've never heard of, and then a few more. Pooka G (any pronoun/they) defeated Mangar, but is still trying to find the way out of Skara Brae. Should auld acquaintance be forgot And never brought to mind? Should auld acquaintance be forgot And auld lang syne? —Traditional song, adapted by Robert Burns

So begins our trilogy of episodes on British setting supplement Isle of the Mighty, with a look at the first three chapters on England. It may seem a bit strange to dedicate so much recording time to this episode, but at just under 200 pages of text that is dense (both in terms of content and in terms of layout), we need the space. Even with the setting so richly described, the authors had to leave a lot out by necessity—so we talk about some of that in detail with special guest host, Andrew Goodman. This episode has been edited and massaged and compressed in order to get it to the point where it wouldn't be our longest episode... and we managed to get it a few seconds shorter than the corebook episode. Victory! (But we still have Scotland and Wales to do, so...) linky business Herewith our social media links for the podcast: Discord: https://discord.gg/SAryjXGm5jEmail: podcast@changelingthepodcast.comFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100082973960699Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/changelingthepodcastTwitter: https://twitter.com/changelingcast And a couple places to find Andrew online: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/a.goodman.illustrates/Roots of Legend on the Storytellers' Vault: https://www.storytellersvault.com/product/354523?affiliate_id=3063731 ... a brief list of media Near the end of the episode, we briefly go through a bunch of media items that might help you get an "English feel" to your game. The original plan was to link to videos and publishers' pages and whatnot, but the hour is late and our listeners' Google fu is strong, so here's the list of names, and we'll trust you to search them out successfully without our help: Films: Gosford Park, Howards End (and other Merchant Ivory films), Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, The Secret Garden... TV:The Animals of Farthing Wood, Are You Being Served?, Blackadder, Downton Abbey, (some of) Dr. Who, EastEnders, Keeping Up Appearances, Midsomer Murders, Monty Python's Flying Circus, panel shows like QI and Would I Lie To You?, The Crown, Waiting for God... Novels: The Dark is Rising, The Hobbit, Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, Watership Down...Music: The Beatles, Fairport Convention, The Fishermen's Friends, Jethro Tull, The Sex Pistols, Steeleye Span, The Cure... These are just the ones that we happened to mention directly, barely scratching the surface of the surface of the vast amount of media out there. Go have a look, and see what inspirations strike you for your Very English Chronicle...! ... a pair of pinups Well, maybe just one pin-up. They spared no expense on this beefcakey image of folkloric figure Wayland the Smith to open Chapter 3: On the other hand, while it was nice of them to provide a map of Great Britain and the fae kingdoms thereon, they seem to have spared a bit of expense generating it. Aside from the slightly vague borders and the fact that the map highlights several places which aren't even talked about in the book, this is best paired with another map that doesn't have quite so many misspellings. ("Glasglow", indeed...) ... your hosts Josh Hillerup (any pronoun) dares not dream, for fear of dwelling on the dark and arcane knowledge of Other London and Other Hull... Pooka G (any pronoun/they) ny vynn kewsel Sowsnek! "You English really don't have a sense of humor, do you?" "We do if something's funny, sir." —Gosford Park

*90s intensifies* as we do an exploration of the brief-lived but fairly-beloved Changeling tie-in CCG, Arcadia: the Wyld Hunt. With a base set released in August 1996, and a single expansion (King Ironheart's Madness) in November of that year, the game was canceled before its third set (The Lion's Den) could follow in 1997. But given the collapse of the market at that time, it's not really something we can hold the company entirely to blame for... This is technically not a Changeling game, per se. It's set in Arcadia, has its own metaplot, and offers a fairly distinctive kind of experience: one part modular board game, one part competitive treasure hunt, one part deckbuilding, one part exercise in frustration. There's a six-sided die somewhere in there. Overall, it has a similar mood and some shared concepts, and lots of the same artists, but it's really its own thing. To help us navigate the particulars, we've enlisted Charlie Cantrell of Radio Free Arcadia as Grand High Explanator. (Aside from being a credentialed collector and player of the card game, Charlie also adapted some of those unique features from the CCG into Kiths of Arcadia, a supplement available on the Storytellers' Vault.) So, give a listen as we explore—but do not (yet) attempt to actually play—this semi-forgotten piece of the Changeling universe... links and things! The usual assortment of links for the podcast: Discord: https://discord.gg/SAryjXGm5jEmail: podcast@changelingthepodcast.comFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100082973960699Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/changelingthepodcastTwitter: https://twitter.com/changelingcast And then, some places where you can find Charlie and his work: Twitter: @PookaKnightFacebook: Radio Free Arcadia for more info about the latest projects from Charlie and his teamKiths of Arcadia on the Storytellers' Vault: https://www.storytellersvault.com/product/299635?affiliate_id=3063731Harbingers of Winter, a supplement on Thallain and Dauntain and Fomorians (oh my!): https://www.storytellersvault.com/product/388455?affiliate_id=3063731Charlie's homebrew conversion guide to 5th Edition for Changeling can be found here Lastly, we can't stress enough the helpfulness of the In Arcadia WordPress site, https://arcadiaccg.wordpress.com/, where there's much information about the rules, the cards, the history of the game, and thoughts from fans. Check it out, why don'tcha? ... unboxing! After getting their hands on some packs of cards, Pooka decided to have a small "unboxing" session (which was really an "unboostering," with no actual box involved). This image gallery feature probably won't work anywhere except on the website proper, but... let's give it a whirl and see what happens. ... your hosts Josh Hillerup (any pronoun/Garou) prefers the Rage CCG variant where players have to eat the cards they destroy, also while screaming. Pooka G (any pronoun/Platoon) would truthfully rather be a colony of good-natured tardigrades than something as pedestrian as ants. And see not ye that bonny road, Which winds about the fernie brae? That is the road to fair Elfland, Where you and I this night maun gae. —Traditional, "Thomas the Rhymer"

In this *bonus!* episode for Samhain—not Halloween—Josh interviews Pooka G about their latest homebrew release for the Storytellers' Vault, Book of Days. This is a compendium of things chronological for your Changeling chronicle: a day-by-day yearlong calendar of events with story hooks attached, essays on seemings, options for including Seasonal Courts or additional temporal weirdness in your games, chimera, Lycians, Treasures... it was a labor of love, then spite, then madness, then love again. And, much like the wheel of the year and reincarnation for the Kithain, if that's not a metaphor for life, what is? Note: Pooka is terrible at speaking plainly (go figure) or self-promoting, so treat this more as "an informational excursion" rather than "inspired salespersonship." where to find pooka g online Well, you're here, aren't you? To that end, here's our usual assortment of media links: Discord: https://discord.gg/SAryjXGm5jEmail: podcast@changelingthepodcast.comFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100082973960699Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/changelingthepodcastTwitter: https://twitter.com/changelingcast But otherwise, here's the Book of Days product page: https://www.storytellersvault.com/product/412055?affiliate_id=3063731. Pooka's other STV projects will be listed under their author page on the Vault; otherwise, you might spot them on their own Twitter (which is pretty meh, honestly) at https://twitter.com/pookagar. your hosts Josh Hillerup (any pronoun) -- WATCH THIS SPACE. Pooka G (any pronoun/they) -- SEE ABOVE. "You see, science has overcome time and space. Well, Harvey has overcome not only time and space — but any objections." —Elwood P. Dowd

Happy Halloween! In accordance with the spoopy traditions of the day, we're talking this time about Wraith: the Oblivion, the World of Darkness game that came out just before Changeling in the original lineup (and similarly underappreciated). Although the fae and ghosts might not seem to have too much in common, thematically or metaphysically, in truth... there's a bunch. Since neither of us are experts in the game, we've called in fellow podcaster Victor Kinzer for a wide-ranging discussion about the two games, some detailed history and lore (warning: a couple spoilers about the Wraith metaplot are contained herein!) and their potential for crossover. Whether you want to do Freddy Krueger-style nightmare-infesting evil ghost monster things, or simply give your sluagh PC something to do while everyone else goes around romancing and swashing buckles or whatever, listen on... If you'd like to get in touch, send us feedback, or join our community, some options include: Discord: https://discord.gg/SAryjXGm5jEmail: podcast@changelingthepodcast.comFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100082973960699Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/changelingthepodcastTwitter: https://twitter.com/changelingcast ... where to find victor online Check out Victor's work at: Twitter: https://twitter.com/Kinzer_VWalking Away from Arcadia, a Changeling podcast: https://walkingawayfromarcadia.podbean.com/Shadowbound, a Wraith podcast: https://anchor.fm/shadowboundpodcast/Victor's work on the Storytellers' Vault: https://www.storytellersvault.com/browse.php?author=Victor%20Kinzer Victor also mentioned the YouTube channel "Ask A Mortician", which is surely a good spot to check out answers to a variety of death-related questions you may have, either for your game, or just your own edification. Check it out at: https://www.youtube.com/c/AskAMortician. ... your hosts Josh Hillerup (any pronoun) saw a ghost one time, but it turned out to just be an ill-tempered stork wearing a sheet with holes cut out for eyes. Pooka G (any pronoun/they) is in favor of that afterlife where you get infinite pastries and talk about X-Men for eternity. "I see dead people... Walking around like regular people. They don't see each other; they only see what they want to see. They don't know they're dead..." —Cole Sear, The Sixth Sense

This week we're talking generally about horror as a genre for tabletop, and in particular how to make it work for Changeling. As a game, it has a reputation for being too light and fluffy for the World of Darkness; we beg to differ. Given that its purview is literally anything imaginable, all manner of horror can be worked into its fabric, even if it's not necessarily "meant" to be all about that. We take the opportunity in this episode to share opinions and ideas on that subject. It's kind of a wide-ranging discussion that we half-improvised, touching on (among other things) the importance of safety tools; differences between film and RPGs when creating a horror atmosphere; body horror vs. Gothic horror vs. psychological and cosmic horror; Bedlam, Banality, and nightmare; some media inspirations; and more! Hopefully it will help you generate some ideas for your chronicle if you're thinking of going in an eerier, more uncanny direction... Some places where you can send feedback and/or support include: Discord: https://discord.gg/SAryjXGm5jEmail: podcast@changelingthepodcast.comFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100082973960699Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/changelingthepodcastTwitter: https://twitter.com/changelingcast Otherwise, not much to report! But only one more week until Samhain/Halloween... ... your hosts Josh Hillerup (any pronoun) is unsettled by the over-abundance of geese in the neighborhood. Pooka G (any pronoun/they) feels discomfited by the rather limited coffee selection in your kitchen. "Give [the audience] pleasure—the same pleasure they have when they wake up from a nightmare." —Alfred Hitchcock

We're hopping momentarily into the 20th Anniversary Edition of Changeling: the Dreaming to talk about a hefty new offering on the Storytellers' Vault, Kithbook: Dullahan. Ordinarily, we'd probably wait a bit to discuss a new homebrew release, but since this book covers headless horsemen and their ilk, it was too good a fit for our monthly theme to pass over. This episode, we're fortunate to have the author and illustrator responsible, Andrew Goodman, to chat about his motivations, process, and logic behind the book. You can purchase the book here, and otherwise, here's the usual assortment of links to our podcast's presences elsewhere online: Discord: https://discord.gg/SAryjXGm5jEmail: podcast@changelingthepodcast.comFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100082973960699Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/changelingthepodcastTwitter: https://twitter.com/changelingcast ... where to find andrew Andrew, meanwhile, can be found online at: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/a.goodman.illustrates/Paved with Good Intentions on the Storytellers' Vault: https://www.storytellersvault.com/product/389315?affiliate_id=3063731Roots of Legend on the Storytellers' Vault: https://www.storytellersvault.com/product/354523?affiliate_id=3063731 And possibly also just around Discord, though that might be more rumor than fact...! ... more on the dullahan Andrew mentioned the YouTube show Monstrum as a source of inspiration for this project, in particular their episode on those very same dullahan of Irish lore. Herewith is the video of that episode, in case you'd like to watch for yourself, as a prelude to tumbling down the mythological rabbit hole yourself: ... your hosts Josh Hillerup (any pronoun) would like to point out that there's an obvious headless horseman connection we could have drawn to a certain modern fantasy media figure, but since we're contractually forbidden to do so, we'll just call them "Schnozzgül" and let you figure it out. Pooka G (any pronoun/they) has only been on a motorcycle (really more of a dirtbike) once, and it (might have) involved some illegal/sketchy border crossing, and let's leave it (along with the whole being-on-a-motorcycle thing) at that. "Villainy wears many masks, none so dangerous as the mask of virtue." —Ichabod Crane in Tim Burton's Sleepy Hollow

Another week, another episode in our series of Octobrish delights... this time, we are returning to our bookshelves to pull some inspirational fiction for the more uncanny, eerie, and unsettling side of Changeling: the Dreaming. We're going through 10(-ish) books and story collections that keep us up at night, and seeing how we can translate that into the themes and moods of the game. (This was also kind of an unexpected topic, so we had very little time to prepare, and it shows—apologies!) Some links to our presences elsewhere in the digital realm: Discord: https://discord.gg/SAryjXGm5j Email: podcast@changelingthepodcast.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100082973960699 Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/changelingthepodcast Twitter: https://twitter.com/changelingcast ... the list (this time) Angela Carter, The Bloody Chamber — One of the earlier collections that adapt and modernize fairy tales, Carter's work takes a decidedly feminist approach. Her work was influential on many of the fantasy authors who followed her, and being a literary theorist, she knew what she was about when it came to crafting a darkly fantastic story.Mark Z. Danielewski, House of Leaves — It's a piecemeal text drawing on numerous traditions and formats and histories. It's a retelling of the myth of the Labyrinth and the Minotaur. It's an experiment in surrealist writing. It's a horror story about a house and the family whose children disappear within it. Danielewski's work is always challenging, but the elegant precision of this novel is matched only by the madness lurking under the surface. There is a whole community of die-hard fans who discuss every little connection, hint, and reference (and there are thousands), if you feel like vanishing into an abyss of your own. Neil Gaiman, Coraline — We could have easily gone with The Ocean at the End of the Lane or Mr. Punch or any number of other Gaiman yarns, but this one seemed the Right One to talk about at the intersection of Changeling and creepy-style horror. It's a bit more Lost than Dreaming, maybe, but a pitch-perfect dark faerie tale for modern times. Check out the publisher's page for more information (or go watch the trailer for the film) (or find more about the musical, or the opera, or...)E.T.A. Hoffmann, "The Sandman" and other stories — Hoffmann is a landmark figure in the history of the German Romantic movement, known for his creepy and unsettling literary fairy tales. Freud discussed this tale at length in his essay on the "uncanny," which opens our episode; the text of that essay is freely available here from MIT.Marlon James, Black Leopard, Red Wolf — The most recent entry on this list is also the most epic, perhaps. It's set against the backdrop of African folklore, features a party of misfits in search of a missing boy, and has some of the most nightmarish tableaux ever set to paper in a fantasy novel. It's delightfully queer, shamelessly vulgar, and occasionally shockingly gory... so it fits our brief perfectly for this episode. Read Gautam Bhatia's excellent review in Strange Horizons for more.Stephen King, Misery — This novel fits more into the Autumn People and/or Ravaging and/or Autumn Sidhe Frailty realm of horror, since there are few overt supernatural elements in it. But it's definitely a good example of how even the mundane can become horrific without warning. Again, we could have chosen any number of King writings... except that neither of us has read enough to really make a thorough study of his bibliography, so this one will have to do.China Miéville, King Rat — One part Neverwhere, one part American Gods (though before it was written); one part Changeling, one part Ratkin. Miéville's debut novel explores the gritty underground of London and what one finds there, through the lens of a protagonist that discovers his connection to a pantheon of vermin-gods. It's very 90s with its aesthetics, and centers on solving a murder, and what could be more classic White Wolf than that?Edgar Allen Poe, "The Telltale Heart" and other stories — Not long after Hoffmann's heyday, Poe "invented" the American horror story with his elaborate Gothic treatments of madness, crimes of passion, guilt, and uncertain realities. His work is public domain at this point, so you can read any and all of it through Wikisource, if you've a mind to.William Shakespeare, Macbeth — Who doesn't know a thing or two at this point about the Scottish play? Besides being an epic story that combines political intrigue, high drama, and classical tragedy, the supernatural lurks on the fringes of the narrative as a force of chaos. The tale's mutability is demonstrated by the wide range of adaptations out there—including the recent one starring Denzel Washington—but Pooka would officially like to recommend the clunky madcap offering that is Scotland, PA, where the action is transposed to a suburban fast food joint in the 70s.Patrick Süskind, Perfume — A modern classic that doesn't get much attention on this side of the Atlantic, this "story of a murderer" begins with a simple conceit: a protagonist with a superhuman sense of smell, yet no scent of his own. He becomes a master perfumer, and cultivates an obsession with creating the perfect perfume for himself out of the most beautiful aroma he's encountered—that of teenage virgins. It's a lurid and gruesome work, more clinical than gratuitous, set against the backdrop of pre-revolutionary France. Check out the trailer of the so-so film for an idea of that adaptation; apparently there was a Netflix adaptation recently too? Either way, it's good material for a particularly nasty bogie. Honorable mentions go to Clive Barker and H.P. Lovecraft, but we didn't really have the space to get deeply into them. Another time, perhaps...! ... your hosts Josh Hillerup (any pronoun) has never danced with the devil in the pale moonlight, but once patty-caked with a psychopomp in the murky dusk, which is almost the same thing? Pooka G (any pronoun/they) doesn't miss nightmares about velociraptors and whatnot, but by the same token could do without these anxiety dreams about being awkward at garden parties. 'I recognize terror as the finest emotion and so I will try to terrorize the reader. But if I find that I cannot terrify, I will try to horrify, and if I find that I cannot horrify, I'll go for the gross-out. I'm not proud." —Stephen King

As October dawns, it's only fitting that we should get into it with a deep dive into the guide to that creepiest of kiths, Kithbook: Sluagh. We actually... don't really have many notes this time! Both of us agreed that it was probably our favorite kithbook, that there was very little we'd do to change it (except maybe axe that THEORY), and we didn't really have many asides to dump in the show notes. As mentioned last time, the show notes will from now on feature links to our social sites above the fold: Discord: https://discord.gg/SAryjXGm5j Email: podcast@changelingthepodcast.com Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100082973960699 Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/changelingthepodcast Twitter: https://twitter.com/changelingcast But in the interest of having something to drop in the main portion, perhaps this little meditation on that THEORY... end of the cycle So, even more irksome than their continued positioning as the true baddies in Changeling's 1st edition, certain sluagh have a theory that each time a Kithain reincarnates, they "diminish" a bit, losing some of their fae energy. They start out as sidhe, and then come back in their next life as a commoner, working their way through the kiths until they end as sluagh (after which they might become wraiths, which is supposedly why the sluagh can talk to them). This is presented in an in-character letter from one sluagh researcher to another, but then backed up with a 5(!) point Flaw where you know this "truth" about sluagh existence. It's kind of like Dark Fate, but its in-game effect is to just make you really nihilistic and morose. To put it politely, we are less than fond of this idea. For starters, there are holes large enough to pilot a nocker airship through. While sidhe incarnating as commoners has been established elsewhere, what is the "order" of kiths that one moves through otherwise? What about all the kiths that have been introduced in the meantime—are clurichaun and ghille dhu in the mix? There are references to sluagh reincarnating as sluagh, and large swathes of the fae population as a whole have Remembrance as an actual Trait, so you'd think they'd surely have noticed this progression by now. And if the Shattering peaked in the 14th century, necessitating the Changeling Way, that's going to be longer than eight lifetimes, barring some unusual circumstances. So there must be a time delay between incarnations or there must have been large numbers of new fae souls entering the world, else the sluagh would certainly outnumber the rest of the kiths. But what matters most is that it just changes the fundamental nature of the game. Wraith: the Oblivion is the game for teetering on the edge of nonexistence; it's right there in the name. (And yet even that game has a measure of hope.) Changeling is not about that; it's built instead on epic quests and adventures, sweeping emotion and dastardly villains, intrigue and madness and camaraderie and horror. To fold in an idea that invites characters to... sit around and do nothing because they know this is their last lifetime... doesn't really seem like a good fit for most RPGs, and Changeling among the least of all. It's certainly possible for a character to be a nihilist and have this theory, but we reject the notion that it is somehow the truth of the matter—and thankfully, it seems to have slipped quietly out of the canon. Anyway, it's a footnote in the history of the game, and you are welcome to use it if you want. (You just won't see us doing so.) ... your hosts Josh Hillerup (any pronoun) ain't afraid of no ghost! Pooka G (any pronoun/they) fears no man, no beast, neither prophet nor priest, but trembles and balks at a pinch of fine salt. "I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain." —Bene Gesserit litany