Changeling the Podcast

If you haven't played Changeling before, we welcome you to listen through our little primer here. We give an overview of the game's history, what we see as the moods and themes, a summary of changelings' in-game origins, and a glossary of useful terms. And just for shiggles, here are those same terms, alphabetized, for your eyeballs' pleasure: Arcadia: mythical homeland paradise of the changelings deep in the Dreaming, from which many of those on Earth were banished or kept awayArts and Realms: groups of related magical effects (Arts) and related targets (Realms) that comprise fae magicThe Autumn World: Earth, or its fleshier side at leastBanality: the force of sameness, conformity, disbelief, dullness, apathy, and stasis that changelings struggle againstCantrip: a fae "spell", often created by a changeling using Glamour and drawing on the power of the DreamingChimera/Chimerical reality: dreams given form, and sometimes a life of their own, populating our world at a level of perception that only the fae and their friends interact with (usually)Concordia: the federation of changeling kingdoms that cover Canada, the United States, and MexicoThe Dreaming: the fluid and chaotic realm created from human dreams (and from which human dreams arise), which changelings can enter and exploreFreehold: a changeling hang-out where they can be themselves and recover their strengthGallain: catch-all term used by Kithain for all kiths that are unfamiliar to themGlamour: the force of dream/nightmare, creativity, wonderment, emotion/passion, inspiration, and belief that keeps the fae soul vibrantKith: a "family" of changelings, derived from a particular set of dreams; there are many of theseKithain: catch-all term for the nine (in older editions) or thirteen (in the newest edition) kiths that are most common in ConcordiaMien: a changeling's chimerical appearance that shows their fae nature, coterminous with their human body, which other fae can seeThe Mists: mysterious force that clouds the minds of those moving between the Dreaming and the Autumn World, and hides the fae from mortal memoryNobles and Commoners: a class distinction amongst fae that is reinforced by the power of the Dreaming; source of much political dramaSeeming: the life stage of a changeling, who moves between childling (youthful, energetic), wilder (coming of age, passionate), and grump (mature, thoughtful)The Sundering and The Shattering: historical eras when the Dreaming slowly started separating from Earth as humans' belief in the fae eroded, leading to the definitive moment (14th century, in Europe) when the fae were forced to either abandon Earth or take on human flesh (the Changeling Way) to surviveTrod: paths lacing the landscape of the Dreaming, occasionally connecting to portals in the Autumn World (Host note: we totally didn't mention "freehold" in the episode, but it's an important one!) Your Hosts Josh Hillerup believes that the secret to the universe is [REDACTED]. Pooka G (any pronoun/they) once snorted a blue Pixy Stik, just to see what it was like. (It was unpleasant.) ... "Stories of imagination tend to upset those without one." —Terry Pratchett (psst! email us at podcast@changelingthepodcast.com if you want)

Greets and welcomes! So, if you're here, you were either looking for Changeling: the Podcast, or you weren't. If it's the former, success! If it's the latter, we hope you'll stick around and peruse for a bit, at least! This is our first podcast and first attempt at show notes (eek); let's see how this goes. But anyway, this is a podcast about Changeling: the Dreaming, a TTRPG (tabletop roleplaying game) first produced by White Wolf in the 1990s/early 2000s, then Onyx Path in the late 2010s, and currently dormant until its next incarnation. It's about faerie souls in human bodies trying to make it in a bleaker version of our modern world (a.k.a. the World of Darkness), trying to keep wonder, adventure, magic, dreams, and nightmares alive in spite of the slow erosion of belief. We'll be tracing the history of the game from its earliest days to its ever-tenuous present, with deep dives into the sourcebooks, discussions about Topics of Import, interviews with other fans/figures in the Changeling-verse, and whatever else we can come up with. Come for the Glamour, stay for the vibes. This episode is mostly us talking about ourselves, our love of the game (and other games), and various tidbits to whet your appetite for future episodes. It was as much a mic test as anything else; we'll forgive you if you skip it. But then you might never know mysterious factoids about our origins...! Your Hosts Josh Hillerup is a long-time gamer, LARPer and Changeling aficionado based out of Canada… Pooka G (any pronoun/they) started with RPGs by sneaking a look at the D&D red box one afternoon and making a character before anyone could stop them. They discovered Changeling as a young teen, joined some Internet forums on the subject, and it was all downhill from there. When not writing homebrew supplements, turning up for a session now and then, or ranting about games on Discord, they devour anything and everything to do with language like some kind of lexical redcap, and skulk the dimly-lit corners of Northeastern U.S. bookstores and alleyways like some kind of typical sluagh. Shout-Outs This podcast was pretty directly inspired by a few others, so credit where credit's due: Mage: the Podcast - conversations about Mage: the Ascension, the other WoD game near and dear to our heartsWerewolf: the Podcast - deep learnings about Werewolf: the Apocalypse; do you see the common title thread here?Walking Away from Arcadia - a much-beloved Changeling podcast of wit and wonderThe Story Told - reviews and broad discussions of the ever-widening tabletop universe in generalOP Cast - deep dives into the Trinity Continuum, another shared game universe from Onyx Path ... “The world is full of painful stories. Sometimes it seems as though there aren't any other kind and yet I found myself thinking how beautiful that glint of water was through the trees.“ —Octavia Butler, Parable of the Sower (psst! email us at podcast@changelingthepodcast.com if you want)