Changeling the Podcast

Dive into the enchanting world of freeholds, the heart of changeling life. Discover the fascinating dynamics of glamour, the roles of noble and commoner freeholds, and the challenge of consensus-based decision-making. Uncover strategies for managing resources and the political intricacies of freeholder life. Explore mystical freeholds, such as those by Niagara Falls, and discuss cultural representation within the game. With engaging insights on a valuable role-playing supplement, this discussion enhances the experience for players and storytellers alike!

Alternate and/or historical settings for Changeling is always something that piques our interest. So we were keen to read the Gimme Shelter Player's Guide supplement (released April 2) that presents the fae of Swinging Sixties London. We're joined this week by the book's author, Bram Clark, who talks with us about his take on this slice of pre-Resurgence life. Clocking in at over 300 pages, the Guide is one of the longest homebrews on the entire Storytellers' Vault. Our conversation goes through the development, art, design... Bram's associated Player's Kit presaged something intriguing, but this was beyond what we expected. Hopefully this episode will give you some ideas about how to use it at your table! Many a link below! The book itself: https://www.storytellersvault.com/product/476344?affiliate_id=3063731 The pay-what-you-want Player's Kit to give you a taste: https://www.storytellersvault.com/product/408608?affiliate_id=3063731 Bram's website, Esoteric Orders: https://www.esotericorders.com/ Bram's Instagram, showcasing some of the art and inspiration in the book: https://www.instagram.com/bramclark/ We make reference to the generous character sheet work of Chris "MrGone" Leland, whom you can support by buying through the STV: https://www.storytellersvault.com/browse.php?author=Chris%20%22MrGone%22%20Leland And the links for our own stuff: Discord: https://discord.me/ctp Email: podcast@changelingthepodcast.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100082973960699 Mastodon: https://dice.camp/@ChangelingPod Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/changelingthepodcast YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ChangelingThePodcast your hosts Josh Hillerup (any pronoun) asks that you not bend, spike, fold or mutilate. Pooka G (any pronoun/they) zhooshes their riah before a bona cackle with the omi-palones, and nanti scharda. If someone thinks that love and peace is a cliché that must have been left behind in the Sixties, that's his problem. Love and peace are eternal. —John Lennon

Now that we're through the corebook for C20, other supplements seem like small (but no less nourishing) potatoes. This time around is a double feature: we're flipping through Yours to Keep, the jumpstart and intro adventure for the edition, and Ready-Made Characters, a set of 13 write-ups (one for each core kith) and sample motleys to use in your game. Joining us is author of the first book, Christine Beard!, who talks about some of the process for reading, running, and writing jumpstart modules like this one. The two supplements feature some solid material to get you into the game beyond the corebook proper, so we encourage you to have a listen and hear what's what...! Links and things: Yours to Keep on the Storytellers Vault: https://www.storytellersvault.com/product/217594?affiliate_id=3063731 Ready-Made Characters on the same: https://www.storytellersvault.com/product/225641?affiliate_id=3063731 Christine's website, The Petite Warlock: https://thepetitewarlock.com/ Christine's Mastodon: https://dice.camp/@petitewarlock Christine's actual play podcast, The Cracked Die, for Pathfinder: https://crackeddie.com/ And our panoply of social media as per usual: Discord: https://discord.me/ctp Email: podcast@changelingthepodcast.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100082973960699 Mastodon: https://dice.camp/@ChangelingPod Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/changelingthepodcast YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ChangelingThePodcast your hosts Josh Hillerup (any pronoun) runs games with ready-mades, but they are not Changeling characters; they are Duchamp sculptures. Pooka G (any pronoun/they) assumes that a horror RPG jump-start would be called a jump-scare, yes? End, begin, all the same. Big change. Sometimes good, sometimes bad. —Aughra in The Dark Crystal

And so we come to the third part of this trilogy, wherein we talk about changes to this edition. There are hundreds of little tweaks and adjustments to be found in the Changeling 20th Anniversary corebook, but we're focusing on a dozen of the most significant that stand out to us. (Slight spoiler: there's another big one that we realized after the fact we didn't talk about it... but luckily, it will apply in an upcoming episode as well.) We're looking at retconned metaplot, restructured magic systems, alternative ways of thinking about different groups of fae, and more. It's not that these three episodes have been the most comprehensive look possible at this edition and what it represents—it's just the most comprehensive we could bring ourselves to get through. If you need the first two episodes in the series, or to purchase the corebook itself: https://changelingthepodcast.com/podcast/episode-82-changeling-20-walkthrough/ https://changelingthepodcast.com/podcast/episode-83-changeling-20-the-new-stuff/ https://www.storytellersvault.com/product/210616?affiliate_id=3063731 Some other bits that found passing or heavy mention in this episode include: Our episode on War in Concordia, a text which goes deep into the late 2e metaplot: https://changelingthepodcast.com/podcast/episode-66-war-in-concordia/ And on the subject of Inanimae: the Secret Way, the text which previously talked about the nature fae: https://changelingthepodcast.com/podcast/episode-53-inanimae-the-secret-way/ The Changeling 30th Anniversary project we've been talkin about here and there: https://www.changeling30.com And the submission form for one of the books slated for that project, the Changeling Cookbook, can be found at: https://forms.gle/GMvvE26hfy628GBw9 Lastly, the places you can bother us gently and politely: Discord: https://discord.me/ctp Email: podcast@changelingthepodcast.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100082973960699 Mastodon: https://dice.camp/@ChangelingPod Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/changelingthepodcast YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ChangelingThePodcast your hosts Josh Hillerup (any pronoun) would have liked to see the Concordia map re-drawn with lines that made sense. Pooka G (any pronoun/they) could have gotten on board with the pages of each chapter having their own musky aroma. And so the days float through my eyes But still the days seem the same And these children that you spit on As they try to change their worlds Are immune to your consultations They're quite aware of what they're goin' through. —David Bowie, "Changes"

Whew. Doing a walkthrough of the corebook was kind of a marathon, but treating it as a text in isolation is only part of the story. In this (thankfully shorter, because we recorded it the same day as the first) installment, we're drawing on our grump knowledge of the previous editions to talk about the new material in this one. There's a lot that we could have covered in that description, but we're sticking with some of the big items overall: the kith creation system, Revelry, new Thallain. Everything that builds on previous editions' systems will be covered in the third and final episode of this set, on the changes in the edition. For now, these are just some ruminations and opinions on the unexpected elements that stand out to us. Some links to bits that we mentioned in this go-through include: The kith creation workshop episode: https://changelingthepodcast.com/podcast/episode-67-kith-building-workshop/ Unofficial Kithbook: Boggans by the fans: https://changelingthepodcast.com/podcast/episode-77-old-kithbook-boggans/ Pooka's homebrew supplement, Kithbook: Ghille Dhu: https://www.storytellersvault.com/product/381967?affiliate_id=3063731 Minisode on Monde des Ténèbres : France: https://changelingthepodcast.com/podcast/episode-63-5-le-monde-des-tenebres-france/ Minisode on Trolle, Träumer, Tiefe Wälder: https://changelingthepodcast.com/podcast/episode-71-5-trolle-traumer-tiefe-walder/ And if you want to reach out to weigh in on what you think we should be doing next: Discord: https://discord.me/ctp Email: podcast@changelingthepodcast.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100082973960699 Mastodon: https://dice.camp/@ChangelingPod Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/changelingthepodcast YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ChangelingThePodcast your hosts Josh Hillerup (any pronoun) wanted edible Treasure creation rules to roll up some nocker-crafted cheese puffs. Pooka G (any pronoun/they) demands mechanics for why so many changelings incarnate into human hosts with names nearly the same as their fae ones. Invention, it must be humbly admitted, does not consist in creating out of void, but out of chaos. —Mary Shelley, Frankenstein

Well, here we are at last...! After dozens of episodes covering the earlier days of the line, we are beginning our read of Changeling: the Dreaming 20th Anniversary Edition, the corebook proper. This first in a trilogy of episodes will be a walkthrough of the book, giving some concise information and commentary about each chapter. It's primarily geared towards new players, but if you are a veteran at this point, we hope you'll still enjoy the refresher. Next up are an episode about the new features of this, and then some of the changes (and our feelings on them). We reference a whole bunch of past installments in this recording, including: Any of our media inspirations episodes, but maybe this one on films: https://changelingthepodcast.com/podcast/episode-50-thirteen-films-for-inspiration/ Kith creation workshop: https://changelingthepodcast.com/podcast/episode-67-kith-building-workshop/ Running a Session Zero for Changeling: https://changelingthepodcast.com/podcast/episode-38-session-zero/ Deep dive into Dreams and Nightmares (first of three): https://changelingthepodcast.com/podcast/episode-39-dreams-nightmares-1-near-dreaming/ Advanced Storytelling techniques: https://changelingthepodcast.com/podcast/episode-55-advanced-storytelling-techniques/ Nunnehi roundtable: https://changelingthepodcast.com/podcast/episode-31-nunnehi-roundtable/ Deep dive into Land of Eight Million Dreams: https://changelingthepodcast.com/podcast/episode-54-land-of-eight-million-dreams/ And if you want to reach out to weigh in on what you think we should be doing next: Discord: https://discord.me/ctp Email: podcast@changelingthepodcast.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100082973960699 Mastodon: https://dice.camp/@ChangelingPod Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/changelingthepodcast YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ChangelingThePodcast your hosts Josh Hillerup (any pronoun) only needs eight more signatures for the petition to move the border of the Kingdom of Northern Ice. Pooka G (any pronoun/they) keeps accepting tokens of enchantment, and would you believe it, they're all caramel shortbread. The White Rabbit put on his spectacles. 'Where shall I begin, please your Majesty?' he asked. 'Begin at the beginning,' the King said gravely, 'and go on till you come to the end: then stop.' —Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland

Behold, the bonus episode! Back in December, Pooka had a chit-chat at PAX Unplugged with Terry of Mage: the Podcast and Mike of Darker Days Radio. This was released on Mage: the Podcast a couple weeks ago, but we're cross-posting it here as some random content to tide you over until everything is ready for the C20 corebook dive in a couple days. It's just a meandering conversation about TTRPGs at conventions, the state of the hobby, and our random thoughts while sitting at a table in a room that (partway through) we were informed we really weren't supposed to be in. We're rebels like that. Go check out: Mage the Podcast at: https://magethepodcast.com/ Darker Days Radio at: http://podcast.darker-days.org/ And the usual get-in-touch-with-us biz: Discord: https://discord.me/ctp Email: podcast@changelingthepodcast.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100082973960699 Mastodon: https://dice.camp/@ChangelingPod Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/changelingthepodcast YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ChangelingThePodcast your host Pooka G (any pronoun/they) tried the Dallas RPG, and it was astonishingly good, but then it turned out it was all a dream. Consider that everything is opinion, and opinion is in thy power. —Marcus Aurelius

We've spoken before about what novels and short stories bring to the World of Darkness. At best, they can provide a naturalistic feel for a lived-in world that players and Storytellers can explore; at worst, they confuse the reader and muddle the rules of the setting. There aren't nearly as many items in the data set as for other World of Darkness games (looking at you, Vampire, with your multiple clan novel series), but we received two for the 20th Anniversary Edition that bookended the line. C20 Anthology of Dreams is a collection of ten short stories that appeared before the corebook, and Immortal Eyes 4: Cup of Dreams is the fourth novel in the Immortal Eyes saga, as well as the final text released for the edition. It may be a little weird for us to combine (technically) the first and last books in the C20 run, but we decided that tackling the role of fiction like this all at once made the most sense. So we came, we read, we opined, and herein our thoughts on what these two books add to the line. Our previous episode on the Immortal Eyes trilogy is at https://changelingthepodcast.com/podcast/episode-33-the-immortal-eyes-novels/, if you'd like to do a comparative listen. You can also buy these two books at https://www.storytellersvault.com/product/209390?affiliate_id=3063731 and https://www.storytellersvault.com/product/292748?affiliate_id=3063731 for a pittance! We'd also like to highlight the Changeling Cookbook project mentioned in the intro to this episode. This is a project for our Changeling 30 initiative, to be launched next year: a dozen books released over the course of 2025, in collaboration with members of the CtP community. For this one in particular, we welcome tasty recipe submissions from our audience, which you can send in at https://forms.gle/PJspJTuMsuj4tjmr7. More information about the particulars can be found on that form; we hope you'll consider sending something in! The usual haunts for otherwise contacting us: Discord: https://discord.me/ctp Email: podcast@changelingthepodcast.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100082973960699 Mastodon: https://dice.camp/@ChangelingPod Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/changelingthepodcast YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ChangelingThePodcast your hosts Josh Hillerup (any pronoun) drank from the Cup of Dreams and only got this lousy T-shirt. Pooka G (any pronoun/they) used the Anthology's pages to press flower chimera, and now they're pressing back. "Go and tell your master that we have been charged by God with a sacred quest. If he will give us food and shelter for the night, he can join us in our quest for the Holy Grail. "Well, I'll ask him, but I don't think he will be very keen. He's already got one, you see." —King Arthur and the French soldier in Monty Python and the Holy Grail

As much as we enjoy flipping through pages and making sweeping claims about Changeling, we have never (alas) been directly involved in the production of the official game line. So for this roundtable, we invited some guests with insider knowledge: four of the writers and developers involved with the 20th Anniversary Edition. We obviously couldn't pull the curtain back too far, but these Bears With Balloons told anecdotes, shared insights, and gave us an idea of what it's like to work on a game line like this. Much laughter ensued, and we hope you'll enjoy listening as much we enjoyed chit-chatting. We've got a whole smörgåsbord of links this time, to point you towards everyone's various web presences and projects: Christine Beard's website is The Petite Warlock, at https://thepetitewarlock.com/ Christine's Mastodon: https://dice.camp/@petitewarlock Christine's Pathfinder actual play podcast, The Cracked Die: https://crackeddie.com/ Charlie Cantrell can be found as PookaKnight on many social media, such as: https://twitter.com/pookaknight?lang=en Charlie's Changeling project Facebook page is Radio Free Arcadia: https://www.facebook.com/RadioFreeArcadiaPublishing/ Ian Lemke develops material for Green Ronin: https://greenronin.com/blog/author/ianlemke/ Ian's company, Nepenthe Games, wherein the Nevermore Gothic horror RPG: https://nepenthegames.com/ If you'd like to late-back the Nevermore Kickstarter: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/nevermorerpg/nevermore-roleplaying-game Peter Woodworth's website is Positively Woodworth, at https://peterwoodworth.com/ Pete and Charlie both worked on Trinity Continuum: Aether; inform yourself at https://theonyxpath.com/category/worlds/trinitycontinuum/trinity-continuum-aether/ And for our own, should you wish to get in touch with us... Discord: https://discord.me/ctp Email: podcast@changelingthepodcast.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100082973960699 Mastodon: https://dice.camp/@ChangelingPod Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/changelingthepodcast YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ChangelingThePodcast your hosts Josh Hillerup (any pronoun) should have realized that attending a Round Table would be followed by a quest for the Cup of Dreams. Pooka G (any pronoun/they) would have preferred an Oblong Dolmen, but you work with what you've got. You get ideas from daydreaming. You get ideas from being bored. You get ideas all the time. The only difference between writers and other people is we notice when we're doing it. —Neil Gaiman

When we covered Dark Ages: Fae, we mentioned that it was the one canonical historical setting kind of for Changeling. That's not entirely true, because in the earliest days of the Exalted line, its world was lightly framed as the "prehistory" of the World of Darkness. While that aspect fell out of the setting pretty quickly, the first edition still echoes many of the modern World of Darkness games, recycling terms and ideas in novel ways. The counterpart to Changeling is Exalted: the Fair Folk, wherein we learn about the mysterious patterns of chaos pretending to be people that live in the Wyld outside the borders of Creation. That's close enough for our liking—join us as we read through this chomker of a tome and see what we can extract to inform a Changeling: the Dreaming game experience. Maybe what we find will be unexpected...! Or, you know, it might not. We can neither claim nor dismiss any kind of surprise. If you've a hankering for old-school Exalted fatsplat corebooks, you can snag this one at https://www.storytellersvault.com/product/1602?affiliate_id=3063731 for your collection. Otherwise, our own Middlemarch Demesnes are as follows: Discord: https://discord.me/ctp Email: podcast@changelingthepodcast.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100082973960699 Mastodon: https://dice.camp/@ChangelingPod Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/changelingthepodcast YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ChangelingThePodcast your hosts Josh Hillerup (any pronoun) practices Unexpected Magical Protagonist Style, the martial art that recounts a mass market paperback fantasy main character arc. Pooka G (any pronoun/they) searches for a Charm that reshapes those pesky human dreams and emotions into tasty baklava. HISTORY, n. An account mostly false, of events mostly unimportant, which are brought about by rulers, mostly knaves, and soldiers, mostly fools. —Ambrose Bierce, The Cynic's Word Book