Changeling the Podcast

And now for something rather different... we're stepping out of the Changeling canon and into the wonderful world of late 90s/early 00s homebrew with Changeling: the Celtic Cycle. Written by three World of Darkness authors, CtCC radically re-imagines the world of Changeling: no Glamour and Banality, no Dreamers to cultivate, no Dreaming separate from the Umbra. Instead, the fae in this version of the game are directly inspired by Celtic mythology and epic. The supplement was released in three installments as part of a zine, in all its early-days-of-desktop-publishing glory, and is as much an interesting historical artifact for that context as for its contents. But the authors also went on to be involved in Book of Lost of Houses, Dark Ages: Fae, and Changeling: the Lost, with all of which we see a few subtle connections... The text is findable online, but we'll also have it available in our Discord (link below!). Some other links include: A few homebrew books by Pooka that poke at a couple of these themes are mentioned in this episode, which you can snag at https://www.storytellersvault.com/product/381967?affiliate_id=3063731, https://www.storytellersvault.com/product/418295?affiliate_id=3063731, or https://www.storytellersvault.com/product/412055?affiliate_id=3063731. While the links provided in the notes at the end of the supplement are mostly defunct or broken, a couple of them have stood the test of time... we would point you in particular to https://pantheon.org/, the Encyclopedia Mythica (a one-stop source for many a folkloric tidbit before Wikipedia was a thing), and https://www.luminarium.org/mythology/ireland/, a hefty collection of Irish myth in particular. Need some Irish curses on the spot? Take your pick from https://www3.smo.uhi.ac.uk/gaeilge/donncha/focal/features/mallacht (the modern one) or https://www3.smo.uhi.ac.uk/sengoidelc/donncha/maldacht (Old Irish). As always, our own passel of social media links: 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) went looking for Changeling: the Danish Cycle, but only found a kith that could shapechange into flaky pastries. Pooka G (any pronoun/they) favors the Branch of Rhiannon, for which one sympathy is to wear a full-on Stevie Nicks ensemble. High on the mountain stands a boat But are they gods or real folk? We can't see the fire but we smell the smoke Who'll take the plough? Who'll be the yoke? –Horslips, "Trouble with a Capital T"

What makes a kithbook, really? And what makes a kithbook great? Is Kithbook: Pooka, the fourth and fuzziest of the splatbooks for Changeling, a noteworthy representative of this category, or simply so much curiously stained paper to arrange on a shelf? Can these questions really be answered? Is this a rhetorical question? When you think of the pooka in all of their circumlocutory glory, do you think of fables and furries and curious mechanics for hashing out their animal forms? Or are you a Werewolf player seeking a less fraught outlet for your character's white-hot, misanthropic, environmentalist Rage? Can an entire podcast post in the interrogative mood be a type of Pooka-ese? Could we have decided to organize this post, if not this episode, any other way? Will you listen on and find out? Will you lift our spirits with your kind attention? Also, did you know that you can give feedback on our show in a bunch of places on the internet? 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) achieves an impressively low rate of cuss-language on the show for a nocker, wouldn't you say? Pooka G (any pronoun/they) isn't much of a pooka at all, are they? "Tell all the truth but tell it slant —" —Emily Dickinson

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

Don't worry, we're not totally casting off our roots quite yet. While Changeling: the Dreaming was in deep freeze, the mantle of "modern personal horror fae game" was taken up by Changeling: the Lost, a rather different entry in the (new) World/Chronicles of Darkness. At a glance, Lost shares a lot of terms and concepts with Dreaming, but digging into it, the game diverges significantly from its predecessor. This doesn't mean it's a bad game! We're giving it a fair shake this week and talking generally about some of its setting, the unique position it carves out among the lines, and how we feel it relates to Dreaming—especially since this was maybe the primary replacement we had to work with until C20. Navigate the Hedge to leave us some goblin fruit at: 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) has a Contract that runs maple syrup in the veins of enemies. Pooka G (any pronoun/they) prefers goblin viennoiseries. And in his brain, Which is as dry as the remainder biscuit After a voyage, he hath strange places cramm'd With observation, the which he vents In mangled forms. —William Shakespeare, As You Like It, II.7

As we alluded to in our minisode about the unreleased Book of Glamour and Keys to the Kingdom, there was one more title done dirty by the unceremonious end of Changeling's 2nd edition. The long-lamented Kithbook: Boggans was on the putative release schedule (and available for pre-order) until long after the line's conclusion. When it became clear that the book would not be materializing, [cue dramatic music] an intrepid band of netizens and boggan devotees, led by Thad Papke, took it upon themselves to assemble their own Kithbook. And this kithbook would be a beacon unto the community! For it would shine a light on the kith in all their misunderstood glory, completing the cycle and inspiring players and STs alike to rise up and say, our game! our kithbook! our Concordia! (OK, maybe the last part didn't quite happen like that.) Nevertheless, it's a solid piece of text from an era when the culture of homebrew was a lot more scattered (a historical context we discuss in this episode). Eventually, the boggans did get their own official kithbook—to be covered in a future episode—but for over a decade, this was what was on offer, setting an impressive bar for future fan efforts. Have a listen to our discussion at: You can also craft us a message via: 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) proudly owns the boggan Treasure shoebox that untangles all the random wires and cables you store within it. Pooka G (any pronoun/they) absconded with the boggan Treasure toaster oven that perfectly reheats any kind of leftovers. Yet such is oft the course of deeds that move the wheels of the world: small hands do them because they must, while the eyes of the great are elsewhere. —Elrond, of Frodo, in J.R.R. Tolkien's Fellowship of the Ring

We're tackling a slightly heavy subject today, talking about neurodiversity and ableism in the context of Changeling: the Dreaming. There are numerous ways in which these arise allegorically and literally in the pages of the game. We cover a few broad topics, but really we're just scratching the surface here, framing our interpretations of the themes with our particular perspectives and experiences. Regardless of what your own may be, we hope this episode encourages you to pause and think, and maybe do some exploring outside the realm of the game itself. (And if it's not your cup of tea, we won't be offended if you skip—but we look forward to seeing you next time!) 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) reserves Unleashings for dealing swiftly with the prejudiced and ignorant. Pooka G (any pronoun/they) swoons into phonological pleasure from the double dactylic rhythm of the word "neurodiversity". Difference is that raw and powerful connection from which our personal power is forged. —Audre Lorde

We're informed in Dark Ages: Fae that "the Oath-Truce falls with the darkening sky"... but it took another decade for the creators of the line to fulfill that promise. In this solo minisode, Pooka talks a bit about the eponymous supplement, Darkening Sky, released at last in 2014. This coda to the Revised line provides five stories centered around the eclipse of 1230 AD, whereby we get the only canon material for the Fae outside of the corebook. It's a quaint little adventure that draws on a few disparate threads, but also attempts to tie the Dark Ages setting more directly to Changeling: the Dreaming, with... a measure of success? Anyway, it's not very much content, and we're not in the business of spoiling adventures people might want to run—especially since this is the meatier of two total that the line received—so this is just a minisode for your midweek listening pleasure. For your purchasing pleasure, here's the link to the book on the Storytellers' Vault: https://www.storytellersvault.com/product/125594?affiliate_id=3063731 And from there, do darken (or better yet, brighten!) our own skies with your presence at: 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) would like to encourage Tam Lin to keep his fiddle in its case for once, when a young mortal Janet wanders by. The reappearance of the light is the same as the survival of the soul. —Victor Hugo

And now for something completely different...! We're diving into one of the last books for the old World of Darkness this week—and we do mean OLD, for the book in question is Dark Ages: Fae. Technically a spin-off of Dark Ages: Vampire, and one of the standalone corebooks in the Dark Ages line, this is both the only full Revised book and historical setting that we got for Changeling: the Dreaming. Whether it's actually the latter is debatable, and we will indeed be keeping its suitability in mind as we flip through the pages. But there are also some hints of bridging the gap between the original run of the game and what came after, notably Changeling: the Lost and C20. We'll be talking Weavings and Echoes, Oaths and Origins, Firstborn and Fading Realms... whether it works well or not, there's plenty of material here to consider. There's a whole passel of links for things mentioned in the show this week: The Dark Ages: Fae corebook, itself! https://www.storytellersvault.com/product/710?affiliate_id=3063731 Friend of the show Andrew Goodman's book Roots of Legend gets mentioned...: https://www.storytellersvault.com/product/354523?affiliate_id=3063731 ...as does Pooka's Book of Days: https://www.storytellersvault.com/product/412055?affiliate_id=3063731 We also talk about the World of Dark Ages podcast and their two episodes on this tome, which can be found at https://wodarkages.squarespace.com/podcast/dark-ages-fae-part-1 and https://wodarkages.squarespace.com/podcast/dark-ages-fae-part-2 respectively. And then our usual social media whatnots: 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) prefers the term "Slightly Overcast Ages". Pooka G (any pronoun/they) can't say the word "Hohenzollern" without breaking into giggles. Sumer is icumen in Lhude sing cuccu! Groweþ sed and bloweþ med and springþ þe wde nu— Sing cuccu! —Traditional round

Behold the minisode! Today we're diving into the Library of What Could Have Been, as we talk about two books that we never actually got for Changeling: Book of Glamour and Keys to the Kingdom. Long-promised, partly written, and much desired, the complete guide to fae magic and the globetrotting metaplot adventures lingered in the dreams of 2e players even after the old World of Darkness had been detonated. Presumably some of the material made it into the 20th anniversary edition; the signs remain unclear. Nevertheless, we managed to scrape together some tidbits and information to talk about, so for those of you who didn't live through the slowly suffocated hopes of these books, we're here to give you the story. (And yes, Kithbook: Boggans was the third of the cancelled triad, but at least we got an unofficial, and much later an official, version of it. To be addressed in future episodes!) As always, share your own thoughts via: 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) dreams bittersweetly about the lost Art of Érablesse, the maple-themed magic of Canadian changelings. Pooka G (any pronoun/they) found a piece of the Triumph Casque's Key in a Dumpster behind the local Denny's. "It’s the hope that’s important. Big part of belief, hope. Give people jam today and they’ll just sit and eat it. Jam tomorrow, now—that’ll keep them going forever." —Terry Pratchett, Hogfather

Another week, another theme episode...! This time around, we're considering the role of morality in Changeling: the Dreaming, and the World of Darkness at large. Folklorically, the fae have always tended to dance to their own tune (and often drag hapless mortals along with them) when it comes to questions of right and wrong, good and evil, awesome and dastardly. And yet the changelings are half-human, caught between the memories of their inner nature and the modern values with which they were raised. We talk about this tension and how it is explored—or not explored—within the setting and mechanics, as well as some options for Storytellers and players to do so. It's just kind of a wide-ranging discussion this episode, which easily spawns all kinds of follow-ups that we didn't have recording time to fully pursue. So if you have Thoughts and Feelings about this aspect of the game, reach out and tell us about it, whydontcha: 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) received a Title for wiping the floor with the competition during the Spelling Bee of Honor. Pooka G (any pronoun/they) went into hiding for nine counts of disorderly knowledge at the Geography Bee of Sleaze. "Everything's got a moral if only you can find it." —The Duchess in Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland

We're baaaack...! It's the start of Season Three here at the Podcast, and we're excited to once again be bringing you some weekly-ish discourse on Changeling: the Dreaming. As we proceed chronologically through the game's history, we're now in that wilderness between the end of 2nd edition and the launch of the 20th Anniversary edition. But that doesn't mean there's nothing to say about Changeling and it's place in the World of Darkness. We're talking today about Hunter: the Reckoning, Mummy: the Resurrection, and Demon: the Fallen, three WoD games that were concurrent with the sunset and slumber of the Dreaming. There's limited information with which to suss out how these three splats view and interact with the fae, but we never said we didn't like a challenge. If you're interested in purchasing any of the corebooks for those lines: Hunter: https://www.storytellersvault.com/product/639?affiliate_id=3063731 Mummy: https://www.storytellersvault.com/product/1251?affiliate_id=3063731 Demon: https://www.storytellersvault.com/product/636?affiliate_id=3063731 In the realm of shameless promotion, there's also the Bog Bodies book for Mummy "20th" that Pooka created here: https://www.storytellersvault.com/product/395251?affiliate_id=3063731, and if you'd like to hear Mage: the Podcast's dive into the 1st and 2nd edition Mummy books, check out https://magethepodcast.com/tomes-of-magick-a-world-of-darkness-mummy/ and https://magethepodcast.com/tomes-of-magick-mummy-second-edition/ respectively and respectfully. And of course, you can contact us through the following channels for all of your questions and musings on dank monstrosities and those who pursue them: 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) suggests that sysops are prime candidates for Imbuing. Pooka G (any pronoun/they) swoons for the linguistically superb Hekau of Nomenclature. "If the apocalypse comes— beep me." —Buffy Summers

...and that's a wrap! For this year, at least; we intend to be back in a couple of months, after taking our usual winter constitutional. A happy solstice be upon you, and thanks again to everyone for sticking with us through the second half of the Season. We hope you'll help us make Season 3 one to remember as well. As reminded in the episode, we are putting together a passel of homebrew books over the course of 2024, for release on a monthly basis in 2025, in celebration of Changeling's 30th Anniversary. To that end, we are still open to knowledgeable people joining the crew for this project! Please see our public Patreon post at https://www.patreon.com/posts/changeling-30th-92652480 for more information. You're welcome to toss your name into the hat to help with any of the books listed, or to send us a pitch for another of your own. If you've been curious about getting involved in independently-created content for Changeling (or other TTRPGs), maybe this is the time? For more news and updates, click your way to any of our usual haunts, where we'd be happy to welcome you in: 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) is waiting out the Winterregnum in a fort made of marshmallows. Pooka G (any pronoun/they) will sacrifice whatever to whomever for a proper snow day this year. "Never say goodbye, because goodbye means going away, and going away means forgetting." —J.M. Barrie, Peter Pan

It's strange to go back to the end of an era, but that's the feel of things this week as we pick up Time of Judgment, finale to the old World of Darkness. After the "Big Three" each got their own book of the end times, the remaining (lower-selling) games got one chapter each in this catchall supplement. And those were the last pages of Changeling for over a decade—so it's seems fitting to cover this as our last full episode of the season. There's some Storytelling guidance and five scenarios (about which we have thoughts), and a note of bittersweetness about it all. How else could it have (for then) ended? The book is available to add to your collection at https://www.storytellersvault.com/product/699?affiliate_id=3063731, and you'll get the chapters on Demon, Hunter, Kindred of the East, and Mummy to boot! We pointed to Harbingers of Winter as well, for incorporating the Tithed Ones but also other big baddies of Changeling. That one is at https://www.storytellersvault.com/product/388455?affiliate_id=3063731, and you can listen to our interview with Charlie here: https://changelingthepodcast.com/podcast/episode-12-harbingers-of-winter-with-charlie-cantrell/. Finally, if you're into Mage and want to hear about that game's finale book Ascension, Mage: the Podcast has an informative episode on just that very topic: https://magethepodcast.com/tomes-of-magick-ascension/. Ask ye and the digisphere shall provide. As for ourselves...! 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) favors the apocalypse scenario where the nockers just try turning the Dreaming off and then on again. Pooka G (any pronoun/they) immanentized the eschaton and all they got was this lousy T-shirt. That's how it goes, you think you're on top of the world, and suddenly they spring Armageddon on you. —Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett, Good Omens

Another trip across the ocean...! Pooka put their linguistic skills to use in order to skim/translate (read: stumble through with a dictionary in one hand and a fervent prayer to the word-gods in the other) the long-lost book Trolle, Träumer, Tiefe Wälder. This German-only supplement was released near the end of 2nd Edition, and describes Germany from a Kithain perspective. (It's also the original source for the Wichtel and Wolpertinger kiths from C20, although they are rather different here...) The book is basically impossible to find for fewer than several hundred dollars at this point, so this minisode is an attempt to summarize the text and provide some information for the curious. Consider this a bonus listen before we get to—deep breath—the end of the original line... If you've got some feedback, in German or otherwise, drop us a line: 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) insists that there are very few problems of the body or soul that can't be solved with a bowl of Kürbissuppe. Denn das Schöne ist nichts als des Schrecklichen Anfang, den wir noch grade ertragen, und wir bewundern es so, weil es gelassen verschmäht, uns zu zerstören. [For beauty is nothing but the beginning of terror, which we still are just able to endure, and we are so awed because it serenely disdains to annihilate us.] —Rainer Maria Rilke, first Duino Elegy (tr. Stephen Mitchell)

Wanderers and storytellers, tricksters and rapscallions... we're diving this week into Kithbook: Eshu and all that it has to teach about this most wonderfully wayward of Kithain. This was the last full-length Changeling: the Dreaming supplement for something like fifteen years, and as presumed final entries go, it was an intriguing one. (The last page of the original print edition, though, with the ad for a book that would never materialize... that was kind of heartbreaking.) We discuss levels of appropriateness for incorporating Yorùbá religion as this book does, get into the weeds about Birthrights, and ask important questions, such as "Talecraft: why?" It's a bittersweet sunset to 2nd Edition, all things told. And what could be more Changeling than that? Wend your way over to https://www.storytellersvault.com/product/174?affiliate_id=3063731 if you'd like to purchase the PDF. And why stop there? Let your path continue to any of the following places to find out more about the show and connect 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) travels by a compass that points in nonexistent directions, like "south–north-up" and "otherwards". Pooka G (any pronoun/they) will put a girdle round about the Earth in forty minutes. 千里之行始於足下。 Qiān lǐ zhī xíng shǐ yú zú xià. [A journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step.] —Laozi, loosely translated

It's the weekend of PAX Unplugged, a three-day convention for all forms of non-digital gaming in Philadelphia, and Pooka got themself a media badge. So, in an effort to justify that, they went around doing on-the-spot quick interviews with a number of RPG creators whose work is Changeling-adjacent (mostly fairytale and mythology themed). Please forgive the sound quality; the interviews were conducted using a tiny microphone in a crowded and busy expo hall, and voices don't always travel well through N95 masks. Nevertheless, here's hoping these broaden your horizons, and if you're at PAX today, here are four booths you might want to check out... The interviews are presented in the order in which they were conducted, as are the information about the creators below: Andrew Valkauskas (Pendelhaven Games): https://www.fateofthenorns.com Fate of the Norns: https://preview.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/112998?affiliate_id=3063731 Charles Ryan (Monte Cook Games): https://www.montecookgames.com/author/charles-ryan/ Old Gods of Appalachia: https://preview.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/447290?affiliate_id=3063731 We Are All Mad Here: https://preview.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/327782?affiliate_id=3063731 Charles Ferguson-Avery: https://www.instagram.com/charlie_fergusonavery/ Feral Indie Studio: https://feral-indie-studios.itch.io/ Into the Wyrd and Wild: https://preview.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/264022?affiliate_id=3063731 Stephen Dewey (Cavalry Games): https://cavalrygames.com/ We Serve Her Wintry Hunger: https://cavalrygames.com/to-serve And as usual, for CtP's own points of contact: 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) never met a fae-themed TTRPG they didn't like. Except for THAT one!