Changeling the Podcast Joshua HIllerup and Pooka Gar

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