Changelings aren't the only ones who step outside the fleshly realm from time to time. Human magi have also been known to wander the farther spaces, and it's not unreasonable that a fae might encounter one of these upstart travelers. Mage: the Ascension's 2nd edition supplement Book of Worlds provides an in-depth treatment of how these willworkers perceive and navigate the Otherworlds. The text mainly deals with the Umbrae, but also contains the first detailed description of the Dreaming—or "Maya", to use their term. (It was early 1996, so very little had even been written for Changeling: the Dreaming at that point.) In this episode, Josh and Pooka pull some highlights from the book that are most relevant to CtD players, from the dreamscapes of Hollywood to mysterious spirit-muses, a smattering of those corners of the Dreaming mages have thus far explored, a space that is indeed vast... but what percentage of infinity is that?

If you'd like to flip through the Otherworldly gazetteer yourself, check out https://www.storytellersvault.com/en/product/62217?affiliate_id=3063731 for options. Other links you might wish to click include our socials, such as:

Josh Hillerup (any pronoun) is only two planets away from a free gift on the Magrathea punch-card!

As for me, I am tormented with an everlasting itch for things remote. I love to sail forbidden seas, and land on barbarous coasts.

Once in a while, you actually want to play the game you're into. But if you can't think of a good complex plot for your players or don't have the time, what to do? Why, the pre-packaged story, of course! The first edition of Changeling: the Lost had two of these released in the "Storyteller Adventure System" or SAS format: ENnie Award-winner "The Fear-Maker's Promise" and "The Rose-Bride's Plight". And here nearing the end of the run, The Fear-Maker's Promise Compilation collects them in print, along with a pre-generated "Personae" motley. Fetch took the extra step of running both modules for extra Storytelling insights, so tune in as we talk structures and characters while desperately maintaining our pledge of no spoilers.

NOTE: these two modules, the first one in particular, both feature some heavy themes. We don't go into deep detail about those topics in each during our discussion, but we do list some content warnings for your information, especially if you're going to pick up this book.

And speaking of picking up the book, you can do so here: https://www.storytellersvault.com/en/product/92561?affiliate_id=3063731. (For reasons unclear, it's listed as the Compendium on the Vault, despite the cover title...) The individual modules are also available at:

And as for us...!

Pooka G (any pronoun/they) is more of a cheer-baker than a fear-maker. Stuffing waffles for everyone!

True, I talk of dreams;

Whatever you need, chances are you can find it—along with a few things you absolutely don't—in the goblin markets of the Hedge and similarly liminal spaces. The market is a dumping ground for any and all story hooks, an opportunity to dole out all kinds of boons, and a space to explore the more ordinary side of fae socialization. While markets are regularly featured in Changeling: the Lost books, the eponymous book Goblin Markets goes into brisk yet exquisite detail about their mechanics and possibilities. It's a short one, clocking in at less than 50 pages, but the density of crunch gives us plenty to talk about the wonders and dangers lurking behind every tent flap. Get your fistful of trinkets for trade at the ready as we delve into the winding passages of changeling commerce. Who knows what deals you might find today?

If you're in the mood to explore a more digital market for things fae, you can pick up this volume at https://www.storytellersvault.com/en/product/64285?affiliate_id=3063731. And while you wander the online Hedge, maybe you'll stumble through one of these gateways and therein find us:

Pooka G (any pronoun/they) prefers night markets where nobody can see how many goblin fruit you've quietly pilfered.

Commerce! beneath whose poison-breathing shade

Once more unto the breach, dear listeners, once more... Pooka is doing the PAX Unplugged thing this weekend, and spent their Friday accosting various TTRPG creators in the expo hall for short on the spot interviews. Herewith the fruits of those labors! As always for these convention minisodes, shouting through a mask over thousands of people in a cavernous space doesn't make for the best acoustics, but hopefully everything is still audible enough for you to get a sense of these games and their creators. If you also happen to be in attendance, do check out their booths (indicated below); if not, well, that's why the gods created the internet.

The interviewees and their presences:

And then our usuals:

Pooka G (any pronoun/they) will carry on with the ritual of acquiring remaindered 90s TTRPG books until time reverses and THAC0 lives again.

It is a happy talent to know how to play.

The start of each day is the beginning of a new world, or so they say. As we open up the other half of our pair of liminal books, Swords at Dawn, we are reminded that this is a time of change and transition, new opportunities and new directions... in theory, at least. Whether or not the book itself bears out that theme is something we discuss at length in this week's episode. This is the "player-aspected" book of the dusk/dawn pairing for Changeling: the Lost's first edition, and the last of the full-on hardcovers to be produced for that line. Information about wars and duels, new talecrafting systems, a passel of tokens and treasures, and the optimistic Dawn Court round out this volume, each of which we consider in turn. Join us for the readthrough and see what light through yonder podcast breaks...!

The book can be purchased at https://www.storytellersvault.com/en/product/63362?affiliate_id=3063731, to which we herewith add our usual smattering of links for chitchat and whatnot:

Pooka G (any pronoun/they) has perfected the art of hitting Snooze on the alarm and diving back in for the last dream's post-credits scene.

Mole stood still a moment, held in thought. As one wakened suddenly from a beautiful dream, who struggles to recall it, and can re-capture nothing but a dim sense of the beauty of it, the beauty! Till that, too, fades away in its turn, and the dreamer bitterly accepts the hard, cold waking and all its penalties...

Back to the Dreaming bookshelf this week...! Pooka once again attempted to flex some language skills (with a little bit of help from WordReference) to read through Sueños en Guerra, a supplement produced as part of the Kickstarter to translate Changeling's 20th Anniversary Edition into Spanish. This short adventure has never been released in English, but the folks at Nosolorol, the official Spanish publisher for White Wolf content, were kind enough to provide a copy for review so that Pooka could skim and summarize. This minisode will cover some basics about what's in the module and a bit of discussion around the game's localized versions; mostly, this is an intermezzo until the next full-length installment.

Although the module itself is not available online for purchase, we can point you towards the Spanish–English Glosarios produced by Biblioteca Oscura (the official Spanish writers for White Wolf content) at https://www.bibliotecaoscura.com/recursosydescargas/glosarios/. The basic one for C20 that was created for the Kickstarter is in PDF form, and an extended version with terms from the rest of the line is available in GDoc form. The other X20 lines are also represented there, if you're interested! And then, depending on your Spanish or your determination to translate the auto-generated transcript, you can watch a short interview on the module with its author, Concepción Perea, here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bvbAY8a7pWA.

Meanwhile, the rest of the links are all about us, sorry:

Pooka G (any pronoun/they) has drunk many times from the Font de Canaletes and will get back to Barcelona one day for good...

Por la calleja vienen

The fae are all about liminality and change, an idea reinforced by the next pair of books we'll be considering in Changeling: the Lost's first edition run. We begin with Dancers in the Dusk, a hodgepodge of strange mechanics, curious foes, subtle magics, and new allegiances that all hearken back to the notion and feel of twilight. Sometimes this is overt, as with the Dusk Court and their focus on fatalism, and sometimes more abstract, such as when we flip through an astrological schema to talk about the symbolic nature of dreams. It's a heady mix of things that push the game into several new directions at once, which every good TTRPG book should strive to do. Join us for a spell as we talk about what worked and what didn't for each of us in this particular attempt...

You can pick up the book for your own collection at https://www.storytellersvault.com/en/product/60527?affiliate_id=3063731, and while you're clicking links (or walking through dream-gates, as the case may be), do consider stopping by one of our social spaces as well:

Pooka G (any pronoun/they) gets a thrill out of conjugating gloam as a verb and finding new translations; some individuals are just like that.

My candle burns at both ends;

It's the most spoopiest tiiiime of the year...! As we enter Halloweek, it seems appropriate that we're delving into a stack of antagonists gruesome and strange for Changeling: the Lost's first edition, namely Night Horrors: Grim Fears. Heartless changelings (literally, in at least one case), peculiar hobgoblins, and stranger things abound. This was the first book in the line after their decision to extend it beyond the initial six books, so it had a lot of expectation to live up to. It's focused on its brief—seriously, it's just write-ups for possible foes, one after the other—but they're done with remarkable diligence and depth. We're talking about each one in turn this week, highlighting some favorites and talking about their utility in games, so get your shields up and dive in with us.

The book is available for purchase at https://www.storytellersvault.com/en/product/58364?affiliate_id=3063731, and until the end of October, it's 40% off as part of the Month of Darkness sale. Consider browsing and picking up some of our community's homebrew titles while you're there, which are now conveniently laid out in this handy-dandy spreadsheet. Otherwise, feel free to reach out and metaphorically touch us via the following:

Pooka G (any pronoun/they) knows there's nothing to fear except fear itself. And also that guy who locks eyes with you while licking a dagger.

We have met the enemy and he is us.

We're about a month late to the balance-of-day-and-night party, but it's still very much a season of shifting light, so it's appropriate that we're wandering down the Equinox Road this week. As the last book planned for the original run of Changeling: the Lost 1e, there was a lot riding on this conclusion to the line that dealt with endgames and the final portentous trek into Faerie... except the developers then decided to keep going because the game was so popular, and the road wound on. So! We've done our best to do justice to its twists and turns, in the hopes that Storytellers might find it useful at any step in their chronicle's journey. Hang out a while, flip some pages with us, et cetera.

The book is available at https://www.storytellersvault.com/en/product/57384?affiliate_id=3063731, and currently 40% off for the Month of Darkness sale on the Storytellers' Vault. The devastating opening story that we mention in this episode can be read by clicking on the Preview for the title. We also encourage you to check out other titles, especially Changeling homebrew by members of our community (of which there is ample). Otherwise, find us at:

Pooka G (any pronoun/they) wonders if anyone has used "Equinox" as a name for a brand of horse tranquilizer.

End, begin, all the same. Big change. Sometimes good, hmph, sometimes bad.

At long last...!

So, one thing after another happened in our lives this summer, and the hiatus lasted longer than we anticipated or intended. But! We are back for another handful of episodes to round out the Season, kicking off today with a readthrough of Lords of Summer. This volume for Changeling: the Lost's first edition explored the concept of freeholds and provided a wealth of information for the four main Courts, giving us a much-needed look at the politics and society of the fae. We also get some fascinating new Entitlements for the Lost who needs some added purpose in their life. As with the other books in the game's first wave, this one is dense with material, and a lot of our discussion has been cut or condensed to fit into the episode. But equally, we hope as always that it's informative and sheds some light on the lore of the 'lings.

You can snag a copy of the volume at https://www.storytellersvault.com/en/product/56375?affiliate_id=3063731, and note that it's currently 40% off for the Month of Darkness sale on the Storytellers' Vault. (Maybe fill out your collection with some other discounted books while you're at it, especially the homebrew Changeling stuff created by the community...!) Apart from that, if you'd like to reach out and bother us politely, feel free to do so via the following:

Pooka G (any pronoun/they) qualified for an Autumn Court Scrivener position thanks to some fiercely effective bullet journaling.

Never speak disrespectfully of Society, Algernon. Only people who can't get into it do that.