Changeling the Podcast

You'd think that changelings would have enough headaches with the Huntsmen running around, but life is never easy in the Chronicles of Darkness, so why not some upstart mortals getting in on the fae-tracking action? We're taking a look at Hunter: the Vigil this week, to get a sense of how the cells, compacts, and conspiracies of that game might cross paths with the Lost, for better or worse for either. (And in an upcoming Dark Era crossover, cross paths indeed they might...!) There's something intriguing about playing a human with few to no advantages who decides to take on some corner of the supernatural world. As we draw ever closer to the spoopiest holiday of all, such pluckiness and/or foolishness in the face of the twisted and terrifying is to be, if not commended, at least considered. Also, grenades!

Again, we are focusing primarily on a second edition perspective for this episode, the corebook for which you can pick up at https://www.storytellersvault.com/en/product/369633?affiliate_id=3063731. Otherwise, if you'd like to share some opinions about hunters and their whole Vigil thing, well:

Pooka G (any pronoun/they) proudly follows the hunters of the Homogenic compact (disc), organizing freedom and bringing back the goods.

People are supposed to fear the unknown, but ignorance is bliss when knowledge is so damn frightening.

What does it mean to be a monster? While the Lost might certainly have an opinion or two (whether about themselves, their Keepers, or the other nightmares that stalk the Hedge), we turn this week to one of the more classic expressions of the concept: the constructed person, à la Frankenstein. It's time to open up the game dedicated to all their messy glory, Promethean: the Created, and see how we can integrate it into Changeling. Like our previous Chronicles of Darkness crossover episodes, we're tackling this one (and the next two) as preparation for dealing with the second batch of Dark Eras, all of which involve multiple lines. But for today, we're solely concerned with these shambling pilgrims on the road to humanity, with their alchemical Divine Fire and their tendency to generate torch-wielding mobs through no fault of their own. For the fae, will they be friend or foe? We'll do our best to give you the tools to decide for yourself...!

The second edition corebook is our point of departure (even though we're pointing to some of the first edition material) and can be purchased at https://www.storytellersvault.com/en/product/189395?affiliate_id=3063731. And if you love the Prometheans as much as we do (unlikely! but not impossible!), tell us all about it through any of these:

Pooka G (any pronoun/they) follows the Refinement of Coffea, fueled by the Divine Fire of espresso shots.

I am buried here. You can resurrect me, but only piecemeal. If you want to see the whole, you will have to sew me together yourself.

A century and a half of full episodes! Or perhaps more appropriately, this is episode CL in Roman numerals, which obviously stands for "Changeling [the] Lost". And our theme today is to step back from our deep dives into the books for a minute, to look more generally about Storytelling Lost for novices and veterans alike. Reading the text is one thing; putting it into action at the table is another. We explore various ways to engage with the themes, draw upon interesting systems (or not), safety tools, story pacing, and more, because to be frank, at least one of the hosts (guess who!) didn't think the actual Storytelling chapter in the second edition corebook did enough. And while we tried to pick up the slack in this episode, there's naturally much more to say on the topic. To that end, here are a few other episodes from Seasons past that dug into it:

May some configuration of these episodes be a springboard for you to run a chronicle of your own! And tell us about it once you do via any of the usual channels:

Pooka G (any pronoun/they) would like to be a modern day Shahrazad (but without all the pregnancy and threat of beheading, obvs).

There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside of you.

So, you've gone through the corebook for Changeling: the Lost's second edition and you want an adventure to run for your table. Or maybe you're not yet ready to snag that chomker of a tome and you'd like something lighter to dip your toes into the setting and systems. Or you're putting together a convention one-shot and/or podcast episode, because who wouldn't be? Whatever the reason, if you're in the (goblin) market for Hearts on Trial, the quickstart adventure for 2e Lost, well—you're in luck today! Consider this the last piece of "intro" material for the edition, the icing on the thorn-entwined cake. We have opinions, naturally, but as casual explorations of the game's complexity go, this one wasn't not fun. Candy landscapes ruled by goblin queens, oaths and betrayals, chases and courtroom drama... manifold is the Wyrdness of the world.

The module is available for purchase at https://www.storytellersvault.com/en/product/261734?affiliate_id=3063731. Whereas we are available, not for purchase but for Important Communications, at:

Pooka G (any pronoun/they) knows of no offense more worthy than grand theft flaky pastry.

So justice while she winks at crimes,

One more, for our sins. Or at least, for the Thorns. We wrap up this trilogy of episodes today by talking about second edition changes in the corebook for Changeling: the Lost, from the handling of themes and the role of the Courtless, to the way Contracts work and the nature of the True Fae. There are so many hundreds of little tiny alterations that we couldn't hope to cover in a single recording, so this will necessarily have to be a broad overview. Even so, we thought about how the game must look when a player approaches this edition for the first time compared with the last one, and there's quite a bit that comes across differently. Some of the changes we like, others we don't, but variety is the spice of life, so gather ye corebooks while ye may and judge for yourselves.

Once again, the corebook in question is available at https://www.storytellersvault.com/en/product/248078?affiliate_id=3063731, and the previous two parts of this readthrough can be found here:

And if all those links just won't do for you, here are a bunch more to reach out to us with comments, questions, or just going "eeeuuhhh" mysteriously in the background:

Pooka G (any pronoun/they) has mastered all the Common Contracts of the Regalia of Books and Pastries. Now on to the Royal...

Those who have learned to walk on the threshold of the unknown worlds... may then, with the fair white wings of imagination, hope to soar further into the unexplored amidst which we live.

Part the Second! This time, we circle back once more through the Lost corebook as we examine new stuff in Second Edition (compared with the first). This is new stuff in the corebook sense: some of the material here is similar to and/or derived from what we covered in the supplements for First Edition, and some of it blurs the line between new material and updates (which we'll cover next episode). But if you're curious about this "Needle" and "Thread" business, you want to know more about Conditions, you're hankering to Hedgespin, or you want to just get cracking with customization options... well, Second Edition will avail you well, and we're here to tell you how. Mostly.

If you haven't listened to Part One yet, you might want to do so here: https://changelingthepodcast.com/podcast/episode-146-changeling-the-lost-2e-corebook-part-one/. And if you haven't gotten yourself the corebook itself yet, that's in turn possible via: https://www.storytellersvault.com/en/product/248078?affiliate_id=3063731. And if you just want to bother us about the show, please do so through the following channels:

Pooka G (any pronoun/they) was fae-touched, but it was kinda PG-13 and let's leave it at that.

Invention, it must be humbly admitted, does not consist in creating out of void, but out of chaos.

And so we arrive at the Tome of Tomes, the Volume of Volumes, the Boondoggle of Boondoggles, that is the Changeling: the Lost Second Edition corebook. Because there's way too much here to discuss in a single standard-length episode, we are splitting this into a trilogy. First is just a basic walkthrough: if you are new to Lost, or even the Chronicles of Darkness in general, we hope this will be a reasonably thorough and approachable overview of the game, its concepts and principles, and the stories you can tell. If you're a veteran of the game, we equally hope this will be a reminder of the foundations. Part two will cover some major elements that are totally new in this edition, while part three will talk about changes—a similar approach to how we handled the Changeling: the Dreaming 20th Anniversary corebook back in Season Three.

And to that end, if you're new to the podcast and scoping out these show notes for the first time, you might want to check out episodes that resemble or tie into this one:

Naturally, we can also provide a link to where you can purchase this corebook: https://www.storytellersvault.com/en/product/248078?affiliate_id=3063731. And links to where you can find us for questions, comments, and screams of terror!:

Pooka G (any pronoun/they) isn't a Helldiver in real life, but does a marvelous impression of one (before being escorted off the premises).

The White Rabbit put on his spectacles. 'Where shall I begin, please your Majesty?' he asked.

We live again.. again! In the spirit of the Autumn Court and their occasionally ill-advised sense of discovery, now that their season has come, so too has the moment where at last we dive headlong into the second edition of Changeling: the Lost. The thorny glory that is this game will need a slow and winding path of exploration, and thus we begin with the relatively easy lift of tie-in fiction. Released well in advance of the corebook, the Huntsmen Chronicle Anthology presents us with a dozen-ish slices of fae life through the incipient 2e lens. Some of these concepts will return when we get to the crunchier material; some of them will vanish into the wind like so many autumn leaves. And while we certainly vibed with certain stories over others, we... well, we certainly read them all, and now you can profit from our experiences.

So, listen along with us as we hear tales of fetches who think they're humans, Lost who think they're righteous, and baby foster swans who think they're grown-ups. Learn how treacherous the Huntsmen can be and how traitorous the Courtly politics of a freehold can become. Most of all, think on the stories you want to tell and how these examples might inform your approach to roleplaying the game, which we believe is the main benefit of tie-in fiction in the end. And dream safe: chances are we've opened gates that can never completely shut.

You can snag the collection for yourself at https://www.storytellersvault.com/en/product/210042?affiliate_id=3063731, using whatever thorny snagging implement you desire. And you might be able to snag our attention in turn using any of these:

Pooka G (any pronoun/they) once called a hunt for the finest pastries in all the land. Decades later, the hunt goes ever on and on...

Green wind from the green-gold branches, what is the song you bring?

Halfway through! Now that the actual play trilogy has concluded, it's time for us to treat ourselves to a bit of a break... but of course, that doesn't mean we're putting everything on pause. Today's discussion of the state of the podcast for mid-Season Five covers where we've lately been, where we presently are, and where we'll eventually be (or so we suspect). Plans for the book dives that will restart in a couple months? We've got those. A wish list for topical episodes? Sure, why not. Deep paranoia that the God-Machine has taken notice of our humble media offerings? You bet (and please keep your biomechanical appendages to yourself, O Lord). Enjoy this bite-sized summary of the season's first half as the solstice dawns, and we wish safety to you and yours.

Naturally, we won't be totally silent, if approached through the proper channels:

Josh Hillerup (any pronoun) baked some tarts, for which the Knave of Hearts offered an actually quite fair market value.

Summer is butter on your chin and corn mush between every tooth.

And so we come to the final act, part three of our actual play, wherein the heroes make a last-ditch effort to accomplish their goals. What will success look like? What will they learn or gain? Where does the story go from here? All the usual questions, and a fair number of answers, will be dealt with in this installment. Thanks for sticking with us through this experiment; if you haven't yet checked out the first and second parts, do give them a listen first! And although we are technically nearing the end of Changeling: the Dreaming's 30th Anniversary year, with this episode that makes one gross of full episodes in our archives, we are continuing with our celebratory workings as best as we can. For now, though, thus endeth the first half of the season as we prepare for our usual aestivation...

...but fear not! for we can be reached as usual via the following channels until our full-time return to the airwaves:

Amelia Fetch (she/her) loves a happy ending. Sometimes a happy ending just involves 100,000 rainbow balloons filled with ink and glitter.

My dear, life rarely gives us what we want at the moment we consider appropriate. Adventures do occur, but not punctually.