Changeling the Podcast

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:

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

Pooka G (any pronoun/they) follows the Refinement of Coffea, fueled by the Divine Fire of espresso shots.
Amelia Fetch (she/her) peeked into Pandora's box after the ills of humanity and Hope had all escaped, and found $200. Not bad!

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.
—Shelley Jackson, "Patchwork Girl"

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:

Episode 38: Sessions Zero: So you want to start a chronicle but you're not exactly sure how? Maybe an intro session with your players would be good, and making sure to account for certain table elements is a necessity.

Episode 51: Storyteller's Guide: While this is our dive into the book for Changeling: the Dreaming's 2nd edition, many of the techniques it explores are relevant to any would-be Storyteller. Perhaps you will find it useful...

Episode 55: Advanced Storytelling Techniques: ...and if not, we followed up a few weeks later with this little number.

Episode 100: Online Games: Another milestone episode! This one was focused specifically on games through the wild and wonderful world of the interwebs, which (we're given to understand) is how most of us run games anymore.

Episode 131: Mirrors: This "blue book" for new World of Darkness explored various permutations of the setting and Storytelling tools to go with them, many of which found their way into the Chronicles of Darkness.

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:

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

Pooka G (any pronoun/they) would like to be a modern day Shahrazad (but without all the pregnancy and threat of beheading, obvs).
Amelia Fetch (she/her) ran her thousandth game session and all she got was this lousy token T-shirt.

There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside of you.
—Maya Angelou, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings

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:

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

Pooka G (any pronoun/they) knows of no offense more worthy than grand theft flaky pastry.
Amelia Fetch (she/her) pities the Hedge stenographers who transcribe the unearthly howls and chitters of various nefarious fae. Union now!

So justice while she winks at crimes,
Stumbles on innocence sometimes.
—Samuel Butler, Hudibras, part 1, II.1177–1178

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:

Part One: https://changelingthepodcast.com/podcast/episode-146-changeling-the-lost-2e-corebook-part-one/

Part Two: https://changelingthepodcast.com/podcast/episode-147-changeling-the-lost-2e-corebook-part-two/

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:

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

Pooka G (any pronoun/they) has mastered all the Common Contracts of the Regalia of Books and Pastries. Now on to the Royal...
Amelia Fetch (she/her) tried to make goblin food by leaving it uncovered at the back of the fridge, but only ended up with talking goblin mold.

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.
—Ada Lovelace

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:

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

Pooka G (any pronoun/they) was fae-touched, but it was kinda PG-13 and let's leave it at that.
Amelia Fetch (she/her) just really likes to say the word "numina". Numinanuminanuminanuminanumina. Numina!

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