Walking Away From Arcadia

The Chimerical and the Wyrd: Arts and Realms

Unleashing something far crunchier than they have ever tackled before, Simon and Victor dive headfirst into the Arts and Realms. This episode will look at the most substantial changes to magic in the 20th Anniversary release of Changeling: The Dreaming.  From the safety of carefully constructed bunks to the untamed chaos of Unleashings gone wrong we will explore every corner of Fae magic.

The readings from this episode are from The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradly, No More Talk of Birds by Simon Eichhörnchen and Onion Girl by Charles de Lint

The music from this episode was “LSD” by Mon Plaisir.

To purchase Changeling the Dreaming as well as a wide array of other Role Playing texts go to DriveThruRPG.com.

Portions of the materials are the copyrights and trademarks of White Wolf Publishing AB, and are used with permission. All rights reserved. For more information please visit white-wolf.com.

Mortals: Enchanted, Kin, and Autumn Folk

Coming almost all the way out of the Dreaming today Victor and Simon discuss the places mortals occupy in Changeling: the Dreaming. Stretching from those mortals conducted into the Dreaming by intentional effort, to those born with awareness of chimerical reality, to those who hunt the Fae, this conversation roams pretty far.

 

Content Warning: this episode includes a short piece about child abuse.

 

The readings from this conversation were from Dreams Underfoot and The Onion Girl, both by Charles deLint.

The music from this episode was “LSD” by Mon Plaisir.

Portions of the materials are the copyrights and trademarks of White Wolf Publishing AB, and are used with permission. All rights reserved. For more information please visit white-wolf.com.

Antagonists: Thallain, the Shadow Court, and Adhene

Turning to the darkest corners of the Dreaming, today Victor and Simon discuss the groups written to be monsters for “Changeling: the Dreaming” characters: the Fomorian-born and corrupt Thallain, the messy Shadow Court, and the ancient and powerful Adhene lurking just off the Silver Paths.

 

The readings from this conversation were from “One for Sorrow, Two for Joy” by Nathan Dorey, “The King” by Harry Weir Boland, “Jack of Kinrowan” by Charles deLint, and “Mary’s Letter” from Silent Hill 2.

The music from this episode was “Creepy Atmo” by David Szesztay, “Where the Demon Sleeps”, by Kate Covington, a remix of “The Music Box” by Akira Yamaoka, and  “LSD” by Monplaisir.

Portions of the materials are the copyrights and trademarks of White Wolf Publishing AB, and are used with permission. All rights reserved. For more information please visit white-wolf.com.

Gen Con Recap And Other Banter

We're going off of our regular release cycle to get this conversation that Simon and I had about Gen Con out to everyone while it's still timely. This isn't going to slow up our regular episodes, but there was some Changeling news at Gen Con, and at the end of the episode I give a recap of the C20 session I ran for the Wrecking Crew. This is somewhat less structured and produced than our normal episodes, but we still thought people would appreciate some news and recap from the most ridiculous 4 days in gaming.

Portions of the materials are the copyrights and trademarks of White Wolf Publishing AB, and are used with permission. All rights reserved. For more information please visit white-wolf.com.

Conversation 9 -- CtD in Turkey

Join us today with our guest Salih, with whom we discuss storytelling and playing Changeling: the Dreaming in his Istanbul. In this conversation we talk about what regional myths and stories fit into the kiths, common misconceptions held by outsiders, and the somewhat awkward place a game about half-human/half-spirit beings occupies in cultures that have possession but not a concept like “changeling”.

 

The readings from this conversation were from Two Years, Eight Months and Twenty-Eight Nights by Salman Rushdie

The music from this episode was You, yourself and the main character” by Komiku, and LSD by Mon Plaisir.

Portions of the materials are the copyrights and trademarks of White Wolf Publishing AB, and are used with permission. All rights reserved. For more information please visit white-wolf.com.

That's What Sidhe Said!

Elves, elves, elves! Join Victor and Simon today as we discuss the Sidhe, their place in Concordia and in storytelling Changeling, and some of their more often overlooked elements such as their trouble with linear time. We get into their roles in Court politics, their Houses, and their political Impulses. We also veer off into their origins in real world mythology, so buckle up -- one whole episode devoted to only one and a half kiths!

 

The readings from today’s conversation were “The Hosting of the Sidhe” by William Butler Yeats, and “Fool’s Luck: the Way of the Commoner”. The music from today’s conversation was LSD by Monplaisir.

 

Bonus Round!

House descriptions left on the cutting-room floor:

Aesin	Disney Princesses
Ailil	Sneaky bastards
Balor	Runs a Satyr child prostitution ring. I’m not even joking.
Beaumayn	Scathach’s ugly cousin
Dairaenn	Hannibal Lector
Danaan	Traditional enemies of the lost House Yoplait
Dougal	The Consensus of Parts
Eiluned	No you may not enter my home, officer.
Fiona	Overly Attached Girlfriend
Gwydion	M’Lady *tips fedora*
Leanhaun	Go stand in the corner with Balor and think about what you did.
Liam	Handsy LDS missionaries with pointy ears.
Scathach	Spoilers make everyone angry, but that’s no excuse to kill people.
Varich	Zhu Li! DO THE THING.

 Portions of the materials are the copyrights and trademarks of White Wolf Publishing AB, and are used with permission. All rights reserved. For more information please visit white-wolf.com.

C20's New Commoners

Bad news folks! As we all know the entire game is about the Sidhe and how wonderful they are and how they’d never do anything at all even remotely evil or ethically questionable. We know we said at the end of the last episode that were were going to spend this conversation praising our glorious sharp-eared overlords but that was recorded before C20 landed. C20 introduced three new commoner kiths and they’re awesome. Before we get to the beneficent and not at all wicked lords and ladies of dream we’re going to finish off talking about the commoners with the three new Kithain: the Clurichauns, the Piskies, and the Selkies.

We’re sorry to elf-tease you. Next time we’re talking about the Sidhe for realsies. Pinky-swear.

The readings from this conversation were from American Gods by Neil Gaiman, Legend land Being a collection of some of the old tales told in these Western part of Britain served by the Great Western Railway now retold by Lyonesse, and Selkie by Robin Robertson.

The music from this conversation was LSD by Monplaisir and Late Snows of Winter, written by Mark Seibert and arranged and recorded by JMR.

Commoners

 Join us today as we discuss the core commoner kiths from 2nd edition Changeling. Here we talk about each of the kiths, their place in the game and the game’s society, and highlight the stories that they’re drawn from. We get in depth about what works and doesn’t work for us and our games with the kiths’ designs.

The readings from this episode were from “War for the Oaks” by Emma Bull, “Changeling: the Dreaming Player’s Guide”, “ReBoot”, “Book of Lost Houses: The Second Coming”, Völuspá, “The Homeric Hymn to Pan”, and “Caravanserai” by Loreena McKennitt

The music from this episode was “LSD” by Monplaisir, "(They Long to Be) Close to You" by Burt Bacharach and Hal David

Portions of the materials are the copyrights and trademarks of White Wolf Publishing AB, and are used with permission. All rights reserved. For more information please visit white-wolf.com.

Queer Themes in Changeling: the Dreaming

In this conversation we discuss the ways Changeling: the Dreaming reflects the queer experience with our guest Erika. We discuss finding inspiration for storytelling Changeling in queer and minority life, the slow death of the soul of being a minority in a mainstream professional space, the recursive loop of playing queer characters in Changeling, and how Simon might be an unseleighe boggan who ravages his coworkers.

As this is a minority topic, we sometimes slip into slightly arcane langauge. If you find yourself confused with some of the terms being used, you may wish to listen to the minisode preceeding this conversation: Defining Terms for Queer Themes. You might prefer to use Urban Dictionary. May the search be ever in your favor, brave netizens.

The reading from this conversation was “Little Jack Frost” by Kate Rusby.

The music from this episode was “LSD” by Monplaisir.

Portions of the materials are the copyrights and trademarks of White Wolf Publishing AB, and are used with permission. All rights reserved. For more information please visit white-wolf.com.

Minisode: Defining Terms for Queer Themes in Changeling: the Dreaming

Our first minisode is a brief discussion of terms we used during the following conversation (Queer Themes in Changeling: the Dreaming) that may be unfamiliar to people in the queer community. If you're familiar with this community you can get by skipping this episode, but you may want to listen anyway as these are the understandings we were working from in the course of the discussion.

Portions of the materials are the copyrights and trademarks of White Wolf Publishing AB, and are used with permission. All rights reserved. For more information please visit white-wolf.com.