Changeling the Podcast is a weekly exploration of the roleplaying game Changeling the Dreaming. Episodes range from readthroughs of books, to interviews with people relevant to Changeling, to deep dives into various topics. We are two fans of the game who are excited to share our love for Changeling with you all.
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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 kee
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 g
The legend continues as we present part two of our actual play run by Fetch, to celebrate the 30th Anniversary of Changeling: the Dreaming. In this installment, our intrepid band of heroes (and we use most of those words loosely) conscript allies for their meetcute plan. The place and time are set, the subjects have been lured into participating, and the Dreaming is scintillating with expectation—but as we all know, act three is when the final obstacles must be overcome. Time will tell whether they succeed! And we should also point out that if you haven't yet had a listen of the first part of
Long foretold and lately managed, we finally present our three-part actual play of Changeling: the Dreaming as part of our ongoing-if-sporadic series of things for the game's 30th Anniversary year. Storyteller Fetch leads players Elerus, J, and Medi through the chimerical landscape of Phoenix, Arizona as their Kithain characters set a plan of midsummer courtly romance in motion. What could possibly go worng? This short-run actual play continues Fetch's own long-running chronicle and will round out the first half of the season before our yearly aestivation. Sit back and enjoy the mayhem; if you
Before the sun finally goes down on Changeling: the Lost's first edition, we've got one more text to talk about. What's that you say? We've gone through all the books and all the Dark Eras, so what could possibly be left? Well, as we prepared those final episodes, author Thomas McVey released Twilit Eildon, a homebrew title on the Storytellers' Vault. It was a surprise out of nowhere, especially because it was angled towards the first edition, so we felt it right and proper to give it a read. The book claims to delve into True Fae who might be less malevolent than expected, as well as the loya
It's been a while since we stepped into the old World of Darkness, so today we take a quick look back for one more in our series of crossover book dives. We flipped through both the original and Revised editions of the Fianna tribebooks for Werewolf: the Apocalypse. These are the most fae-adjacent of the Garou, often in the same families as Kithain and Kinain. The first book came out before Changeling: the Dreaming existed, and the second after it had essentially finished, so we get to see two very different perspectives on how these rowdy wolves engage with their fae cousins. Our focus is onl
With apologies for last week's delay, we are back on track with today's readthrough of the last Changeling-focused Dark Era in the first collection, A Grimm Dark Era. The Dark Eras' not-quite-second-edition-ness stands out most of all in this offering, and it's... noteworthy. Set in early 19th-century Germany with the publication of the Grimms' faerie tales as a backdrop, we get some curious Courts, some tantalizing tokens, and a new Seeming(!) to throw into a game. Is it the kind of material with which we can live happily ever after? Opinions shall be shared, but remember that "ever after" ra
To welcome in the Seelie half of the year, behold! a surprise minisode. The original Dark Eras were accompanied by a fiction volume, Tales of the Dark Eras, featuring a number of short stories associated with the modules in the supplement. The entry "Of Ravens and Roses" is set in the 17th-century France of Lily, Sabre & Thorn, so it seemed fitting to include that in the mix. (If only it had been lily of the valley instead of roses, in celebration of the day...) Pooka reads the story in this episode—a fairly traditional Lost narrative, bedecked with the trappings and intrigues of Louis XIV's c
Il était une fois... as we proceed through the historical dives in the first Dark Eras volume, we arrive at the next one for Changeling: the Lost—and the first one that is only for that game, though certainly no one could object if an enterprising Storyteller felt like squeezing in a random Promethean. In this installment, Lily, Sabre & Thorn, we're headed to 17th-century France and the court of Louis XIV, the "Sun King". Versailles drips with opulence as Paris swells with the unwashed masses; the Lost creep among both, leading lives as swashbuckling as they can manage. It's a time for muskete
Time to hop in the ol' time machine as we open (at long last) the first Dark Eras book for the Chronicles of Darkness...! These smaller modules cover specific moments and places around the world through history, presented through the lens of one or more gamelines. The first collection, released in 2016, offers 16 of these chapter-length settings, with four containing material for Changeling: the Lost. We'll be proceeding through them in chronological order, so we start today with both of the crossover chapters: Three Kingdoms of Darkness, a Geist/Changeling romp through the war-torn horrors of
Another week, another exploration of nWoD/CofD crossover. This time, with an eye to the upcoming Dark Eras, we're taking a look at Vampire: the Requiem and approaches to integrating it with Changeling: the Lost. There are some thematic similarities: both vampires and changelings are parasites in different ways, both have a tricksy relationship with time and memory, and both are deep into politics. (We'd also pay good money to see a Daeva/Fairest walk-off, just saying.) But how do the games align mechanically? Do Keepers take notices of leeches or might Kindred try to feed on fetches? Is there
The time has come to put aside the old new World of Darkness and move into the Chronicles of Darkness, as we read through the God-Machine rules update. This is the back half of the God-Machine Chronicle released in 2013, which revised and expanded the rules for nWoD's first edition and would later become the basis for the second edition ruleset in Chronicles of Darkness (which is also lightly being considered here). Some of the changes are small; some of them are large; and some of them are just downright baffling. But as we continue to advance through the wilderness between Changeling: the Lo
A wild CROSSOVER appears...! Soon enough, we'll be getting into the historical Dark Eras settings for Changeling: the Lost, some of which involve pairings with other games in the new World of Darkness/Chronicles of Darkness line. We'll be moving through this semi-chronologically, and the first one on our list involves Geist: the Sin-Eaters, our topic of discussion for today. This game of mediums brought back from the brink of death with a mysterious passenger is sort of oblique to the themes of Changeling, but we have some connections to pull out from the text. Where the Hedge and the Underwor
This week, we turn once more to the wonderful world of media as we consider ten films for Changeling: the Lost inspiration. We did this previously with Changeling: the Dreaming (check out episode 50!), so it seemed like the right time to pull a similar for the other fae game. There are a couple crossover titles whose themes and plots and aesthetics work equally well in both, in our opinion... but otherwise, this list has a slightly eerier, horror-inflected vibe overall, we suppose? We've tried to keep the discussion as spoiler-light as possible, but for your edification, here are the deets and
Rounding out our series of "blue books" from the first edition of new World of Darkness, today we're covering Glimpses of the Unknown, a rather brief assortment of story hooks, crunchy tidbits, and setting expansion for all the extant game lines at that point. And when we say "brief," we mean 48 pages, with lots of recycled art, so this episode is on the shorter side. We're considering the book through the lens of Changeling (which gets a massive Goblin Contract and... very little else), but mentioning other games is fortuitous, as we will soon be digging into the wonderful world of crossover.
Through the looking glass we go, as we consider other shapes the World of Darkness might take. A collection to spark ideas along the way is World of Darkness: Mirrors for first edition nWoD, whose pages we're riffling this time around. Alternate systems, alternate settings, and a whole lot of Storyteller insights fill these pages, from the genius to the puzzling. Nearly everything can be adapted to all of the games, but naturally we're looking at this one through a Changeling lens. Both Changeling: the Lost and Changeling: the Dreaming can make use of many ideas in here. Care to build a system
Good things come to those who wait... so forgive us for the day of delay, but we are back with a discussion of Proverbial Monsters. This slim bestiary of creatures inspired by sayings and superstitions seemed like a natural follow-up to our dive into Urban Legends. It's not specifically a Changeling book, but most or all of the options in here can fit easily into a Lost game, so it's through that lens that we turn our critical eyes. Here's the thing, though—this book is no longer available for sale, and we can find no explanation for why. Consider this episode your armament for if you should e
And so, with some variable amount of fanfare, we are taking a deep breath and plunging into Season Five. Taking a machete to the wilderness of nWoD, we are beginning by carving a path from the last books of Changeling: the Lost's first edition towards the Hedge of the second, tackling various other books and general concepts along the way. At the top of our upcoming slate of episodes on crossovers, generic WoD titles, and assorted inspirations, is this week's dive into Urban Legends: a collection of creatures and antagonists for any game. We're stepping back to the early days—before CtL was ev
And thus we come once again to a moment of pause in our madcap readings, as winter's chill settles over the land (in this bit of the world, anyway). We may have an episode or three up our sleeves in the coming weeks, but assume that things will be fairly quiet until about mid-February—so we hope this report on the state of the podcast will tide you over until then. The usual episode data, some reflections on accomplishments from 2025, and fervent plans for Season Five(!) make up the core of our discussion, but as with all things of the Dreaming, you never quite know where the discussion will l
Ahoy ahoy! We've moved forward to step back (in time) as we reach, at long last, the final supplement for Changeling: the Lost's first edition, Victorian Lost. This short-ish volume nevertheless packs in the information as the one historical book for the line, although we will get some shorter bits in the Dark Eras sequence coming up soon. Victorian Lost is also one of the earliest books in the Onyx Path canon, as the success of Vampire's 20th Anniversary Edition showed there was still enough of an appetite for World of Darkness material to keep the books coming. It seems fitting to wrap up on
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
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
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
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
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
