Changeling the Podcast

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 some trailers for the films we discuss in this order: Alice (Něco z Alenky) (dir. Jan Švankmejer, 1988): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nxugr1jEYj8 Black Swan (dir. Darren Aronofsky, 2010): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5jaI1XOB-bs Annihilation (dir. Alex Garland, 2018): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=89OP78l9oF0 The Blair Witch Project (dir. Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sánchez, 1999): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MBZ-POVsrlI The Cell (dir. Tarsem Singh, 2000): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eIpy4p_yMV0 Labyrinth (dir. Jim Henson, 1986): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O2yd4em1I6M The Green Knight (dir. David Lowery, 2021): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sS6ksY8xWCY Rocky Horror Picture Show (dir. Jim Sharman, 1975): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ldo_spDyLKc Spirited Away (dir. Hayao Miyazaki, 2001): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ByXuk9QqQkk Smile (dir. Parker Finn, 2022): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BcDK7lkzzsU Obviously, there were lots of other options that we could have discussed, but for the sake of keeping things trim, these ten will have to suffice. (For now...!) And for other shortlist goodness, further vectors of media include the various avenues to get our attention: 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) is four degrees from Kevin Bacon, depending how broadly you want to count. Amelia Fetch (she/her) has secured three of five clauses in the Contracts of Blooper Reel. Mothers of America / let your kids go to the movies! —Frank O'Hara, "Ave Maria"

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...! For now, though, consider this a little intermezzo sorbet to cleanse your supernatural palate. If you'd like to preview this book and possibly add it to your PDF shelf, check it out at https://www.storytellersvault.com/en/product/93242?affiliate_id=3063731. And then carry on to check out our various spaces around the web 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) didn't so much glimpse the unknown as give it a long, lascivious look right in the third eye. Amelia Fetch (she/her) made a collage out of Pat Loboyko art and inadvertently crafted a golem from thousands of flame-like flesh growths. We shall not cease from exploration And the end of all our exploring Will be to arrive where we started And know the place for the first time. —T. S. Eliot, "Little Gidding"

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 around social combat? get post-apocalyptic? give mortals in the setting one-off powers that slowly drive them mad? We had to keep a high-level view of this one, because this book could its own Season of mirrors going down forever. Hopefully this taste will sufficiently whet your appetite to do investigations of your own...! The book is available at https://www.storytellersvault.com/en/product/82477?affiliate_id=3063731 (with a PDF currently on sale). And if you speak our names in front of any of these mirrors, we shall appear: 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) can do the Galadriel pool-of-liquid divination thing, but only with bowls of ramen. Amelia Fetch (she/her) just has Finesse as an Attribute nine times. A difference of opinion exists only as to the question to which of the two classes anything belongs; whether to the class of the impossible, or to that of the possible. —Maimonides, Guide for the Perplexed

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 eventually come across these pages in the wild, for a book in hand is worth two in the... cloud? Whatever the digital archiving equivalent of that saying would be. What's not lost to the currents of time is our standard list of get-in-touch-with-us links, like so!: 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) taught a man to fish and he was devoured by a kraken. So... mixed results. Amelia Fetch (she/her) spoke of the Devil, but he merely sent a polite invitation for cream tea at a crossroads three days thence. Je n'ai jamais fait qu'une prière à Dieu, une très courte : "Ô Seigneur, rends mes ennemis ridicules". Et Dieu l'a exaucée. (I've only ever made one prayer to God, a very short one: "O Lord, make my enemies ridiculous." And God has granted it.) —Voltaire

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 even released!—in order to move forward again, examining this and following works through the lens of the Lost. Changelings are half legendary themselves, after all; surely we can find some connections here? The only way to find out is to listen in... Hushed whispers say that you can obtain this book for yourself at https://www.storytellersvault.com/en/product/25984?affiliate_id=3063731. Otherwise, you can obtain conversation and community via the following routes that one must never travel at night... 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 appeared as a levitating, glitter-bedecked figure in many amateur photographs, but all but one are hoaxes. Amelia Fetch (she/her) enjoys a steaming bowl of creepypasta topped with sage butter sauce and Parmesan. A world that might have Bigfoot and the Loch Ness Monster is clearly superior to one that definitely does not. —Chris van Allsburg

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 lead you... In the meantime, if you want to keep in touch with us, the doors of the digital freehold are always open: 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 Josh Hillerup (any pronoun) will be building an army of snow people to defend the Kingdom from syrup-smuggling ne'er-do-wells. Pooka G (any pronoun/they) plans to brew some eggnog from whichever oviparous chimera are available. Sphinx nog? Fenghuang nog? Amelia Fetch (she/her) has the aurora borealis localized entirely to her kitchen (but no, you may not see it). There’s a certain Slant of light, Winter Afternoons – That oppresses, like the Heft Of Cathedral Tunes – —Emily Dickinson

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 one era and begin another, transitioning between editions, as we come to the end of the year and Season Four. This will be the last full-length episode before Interregnum, so we hope it is much to your anarchic and anachronistic tastes. Naturally, the book is available for purchase through the usual channel at https://www.storytellersvault.com/en/product/102468?affiliate_id=3063731. And supernaturally, we are available for discourse through all the others: 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) speaks the language of flowers and has a marked propensity for singlestick, as any foppish dandy should. Amelia Fetch (she/her) is down by the wharf with goblin fruit for sale! Goblin fruit for sale! Two for a ha'penny, ten for a groat! History is merely gossip. But scandal is gossip made tedious by morality. —Oscar Wilde

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: 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 Josh Hillerup (any pronoun) is only two planets away from a free gift on the Magrathea punch-card! Pooka G (any pronoun/they) grudgingly accepts Leibniz's principle that this is the best of possible worlds, but only because baklava exists. As for me, I am tormented with an everlasting itch for things remote. I love to sail forbidden seas, and land on barbarous coasts. —Herman Melville, Moby-Dick

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: The Fear-Maker's Promise: https://www.storytellersvault.com/en/product/50110?affiliate_id=3063731 The Rose-Bride's Plight: https://www.storytellersvault.com/en/product/58429?affiliate_id=3063731 Personae: https://www.storytellersvault.com/en/product/63120?affiliate_id=3063731 And as for us...! 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) is more of a cheer-baker than a fear-maker. Stuffing waffles for everyone! Amelia Fetch (she/her) knows there's no pledge so entangling that it can't be resolved by a dance-off. True, I talk of dreams; Which are the children of an idle brain, Begot of nothing but vain fantasy... —Mercutio in Romeo and Juliet, I.iv.97–99

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: 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) prefers night markets where nobody can see how many goblin fruit you've quietly pilfered. Amelia Fetch (she/her) is ranked #17 in the Professional Hagglers' league due to judicious deployment of the table-flipping gambit. Commerce! beneath whose poison-breathing shade No solitary virtue dares to spring. —Percy Bysshe Shelley, Queen Mab, IV.45–46