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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: [email protected] 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: [email protected] 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: [email protected] 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: [email protected] 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

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: (New) World of Darkness (1e) overview: https://changelingthepodcast.com/podcast/episode-102-new-world-of-darkness-1e/ Changeling: the Lost 1e corebook (part one): https://changelingthepodcast.com/podcast/episode-110-changeling-the-lost-1e-corebook-part-one/ World of Darkness: Mirrors (which informed some material in here): https://changelingthepodcast.com/podcast/episode-131-mirrors/ God-Machine/Chronicles of Darkness (2e) update to rules and setting: https://changelingthepodcast.com/podcast/episode-135-the-god-machine-update/ Changeling: the Dreaming 20th Anniversary corebook (part one), for comparison: https://changelingthepodcast.com/podcast/episode-82-changeling-20-walkthrough/ Our Book of Gremayre homebrew mentioned in passing, because we're shameless: https://changelingthepodcast.com/podcast/episode-117-c30-book-of-gremayre/ 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!: Discord: https://discord.me/ctp Email: [email protected] 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) isn't a Helldiver in real life, but does a marvelous impression of one (before being escorted off the premises). Amelia Fetch (she/her) regularly and merrily deploys the Royal Contracts of Dice and Pencil, from whose trials no player emerges unscathed. The White Rabbit put on his spectacles. 'Where shall I begin, please your Majesty?' he asked. 'Begin at the beginning,' the King said gravely, 'and go on till you come to the end: then stop.' —Lewis Carroll, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

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: Discord: https://discord.me/ctp Email: [email protected] 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) once called a hunt for the finest pastries in all the land. Decades later, the hunt goes ever on and on... Amelia Fetch (she/her) fended off the huntsmen with pamphlets about unionization, which has caused all kinds of drama across the Hedge. Green wind from the green-gold branches, what is the song you bring? What are all songs for me, now, who no more care to sing? Deep in the heart of Summer, sweet is life to me still, But my heart is a lonely hunter that hunts on a lonely hill. —Fiona Macleod [William Sharp], "The Lonely Hunter"

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: Discord: https://discord.me/ctp Email: [email protected] 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) baked some tarts, for which the Knave of Hearts offered an actually quite fair market value. Pooka G (any pronoun/they) dances through thunderstorms and takes shelter from reality, or maybe it's the other way around? Amelia Fetch (she/her) will be offering dross mocktails with little paper umbrellas on the patio at sunset, by invitation only. Summer is butter on your chin and corn mush between every tooth. —Calvin and Hobbes

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: Discord: https://discord.me/ctp Email: [email protected] 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 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. —E.M. Forster, A Passage to India

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 this adventure, do hop back to the previous episode to catch up. Otherwise, the importance of dramatic nobles and self-peeling vegetables might be somewhat lost on you. If you have comments about this or other podcast business, you're welcome to check out whichever the following: Discord: https://discord.me/ctp Email: [email protected] 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 Amelia Fetch (she/her) runs so many games at once that her ST Screen is a tesseract of colliding combat rules and quick refs. Je crois qu'il faut presque toujours un coup de folie pour bâtir un destin. [A touch of madness is, I think, almost always necessary for constructing a destiny.] —Marguerite Yourcenar

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've not yet had the chance to play Changeling yourself, we hope it will be illuminating. As always, you can reach out through the usual channels to share your feedback: Discord: https://discord.me/ctp Email: [email protected] 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 Amelia Fetch (she/her) has nudged player morale to an all-time high since replacing experience points with pancakes. O hell! to choose love by another's eye. —William Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night's Dream, I.i.140

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 loyalists who support them, with asides on the topic of fae-blooded children and cyberspace. A bit incongruous? Perhaps. Still worth a read and a discussion? Naturally. We'll talk about whether our expectations are met and how much there really is/was left to say about this version of the Lost setting. Thomas' book is available for purchase at https://www.storytellersvault.com/en/product/554832?affiliate_id=3063731, and we are available for opinionated debate at the usual roundup of links: Discord: https://discord.me/ctp Email: [email protected] 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 the mouthfeel of the term gloaming for describing the end of the day. Amelia Fetch (she/her) wonders whether an eildon can be neon-lit as well, as it would be stunning in pink. Let us go then, you and I, When the evening is spread out against the sky Like a patient etherized upon a table. —T.S. Eliot, "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock"

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 only on the bits we felt were specifically relevant to crossover games. Imbolc moots, cantrips-as-Gifts, new dimensions of supernatural politics... many are the stories one could tell, so we do our best to explore a few. The tribebooks can be found at https://www.storytellersvault.com/en/product/2383?affiliate_id=3063731 and https://www.storytellersvault.com/en/product/2515?affiliate_id=3063731, respectively. As for us, we can be found at: Discord: https://discord.me/ctp Email: [email protected] 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) tried to order the Salmon of Knowledge, but they were all out, and so had to settle for the Trout of Exam Anxiety. Pooka G (any pronoun/they) looks forward to the Irish-language releases someday of Conriocht: an Apacailipsis and Síofra: an Taibhreamh. O hurry where by water among the trees The delicate-stepping stag and his lady sigh, When they have but looked upon their images— Would none had ever loved but you and I! Or have you heard that sliding silver-shoed Pale silver-proud queen-woman of the sky, When the sun looked out of his golden hood?— O that none ever loved but you and I! —W.B. Yeats, "The Ragged Wood"

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" rarely lasts as long as you think it will... If you'd like to secure a copy of your own, stop by https://www.storytellersvault.com/en/product/217370?affiliate_id=3063731. And if you'd like to secure our attention (well, maybe; we've got lives, you know), do reach out through any of the usual channels: Discord: https://discord.me/ctp Email: [email protected] 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) got a five-album deal for the Town Musicians of Bremen, but yeesh, they party hard. Amelia Fetch (she/her) wants stories about the other wards of that sorceress who raised Rapunzel, named after less interesting leafy greens. Believable fairy-stories must be intensely practical. You must have a map, no matter how rough. Otherwise you wander all over the place. —J.R.R. Tolkien

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 court. Here's hoping that you enjoy it! If your appetite is whetted for fiction, you can pick up the story collection at https://www.storytellersvault.com/en/product/187316?affiliate_id=3063731. And as usual, some other links: Discord: https://discord.me/ctp Email: [email protected] 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 have been perfectly content with finches and wisteria, but you take the birb—flower combo you can get. Aucun chemin de fleurs ne conduit à la gloire. (No path of flowers leads to glory.) —Jean de la Fontaine, "The Two Adventurers and the Talisman"

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 musketeers and grand intrigues, highwaymen and masquerades, all through the thorn-edged lens of absolute monarchy and the beginnings of modernity. What's not to love? (Well, plenty, beginning with hygiene and inequality, but at least the write-up here is fairly decent.) Join us as we romp through the gardens, all for one and one for croissants. The module is available for purchase as a stand-alone at https://www.storytellersvault.com/en/product/217111?affiliate_id=3063731, and our own points of contact are, as always: Discord: https://discord.me/ctp Email: [email protected] 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) enjoyed visiting Versailles, but thought it could use a few band posters on the walls and maybe some ficus. Amelia Fetch (she/her) occasionally plays a musketeer Lost character who specializes in the Contracts of Nougat. Et c’est une folie, à nulle autre, seconde, De vouloir se mêler de corriger le monde. (Of all follies, there is none greater / than wanting to make the world a better place.) —Molière, The Misanthrope