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 proper, actual crossover material out there? We dig into these questions and more as we trapeze between editions, so get your grip powder and your... neckguards? is that a thing? in place. On we go!

If you too have thoughts and opinions on bloodsuckers (the supernatural kind) or just, you know, whatever:

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Pooka G (any pronoun/they) prefers the Crone's other shapes, like the Trapezoid or the Hendecagram. Amelia Fetch (she/her) snagged some deep discount Coils of the Dragon at the corner store, but they turned out to be just expired licorice.

I got the ways and means to New Orleans I'm going down by the river where it's warm and green I'm gonna have a drink and walk around I got a lot to think about, oh yeah... —Concrete Blonde, "Bloodletting"

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 Lost's initial and subsequent conceptions, we're taking the opportunity to observe this museum of ludic experiments and delights along the way. So strap in, prepare yourself for the unholy abomination that is the God-Machine's brass-meat angels, and listen as we discuss the finer points of experience costs and Morality systems and whatnot.

The God-Machine Chronicle book is no longer available for purchase, having been supplanted by Chronicles of Darkness corebook (https://www.storytellersvault.com/en/product/168428?affiliate_id=3063731). You can still get the rules update as a standalone (https://www.storytellersvault.com/en/product/114078?affiliate_id=3063731), but why would you want to? As we discuss in this episode, although the one was based on the other, the material from the update was not copied over to CofD wholesale; further tweaks and occasionally annoying omissions were made. Depending on how completionist you feel, get one or both, or neither!

For non-book-buying purposes that are purely social in nature, some other links for reaching out to us include:

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Pooka G (any pronoun/they) "accidentally" made an angel out of glowsticks and VapoRub, for the God-Machine is a raver god. Amelia Fetch (she/her) favors the Goddess-Contraption, which is like the God-Machine, but looks way better with those shoes and that hat.

And God created man; and man created machine; and machine— machine created music. And machine saw everything it had created and it said: behold. —Apoptygma Berzerk, "Kathy's Song (VNV Nation mix)"

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 Underworld meet, there you'll find the krewe and motley, ectoplasmic hand in thorn-shredded paw. What stories might ensue?

Of course, if you'd like to share your thoughts with us about either or both games and how they intersect, your best options are:

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your hosts

Pooka G (any pronoun/they) runs with a krewe who's committed to adding more disco to funerals. Amelia Fetch (she/her) dropped her ring of Keys behind the burger joint and now the whole place is just crawling with meat-specters.

Now it is the time of night, That the graves, all gaping wide, Every one lets forth his sprite, In the church-way paths to glide. —William Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night's Dream, V.i.386–389

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:

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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:

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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
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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...

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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