Onyx Path Publishing is currently running a Kickstarter campaign for a Deluxe edition of the upcoming Changeling: the Dreaming 20th Anniversary Edition RPG. This crowdfunding campaign has blown past the original goal and is well on its way to achieving several excellent stretch goals to enhance the original product and offer Changeling fans some bonus content for this new edition of the game.

Flames Rising had the chance to ask Onyx Path’s Rich Thomas and Matthew McFarland a bit about the Kickstarter and this edition of Changeling: the Dreaming.

How did Changeling: the Dreaming 20th Anniversary Edition come about?

RichT: Well, it’s 2015, just, and that is 20 years since the premiere of Changeling: the Dreaming. Since we decided to continue the 20th Anniversary Editions after Vampire: the Masquerade 20th, we’ve done each of the original “big five” World of Darkness game lines in order. Just like they were released 20 years ago. And just like V20, we are creating this edition as a love letter to the Changeling: the Dreaming community who have nurtured and loved this world for two decades. But, like Wraith 20, this edition is both a look back and a true new edition – basically the Revised Edition Changeling never got.

What is your favorite part of this game?

RichT: The rich setting. The Kiths, the Seelie/Unseelie divide, the culture as a combination of Feudal society, fairy tales and myths, and the admixture of the World of Darkness. These all just combine so nicely as a backdrop for some very deep storytelling. And the visual: Joshua Gabriel Timbrook’s original Kith designs that inspired a very unique feel that a lot of excellent artists really ran with.

How does C20 differ from previous editions of Changeling: the Dreaming?

MatthewMcF: Changeling never had a revised edition, so C20 takes the opportunity to update the basic rules set. In addition, we’re taking a look at the underlying concepts – Glamour, Banality, fae magic – and looking at what they mean in a 2015 context. Banality, in particular, often came across as “science is bad” in older editions, but science is discovery and innovation, which is pretty darned Glamourous.

In addition, we’re adding in a few kiths that previous appeared in sourcebooks to the core list. Likewise, we’ve redesigned the magic system so that it carries a bit more oomph, and includes a new option called Unleashing (which originally appeared in Dark Ages: Fae).

What types of chronicles can Storytellers run for players?

MatthewMcF: Changeling was and remains a very versatile game. Want to run a game about commoners overthrowing oppressive nobility? Sure! Urban fantasy where chimerical griffins lurk atop skyscrapers and sluagh run the underground? No problem! Tragic story in which a group of friends slowly lose their magic and fade into “normal” lives, but come together once a year at a lake house to remember being kithain, only to forget as they drive away? Totally doable!

Changeling is about a lot of things, but mostly it’s about dreams. That runs the gamut from “ambitions/daydreams” to “surreal mindscapes,” and everything in between. It’s all very doable as a Changeling chronicle.

For someone new to Changeling, beyond the C20 book itself, what options on the Kickstarter would you suggest?

RichT: Well, in general you can choose some of the classic PDFs to get a fuller look at Changeling as it was described back in the day. Those will give you wider looks at Changeling to expand on the material in C20. If you are really into PDFs, the Complete Kithain Reward Tier has C20 in PDF and also a bundle of EVERY Changeling PDF available from DriveThruRPG.com, our on-line sales partner. There is also a physical Deluxe book Reward Tier that has the Deluxe C20 book as well as the PDF and the same giant PDF bundle, and the C20 Storyteller’s Screen: the Cloaked Changeling Completist. That one just has everything we can offer in it.

What are Achievements and how do they work?

RichT: Achievements are a kind of mini-game within the Kickstarter that involve our community sending in pics for various categories like Original Changeling Art, or Best Changeling Cos-Play, or lists of Changeling Music. Once we receive certain amounts they unlock an Achievement, and with enough of those, new Rewards are unlocked for everybody. We know that a lot of our community is incredibly creative, and specifically inspired by the Changeling setting, and it’s fun for them to share what they can do with the rest of us.

What other options for retailers does Onyx Path have for the World of Darkness?

RichT: We have the Retailer Reward Tier which is five Deluxe books at a discount and five free C20 Storyteller Screens added in to boot. We have a Retailer Print on Demand Program at DTRPG that offers as much of a discount as we can give so that Retailers can get our PoD books in their stores. We will be announcing another avenue next year that will allow Retailers to get other projects of ours into their stores as well, but we only just signed the contract for that initiative.

How do the Add Ons work for this Kickstarter?

RichT: As all of our Kickstarter Add-ons do: we provide a list of possible Add-on PDFs and other products, and a backer wishing to Add-them-on needs to manually raise their pledge by the amount listed. When we send out the Backer Survey, there are places to indicate which Add-ons were chosen.We try to make it simple within the KS set-up, rather than using a third-party service and their potential for being hacked.

Flames Rising would like to thank Rich and Matthew for taking the time to talk shop about this project. There is a little over a week to go in the Kickstarter, so if you’d like to get yourself a Deluxe copy of C20 and some of those stretch goals, don’t delay!

Find out more info and back this project at Kickstarter.com!

Tags | onyx path, world-of-darkness