A few weeks ago on Super Friends we talked about Changeling the Lost and doing it with Urban Shadows (or other PbtA). I finally had the chance to sit down and write up some thoughts on that. Just starters, but I think its a do-able project.
A few weeks ago on Super Friends we talked about Changeling the Lost and doing it with Urban Shadows (or other PbtA).
A few weeks ago on Super Friends we talked about Changeling the Lost and doing it with Urban Shadows (or other PbtA).
Interesting post…I don’t know Changeling the Lost that well, so I can’t really comment on the particulars of how Urban Shadows might work for it, but I do like the idea of a PbtA game (US or not) that revolves around fae courts. Also, I need to schedule more Super Friends!
Interesting post…I don’t know Changeling the Lost that well, so I can’t really comment on the particulars of how Urban Shadows might work for it, but I do like the idea of a PbtA game (US or not) that revolves around fae courts. Also, I need to schedule more Super Friends!
I love it! (I absolutely adore Changeling the Lost’s setting. I’ve never come across a White Wolf game with more pathos, more emotionally resonant protagonists. Honestly, I think everyone should at least read the book.)
I think you did a really good job of isolating things in US that actually map pretty well to Changeling, which I didn’t expect. Since so much of it is psychological and emotional in nature, I didn’t expect Urban Shadows (with its political focus) to be a good fit. After all, this is fundamentally a game about supernatural abuse victims.
I think it clicked for me here: “Changelings have a hard time getting along. They usually don’t talk about secrets or durances with other fae. But ironically only a fellow changeling can understand the depth of their experience.”
And then I realized–wait, that’s pretty much the most implicit struggle in Urban Shadows, but on an even more intense level. From my experience, Urban Shadows is about trust and vulnerability. You’re making deals with people, manipulating them, growing more corrupt as you spiral into a cycle of manipulation and use. But then there’s these intimacy moves right in the middle of it, and I’ve loved those, because they point to the way out: opening up to other people, being vulnerable to them and trusting them. Of course, doing that opens you up to being exploited, so it’s not the obvious, always-choice.
That right there meant that suddenly, Urban Shadows becomes the obvious choice for Changeling.
I love it! (I absolutely adore Changeling the Lost’s setting. I’ve never come across a White Wolf game with more pathos, more emotionally resonant protagonists. Honestly, I think everyone should at least read the book.)
I think you did a really good job of isolating things in US that actually map pretty well to Changeling, which I didn’t expect. Since so much of it is psychological and emotional in nature, I didn’t expect Urban Shadows (with its political focus) to be a good fit. After all, this is fundamentally a game about supernatural abuse victims.
I think it clicked for me here: “Changelings have a hard time getting along. They usually don’t talk about secrets or durances with other fae. But ironically only a fellow changeling can understand the depth of their experience.”
And then I realized–wait, that’s pretty much the most implicit struggle in Urban Shadows, but on an even more intense level. From my experience, Urban Shadows is about trust and vulnerability. You’re making deals with people, manipulating them, growing more corrupt as you spiral into a cycle of manipulation and use. But then there’s these intimacy moves right in the middle of it, and I’ve loved those, because they point to the way out: opening up to other people, being vulnerable to them and trusting them. Of course, doing that opens you up to being exploited, so it’s not the obvious, always-choice.
That right there meant that suddenly, Urban Shadows becomes the obvious choice for Changeling.