Hey everyone!
Working on wrapping Changeling: The Lost Second Edition. A while ago, I posted the bulk of the rules, and I’ve been integrating a ton of playtest notes and tweaking this, that, or the other thing. We’re in the home stretch on the text.
One thing I’ve been asked more than a few times about was the way we were handling the Hedge in 2E. The answer to that is, “basically the same, but with some minor fussing and emphasis changes”. For example, the Hedge was always more than just literal thorns. It’s called out in the description in the previous edition pretty clearly. However, you might not notice if you forgot that short paragraph and just paid attention to other material about the Hedge. So, in 2E, I want to be very clear and present about the fact that the Hedge’s brambles aren’t always literal. This is mostly just a tonal change though.
I’ve got new, pretty simplified systems for navigating the Hedge, for warping the Hedge physically, for Hedge duels, and a few other minor things. I didn’t have a ton of word count to devote to this, so I wanted to favor basic foundations. And, if you’ve been following the discussions, you know that “The Hedge” is the tentative name of our first supplement. So, we’ll be giving that a lot of love, and sooner than later.
The one thing you’ll get a nice hint of here, but you’ll see more of in The Hedge is the ability to change Seemings. It’s the kind of rare, focus-of-multiple-stories type thing that I feel gave us some fun space to play with the agency changelings take over their condition.
This segment is notably shorter than the original. Again, space constraints are a real thing, and I think we have a lot of room to expand and let it develop into something more beautiful and terrifying with our first supplement.
Anyway, here’s some Hedge. I hope you dig it as much as I enjoyed writing it.
Edit: I made some minor changes about six hours after posting this. I added some description text under “Pain and the Hedge” to add more explicit dichotomy between beautiful and dark aspects. I clarified Master Shaper to allow for human characters. I clarified some rules about warping the Hedge. I added a minor reference to Dream Bastions in the reasons changelings travel to the Hedge. I made it clear what happens to warped objects when they’re taken from the Hedge into the human world.
Comments
22 responses to “Changeling: The Lost, The Hedge”
Looks really good and thematic, spotted a couple typos like “This problem is not restricted to change lanes alone, however.” though. 🙂
Oh sure. That’ll happen. I’ll note: This hasn’t been through editing. We’re not QUITE at that phase yet.
Yeah! Thank you.
Don’t get me wrong, I ADORE Lost’s first edition. But, everything I hear about the second so far seems to take the original and elevate to even higher ground.
It’s gonna sound silly but… really… thank you for the solid work you are doing here. I just already know I am going to tremendously enjoy this book.
I want to second this. CtL holds a special place in my heart and I have been extremely excited about everything I’ve seen thus far about 2nd ed. Thank you so much for really staying true to this game, but refining some of the rougher pieces from 1st ed like Dreamwalking and the Hedge.
Thank you so much! This is what we’re hoping to achieve here.
If I have one complaint, it’s in the idea that emphasizing your Kith reduces clarity. I like the mechanics well enough.
Would love to see a full example descriptive paragraph or three on what the hedge looks like to PCs as they journey through it. Including perhaps denizens they might stumble into, descriptions of goblin fruit, etc.
Let me see if I can’t squeeze some of that in. I’m pretty tight on the wire, time and space wise. But in the absolute worst case scenario, you’re going to get a lot of that in the Hedge book.
awesome, and lol at the thing I just decided to write, I didn’t know there was going to be a hedge book. Thanks
I’ll be honest, I’d be down for an entire book on the hedge and arcadia.
I think you’ll get your wish, the next book after the core is called The Hedge.
Hedge Navigation doesn’t offer 0 wyrd for humans, and should splats be 0 wyrd or use potency?
Humans should be considered Wyrd 1 for these purposes. I’ll note that.
Thanks
The mention of agency in your post really hits it on the head for me: a lot of what makes me feel like this new edition is so much more *playable* (and less of an exercise in reliving personal traumas through metaphor) is the way you’ve increased changelings’ agency in the abuse metaphor that is changeling nature. It’s taking a game I loved in theory but was a little too wigged out to play, and landed it firmly back in “playable” territory for me.
So uh. Thanks for that.
My goal is to make all things playable, and make everything about the characters when possible.
So I’m glad that’s coming through strong. So glad to hear this.
I’m glad to hear this, even if I fully disagree with it. I mean, for ME and my troupe, the notion of finding one’s own agency only AFTER the fact of the Durance’s horror is what really appealed to us in regards to playing the game. What I’ve seen of how Clarity, Seemings and kiths work in Second Edition feels like it gives the CHARACTER too much agency, while making it a LOT harder on the players (e.g. wading through over 100 kiths, an ‘a-la-carte’ set of Contracts, no set Courts).
I’m NOT passing judgment on this edition right now, NOR am I casting shade on anyone else’s playstyle. Oh heavens no! Maybe it’s not the game *I* want to play, but I AM pleased that others feel differently!
If the Characters have no agency. Before escaping, how do they escape?
David’s way makes more sense to me.
Oh I meant to ask the dreaded timeline question. You said you are wrapping it up tight on time. Does this mean we will see a pdf preview in the next couple months?
I don’t know. That depends on a lot of things. This is just the text I’m talking about. The text has to be approved, edited, approved by White Wolf, art needs to be procured for it, then it needs to be laid out. That can take little time or a lot of time. There’s a lot of moving parts there.
A nice clarification of metaphysics and poetics of the Hedge, and still ambiguous enough of an interstices between the real and the ideal to keep Mages second guessing for years to come :P.
Looking forward to some non-botanical Hedge descriptions in the new supplement.