Changeling: The Dreaming, A Storytelling Game of Modern Fantasy [Paperback]

Sam Chupp (Author), Ian Lemke (Author), Joshua Gabriel Timbrook (Author), Mark Rein-Hagen (Contributor)

Product Details

• Paperback: 293 pages
• Publisher: White Wolf Publishing (December 1, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1565047001
• ISBN-13: 978-1565047006
• Product Dimensions: 10.8 x 8.1 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,253,470 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars enjoyable with some small flaws, February 8, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: Changeling: The Dreaming, A Storytelling Game of Modern Fantasy (Paperback)

Changeling: the Dreaming has many virtues and a few flaws. White Wolf has done it again. Their latest effort has many virtues. The background is wonderful and full of suprises. The blend of old stories with modern settings has many opportunities for fun and exciting role-playing. The character types are very interesting and varied. The artwork throughout the book is excellent and all of the pages are in full color. There are a couple of flaws. The first is many aspects of the game are very ambigious. A great deal of interpretation is needed in many places. The system for glamour (magic) given uses cards and is very cumbersome. The rest of the system is standard White Wolf fare. I would reccomend buying this game because it is a lot of fun to play. The player's guide (sold seperately) help clear up many aspects of the game and is almost a neccessity.

5.0 out of 5 stars That treason I knew in '95, December 9, 2010

By 

Scott Rawlings (Atlanta, GA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Changeling: The Dreaming, A Storytelling Game of Modern Fantasy (Paperback)

This book holds a lot of nostalgia for me; it takes me right back to 1995. Marketed as the last of the five White Wolf core game lines (before Hunter: The Reckoning and Mummy: The Resurrection, and [Noun: The Evocative Verb] proved them wrong, it was by far the brightest of the five lines. Many people say it is the lightest, this is misleading. It is the brightest, the most colorful and evocative. The other games like Vampire, and Wraith in particular can get bogged down in the dreary weeds of the World of Darkness; Changeling offers an alternative, a game where you play a character half mortal and half immortal fairie (a creature native to the realm of Dreams). You are literally awash in the dreaming life of mortals, their fantasies, idle fancy and darkest nightmares. This means that Changeling can be as dark as you wish it too, or as light-hearted as well. In fact, it is the only core game that has rules for playing children (and believe me after four years of playing angst-ridden Kindred or brutal Garou that was a revolutionary change).

Not everything is light, like the other WoD games there is an apocalypse built in, that involving the death of creativity in light of the cynical nature of our postmodern world. For a changeling, this means the terrifying prospect of the permanent loss of their fairie soul.

As much as I love the game in theory, it is a challenge in practice. First is the challenge of finding players and storytellers who really grok the game. Many gamers just can't wrap their mind around it. Secondly is the magic system: Hopelessly Broken. Changelings are also underpowered compared to other WoD characters, but this doesn't really matter as the game is a nightmare to crossover anyhow, as the Changeling characters exist halfway in their own separate reality of the Dreaming. As time went by, I also found the character creation to be rather restrictive, but back in 1995 it was still new and fresh.

The design of the book is top notch, particularly the first chapter where the authors take a playful break from the "opening fiction" of previous material. The artwork by Tony DiTerlizzi and others is top notch, and really helps you grasp the theme and feel of the game.

Changeling: the Dreaming is a game with few but passionate fans. I hope if you find it you enjoy it as much as I did the spring of 1995.

3.0 out of 5 stars RPG, September 2, 2007

By 

Blue Tyson "- Research Finished" (Legion clubhouse) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Changeling: The Dreaming, A Storytelling Game of Modern Fantasy (Paperback)

A game in that whole White Wolf family. This one is a little lighter in tone, being set in and amonster the world and peoples of faerie and the fey. A lot of sneaking around and fooling the mortals, and hopefully not being disappeared by mages, eaten by werewolves or tormented by vampires.