The books that never were - info, rumors and general commentary on the three "lost" books for Changeling the Dreaming that were written, but never published. Anyone who has copies of the drafts or further information is more then welcomed to contact me.
Three additional books were written, scheduled, promoted and listed in the White Wolf catalogue though they have never seen the light of day. This is an utterly unofficial gathering of information, rumors and blurbs from across the net.
UPDATE: November 10,
2004: See THIS PAGE for information from
Christopher Howard
on potential future release of Keys to the Kingdom and/or Book of Glamour
Kithbook:
Boggans
Author: Kelly Jester (Christopher Howard was assigned it officially)
ISBN: 1588467759
Scheduled Release: November 2003
Pages: 96
This book long taunted us Changeling fans. It was available for a "pre-order" on Amazon.com with a scheduled release date of November 2003. They left the link as a pre-order through the beginning of December 2003 when it changed to "Out of Print--Limited Availability" This is still very misleading as the book - to the best of my gathered knowledge - was never actually completed in any known degree. The most frustrating aspect of this book for many fans was it was the last of the Kithbooks to be released. It was the only one left. Not releasing it seemed a rather large slap in the face to most players.
Snippets of information from the net are as follows:
2/15/2001: Chris Howard has admited [sic] on the forums to be planning a new art for Boggans in Kithbook: Boggan, so it's suspected he's gonna be writting [sic] it.
source
Snippets from the Feb. 22, 2001 Developer's Chat on Kithbook: Boggans:
Moderator
Will there be any surprises in Kithbook Boggan? Anything that might make them more interesting and playable?
Nicky Rea
Chris Howard will be writing boggan. I've never known Chris NOT to make things interesting....
Moderator
Do you have any idea what books are in the works for 2002?
Nicky Rea
Kithbook Boggan
Moderator
Any chance you could drop a hint about the big surprise in Kithbook: Boggans?
Jackie Cassada
Not really.
Jackie Cassada
As we said, we trust Chris Howard to come up with something that will make people crave the honor of playing a boggan.
Nicky Rea
i.e. we don't know what it is yet
Snippet from Christopher Howard on the new WW Message Forums (Sept. 13, 2004):
I was originally supposed to work on KB: Boggan (after finishing KttK and BoG). Obviously, the game folded first and I never began the project. I have been in conversation with Mattboggan for some time, however, and it is quite possible that a new Boggan Art will show up in the final version of BoG. More as it develops.
Keys
to the Kingdom
Author: Christopher Howard (bio)
ISBN: unknown
Scheduled Release: 2001
Pages: unknown
KttK was listed on White Wolf's homepage under their "Year of the Scarab" preview. At the time of this writing you can still see the page here.
Keys To the Kingdom for Changeling: The Dreaming - Delve into mysterious and fabled fae lands little known to the changelings of embattled Concordia to find an ancient, deadly treasure. The story moves from timeless, sun-baked Egypt to the emerald jungles of the rainforest, with the Triumph Casque of Sorrows as the prize.
A part of the "Mummy: The Resurrection" focused release (and the apparent launching of the new series), the Year of the Scarab was described as such:
Immortality has a price higher than most are willing to pay. To walk for unending centuries, one must sacrifice one's very soul. But is there a path that leads to life eternal rather than damnation? Are the denizens of the World of Darkness worthy to walk it, and can they pay the price? For centuries, their number has been few. While a powerful faction, they have not plied the influence or wreaked the havoc that other creatures have. But with the destruction of Amenti, the Egyptian City of the Dead, all that is about to change. What consequences will the new breed of mummies have on the World of Darkness? And how will the reigning supernatural creatures deal with these beings and a changed Middle East?
2001 is the Year of the Scarab. The servants of Osiris rise to do his bidding once more. But what does this mean for the World of Darkness? Explore the following Scarab books and find out!
I have no idea if any of the other books which spanned the scope of the WOD were released or not.
Snippets of information from the net are as follows:
4/23/2001: Keys to the Kingdom will cover areas of the Middle east, Egypt, and South America.
source12/11/2000: Keys to the Kingdom December 2001
Again, nothing signed yet. Will have info about Kingdoms outside of Concordia (or what's left of it...)
source
Snippets from the Feb. 22, 2001 Developer's Chat on Keys to the Kingdom:
Moderator
Where do Mummies fit into the world of Changeling?
Nicky Rea
We'll know that in Keys to the Kingdom...
Moderator
is Keys to the Kingdom a seperate book or is it a subtitle for KB Eshu?
Jackie Cassada
Keys is a separate book. It is the official Year of the Scarab book for Changeling.
Jackie Cassada
Keys is scheduled for late this year or early early 2002.
Moderator
Are there going to be Noble Houses that don't have the sidhe as the dominant members?
Jackie Cassada
Many kith claim nobility and you may see something in Keys to the Kingdom as well. :)
Moderator
Will we be seeing any new kiths in Keys to the Kingdom?
Nicky Rea
Could be....
Jackie Cassada
consider yourself teased.
The Book of
Glamour
Author: Christopher Howard (bio)
ISBN: 1565044975 (?)
Scheduled Release: unknown
Pages: 128 (?)
The Book of Glamour is the most elusive of the three lost books. The back page of the Kithbook: Eshu book lists "Coming next for Changeling: The Book of Glamour" No cover image, no teaser picture, just a rather boring text ad.
Snippets of information from the net are as follows:
12/11/2000: Book of Glamour September 2001
Nothing signed yet. Proposed to have an index of all the Arts, a few new ones, and additional info on treasures and some other stuff.
source2/15/2001: The Book of Glamour will have two new arts along with a compliation [sic] of all the old ones, essays on the nature of glamour, the Dreaming, treasures, freeholds, etc. I know Dan Ginn and Chris [Howard] have been working on a certain art for some time, so I suspect that *might* be one of the two. source
4/23/01: The authors of Book of Glamour will be Chris Howard, Tadd McDivitt, Dan Ginn, and Krister Michl.
source
Snippets from the Feb. 22, 2001 Developer's Chat on The Book of Glamour
Jackie Cassada
Seriously, we'd love to know what you would like to see. We can't always promise to give you everything, but the Book of Glamour came about because of your demand.Moderator
Will You change the rules of Cantrips or Arts in Book of Glamour?
Jackie Cassada
We're not so much changing the rules as expanding and clarifying them. They need cleaning up and explaining and we have so many new Arts since the core rules that we need to make them all jibe with one another.
Moderator
Will the updates in Book of Glamour include updates for the Wu Tan from Land of Eight Million Dreams?
Nicky Rea
we're thinking about it. If there's room....
Jackie Cassada
That's pretty much up to Chris Howard. We already have 30+ Arts to deal with and not enough pages...
Moderator
Who are the wirters for "Book of Glamour" besides Chris Howard?
Nicky Rea
Tadd McDivitt, Dan Ginn and Krister Michl
Moderator
Will there be a clarification as to the Enchantment/ coma rules conflict in Book of Glamour?
Jackie Cassada
We'll try to touch on as many controversial technical topics as we can, but we may not be able to get around to everything.
Nicky Rea
but we hope to cover the big stuff
Moderator
Will the Nightmare Kiths fare better in the new world order of Dark Dreams? And if so, how will the mechanics reflect this?
Jackie Cassada
And the book of Glamour will have some tidbits that may pertain to the dark side of the Dreaming.
Moderator
Is a look at Banality going to be on the Agenda?
Nicky Rea
See Book of Glamour
Moderator
Will the Book of Glamour talk about Dark Glamour and its effects on changelings?
Nicky Rea
yes
Jackie Cassada
We hope so, at any rate.
Most of what you find is just rumor or frustration. (or both)
10/22/03: BoG is "essentially complete;" according to one of the writers all it lacks is some layout. (No, I don't know how much "some" is, only that it's less than "all.") Rumour [sic] has it that it may be released electronically to a fansite sometime after the whole Time of Judgement [sic] thing is over.
sourceAccording to someone I trust, who works for WW, the rumor that they printed Book of Glamour and Kithbook: Boggan, just never released them, is false.
source
Which brings up the fact that several places on the net have listed some (or all) of these books for sale at one point in time or another. Most of which are international reseller sites. Each and every site I've found which purports to have said books in stock have failed to reply to my email queries attempting to confirm the items being actually, physically "in stock." Most of the sites seem shady, don't have cover art (with the exclusion of Boggans, I don't believe the other two had finalized art), don't have ISBN numbers for them and definitely don't actually say it's "in stock." Most often, they simply say "add to cart." I believe this is a way for them to hold your money indefinitely. Other sites might not be doing so intentionally, but like any vaporware, they added the info for purchase, but never took it down.
Example: Book of Glamour: http://www.zooscape.com/cgi-bin/maitred/WhitePulp/isbn1565044975
The author of the Time of Judgment wrap-up, Matthew McFarland, goes in great detail about how he feels over the ending of the dream and mentions specifically the three books and how they will never see the light of day: http://www.geocities.com/blackhatmatt/changeling_end.htm
Changeling is going away, and it’s not coming back. You will never get Book of Glamour or Kithbook: Boggan or Keys to the Kingdom. If Changeling ever does come back, it won’t be in the form that you know, and you’re better off not comparing the new to the old, because then you’ll be missing out on the wonder of the new game. The story is ending. It is time to wake up from the dream.
Even though at this time it seems pretty unlikely that these books will ever see the light of day, it doesn't hurt to pester White Wolf every now and then for an e-book release (a large-scale and organized group with a guaranteed number of sales might be enough to see such a release), or to contact some of the authors directly to inquire about the state of their confidentiality agreements (if applicable) and their ability/desire to distribute in some way (even html or pdf) the materials so they are not lost. Anyone with any further details, info or campaigns already in existence to get a release of these books is welcomed to contact me.
Contact Me At: glamour @ giveneyestosee DOT com
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Last updated: 11/10/04