The Inside Scoop on Gaming

Okay - I haven't read the whole book (haven't done much more than skim), but I've given it a look over and thought I'd let you guys hear my first impressions.

First off - if anyone doesn't know, 8 Million Dreams is the Year of the Lotus book for Changeling, and it focuses on the hsien of China (though there is one "kith" that was originally Japanese).

The differences between the hsien and the fae are many. First off - the hsien are not really the children of dreams - they are spirits of nature and the celestial courts. They are not "dual natured" the way the kithain are. When a hsien is in it's mortal form it is essentially a mortal with fae thoughts and some magic - unlike a kithain who is (unless undone or wyrded) always both mortal and fae. The hsien in their "fae" form are essentially wyrd form fae - they exist fully in the real world. In addition the "commoner" kith all have an animal form that they can take - just like a pooka, save they need not be alone to take it. I have to admit that I have a great fondness for this system - and half wish that Changeling was more like this... though I do like the difficulties of duel perceptions that CtD presents, I have to say that this system seems to capture more of the feel of myths and modern urban fantasy... hell, I love both and am just vacillating... I am going to put up house rules for making kithain follow the non dualistic rules that the hsien follow on my page at http://www.av.qnet.com/~lrobinstch/Newfae.html.

The hsien's magic is also significantly different than the fae's magic - coming closer to inanimae magic in many ways. It, however, is not much like inanimae magic either. It has the potential to be VERY powerful, however it is relatively hard to increase levels in. (Xp cost is current level * 8).

A few other things about the hsien are different - they do not have glamour and banality - but rather have Chi (Yin Chi, and Yang Chi) and Yugen. They do not go in for the binary opposition thing that the fae do (thank god). Yugen is the "juice" that the hsien spend and gain from spending time in dragon nests (freeholds), and Chi is the innate power and understanding that powers most of their magic (except that one form of magic is powered by Tao). Chi is raised using much the same system as Werewolf uses for renown, you gain a temporary point every time you uphold your legacy's ban (which can be highly problematic - Fatalists ban is not to laugh except in mockery or bitterness.. I can already hear characters yelling that they went a whole game without laughing - they deserve temp chi....), once you get 10 temp points you get a new permanent point. I don't know about this - but I'll give it a try before I bitch and whine. All in all I like the concept of Yin, Yang, Yugen, and Tao - it works for me and captures a great deal of what the hsien are about.

Another big difference is Iron. Hsien do not fear iron - their equivalent is jade. However, jade is also a power item for hsien - it can increase their magic, and many powerful treasures are made of Jade. Slightly paradoxical - but it works. Basically what it comes down to is - Jade has power. Anything with power is a two edged sword.

The art of the book is hit and miss. There are some blurry smear drawings by Tucker - whose work I hate, but there are also some wonderful pictures that really capture mood and tone as well. And most of the art for the "kith" write ups is nice to good, which is a real relief. For some reason I can't quite fathom there is an excessively high nipple count...

There are a few editorial errors that I've noticed - same kind of slop that plagued Inanimae (which was such a good book.. Why couldn't they have paid more attention?). The freebie points cost chart is screwed up - with the hsien- tsu and hsien-jin being mixed up (sloppy work that), plus I can't believe that the hsien-jin are supposed to only pay 1 freebie for abilities - that will make them the absolute skill twinks of the WoD, matched only by mummies... Also the screwed up with the write up for The Mask of Shintai (an ability to scare the piss out of people that all hsien have - something similar to the rage of a sidhe) - first they printed the same info twice - which is rather a waste of page count, and then they used different numbers in the two different places (one says the diff to resist is 7 for mortals, 6 for shen, 5 for hsien; the other that it is 8,7,6) maybe not a huge screw up - but an annoying one that will cause problems and could have been taken care of easily if the editing had been a bit sharper.

NO character sheet. Pisser. (Though Wayne has said he will post one to the net).

The game is also very well tied in with the other year of the lotus books - making it easy to use them together, and even encouraging and having suggestions for cross over campaigns - which is nice for a change. The whole idea of the shen working together more easily then their western counterparts appeals to me. The one weakness of this set up is that there is a definite pressure in the book to force you to buy Kindred of the East - which while I know it's a good book is something I'm perfectly happy without. Still - the danger that the kuei-jen pose to the hsien is definitely a nice touch, and a very good way of keeping the hsien, who could get out of control quickly without such significant danger, in hand.

As for the background story and set up - I've only skimmed it. It follows something similar to the Changeling shattering myth, but this time it was the spirit world and the celestial courts that the spiritual rather than dreamed hsien were cut off from. They were the messengers between mortal and god - and now they are cut off from the spirit realm, left without purpose and alone in an increasingly hostile world. The search for inner peace and resolution as well as the search for the jade key that will allow the return to the spirit world is well worked out. In many ways the history of the hsien is better worked out and less annoying that the history of the fae can be.

All in all from my first impressions I'd give this book a definite thumbs up. Even if it falls apart under closer scrutiny (which I doubt it will) it, like inanimae, adds something significant, wonderful, rich and strange to the world of Changeling. Check it out now, my funk soul brother.

Rating 4 of 5.

Style: 4 (Classy and well done)
Substance: 4 (Meaty)

Land of 8 Million Dreams
Author: Deena McKinny, Jim Moore, and Wayne Peacock Category: game Company/Publisher: White Wolf Cost: $18.00 Page count: 152 ISBN: 781565047228 Capsule Review by Brand Ambros on 12/14/98. Genre tags: Fantasy Modern_day Gothic Asian/Far_East	Okay - I haven't read the whole book (haven't done much more than skim), but I've given it a look over and thought I'd let you guys hear my first impressions. First off - if anyone doesn't know, 8 Million Dreams is the Year of the Lotus book for Changeling, and it focuses on the hsien of China (though there is one "kith" that was originally Japanese). The differences between the hsien and the fae are many. First off - the hsien are not really the children of dreams - they are spirits of nature and the celestial courts. They are not "dual natured" the way the kithain are. When a hsien is in it's mortal form it is essentially a mortal with fae thoughts and some magic - unlike a kithain who is (unless undone or wyrded) always both mortal and fae. The hsien in their "fae" form are essentially wyrd form fae - they exist fully in the real world. In addition the "commoner" kith all have an animal form that they can take - just like a pooka, save they need not be alone to take it. I have to admit that I have a great fondness for this system - and half wish that Changeling was more like this... though I do like the difficulties of duel perceptions that CtD presents, I have to say that this system seems to capture more of the feel of myths and modern urban fantasy... hell, I love both and am just vacillating... I am going to put up house rules for making kithain follow the non dualistic rules that the hsien follow on my page at http://www.av.qnet.com/~lrobinstch/Newfae.html. The hsien's magic is also significantly different than the fae's magic - coming closer to inanimae magic in many ways. It, however, is not much like inanimae magic either. It has the potential to be VERY powerful, however it is relatively hard to increase levels in. (Xp cost is current level * 8). A few other things about the hsien are different - they do not have glamour and banality - but rather have Chi (Yin Chi, and Yang Chi) and Yugen. They do not go in for the binary opposition thing that the fae do (thank god). Yugen is the "juice" that the hsien spend and gain from spending time in dragon nests (freeholds), and Chi is the innate power and understanding that powers most of their magic (except that one form of magic is powered by Tao). Chi is raised using much the same system as Werewolf uses for renown, you gain a temporary point every time you uphold your legacy's ban (which can be highly problematic - Fatalists ban is not to laugh except in mockery or bitterness.. I can already hear characters yelling that they went a whole game without laughing - they deserve temp chi....), once you get 10 temp points you get a new permanent point. I don't know about this - but I'll give it a try before I bitch and whine. All in all I like the concept of Yin, Yang, Yugen, and Tao - it works for me and captures a great deal of what the hsien are about. Another big difference is Iron. Hsien do not fear iron - their equivalent is jade. However, jade is also a power item for hsien - it can increase their magic, and many powerful treasures are made of Jade. Slightly paradoxical - but it works. Basically what it comes down to is - Jade has power. Anything with power is a two edged sword. The art of the book is hit and miss. There are some blurry smear drawings by Tucker - whose work I hate, but there are also some wonderful pictures that really capture mood and tone as well. And most of the art for the "kith" write ups is nice to good, which is a real relief. For some reason I can't quite fathom there is an excessively high nipple count... There are a few editorial errors that I've noticed - same kind of slop that plagued Inanimae (which was such a good book.. Why couldn't they have paid more attention?). The freebie points cost chart is screwed up - with the hsien- tsu and hsien-jin being mixed up (sloppy work that), plus I can't believe that the hsien-jin are supposed to only pay 1 freebie for abilities - that will make them the absolute skill twinks of the WoD, matched only by mummies... Also the screwed up with the write up for The Mask of Shintai (an ability to scare the piss out of people that all hsien have - something similar to the rage of a sidhe) - first they printed the same info twice - which is rather a waste of page count, and then they used different numbers in the two different places (one says the diff to resist is 7 for mortals, 6 for shen, 5 for hsien; the other that it is 8,7,6) maybe not a huge screw up - but an annoying one that will cause problems and could have been taken care of easily if the editing had been a bit sharper. NO character sheet. Pisser. (Though Wayne has said he will post one to the net). The game is also very well tied in with the other year of the lotus books - making it easy to use them together, and even encouraging and having suggestions for cross over campaigns - which is nice for a change. The whole idea of the shen working together more easily then their western counterparts appeals to me. The one weakness of this set up is that there is a definite pressure in the book to force you to buy Kindred of the East - which while I know it's a good book is something I'm perfectly happy without. Still - the danger that the kuei-jen pose to the hsien is definitely a nice touch, and a very good way of keeping the hsien, who could get out of control quickly without such significant danger, in hand. As for the background story and set up - I've only skimmed it. It follows something similar to the Changeling shattering myth, but this time it was the spirit world and the celestial courts that the spiritual rather than dreamed hsien were cut off from. They were the messengers between mortal and god - and now they are cut off from the spirit realm, left without purpose and alone in an increasingly hostile world. The search for inner peace and resolution as well as the search for the jade key that will allow the return to the spirit world is well worked out. In many ways the history of the hsien is better worked out and less annoying that the history of the fae can be. All in all from my first impressions I'd give this book a definite thumbs up. Even if it falls apart under closer scrutiny (which I doubt it will) it, like inanimae, adds something significant, wonderful, rich and strange to the world of Changeling. Check it out now, my funk soul brother. Rating 4 of 5. Style: 4 (Classy and well done) Substance: 4 (Meaty)

Land of 8 Million Dreams