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I've been coming more and more a fan of the World of Darkness books that offer an alternative, perhaps a more grim, vision of the major lines. Before Changing Breeds only one has been offered (Second Sight) and that not so much of an alternative as Changing Breeds is.

Getting this book was pretty much an impulse purchase for me. Way back when the new World of Darkness was released my original plans were to merely concentrate on the main line of books and not branch out to the supplemental games (Vampire: The Requiem, Werewolf: The Forsaken, etc) but those plans have since fallen by the wayside as I have jumped from line to line – some might say looking for something but not quite finding it. So the appearance of Changing Breeds on my local game store's shelves dragged my interest back to the “mortal” line of the World of Darkness.

chang·ing - to undergo transformation, transition, or substitution

from the outside

The cover of Changing Breeds is rather ordinary, presenting us with a number of beastmen standing (some might say “posing”) on a pile of wrecked cars. Other than this the cover is your standard World of Darkness cover, the words “World of Darkness” emblazoned down one side.

between the covers

The internal format follows the standard World of Darkness format – black and white/greyscale pages with fiction and a picture dividing each chapter (I know I may sound bland but I really like the format of the World of Darkness books).

There are 4 Chapters (excluding the Introduction). The fiction is typical of World of Darkness, trying to instill into the reader the trials and tribulations of being a Feral (the name given to non-Uratha shapeshifters).

The Introduction is fairly typical of most World of Darkness books. It attempts to impart to the reader the themes and moods of the book.

The Wild Heart (Chapter One) goes over the ins and outs of being a Feral. It covers information regarding Feral Society, the First Change and advanatges and disadvantages of being a Feral. There are no system mechanics in this chapter.

There was a brief setting element mentioned here: that of Regal Regencies – how there exists exceedingly wealthy dynastic families of breeds that, if not rule the world, are powerful enough to affect world affairs. Such dynasties don't necessarily have members who are actual Ferals themselves.

Building The Pefect Beast (Chapter Two) gives us the meat of the book: the character creation rules and lists of powers. Here we find that the Ferals are what Second Sight called a greater template. They are given the full treatment that Vampires, Werewolves and Mages are given: a morality trait called Harmony and a power trait called Feral Heart being the two major differences between Ferals and the Psychics and Thaumaturges of Second Sight (actually the Psychics and Thaumaturges were given a “power trait” called Supernatural Affinity but it can never be increased over 1 – Feral Heart can range from 1 to 10 just like Blood Pool, Essence and Gnosis).

Also included are Favors (inborn abilities) and Aspects (unusual powers). These are the powers that make your Feral character unique from others. They are all rated in dots (some negative implying they are more of a problem than advantage) and a few allow the Feral to perform magic (requiring other WOD resources for specific spells and powers).

The system of Aspects has been seen in previous books such as Skinchangers and War Against The Pure, each of these covering in some part other shapechangers. In Changing Breeds this system has been formalised a little more with the explicit delineation between Favors and Aspects (Favors merely being Aspects that are inborn powers of the breed in question).

The Breeds Beneath Our Skin (Chapter Three) covers the many breeds of Ferals: The Bastet, The Land Titans, The Laughing Strangers, The Pack, The Royal Apes, The Spinner-Kin, The Ursara, The Wind-Runners, and The Wing Folk. Each section within this chapter starts with a brief introduction of the breed, then details a few species - providing attribute adjustments for the War Form and Primal Beast (if any – not all Ferals have War Forms and a couple don't even have a Primal Beast) and also lists a few other species. This is the other main section of the book, supplying a Player with Ferals to choose from (specific Favors, common Aspects and attribute adjustments for the War Form, Primal Beast and, if applicable, Throwback and Dire Beast). Setting information specific to the Breed is also covered, supplying story seeds to Storytellers for use in any World of Darkness game.

Not every animal species can be covered so the last section in the Chapter, Shadow Breeds, covers one Feral breed not covered earlier: The Cold Kings, The Horned Folk, The Oceanborn, The Riverkin. Serpentines, The Swarm and The Taurae.

Faces In The Smoke (Chapter Four) lists a few sample characters. Pretty much your standard, if brief, list.

the good, the bad, and the ugly

Shapeshifters. Of all kinds. I think this is a nice alternative to Werewolf: The Forsaken (or even something to complement that game). I picked up Changing Breeds looking for an alternative to that game and found what I was looking for – a book that allows shapeshifters to be introduced to existing games or enables me to run a game of shapeshifters by itself. It allows you to use the shapeshifters (by both Storytellers and Players) in other World of Darkness games or to create a Changing Breeds chronicle by itself. I like that I don't have to get Werewolf: The Forsaken and supplements of that game to get rules for shapshifters.

Also Chapter three gives a number of story seeds that can be used in a game while “revealing” a little more of the World of Darkness. I really liked the C'hi Hsu, vampiric witch spiders who use sacred alchemies to extend their lives past the 5 or so years allotted to the rest of the Spinner Kin. Each breed has a similar story that reveals a little more of the mysteriousness of the World of Darkness.

I didn't really like the inclusion of “nature versus technology” as part of the breeds. This was somewhat prevalent in Werewolf: The Apocalypse and it would have been nice for it to have been, if not excluded, presented as an option rather than as the default.

Also the “magic” Aspects rely on other books. Beast Magic suggests using Spells from Mage: The Awakening, Spirit Gift definitely needs Werewolf: The Forsaken for Gifts and Spirit Secrets needs the Books of Spirits or Werewolf: The Forsaken for Spirit Numina. Although I do see the necessity and utility of doing so a part of me wants the book to be completely stand-alone and so is not happy with this.

I am also a bit confused about the divisions between the breeds listed in Chapter 3 and how some qualified as “other species”. Winged Folk, for example, included raptors, bats and crows under the main breed. Whereas Bastet was more narrow in field but still classified some cats as a other species. It appears what is a Breed is very touchy-feely – I think they should not have bothered at all with the idea of other species and just included all under the one classification.

in summary

Changing Breeds is not going to be a book for all people. Some will see it as a return to the days of the Fera of Werewolf: The Apocalypse where focus of that game blurred with all the support for the changing breeds as opposed to Garou (werewolves).

I thought is was a bloody good book despite its shortfalls and hope to see similar treatments done for Vampires (or all hungry dead) and even Mages (Second Sight not offering the scope that Changing Breeds has). It has reinvigorated my interest in the World of Darkness line.

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