{"id":27178,"date":"2022-05-26T07:00:09","date_gmt":"2022-05-26T12:00:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.d20radio.com\/main\/?p=27178"},"modified":"2022-05-18T16:03:32","modified_gmt":"2022-05-18T21:03:32","slug":"beneath-stolen-skin-the-evolution-of-the-chronicles-of-darkness-skinchangers-part-three","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.d20radio.com\/main\/beneath-stolen-skin-the-evolution-of-the-chronicles-of-darkness-skinchangers-part-three\/","title":{"rendered":"Beneath Stolen Skin: The Evolution of the Chronicles of Darkness\u2019 Skinchangers PART THREE"},"content":{"rendered":"

CW: Animal abuse, body horror<\/em><\/p>\n

In the first part<\/a> of this four part series, I looked at the origins of the Skinchanger character Template introduced in White Wolf\u2019s<\/b> Chronicles of Darkness First Edition<\/b><\/i> sourcebook, World of Darkness: Skinchangers<\/b><\/i><\/a>. I talked about the differences in the World of Darkness<\/b><\/i> and the Chronicles of Darkness<\/b><\/i> and delved into the Skinchangers as horror characters. In the second part<\/a>, I looked at the first two books that converted the character to CoD2e<\/b>, Chronicles of Darkness: Dark Eras<\/b><\/i><\/a> and the Storytellers Vault<\/b> <\/b><\/i>community content<\/a> <\/b><\/i>option, Borrowed Power<\/b><\/i><\/a>. In this part, I\u2019ll look at another Storytellers Vault<\/b> option, Chronicles of Darkness: Beneath Shifting Skin<\/b><\/i><\/a>, as well as its creators.<\/p>\n

CHRONICLES OF DARKNESS: BENEATH THE SKIN <\/b><\/h2>\n

\"\"<\/a>In 2021, fifteen years after the original sourcebook and five years after the official update to 2e,<\/b> comes a well pedigreed community content 2e<\/b> version via the Storytellers Vault<\/b><\/a>, <\/b>Chronicles of Darkness: Beneath Shifting Skin<\/b><\/i><\/a>. <\/i>Written by Travis Legge, TJ Wilson, and Sam Young, this sourcebook comes in at 38 pages with cover, this is gaming crunch with a light amount of narrative.<\/p>\n

Where Beneath Shifting Skin<\/b><\/i> breaks new ground is the return to the character Template. Dark Eras<\/b><\/i> and Borrowed Power<\/b><\/i> both used a Merit to recreate the Skinchanger, while BSS<\/b> specifically references eight steps to make a Skinthief Template. Using the steps to create a Horror from the Chronicles of Darkness<\/b><\/i><\/a> core rulebook<\/a>, the Storyteller can create a Skinchanger villain. Alternately, the book offers a short \u201cSkin Thief Template\u201d to guide non-Horror character creation.<\/p>\n

The variance from standard character Templates can be seen in the amount of Potency and Integrity their character starts with as well as what Dread Powers and Merits the Skinchanger is allowed. In addition to the Dread Powers from the core rulebook like Beastmaster, Skin-Taker, Toxic (bite or claw only), and several others, Beneath Shifting Skin<\/b><\/i> adds four new options.<\/p>\n

In addition to character and Horror instructions, the book includes six Shadow Shifters, stated Claimed Horrors. They include the fox, human, and spirit kitsunes as well as the hyena spirits, leopard shifters and Leopard Men, raven shifters, serpent sages and the Serpent Society, and more. There are \u201cgeneric\u201d monsters and specific NPCs with story hooks.<\/p>\n

In a nice homage to the original book, the \u201cFreak Gallery\u201d chapter is an update of the same section from the original book. This section takes those Horrors and story hooks from fifteen years before and gives them modern stats and new interpretations.<\/p>\n

Much like Borrowed Powers<\/b><\/i>, this book lacks a setting for the Skinchangers. The story hooks offer some options, but it\u2019s not cut and dry like a larger CoD<\/b> character option might be.<\/p>\n

THE AUTHORS<\/b><\/h2>\n

Despite that, the amount of crunch is worthwhile. In fact, this project is what inspired this article series with its loose Skinchanger history and reviews. I\u2019ve liked the Skinchangers since I picked up a copy of the original sourcebook at The Great Escape<\/b><\/a> in Bowling Green, Kentucky on the way to Gen Con<\/b>. But seeing known RPG freelancers taking the time from their work to craft this book inspired me to write this piece.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Two of the three authors \u2013 Travis Legge and Sam Young \u2013 are Onyx Path Publishing<\/b><\/a> freelancers. Travis Legge is the Scarred Lands<\/b><\/i><\/a> Line Developer and Twitch<\/b> coordinator for OPP<\/b>. Over the years, I\u2019ve talked to Travis several times (here<\/a>, here<\/a>, here<\/a>, and here<\/a>) and talked about <\/a>Glimpse the Beyond 2e<\/b><\/i><\/a>, a project he published through his company, Aegis Studios<\/b><\/a>. He\u2019s a regular contributor to books from Onyx Path Publishing<\/b> and a regular creator of Storyteller Vault<\/b><\/a> material and everywhere else. He\u2019s from the same mold as Owen K.C. Stephen; that\u2019s to say, he never stops creating. Sam Young is an author on Onyx Path Publishing\u2019s <\/b>Beast: The Primordial<\/b><\/i><\/a>, <\/b>Beast Player’s Guide<\/b><\/i><\/a>, <\/b>Night Horrors: Spilled Blood<\/b><\/i><\/a>, <\/b>Night Horrors: The Tormented<\/b><\/i><\/a>,<\/b> and The Pack<\/b><\/i><\/a>. Sam\u2019s resume includes CoD<\/b> titles, including the Beast<\/b><\/i> core rulebook. Their \u201cday jobs\u201d give this community content project a sense of pedigree. Not to take away anything from Chris Falco\u2019s Borrowed Power<\/b><\/i><\/a>, as it is an excellent offering in its own right, but to call out the resume of the creators on this book as a sign of its quality.<\/p>\n

The third author, TJ Wilson, has several Storytellers Vault<\/b> credits to their name, as do the other creators. While not an Onyx Path Publishing<\/b> freelancer like the other two (at least, as far as I can tell), TJ\u2019s presence alongside Travis and Sam imparts a level of quality to his work. The fact that Travis and Sam, who are credited CoD<\/b> authors, feel strongly enough about TJ\u2019s work to include it within this books speaks volumes.<\/p>\n

HOW DOES IT COMPARE TO BORROWED POWER?<\/b><\/h2>\n

\"\"<\/a>How do the Storytellers Vault offerings \u2013 Beneath Shifting Skin<\/b><\/i> and Borrowed Power<\/b><\/i> \u2013 compare? Both are excellent offerings crafted by creators with a love of the core concept. I would not recommend one over the other as being \u201cbetter,\u201d but they are different books so I want to celebrate those differences. If you\u2019re looking for a variety of concepts, Chris Falco\u2019s Borrowed Power<\/b><\/i><\/a> delivers more gaming concepts with three supernatural merits Templates. Skinchangers are one of several concepts explored in this book. On the other hand, Travis Legge, TJ Wilson, and Sam Young\u2019s Chronicles of Darkness: Beneath Shifting Skin<\/b><\/i><\/a> <\/i>is pure focus on the Skinchanger. This gives the concept more room to be explored and updated to CoD2e<\/b>.<\/p>\n

\u201cBorrowed Power<\/b><\/i> contains three new and updated Supernatural Merit Templates for use by Players and Storytellers:<\/p>\n