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Before we begin, I'd like to editorialize about how our Fan Site of the Week is one of the best Changeling fan sites on the Internet. Not only does The Right to Dream have the latest in errata, rumors, fan revisions, and compiled author postings, it has a complete World of Darkness version of Oz. Yes, you read that correctly. The yellow brick road will never be the same.
The site also shows that when a game is getting minimal to no support from its manufacturer, that doesn't mean it's dead. When that happens, the fan sites become vital. When I was preparing for a new Changeling campaign, The Right to Dream is where I ended up, after hours of searching.
So, here we are with Beau Brown...
RPGNet: Why did you decide to start your website?
Beau Brown: I created "The Right to Dream" because there were a lot of Changeling sites that really sucked. When I was searching for good Changeling sites there were a few: Mistypaw's Pooka Place and The Moonlit Trod are great examples. However, most were "pictures of me and my friends in faerie wings". So I wanted to make a site that focused on information about the game. Of course there are pictures of me and other changeling folks from DragonCon on the site. Then it became a place for me to put my setting World of Darkness: Oz which had always been my little baby.
RPGNet: How long will you continue working on the site? Is there a line or a goal you've set?
Beau Brown: I just suffered a major computer crash so I haven't been able to update the site since October. However over that time I have been running an Oz game so I have a whole lot of Oz updates to post. The Oz setting is nowhere near complete and I hope that I will continue fleshing it out. I know Changeling won't last forever, as much as I would love it to. I plan on keeping the site up as long as it is still fun, I suppose. I think it is important for there to be a good information site out there to help other Changeling STs.
RPGNet: If I were to decide to create a fan site, what advice would you give me?
Beau Brown: No pictures of fat girls in faerie wings. Beyond that, always hold information over personal things. Sure you like seeing pictures of you and your friends, the stats for your favorite PC, and pics you drew of your characters online but how useful is that to other people? Post things people can use. Once you've done that, then put up your gallery.
RPGNet: Has anyone at White Wolf ever noticed or acknowledged the site?
Beau Brown: Nicky and Jackie know about the site; I usually try and see them at DragonCon once a year to talk about the game. Matt McFarlene, who is the new Dark Ages Developer, is a good friend of mine and really likes the site. At one point Conrad emailed me about the site asking me to join the Black Spiral Web Ring, but I really don't like most of the sites on the Ring and most of those Vampire folks dont care about my site anyway, so I joined the Rath Changeling Ring, which just made more sense. I didn't create "The Right to Dream" to show off for the people at White Wolf. It makes me much happier when I get emails from a guy in Argentina who wants to run an Oz game. Guys like him are who I want to notice the site.
RPGNet: What do you think of the "Kidnapping King David" metaplot that's currently going on in Changeling?
Beau Brown: I personally like the metaplot. I think that the WoD is a very dynamic place where things happen, it wouldn't make sense otherwise. However, if given the choice I would rather have Book of Glamour over any metaplot anything. Changeling still has a lot of problems that need to be solved and that should be higher up on the To-Do List than more metaplot. Currently there are about 79 different splat choices you can play in Changeling (including the noble houses as choices) the last thing we need is more kiths. We need to fix what we already have.
RPGNet: How do you feel about Changeling's move to the Arthaus imprint, aside from the problem of less supplements?
Beau Brown: I don't buy gaming books for pretty pictures. So I could care less about the "we want Changeling in color" argument. I don't think that color pictures is what made Changeling special. In the simplest terms Changeling would have been canned alongside Mage: Sorceror's Crusade and Werewolf: Wild West if Mike Tinney had not personally funded the creation of Arthaus. Arthaus is the only reason Changeling is still around today and I am thankful for that. Every Changeling fan should write Mike Tinny and thank him personally.
RPGNet: Is there something you're particularly looking forward to in the
Changeling line?
Beau Brown: Book of Glamour. Once Book of Glamour and Kithbook: Boggan come out I think that I will be content. Honestly I don't need anything else. While I like the metaplot, I am also a gamemaster which means I am the metaplot. I will still buy books when they come out but I think I have everything I need. If after those books come out Changeling were to suffer its demise then I would be okay.
RPGNet: What other RPGs do you enjoy?
Beau Brown: D&D 3rd kicks ass. Some of the best gaming I've ever done has been in Earthdawn. I am a big Mage fan. Aberrant is also a very fun game.
RPGNet: Final thoughts?
Beau Brown: I just hope that my site is useful to the other Changeling STs out there who keep telling beautiful stories about the red-headed stepchild of the World of Darkness.
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