earthdawn 2nd ed

[Shard O'Glase]

Anyone who got this can you sound off on things like is it better, and why? What things did they change? Are the changes signifigant at all? If you have 1st ed is there really any need to get 2nd other than helping support the company that's keeping earthdawn alive.

I really loved earthdawn and it is perhaps(imo) the best class/level game out there so I really want some info on the 2nd ed before I drop some cash on it.

 

[Sulimo]

Umm...from my understanding there are not substantial changes with the new edition. I have heard that it fixed a couple of the Talents that were somewhat broken.

Note I havent actually seen 2e, just read a few reviews and so forth.

It is a pretty cool game, I'm glad it didnt get assimilated. I really lie the magic system, especially the whole deal with magic items and threads.

 

[Deadguy]

Cleaner and Better Thought Out

I've been playing Earthdawn 2nd Edition since it came out, but I have played very little 1st edition to compare it with. Nevertheless, I would suggest that in 2nd ed they set out to do three things:

1. Tidy up the Disciplines so that they are balanced one with another - by this i mean things like having the same number of Discipline Talents in each Discipline, stuff like that.
2. Improve the Skills system, so that Adepts are less cookie cutter; now two Troll Warriors aren't necessarily essentially identical when they're at the same circle, since the Skills are both worth learning and broad enough to encourage variety.
3. Tidy up around the edges with things like spellcasting or talent descriptions; basically taking advantage of several years of playtesting.
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   It is still recognisably Earthdawn, and characters created under one would still broadly work under the other (though you'd find differences in their talents, for example). My feeling is that, if you want to support Earthdawn and see it around for years to come, then spring for a copy of the rules (and maybe the 2nd edition Companion). Living Room Games is made up of people who love the game, but they can't continue without our support as fans!

 

[Rashak Mani]

I used to play ED much more before... and it was a pretty good and solid game.. no wonder so little needed to been changed in 2nd Edition from what I read.

Still I am very curious to know which discipline had the greatest changes...

 

[Wolfspider]

It is still recognisably Earthdawn, and characters created under one would still broadly work under the other (though you'd find differences in their talents, for example). My feeling is that, if you want to support Earthdawn and see it around for years to come, then spring for a copy of the rules (and maybe the 2nd edition Companion). Living Room Games is made up of people who love the game, but they can't continue without our support as fans!

I would love to see them produce a D20 version of the rules for this reason--I want the game to stick around for years to come, and a D20 book might provide an infusion of much needed cash. Also, I wouldn't mind being able to incorporate some of the mechanics and other goodies from Earthdawn into some of my D&D games.

In any case, although I like the Earthdawn rules, it's really the setting that is awesome and unforgettable. Unfortunately, it seems as if the new publishers are not keen on doing a D20 conversion based on some comments they made at RPG.net about six months back. That's a shame I think.

 

[Rashak Mani]

I agree the setting is what makes Earthdawn so great... but the Dice Steps is part of the charm as well... that re-rolling the max gives the game the unpredictability factor. That factor makes for some tension and fun as well. You know you have a chance of making extra damage and so forth. D20 version... dont think so.

 

[Shard O'Glase]

I really loved how you spent your legend points(xp) to level up. For those who haven't played it, even though there were classes and levels the levels didn't have the same impact as levels in d&d. Really leveling up gave nothing tangible to you except maybe one minor benefit. What it did is allow you to purchase the talents of your new level at the normal cost. You could purchase talents from almost any level at any level. A level one calvaryman, could purchase a cool talent from the 8th level class abilities of his class. You could level up, not from having the right amount of xp, but by getting a certain number of talents from your current level and lower to a certain rank, which also I though was a cool way to do it. I knew of some people who never leveled up much at all, they just blew wads of karma on one or two talents becoming experts in a narrow field, but never gaining the requisite experience in a wide enough area to level up again.

Also gaining another class was more difficult than 3rd editions yeah my next level is wizard, I know I haven't trained at all for it yet thing. But it was quick, and if you had enough karma to spend could be done in a very short amount of time. And if you didn't want to pick up another class, and weren't human, but you really wanted an ability from another class, you might be able to pick it up as a skill as opposed to a talent. Skills being nonmagically enhanced talents in many cases.

Add onto it that they ahd a lot of other cool rule mechanics and a great world and it is possibly my favorite fantasy game, and definetly more well liked by me than 3rd ed.