Tell Me About EarthDawn.

[Andor]

We always loved Earth Dawn. The world is very evocative. There were some things about the system that took getting used to, but nothing major. It used a stat + skill system where you would roll dice that averaged out to the sum. So if you had a stat + skill of 7 you would roll 2d6 and for a 10 it might be 1d12 + 1d6 (I don't recall the exact chart).

There is actually a lot of the 4e previews we've seen that remind me of some earth dawn features including healing surges (which are purely magical in ED.)

The Earth Dawn world is very concerned with names and stories. One of the things I found most interesting about Earth Dawn was that you weren't quite playing your character so much as building your characters legend. It's a subtle shift but a fascinating one.

And the races were very cool with your standard Elves, Orcs and Dwarves as well as Windlings, T'skrang, Trolls and Obsidimen. There were some hints that the Earthdawn setting is possibly the distant past of the Shadowrun setting, but the connection was never really all that strong.

 

[Ulric]

Alright. I just dropped the dime on the Redbrick books. Because they are coming from Lulu, they won't ship for a couple of weeks. Once I get them and have a chance to really look them over I'll post my thoughts. The setting does look really good--lots of stuff you can do with it. I'm excited to check it out.

 

[Kwalish Kid]

A windling could kill antire party as the only dicipline to get ranged combat before 4th circle were archers.

Ummm... a first circle nethermancer could stop that windling pretty fast with bone dance. All the magician disciplines had ranged attacks.

Anyway, I liked the system. It, like Legend of the 5 Rings, really reflected the metaphysics of the game world.

 

[Aus_Snow]

Alright. I just dropped the dime on the Redbrick books. Because they are coming from Lulu, they won't ship for a couple of weeks. Once I get them and have a chance to really look them over I'll post my thoughts. The setting does look really good--lots of stuff you can do with it. I'm excited to check it out.

Please do. I - and probably some other people here - would be quite interested to hear how the new edition is. I've got some old first ed. stuff, but it's not too different, I hear. Still, I'd be curious.

 

[Shining Dragon]

When it first came out I bought it because it would be "Shadowrun without the Cyber".

All characters are magical because if you ran Shdaowrun and said that there was no technology all characters would be Physical Adepts at the least.

 

[Matrix Sorcica]

Ummm... a first circle nethermancer could stop that windling pretty fast with bone dance. All the magician disciplines had ranged attacks.

The point was that warriors and ilk got ranged attacks at 4th circle..... so let's hope the party includes a Nethermancer

 

[Jhulae]

When it first came out I bought it because it would be "Shadowrun without the Cyber".

All characters are magical because if you ran Shdaowrun and said that there was no technology all characters would be Physical Adepts at the least.

By design, as the setting of ED is SR's Earth 12,000 years in the past.

 

[danbuter1]

I really like this game. Go with the FASA/Redbrick books. The "2e" game was not as good, IMO. You can pick up a lot of FASA books on eBay dirt cheap. The setting is great, the classes and races are really cool, and it has the best magic item system in any game, ever.

 

[ssampier]

You guys stink. You are making me want to run a Earthdawn as a setting for a d20 campaign. Gah! How many worlds do I need?

 

[fuindordm]

Earthdawn is a very specific setting. The world is high magic, and the magic system creeps into every aspect of the rules. I applaud the authors for having the guts to create a game that is so closely intertwined with the setting. The flip side is that if the nature of magic in the setting doesn't grab you, the game won't either.

Yes, every class uses magic. Warriors are adepts who use magic to fight better. The conceit is that in a highly magical world, anyone who doesn't use magic is a fool. The PCs are all adepts, which is explained in some of the novels as a person who agrees to take on a legendary role. In return, the world itself aids them with magic.

Having said that, however, it is possible to learn mundane skills; this is something we overlooked for a while, back in the day, but if the party is missing a thief then nothing prevents any other PC from learning how to pick locks. If your warrior needs to use a bow, they can learn ranged combat as a skill whenever they have the points to spend.

The writing is excellent. I never looked at second edition, but I really enjoyed reading all the first edition supplements, especially the races books.

Definitely pick up the companion, which has rules for Questors (hinted at in the main 1st edition book, but never explained).

Another point in its favor: there are no gods. The closest thing are the Passions, which are sort of Jungian archetypes... It's really nice to see a fantasy setting without temples and priests.

The healing system is a lot like 4E D&D.

In sum, I highly recommend it.

Ben