I had some EarthDawn books a couple o' years back. It seemed like a great RPG but I never had a chance to start a chronicle. I might have the chance in the near future (now that I don't have the books!). I saw there is a new edition, a new companion and a new screen. That's nice, and I'm probably gonna buy all of these but is there any old sourcebook that I should look for? I remember a book called Blood Wood which intrigued me. Any other suggestions about the best sourcebook for this RPG?
Has Living Room Games published an updated setting? If so, could anybody point me what happened in the last few "years"?
Thanks in adance!
The "How it Came to Pass" chapter in ED 2nd ed. covers the history of Earthdawn, including the major events of ED 1st ed's metaplot. The events in that chapter that most changed the face of Barsaive were in FASA's adventure epic <B>Prelude to War</B> and our follow up epic <B>Barsaive at War</B>. The adventure epic <B>Barsaive in Chaos</B> continues with adventures set a year after the end of the War.
The list of first edition books that I would most suggest indeed includes <B>Blood Wood</b>, as well as the other location sourcebooks: <b>Throal: The Dwarf Kingdom, Serpent River, Crystal Raiders of Barsaive,</b> and <b>Ork Nation of Cara Fahd</B>. After those, I would suggest <b>Secret Societies of Barsaive</b>.
The Barsaive boxed set is probably still a good idea for a purchase, though we did try to cover much of the information in it in our Barsaive chapter in the ED2 rulebook. If your campaign follows the metaplot, the information presented in both the Parlainth boxed set and the Sky Point & Vivane boxed set have had very major changes. Likewise, the rules presented in Arcane Mysteries and Magic: A Manual of Mystic Secrets are largely covered by the second edition rulebook and companion.
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Mike Williams
Earthdawn Line Developer
Living Room Games
www.lrgames.com
info@lrgames.com
What he said. I personally got the 2nd Edition main book, the companion, Throal: The Dwarf Kingdom, Thera, and the Adebt's Way, as well as Denizens of Barsaive Volume I. I can recomend all of those highly except Thera. I'd like to find an inexpensive Barsaive boxed set. And I'm currently downloading the Blood Wood. Just for the record, I've attempted to buy it repeatedly on e-bay, to no avail, so I finally got desperate and found it on Kazaa. Also, eventually, in order to be very very evil to your players, find a copy of the book Horrors. However, I must wish you luck. I've been looking for it longer than Blood Wood, and just downloaded it last night. As for where to find these books, look on e-bay and the site http://www.stiggybaby.com That usually has them.
-ChrisC
I don't want to use this thread to start a manufacturer lead crusade against kazaa. However, I will point out that Blood Wood is listed as available at Stiggybaby's in the US, and Gameskeeper in the UK.
As for Horrors, we realize that it's one of the most sought after first edition supplements. <b>Scourge Unending</b>, which is due out in March, includes second edition statistics for everything in Horrors, as well as introducing dozens of new Horrors and Constructs.
__________________
Mike Williams
Earthdawn Line Developer
Living Room Games
www.lrgames.com
info@lrgames.com
Well... I hope I'll be able to find them. Thanks for the fast answer everyone. Blood Wood I hope I'll find. You talked about Thera being bad. How come?
Also, I'd like to know if other boks are going to see a new edition as Scourge Unending is the new Horrors sourcebook?
I remember the two Magic boks being important in the old edition. Do I still need them to have sorcerers in my campaign?
Thanks again!
I'd definately get the Throal sourcebook. It's the most thumbed Earthdawn book I own. It's details an area that is central to the game. I never fully read all of the Serpent River book, but since the the actual Serpent river is also significant in Barsaive, it can prove very useful.
Personally, I never found the Blood Wood source book as useful as the other two. It's an interesting setting. But the place can be quite hostile to the PCs. It's full of political intrigue and mystery, but the blood elves really, really hate outsiders. I found hard to justify putting the PCs in Blood Wood without them being in trouble with the Blood elves all the time.
And I'm not sure that I'd ever use the Thera sourcebook, it takes Earthdawn in some very, very unexpected directions.
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'The wicked go to hells, the good go to heavens and the pure neither live nor even die, but those hit on the head tend to fall unconscious.'
The Horrors book is one of the most sought because it is the book you will most likely try to hide from your GM. But really Earthdawn is a great game, probly the best fantasy game ever IMHO, good luck with it.
Yup, I can attest, the folks at Stiggybaby are great. My order from them arrived in about 8 days to Hungary, which is a rather fast response...
I would say that Serpent River is probably the most usable sourcebook for the setting infos, especially for the beginner GM. The Cara Fahd or the Crystal Raiders books are also great. The Throal book is simply great, but IMO it is mostly for political games.
I found Blood Wood also a bit less useful, and IMO the Theran empire is probably the weakest book in the Earthdawn line. I consists a couple of provinces, which are mostly warmed-up history cliches... It is usable for only the metaplot-obsessed GMs in my opinion.
"I remember the two Magic boks being important in the old edition. Do I still need them to have sorcerers in my campaign?"
Most of the material of Magic: Manual of Mystic secrets and Arcane Mysteries of Barsaive are reprinted in the ED2 rulebook and the Second edition companion, so IMO they aren't that essential anymore.
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