Denizens of Earthdawn Vol. 2
Earthdawn
Supplement
FASA
Corporation
128pp - [sterling]10.99
It's 3am in the morning, I've just finished reviewing several other products,
I've had a bad day, and I really wish that I'd done this product first!
Just about everything you would ever need to know about Earthdawn's Obsidimen,
Dwarves, Trolls and Orks is covered between the covers (suppose that's why
they're called covers). From their births to their deaths practically every
aspect of their lives, loves, hates, rituals, honour, method, is gone into in
the minutest of details. Plenty of examples of how each of the races operate
are given (i.e. one particular Obsidimen weaponsmith who takes a commission to
build a sword for a dwarf and the dwarf dies of old age three years before the
sword's completion) and much is the personal anecdotes of the histories and
ways of the various name givers.
To finish off the book we have lots of game stuff; role playing hints,
character templates, new talents and special rulings for the Orks, Obsidimen,
Dwarves and Trolls. All of this is pretty much standard stuff but the Obsidiman
Purifier looks like he could be a lot of fun to play.
Overall: This is one of those books that will appeal to those of you who
subscribe to the White Wolf school of role playing. I'm afraid I don't. Don't
get me wrong, this book is beautifully written and there is a lot of useful
information in it to add depth to your character. But I'm afraid I found the
subject of birthdays etc. a little on the dozing off side; this is not helped
by the text being laid in only one column instead of the standard two or three
for a book of this size. On the other hand, I'm going to totally contradict
myself here, you could, if you looked hard enough, find a lot of adventure
ideas revolving around all of the subjects covered. For eleven quid, if I had
to make a choice I'd put the extra fiver in and go for the Parlainth boxed set
or save myself some money and go with Parlainth Adventures. Unless I was an
Earthdawn collector, then I'd buy the whole lot. Definitely one for a rainy
day.
Review by Stig
Product supplied by FASA Corporation
