 Goto [ Index ] |
Earthdawn comes with its own setting with the default province of Barsaive. This lands and peoples are recovering (hence the "Earthdawn") from years of society being forced into underground strongholds due to the rampages of "the Horrors" which can still be found across the lands. Also threatening the people of Barsaive are the old imperial overlords, the Theran Empire with their distasteful practise of slavery.
Standard fantasy species are present in Earthdawn as "Name Givers"; Dwarves, Elves, Orcs, Trolls. In addition to these are the 900 pound and 7 foot Obsidimen, the aesthetically-inclined lizard-like T'skrang, and the 18-winged Windlings. Player-characters are derived from one of these species, which also includes their Adept Discipline (all "adventurer" types), Attributes (Dexterity, Strength, Toughness, Perception, Willpower, and Charisma), Characteristics (derived values; Physical and Mystic Armor., Physical, Spell and Social Defense., Wound Thresholds, Recovery Tests, Unconsciousness Rating, and Death Rating., Initiative Step, Karma., Movement Rate and Encumbrance). In addition there are Racial Abilities, magical Talents and Skills. Character experience is achieved through the accumulation of "Legend Points" and "Circles" of experience.
In Earthdawn, all PCs are adept with the magic of the world as expressed through their Discipline, which is fundamental to their identity and world-view. It's an evocative touch and a great deal of writing is spent on expressing this point of view (indeed, several pages for each of the fifteen Disciplines), but the actual influence on game mechanics is relatively slim, primarily to give a package of advancement of Talents, Skills etc. As mentioned the Disciplines are adventurer-based, something that doesn't resonate strongly with me; one may justly ask why a Weaponsmith classifies for a special class of magical abilities but not a Blacksmith. The Disciplines are: Air Sailor, Archer, Beastmaster, Cavalryman, Elementalist, Illusionist, Nethermancer, Scout, Sky Raider, Swordmaster, Thief, Troubadour, Warrior, Weaponsmith, and Wizard.
The core game system mechanic is "skill plus stat" (or more commonly, Attribute plus Talent) providing a "step number" which determines a number of "Action Dice" to be rolled against a Difficulty Number, which generates a result from "Pathetic" to "Extraordinary". The system is a tad wonky as average step numbers develop in a less-than-smooth manner and it scales quite badly, with disproportionate changes in the probability of very bad (more common) or very good (less common) results as the difficulty number increases. This said, it is an elegant concept, it usually generates plausible and realistic results and is beautifully visceral; there is something about rolling a d20+d10+d6 to achieve a target number which a single d20+9 roll simply can't match.
As mentioned Talents are magical, and thus are capable of providing larger-than-life effects, but also often cause "Strain", as physical damage to the user and/or Karma. With some sixty pages of description, Talents feature highly in the game and often come with some delightful and occassionally downright-silly titles; examples include "Arcane Mutterings", "Here's The Deal", "Incite Mob", "Resist Taunt" and "Swinging In The Rigging". In comparison the Skill list is quite Spartan and not necessarily in a good way. With a lack of an Intelligence Attribute, Knowledge skills are governed by Perception.
As can be expected magic takes up a substantial section of the compendium and once again Earthdawn oozes with style. Magic is based around "patterns", which one "weaves" with "threads". Places with particular names have particular magics, astral space is described in some detail, and some practitioners of magic take to wounding themself to enhance their effects (blood magics). Spells are individually described with particular Threads, Range, Weaving Difficulty, Duration and Effect and are distinguished by their Circle, Brave or desperate spell-casters may attempt to cast multiple threads (more complex spells) simultaneously at greater risk. As per the appropriate Adept Discipline professions, spells are differentiated by Elementalist, Illusionist, Nethermancer, and Wizardry.
Combat is a relatively short chapter with the core mechanic replicated with specific detail and focus. Actions are declared, initiative determined, and then actions are resolved within ten-second rounds. A couple of optional rules are suggested for speeding up initiative with, oddly enough, the most obvious being absent - simply use the Step Number and do away with the test altogether! Strikes are resolved with an attack test, with the potential of an "armor-defeating hit" and, if successful, a "damage test", with a variety of special effects (such as knockdown, unconsciousness, bleeding wounds etc). Again, as with the rest of the resolution system the results are usually plausible, although the system is perhaps a little on the crunchy side. Per page, this certainly one of the most rules-heavy chapter in the entire book.
The final chapters deal with "Building Your Legend", "Goods and Services", "Passions and Questors" and "Barasive Province" before moving on to the Appendicies. The first chapter is primarily about how to advance in skill and knowledge with the attainment of Legend Points, their expenditure into Talents, Skills and Spells, the advancement of Circles and so forth. The Goods and Services list, after a few pages of weapons and armour, has several pages on magical equipment (this is a magic-rich world), before moving onto the standard adventuring equipment list, including irons pots, chalk and scroll cases and of course, standard accomadation prices and animals and mounts. Perhaps a little strange, given the thematic importance of the game, slaves are not included.
If the worldviews of the Adept Disciplines weren't enough in their own, Earthdawn also applies Passions, spiritual outlooks, to the PCs. Indeed, the Passions are the closest things the game-world has to Gods, and indeed the are considered fundamental to holding the universe together and they are worshipped. Questor's are people who follow a particular Passion; for example, a number of artists are Questors of the Passion Astendar, whose ideals are love, music and art. Acts of Devotion can lead to Passion Powers which are a religious-based addition to Talents. Finally, the game describes the default region in some detail in terms of its geographic features, political landscape, and peoples. Once again one is confronted by a fantasy map that simply does not make any geographical sense, caveats concerns oceans of fire notwithstanding!
Overall, Earthdawn is a highly likeable game. The setting is evocative and the text's presentation of a very high standard; if only all games aspired this high. Whilst the game system itself is hardly shines with brilliance and coherence all the way through, it does produce largely plausible results and with much more than just a dash of style in the process. Whilst Earthdawn is not going to take the roleplaying world by storm, it is a solid effort in the traditional gamist-simulationist agenda and a very welcome return to the hobby.
