Review of Earthdawn Gamemaster's Guide

Introduction

This is a follow up to my review of the Earthdawn Player's Guide, which you can find here: https://www.rpg.net/reviews/archive/17/17517.phtml. As I stated in that review, I have done some writing for FASA Games, and may well do some more in the future. I've been a huge fan of this game for a long time. I still have my 1st edition book, and it is old enough to vote. So feel free to take as many grains of sand as you like with this review, but I will try to be honest.

The basic description of Earthdawn is in the review of the Player's Guide, so to avoid being redundant, I'll leave that out of this review. I'll also be leaving out, as much as possible, any spoilers for players. Of course, one person's fair disclosure may be another's spoiler, so reader beware!

Appearance

If you have read my review of the Player's Guide, you know I am not a big fan of little books, and I'll be taking of a Style point right off the bat. It is six by nine inches and numbers 512 pages. It's small enough that it feels more like a novel than a reference book. It won't stay open so you can read and write adventures at the same time. The book hasn't lost any pages, unlike my Player's Guide, but it is referenced less often, so that doesn't necessarily mean much. The art and layout is similar to the Player's Guide. There are six interior color plates of good quality, including a map of Barsaive, the province where everything happens. The black and white art is, with the exception of a few non-descript drawings of weapons or armor, quite evocative of the setting. This is not generic fantasy. It's good art, guys, but I still hate that it is in this format.

What's in the Book

The first 80 pages establish the history and geography of the setting. This really is the heart of Earthdawn's appeal, at least to me. The political entities, including the Theran Empire, dwarven kingdom of Throal, the Elven Court in the Blood Wood, the T'skrang aropagoi, the great dragons, and others jockey for influence and power. All of this is against the backdrop of a world still recovering from a magical apocalypse called the Scourge. Only a very few organizations, most notably the Therans, knew how to prepare for it, and they ruthlessly exploited their advantage. The background is extremely rich and internally consistent.

Once the history is laid out, the book gives details on the culture of Barsaive, including everything from the calendar to religion to language. There is extra background for each of the races and the geography of the Barsaive, the province where most of the game is centered. It is only here, 50-60 pages in, where we begin to see some things that aren't suitable for player eyes. Background secrets are in sidebars, revealing behind-the-scenes details and motivations. Especially interesting is the authoritarian city-state of Iopos, which is becoming a much scarier threat and more important in this edition. FASA Games moved the meta-plot forwards a bit, which I believe to be a good thing. It had been spinning its wheels for a decade or so.

There is a "Gamemastering" and an "Adventures and Campaigns" chapter. They do a good job of talking about ways to run an Earthdawn game specifically and a role-playing game more broadly. It discusses overarching themes and types of campaigns, such as exploration, political or military, as well as dramatic techniques for pacing and creating a mood. 4th edition has moved to more of an event-based experience point system and away from awarding Legend Points for monster kills. You get awards for session and adventure goals, overcoming obstacles, treasure, and role-playing. It's less about just picking out baddies to kill and more about moving the adventure. I will say, and this is from experience with the game and the community and not just from the reading, that it is tricky to balance out appropriate combat encounters, especially at first. The CoreStep system can be swingy, and the combat abilities of a party can vary wildly based on what Disciplines players choose.

The "Exploration and Travel" chapter talks about how to get around Barsaive with your skin and purse intact. The setting includes dinosaur-like mounts, magical airships, and riverboats driven by elemental fire, so there are some fun options.

Earthdawn has a robust social interaction system based around seven levels of Gamemaster Character (GMC) Attitudes, from Enemy to Awestruck, and five types of Interaction tests. Characters can try Making an Impression, Deceit, Insight, Intimidate, or Asking for Favors. Each type of Interaction test will require different levels of success, based in part on the GMC's Attitude and what the character is trying to do. In practice, Interaction tests are often glossed over or used in conjunction with good old-fashioned roleplaying, and that's as it should be. The downside is that people tend to be less familiar with the social systems. There are several abilities that can manipulate Attitude levels and provide bonuses on Interaction tests and really change the course of a game. For example (and I'll be using some information from the Player's Guide for this), a 3rd Circle Troubadour may have Winning Smile, First Impression, Emotion Song, Etiquette, and Empathic Sense, plus the ability to spend a Karma point on Interaction tests. And that's without getting too min-maxy. If the character rolls well on everything, that could look like this: Winning Smile: +2 to Interaction tests; First Impression: Attitude +2 levels; Emotion Song: +2 Interaction tests; Etiquette: +1 Attitude; Empathic Sense: +2 to Interaction tests; Karma: 1 karma on Interaction tests. Start with an GMC with an Attitude of Neutral and total all of that up and you get an Attitude bumped up 3 levels to Awestruck. The Troubadour, who probably has a Charisma Step of 7, gets +6 in addition to spending a Karma Point. (Karma and the CoreStep system are described in the Player's Guide review; I'll not go into it here.) A typical target number would be around 8, depending on the target, who is literally Awestruck by the PC. That's assuming the conditions are right for all of the talents and some decent rolls, but not unreasonable for even a Novice character. There is nothing more, ahem, exciting to a GM than a wiley player running a Troubadour. On the other hand, there's nothing duller than playing a Troubadour if you aren't given the chance to shine.

The next chapter, "Challenges and Obstacles", contains various rules and systems for things like climbing, fire, poison, curses, disease, traps, minor injuries and so on. Some of the rules are kind of fiddly or even unnecessary, but other aspects can give a lot of flavor to the game, such as the specific types of poisons and diseases. PCs don't often get diseases in games, but no player forgets the time they got galloping lung-rot from the plague lizard in the Myst Swamps.

Earthdawn has a unique approach to magic items. In addition to common enchanted do-dads, such as light crystals, and weapons with damage enhanced by the Forge Blade talent, there are Thread Items, a major feature of the world. Adepts, such as the PCs, can use magical threads to bond to unique items. This requires the use of the Threadweaving talent, research, and the investment of Legend Points. The process may be a sub-plot on its own. It's really cool idea because it lets the GM introduce unique magical items that grow with the PC. The party could defeat an opponent with a Rank 6 thread woven to a magical amulet. The GMC would get a number of unique benefits, such as Physical Defense bonuses, magical disguise abilities, or whatever the GM decides. The PC who got the amulet would need to do the whole process of researching the item and weaving a thread, so she wouldn't get a massive loot bump from one encounter. The book includes a lot of examples of thread items, some rare and some legendary, and the GM is encouraged to customize and create to suite the campaign.

The last half of the book is dedicated to creatures, spirits, dragons and Horrors. If you have a group that is very familiar with the beasties from D&D, Pathfinder, or other systems, they will be in for a lot of surprises. Other than stats for common animals, the flora and fauna of Earthdawn is almost completely unique. Some creatures were changed during the Scourge, allowing for riffs on traditional fantasy creatures, and others were invented out of whole cloth.

Spirits are intended to be individualized, so there are generic stats for different types and power levels, as well as some specific examples. I must admit, while the specific examples of unique spirits are really compelling, I find that the stat blocks and power lists makes for really awkward reading. They are organized by Strength Rating: 1-4, 5-8, and 9-12; and by type: Ally (ancestral and other spirits), Invae (alien insect spirits), and Earth, Fire, Water, Air, and Wood elemental spirits. The powers are listed separately, and can be mixed and matched. Introducing a spirit is like introducing a fully fleshed out GMC with a unique discipline, so it can be tough to casually throw them in. That's a blessing and a curse, since several Disciplines, or classes, can summon them as a matter of course. It's neat, but it's not easy.

Dragons are listed separately, because they are not actually beasts. They are sentient Name-givers, just like the characters, but ancient and powerful. They are innately magical, deeply intelligent, and live nearly forever. While they have stats and can (theoretically) be fought and killed, they are best thought of as political entities, rather than combat opponents. There are a few dragons-type creatures and several types of dragons. The PCs will probably deal with them indirectly until they reach the higher Circles. A direct interaction, even a conversation, should be the capstone event in any adventure.

Horrors and Horror Constructs will certainly cross the path of the adventurers, and with few exceptions will be their deadly enemies. As detailed in my Player's Guide review, the Scourge was a period of high magic when the Horrors drove civilization underground and destroyed entire kingdoms. They have retreated as the magic level has dropped, but they are still the most fearsome opponents in Earthdawn. Some are suitable for a hack-and-slash, but the more powerful Horrors are on the level of the Great Dragons. The Gamemaster's Guide actually only covers Horror Constructs and Minor Horrors, which will provide opposition for any party up to 8th Circle. That is as high as the Player's Guide takes PCs. It is a little unfortunate that we don't see the more powerful Named Horrors yet, since it can be pretty interesting to have them influence the world while the PCs are still baby adventurers. Can't have everything, I suppose.

Summary

As with the Player's Guide, I am going to give this a 4 for Style, because of the format of the book, which I really don't care for, and a 5 for Substance.

Even aside from the 6x9" format, which is inherently awkward, there is a lot of information in here that I wish my players had easy access to so that I can off load some of the world building and rules keeping. The history and geography I actively want them to know. The social system and the rules for traps, etc, would be better served by more transparency. Not that I want them to know the specific stats for pit traps, but games go smoother when everyone knows the rules. And even some of the creature stat blocks - I have no reason to keep secrets about horses. Furthermore, it would just be easier if the summoners in the group had the rules for spirits in front of them. I don't know what the solution is, and will resist the temptation to make suggestions here. The arrangement isn't terrible, but has its drawbacks.

Obviously, as familiar as I am with the game, I had some ideas about how this review would go. I had in mind a somewhat lower Substance rating, but on rereading couldn't go lower than a 5. Earthdawn's world building is second to none. The advice about how to introduce the different elements of the game world and system, which are so intertwined, is really well thought out. The bestiary, where it would be easiest to get lazy, is vibrant and flavorful. Even fan favorites from previous editions have been worked over to provide a balance of encounters at every power level. So in short, yes, you should visit their website, scratch your head a bit at their labyrinthine online store, and get some 4th Earthdawn in your gaming life.