Earthdawn Survival Guide

* Great Ranelles of the Blood Wood: The Escalanas

* Quick update on social media and the like.

* Kindness from a fan on the FASA Games Discord.

* Tradtionally provides the most Warders to the Rose Throne.

* Current head Kethos was one of the main architect of the Ritual of Thorns.

* The "magic" ranelle, but like other ranelles they do other stuff.

* Based in the western regions of the Wood.

* Traces their origins back to the Western Kingdoms.

* Established the Queen's Warders under Queen Failla.

* Warders developed a lot of the magic to control and interact with the Wood.

* Their sanctuary based in the heart of the Wood.

* Escalanas are covertly meeting with the Denairastas.

* Kethos seeks to end/reverse the Ritual of Thorns in defiance of Alachia.

* Hoping to redeem himself before he dies.

* No longer welcome in court; loyal, but more to elvendom than Alachia specifically.

* Some discussion of possible consequences of ending the ritual.

* Orlando Escalanas: Current consortis.

* The pair staged a falling-out to cover Orlando working as a spymaster for Kethos.

* Adventure hooks or campaign arcs using the Escalanas.

* Seekers of the Heart and the acorns of Oak Heart.

* Eletheria: The ghost of the western forest.

* Vanished from the citadel early in the Scourge.

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Sorry friends and fans, due to technical difficulties, there's no new episode the week of November 22. For those in the US, hope you have a good Thanksgiving holiday and we'll talk to you next week.

* Kaers

* Significance of kaers in the game and setting.

* Common (and most dangerous) destination for adventurers.

* Mists of Betrayal, Terror in the Skies, Ardanyan's Revenge.

* Not a lot of concrete examples in later published material.

* Appearances in novels and fiction.

* What is a kaer?

* Purpose to keep people inside alive.

* Why are you going and what might you find?

* Kaers vs citadels.

* Traps and defenses. Could be turned off by residents to safely emerge.

* Traps are apt to be nasty and deadly.

* Other features of entry and approach tunnels.

* The kaer as a community like surface towns and villages.

* Don't necessarily need to map every inch of the kaer.

* How the residents and conditions might shape the environment.

* A kaer is not a D&D-style dungeon of 10-foot corridors.

* Need space for people to live for generations.

* Entry tunnels should allow room for livestock and goods to be taken inside.

* Concealing the entrance as an additional layer of protection.

* Obvious kaers are likely to have already been found and explored.

* Where kaers were built and why.

* Basic Theran design. Large central chamber with offshoots for various services.

* Mosaics or other fixed decorations as a source of lore or knowledge.

* Living quarters; tiny homes, apartments, dorm suites.

* Main thing about kaer design is there likely would be no wasted space.

* Growth or expansion during the Scourge.

* Wards and protections of the kaer interior.

* Oxygen and air filtration.

* Crops and greenery; rooftop gardens.

* Resource use and waste disposal/recycling (including the dead).

* Water - wells, water spirits, connections to elemental plane.

* Animals and livestock; diet variety (or lack thereof)

* More about crops and food plants.

* Five likely states for a kaer.

* Unopened and inhabited.

* Open and empty.

* Collapsed and not used.

* Failed by Horror breach.

* Failed by other disaster (starvation, disease, collapse)

* Adventurer groups and kaers.

* How do you get in and what do you find there?

* GM should think of the story of the kaer.

* Who lived there and what happened to them?

* Cultural drift (or lack thereof).

* Sidebar about Urupa development.

* How much of a role will the kaer play?

* Exceptions to expectations and what that can do.

* Magic can solve a lot of problems!

* Returning to water source and its importance.

* What do you find inside? Treasure, artwork, lore?

* Kaer-focused game ideas.

* Other sources and inspiration.

* Civic planning and civil engineering.

* Don't put more work into your kaer design than you must!

* City of Ember

* The Expanse

* Silo

* Ultimately limited only by your imagination.

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* The Daevenar Ranelle

* Some comments on Blood Wood games.

* Renowned as the finest artists and craftfolk in the Wood.

* Significant presence in Court, but not an obvious politics player.

* Likely a notable influence on elven culture.

* Possibly behind the campaign against Shosara.

* Importance of art and culture during the Scourge and Ritual of Thorns.

* Loyalty to throne and ability to shape public opinion.

* Strong negative feelings about the Therans.

* Belive the thorns have elevated the Blood Elves.

* Strong antipathy with the Carithasca and source of conflict.

* Returning to the weakness of Blood Wood as a notable setting in typical games.

* Ranelle's main home is near the Court.

* Persons of note.

* Tarin Daevenar: Current leader of the ranelle.

* Embodiment of Blood Elf snobbery and superiority.

* Baltana Daevenar: Exolasher and court bodyguard.

* Supporter of and spy for the Seekers of the Heart.

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* Diving into the mailbag!

* Email from Leamon: GMs with players who know more about the setting.

* Fighting large groups of low-powered opponents.

* Questions for Greg Gorden?

* Email from Brad: Stories about player character death.

* Handling replacements for a dead PC?

* Plans to reintroduce Lightbearers as a path?

* Email from Scott: More stories about character death.

* Player buy-in and expectations with Paranoia as a framework.

* Suggestions for running Earthdawn at conventions.

* Pre-generated characters? Races? Disciplines? Circle?

* Descriptions or maps of kaers? Starting in a kaer?

* Published adventures for convention settings?

* Other advice for convention play?

Find and Follow:

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* Great Ranelles of the Blood Wood: Carithasca

* A ranelle is similar to a noble house or clan; extended family.

* Mainly based in the Southern Fringe, focused on trade.

* While each ranelle is best known for a particular thing, they don’t do just that thing.

* The ranelle’s background and how they got to where they are.

* The ranelle’s biggest advantage is the network they have built over time.

* Alachia and using royal patents to pit houses against each other.

* Kaer Eidolon as the only trade point with the outside world.

* Carithasca’s goals and motives.

* Opinions of other ranelles, and some inspirations for the house.

* Legends and history.

* Persons of note.

* Ethenia, matriarch and possible immortal; close relationship with Alachia.

* Some thoughts about immortal elves and their role in the Elven Court.

* Haeleon, senior Carithasca consortis.

* Captain Trellius, sailor and frequent visitor to Eidolon.

* Trellius appears in Heavy Metal Queen from Legends of Barsaive.

* Additional thoughts and wrap-up.

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* Email from David: Love for the show and for Earthdawn

* Reminder from Josh about the Earthdawn West Marches community.

* Email from Bryan: Stories about player character death.

* Josh shares a party wipe story from an old D&D game.

* Exploring and surviving underground environments.

* Careless folk get themselves killed in the depths.

* Four things to worry about when caving.

* Bad air: Stale air or other things that affect breathing.

* Try to use magical light sources – torches or lanterns can use

* Toxic or poisonous gases.

* Underground fires can burn for a long time.

* Many visual references for underground environments.

* Cave-ins and collapses.

* Elemental spirits as a useful resource when caving.

* Other useful character skills and abilities that may help.

* Underground water: streams, rivers, and lakes.

* Flooding hazards.

* Additional resource: Dungeoneer’s Survival Guide from

* Fire threats: Magma and hot springs.

* Sample underground hazard traps in the Earthdawn Survival

* Additional concerns with underground fires.

* Dangerous creatures.

* Often hunt by scent or sound, and sound can carry long

* Horrors and constructs.

* Classic Earthdawn adventures with strong underground themes.

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* Player character death.

* Reminder: Tastes and desires on what a player wants from a game can vary!

* Most problems arise from a difference in expectations between the players and GM.

* Story about Josh’s friend Doug and his approach to his characters.

* Players who strongly identify with their characters can dislike having their story “cut short”.

* A brief sidebar about gamemasters fudging dice results.

* Leaving the “training wheels on” – how long before death becomes a legitimate stake?

* “Sliders” – the degree to which PC death can come into play.

* Setting a policy on handling player character death.

* Is death permanent? How easy is it to come back?

* Revisit the policy to see if it needs to change as the campaign progresses.

* Table tale from Josh about Bearclaw the Journeyman and a player choosing death for their character.

* Table tale from Dan about a character death and how it shaped the game.

* Critical Role Campaign 2 and how a character death shaped character growth and future story.

* In-game acknowledgement of the character death.

* Does removing taking death off the table remove any tension or stakes to the game?

* Finding other options to threaten characters without death; deus ex machina.

* If a character can come back, what does it cost? How might it change them?

* Another table tale from Dan about a fight against the “big bad”.

* Earthdawn’s “lethality curve” and how that shifts as powers come online.

* Email from Leamon (part 1): Petty GM on a power trip.

* Game tone and setting conceit example: Paranoia.

* Character as pawn or game-piece. “Character funnels”.

* The Traveler RPG and characters dying before the game even started.

* Email from Leamon (part 2): Connection to a character affecting feelings about the game.

* Player grief and emotional bleed.

* Bringing in a new character, how to create them, and other consequences.

* Email from Leamon (part 3): Bringing a character/archetype back for more exploration.

* Player introspection and self-discovery resulting from character death.

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* Surviving and Exploring the Wastes.

* Another example of an area devastated by the Scourge, similar in that way to the Badlands.

* Of note in earlier material mainly because of its effect on

* Also an area with a significant number of lost and corrupted

* Not as easy to get imagery to draw inspiration about the Wastes.

* Jerris is most likely location to launch expeditions into the region.

* Terrain and environment.

* Some discussion of the perpetual ash.

* Magical side effects of the area’s corruption.

* Denizens of the Wastes.

* Sidebar about avoiding easy tropes about deformity and evil.

* Mysteries of the Wastes as a campaign hook.

* Quick summary of some mechanics in the original Earthdawn Survival Guide

Find and Follow:

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* Surviving the inhsopitable: Death’s Sea and the Mist Swamps

* Death’s Sea

* Invest in protection from heat and bring plenty of water.

* No walking! Airship access only.

* Only solid ground are klenkas, temporary islands of cooled

* Bring foods that can survive the hot, dry conditions.

* Lots of fire-adjacent wildlife to make life difficult.

* Additional suggestions for supplies to help survive the environment.

* Reasons to visit Death’s Sea (aside from mining).

* Mist Swamps

* Fabled ancient ruins (Yrns Morgath)

* Difficulty in crossing the terrain.

* Other reasons to visit the region: rare plants or other magical

* Supplies to bring and challenges to overcome.

* Silver lining: Not likely to encounter Horrors and

* Past episodes that cover these areas.

* Death’s Domain and escaping it.

* Rescuing player characters from Death’s Domain.

Find and Follow:

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Get product information, developer blogs, and more at www.fasagames.com

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