Earthdawn Survival Guide

* The Archer as folkloric archetype.

* Throwing Weapons

* Philosophy of targets and missiles

* Paths are deeply personal philosophies, but there is no “one true way”

* Karma Ritual

* Half Magic and distinctive traits of bowyers and fletchers

* Importance of perception, accuracy, and speed

* Free Talent: Call Missile

* Mid-range Durability to highlight desire to not be on the front line

* Karma ability

* Novice Discipline Talents

* Sidebar musing about a radical change to the talent mechanic

* Movement rates and ranges

* Bows versus Crossbows

* Novice Talent Options

* Journeyman Abilities

* Journeyman Discipline Talents

* Flame Arrow discussion

* Journeyman Talent Options

* Distract as an interesting talent choice

* The Archer’s role in the adventuring group

* Advantages and drawbacks

* Good, straightforward Discipline for newer players

Find and Follow:

Email: [email protected]

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Twitter: @EDSGPodcast

Josh on Twitter: @LoreMerchant

Dan on Twitter: @boice_voice

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

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Earthdawn West Marches: https://discord.gg/hhHDtXW

* Josh’s audio quality is still off.

* Timeline: Landing of the Triumph to the release of Fourth Edition.

* A brief mention of the forked ED2/ED3 Timeline

* Triumph Lands

* Varulus assassinated and Battle of Prajjor’s Field

* The perfidy of the Denairastas

* Post landing cold war.

* Ork migration and the rebirth of Cara Fahd.

* Building alliances and preparing for the inevitable conflict.

* The Harwood Incident: Development insight

* Theran ultimatum.

* The Great Bartertown Fire.

* One thing after another.

* The difficulty of involving player characters in significant events.

* War!

* Blood Wood’s involvement, a brief sidebar about Aardelea, and diegetic setting material.

* The fall of the Triumph.

* Vivane and Sky Point.

* Stormhead was deliberate. Dragons aren’t nice.

* Assault on Sky Point. Death of a Great Dragon. Loss of a flagship.

* Iopos seizes Jerris

* Throalic civil war averted.

* Who is Kovar? And why is he king?

* A new status quo.

Find and follow:

Email: [email protected]

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCeoifzUuBjez9V6wnvzom3g

Twitter: @EDSGPodcast

Josh on Twitter: @LoreMerchant

Dan on Twitter: @boice_voice

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

FASA Games on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fasagamesinc

FASA Games Discord Channel: https://discord.gg/uuVwS9u

Earthdawn Guild Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/earthdawnguild

Earthdawn West Marches: https://discord.gg/hhHDtXW

* Emails! Lots of Emails! Please forgive Josh’s audio quality.

* From Ryan: Thread item design advice.

* From Guillaume: Thoughts about playing characters emerging from a kaer.

* From Matt: Changes to Bartertown in the wake of Throal’s increased isolationism?

* From Scott: Voluntarily lowering Spell Defense in ED3?

* (Found on page 134 of the ED3 Player’s Guide: “Lowering Spell Defense”)

* From Joao: Trolls can be Archers in ED1!

* Sky Raider talent choices: Why are Air Sailing and Wind Catcher talent options?

* Questions about the magical Theran locus under Vivane.

* Forge Weapon talent: Changes in timeframe of work?

* A sidebar about creatives being paid for their work, and FASA’s current approach

* From Jasper: Session Zero and advice on setting up a new game.

* Railroad vs Sandbox.

* Attentiveness at the table and cross-talk.

* Player grandstanding, spotlight hogging, or power play.

* Pacing. Action vs downtime. Significant vs minor events.

* Half-Races? Dragon blood characters?

* Map material planned for Shosara and Sereatha?

* (It IS the Baltic Sea.)

* Birth of the Wyrm Wood?

* Are Namegivers aware the Earth is round?

* Sidebar about colonialism and assumptions about other cultures.

Find and Follow:

Email: [email protected]

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCeoifzUuBjez9V6wnvzom3g

Twitter: @EDSGPodcast

Josh on Twitter: @LoreMerchant

Dan on Twitter: @boice_voice

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

FASA Games on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fasagamesinc

FASA Games Discord Channel: https://discord.gg/uuVwS9u

Earthdawn Guild Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/earthdawnguild

Earthdawn West Marches: https://discord.gg/hhHDtXW

* Introductory levity

* Wizards!

* Wizardly “design niche” in relation to other magicians

* Bookish, scholars, study magic as magic

* Karma Ritual

* Symbol, synchronicity, and correspondence

* Academic, intellectual, learned; magic as “pure art”

* Spell Matrices

* Novice-Tier Discipline Talents

* What is Patterncraft?

* Dispel Magic, Tenacious Weave

* Steel Thought

* Novice Talent Options

* Fifth Circle matrix upgrade and abilities

* Journeyman-tier Discipline Talents

* Astral Interference

* Hold Thread Headaches

* Suppress Curse in relation to Dispel Magic

* Journeyman Talent Options

* Lifesight vs Astral Sight

* Role-play approaches and expectations

* A word on designing spells

Find and Follow:

Email: [email protected]

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCeoifzUuBjez9V6wnvzom3g

Twitter: @EDSGPodcast

Josh on Twitter: @LoreMerchant

Dan on Twitter: @boice_voice

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

FASA Games on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fasagamesinc

FASA Games Discord Channel: https://discord.gg/uuVwS9u

Earthdawn Guild Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/earthdawnguild

Earthdawn West Marches: https://discord.gg/hhHDtXW

* Email: Pronunciation of Ayodhya?

* Email: Determining what spell is being cast when weaving threads?

* Email: Where is the info about Therans “pausing” the mana cycle?

* Email: Old plot threads or story hooks that weren’t followed up or that we used in our games?

* Places of Note: Bartertown

* Founded to avoid Throalic authority (and dodge taxes)

* Mercantile city not originally intended as a permanent settlement

* A hive of scum and villainy: Great for adventure hooks and interesting NPCs

* No slavery: it would draw Throalic intervention

* Magistrate Clystone: A self-interested despot; “mafia don”

* Setting inspirations: Persephone from Firefly; fantasy version of street-level from Blade Runner; Mos Eisley

* Good campaign hub or base of operations

* Namegiver primer: Dwarves

* Most populous Namegivers in Barsaive - one third of the population

* Not completely “Tolkien”; they developed beyond the archetype

* Builders of more than just artifacts; they build organizations, cultures, societies

* Strong commitment to family, including extended family

* Throalic attitude of self-assurance and cultural superiority can come across as patronizing

* Practical, blunt, paternal. Tradition of family history and passing on of knowledge, scholarship and philosophy

* Namegiver races are NOT monoculture! Blended groups with hybrid cultures.

* Toughness bonus is a solid reason to choose them.

* Solid choice for just about any Discipline, good choice for magicians.

* Female dwarves do not have beards.

Find and Follow:

Email: [email protected]

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCeoifzUuBjez9V6wnvzom3g

Twitter: @EDSGPodcast

Josh on Twitter: @LoreMerchant

Dan on Twitter: @boice_voice

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

FASA Games on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fasagamesinc

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Earthdawn West Marches: https://discord.gg/hhHDtXW

* Air Sailors!

* Earthdawn development context

* Elevator pitch: What is the Air Sailor’s theme?

* Inspiration: Age of Sail

* Air Sailor vs Sky Raider

* Specialists, not primary combatants

* Karma Rituals

* Half Magic

* Design Insight: Free Talents

* Talent Discussion: Novice Tier

* Throwing vs Missile Weapons

* Talent Discussion: Journeyman Tier

* Important Attributes

* What to expect as an Air Sailor

* Teamwork: Part of a crew

* Second line fighters, face men, and leaders

Find and Follow:

Email: [email protected]

Twitter: @EDSGPodcast

Josh on Twitter: @LoreMerchant

Dan on Twitter: @boice_voice

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

FASA Games on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fasagamesinc

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Earthdawn West Marches: https://discord.gg/hhHDtXW

* Email: Why don’t the spell lists in ED4 match the ones from earlier editions?

* Email: Can magicians use grimoire casting to cast spells from other Disciplines?

* Email: Thoughts on the effect of the mana cycle downturn on the setting?

* More timeline discussion: After the Scourge

* The Earthdawn

* Throal opens its gates and offers land grants

* Therans return to Barsaive

* First Theran War

* Discovery of Parlainth

* Prince Neden and the Death Rebellion

* Founding of Haven

* Varulus III travels the Pilgrimage Route

* The landing of the Triumph

Find and Follow:

Email: [email protected]

Twitter: @EDSGPodcast

Josh on Twitter: @LoreMerchant

Dan on Twitter: @boice_voice

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

FASA Games on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fasagamesinc

FASA Games Discord Channel: https://discord.gg/uuVwS9u

Earthdawn Guild Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/earthdawnguild

Earthdawn West Marches: https://discord.gg/hhHDtXW

* Email: Throal sent out scouting parties before the elemental clocks stopped?

* Email: Wizard spell Flame Flash is pretty powerful, damages target twice!

* System Overview: Spellcasting

* Matrix Casting - Earthdawn’s “Spell Slots”

* Magicians have a lot of options

* Grimoire Casting

* Grimoire casting in various editions

* Raw Magic

* Threads in Spellcasting

* Dan’s “Meat Grinder” analogy

* Spellcasting target

* Extra successes from Spellcasting tests

* Why magicians are not heavy damage dealers

* Versatility versus power

* Earthdawn’s “utility infielder”

* Patience is a virtue

* Looking at shifting to weekly episodes in the new year

* Interviews with guests possible

Find and follow:

Email: [email protected]

Twitter: @EDSGPodcast

Josh on Twitter: @LoreMerchant

Dan on Twitter: @boice_voice

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

FASA Games on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fasagamesinc

FASA Games Discord Channel: https://discord.gg/uuVwS9u

Earthdawn Guild Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/earthdawnguild

Earthdawn West Marches: https://discord.gg/hhHDtXW

* Listener feedback: Matt asks about Barsaive's current political status quo, and why certain changes were made.

* Timeline — The Scourge

* The Book of Tomorrow

* Council Compact and Slavery

* Elemental Clocks

* Long-lived Monarchs

* Opening the Gates and the Earthdawn

* Open mysteries and “Blank Spaces on the Map”

* One Tragedy: Blood Wood

* The Truth of the Ritual of Thorns

* An iconic take on ‘dark’ elves

* Another Tragedy: Parlainth

* System Basics: Combat Overview

* Initiative and Declarations

* Actions

* Damage: add up, not count down.

* Additional and multiple attacks

* Wounds and Wound Penalties

* Josh can’t remember spell names!

* Duration of effects

* But Josh can remember armor values!

* Default use of extra successes in combat

* “Fast” combat

* GM advice: Dangers of exploding dice in combat

* How fatal is your game?

Find and follow:

Email: [email protected]

Twitter: @EDSGPodcast

Josh on Twitter: @LoreMerchant

Dan on Twitter: @boice_voice

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

FASA Games on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fasagamesinc

FASA Games Discord Channel: https://discord.gg/uuVwS9u

Earthdawn Guild Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/earthdawnguild

Earthdawn West Marches: https://discord.gg/hhHDtXW

In this episode:

* Follow-up on derived values from Attributes

* Success Levels in Fourth Edition

* Karma in Context - Historical and Design

* Windlings: Not flying Kender

* Windling mechanical upsides and downsides

Find and follow:

Email: [email protected]

Twitter: @EDSGPodcast

Josh on Twitter: @LoreMerchant

Dan on Twitter: @boice_voice

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

FASA Games on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fasagamesinc

FASA Games Discord Channel: https://discord.gg/uuVwS9u

Earthdawn Guild Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/earthdawnguild

Earthdawn West Marches: https://discord.gg/hhHDtXW