Thread: Want to GM(DM) a fantasy RP w/ one not familiar with Earthdawn (Will be deleted)

RE Want to GMDM a fantasy RP w one not familiar with Earthdawn So far I got one potential and two rejects. Knowing this, in addition to bumping it up I want to add a few things while painfully trying to avoid spoilers. What is motivating me to doing this? To recreate, from the other side for someone else, the sense like playing an Elder Scrolls game for the first time. Being plopped in the middle of a fantasy world ripe for self-discovery while not hitting on all of fantasys cliches. Earthdawn has something for anyone who likes any of the following exploration discovery, political intrigue, Lovecraftian horror, or general dungeon looting. How familiar are you with this setting What if I know Earthdawn? It was my favorite fantasy table-top RPG and got several of the books, though of course not all. That said, its been YEARS since I last played it and might get certain details wrong . I am a major fan of FASA and still sad they closed their doors even now. And a curious note to any Shadowrun fans out there Earthdawn is set in the same world! I dont know if the current holders of the game is building on FASAs hint the Scourge will return. Yes, that means I am ignorant of Living Room Games and RedBricks versions of Earthdawn. Am I showing my age? Why underground? The whole premise of Earthdawn is for 400 years everyone must go to hiding as Horrors rampage the world. The knowledge how to do this is given by the primary political antagonist, Thera. Called kaers, underground towns and cities with protective wards. A few, not wanting to be in debt to Thera, tried their own methods. One attempt like this ended in disaster. This will be set in the early years when exploration and rediscovery was high. What if I want to play a non-human? Technically you might be able to. But I still prefer your character to be young and ignorant of the world outside. Which means being locked up with a bunch of humans. What I am willing to spoil is the following. Of the eight races, Dwarves make up roughly a third of the population and are the dominate race. Humans are not the top of the social chain. Nor do all Dwarves live underground by default. Everyone speak the Dwarven language as they are the dominate race. Elves has their home, called Wyrmwood, but note if you play an elf you wont be starting out there. Aye, I am avoiding a spoiler here. Check TVTropes if you want the spoiIerage. I want to keep silent of the other races, including the traditional orks. K, not C. Oh, and there is one race unlike anything Ive ever seen in a fantasy setting . Damn I love this setting.... Oh, and that reminds me. How about magic? Might as well say, What about threads? There is typical spellcasters in four varieties Wizard, Elementalist, Illusionist, and Nethermancer. But as magic is so high, EVERYONE, including a bare-fisted tank of a warrior, will be using magic. Non-spellcasters that use magic are called Adepts and both go through their Disciplines via Circles. Thats class and level to you DD players out there However, the game itself is very much a skill based system. Except many of these skills are magical talents and not mundane skills. Magic spells, talents, and magical items are divided into two facets patterns and threads. Everyone are called Name-Givers because the ability to name something is by itself magical as it creates a pattern. Threads are woven into patterns to form spells, argument abilities, or unlock magical potential. It is not as complicated as it sounds and as I rather you begin as a Level 0 something, this isnt important early on. Oh, and if you want to use magical items, being a Weaponsmith, Troubadour think Bard, or a human will help out a lot. What Disciplines classes are there? I dont want to list all the core 15 of them or the few race specific ones as two of the 15 are, to me, spoilage for an Earthdawn newbie who wants to be awed. One will be bulky to work with. Combat classes are more specific Swordmaster, Archer, Warrior for example. The latter should do for barbarians and monks for you DD players. There is two rougish classes, the classic Thief and the less criminal Scout. I have the four spellcasters and two others listed above. No druids but there is a Beastmaster. Others I either dont want to spoil or let you play as... ugh, the human only discipline!. Its best if you tell me generically what you want to play and let me figure out which Discipline works out the best. Picking up two different Disciplines, multi-classing, is possible but is difficult. And as far as I know, summoning does not exist... or if it does I never got the source book for it! And Clerics? Or religion in general? There is no clerics or groups of gods in the DD since. Rather, there is Passions. Instead of being a god of a certain group a certain race or class or thing magic, these superbeings - which a few dont even believe exists - represent activities andor emotion. What drive people, hence their name. They are followed, not worshiped. That said, it is possible for a you to become a cleric like follower of a Passion, gaining new abilities in exchange for acting true to your Passion. You cant start out as one though even if you follow one in spirit. Again, I rather not list them as some are huge spoilers. Including 13 that is rumored to be under the Dead Sea. No god vs. god or the generic cleric vs. hordes of undead. Horrors are bad enough. What are these Horrors? This is not Planescape. They reside in astral space and resemble typical Lovecraftian monsters. When magic got to high in level, they broke into the world. Mass death is possible, but many rather drive people insane or slowly eat away at them, as they feed on suffering. Being Marked is a Very Bad Thing. Being sloppy in spellcasting or even thinking about them may get you Marked and hunted by a Horror. If you become Horror Marked you got two options kill it or let it destroy you on its own terms. Nethermancers are perhaps the best Discipline against them, but they run a high risk of getting Marked, which is why so many of them end up evil or simply insane.