Game Geeks #43 Earthdawn by RedBrick Limited

[daTruChosen]

Played the FASA version in '94 ... awesome shit. The 18-hr weekend game sessions in my boy's basement dormroom bring back hella-memories. Good shit!

[yellowsign13]

Though Earthdawn is more mechanics heavy than I like, I found it far less limiting, and more comprehensible than D&D. I played in a game for about two years, and it was some of the best gaming I've done. Actually, I think the game master for that game went on to work for Red Brick in some way.

[KrakDag]

T'skrang Swordmaster/Boatman 9/7

Damn i miss this.....

[pspboy7]

Earthdawn & Shadowrun, very classic rpgs. D&D may have been the first, but these two games perfected the hobby.

[Usulic]

Best fantasy scenario ever! So much heart and soul, my players love it, I love it. Few things are as rewarding as players truly embracing the gameworld and learning the Names (ED players know why I capitalize this word) of places and NPCs and looking behind the political going-ons, craving to pry the secrets from this world, and not because they have to in order to play, but because they truly like it and want to immerse themselves in it. A real classic, and in a class of its own!!!

[Selfimaginedself]

Earthdawn 3rd edition is an awesome game, they got rid of a lot of the old earthdawn mechanics problems; way refined steps (no d20's and d4's) every race has the same karma step( windlings and humans ect.. just have more karma) and you get a lot more choices in your talents.

[Jimalcoatl]

Being a huge Shadowrun fan when I was a teenager I always wanted to get into Earthdawn. I read a bit about it but for reasons that even I don't know never actually picked it up. Earthdawn has always been "the game that got away" to me.  Is it still published? I think I might give it a look seeing as I've recentlhy kindled an interest in 2nd Edition Shadowrun in my group I could probably sell them on giving Earthdawn a try.

[solverh]

@Jimalcoatl Recommend to keep your second edition SR books. The 2ndEd SR is arguably the most playable SR system of them all and a wonderful base for a crossover adventure(s)

[Yanda911]

Earthdawn is my favorite tabletop game ive ever played. The engine system isnt as bad as was mentioned in the video. The way it works is instead of "leveling" up you spend your experiance to upgrade your skills. These skills are added to your stat modifier (Str, Dex ect). A chart on your character sheet tells you which dice you can then roll and the DM knows what is needed for a success. Even a gaming group of stoners can pickup this gaming system in less than 1 session.

[LordSathar]

he likes D&D, but earthdawn is too crunchy, wtf, what's so hard to understand, when you get better at something you roll bigger dice, that is the mechanic this guy thinks his players acan't understand

[dfebb]

Way too crunchy? It's less crunchy and flows better than anything D&D related, imo. If you're a fantasy roleplayer and you haven't tried Earthdawn, do it!

As for "High Magic/High Fantasy", the setting has a very Cimmerian feel to it. It's really down the GM/playing group as to how much magic plays a part in everyday life.

The magic system is really well depicted, it's very philosophical in it's presentation, borrowing elements from various mythos/religions around the world.

Earthdawn FTW.

[woodwwad]

Earthdawn is the ballz. To anyone thinking of buying this game, DON'T! Please, it is just terrible. I've played it more than once & really didn't like it. It is poorly done fantasy. If you want a fantasy game, buy D&D 3.5 or Conan d20, those are both great. This game sucks, don't spend the money.

[dfebb]

D&D.

You gotta be kidding me.

Stick a sword into a wolf and out pops 4 silver coins and a . WTF is a wolf hoarding coins for?

If you want hack/slash/loot/upgrade type games like D&D, play a MMORPG, ffs.

Think about it. Memorising spells. How the f*&k does a 8th Level Mage with INT 18 suddenly 'forget' a 1st Level spell he's been repeatedly casting all day long? Makes no sense.

When you're ready to roleplay in a system that isn't pitched to 14 year olds, you'll try Earthdawn. It's got soul.

[mats1e]

@dfebb D&D is fun

[IMRavnos]

@dfebb Sounds to me like you were playing it wrong. A wolf should not drop silver coins.

Earthdawn First Edition was fucking great. Never played Second Edition from Living Room Games and I have no desire to buy 3rd edition.

[Kogerii]

Sounds like a cool premise for a setting. Those underground civs. are like the vaults from fallout and many settings have the threat of eldritch horrors but what happens if they win? In JRPGs it might mean the end of everything or a reset to civilizations cycle but an apocalypse man survives is cool too.

The too much magic idea would lend itself well to a radiation-like mechanic. Magic breaking physics

@dfebb

From the artwork he showed it looked like there's influence from Howard to me too.

[mattbell69]

I think this is far better than some of the current fantasy games that are out there. I also like the idea that it is NOT D20. I think it's a great system to be honest, and Redbrick have done a great job with this version. The books are of great quality and packed with information.

[BoredGMR]

Thanks to this video I became very interested in this game world. I now plan to pick up the third edition books this christmas. I can't wait.

[eberik]

Awesome game, great system, creative and amazing world to explore.... what else ya need? Earthdawn forever baby!

[Kazarkac]

I play earthdawn first edition and i think it's best rpg game, second for me is Neuroshima - polish post apocaliptic rpg third is Mage the awakening

[L2r2D2]

If ED is too much crunch for his group they must normally play rock scissors paper.

[Telewic82]

Why he is using aspiration? Is it a common feature in USA or an individual pick?

[energycamel]

Just started a new Earthdawn game, but because the rules are just ugly i took the effort and converted it to 3.5 D&D..it works some effort, i also a while back converted Earthdawn to the shadowrun rules.....but i tell ya i think the 3.5 d&d is way better for Earthdawn

[pcrainey]

Pity, I was hoping for a comparison to the original books. I love the game and was wondering if it's worth shelling out the cash. I disagree with the dice mechanics being crunchy, but the entire system is point-based and needs the occasional hour or two of bookkeeping. That's where my players lost interest.

[tvdrpr]

I started playing this back in the late 90's...I have so many of the books, what an amazing world.

[Usulic]

Earthdawn & Fading Suns forever, baby!

[signupname11675453]

Redbrick's Earthdawn kicks ass especially if you're a fan of 1st edition.The new art is really excellent. The books look really good. The system is easy but then again I've been playing a really long time.

[Tsunkuotaku]

Odd.I found this one of the easiest systems to pick up and play. Very logical and combat runs smoothly, despite players haveing so many options to choose from.

Of course, I started on classic AD&D, which is one of the messiest systems ever considering you only have two options.1)Attack with my sword(cause all other weapons suck in comparison)or 2)Run away(because I'm not going to waste one of my limited amount of spells).How TSR managed to make that complicated I'm still trying to figure out.

[Doctor31074]

Strangly enough my GM taught me and my group the die system, and it did not take long at all.

[dirigibledandy]

Great review Kurt, Thanks.

[mysterycycle]

Thanks for reviewing this game, Kurt! Earthdawn is my gaming group's favored RPG; it is to us what D&D is to most gaming groups. I see your point about crunchiness, but: I'm not usually a fan of crunchy systems, and while Earthdawn is crunchier than, say, Iron Gauntlets, it's not as bad as Rolemaster or its sister FASA game, Shadowrun. It may be that I'm just used to it now, and there are probably better systems for neophytes to learn, but I'd say one could do worse than Earthdawn.

[AlexWichert]

Hi Kurt,

fab review, thanks!

[ShubertCVGC]

Hello game geeks! I just wanted to let you know how much I appreciate these videos. I've been watching since episode 1, and continue to look forward to new episodes every week. I enjoy the variety of games you review and I've even bought a few games based on your reviews. My only gripe is that you don't do enough episodes, but I guess I can deal with it. Anyway, keep up the great work!

[kaosdevice]

Kurt you say almost a WHOLE lot. "This could almost be...", "You could almost...", "This could almost be ran like...".

Something I noticed.

[knwiegel]

Hunh. You're right. Weird.

[kaosdevice]

I'm just saying, to me it suggests a slight wekness of position. If you think this game could be repurposed to this other genre then say it, almost seems like a sort of shifty kind of word in a review context.

[vitaedrinker1981]

I'd love to see you do a review of Reign!

[marcoasalazarm]

Could you please review Shadowrun?

[Phersu]

Good show as usual!

There was a kind of metaplot to link Earthdawn and Shadowrun, in the novels and in a few supplements about the Horrors. There is a mandrake in Barsaive (Blacktooth) who becomes a famous Dragon in the 21st century (Dunkelzahn).

[zompire]

Nice one again man....and again I ask,no BEG you please review Unknown Armies!

[ViperHeartJack]

I'm definately not liking the black background. I feel like it takes away fom the usual atmosphere. In a weird way, it almost feels like it... robs you of some credibillity? I dunno... mayhaps i'm just rambling... in any case, despite not being a fan of the game mechanics, exceptional review, as usual.

[dv8nation]

This world sounds pretty interesting. But I think I'll have to pass on it since I don't like a lot of crunch and generally am leery of anything by the ShadowRun folks. I played the 2nd edition of that and found it very confusing.

Any chance we could get a review of a mech game?

[avery547]

Have you considered reviewing the new Saga Edition of Star Wars?

[knwiegel]

Its coming

[avery547]

Awesome!

[walt776]

I don't know about the black background... feels a little empty to me, but I can live with it. Glad you pointed out the system is a little complicated -- I'm very much a believer that the less math you have to do makes for a better game experience.

[LittleShepherd]

It actually has one of the most indepth backgrounds of any fantasy game I've ever seen. Though I agree, you can't really tell that from this review. I generally like this guy's reviews(I subscribed to him, didn't I), but this review sounded pretty empty. The part about the people making a living sanctuary, but "it didn't go very well" made me cringe. It left out all the important info, which wouldn't have taken any longer to say than what he said. Oh, well.

[knwiegel]

Sorry you felt this way. there was a LOT there I had to pare don to something managable for the 4-5 minutes we have for the reviews. I do my best with all the reviews, but thy all cn't be home runs.

[mysterycycle]

I agree on the background point. Earthdawn has one of the most fleshed-out, flavorful, and entertaining settings I've ever roleplayed in. FASA had a great penchant for doing this in all of their games, and Earthdawn is no exception. As Kurt mentioned, Earthdawn gives logical, in-game explanations for all of the D&Disms that are usually taken for granted (dungeons full of treasure and monsters, Player Characters being more powerful than regular folk, etc.).

[acm4bass]

I kinda like the ye ol' comic shoppe look myself, but either way I'm fine.

[clayisajedi444]

Kurt has a beard!

[knwiegel]

And Hair!

[Jeffrywith1e]

I think the black background is better in its simplicity - Charley Rose style.

Do you plan on reviewing the Mongoose release of Traveller?

[knwiegel]

I can't ghet a hold of Mongoose easily- they haven't returned any of my e-mail for a while. But Traveller 20 is coming and in this batch.

[venusboys3]

Yay! The black background is back!