Other Editions

Discussion on the Earthdawn game line, errata, and feedback not related to playing or GMing.
Jaracove
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Other Editions

Post by Jaracove » Mon Apr 30, 2018 1:02 pm

For reasons I don't want to go into, I'm looking for an edition other than 4th. Not sure which to go for though.

Assuming you didn't want to play 4th, which edition would you choose to play and more importantly, why would you choose that edition?

Personally, I'm after an edition that has the least amount of rules that need tweaking, e.g. Talent 'X' is overpowered, or Spell 'Y' is broken, or 'Z' is spoken about in the rules but it's not actually referenced in the rules (e.g. Blood Magic in 1st ed).

I love the charm of 1st but it seems to be the edition with the most issues, like the above-mentioned blood magic rules not included, and overpowered talents. So it seems 1st is out unless I'm mistaken.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks all.

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Mataxes
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Re: Other Editions

Post by Mataxes » Mon Apr 30, 2018 11:54 pm

If you're not going to play fourth, I would go with third.
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Bonhumm
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Re: Other Editions

Post by Bonhumm » Tue May 01, 2018 2:11 am

Indeed.

Each Editions where an improvement over the previous one.

If your objective is less complicated rules, 4th ED WOULD definitely be the way to go if only for the Karma mechanic simplifications and the disappearance of the dreaded success level table.

Otherwise yes, 3rd ED would be the best.

The key difference between 1/2/2.5 and 3/4 ED would be the introduction of Talent Options at 3rd Edition. In 1st/2nd/2.5(classic) Edition, all Disciplines are exactly the same Talent wise (other than specialization paths) i.e ALL Archers will have the exact same talents. 3rd (and 4th) have, at all circles, ONE talent that can be chosen from a pool of different talents, that pool increases in size every few circles so you can customize your characters a LOT more. This does NOT add complexity to the rules as those talents already exist for other discipline so don't worry about that. 3rd and 4th also gives a lot more leeway with skills, which also helps with customization.

The world/charm and core mechanics are exactly the same in all editions (although the timeline has moved forward a bit) so there is no real difference in the 'feel' of the game no matter what edition you take. You can, of course, begin your game at any moment on the time line, no matter the edition. Contents are all compatible, if sometime with a bit of tweaking (i.e. all of the non-rules content of 1st Edition Denizens of Earthdawn will be valid with 4th Edition or any others)

So yeah, 3rd all the way if you really don't want to use the 4th. I know you said you dint want to discuss why but I sure would like to know the reason for this.

Finally, 1st Edition DOES have rules for Blood Magic, they are in the book 'Magic: A Manual of Mystic Secrets',
(http://fasagames.com/catalog/index.php? ... cts_id=612)

Trust me: from someone currently stuck in a 2nd Edition (but otherwise awesome) group :(

Don't hesitate if you have more questions, I pretty much played all editions / read all the books of all edition over the last 25 years or so.

Anunnaki
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Re: Other Editions

Post by Anunnaki » Wed May 02, 2018 12:23 am

Hiya,

Just a quick note: EDC released the Discipline Talent options which were later used for Third Edition as a free PDF (along with other similar freebies). Otherwise, that edition is pretty much complete in two books. Three books only if you require detailed information on the Name-giver races.

Take kaer, James

Jaracove
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Re: Other Editions

Post by Jaracove » Wed May 02, 2018 6:22 am

Thanks all

Yes, I've been interested in EDC just because it's so complete looking.

Slimcreeper
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Re: Other Editions

Post by Slimcreeper » Wed May 02, 2018 12:00 pm

It was the _Compendium_ ...

Actually, I'm not likely to use mine, other than to admire their handsome illustrations, if you want to pick some up gently used send me a PM.

tzunder
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Re: Other Editions

Post by tzunder » Tue May 29, 2018 8:46 pm

I wanted to play/run ED when it came out but it fell into my "Dark Ages", family, career, kids ..
So I have picked up a lot of 1e over the years and I really want to run it.
I really can't cope with the size/shape of 4e books and the cost of importing them into the UK.
Plus I now have 4 1e core books bought for pennies over the years.
So, any advice on running 1e RAW?

Bonhumm
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Re: Other Editions

Post by Bonhumm » Tue May 29, 2018 10:28 pm

Might I suggest the PDFs of 4th (3rd) Edition? I love books too but once you realize how much CTRL-F speed-up the game, you never go back to paper.

tzunder
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Re: Other Editions

Post by tzunder » Wed May 30, 2018 4:04 pm

I like a book. A big, lay it flat book. I will then use PDFs for reference and cut and paste for hand outs.
I'll just run 1e RAW for now. Unless someone has EDC to pass on.

Bonhumm
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Re: Other Editions

Post by Bonhumm » Wed May 30, 2018 8:29 pm

If you are a lover of books I'm afraid you are going to be very disappointed in the quality of the binding of the core book.

In addition to the core book, I would strongly suggest you get, at a minimum, the Companion and then, if possible, the Adept's way and the 2 Denizens of Earthdawn.

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