Adventures for 4th edition

[Calabim]

Hi, would like to run an Earthdawn Campaign, but not write the actual adventures.
Is it possible to use the 3rd edition adventures for 4th edition?
And is there plans to release 4th edition adventures?

With kind regards
Calabim

[earthdawn66]

Legends of Barsaive will get you a nice start it is in the FASAGames shop and you can start expanding from there as you desire

[Calabim]

Thank you Earthdawn66, but looking for pre-written adventures.

[Mataxes]

Yes, there are plans to release pre-written adventures for ED4.

You can certainly use adventures from earlier editions, though depending on the adventure and how "faithful" to ED4 you want to be, it might require a bit of tweaking. (Updating abilities available to NPCs, creature stats, that sort of thing.)

[etherial]

Thank you Earthdawn66, but looking for pre-written adventures.

Still, Legends of Barsaive will give you several ED4 adventures to run to get your feet wet. The previous editions' adventures are still playable to varying degrees, though some are better written than others and some have had their mechanics changed more than others. Ardanyan's Revenge is quite popular.

[Calabim]

Maybe I am misunderstanding something, but looked at Legends of Barsaive and looked like it was just two light versions of the rules.

Are the plans for pre-written some time Q1 or further out?

[Calabim]

Ahh just saw the forum part with Legends of Barsaive.
All is clear now, thank you. I will crawl back into my cave now.

[Mataxes]

There aren't any adventures out for Legends of Barsaive yet. They've still got to go through some editing and polish (I ran one at a local con this weekend and discovered that some of the stat blocks didn't make any sense). We hope to start releasing them a little later this year.

Earthdawn66 has gotten his hands on a 'pre-release' version because he has been running some at cons.

[The Undying]

My recommendation, and this is a much wider recommendation for any table looking to start in to Earthdawn where the GM wants to use mainly or exclusively published adventures:

- It's going to be a while before ED4 has a healthy enough environment of published adventures, so the best thing you can do is look to the past.
- The further you look to the past, the best.
- A good chunk of the compelling published adventures following the meta-plot that basically is pushed forward with each edition.
- The best way, IMHO, to bring a completely new ED table into the universe is with a kaer start: it allows them to have zero meaningful information about the world as it is now while still giving you flexibility for where in the timeline you want to be when they exit.

So, with all that, the actual actionable stuff:

- Ask the players NOT to read the "Barsaive" chapter of the ED4 Player's Guide (last chapter of the book).
- Get your hands on a copy of Ardanyan's Revenge, a great kaer start published adventure where a lot of the Adept NPC stats can just be waved past without modification (so, much of the update work would be on tests, a few monsters, and some mundanes).
- While you're running AR, get comfortable with the ED4 Gamemaster's Guide. You'll need familiarity with the updated rules to identify what you can easily swap in for tests and monsters in other adventures. Adept enemies are always going to take some work to modernize.
- Start collecting the old ED1+ published adventures, start from the get-go with the pre-war stuff.

Lastly, a call to the community:

I'm guessing that there are plenty of tables out there that are using old published adventures with ED4. Everyone who enjoys ED could really benefit from any legwork you as the GM put in to updating any tests, equipment, monsters, NPCs. It doesn't need to be pretty, it doesn't even need to be balanced (since every table needs to tweak things a bit for the player party), it doesn't need explanation or commentary - just post you updates, maybe with a very brief note about player party composition and Circle so people can see where you have certain things due to party composition. Likely, the biggest thing you risk is pride as some people might criticize decisions you made - but, if it's done respectfully, it can help you become a better GM, and for those that don't criticize, I'm sure there will be a huge amount of gratitude.

[Telarus]

Good post. +1