History TabletopGame / Earthdawn

Wait, there's more. The humans run the Theran Empire, they use blood magic, they enslave other races, and they make war in flying castles. The trolls are eight and a half foot tall {{SkyPirate}}s in flying stone longboats. The obsidimen are over seven feet tall and made of rock. The windlings are tiny flying people. The t'skrang are [[{{Lizard Folk}} Lizardmen]] who run boats on the many rivers. The orks have been enslaved by almost everybody and are trying to establish their own nation. All these races are called Name-Givers, on the assumption that naming a thing gives it a magical identity, a pattern that can be manipulated.

** Talk about enchanted wood/air elevator, self-cleaning wardrobe, flying/rocking chair that fit troll and dwarf, hat that self adapt to your head (convenient with horn and crest)... Pretty much in every village you could find magical lighting crystals, and most middle class families would own a self-heating pot.

Wait, there's more. The humans run the Theran Empire, they use blood magic, they enslave other races, and they make war in flying castles. The trolls are eight and a half foot tall {{SkyPirate}}s in flying stone longboats. The obsidimen are over seven feet tall and made of rock. The windlings are tiny flying people. The t'skrang are Lizardmen who run boats on the many rivers. The orks have been enslaved by almost everybody and are trying to establish their own nation. All these races are called Name-Givers, on the assumption that naming a thing gives it a magical identity, a pattern that can be manipulated.

After the success of ''TabletopGame/{{Shadowrun}},'' Creator/{{FASA}} tried their hand at a fantasy RPG. They consciously set out to turn the stereotypes on their heads. In the province of Barsaive, humans don't run the world, the dwarves do. Elves aren't carefree forest denizens, the thorns in their skin cause constant pain, and their forest drips blood. There are no all-powerful gods, only passions, and some of them are crazy. Everyone use magic, not just spellcasters.

In some kaers, though, the Horrors broke through the wards. Inside you may find treasure and lore, but you may find a Horror. It can mark you without your even noticing, and then it can track you and try to influence you. The only way to remove the mark is to kill the Horror. If that's not bad enough, someone can attract a Horror's attention by casting a spell the wrong way or even by ''thinking'' about a Horror. Going into astral space? fugeddaboutit.

Wait, there's more. The humans run the Theran Empire, they use blood magic, they enslave other races, and they make war in flying castles. The trolls are {{SkyPirate}}s in flying stone longboats. The obsidimen are nine feet tall and made of rock. The windlings are tiny flying people. The t'skrang are Lizardmen who run boats on the many rivers. The orks have been enslaved by almost everybody and are trying to establish their own nation. All these races are called Name-Givers, on the assumption that naming a thing gives it a magical identity, a pattern that can be manipulated.

** Third edition partly fixed that by removing 4-sided and 20-sided dices. (you still got the 6,8,10 and 12 ones. Enjoy your bag of dices.) The main problem being exploding dice on the highest value (step 3/1D4 has a 25% to reach 5, so is a theorical step 11/1D20, in pratice, step 11 is 1D8+1D6).

* LuckManipulationMechanic: The [[EldritchAbomination Horror]] power of "Cursed Luck." Also, Karma - especially for Windlings.

Then FASA went out of business. Living Room Games brought out a [[TheyChangedItNowItSucks second edition]]. Then LRG went out of business. [=RedBrick=] brought out two virtual editions, a third and an alternate second. There's talk that [=RedBrick=] is working on a D&D-compatible edition as well.

* MagicKnight - everyone. All PCs are magicians - Adepts. Wizards could have some kind of basic martial capability, Warriors had their share of elemental magic, and Weaponsmiths at very very high levels learned how to cast Elementalist spells.

* MagicKnight - everyone. All PCs are magicians - Adepts. Wizards could have some kind of basic martial capability, and

Fantasy not enough? How about some cosmic horror? Magic ebbs and flows over the millennia, you see. When it increases, the walls between the worlds grow thin, and monsters come through. They are known as Horrors, the ensuing time of darkness as the Scourge. The people built kaers, underground cities with powerful wards, and hid in them for centuries. The level of magic began to drop--but then it got stuck. The people emerged from the kaers into a new dawn on a new Earth (Earth-dawn, get it?).

Wait, you want to ''play'' Earthdawn? That's a different thing altogether. To use a skill, you have to work out your step number, which is your skill level plus modifiers. Now refer to your Step Table, which tells you how many dice of which types to roll. That's right, using the same skill, you may roll different types of dice from one use to the next. It beats using calculus to simulate swinging on a rope, but there are simpler systems.

* TheEmpire: Thera.

* LuckManipulationMechanic: The [[EldritchAbomination Horror]] power of "Cursed Luck."

** Talk about enchanted wood/air elevator, self-cleaning wardrobe, flying/rocking chair that fit troll and dwarf, hat that self adapt to your head (convenient with horn and crest)...

After the success of ''TabletopGame/{{Shadowrun}},'' FASA tried their hand at a fantasy RPG. They consciously set out to turn the stereotypes on their heads. In the province of Barsaive, humans don't run the world, the dwarves do. Elves aren't carefree forest denizens, the thorns in their skin cause constant pain, and their forest drips blood. There are no all-powerful gods, only passions, and some of them are crazy. Everyone use magic, not just spellcasters.

** Third edition partly fixed that by removing 4-sided and 20-sided dices. (you still got the 6,8,10 and 12 ones. Enjoy your bag of dices.) The main problem being exploding dice on the the highest value (step 3/1D4 has a 25% to reach 5, so is a theorical step 11/1D20, in pratice, step 11 is 1D8+1D6).

** Talk about enchanted wood/air elevator, self-cleaning wardrobe, flying/rocking chair that fit troll and dwarf, hat that self adapt to your head (conveniant with horn and crest)...

* DarkIsNotEvil: The Nethermancers are incredibly creepy, part of a magical tradition focused on death. They can be incredibly nasty...but they also have both the best magical healing abilities as well as powerful spells designed to fight [[EldritchAbomination the Horrors]].
** They are seen has creepy. They are just... [[StartXToStopX practical]]. The Death plane being just another netherworld.

After the success of ''{{Shadowrun}},'' FASA tried their hand at a fantasy RPG. They consciously set out to turn the stereotypes on their heads. In the province of Barsaive, humans don't run the world, the dwarves do. Elves aren't carefree forest denizens, the thorns in their skin cause constant pain, and their forest drips blood. There are no all-powerful gods, only passions, and some of them are crazy. Everyone use magic, not just spellcasters.

Of course there are dragons. In fact, they are behind many of the conspiracies. If you know ''{{Shadowrun}},'' you may even [[BeethovenWasAnAlienSpy recognize]] some of them ... but that means ... it is EarthAllAlong! Yes, you may recognize Thera as the name of a Greek island--it may have inspired the myths about Atlantis when it exploded thousands of years ago. Yes, the magic level [[TheMagicGoesAway eventually goes back down to nothing]], only to go back up in our time for ''Shadowrun.'' A cosmic case of [[EternalRecurrence history repeating itself]].

This has recently been solved, as an Earthdawn fan asked himself "[[{{I Want My Jetpack}} I'm living in the Future, why aren't I Gaming like it?]]" and coded a [[{{No Paper Future}} Virtual Tabletop System]] for Earthdawn: [[http://bit.ly/earthdawnVirtualTabletop MapTool Earthdawn Framework]]

* FamedInStory: The general goal of the players. ExperiencePoints are called Legend Points, and generate a value of how well known the deeds of the character are.

* HumansAreSpecial: The human racial ability, Versatility, allows humans to learn magical abilities from disciplines other than their own. It is arguably the most powerful ability in the game, to the point where some power gamers will argue that there is no point to playing any other race. And Passions help any GameMaster foolish enough to allow the human racial discipline, [[GameBreaker the Journeyman]], into his game...

* PrequelInTheLostAge: ''Earthdawn'' is a prequel to ''{{Shadowrun}}'', set in the Fourth World.

* JustifiedTrope: Many aspects of the setting seemed designed to justify the traditional fantasy role playing tropes. Why are there dungeons filled with monsters and treasure lying around everywhere? They are kaers that are breached. Why do characters have discrete levels where they get better at things? Because each discipline (aka character class) is tapping into the "true pattern" of that discipline, and your level represents how well you have learned to do this. Why is that fighting monsters gives you points that you can then spend to get better at, for example, foreign language? Because all abilities are magical, and the greater your legend, the stronger your magical power grows. {{YMMV}} as to how well the mechanics work in practice, but there is no question that they are all justified by the nature of the setting.

After the success of ''{{Shadowrun}},'' FASA tried their hand at a fantasy RPG. They consciously set out to turn the stereotypes on their heads. In the province of Barsaive, humans don't run the world, the dwarves do. Elves aren't carefree forest denizens, the thorns in their skin cause constant pain, and their forest drips blood. There are no all-powerful gods, only passions, and some of them are crazy.

Wait, there's more. The humans run the Theran Empire, they use blood magic, they enslave other races, and they make war in flying castles. The trolls are {{SkyPirate}}s in stone longboats. The obsidimen are nine feet tall and made of rock. The windlings are tiny flying people. The t'skrang are Lizardmen who run boats on the many rivers. The orks have been enslaved by almost everybody and are trying to establish their own nation. All these races are called Name-Givers, on the assumption that naming a thing gives it a magical identity, a pattern that can be manipulated.

* AYearAndADay

* PrecisionGuidedBoomerang: The magical Devastator Spear will return to its owner after being thrown.