![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
More Earthdawn quibbling.
Jan. 21st, 2018 07:03 pmGetting back to Earthdawn, and what worked and what didn't, I'm more determined than ever to run a game using Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition and the setting. A game of exploration, mystery, and touched by horror. Thinking about it, starting the campaign in Cappadocia makes a lot of sense. Plenty of underground cities there already, and lots of room to move around and explore.
I won't be able to start until the fall. I am just over-committed until then. BayCon, WorldCon, the Citizen Police Academy, and of course Burning Man will be eating my time, but I will do work on the setting and set up a few adventures. Players will be wanted in early September. As always, I'd prefer face to face but I'm willing to do it online if necessary.
One thing I really liked in Earthdawen was the idea of Threads and magic items. Finding magic items is just the beginning. In most cases, you need to research it to learn its Name and any control words. This can be an adventure in of itself! The party finds a glowing sword with runes engraved on the blade and a ruby the size of a robin's egg in the pommel. Being able to read the runes shows that this is KatharistÃs, which a good history check will reveal to be a sword wielded by a prince of Babylon. More research, perhaps requiring a trip into the ruins of Babylon, reveals the command word to cause the blade to burst into flame. Much deeper research will eventually reveal that the sword belongs to the true king of Babylon, and if that person is found, the bearer must give him the sword.
It's been over a century since the Horrors descended on Babylon, and the true king might be repairing canals in Uruk, utterly unaware of his status; or the line of kings may be extinguished. Either way, the sword becomes part of the story rather than just a tool. Not everything is going to have such a deep background, a simple ring of protection will be easy to master.
Note that tracking down the threads of an object's past can be used to stimulate further adventures. While reading a set of ancient scrolls that mention KatharistÃs, there might be a clue to the lost treasures of Babylon or to a hidden fortress established by a court wizard in the last days. Keep the story moving!
Now, where the designers screwed the pooch badly. I have always loved this setting because the map is blank. It is nothing but untamed frontiers waiting to be shaped by legendary heroes. The awakened Kaers are struggling to survive in this new world. There will be alliances, wars, and eventually an empire.
Unless you throw a big empire in right from the earliest days. This is what FASA did with the Theran Empire. I like the idea of there having been a huge pseudo-Greek/Macedonian Empire before the Horrors began the Scourge. It's a great excuse for mysterious ruins and having the old empire be a place of high magic gives you an excuse for all those enchanted doo-dads lying all over the place. But having it re-establish itself so fast and extend so far really ruined the mood of the setting.
Having an evil empire as a foil is always great, but in this case, it needed to be looming somewhere over the horizon, to be encountered as a mid-to-high level threat. Hell, I can see where many Kaers blame the old empire for the Horrors coming. This creates a fantastic chance for an epic war. The Kaers of the initial setting, now expanding and trading, against an old state demanding fealty. Perfect for the climax of a campaign, and the now-mighty characters are called upon to challenge the Dragon Lords of Thera.
But later in the timeline. Let this be a chaotic world for a time.
Other potential courses for a stalwart party in this setting? Finding the old gods, or discovering new ones. convincing a sealed Kaer to open. Just exploring this new world. Learning that a few Horrors remain, and need to be dealt with. Because to me, the true Horrors are Lovecraftian in nature. Swords and fireballs are not going to do crap to these things. Parties will have to do . . . more research! Dispatching a Horror would obviously be a mini-campaign all by itself.
Sudden thought. What if the Horrors are the old gods come to Earth? What if the barrier between worlds brew so thin at the peak of magical potential that the full force and fury of the gods were unleashed on the world? Makes for an interesting plot point, especially if gods start reasserting themselves.
I have a lot of work to do on this. Should be fun.
I won't be able to start until the fall. I am just over-committed until then. BayCon, WorldCon, the Citizen Police Academy, and of course Burning Man will be eating my time, but I will do work on the setting and set up a few adventures. Players will be wanted in early September. As always, I'd prefer face to face but I'm willing to do it online if necessary.
One thing I really liked in Earthdawen was the idea of Threads and magic items. Finding magic items is just the beginning. In most cases, you need to research it to learn its Name and any control words. This can be an adventure in of itself! The party finds a glowing sword with runes engraved on the blade and a ruby the size of a robin's egg in the pommel. Being able to read the runes shows that this is KatharistÃs, which a good history check will reveal to be a sword wielded by a prince of Babylon. More research, perhaps requiring a trip into the ruins of Babylon, reveals the command word to cause the blade to burst into flame. Much deeper research will eventually reveal that the sword belongs to the true king of Babylon, and if that person is found, the bearer must give him the sword.
It's been over a century since the Horrors descended on Babylon, and the true king might be repairing canals in Uruk, utterly unaware of his status; or the line of kings may be extinguished. Either way, the sword becomes part of the story rather than just a tool. Not everything is going to have such a deep background, a simple ring of protection will be easy to master.
Note that tracking down the threads of an object's past can be used to stimulate further adventures. While reading a set of ancient scrolls that mention KatharistÃs, there might be a clue to the lost treasures of Babylon or to a hidden fortress established by a court wizard in the last days. Keep the story moving!
Now, where the designers screwed the pooch badly. I have always loved this setting because the map is blank. It is nothing but untamed frontiers waiting to be shaped by legendary heroes. The awakened Kaers are struggling to survive in this new world. There will be alliances, wars, and eventually an empire.
Unless you throw a big empire in right from the earliest days. This is what FASA did with the Theran Empire. I like the idea of there having been a huge pseudo-Greek/Macedonian Empire before the Horrors began the Scourge. It's a great excuse for mysterious ruins and having the old empire be a place of high magic gives you an excuse for all those enchanted doo-dads lying all over the place. But having it re-establish itself so fast and extend so far really ruined the mood of the setting.
Having an evil empire as a foil is always great, but in this case, it needed to be looming somewhere over the horizon, to be encountered as a mid-to-high level threat. Hell, I can see where many Kaers blame the old empire for the Horrors coming. This creates a fantastic chance for an epic war. The Kaers of the initial setting, now expanding and trading, against an old state demanding fealty. Perfect for the climax of a campaign, and the now-mighty characters are called upon to challenge the Dragon Lords of Thera.
But later in the timeline. Let this be a chaotic world for a time.
Other potential courses for a stalwart party in this setting? Finding the old gods, or discovering new ones. convincing a sealed Kaer to open. Just exploring this new world. Learning that a few Horrors remain, and need to be dealt with. Because to me, the true Horrors are Lovecraftian in nature. Swords and fireballs are not going to do crap to these things. Parties will have to do . . . more research! Dispatching a Horror would obviously be a mini-campaign all by itself.
Sudden thought. What if the Horrors are the old gods come to Earth? What if the barrier between worlds brew so thin at the peak of magical potential that the full force and fury of the gods were unleashed on the world? Makes for an interesting plot point, especially if gods start reasserting themselves.
I have a lot of work to do on this. Should be fun.
