Want to GM(DM) a fantasy RP w/ one not familiar with Earthdawn (Will be deleted)

RE: Want to GM(DM) a fantasy RP w/ one not familiar with Earthdawn

So far I got one potential and two rejects. Knowing this, in addition to bumping it up I want to add a few things while painfully trying to avoid spoilers.

What is motivating me to doing this?: To recreate, from the other side for someone else, the sense like playing an Elder Scrolls game for the first time. Being plopped in the middle of a fantasy world ripe for self-discovery while not hitting on all of fantasy’s cliches. Earthdawn has something for anyone who likes any of the following: exploration & discovery, political intrigue, Lovecraftian horror, or general dungeon looting.

How familiar are you with this setting / What if I know Earthdawn?: It was my favorite fantasy table-top RPG and got several of the books, though of course not all. That said, its been YEARS since I last played it and might get certain details wrong. I am a major fan of FASA and still sad they closed their doors even now. And a curious note to any Shadowrun fans out there: Earthdawn is set in the same world! I don’t know if the current holders of the game is building on FASA’s hint the Scourge will return. Yes, that means I am ignorant of Living Room Games and RedBrick’s versions of Earthdawn. Am I showing my age?

Why underground?: The whole premise of Earthdawn is for 400 years everyone must go to hiding as Horrors rampage the world. The knowledge how to do this is given by the primary political antagonist, Thera. Called kaers, underground towns and cities with protective wards. A few, not wanting to be in debt to Thera, tried their own methods. One attempt like this ended in disaster. This will be set in the early years when exploration and rediscovery was high.

What if I want to play a non-human?: Technically you might be able to. But I still prefer your character to be young and ignorant of the world outside. Which means being locked up with a bunch of humans. What I am willing to spoil is the following. Of the eight races, Dwarves make up roughly a third of the population and are the dominate race. Humans are not the top of the social chain. Nor do all Dwarves live underground by default. Everyone speak the Dwarven language as they are the dominate race. Elves has their home, called Wyrmwood, but note if you play an elf you won’t be starting out there. Aye, I am avoiding a spoiler here. Check TVTropes if you want the spoiIerage. I want to keep silent of the other races, including the traditional orks. K, not C. Oh, and there is one race unlike anything I’ve ever seen in a fantasy setting. Damn I love this setting.... Oh, and that reminds me.

How about magic?: Might as well say, “What about threads?” There is typical spellcasters in four varieties: Wizard, Elementalist, Illusionist, and Nethermancer. But as magic is so high, EVERYONE, including a bare-fisted tank of a warrior, will be using magic. Non-spellcasters that use magic are called Adepts and both go through their Disciplines via Circles. (That’s class and level to you D&D players out there) However, the game itself is very much a ‘skill’ based system. Except many of these skills are magical talents and not mundane skills.

Magic (spells, talents, and magical items) are divided into two facets: patterns and threads. Everyone are called Name-Givers because the ability to name something is by itself magical as it creates a pattern. Threads are woven into patterns to form spells, argument abilities, or unlock magical potential. It is not as complicated as it sounds and as I rather you begin as a “Level 0” something, this isn’t important early on. Oh, and if you want to use magical items, being a Weaponsmith, Troubadour (think Bard), or a human will help out a lot.

What Disciplines (classes) are there?: I don’t want to list all the core 15 of them (or the few race specific ones) as two of the 15 are, to me, spoilage for an Earthdawn newbie who wants to be awed. One will be bulky to work with. Combat classes are more specific: Swordmaster, Archer, Warrior for example. The latter should do for barbarians and monks for you D&D players. There is two rougish classes, the classic Thief and the less criminal Scout. I have the four spellcasters and two others listed above. No druids but there is a Beastmaster. Others I either don’t want to spoil (or let you play as... ugh, the human only discipline!). Its best if you tell me generically what you want to play and let me figure out which Discipline works out the best. Picking up two different Disciplines, ‘multi-classing’, is possible but is difficult.

And as far as I know, summoning does not exist... or if it does I never got the source book for it!

And Clerics? Or religion in general?: There is no clerics or groups of gods in the D&D since. Rather, there is Passions. Instead of being a god of a certain group (a certain race or class) or thing (magic), these superbeings - which a few don’t even believe exists - represent activities and/or emotion. What drive people, hence their name. They are followed, not worshiped. That said, it is possible for a you to become a cleric like follower of a Passion, gaining new abilities in exchange for acting true to your Passion. You can’t start out as one though even if you follow one in spirit. Again, I rather not list them as some are huge spoilers. Including #13 that is rumored to be under the Dead Sea. No god vs. god or the generic cleric vs. hordes of undead. Horrors are bad enough.

What are these Horrors?: This is not Planescape. They reside in astral space and resemble typical Lovecraftian monsters. When magic got to high in level, they broke into the world. Mass death is possible, but many rather drive people insane or slowly eat away at them, as they ‘feed’ on suffering. Being Marked is a Very Bad Thing. Being sloppy in spellcasting or even thinking about them may get you Marked and hunted by a Horror. If you become Horror Marked you got two options: kill it or let it destroy you on its own terms. Nethermancers are perhaps the best Discipline against them, but they run a high risk of getting Marked, which is why so many of them end up evil or simply insane.

RE: Want to GM(DM) a fantasy RP w/ one not familiar with Earthdawn

Here is a sample first post. The details of it can be edited to suit your character or needs.

For humans, 400 years makes the last generation nothing like the first. When the Onette kaer was being formed, the generation of that time felt like it had a purpose. A do or die one. And thankfully for them they had Adepts to help make the transition from a small human village to one locked underground due to the Scourge better than it might be otherwise. From an Elementalist who help move stone, to a Troubadour who kept everybody spirit up. But that generation grew old and died. And for the next 300 years life underground was considered normal.

Other than the books of knowledge containing why they were down here, what life was like before the Scourge, and a small magical item measuring how many Horrors there was in the world, their kaer was their world. Ignorant of the first generation, the later ones wondered if these Horrors actually existed. A few wanted to go outside despite knowing they can’t. Most rather not, fearing the unknown. Thanks to magic and the planners from Thera, generations of needs was being meet. But as people died, and magical talent left untapped, the number of Adepts became fewer and fewer.

A little less than a hundred years ago, the scratching began. The kaer had two layers of protection. And it seems the first one was broken. According to the old books, Horrors can attack both physically and psychologically. The inner layer seems to be holding, as no one seemed to have went insane. And living all their lives underground, this generation had not problem living as such. But the question of weather or not Horrors exists was no longer a question.

Two years ago the scratching stopped. And it stopped with some of the most horrific sounds from beyond the door. More mysterious, the magical item said Horrors were still out there, but it has not moved a bit for decades. For little over a year the debates raged. To go out or not? Eventually it was decided. A small group will go out just long enough to see what life was like outside. Four was chosen. The oldest and would be leader was the only confirmed trained Adept, a Warrior who painfully had to learn his Discipline with what was passed on to him from the previous generations. He just started to get a handle on weaving threads. Two others, a brother and sister, were practically begging to go. Of course their reputation for their adventurous personality getting them in trouble even in a kaer was well known. Then there was one other, which many believed had the ability to become a weaver of spells, but has not quite crack the mysteries of her Discipline. Something the Warrior could only help to a small point. As they got ready for what will be a major trip to the unknown, they knew of only one thing from their ancestors 400 years ago. Trust the Dwarven Kingdom of Thoral, but avoid Therans if at all possible.

RE: Want to GM(DM) a fantasy RP w/ one not familiar with Earthdawn

A very depressing bump.

RE: Want to GM(DM) a fantasy RP w/ one not familiar with Earthdawn

Ho-hum. Will a map get anyone's attention? How about some colorful language of how a Swordmaster attune himself to the magical patterns of a new blade?

Holding the blade, he felt it wanting to thrust and slash. Imagining an opponent in front of him, he and the sword begin their duet. As the sword swish through the air, he can sense the way the sword feels and handles. With growing confidence, the Swordmaster started yelling, taunting, and other sounds as the blade sung in his hand. He learned what the blade liked, and the blade started to like him.