Adventuring in an Age of Legend

Before science, before history, there was an Age of Legend � and Legends never truly die...

For years, the Name-givers � those races gifted with the ability to Name, and shape the very magic of the world � were forced to live in underground citadels known as kaers, while malevolent creatures from astral space, so terrible they could only be called Horrors, ravaged their world.

The time of hiding has passed. Now, the Name-givers have returned, and reclaimed their place in the world. The fight is not over. The Horrors still linger in this world � in the cities and ruins lost during the Scourge. A corrupt Empire seeks to reclaim its provinces, and Name-givers with dark ambitions seek to set themselves up as the new power in the absence of the Empire.

In this Age of Legend, only heroes can stand against the soul-rending power of the Horrors, and the dark machinations of those corrupt with power.

Become these brave souls, and roleplay in Earthdawn, the Age of Legends.

- taken from Earthdawn 2nd Edition

What is Earthdawn?

Earthdawn is a roleplaying game set in the far and distant path when magic permeated the world and touched everything and everyone. Players take on the roles of Adepts, those able to harness the magic of the world in accordance to their Discipline - be it Swordmaster, Nethermancer, Skyraider, Thief, or Wizard.

Earthdawn merges high fantasy roleplaying with political machinations and Lovecraftian horror, set in the land of Barsiave. Characters not only try to survive and gain wealth and power, but also to build their legend, to forge themselves into what Barsaive needs most - Heroes.

Who Publishes Earthdawn?

The Earthdawn roleplaying game was originally published by FASA Corporation, but now it has a new home with Living Room Games under licence from WizKids LLC. Living Room Games are an up-and-coming games company who also publish the Digital Burn cyberpunk setting for the D20 system.

What is this about an Earthdawn / Shadowrun crossover?

FASA, the original creators of Earthdawn, also created a game called Shadowrun. Set in the near future, Shadowrun fused cyberpunk with magic. Earthdawn was created as being Shadowrun's past in a former age of magic. Even though the two games are now published by separate companies the links still remain - from hints at the oncoming Scourge in Shadowrun, to some of the Great Dragons of Barsiave having survived the lull of magic and awakened in the dystopian future of Shadowrun.

Despite their shared background, Shadowrun and Earthdawn are standalone games, with completely different rulesets.

Resources

• Character Sheet - An Earthdawn Character Sheet in MS Excel
• Time Line - An Earthdawn Timeline up to the start of 1st Edition metaplot
• Kaer Minefor - A description of the Kaer in which the current campaign is situated
• Grandle Blackened-Coal Sheet - A Character Sheet in MS Excel for my character currently involved in a game on RPG.net
• Grandle Blackened-Coal Background - A synopsis of my character and Legend Point expenditure

Links

• Living Room Games - the publishers of Earthdawn
• Official Character Sheet - the official 2nd Edition Character Sheet in PDF form, from the Living Room Games site.
• Map of Barsaive - a coloured map of Barsaive, from the Living Room Games site.
• The Second Step - a free Character Generation program for Earthdawn 2nd Edition