Earthdawn Survival Guide

* The Talshara Ranelle * Reminder: FreedoniaCon Feb 16-18 on the FASA Games Discord! * Talshara comprises most of the militia and exolashers in the Blood Wood * Nearly every combat Discipline is represented in the ranelle. * Likely includes a significant number of Woodsman followers * (Check out Episode 78 for the Woodsman Episode.) * Current leader: Erithander, strongly loyal, can be blunt with t...

* Adventure breakdown: Terror in the Skies * SPOILERS! * FreedoniaCon is February 16-18 on the FASA Games Discord * Live Survival Guide on Sunday the 18th. * Second adventure published. * Like Mists of Betrayal, likely written to feature different aspects of the game. * Still potential balance issues, but not as severely as Mists. * Sidebar about adventures not strictly speaking a series, despite...

* The Jae'Helastri Ranelle * Politically inclined gossip-mongers * Most likely to pass information to manipulate events. * May be envoys outside the wood. * Keep an eye on other ranelles. * No farming, trade, or other aspects of life. * Smallest ranelle, no more ancestral lands or lesser ranelles sworn to them. * The ranelle that "knows things". * Came to power through unswerving loy...

* New Year, New mailbag! * The full, unedited interview with Lou is available on our YouTube channel. * The pre-art draft for Grand Bazaar has been made available to backers. * Email from Bart: Dispelling or disrupting threads? * Email from Chris: Crossbows! Why Strength? * Why not more kinds of crossbows? * Convention news! * Email from Brendan: Twisted ideals for the non-mad Passions? * Email fr...

* The Third and Final Part of our conversation with Lou Prosperi * Lou's Favorites * Why Ukraine * One More Thing for Earthdawn * Enduring Nature and Cliffhangers * Is Lou a Passion * Tales From Lou's Table * Working With Greg Gorden * Working on Different Systems * Something from Fourth Edition You Like * An Area You Wanted to Cover * If You Could Change Anything * What Would You Like to...

* The second part of our conversation with Lou Prosperi. * T'skrang as alien race? * What's the deal with the ash blowing in from the Wastes? * Sidebar about the "Western Kingdoms" * Questions about loci and their use in original plans for Barsaive at War. * World maps? * Thoughts about the return of the Earthdawn and other parts of the world. * Magic use in lands outside the The...

* Episode 200! Part one of our conversation with Lou Prosperi. * How does Lou pronounce certain Earthdawn names? * What were the plans for continuing coordination with Shadowrun? * Some discussion about crossover characters. * Story about Lou sending his SR players into the past before Earthdawn * Lou's path to Earthdawn. * How did they go about building the setting? * Were there secrets that...

* Wrapping up 2023 with some listener statistics and analytics * We broke 100k total listens this year according to our host. * Where our listeners hail from and what platform they listen on. * Most listened to overall episodes. * Our Spotify Wrapped summary... new listeners and audience growth. * Listen Notes score and commentary. * YouTube stats (all our backlog is now on the channel) * What doe...

* Mailbag! * Email from Jonathan: Would Blood Warders or Exolashers have been a path? * Email from Alexandre: Social Defense needs and protections for a Gauntlet? * Discussion of Resist Taunt, Lion Heart, Lion Spirit, and other options. * Email from Leamon: Ways to track Legend Point awards. * Spreadsheets! * Email from Brendan: Are Karma and Legend Points diegetic? * What about talent ranks? * Ep...

* Great Ranelles of the Blood Wood: The Escalanas * Quick update on social media and the like. * Kindness from a fan on the FASA Games Discord. * Tradtionally provides the most Warders to the Rose Throne. * Current head Kethos was one of the main architect of the Ritual of Thorns. * The "magic" ranelle, but like other ranelles they do other stuff. * Based in the western regions of the Wo...

* Kaers * Significance of kaers in the game and setting. * Common (and most dangerous) destination for adventurers. * Mists of Betrayal, Terror in the Skies, Ardanyan's Revenge. * Not a lot of concrete examples in later published material. * Appearances in novels and fiction. * What is a kaer? * Purpose to keep people inside alive. * Why are you going and what might you find? * Kaers vs citade...

* The Daevenar Ranelle * Some comments on Blood Wood games. * Renowned as the finest artists and craftfolk in the Wood. * Significant presence in Court, but not an obvious politics player. * Likely a notable influence on elven culture. * Possibly behind the campaign against Shosara. * Importance of art and culture during the Scourge and Ritual of Thorns. * Loyalty to throne and ability to shape pu...

* Diving into the mailbag! * Email from Leamon: GMs with players who know more about the setting. * Fighting large groups of low-powered opponents. * Questions for Greg Gorden? * Email from Brad: Stories about player character death. * Handling replacements for a dead PC? * Plans to reintroduce Lightbearers as a path? * Email from Scott: More stories about character death. * Player buy-in and expe...

* Great Ranelles of the Blood Wood: Carithasca * A ranelle is similar to a noble house or clan; extended family. * Mainly based in the Southern Fringe, focused on trade. * While each ranelle is best known for a particular thing, they don’t do just that thing. * The ranelle’s background and how they got to where they are. * The ranelle’s biggest advantage is the network they have built over time. *...

* Email from David: Love for the show and for Earthdawn * Reminder from Josh about the Earthdawn West Marches community. * Email from Bryan: Stories about player character death. * Josh shares a party wipe story from an old D&D game. * Exploring and surviving underground environments. * Careless folk get themselves killed in the depths. * Four things to worry about when caving. * Bad air: Stal...

* Player character death. * Reminder: Tastes and desires on what a player wants from a game can vary! * Most problems arise from a difference in expectations between the players and GM. * Story about Josh’s friend Doug and his approach to his characters. * Players who strongly identify with their characters can dislike having their story “cut short”. * A brief sidebar about gamemasters fudging dic...

* Surviving and Exploring the Wastes. * Another example of an area devastated by the Scourge, similar in that way to the Badlands. * Of note in earlier material mainly because of its effect on western Barsaive. * Also an area with a significant number of lost and corrupted kaers. * Not as easy to get imagery to draw inspiration about the Wastes. * Jerris is most likely location to launch expeditio...

* Surviving the inhsopitable: Death’s Sea and the Mist Swamps * Death’s Sea * Invest in protection from heat and bring plenty of water. * No walking! Airship access only. * Only solid ground are klenkas, temporary islands of cooled lava. * Bring foods that can survive the hot, dry conditions. * Lots of fire-adjacent wildlife to make life difficult. * Additional suggestions for supplies to help sur...

* Another packed email episode! * Email from Michael H: Supporting the show, and a question about airship and riverboat rules. * Upcoming topic: Dealing with player character death * Email from Jennifer: Knacks spreadsheet? * Sheet is actually what talents become available for the core Disciplines * Email from Jonathan: Do animal companions count as allies for the Shaman pack spell benefits? * Han...

* Herbs, plants, and natural medicines in Earthdawn. * Can add more flavor, detail, and variety to your setting. * The Survival Guide includes a mix of real-world and fictional plants. * The Herbalist’s Primer by Anna Urbanek. * Great system-neutral supplement for any fantasy game. * Item by item list from the first edition Survival Guide. * Descriptions, uses, and adventure or story hooks. * Pop...

* Exploring and surviving in the Badlands * Final report on the Deeper Secrets Kickstarter campaign * Possible reasons to go into (or over) the Badlands * Historical overview of the region * Is calling it the Badlands reinforcing its corruption? * Additional ideas and hooks in the Travar sourcebook * Solving the mystery of the region’s growth and cleansing the corruption * Geography and environmen...

* Second of TWO post-GenCon mailbag episodes! * Question from Josh (not that Josh): Adapting Earthdawn to other systems? * Some non-legally binding discussion of how to handle fan works. * Email from Svenn: Book of Tomorrow and the Earthdawn Publishing Trust. * Josh reminisces about the EDPT. * Questions about Legend Awards… * ED4 challenge ratings versus ED1 specific creature awards? * Why change...

* First of TWO post-GenCon mailbag episodes! * As of this episode’s release, just over two days left in the Deeper Secrets Kickstarter * Email from Alexandre: Playing an offended obsidiman? * Email from Donald the SoloRPG Guy: Recent Earthdawn episode and shout-out to the EDSG * Email from Ben: What kind of Horror was Zorg from the Legends of Earthdawn podcast? * Email from Patrick: Illusionist sp...

* Third and Fourth Circle Shaman spells * Quick review of a couple important Shaman spell features. * Third Circle Spells * Catwalk * Invoke Lion’s Pride * Mark of the Wolf * Polecat Resilience * Sunlight * Third Circle picks and discussion. * Fourth Circle Spells * Ferret Reflex * Gills * Invoke Shark Rend * Mark of the Bear * Repel Animal * Fourth Circle picks and discussion.   Find and Follow:...

* Josh gives a GenCon update! Booth times and such! * Reminder: If you have questions for Lou Prosperi, send them in! * Exploring and surviving forest environments. * Named vs unnamed forest. * Typically, much drier than jungles, more undergrowth. * A brief ecological overview of deciduous and evergreen forests. * Potable water in forests and the associated hazards. * Fauna commonly found in fores...