CREDITS

Development and Writing: Carsten Damm Additional Material: Jeremiah L. Schwennen Senior Editor: Jeremiah L. Schwennen Editing: Chad Booth, Mikko Goepfert, Jason U. Wallace Visual Concept: Kathy Schad Cover Artwork: Kathy Schad, David M. Wright Illustrations: Earl Geier, Je Laubenstein, Joel Biske, , Kathy Schad, Kent Burles, Larry McDougall, Mark Nelson, Mike Nielsen, Paul Jaquays, Tom Baxa Layout: Carsten Damm Playtesters: Alexander Schumacher, Armin Herbertz, Bastian Wahlich, Bernd Lührsen, Hendrik Dörr, Ingo Gronewald, Jason U. Wallace, Jens Elgeti, Marco Burnus, Marco Knief, Marcus Strauf, Markus Schips, Markus Schönlau, Martin Barmeyer, Sacha P. Buck, Samuel Wahlich, Sebastian Klein, Stefan Büche, Stefan Freck, Stefan Mauch,  orsten Göbel,  orsten Schleer, Tim Münstermann, Tobias Sonnleitner ® is a Registered Trademark of FASA Corporation. Copyright © 1993–2016 FASA Corporation. Earthdawn: e Age of Legend is published by Vagrant Workshop. Earthdawn and all associated trademarks and copyrights are used under license from FASA Corporation.  is work is based on FU: e Freeform/Universal RPG (found at http://nathanrussell.net/fu), by Nathan Russell, licensed for our use under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license (http://creative- commons.org/licenses/by/3.0/).  e Powered By FU logo is © Nathan Russell and is used with permission.  is book contains artwork by David M. Wright and Kathy Schad, which has been licensed for single-use only and is used with permission.  e content of this book is protected by copyright. Reproduction, even in excerpts, requires written permission by the publisher. Version: 20160428

www.vagrantworkshop.com TABLE OF CONTENTS

GETTING STARTED ...... 5 BEATING THE ODDS ...... 35 CHARACTER CREATION ..... 67 How to Use this Book ...... 6 Making the Roll ...... 36 Starting Experience ...... 68

How the Game Works ...... 7 Success & Failure ...... 37 Creating a Player Character...... 68

What You Need to Play ...... 9 M o d i  e r s ...... 40 Sample Character ...... 75

AN EARTHDAWN PRIMER ... 11 RUNNING THE GAME ...... 43 DISCIPLINES ...... 77 Legends and Heroes ...... 13 Creating Adventures ...... 44 Discipline Abilities ...... 78

Races of Barsaive ...... 14 Scenes ...... 45 Air Sailor ...... 80

Magic ...... 17 C o n  i c t s ...... 46 Archer ...... 81

 e Scourge ...... 19 Discussions ...... 49 Beastmaster ...... 82

 e Province of Barsaive ...... 21 Notes ...... 49 Cavalryman ...... 83

 e P a s s i o n s ...... 24 Recaps ...... 49 Elementalist ...... 84 Pacing ...... 50 TRAITS ...... 25 Illusionist ...... 85 Knowledge is Power ...... 50 Concept ...... 25 Nethermancer ...... 86  e Characters are the Tags ...... 28 Shaman ...... 87 Main Cast of the Show! ...... 51 Equipment ...... 30 Sky Raider ...... 88 Incentives ...... 52 Drives ...... 30 Swordmaster ...... 89 Relationships ...... 31 SETTING THE STAGE ...... 53  i e f ...... 90 Description ...... 31 Setting Context ...... 53 Troubadour ...... 91 Talents and Spells ...... 31 Getting Started ...... 54 Warrior ...... 92 Karma ...... 32 Creating the Setting ...... 54 Weaponsmith ...... 93 Groups and Oaths...... 33 Sample Setting: Spencer Hill ... 64 Wizard ...... 94 TALENTS ...... 95 AIRSHIPS & RIVERBOATS . 183 SETTING WORKSHEET ..... 216 Using Talents ...... 95 Using Vehicles...... 183 CHARACTER SHEET ...... 218 Talent Descriptions...... 98 Scale ...... 184 Sample Vehicles ...... 186 ADVERSARY SHEET ...... 220 SPELLS ...... 135 Using Spells ...... 135 CREATURES & SHIP SHEET ...... 220 Elementalism Spells ...... 138 ADVERSARIES ...... 191 EARTHDAWN MATERIAL .. 221 Illusionism Spells ...... 143 Using Creatures & Adversaries...... 191 Nethermancy Spells ...... 149 RULES SUMMARY ...... 224 Creatures ...... 193 Shamanism Spells ...... 155 Dragons ...... 199 INDEX ...... 227 Wizardry Spells ...... 161 Horrors ...... 202 EQUIPMENT ...... 167 PASSIONS & QUESTORS ....207.... 207 Mundane Items ...... 168 Questors ...... 208 Blood Charms ...... 172  e Twelve Passions ...... 209 Common Magic Items ...... 173 Legendary Items ...... 174 Mounts ...... 177

EXPERIENCE & ADVANCEMENT ...... 179 Gaining Character Points ...... 180 Spending Character Points ...... 180 Circles of Mastery ...... 182 GETTING STARTED

e Age of Legend is an era of magic that existed thousands of years ago in our world’s dim past. Magic touched every aspect of the lives of men and women of the Namegiver races: humans, , dwarves, orks, trolls, windlings, t’skrang, and obsidimen. However, as the levels of magic rose, so did the dangers in the world. e rise of magic brought Horrors to Earth, creatures from the depths of astral space that devoured all life in their path. For four centuries, the people of Barsaive hid underground as the Horrors devastated their lands during the dark time that came to be called the Scourge. Now, the people of Barsaive have emerged from their sealed kaers and citadels, ready to  ght for life and freedom against the remaining Horrors and the oppressive eran Empire. From all across Barsaive, bold heroes step forward to champion their land, arming themselves for their daunting task with powerful magical spells and treasures. rough magic, skill, and daring, Barsaive’s heroes strive to heal the world of the scars left by the Scourge. In so doing, they become Barsaive’s living legends. he Age of Legend is a roleplaying game of action, OW TO SE THIS OOK T adventure, and fun—a game of grand proportions H U B and elegant simplicity. is storygame is based on the FU game engine by Nathan Russell. e rules in this book his book comes in three parts. e  rst part discusses let you create exciting stories in the world of Earthdawn, with T the setting background and core mechanics used to a minimum of fuss and preparation. run the game—the information that tells you how to play. Starting o with An Earthdawn Primer (p.11), you get What you will  nd in e Age of Legend is  rst and fore- a basic overview of the game world. Traits (p.25) discusses the most an easy game. It is intended as a lightweight alternative basic building blocks player characters are made of, Beating to Earthdawn’s own Step System (which has been around in the Odds (p.35) describes how to roll and interpret the dice, in various editions since 1992). Setting and character creation and Running the Game (p.43) discusses how you set a scene as in e Age of Legend is fairly quick and intuitive, allowing well as providing advice and guidelines for the gamemaster. you to play powerful adepts in this ancient era of heroes, and the game system itself is easy to e second part of the book contains every- learn and very simple to use. thing you need to create your own charac- ters, the places they will frequently vis- We’ve tried to capture the essen- it, and the people they will meet. e tials of the Earthdawn experience, Setting the Stage chapter (p.53) gets and recon gured, adapted, and ex- everyone started building the main panded the FU ruleset to provide environment you will be playing in, you with a simple, story-oriented while Character Creation (p.67) game system. This book contains shows you how to build the actual everything you need to play, includ- heroes of the game. e Disciplines ing an introduction to the world of (p.77), Talents (p.95), Spells (p.135), Earthdawn. However, this book was and Equipment (p.167) chapters contain designed with the rich setting material pub- additional information you need to reference lished for Earthdawn in mind, so knowing more when building your characters and settings for them. about the world is bound to add more depth to your games. Finally, Experience & Advancement (p.179) provides a sim- You can use any of the published Earthdawn books, regardless ple framework to improve your characters over the course of of edition and year of release, with these rules. Check out the several adventures. Appendix on p.221 for an overview of all major releases for Earthdawn to date. e last part of the book provides rules and game statistics for vehicles and the opposition, mainly in the Airships & Riverboats (p.183) and Creatures & Adversaries (p.191) chap- ters. Passions & Questors (p.207) details the twelve Passions worshipped by the people of Barsaive, and adds options for player characters wanting to become questors. e Appendix

6 THE AGE OF LEGEND (p.216) holds information on Earthdawn background material you can use with this game, as well as various sheets for your games (including the Setting the Stage and Character Sheets), and an Index for easy reference.

HOW THE GAME WORKS GETTING STARTED GETTING he Age of Legend uses your collective imaginations T to power the game—you and your friends are going to work together to tell a dramatic, exciting story. You will establish parts of the setting, and everyone will have a chance to in uence that world. Play is a kind of conversa- tion, where everyone works together to put the characters in cool and entertaining situations. en you will use the dice to 1 EARTHDAWN VETERANS help work out what happens next. Sometimes you will all be e Earthdawn setting and its proprietary Step System working together, throwing ideas around, suggesting things, are very closely intertwined, so providing an alternative and brainstorming It may be chaotic, but hopefully productive system is bound to raise some questions among those and fun. At other times you are going to take turns to describe who have played Earthdawn before. We’re glad you’re what your characters are doing and see how that works out. willing to give these rules a try, but keep in mind that If everyone gets it right, no TV show, gaming console, or they simplify a lot of things. computer game can top the experience of a roleplaying game. e Age of Legend was designed for those who want a Most Earthdawn games aren’t supposed to be over when simple and story-oriented game system. e Step System everyone stops playing for the night and heads home: the game is quite sophisticated and requires much preparation and is played in sessions, and it can take several of them to complete knowledge to run. Many people shy away from kind of a single story. Unless the last session was really lame, people e ort, and desire to run a game of Earthdawn with little will want to come back and continue to play. ere’s no win- or no preparation. ner or loser either. e point of this game is that it’s not about e Age of Legend is ideal for one-shots and very short winning; it’s about telling a story and having fun along the way. campaigns, suitable for conventions and even for intro- With most people, it works. ducing kids to the hobby. Earthdawn: e Age of Legend You should already be aware of the two types of participants features a Discipline Advancement system, allowing you in e Age of Legend—the players and the gamemaster. Here to play campaigns at di erent power levels. are some more details:

CHAPTER I1 | Getting Started 7 The Players THE GAMING GROUP at’s you and your friends. You control  ctionalized charac- ters that exist in the game world described by the gamemaster. e game works by everyone trying to be civil and to A character may just seem to consist of a lot of numbers and interact with one another. Many decisions are usually the buzzwords when seen on paper, but you are supposed to bring result of a group consensus, but the gamemaster gets to him to life by verbally acting out his role and making him take make judgment calls when necessary. What this means action over the course of the game. Together in the group, you is that he is the  nal authority when the group cannot resolve the situations that arise during the game. In a sense, agree easily, to make sure the game doesn’t get bogged your characters are much like those in a computer game— down. While this might lead to discussions in your gam- except that you have absolute control over their actions and ing group, it ultimately allows customizing the game to in nite options in the game world created in your imagination. the group and should help everyone enjoy the gaming experience even more. Ultimately, the game is about your characters—they are sup- posed to be the heroes of the story developing in the game. e rules assume your group can come to a consensus If the game was a modern-day TV series, they would be the fast and easy—if that is not the case, then more power main cast of the show, and the story would be about them, their to the gamemaster! e trick is to  nd the right balance motivations, goals, faults, and successes. Because of this, both where everyone is comfortable with the play speed and the gamemaster and the players must work together to make the decisions made. those characters shine. Sometimes, it will seem like your sole purpose is to com- pletely wreck the game by foiling the gamemaster’s plans. Don’t player characters, not by the gamemaster. ere’s a  ne line worry; it’s your job to keep him on his toes. e tension that between plot and the story resulting from it. arises between the “main cast” of the story taking action and the limited ability of the gamemaster to foresee what choices e rules in this book leave a lot of room for interpretation; will be made is where the real excitement of Earthdawn lives! hard rules are only found where they are absolutely needed. is is the big advantage a game like e Age of Legend has over a hard-coded computer game: humans can bend the rules and The Gamemaster interpret them one way or another to suit their personal tastes. e world of Earthdawn is packed with opportunities to create e gamemaster is in charge of doing that, which often puts him new and interesting stories. e person creating the situations, at the center of attention. It takes a lot of e ort and planning to story elements, and characters the players face is the game- be a good gamemaster, but the prestige that comes from doing master. He’s a moderator, serving as a referee and  nal judge it well can be awesome. on what can and can’t be done within the scope of the game In other words: As gamemaster, you’ll get to create situations mechanics. It’s the gamemaster’s job to control everything in and story elements the player characters face. e one thing the game world except the player characters and how the story you’re not allowed to control is how the story is resolved. is is resolved. at said, the story is created by the actions of the lies entirely in the hands of the player characters.

8 THE AGE OF LEGEND throw around (preferably in di in (preferably around throw erent colors). of Fudge Aset paper throw around (preferably in di in (preferably around throw erent colors). of Aset paper T W to to dice six-sided of standard abunch need . You’llalso . You’ll also need a bunch of standard of standard abunch need . You’llalso HAT pencil and and pencil called devices archaic those are require it does What that. like or anything hardware, latest the coordination, hand-eye doesn’t require game his

Dice Dice YOU CHAPTER I1 CHAPTER symbols) is recommended, but not required but not required recommended, is symbols) symbols) is recommended, but not required but not required recommended, is symbols) CHAPTER 1 CHAPTER (special six-sided dice featuring + and – +and featuring dice six-sided (special (special six-sided dice featuring + and – +and featuring dice six-sided (special the the the the out out Setting Setting of the Copies game. this to play to play this game. Copies of the of the Copies game. this to play for an introduction to this world. to this introduction for an for an introduction to this world. to this introduction for an

Worksheet gamemaster is already familiar with with familiar already is gamemaster Worksheet gamemaster is already familiar with with familiar already is gamemaster Earthdawn setting—if not, check not, check setting—if Earthdawn p.216-219 will also be useful. useful. be p.216-219 also will p.216-219 will also be useful. useful. be p.216-219 also will NEED the assumption that at least the at least that assumption the the assumption that at least the at least that assumption the An Earthdawn Primer Earthdawn An An Earthdawn Primer Earthdawn An Also, the the Also, of Legend was written with with written was of Legend (p.221) holds holds (p.221) Appendix the Also, around the rules, too. rules, the around The Age Age too. The rules, the around fillable and printable copies at copies printable and fillable fillable and printable copies at copies printable and fillable an overview on previous overview an an overview on previous overview an You can also download form- Youdownload also can You can also download form- Youdownload also can with the game mechanics. mechanics. game the with earthdawn.com earthdawn.com with the game mechanics. mechanics. game the with the players know their way their know players the the players know their way their know players the but the game works better if better works game but the familiar get to play—to starting but the game works better if better works game but the familiar get to play—to starting actually required to do this, to do this, required actually is gamemaster the Only before book this through actually required to do this, to do this, required actually is gamemaster the Only before book this through Earthdawn Earthdawn It is a good idea to idea readIt agood is It is a good idea to idea readIt agood is Character Sheets Character and and and

Appendix | Getting Started |Getting setting—if not, check not, check setting—if TO was written with with written was Getting Started Getting Character Sheets Character

six-sided dice six-sided publications. publications. publications. publications. . . PLAY on p.11 p.11 on on on 1 9 GETTING STARTED Beyond all this, open-mindedness, social skills, and USING AND CUSTOMIZING a vivid imagination are the basic requirements. e THE DICE rules in e Age of Legend are designed to help you tell a story and develop your characters. e stories that e Age of Legend works with standard six-sided dice. e develop out of this will take unexpected turns quite result of the main die determines what happens. e results of often—that’s intentional and the essence of what makes any bonus or penalty dice scoring a 5 or 6 modify the outcome. the game exciting! While it pays to have at least the main die to come in a special size and/or color to separate it from the rest, di erent colored bonus and penalty dice are also recommended. Preparing for Play All that said, the dice can easily be customized to make the Before anything else, you and your friends must decide purpose of each roll easier to present and the results easier what type of game you want to play, who the charac- to read. Fudge Dice feature + and – symbols, and are better ters are going to be, and where your story takes place. suited for bonus and penalty dice. Depending on whether they Knowing this will help players create cool and memo- are used as bonus or penalty dice, you can also opt to create rable characters, and direct the gamemaster in the role dedicated penalty or bonus dice by erasing the unused symbols they will take. Doing this is a group e ort, guided by (penalty dice would only feature two – symbols, where bonus the process outlined in the Setting the Stage chapter dice would have two + symbols). ese go well with a larger on p.53. It may even take a whole session to finish main die  tted with custom-printed sides (“Yes, and…” etc). this process, but the results for future sessions are well worth the e ort at the beginning.

10 THE AGE OF LEGEND