| From: | Mark Steedman <M.J.Steedman@***.RGU.AC.UK> |
|---|---|
| Subject: | FASA worlds : adding comments on ED : was Horrors. |
| Date: | Wed, 15 Jan 1997 13:38:26 GMT |
>
> Thanks, we consider ourselves a company the builds worlds and then set games
> in those worlds. I'm really gald that you appreciate that philosophy.
>
it very good. And the nide thing about get 'how and why it works' is
we stand a chance of working out what might happen when some helpful
player insists on ding something you never thought of.
> I Like Earthdawn and I'm Proud of It!
>
The game is good.
On its mechanics, play 3 or four sessions before commenting!, it
looks difficult but the dice progression up to about step 20 is
obvious and easy to remember after a few games (or just copy them out
onto the character sheet up to step 30 odd), by the time that
doesn't cope you'll have stopped worrying about it anyway.
ED needs a lot less dice than SR most of the time, no gathering up
30D6(ok that many is rare but with bug city a force 10 queen bug can
roll 40 attack!), though you do need different types. The difficulty
advancement between different target numbers in Ed is also linear all
the way! and the game scales over a MUCH greater power range than SR.
ED can be played with circle 1 characters just fine, its dangerous
and a good blow can kill someone, yet a starting Ed character is no
match for a SR one. Meanwhile the 8th cirle characters could and did
take on single Horrors in the 20,000 legend+ range, which are so
powerful that if converted to SR the statistics are in the 'either
you chip its armour or blow it to bits'. I rate those characters
equivalent to 300+ karma Sr characters for power and the system was
still in its stride in full combat, while at those levels SR really
is showing the strain in combat heavy encounters, sure it can be done
but.
Mark
