How much of the world is known?

Discussion on game mastering Earthdawn. May contain spoilers; caution is recommended!
Post Reply
BRW
Posts:39
Joined:Tue Jan 31, 2017 5:00 pm
How much of the world is known?

Post by BRW » Fri Aug 14, 2020 10:15 am

Earthdawn's main focus is definitely Barsaive with close parts of Theran Empire holding a strong second place.

Besides that, for 4ed. we have:
- Shosara and Blood Wood in Elven Nations,
- Arancia in a forthcoming sourcebook.

I know that in previous editions, we had more or less comprehensive treatment of Theran provinces: Talea, Vasgothia, Marak, Creana, Rugaria, Indrisa, Vivane. In yet another sourcebook, Cathay and it's surrounding were discussed.

Now, I have basically two questions. The first is very simple: did I miss something? Or is it a roughly correct description of what has been flashed out?

The second is as follows: I know that a lot of extra-Barsaivian setting material, particularly concerning Talea, has been heavily criticised by fans as being way out of themes of the core Earthdawn game. Moreover, I know that published material on Arancia will be retconned to some extent. How canonical is the rest of the setting? For instance, how likely is it that we will see serious retcons in Indrisa or Cathay?

One extra question: Is it likely that we will see some completely new parts of the world introduced or is it very unlikely?

User avatar
etherial
Posts:964
Joined:Sun Nov 27, 2016 11:04 pm
Location:Berlin, Massachusetts
Contact:

Re: How much of the world is known?

Post by etherial » Fri Aug 14, 2020 11:48 am

BRW wrote:
Fri Aug 14, 2020 10:15 am
Now, I have basically two questions. The first is very simple: did I miss something? Or is it a roughly correct description of what has been flashed out?
Sounds like you missed Elven Nations.

https://fasagames.com/earthdawn-whatis/ ... urcebooks/
BRW wrote:
Fri Aug 14, 2020 10:15 am
The second is as follows: I know that a lot of extra-Barsaivian setting material, particularly concerning Talea, has been heavily criticised by fans as being way out of themes of the core Earthdawn game. Moreover, I know that published material on Arancia will be retconned to some extent. How canonical is the rest of the setting? For instance, how likely is it that we will see serious retcons in Indrisa or Cathay?

One extra question: Is it likely that we will see some completely new parts of the world introduced or is it very unlikely?
The Devs have been pretty clear that repaving unpopular material is very very low on their to-do list and they'd much rather write new and exciting content, either for Provinces that players are excited about, like Arancia, Creana, and Vasgothia, or whole new areas, like the Western Kingdoms featured in Elven Nations.

Panda
Posts:172
Joined:Mon Nov 28, 2016 5:30 am

Re: How much of the world is known?

Post by Panda » Fri Aug 14, 2020 1:40 pm

Greetings,

As etherial noted, more than just Blood Wood and Shosara are included in Elven Nations. The Western Kingdoms, which includes Sereatha, also feature prominently and the Wastes along with them.

I wouldn't call the treatments from The Theran Empire comprehensive. They were broad treatments, some of which are being revisted to expand on that material. Others on the list weren't covered at all, just appeared on the map. Arancia isn't a Theran province and Rugaria is labeled as Vivane, which also wasn't covered. The whole Rugaria/Vivane thing is messy because of that. The published material on Arancia is little more than a couple sentences in the Talea chapter of The Theran Empire.

As of right now, the material on other provinces is exactly as canon as you want it to be. Whether a province gets revisited in the future outside of our current announcements regarding forthcoming work isn't really something anyone is at liberty to discuss.

BRW
Posts:39
Joined:Tue Jan 31, 2017 5:00 pm

Re: How much of the world is known?

Post by BRW » Fri Aug 14, 2020 6:28 pm

Panda wrote:
Fri Aug 14, 2020 1:40 pm
As of right now, the material on other provinces is exactly as canon as you want it to be. Whether a province gets revisited in the future outside of our current announcements regarding forthcoming work isn't really something anyone is at liberty to discuss.
What do you mean by "liberty to discuss"? Is it about the company's policy or do you simply mean that such plans are so vague and uncertain that there is not much to discuss?

Slimcreeper
Posts:1061
Joined:Mon Nov 28, 2016 11:44 pm

Re: How much of the world is known?

Post by Slimcreeper » Fri Aug 14, 2020 11:37 pm

Probably both! Although I have it on good authority they're doing Atlanta, Georgia next. The cultural touchstones will be cart-to-cart traffic and brunch.

Geekabilly
Posts:69
Joined:Sat Dec 30, 2017 3:57 pm
Location:England, UK

Re: How much of the world is known?

Post by Geekabilly » Sat Aug 15, 2020 7:53 pm

I'll say that as far as heavy criticism goes, in my experience almost all of that is directed at Talea and Cathay, and even then I believe that Cathay still has its share of fans.

As for the known world, there is Aznan and Aruacania which are two distant lands mentioned in Vivane & Skypoint correspond roughly to the Horn of Africa and South America (I think not 100% on that). Fekara is Africa and the name of the continent where Marac and Creana can be found and Ulustan is the name for modern day Turky where so far only the city-state of Okonopolis has been detailed.

Geekabilly
Posts:69
Joined:Sat Dec 30, 2017 3:57 pm
Location:England, UK

Re: How much of the world is known?

Post by Geekabilly » Sat Aug 15, 2020 7:57 pm

Sorry just go add there is also Jih'po (Japan) and Sukhoth (Burma I believe)

Post Reply