New Novice/journeyman spells?

Discussion on the Earthdawn game line, errata, and feedback not related to playing or GMing.
User avatar
The Undying
Posts:696
Joined:Sun Nov 27, 2016 11:25 pm
Re: New Novice/journeyman spells?

Post by The Undying » Tue Jan 31, 2017 3:36 am

I don't know about anyone else, but I would personally HAPPILY pay a few extra dollars to have these two separated into distinction books. Putting them all into one just seems like a recipe for disaster and a return to a less than desirable model, especially since the Guides are already separate. That's just me, though. It's your product line, of course. Ff you're willing to entertain the notion, though, might be worth a community poll or a message to the Kickstarter backers asking. I guess the biggest problem would be "can't exactly increase cost to existing backers," meaning you'd be losing $X/book without the ability to recoup.

Lys
Posts:177
Joined:Sun Dec 11, 2016 4:00 am

Re: New Novice/journeyman spells?

Post by Lys » Tue Jan 31, 2017 6:09 am

It's hardly disastrous to have player and GM information in the same book, plenty of roleplaying games do it like that already. Hell with Earthdawn itself players need access to the Gamemaster's Guide anyway because that's where all the social interaction rules are.

User avatar
Kosmit
Posts:167
Joined:Mon Nov 28, 2016 1:41 pm
Location:Warsaw
Contact:

Re: New Novice/journeyman spells?

Post by Kosmit » Tue Jan 31, 2017 7:24 am

If you have a problem trusting your players not to read GM info then... you have a problem.

Seriously, in 1ed it was all in one book and 3ED with 4 books was uncomfortable to carry. The best way was introduced with Classic's Compediums but that ain't gonna happen.

Lys
Posts:177
Joined:Sun Dec 11, 2016 4:00 am

Re: New Novice/journeyman spells?

Post by Lys » Tue Jan 31, 2017 8:11 am

More to the point, putting the information in a separate book isn't going to stop players from reading it. For example i'm not a GM but i've still read most of the published Earthdawn material. Not just in Earthdawn, in every game i've played i will proceed to read all the information available without regard for who it is meant for (except published adventures). This is because i was brought up with White Wolf games which don't have any distinction between player and GM information outside published adventures, so i don't have much respect for the divide. Though if the GM specifically asks me not to read something, and i haven't already gotten to it, then i will honour the request and not read it. When starting a game i just tell my GMs up front that they can't assume i haven't read something, and so far none of them seem to mind much.

User avatar
The Undying
Posts:696
Joined:Sun Nov 27, 2016 11:25 pm

Re: New Novice/journeyman spells?

Post by The Undying » Tue Jan 31, 2017 8:35 am

Kosmit wrote:If you have a problem trusting your players not to read GM info then... you have a problem.

Seriously, in 1ed it was all in one book and 3ED with 4 books was uncomfortable to carry. The best way was introduced with Classic's Compediums but that ain't gonna happen.
There's a HUGE middle ground between wanting information separate for simplicity and not trust players to read GM information.

I'm not sure how an extra two pages of binding and maybe ten paper pages becomes uncomfortable. Maybe with hardbound, but softbound?

There's also an implicit price difference. A combined Companion would cost, say $50 print. Separate Companions would likely cost, say $30 and $30. My table of six people would prefer six copies of Player material, but we only need one copy of GM material. As a table, that's about $100 saved.

User avatar
Loba
Posts:34
Joined:Sun Jan 01, 2017 5:47 pm

Re: New Novice/journeyman spells?

Post by Loba » Sun Feb 05, 2017 8:58 pm

The Undying wrote:
Tue Jan 31, 2017 8:35 am
There's also an implicit price difference. A combined Companion would cost, say $50 print. Separate Companions would likely cost, say $30 and $30. My table of six people would prefer six copies of Player material, but we only need one copy of GM material. As a table, that's about $100 saved.
Mataxes wrote:
Tue Jan 31, 2017 3:18 am
Because there's only one Companion. It contains player and GM info.
Like the original rulebook.
You know, to this point - as an avid ED1 player... I truly enjoyed the all in one book. Made things easy for me (though now-a-days I've memorized most of the rules - even the equipment costs).

It would be interesting to have three books - PLAYER ONLY, GM ONLY (for the player who becomes the GM) and combined. Though with the smaller binding on the softcover you've used that wouldn't really work (which I like, BTW - as it fits more nicely on a bookshelf). Something to consider. I mean having a general Companion is great and works for me, but it might be nice to have a separate Player's Companion for people saving cost and needing less. Not certain the market exists.

Post Reply