Fourth Edition Preview -- A whole lot of talents

Discussion on the Earthdawn game line, errata, and feedback not related to playing or GMing.
Abandag
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Re: Fourth Edition Preview -- A whole lot of talents

Postby Abandag » Wed May 21, 2014 4:01 pm

I realize I'm a little late in commenting on this, but I only became aware of a new 4th edition recently, and I'm trying to play catch-up.

My first comment is on the proposed new name for Direction Sense. First of all, let me say that I'm glad that this and Direction Arrow are combined. It never made much sense to me to combine some talents (Cat's Paw and Silent Walk come to mind) in order to do away with some redundancy in talents, and then create a new talent that is exactly like an existing one, except for the fluff.

Anyway, a lot of people in this thread say that something along the lines of Sense Quarry would be better. I don't like this name, or similar ones, because there is an implication or assumption that this is primarily to be used to hunt down enemies of the user. Maybe it's just me, but that is the imagery that comes to mind when I see the word Quarry: a hunter tracking down its prey. I never saw that as the primary use of the talent. First, you need to have something directly tied to the target: a lock of hair, a bit of their clothing, a piece of masonry from a building, a pattern item. Personally I think it's rare that you will have something like this from an enemy, although it is certainly possible. To me, a much more likely use of the talent is to locate a friend or companion who has become lost or captured. I can see a Scout character collecting a piece of something from each of his companions, just in case on of them gets separated from the group, so he can find them again. I have a hard time considering a friend or traveling companion "Quarry." Also, there's the "bit of masonry" part from the description. This says to me that it can be used to locate something like a town or tower or structure of some kind. Again, it's difficult for me to think of a place as "Quarry."

All that's just to say that I think a better, more all-encompassing name would be something along the lines of "Locate Target." It may be less flavorful than "Sense Quarry," but it's more accurate, and it's certainly not any less flavorful than "Direction Sense," or many of the other talent names that have been changed since 1st edition to something less flavorful, but more accurate.

I have thoughts about some of the other talents, but mostly it's just a generic, "I like that," or something for which I have no constructive criticism, so I won't comment on anything else. Again, I realize I'm probably too late to have my opinion matter, but I thought I'd throw my two cents in anyway.


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