Earthdawn: Age of Legend

[zayven]

So, this little tidbit of info dropped yesterday...

http://www.vagrantworkshop.com/index.php?categoryid=26

Thoughts?

[Sangius]

Huh?

[etherial]

[Flowswithdrek]

If it introduces Earthdawn to a wider audience, why not have an alternative ruleset? I guess not everyone like the crunch of the step system. Me I will stick with the step system, but might pick up Age of Legend to add to my collection.

[Telarus_KSC]

I feel the same way.

[ottdmk]

Ok, I guess. Still... can't believe these guys created a games system called F/U...

[Penagain]

The Freeform/Universal rules system has been around for a while and was not created by Vagrant Workshop... it just happens to be a good set of rules for the style of play that was being investigated.

I admit that the name of the system seemed a bit odd to me at first

[zayven]

While there have been Savage Worlds and Pathfinder conversions done in the past, they were done "in house," not released by a totally separate company. Also, those conversions were widely considered to be rather hasty and poorly executed. They also recycled the same art/design assets that were being used by 3rd edition at the time (which was itself recycling 1st edition assets for the most part). The interesting thing about Age of Legend is that it seems to be a "from the ground up" reimagining of the game using a different ruleset. Also, if the preview images are indicative of the final product, it has a completely new and different look in terms of art and layout.

All of this strikes me as an odd decision with very strange timing. I mean, the GM Guide for 4th edition LITERALLY just came out and now there's news of another version of the game coming out soon? Given the recent difficulties Earthdawn has had with "brand awareness" (eg: the overlapping 2nd/Classic editions, the aborted Revised edition, and the lengthy delays for 4th edition), it seems weird to license the game out to another company at the same time. The fact that www.earthdawn.com redirects to the Vagrant Workshop website doesn't help matters, nor does the fact that the Players Guide's release was never actually announced on the FASA Games website (yesterday's announcement of the GM Guide's release was the first "Earthdawn News" update since January of 2014, when the Kickstarter was still taking place).

[etherial]

[Mataxes]