Cover for LoB109: Once Bitten, Twiceborn

Attention Earthdawn fans! I am excited to announce that the ninth Legend of Barsaive adventure — Once Bitten, Twiceborn — will be made available on our storefront this weekend! I also wanted to take a moment to:

  • Thank our fans for their patience on the release of LoB109.
  • Give a huge shoutout to the entirety of the Earthdawn Team for getting this product together and out the door. While I may be credited as the Lead Writer on the project, I am far from the only member of the team that worked hard on this product. From the mechanics for creatures and the ported mechanics for groups released by Morgan Weeks, to the final layout by Josh Harrison. Plus the stellar work of freelancers such as Monika Auraya Czyzowocz on maps and the initial layout by Anna Urbanek. Not to mention all the little touches of everyone in between, you are all amazing!
  • Take the opportunity to sum up the first eight adventures available individually or in the shiny new compilation Legends of Barsaive: Haven Volume 1, to help orient our players and game masters and point them to content that might interest them.

So minor spoiler warning ahead for the first eight (nine?) adventures in the LoB series as we take a slightly closer look at the themes of each adventure. While any adventure in the hands of a skilled GM can turn into whatever their players desire, different adventures have different key themes, and some may just be the perfect flavor for your table.

The first adventure could technically be the prologue, LoB100: Masks of Fear, which is available free through our store as part of the quick start packet. This adventure is meant to highlight several mechanics of the system, particularly combat against creatures, horror constructs, and adepts, but also introduces some of the gamemaster characters that play an important supporting role in the campaign.

After that, LoB101: Toys in the Attic serves as an excellent introduction to social challenges. It also introduces the Legends of Barsaive concept of Adventuring Companies, as well as the key players therein. It provides a lot of examples for how one could play important NPCs in and around the village of Haven, so could serve as an excellent jumping off point for campaigns all their own.

LoB102: Lip Service and LoB103: Separation Anxiety respectively, each introduce the players to different sets of competing groups. LoB102 focuses on Torgak’s existing corrupt administration and the relatively untested ideas being put forward by the Association of Unaffiliated Explorers (AUE). Both want to lead Haven into the future, but only one can succeed. Groups that wish to become involved in street level politics, or get their characters into positions of power, could find this conflict to be an excellent launching point. Alternatively, LoB103 broadens the scope of the conflict significantly. It deals with the important magical artifacts coming out of the ruins and the nations that have their eyes on Haven. Throal, Thera, and the Blood Wood all play significant roles in the adventure. Groups interested in the politics of nation states, or playing the roles of spies, could find an entry-way into the larger stage of Barsaive by taking on roles in this adventure.

LoB104: That Which Was Lost can serve two very distinct roles. Firstly, it picks up the story of LoB101 and follows the Adventuring Companies as they work together to track down forces that want to pit them against one another. In addition, LoB104 serves to introduce a thread item unique to Legends of Barsaive play, the Firethorn Boots. These boots are meant to play a role in the campaign to come, but could also serve as a fun way to grant flexible thread items to a low circle party.

LoB105: Games of the Hungry is more of a standalone adventure. It delves into exploring and manipulating the War Games in the ruins of Parlainth and provides some insight into playing Horror Constructs, and the weird rules that these particular falsemen follow. Also, much like 104, this adventure introduces the Bountiful Badges as another low circle thread item.

LoB106: Glass Houses picks up the threads last touched on in LoB103, in particular it looks at Thera’s and Throal’s influence on Haven’s day-to-day operations, as well as the opinions neighboring villages might have of the wretched hive of scum and villainy. This adventure also follows up on the story of the Bountiful Badges, so gamemasters looking to follow one thread item’s events through to the end could run the two as a set.

LoB107: Heavy Metal Queen follows the third faction introduced in LoB103, namely the Blood Wood. It also features the series’ largest road trip, actually taking the characters to Kaer Eidolon and the Wood beyond. It also follows up on the Firethorn Boots from LoB104, for groups who want to pursue that story in particular.

LoB108: Brain Scratch is another large departure for the series and presents a multitude of puzzles and non-combat challenges for parties to contend with. While no Earthdawn adventure is complete without the possibility of a good dust-up, this one should, as the name implies, get the players to think hard about solutions to riddles and puzzles. This is also an adventure that could follow on the heels of 104 and was designed to be a suitable finale to the first set of eight adventures.

Hopefully this gives gamemasters looking for particular types of adventures an idea for where they can look! And for those of you who got this far and really want to know, LoB109, releasing this weekend, focuses on Twiceborn and the underground world beneath Parlainth. It also follows on the Bountiful Badges making it part 3 of a 4 part set. Feel free to join our discord and discuss the new release in the Legends of Barsaive channel!

And as an absolutely final tease, LoB110 is already making excellent progress. That adventure, titled Boondoggles, is meant to play out as something of a sequel to adventure 102, with Torgak and the AUE closer to open conflict than ever before!

About the Author: Kyle Pritchard is a second-generation tabletop gamer who has been slinging dice since before he was crawling. He’s been working with FASA Games since 2014 and has been a member of Earthdawn Team since 2018.

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