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The following questions were answered on the Earthdawn Convention in Braunschweig, Germany. The questions and answers listed here don’t cover everything (naturally), but you can ask further questions at any time. Just pop us an eMail at [email protected] (German or English)!  A german version of this FAQ is available on earthdawn-con.de.vu and in Dammi’s blog.

Who is RedBrick?
RedBrick Limited consists of four people: James Flowers (NZ), Richard Vowles (NZ), Josh Harrison (USA) and me (Carsten Damm, DE). None of us do this job full-time - hope dies last, however! :) We have a couple of people helping us (Steven James Black and Carlton Anderson for example) and a number of people providing us with feedback.

What’s RedBrick’s opinion of fanwork?
RedBrick consists of people who made fanwork for Earthdawn - so we think fanwork is great and support it where possible! We are open to the fan community, because we know it very well and want that it continues to exist. There are limitations for fanwork, of course; but we always have an open ear for the fans.

Are the RedBrick rules closer to 1st or closer to 2nd edition?
That is a difficult question, the answer lies somewhere in between. Like Living Room Games, we build upon the material created by FASA, removed errors and inconsistencies and added new material. Technically, our version is also a 2nd edition; even if we took another path than LRG. We will go without a version designation, because it just complicates things. Our books will only be labelled ’Earthdawn’, which is simpler. The material is compatible anyway.
Basically, we tried to remain faithful to FASA’s vision and also tried to keep the visual style. We revised almost everything, but introduced completely new material only to fill the gaps. At the same time (contrary to LRG), we integrated all the material that was distributed over dozens of sourcebooks. When LRG released the 2nd Edition, FASA’s books were still available - which isn’t the case anymore (and creates different conditions for us).

The rules fill 1000 pages - what’s with the storys, InGame texts etc.?
We have summarized everything FASA did in two volumes - not only the rules, but also the gameworld. The pure game mechanics would fit on 150 pages, but that won’t do justice to a rich setting like Earthdawn. Our books are pretty thick because we also included all the narrations and stories as well. For example, each Discipline has its own chapter, describing it from the point of of different adepts. Likewise, Barsaive gets a complete treatment, and the chapters contain a lot of log entries and stories in addition to the setting descriptions; the same applies also to Horrors and Dragons.
To make it short: each book we won’t publish again was integrated into the basic rules (The Adept’s Way, Barsaive, Creatures of Barsaive, Dragons, Horrors, Earthdawn Survival Guide, Magic: A Manual of Mystic Secrets, Arcane Mysteries of Barsaive, Earthdawn Companion, and naturally Earthdawn).

Were the Nethermancer spells powered down?
Yes, they got the same treatment as many other spells and abilities. (Note: I said something else in the FAQ, but some changes were made after the show).

Do the Racial Modifiers change?
Yes - but only for orks. We removed the Dexterity penalty and adjusted their Movement rate.

Are Race-specific Disciplines (from the Denizens books) included in the Player’s Compendium?
No, there was not enough space. These Disciplines will appear in Name-giver’s Compendium, which is scheduled for 2006 (see below).

What Circles are included?
The 15 common Disciplines in the Player’s Compendium are completely described up to Circle 15. The ’missing Circles’ from the minor Disciplines were FASA’s way to separate them from the common Disciplines, something which most players with high-Circle characters don’t consider as justified (causing many gamemasters to develop the higher Circles on their own). We think that there are other ways to handle this and plan to develop all Disciplines to Circle 15.

How will RedBrick distribute books in Germany?
That cannot be answered at this stage, because we do not know any details yet. Our goal is to put our books on the shelves of local game stores and do have distributors like Pegasus waiting for our first release. What difficulties we will face in terms of distribution is still unknown to us - since we are new in the business and release of our first book is still on the horizon.

How can I get the books?
Apart from conventional distribution (game stores and book shops) our books will also be available over the Internet, from stores like Amazon (www.amazon.com). We also offer eBooks, with DriveThroughRPG (www.dtrpg.com) being our current partner.

What happened to the Shards and Fork into the Road projects?
We got a number of submissions and started to work on them (some even made it into layout). The amount of attention for the core rules and the following books was higher than expected, however - so we had to put both projects on the far back burner. The projects aren’t forgotten, though - we will breathe life into them as soon as possible. The same applies also to other projects and our web page - the latter absolutely needs a larger update, so don’t treat all of the information on it as current.

What comes next? What are your future plans?
After the Player’s Compendium and the Gamemaster’s Compendium have been released, we will continue our line with Ardanyan’s Revenge - an adventure conceived for starting groups, but also suitable for higher-Circle characters. In the next year we have (as noted above) the Name-giver’s Compendium, Barsaive Beginnings, the Adventure Compendium and Pilgrimage.
The Name-giver’s Compendium is a revised edition of the Denizens books, much like the Adventure Compendium, which will contain revised versions of Mists of Betrayal, Terror in the Skies, Infected, Shattered Pattern and Blades. Barsaive Beginnings is a new book, which deals with daily life in Barsaive and is intended as a of ideas and toolbox for the gamemaster. In also contains information on non- and half-Adepts, gamemaster characters, and rules for Shamans. Pilgrimage is another new adventure.
We also have a number of books in the works, most of which our release schedule doesn’t account for yet. Basically, we want to try and publish four titles per year - one half revised material (Nations, Legends, Secret Societies, Parlainth, etc) and the other half brand-new books. Cathay, for example, will be brand-new - a book concerning the far east of the Earthdawn world. We also have a number of new adventures (Burning Desires from Andrew Ragland for example), as well as a free PDFs accompanying our products with handouts, maps, tables, optional rules, adventure ideas and additional information.

When will the 3rd Edition be released?
Our main goal at this stage is to re-animate Earthdawn. The fan community is very large, but the support from the publishers has waned in the last years. We want to establish Earthdawn as a line again, what means that a 3rd Edition is only realistic for us once this first step is successful. There was some confusion around the current rules and the 3rd edition in the last months, because we had to find our own way first.
For the 3rd edition we will continue to develop the game world as well as new game concepts. A straight revision of current material won’t happen - that’s what we’ve done already with the current edition. We have started the development process already, and we have even wnailed down some of the core concepts we want to do. Thus we work on Earthdawns future already, but not with the same pressure we put on our current volumes - however, for a 3rd Edition, there is still time.

Do we need a 3rd edition?
Everyone must decide that for himself. Game systems develop over time and Earthdawn is no exception. If you are happy with what you’ve got, keep it.

Will your products be translated?
(Note: This question doesn’t appear in the original below, but was asked on the con as well as on the Spiel’05). We don’t know yet. A french translation is very likely at this stage, but a german translation is far more tricky as there is an active licensee who has his own plans for Earthdawn (Games-In, Munich). We’re open for anything, however - and if there is an opportunity to get our books translated, it will happen.

Earthdawn is (c) 2005 FASA Corporation, RedBrick Limited. All Rights Reserved.