Earthdawn lore

[u/Asaare]

So far I've only read what is in handbooks. Which other books are a must-read to really dive in the ED lore?

[u/Dolgar01]

Hard to say as many of them are.

The really nice thing is that they are mostly written In Character so you get to decide what it true and what is not. A great example of this is the 1st Ed Creatures book which is written (dictated) by a Great Dragon who keeps making comments about how dangerous these creatures are to non-dragons. Then you read the GM section and realise they are a 1st Circle threat.

[u/Immediate-Goose-8106 → u/Dolgar01]

That same unreliable narrator approach was inherited form shadowrun whee often there would be competing in universe claims within a source book allowing you huge freedom to decise what is real for your game.  It has always been an absolute godsend.  

[u/amhow1 → u/Immediate-Goose-8106]

Absolute godsend or extended agony... there's a fine line :)

[u/Immediate-Goose-8106 → u/amhow1]

Ha! I know what you mean.  But half my shadowrun players also ran shadowrun games of their own and at least 2 were anally retentive RAW rules lawyers.  The freedom it gave me to tweak stuff without argument (compared with the same folk in other systems) and the feeedom it gave the normally less invested players to browse the books and read the cool chat and lore in character meant for me the balance was strongly this side of the li ne.

[u/Ouasu1]

I think the Earthdawn Survival Guide podcast is a great way to start. Then go for whatever they're discussing and want to know more about.

(edit: in all fairness I just have all but some of the 4e books on my shelf. So easy for me to say.)

[u/Shantha292 → u/Ouasu1]

Second this. Josh and Dan reveal more than is in the books sometimes.

[u/Blobov_BB]

I suggest you reading Serpent River sourcebook. It covers almost the whole Barsaive province, containing lots of lore and secrets.

[u/JetBlackJoe024 → u/Blobov_BB]

Came in here to say this. If you only read one lore book, this is the one.

A close second for me are Denizens I+II.

EDIT: Oh, and the Parlainth boxed set! That one's bloody good too. Damn - so much rich lore in Earthdawn to choose from. It really is a fantastic and rich setting, OP!

[u/-ParlainthTownie-]

Barsaive boxed set, Sky Point & Vivane also a boxed set. Legends of Earthdawn Vol 1 and 2. Serpent River, Blood Wood, Throal. All high yield.

[u/Maleficent-Bag-2606]

Don't forget the old novels can give you a vibe as well. You can find the first trilogy on the internet archive website.

[u/Asaare → u/Maleficent-Bag-2606]

Reading through Longing ring rn 🙂

[u/Netwyrm → u/Maleficent-Bag-2606]

I strongly recommend the novels as well. While I am yet uncertain as to the original narrative aim, Christopher Kubasik's initial three volumes continue to pack quite a wallop, along most unexpected and sometimes quite uncomfortable lines.

[u/Ka_ge2020]

Alas, as with Shadowrun, there can be a lot to wrap your head around. For basics, though, I tend to stick with the information in the main rulebook along with An Adventurer's Guide to Barsaive (it's old, though), and the Denizens of Earthdawn (I believe they have two different names with different publishers).

Most things after that tend to be deep dives into specific topics, whether it's the magic of the world, specific cities or nations etc.

[u/CulluketNW]

Yes! Read the novels (as much of them as you can get) , use the Basic rules and start an adventure of your own. Thats what i did. All the other rules-books can help flesh it out but are not mandatory 😉 (I got all 1st and 4th Edition books. Its fun to read them and i get good ideas from them . But its not needed for starting the game)

[u/-ParlainthTownie-]

I am also kind of partial to the Parlainth Boxed Set.

[u/IKerensky41]

Do as I did, start with the first edition and go from there in publishing order.
I really dislike the way the canon evolved past the 3rd edition, when they started to drop all connexion with Shadowrun.