SavageWorlds Earthdawn Conversion/Adaption Rules
Savage Worlds is a brand new generic role playing game created by Pinnacle Entertainment
Group;
http://www.peginc.com
and Earthdawn is a fantasy RPG licensed by Living Room Games;
Earthdawn is a Registered Trademark of WizKids LLC. All Rights Reserved. Used without permission. Any use of FASA Corporation's copyrighted material or trademarks in any page herein should not be viewed as a challenge to those copyrights or trademarks.
This is my first notes on using Savage Worlds rules with the Earthdawn setting. I'm a fan of both, and will be buying both sets of rules, but I like the idea of easy to run mass combats, and with some of the recent Earthdawn releases, such as Barsaive at War, there looks like a lot of room for mass combat rules!
You will need the Earthdawn rulebook to make sense of most of the stuff here, not to mention for world background, equipment costs and so on. This is a conversion, not a replacement!
Theres a huge difference, as someone remarked on the Yahoo Groups mailing list (you have signed up to it, haven't you? :-) between a conversion and an adaption, and all I'm aiming for here, at least until the Advanced Rules come out, is an adaption. I'm aiming to play Earthdawn using Savage Worlds, not transplant every mechanic from ED into SW. That way lies madness...
General Terminology Notes
In Earthdawn, the concept of Disciplines maps very well to the Savage Worlds idea of Professions, so I am going to use that term interchangeably from now on.
Also, the concept of circles maps quite well to the SW idea of levels, but I think a better fit is the idea of a 1-4th circle charecter being equivalent to a Novice Rank in SW (1st 4 levels, so far, so good). The journeyman (circle 5 to??) maps nicely to Seasoned Rank in SW and so on.
| Circle | Earthdawn Rank | Savage Worlds Rank |
| 1-4 | Apprentice | Novice |
| 4-6 | Journeyman | Seasoned |
| 6-8 | | Veteran |
| 8-12 | Warden | Heroic |
| 12+ | Master | Legendary |
I also think ED talents map to SW edges well, so thats what I'm using here.
The adepts of Earthdawn are the unusual charecters of the game world - perfect Wild Cards!
Races
There are 8 PC races in Earthdawn;
Humans
Versatility
Humans have another edge available only to them; the racial edge of Versatility. They have to select this edge as normal, and can take it several times. For each versatility edge they take, they can also take an edge available to another profession, so a human wizard could take the Weapon Master edge available to Warriors. If the charecter later follows multiple professions, he has to relearn the edge he learned as versatility when it becomes available - but that does free up the versatility edge for a different talent. All of this, of course, is if the charecter can find someone willing to teach them the talent they wish to learn....
Dwarves
Low Light Vision Dwarven eyes can ignore penalties for all but total darkness and can see up to 10" even in dim light.
SlowDwarves have a pace of 5"
Tough Start play with a d6 in toughness instead of the usual d4
Elves
Agile Start with a d6 in agility instead of d4
Low Light Vision Elvish eyes can ignore penalties for all but total darkness and can see up to 10" even in dim light.
Obsidiman
Strong They start with a d6 in strength instead of a d4.
Tough as Nails Ignore 1 level of wound penalty
Tough Start play with a d6 in toughness instead of the usual d4
Armour Obsidiman have very touch skin which serves as natural armour.
Bond Of Earth Obsidiman can only wear "living" armour such as fernweave,
blood pebbles and crystal armour.
Orc
Low Light Vision Orcish eyes can ignore penalties for all but total darkness and can see up to 10" even in dim light.
Strong They start with a d6 in strength instead of a d4.
Troll
Strong They start with a d6 in strength instead of a d4.
Tough Start play with a d6 in toughness instead of the usual d4
Heat Sight Trollish eyes can see infrared. Unlike Low Light Vision this does not always mean they can see well in the dark, as it depends on the temperature difference around things. This would be a boon in a dungeon where there is no light, for example, unles your oponents were zombies (Cadaver men in ED terms) which have no body heat and appear as ambiet room temperature...GM's call as to how this works in each situation
T'skrang
Tail Attack The Tskrang may use thier tails to make an additional attack per round, using Agility to hit and Strength for damage.
Windlings
Astral Sight Windlings may see into the astral plane within his field of vision up to 10"
Small Windlings small size subtracts 1 from all strength rolls. Creatures man sixed or larger subtract 1 from any attack rolls made against them as well.
Flight Windlings may fly at Pace+2
Disciplines aka Professions
I'm going to start with the professions from the 1st Edition rulebook, and work on others once they're done. I'm also starting with the 1st 4 circles,to get something up, and to get a feel for how the adaption is going to work..
Each discipline will have a range of edges they can select from, but don't nesacerily start with (depending on how many edges/talents the GM gives them to start off with), i.e. they have to buy each one as per normal. Edges in italics represent available starting edges for those professions. When the charecter "levels" he can buy an edge from any of those available in his current or previous ranks. For example, a Journeyman (or Seasoned) Archer, can take one of the Apprentice edges, if he hasn't already, or select one from the edges in the Journeyman category, such as Stopping Aim...
This does skew the ED rules slightly, as charecters will have easier access to higher level edges earlier in the game if they wish (such as Thread Weaving for non magician charecters), but I think this is in keeping with the more relaxed attitude of Savage Worlds, and makes bookeeping easier. Also, edges not in italics are not available at charecter creation. Also, hinderences in the edge list, especially in italics, must be taken...
Edge/Talent Notes
I haven't included Karma Ritual as an edge, as I think beanies use the same mechanic, and can be easily subsituted for Karma. Sure, you dont get as many beanies as karma, but the Savage Worlds system allows you to do slightly more, I feel. Its purely a gut feeling, I'll have to see how it goes with playtesting and all. Let me know what you think, especially if you've played it both ED and SW..
I also haven't included Durability as an edge. Savage Worlds has its own method of increasing the charecters resistance to damage, and I feel that this is an Earthdawn system feature, as opposed to an Earthdawn world feature, i.e. it has more to do with game mechanics than the world of Earthdawn itself.
Background, Wild Card and Legendary edges listed in the Test Drive rules are available to all Charecters, other edges are restricted to those available from the profession(s) the charecter belongs to. Any edges that can be taken twice (such as fleet footed, are only noted one, but you can take them twice as normal..
Archer
| Apprentice | Journeyman | Warden | Master |
| Direction Arrow |
| Missile Master |
| Evade |
| Marksman |
| True Shot |
| Sprint |
| Flame Arrow |
| Thread Weaving (Arrow Weaving) |
Skills Available Shooting, Fighting, Thread Weaving (see notes), Throwing
BeastMaster
| Apprentice | Journeyman | Warden | Master |
| Expertise (as Ranger) |
| Animal Bond |
| Claw Shape |
| Dominate Beast |
| Borrow Sense |
| Frighten Animals |
| Thread Weaving (Beast Weaving) |
Skills Available Fighting, Tracking, Thread Weaving (see notes), Survival, Swimming, Notice, Animal Training, Spellcasting, Stealth
Cavalryman
| Apprentice | Journeyman | Warden | Master |
| Evade |
| Born on Horseback |
| Charge |
| Empathic Command |
| Spirit Mount |
| Wheeling Attack |
| Hold The Line! |
| Thread Weaving (Beast Weaving) |
Skills Available Fighting, Driving(riding), Healing(animal?), Thread Weaving
Elementalist
| Apprentice | Journeyman | Warden | Master |
| Spell Matrix |
| Spell Matrix |
| Spell Mastery |
| Fire Heal |
| Spell Matrix |
| Air Speaking |
| Elemental Tounges |
| Elemental Hold |
| Thread Weaving (Elementalism) |
Skills Available R/W Language, R/W Magic, Spellcasting, Thread Weaving
Illusionist
| Apprentice | Journeyman | Warden | Master |
| Spell Matrix |
| Spell Matrix |
| Spell Mastery |
| Disguise Self |
| Spell Matrix |
| Dead Fall |
| False Sight |
| Glamour |
| Spell Matrix |
| Thread Weaving (Illusion) |
Skills Available R/W Language, R/W Magic, Spellcasting, Speak Language, Thread Weaving
Nethermancer
| Apprentice | Journeyman | Warden | Master |
| Spell Matrix |
| Spell Matrix |
| Spell Mastery |
| Astral Sight |
| The Stare |
| Taunt |
| Rapid Recharge |
| Thread Weaving (Nethermancy) |
Skills Available R/W Language, R/W Magic, Spellcasting, Notice, Thread Weaving
Sky Raider
| Apprentice | Journeyman | Warden | Master |
| Air Sailing |
| Frenzy |
| Evade |
| Nerves of Steel |
| Great Leap |
| Shield Charge |
| Combat Reflexes |
| Wind Catcher |
| Thread Weaving (Sky Raiding) |
Skills Available Fighting, Thread Weaving, Air Sailing
Swordsmaster
| Apprentice | Journeyman | Warden | Master |
| Evade |
| Combat Reflexes |
| Thread Weaving (Sword Weaving) |
| Taunt |
| Inspire |
| Two Fisted |
| Nimble Defense |
Skills Available Fighting, Thread Weaving, Throwing, Shooting, Intimidation
Thief
| Apprentice | Journeyman | Warden | Master |
| Expertise (Thief) |
| Nimble Defense |
| Bad Reputation |
| Disarm Trap |
| Thread Weaving (Thief Weaving) |
Skills Available Fighting, Thread Weaving, Climb, Streetwise, Stealth, Lockpicking, Notice, Repair
Note; there may be more thief related stuff when I see the advanced rules...
Troubadour
| Apprentice | Journeyman | Warden | Master |
| Disguise |
| Inspire |
| Golden Voice |
| Mimic Voice |
| Empathic Sense |
| Taunt |
| Thread Weaving (Story Weaving) |
Skills Available Fighting, Thread Weaving, Speak Language
Warrior
| Apprentice | Journeyman | Warden | Master |
| Weapon Master |
| Combat Reflexes |
| Level Headed |
| Tough as Nails |
| Thread Weaving (War Weaving) |
| Evade |
| Fleet Footed |
| Giant Killer |
Skills Available Fighting, Thread Weaving, Throwing
Weaponsmith
| Evade |
| Forge Blade |
| Nerves of Steel |
| Abate Curse |
| Detect Weapon |
| Thread Weaving (Thread Smithing) |
Skills Available Fighting, Thread Weaving, Investigation, Haggle, R/W Language, Speak Language, Evaluate, Repair
Wizard
| Apprentice | Journeyman | Warden | Master |
| Spell Matrix |
| Spell Matrix |
| Spell Mastery |
| Spell Matrix |
| Book Memory |
| Astral Sight |
| Thread Weaving (Wizardry) |
Skills Available R/W Language, R/W Magic, Spellcasting, Investigation, Evaluate
New Edge Descriptions
Air Sailing
Gain a +2 on any Air Sailing skill Roll
Air Speaking
communicate with another elementalist w/out words
Abate Curse
a successfull opposed spirit roll vs the Horror that cursed the weapon allows the cursed weapon for spirit die minuites (ie roll the charecters spirit die)
Animal Bond
Spend a beannie to create a bond between an already friendly animal and the charecter. The animal is considered a companion from then on, but requires training to do anything beyong what a typical animal of its type would do. This process takes about a week. Its not a one way process either, the charecter must reward the animal for its actions (lots of affection and food for a dog, for example)
Astral Sight
See into the astral plane within his field of vision up to 10".
Book Memory
Make a Smarts roll to magically memorise an entire book. You may have a number of books memorised equal to half your Smarts die. Recalling information from the book requires another smarts roll. You may drop a book from memory to memorise another.
Borrow Sense
Temporarily take over the sense of an animal, eg the eys of a hawk, nose of a dog, etc. Only animals friendly to the charecter (or subdued by Dominate Beast) will endure this, as the animal loses the sense for the duration of the edge. Lasts d6 minuites.
Charge
More on this when I know more about the "vehicle" rules...
Claw Shape
Spend a beanie to raise hand to hand damage by two steps (ie a d6 becomes d10) for the next d6 rounds.
Dead Fall
Spellcasting roll generates the notice target number to see through illusion.
Detect Weapon
make a notice roll to be able to detect all weapons, concealed or otherwise on a person. If something is obscuring the weapon (such as an illusion), the notice roll is opposed vs the spellcasters skill.
Direction Arrow
Spend a beanie to fire an arrow straight up into the air, which will land facing the direction of the object or person the charecter is seeking. To use this edge, the charecter must have an item from the person, or a part of the item he is seeking. A pattern item is ideal, and gives a bonus, depending on how closely the item is attuned to the person or place...
Disguise Self
Spellcasting roll generates the notice target number to see through illusion.
Dominate Beast
Make a spellcasting roll vs the animals spirit, to Overawe the animal
Elemental Hold
spirit vs elementals spirit to force it to take no action other than communicate.
Elemental Tougues
speak to elementals
Empathic Command
This edge allows the charecter to controll a mount through mental images and commands. The mount uses the charecters spirit for any appropriate tests (eg fear etc).
Empathic Sense
Attune to feelings of another charecter. May be attuned to a maximum of your spirit die. Takes a few mins to attune.
False Sight
+2 to all illusion spellcasting rolls
Fire Heal
heal 1 wound; Average spellcasting roll, 2, Hard, 3 Incredible. Decide in advance. no wound modifiers to the roll.
Forge Blade
make a Repair roll to improve the damage rating of a hand to hand weapon. To improve a weapon by 1 point is an average roll, the second point is Hard, and so on. The weapon can only be improved by 3 points max. Forge blade can only be used on a weapon, including failed rolls, equal to the characters Repair skill die, halved (so Bob the Builder, apprentice Weapon smith with a repair skill of d4, could only try Forge Blade on a weapon twice before he would have to improve his skill).
Flame Arrow
Spend a beanie to turn an arrow into a single, one shot use of the Bolt Power, costing no power points.
Frighten Animals
Spend a beannie to make a spellcasting test against the highest of a group of animals spirit, or make them flee in terror.
Glamour
generate man sized illusions, as per ED main book.
Great Leap
when I see the rolls for leaping, it'll help with that...
Missile Master
-1 to TN of range modifiers, and +2 to damage per raise on the attack total
Shield Charge
make an attack using the shield instead of a weapon. if successful, the target is Shaken.
Sprint
Character can spend a benny to gain an running die of d10, or D12+1 if its already d10 (such as by the Fleet Footed edge)
Spell Matrix
Allows a charecter to cast a spell free of any astral taint or horror influence. Only one spell may be held in any one spell matrix at any one time. Putting a different spell in the mattrix is called re-attuning, and requires a Thread Weaving Roll to do this in a round (it normally takes 15 mins/matrix). Novice spells are Average Difficulty, Veteran are Hard, Heroic and Legendary are Incredible. A critial failure causes all the charecters matrix's to be wiped of spells and he has to start attuning them from scratch.
Thread Weaving
This is the doozy, as Threads and Pattern Items are one of the things that differentiate Earthdawn from other fantasy settings.
The Thread Weaving edge allows the charecter to take the Thread Weaving skill. It may be an arcane background, I'm not sure yet.
True Shot
For each beanie the character spends, he gains an +3 to one missile shot.
Wheeling Attack
More on this when I've read the vehicle rules..
Wind Catcher
Control fall from a height. if successfull, take no damage. if get a raise, may direct his landing. see ED main book.
Skills
Air Sailing
allows you to crew airships. see the ED main book.
Animal Training
rolls this skill to train an animal to respond to a particular command. Note the animal must be able to perform and understand the command. Training your cat to perform calculus on order is never going to happen, for example..
a command that the beast may easily understand is an average difficulty (sit, fetch), a command thats slightly more complex is Hard, which applies to commands that require a few words or some interpretation on the animals behalf (fetch my hat!, bark if anyone comes, etc) and incredible refers to commands that the animal has to actually interpret in some way (how many guards timmy? woof! woof! woof! :-)
Thread Weaving
Charecter rolls this skill to weave a thread against the TN of the item. They can only have as many threads active at any one time as half thier die type plus thier Rank; ie a Novice (ie corresponds to level 1) charecter with Thread Weaving skill of d12 could have 7 threads active simultaneously. The same Charecter when he has achieved Legendary Rank could have 11). This skill cannot be used untrainined, and you must have purchased the Thread Weaving Edge to buy levels in this skill.
Spell Magic
After much thought about this, I'm going to stick with the Savage Worlds magic system when it comes to power points and spells. I will probably write up a table corresponding the various spells to the assorted disciplines (which spells are available at novice, which at seasoned, and so on for each discipline/profession) but thats about it. I'm not happy with the power points sytem, ED mages are able to cast spells all day long if they want to, and so should mages in Savage World's Earthdawn, but I haven't figured out a way to do this yet. Abolishing power points isn't an issue, as this horribly unbalances the mages compared to other professions. Imagine being able to cast three bolts at 3d6 every round with no limit! Thats a sure fire way to Munchkinism....If anyone has any ideas on how to make this happen, let me know! Also, this may change when the Advanced Rules come out, we'll see...
General Notes
any item which increases PD in Earthdawn gives an Savage Worlds Charecter 1 point of Armour
Armour Ratings for ED items are halved (round down) for SW armour ratings.
Copyright and Thanks
Savage Worlds is copyright Pinnacle Inc, and Earthdawn is licensed to Living Room Games, and is a registered trademark of WizKids LLC. I do not intend any copyright violations, so if either company has a problem with these pages, please let me know as soon as possible at
. I think both comapnies are staffed by great people helping to keep roleplaying alive and producing high quality games with excellent customer service. I intend this as a resource to get more pinnacle gamers to buy Earthdawn producs and more Earthdawn players to buy Pinnacle products - that last thing I want to do is hurt either company, or impinge any trademarks.
