SuperSatellite

Data pack update for Earthdawn Character Generator

// November 23rd, 2008 // Games

Some friends and I have been working on starting up an Earthdawn again.  In the process of this, I’ve been revisiting some old resources that I used to use, one being the Earthdawn Character Generator originally released at the Lost Papers web site.  The current version is 1.3e, and was released back in 2004, so it’s probably safe to say that there will be no more development on it.  But luckily, the data files for the program are human readable, so they are easy to edit.

That being said, I used this to my advantage, found a more recently updated set of data files, and extended them further with some more disciplines, races, talents, and equipment (sorry, haven’t been through spells yet).  I dug around for all the bits I could find to bring together, and I put in most all that made sense.  That means yes, some things like the Hawkman race, Bladesman discipline, or Malac rifle didn’t make it in, but that’s mostly because I tried to stick with what made sense, was canon(ish), and would be helpful for character generation.  If there’s interest in something I didn’t put in, I’ll happily add it and repack it if people want me to.

EDCG 1.3e Data File repack 081123

Just in case the source ever goes down, for the sake of argument I’ll mirror a download for Earthdawn Character Generator 1.3e.  Just remember this will have the original data files in it, so you’ll need to download the repack above and copy it to your /data directory to get the new stuff.  Also, I did not create, nor do I maintain EDCG, so don’t ask me about supporting or updating the software itself, ask the guy who made it.

All of this being said, there’s also a newer character creator called The Second Step.  Their site looks gone now, but I still have a copy of the software if anyone wants it.  I’ll host that as well if people are looking for it.  Just understand that this is the default setup as well, with no updates to the data in it.  If enough people are using it, we could even work on updating the info in it as well.

The main problem is that Earthdawn, formerly of FASA, was liscensed to Living Room Games, who fell asleep on the job with it.  Then came in RedBrick, who are back to work on it.  EDCG is more tightly connected to the old style, which RedBrick is basically following, while The Second Step is designed for 2nd Edition, that Living Room Games put out.  Which is better?  I don’t know.  Personally, I think the Second Step program might actually be a better piece of software, but I haven’t looked too closely to see if it could be used compatibly with the classic system (I would assume so though).  There wasn’t a ton of difference between the two mechanics-wise.

Share your thoughts below.  Which would you rather use, which do you prefer?  If I worked on updating the data in one or the other, which would you prefer?