Looks like a good game...

Looks like a good game - I can't believe I forgot about this. I used to run it all the time. It was THE game for us pre-D&D 3E. That reviewer finds it too 'crunchy'. He is over-emphasising the complexity of the resolution system, I think.  The game overall is far, far simpler than say D&D3E but you do need a table on-hand when you start out, so that you know the correct dice to roll for different levels of ability. 

This did sometimes have my players hankering for the simplicity of D20 + modifiers but I always appreciated that everything expressed in 'steps' (essentially the average outcome of different dice combinations) so it was always very easy for me to assign target numbers. Having the single D20 in there always made D&D too much of a 'crapshoot; for my tastes. 

Whereas I don't like the idea of D&D 4E because it does not seem like 'D&D' to me, Earthdawn is designed from the ground up around the premise that 1. The world is incredible hostile, about one step shot of Cthulluesque, and 2. No worries though, your characters start out able to do things like levitate for more combat speed, cast spells, fly airships, boil your blood during battle to heal, form a magical claw for more damage, then you really build up from there. 


I wonder if players could be persuaded to play this again...