I purchased the 3rd ed. Player and Gamemaster's Guide. There's so much chatter on this board about the game, I was in the market for a different kind of fantasy RPG (especially one that didn't require miniatures or the drawing of maps on a wipe board), and I've heard from various critics about how it's a favorite and a sleeper-hit that I thought "what the hell."

So, Dumpshock, other than reading the rules and putting together a group to play it, what should I know? What else do I need to buy? Is The City of Thieves a good investment right off the bat? The two Companion books? Just trying to get the most bang for my money here (without shelling out a ton of cash for out-of-print material). Can I get older supplemental stuff and still have it be useful, other than for fluff? I've seen stuff at used book stores.

Any weird crunch, fluff, whatever I should know about ahead of time? How should I sell this to a group of players used to D&D 3.5 and 4E (specifically Eberron)? They love Shadowrun but selling it as "the secret history of Shadowrun", I feel, would be a bit dishonest since the connection between the two is... open to interpretation.

Ever wondered:
Why there are dungeons everywhere ?
Why adventurers go in there ?
Why dragons have big treasures ?
Why there are horrible monsters everywhere ?
In Earthdawn, it all makes sense.

The two companion books are a good buy. You'll need them for when the party reaches 8th Circle. The First Edition book "Adept's Way" used to be a must-have, but they've incorporated much of the information into the 3rd Ed core. I'd definitely take a look at Namegivers of Barsaive when it comes out, I found its First Edition version(s) to be very useful. I didn't like the preview for Kratas, but I haven't had the chance to peruse a hardcopy yet.

Earthdawn is a very fluff-heavy game. Buy the books with the fluff you're interested in reading, ignore the books with the fluff you're not interested in reading. If someone wants to play a Troll Sky Raider from the Twilight Peaks, see about getting your hands on Crystal Raiders of Barsaive. Otherwise, don't worry about it. You can totally run Earthdawn all the way to living godhood using only the corebooks.

In terms of non-crunch, I'd keep an eye open for Horrors or Scourge Unending. These two books are basically just big compilations evil monsters to throw at the party. Similarly, if you want more creatures, Creatures of Barsaive has a bunch of intersting creatures to encounter, including plothooks that you can use to write an adventure off of each one.

If your players liked the mechanics of D&D 4 - everyone has a list of powers and gets new powers at every level - tell them that that's very Earthdawnlike, but that Earthdawn is more pointbuyish and customizable. I generally describe Earthdawn as "Epic Post-Apocalyptic Horror Fantasy". Any of those elements can be emphasised, and, at a quick glance, seems very compatible with people who liked Eberron.

Excellent. Thank you.

In Earthdawn, the standard GM answer should be "yes, you can do that".

I´d say you don´t need any books beyond the 3rd player/GM guide combo. Many materials from older books are in there. My collection is quite solid, feel free to ask if you need specific older info.



Sidetrack: I´m going to get the 3rd Companion books myself, does anyone already have those?

If your players ever want to play characters beyond 8th circle, you'll need the PC at least.

@Wesley Street: Kratas - City of Thieves is as an awesome book (with all new content) and will give you and your group dozens ideas and adventure hooks, And check out Namegivers of Barsaive (which will be out soon), as it introduces 15 new disciplines (including the Horror Stalker).

Hey, I said I´m going to buy those. Ordering all new books at once is affordable now, but hardly desireable.

I´d like some teasers about what is different.

Hehe



Which book are you talking about? PC or Namegivers of Barsaive?

I was talking about the companion (or the companions). How much new stuff would I get from the Namegivers book, given that I own the old ones?

Well, the Disciplines had been aligned to the ED3-ruleset (talent progression, new special abilities), some even got new talents (i.e. Horror Stalker). Imo it's worth to buy new, even if you own the EDC-version.
Regarding the PC: well, it contains all talents, spells and shit of Circle 8+ as well as the Talent Knacks (which are no longer linked to a specific Discipline).

Check the preview.