Like I said in another thread I've been away from this game for quite a long time now and I'm trying to catch up in what has been happening.
I was one of those (few?) that actually liked the tie in with the game Earthdawn.
Now that these two games have seperate companies behind them I just thought it had just been flushed down in the toilet.
But then I did listen to some of the Neo Anarchist Podcast (great podcast btw!) and heard about the twin earthquakes in California.
It mentions that people found something that sounds a lot like a kaern waaay down there.
So my question is. Is this still a thing?

Yes it is but it has been heavily down played. Or at least the links are still there for you to use if you wish but I wouldn't expect too much further explanation or reveals in future products. The current story arcs seem to mostly be focusing on the retaking of Chicago and CFD taking over minds.

To be more specific, they're not really a thing because Catalyst does not have the Earthdawn license, which is back in FASA's hands as of the Fourth Edition release in 2015.

Would that SR would go the same route. I've about had it with Catalyst.

well I haven't posed here in years but I'm back-I liked the earth dawn connections-I've always wanted to see a windling hacker for instance

Windlings are Pixies, so totally a possibility...

From my impression from the last bits in Forbidden Arcana and such I had thought that the CFD plotline was over and done and the horrors were going to be taking center stage next.

Haven't read Forbidden Arcana yet but if that's the case, maybe I should.

I've been rather vocal about what I don't like of SR5 in general, but I will say that I feel Forbidden Arcana was something good for the magical side of things (like a return of the old elementals and other spirits, more diversification of traditions beyond a name and five spirits, etc.). It's also given me a few ideas to roll back into my SR4 writing. But when there's a chat going on that scares the drek out of some of the biggest players, people should take notice.

I picked it up for much the same reason - nicking ideas for SR4. I've still barely had time to skim it periodically, but I did come across a chat with Orange Queen, Wordsmyth, and The Laughing Man; that brings back memories.

Story line and parties involved in Ripping Reality are a call back to some of those old school ties. It's 3rd part of Denver adventure trilogy, playable without other parts. Definetly feels like a 3rd Harleaquin adventure in scope and flavor.

Are we talking about the same book, the one with the magical SIN database query and everything?

Unless you're referring to the section on Magical Demographics, probably not. Was interesting to see how the writers want magical talent to be super extremely rare.

Astral Bouncer lets you see all positive and negative qualities of a character. Which happens to include debts, SINs...

Okay, not what I was thinking when you said "magical SIN database query." Missed that quality, too. But then, not like a GM can't say no to someone taking this quality.

I'm not about to let one, or a few, more poorly thought things distract me from what I find quite useful. I'll just not use them.

Be easy enough to rule only magical affiliated qualities.

I would say that the astral bouncer can NOT pick up on mundane negative qualities like "In debt". Now things like Uncommon Allergies, like for instance my one character's allergy to silver WOULD be picked up because it is unusual and usually caused by something metaphysical. This would be something the GM should ask "Would this reflect in the person's soul/spirit/Essence?"

Unfortunately, this isn't as clear cut as you think it is.

Anything that causes a person stress can* show up in a persons' soul/spirit. Such as worry / concern over their debt. The stress of hiding one's SIN. Etc.

* I don't claim to know what does affect a characters' soul/spirit.

While I fully agree that Assensing, no matter how much Karma a person spends on it, has no business telling a character that "your target owes Jimmy "Sledgehammer" Malone 20K," it should reveal that the target is severely troubled over something, and it is likely money related. ([Meta]Humans tend to follow / produce similar patterns, and it is likely that money worries show up as similar patterns in our auras.)

This level of granularity is lazily left up to the GM to figure out for themselves.

The Astral Bouncer quality also made me stop at first. But if you consider Mind Probe exists as a mana spell, that implies everything a character knows can be somewhat accessed through the astral. The Astral Bouncer quality may be considered as the intermediate step between Assensing ability to tell emotions, and Mind Probe ability to read precise memories.

Mind probe requires lets you ask one question per CA, three three net hits are required for accessing things the subject consciously knows. Furthermore the target is at least "aware" of the probing, depending on the fluff the effects can be more drastical. Astral Bouncer gives a complete list of qualities, including things the subjects isn't consciously aware of or cannot know, for two hits on Assensing. It really is the magical database from crime procedurals, with added fourth wall penetration.

Sure, it could easily be fixed if the description said "character traits" instead of qualities, but that's the point: The crunch sections of FA are at best fit for beta stage -- I like the fluff, though

I like the Chain Breaker Positive Quality personally. Allowing a character to summon two more Spirit types in exchange for losing the ability to bind them. I like it for the possible role playing aspect. Here's how I see how it can be used in a 'Run. A Free Spirit needs help in freeing a friend, but it's presence can cause more problems than it can solve, so it finds someone who is a Chain Breaker and asks for help.