Home Earthdawn Live from Barsaive: Episode 13

Live from Barsaive: Episode 13

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Episode 13: The Mid Reach of the Serpent River

  • Why House Syrtis is in decline
  • The Cliff City of Lalai Gorge
  • Chad is a wisenheimer, but it’s not his fault
  • Shivalahala Syrtis…coolest character ever!
  • Rachel levels up on her nerd cred

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  • Lou Prosperi

    Another fun episode of Live From Barsaive! I think the Serpent River is one of the coolest settings in Earthdawn, and I like the fact that you’re taking the time to cover as much of it as you are.

    Thanks for the shout out about The Imagineering Pyramid in this episode. I’m looking forward to meeting you both and chatting about Earthdawn, Disney, and Imagineering.

    Regarding the meeting between Shivalahala Syrtis and King Varulus, I always figured he stormed out because she saw a vision of what was coming in Prelude to War, including his death! Of course, that involves a little retroactive continuity on my part. The Serpent River book was written a LONG time before we plotted out Prelude to War, but it was pretty clear that he learned about something unpleasant… it was our job as developers to figure out what it was. :-).

    Take care!

    • Telarus, KSC

      I had an “alternate timeline” going for a little while where that meeting was about getting the secrets of the True Fire Engines to use against the Therans, as the dwarf cult of Upandil grew jealous of the t’skrang monopoly and pressured Varulus to demand it as part of the alliance.

      • That’s a cool idea. I love how the Throal book goes into a lot of detail about the political realities and compromises that Varulus had to make. It would be fun to see that play out in a concrete way by having his agenda modified by outside forces.

    • We’re looking forward to talking with you also. I’ll send you a message about rescheduling. Maybe we can get something together in the next couple of weeks.

      I think we will probably do a similar level of detail on future settings. At first, I was concerned about going into too much detail and inadvertently discouraging people from buying the books. I have since talked with Josh Harrison a few times, and he says that he and FASA are fine with this approach.

      I also assumed that the conflict with Varulus was probably due to him getting some bad news about his future. That seemed likely, especially since that section of the book talks about the Shivalahala making other predictions about death and destruction. It is nice though that it’s open-ended enough to use it for whatever you want.

      Unfortunately, we haven’t been able to play Earthdawn much in the last couple of months. We are about one or two sessions away from the players having an opportunity to meet the Shivalahala. I haven’t completely decided what to do with her, but I have some ideas. It should be a lot fun.

  • Eric Mansfield

    Chad claims that the cough syrup makes him loopy and weird, but he sounded exactly the same as he normally does 😉 (throat problems excepted).
    Also I love how Lou Propseri is always the first comment on these episodes 😀
    Its great to see the game’s creator so invested and involved!

    On a side note, I was amused at the mention of Kaer Eidolon at the start of this one. RPG Squad just passed through Eidolon quite recently!

    • Yeah, I guess the distinction between loopy and non-loopy for me is a fine one.

      I am also very thankful for all of Lou’s input. He has been a big support for the podcast…by offering insight into Earthdawn, but also by giving me plenty to think about in terms of improving the presentation of the podcast. It’s still very much a work in progress, but Lou’s suggestions (and advice in The Imagineering Pyramid) have really helped.

      I’m sorry to say that I have fallen behind on my RPG Squad episodes. I’ll have to find that one, because it sounds interesting. I’m currently reading the Blood Wood book (for the first time, I’m embarrassed to say). I’m looking forward to digging into that setting more.

      I’m thinking we’ll do our two-part (probably) Earthdawn Crash Course for new players, then Parlainth, then Blood Wood. All of that is subject to change, but that’s the current plan.

      • Eric Mansfield

        Don’t worry too much about catching up as far as lore goes. It would be cool to have you able to listen in, of course, but we kind of just mostly breezed through Eidolon with no real details, honestly.

        • Was that as part of replaying MIsts of Betrayal?

          Come to think of it, Lou was telling me a while ago that he would like to hear some actual play of some of the published Earthdawn adventures.

          • Eric Mansfield

            Its a module, I just dont know which one it is. You’d have to ask Unlucky Desperado. I THINK it’s that one, but my memory isn’t the best so I don’t want to say 100% for sure. Let’s go with “probably?” XD

          • I don’t know the published adventures all that well. I have always wanted to get into them more, but for some reason it never worked out with the particular campaigns I have had going.

            We did play “Shattered Pattern” (aka “Lou’s Excellent Adventure”), and that was a blast. Highly recommended, but I’d wait until you guys are much higher circle. I think it says 6th to 9th. We played it at like 2nd or 3rd circle and I had to cheat terribly to keep the entire party from being wiped out.

          • Eric Mansfield

            Might have to try that way down the line then! Even the name of it sounds rough o.o