The well known Earthdawn character generators EDCG1.3e (1st edition) and the Second Step character generator (2nd edition) are now available as portable versions. Because some users had problems to get the two programs running on Windows 64bit engines, it was Elidis who made portable editions out of the original programs.

The now available portable versions can be executed from wherever you want, without installation. The here provided Second Step version already contains the the data files from Heirs to the Green Arrow Path, which add creatures of the Serpent River and Servos Jungle, Talents (from Way of war), General skills (Wow) and General equipment to the program. Of course are the CreatureCreator and the TableEditor still included in this portable version.
Download portable editions:

• EDCG13e (mirror)
• Second Step character generator (mirror)

via German Earthdawn Wiki
More info on Earthdawn character generators can be found here (character generator collection,Java Script character generator,latest character editor for earthdawn) or at the download section.
Anyone hoping for an official character generator for the latest Earthdawn Revised Edition from FASA games?

Remember the last German Earthdawn news? Now it is again Nico Pendzialek , who made a collection called “Verborgene Talente” (“Hidden Talents”). The free PDF is a collection of talent knacks for various disciplines. So everyone of you who wants to train his German head over to Nico’s page.

“Verborgene Talente“ ist ein inoffizieller Ergänzungsband zum Rollenspielsystem Earthdawn, von Fans für Fans. Der Band beinhaltet eine umfangreiche Sammlung aus über hundert neuen Talentkniffen aller ursprünglichen Disziplinen und stellt eine neue Klasse von magischen Begleitern vor.

(via)

Well you might know about the background and the setting of Earthdawn, like “yeah it’s a post apocalyptic setting, everything is destroyed and we the heroes have to conquer back Barsaive and free it from horros. But in the end it’s pretty much like Shadowrun, just without guns.” Uhhhhhh, not quite right!

For those who never had a chance to play Earthdawn and therefor didn’t get in touch with many special features, mechanics and options of Earthdawn, I totally recommend to read and follow the blog series of Morgan Weeks @ Panda Gaming Grove.

Morgan writes a series about Earthdawn to explain the Earthdawn setting and mechanics, grouped by the following topics:

• The Introduction article informs about the publication history and the different Earthdawn versions that exist out there. One of many beautiful sentences in Morgans articles: “Earthdawn is best described as a love letter to D&D”
• The second article offers an overview about the Disciplines of Earthdawn. Note, that in the Namegiver books, additional races-related disciplines were published that are not (yet) on Morgans list.
• The third part: Namegivers and Names, explains the importance of names in Earthdawn and the various races of Earthdawn with their special abilities are described. Ever wondered what a True Patter is? What do I need Karma for? And why are Windlings so good in spotting magic items?
• Skills and Talents, how are they used and what’s the difference? Read it in part 4 of Morgans series.
• The most recent article describes one of the most important topics in Earthdawn: Thread Magic!! Yeah! Magic is the heart of the Earthdawn setting, it’s one of the best parts Morgan published so far. Magic related articles will follow and cover for example blood magic and spellcasting.

So if you follow Morgans writing, you’ll get a very good insight on how the Earthdawn system works and what makes it so special. I am looking forward to read the next Earthdawn articles @ Morgans blog.

James posted yesterday a RedBrick forum post announcing that RedBrick is retiring from publishing games. What does this mean for Earthdawn and all the other game licences that RedBrick holds?

Earthdawn, Demonworld: These licenses reverted back to FASA Corporation and have been subsequently picked up by FASA Games, Inc.

Head over to the forum to read the whole forum article.

Just a short notice about the recent activities of one of the most influencing Earthdawn artists, Jeff Laubenstein. He illustrates the Kickstarter project “Axes and Anvils – "A tabletop RPG about Dwarfs”, written by Mike Nystul.