''Barsaive Campaign Set'' is a supplement published by
FASA
Fasa ( fa, فسا, Fasā, also Romanized as Fassa) is a city and capital of Fasa County, Fars Province, Iran. At the 2016 census, its population was 110,825, in 33,379 families. Fasa is the fourth most populous city of the province. The city date ...
in 1993 for the fantasy
role-playing game
A role-playing game (sometimes spelled roleplaying game, RPG) is a game in which players assume the roles of player character, characters in a fictional Setting (narrative), setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within ...
''
Earthdawn
''Earthdawn'' is a fantasy role-playing game, originally produced by FASA in 1993. In 1999 it was licensed to Living Room Games, which produced the ''Second Edition''. It was licensed to RedBrick in 2003, who released the Classic Edition in 200 ...
''.
Publication
''Barsaive Campaign Set'', the first major supplement for ''Earthdawn'',
was designed by
Christopher Kubasik
Christopher Kubasik, also known as Chris Kubasik (born 1963), is an American author of several role-playing games, sourcebooks, adventures and fiction novels set in them, and has created his own TV series.
Career
Kubasik worked at FASA Corporat ...
, with contributions from Rob Cruz,
Tom Dowd
Thomas John Dowd (October 20, 1925 – October 27, 2002) was an American recording engineer and producer for Atlantic Records. He was credited with innovating the multitrack recording method. Dowd worked on a veritable "who's who" of recordings ...
,
Sam Lewis, Mike Mulvihill, Diane Piron-Gelman and Louis Prosperi.
Contents
This supplement details the fictional land of Barsaive. It comes as a
boxed set
A box set or (its original name) boxed set is a set of items (for example, a compilation of books, musical recordings, films or television programs) traditionally packaged in a box and offered for sale as a single unit.
Music
Artists and bands ...
that includes
* an Explorer's Guide
* a Gamemaster's Book
* a poster map
* cardstock sheets containing 36 new monster and treasure cards
* a cardboard sextant
Content about the land of Barsaive includes geography; its people, societies and social norms; laws; secret societies; notable personalities; and politics.
Reception
In the May 1994 edition of ''
Dragon
A dragon is a reptilian legendary creature that appears in the folklore of many cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but dragons in western cultures since the High Middle Ages have often been depicted as ...
'' (Issue #205),
Rick Swan
Rick Swan is a game designer and author who worked for TSR.
His work for TSR, mostly for Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, appeared from 1989 to 1995.
Swan also wrote ''The Complete Guide to Role-Playing Games'' (1990), published by St. Martin's Pre ...
admitted that he hadn't been enamored of ''Earthdawn'' when he first reviewed it three issues previously, calling it "a warmed-over version of the ''
AD&D'' game." But Swan found that the ''Barsaive'' supplement successfully moved "the ''Earthdawn'' game away from light fantasy and toward
sophisticated setting-based approach." Swan concluded, "With the ''
Runequest
''RuneQuest'' (commonly abbreviated as RQ) is a fantasy tabletop role-playing game originally designed by Steve Perrin, Ray Turney, Steve Henderson (game designer), Steve Henderson, and Warren James, and set in Greg Stafford's mythical world of ...
'' game on the ropes, the ''Earthdawn'' game may be poised to take its place, especially if
ASA
ASA as an abbreviation or initialism may refer to:
Biology and medicine
* Accessible surface area of a biomolecule, accessible to a solvent
* Acetylsalicylic acid, aspirin
* Advanced surface ablation, refractive eye surgery
* Anterior spinal ar ...
continues with supplements as strong as this."
In the May 1994 edition of ''
Pyramid
A pyramid (from el, πυραμίς ') is a structure whose outer surfaces are triangular and converge to a single step at the top, making the shape roughly a pyramid in the geometric sense. The base of a pyramid can be trilateral, quadrilat ...
'' (Issue #7),
Scott Haring
Scott D. Haring is a game designer who has worked primarily on role-playing games.
Career
Scott Haring began working in the adventure gaming industry in 1982. Haring had a long career with Steve Jackson Games, having worked at the company five d ...
gave the game a thumbs up, saying, "This is an excellent game supplement, reasonably priced. For people who play ''Earthdawn'' more than once a year or so, it's an ''absolute'' must-have. For everybody else, it's just a must-have."
Reviews
*''
White Wolf
A white wolf or Arctic wolf is a mammal of the ''Canidae'' family and a subspecies of the gray wolf.
It may also refer to:
Organizations
* White Wolf (band), a Canadian heavy metal band
* White Wolf (band), white power oi band from the USA
* ...
'' #47 (Sept., 1994)
*''
Valkyrie
In Norse mythology, a valkyrie ("chooser of the slain") is one of a host of female figures who guide souls of the dead to the god Odin's hall Valhalla. There, the deceased warriors become (Old Norse "single (or once) fighters"Orchard (1997:36) ...
'' #1 (Sept., 1994)
*''Backstab'' #5
*''Rollespilsmagasinet Fønix'' (Danish) (Issue 2 - May/June 1994)
*''
Casus Belli
A (; ) is an act or an event that either provokes or is used to justify a war. A ''casus belli'' involves direct offenses or threats against the nation declaring the war, whereas a ' involves offenses or threats against its ally—usually one b ...
'' #80
*''
Australian Realms'' #16
[https://archive.org/details/australian-realms-magazine/Australian%20Realms%20%2316%20MarchApril%201994/page/n5/mode/2up]
References
{{reflist
Earthdawn supplements
Role-playing game supplements introduced in 1993