Editing Earthdawn (section)

==Game mechanics==
[[File:Earthdawn companion ldged-201.jpg|thumb|200px|right|The ''Earthdawn Companion 2nd Edition'' cover shows Throal, the capital of Barsaive]]

''Earthdawn'' stands out from other tabletop RPGs with a unique approach to skill tests. Players wanting to perform an action determine their level or "step" for the skill, talent, or ability to be used. This step can then be looked up in a list of dice to be thrown; it is the next-highest [[integer]] of the average roll of the dice(s) in question. For example, two six-sided dice will on average yield a result of 7,<ref>Actually, due to the bonus dice mechanic it is 8.4</ref> thus the step number 8 means that 2d6 will be rolled. The consequence is that each such dice roll has a 50% chance of yielding a result at least as high as the corresponding step number.

The result of each die is added (dice which reach their maximum value are thrown again, adding each maximum to the tally, along with the final result below maximum) and compared to a value decided by the game master/storyteller according to the difficulty of the task. This approach means it's always technically possible to succeed with a low step number, yet leaves room for failure on high step numbers. This will sometimes make combat last longer than in other games. As per the above, the difficulty value where the odds of success are perfectly even is identical to the step number.

{| class="wikitable"
|+Examples of steps
! Step !! Dice Rolled (Classic and 2nd Edition) !! Dice Rolled (3rd Edition) !! Dice Rolled (4th Edition)
|-
| 1 || 1d4-2 || 1d6-3 || 1d4-2
|-
| 2 || 1d4-1 || 1d6-2 || 1d4-1
|-
| 3 || 1d4 || 1d6-1 || 1d4
|-
| 4 || 1d6 || 1d6 || 1d6
|-
| 5 || 1d8 || 1d8 || 1d8
|-
| 6 || 1d10 || 1d10 || 1d10
|-
| 7 || 1d12 || 1d12 || 1d12
|-
| 8 || 2d6 || 2d6 || 2d6
|-
| 9 || 1d8 + 1d6 || 1d8 + 1d6 || 1d8 + 1d6
|-
| 10 || 1d10 + 1d6 || 2d8 || 2d8
|-
| 11 || 1d10 + 1d8 || 1d10 + 1d8 || 1d10 + 1d8
|-
| 12 || 2d10 || 2d10 || 2d10
|-
| 13 || 1d12 + 1d10 || 1d12 + 1d10 || 1d12 + 1d10
|-
| 14 || 1d20 + 1d4 or 2d12 (''Earthdawn Classic'' option) || 2d12 || 2d12
|-
| 15 || 1d20 + 1d6 || 1d12 + 2d6 || 1d12 + 2d6
|-
| 16 || 1d20 + 1d8 || 1d12 + 1d8 + 1d6 || 1d12 + 1d8 + 1d6
|-
| 17 || 1d20 + 1d10 || 1d12 + 2d8 || 1d12 + 2d8
|-
| 18 || 1d20 + 1d12 || 1d12 + 1d10 + 1d8 || 1d12 + 1d10 + 1d8
|-
| 19 || 1d20 + 2d6 || 1d12 + 2d10 || 1d20 + 2d6
|}

The dice in steps 3 through 13 form the basis of an 11-Step cycle. To form Steps 14–24, add 1d20. To form Steps 25–35, further add 1d10 + 1d8. For higher cycles, continue alternating between the addition of 1d20 and 1d10 + 1d8. Step 2 is rolled as Step 3, but you subtract 1 from the result. This is notated as "1d4 – 1". Step 1 is 1d4 – 2.

The 3rd edition changes this by removing d4s and d20s from the system. Steps 6 through 12 (as listed above) form the basis of a 7-Step cycle. To add 7 Steps from then on, simply add 1d12.

The 4th edition changes this by making Steps 8 through 18 form the basis of an 11-Step cycle. To form Steps 19–29, add 1d20. To form Steps 30–41, add 2d20, and so on.

The ''Age of Legend'' edition departs from the Step System mechanics of previous Earthdawn editions and instead uses a permutation of the [[Role-playing game terms#R 2|rules-lite]] mechanics of the ''Freeform Universal'' RPG system by Nathan Russell. In the ''Age of Legend'' permutation a six-sided die ("d6") is used with "''but...''" and "''and...''" situational modifiers added to four of the six die faces, and conditionally up to six additional [[Fudge (role-playing game system)#Fudge dice|Fudge dice]] of two differing colors which can alter the initial result of the main d6 die. (Alternatively, the ''Age of Legend'' edition can be played with just seven standard d6 dice, ideally of three differing colors.)  Dice rolls in the ''Age of Legend'' edition answer [[Yes–no question|closed yes–no questions]], with the default question being "''Do you get what you want?''" subsequent to a character's attempt to elicit a desired outcome.

{| class="wikitable"
|+Age of Legend Edition - Main d6 Die Results
! Roll !! Do you get what you want?
|-
| 6 || "''Yes, and...''" - You get what you want, and a bonus.
|-
| 4 || "''Yes...''" - You get what you want.
|-
| 2 || "''Yes, but...''" - You get what you want, but at a cost.
|-
| 5 || "''No, but...''" - You don't get what you want, but it's not a total loss.
|-
| 3 || "''No...''" - You don't get what you were after.
|-
| 1 || "''No, and...''" - You don't get what you want, and things get worse.
|}