CyanBlade's Web Guide Rating System
Each discipline is rated on a scale of 1 to 5 on four things: Concept, Balance, Execution, and Overall. Each of these categories is described below. Each site has been rated jointly by myself and other players and GMs. These scores reflect our honest and thoughtful evalution of these disciplines, so don't kill us if you think your discipline deserved a better score.
Scale
The scale is from 1 to 5, and familiar landmarks are used: A score of 1 is Poor, 2 is Average, 3 is Good, 4 is Excellent, and 5 is Extraordinary. Most average approximately 2.5 or so, and this is par. The Overall score is given with a decimal while Concept, Balance, and Execution are given as the closest whole number.
Concept
This category is basically how cool and original a concept the discipline is. A high score in this category means that this is a pretty cool concept that brings an entirely new and interesting spin to EarthDawn. Disciplines that offer something completely new and un-thought of would get high scores in this category.
Balance
This category deals with how balanced a particular discipline is as a PC. Disciplines that are either insanely kickass or terribly under-powered would get a low score in this category. Disciplines with well balanced and spread out talents and abilities would get high scores in this category.
Execution
This category concerns the choice of talents, as well as the descriptiveness and thoroughness of the discipline write up. Is there any background given for the discipline, is there an introduction? The Execution category measures the thought that went into the discipline and the write up of the discipline. Well planed, descriptive disciplines with lots of explanations and background with a consistent choice of talents would get high scores in this category.
Overall
The Overall category measures how everything comes together as a whole. Does this discipline make sense, and more importantly, does this discipline make sense in EarthDawn. It also answers the question, would someone want to play this discipline? It is a combination of the previous three categories plus something more. Disciplines that make sense, have scored well in Concept, Balance, and Execution, and would be enjoyable disciplines to play would get high scores in this category.
Literal Meanings
Concept
| 1 | revised/modified version of existing discipline |
| 2 | new spin on an old concept |
| 3 | new concept, pretty cool |
| 4 | revolutionary concept, very cool |
| 5 | you'll never look at disciplines the same way again |
Balance
| 1 | power-gamers delight, run and hide |
| 2 | average, moderately balanced |
| 3 | well-balanced |
| 4 | superbly balanced, excellent |
| 5 | incredibly focused and balanced, not bad... |
Execution
| 1 | what's this discipline called again? |
| 2 | solid paragraph background, decent talent choices |
| 3 | few good in-depth paragraphs, good consistency |
| 4 | awesome background, excellent description, meaningful history |
| 5 | what's that? - you wrote a novel?!? |
Overall
| 1 | EarthDawn! - I thought we were playing Mage! |
| 2 | decent, certainly quite playable |
| 3 | good discipline, fit for almost any campaign |
| 4 | incredible, just incredible |
| 5 | guess what I'm playing next campaign... |
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Top Ten PC Disciplines
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