SHARON'S EDIT EDGE MANUAL		1


EDGE
Earthdawn Character Generator 














Software by J.M. Albertson
Manual by S. Heather Park-Albertson

© 1993 FASA Corporation

Contents

Introduction	1
System Requirements	1
Installation	1
Startup	2
Printer Definition	2
Earthdawn Concepts	2
EDGE Fundamentals	3
Creating A New Character	5
Character Race	5
Discipline	6
Circle	6
Attributes	6
Talents	7
Artisan Skill	7
Karma	7
Legend Points	7
Armor	8
Shield	8
Weapons	8
Spells	8
Calculated Fields	9
Saving Character Record	9
Printing Character Sheets	9
Updating Existing Characters	10
Opening Existing Character Files	10
Awarding Legend Points	10
Updating Karma	10
Damage, Wounds, and Blood Magic	11
Improving Attributes and Talents	11
Increasing Circle	11
FOR GAMEMASTERS ONLY: Building NPCs	11
Shortcuts: Function Keys and Alternate Functions	12
File Menu Functions	12
Entry Screen Functions	12
Troubleshooting and Technical Support	12


Introduction

This is the User's Manual for EDGE, the Earthdawn Character Generator, 
designed for use with an IBM PC, or compatible. Using EDGE on your PC, you 
can quickly and easily create player and gamemaster characters for 
Earthdawn, the new fantasy roleplaying game from FASA. EDGE is only a tool 
for building a character quicklyÑit does not replace your Earthdawnª 
rulebook. You need the rulebook for complete descriptions of the Races, 
Attributes, Disciplines, and Talents.

You can also use EDGE to maintain your character sheets on the computer and 
print out revised versions incorporating changes as the character grows and 
develops. If you've ever lost your character sheet and had to recreate the 
character from memory, you may have just given up and created a new one. 
EDGE allows you to simply print out a new sheet for that characterÑcomplete 
with all stats and up-to-date Legend Points.

System Requirements

EDGE requires an IBM-PC-compatible with a monochrome monitor. If you want 
to print character record sheets, you must also have a dot-matrix printer. EDGE 
was written using MS-DOS 5.0, and we do not guarantee that it can run under 
earlier versions of MS-DOS, nor with specific PC-compatibles, nor with specific 
monitor and mouse drivers. You need at least 350 Mb of free RAM to run EDGE. 
You can run it either from your hard drive, which we recommend, or from a 
dual-floppy drive system, which will seriously detract from its performance. 
EDGE can be run from Windows, though it is not a Windows program, and has 
been tested using a color monitor and a Logitech mouse.

Installation

If you have a hard drive, install EDGE on the hard drive. If you have two floppy 
drives, see the instructions for two floppy drives under Startup. In order to 
install EDGE on your hard drive, which we assume is named C:, you should first 
create a new subdirectory for EDGE and all its files, as well as any character 
sheets you want to save. We will use the directory name EDAWN; if you use a 
different name, remember to use that name everywhere EDAWN appears in 
this manual. To create the EDAWN subdirectory, type:
	C:> MD EDAWN
at the main hard drive directory prompt as shown, and press ENTER. This will 
create a subdirectory called C:\EDAWN on your hard drive. Now, go to that 
directory by entering the following command:
	C:> CD EDAWN
For DOS, this command means go down one directory level to the directory 
called EDAWN. The prompt will now read C:\EDAWN> ; if it doesn't, enter DIR at 
the prompt and determine what directory the computer is listing.

Once you have created the EDAWN subdirectory and moved into that directory, 
insert the EDGE disk into the floppy drive (we assume this is drive A). Enter the 
command:
	C:\EDAWN> COPY A:*.*
This will copy the entire contents of the EDGE disk onto your hard drive.

There are three files needed to run EDGE; EDGE.EXE (the program file), and 
SPELLS.DAT and TALENTS.DAT. These three files should appear in the C:\EDAWN 
directory after you finish copying the disk. If you have the Shareware version 
of EDGE, you will only have EDGE.EXE, and the program will not offer the option 
to print a list of the character's talents and spells.

Startup

Hard Drive
To run EDGE, enter the command EDGE at the C:\EDAWN> prompt. You can also 
run EDGE from other directories on the computer by entering C:\EDAWN\EDGE 
at whatever prompt is shown, but this may create problems when you open 
and save files, and so is not recommended.

Two Floppy Drives
Before you run EDGE in a dual floppy system, first make a bootable disk (use 
the FORMAT/S command) and copy the EDGE disk onto it. To run EDGE from a 
dual floppy system, put the EDGE disk copy in one floppy drive. Put a blank, 
formatted floppy in the other floppy drive; you will be saving character sheets 
to this second floppy. If it is not already the current drive, make the floppy 
drive containing the EDGE disk the current drive by entering the floppy drive 
letter and a colon at the prompt. Then enter at the prompt:
	A:> EDGE
Remember that running EDGE from a dual floppy system will be significantly 
slower. Also, remember to look for and save your character sheets on the 
second floppy disk.

Printer Definition

You must define a printer before you can print any character record sheets 
from EDGE. To define your printer, open the File menu and choose Select 
Printer. This opens the Printer Selection dialog box, which shows three 
options: Generic (default), Epson, and HP Laserjet. Highlight whichever most 
closely fits your printer type and press the space bar. Nothing will appear in 
the Device box, because this must be blank to send the file to the printer (see 
Printing Character Sheets, p. XX). Then select OK to close the dialog box 
and so set your printer type. EDGE has been tested only with the HP Laserjet IV 
and Epson dot-matrix printers; FASA and the author do not guarantee that EDGE 
will print correctly to any other printers.

Earthdawn Concepts

For purposes of this manual, an Earthdawn character consists of a name, a 
physical description, six basic Attributes, and talents appropriate to that 
character's Discipline. The player creates the name and physical description , 
although we do recommend that you design a physical description that 
basically matches the race you've chosen for your character. For example, a 
troll should not be 5'4" and weigh 125 pounds! The Earthdawn rulebook 
provides details about the general physical statistics normal for each of the 
races.

The six basic Attributes are Dexterity, Strength, Toughness, Perception, 
Willpower, and Charisma. The rank of each of these Attributes determines the 
step number you would use to determine the appropriate dice for an Attribute 
test. Certain characteristics are derived from these six Attributes: Combat 
Movement speed, Full Movement (running) speed, Carrying Capacity, Lifting 
Capacity, Physical Defense, Spell Defense, Social Defense, Initiative, Death 
Rating, Unconsciousness Rating, Wound Threshold, and Recovery Tests/dice. 
EDGE automatically assigns a value of 5 (or the racial minimum) to each of a 
new character's Attributes, and you can raise and lower each value to create a 
specific character, taking into account the considerations provided in the 
Character Creation section of the Earthdawn rulebook. You cannot assign 
high values to every Attribute, because every character must have flaws or 
weaknesses.

Earthdawn applies certain racial adjustments to Attributes, and EDGE 
incorporates these adjustments automatically. For example, obsidimen have a 
minimum Strength of 21 and minimum Toughness of 6, and so EDGE assigns 
these numbers to those Attributes automatically when you select obsidiman as 
the race, and adjusts the Points Left accordingly. Consult the Earthdawn 
rulebook for more information about the racial Attribute adjustments. Note 
that if you change a character's race after assigning values to its Attributes, 
EDGE will try to preserve the relative values when adjusting them for the 
limits of the new race. For example, if you change your obsidiman to a 
windling, EDGE will reduce the Strength of 21 to the windling maximum of 7, 
and adjust the available points accordingly.

Once you have assigned a race and Attribute values to your character, you 
need to select the character's Discipline and talents. Each Discipline has a list 
of related talents, to which you assign ranks. Certain Disciplines are race-
limited as well; obsidimen cannot be archers, for example. Consult your 
Earthdawn rulebook for descriptions of the Disciplines, talents, and spells. 
The EDGE program provides a warning if you attempt to set a rank higher than 
is allowed for that talent or a value higher than that allowed for an Attribute, 
and also provides a warning if you attempt to select a Discipline not allowed for 
your race. Talents that are inappropriate for your Discipline or Circle simply 
do not show up on the list of talents available to your character.

EDGE Fundamentals

Copyright Screen
When you run EDGE, the first screen you see contains the copyright notice. 
Press Return to move past this screen. Please note that when you pass the 
copyright notice, you are agreeing to the License Agreement packaged with 
the EDGE program diskÑeach time you use the program.
If you have the Shareware vesion of EDGE, you will have a choice of 
registering the software,or moving on to run the program.

Moving Between Fields
Use TAB to move forward and SHIFT-TAB to move backward through the fields. 
If you are using a mouse, you can also point and click on the fields in any 
order. Many of the fields contain a highlighted letter; you can press the Alt 
key together with that letter to go directly to that field from any other field. 
While you can Tab through most fields, you should not make any changes in 
the following fields, which appear below a line drawn across the screen: 
Combat, Running, Carry, Lift, Physical Defense, Spell Defense, Social Defense, 
Death Rating, Unconciousness, Wound Threshold, Recovery Checks, Legendary 
Status, Total Legend Points, Physical Armor, Mystic Armor, Initiative Dice, 
Karma Die, and Recovery Dice. These fields are automatically calculated from 
other fields. You can, and should, make changes in the Damage, Wounds, and 
Blood Magic fields in this section to keep them up to date.

Changing Field Values
To change a text field value, such as Name, use the mouse to highlight the 
existing entry (if any) and type your new entry. This completely replaces the 
old entry with the new one. To change a portion of the text field, position the 
entry cursor where you wish to enter the change and either highlight the 
portion you wish to replace or delete that portion using the Backspace or 
Delete keys. Then enter your change. If you do not have a mouse, use the 
arrow keys to position the cursor where you want to make changes and turn 
Insert mode On to overwrite existing text.

To change the values in numeric fields, such as the Attribute values and talent 
ranks, you can either use the "+" and "-" keys to increase or decrease the 
values by 1 each time, or type in the desired numbers using the keyboard. We 
recommend that you use the plus and minus keys, because EDGE will not 
increase the field past its defined maximum or decrease it below its defined 
minimum (as for racial limitations). For example, First Circle characters may 
not have any talent rank greater than 3; if you try to increase the talent rank 
to 4, EDGE simply won't make the change. Using the plus and minus keys allows 
you to see these predetermined limits.

To change a field with a pop-up menu, such as Race, double-click on the new 
entry in the menu. If you do not have a mouse, use the arrow keys to move up 
and down in the menu, and press Return to select an entry.

Default and Invalid Entries
Since most character stat fields contain default entries, the only fields which 
require entries are Talents and Spells (if applicable). The character 
description fields (name, age, sex, hair, eyes, height, and weight) are optional. 
If you have made an illegal entry in a field, that field or others calculated from 
it will flash red (or blink, if you have a monochrome monitor) until you 
correct the illegal entry. In particular, the Points Left and Ranks Left fields 
will flash red (or blink) if you assign more Attribute points or talent ranks 
than are allowed; as soon as you subtract enough from the points and ranks 
assigned, the screen will stop flashing red or blinking. You can go back at any 
time to any field and change it; fields whose entries are now disallowed by the 
change will flash red or blink until you correct the problem.

Menus and Scrolling Lists
The Menu Bar at the top of the screen contains only the File menu. All the 
program functions required to use EDGE are available through this menu. 
Race, Discipline, Armor, and Shield appear as pop-up menus. Talents and Spells 
appear as scrolling lists.

To access the File menu, either click on the menu name to open it, press F10 to 
highlight the File menu and use the down arrow to open the menu, or press 
Alt-F to select and open the menu. Use the arrow keys to move up and down in 
the File menu, or click once to highlight a selection. Press Return to select the 
highlighted function, or press Alt and the appropriate letter to select that 
function. For example, press Alt-P to print and Alt-X to exit.

To open a pop-up menu, Tab to that field and press Return, or click on the 
arrow next to the field. Pressing Alt and the highlighted letter also opens the 
menu. When you make a selection from the menu by pressing Return, the 
menu automatically closes again. If you are using a mouse, simply point to 
your selection and double-click to select it and leave the menu. You can also 
use the up and down arrow keys to move within the menu, or type in the first 
one or two letters of the selection (or enough to distinguish it from other 
selections). For example, to select Ork from the Race menu, you could type "Or; 
"O" moves to the first entry starting with O, and "r" distinguishes between Ork 
and Obsidiman. To close a pop-up menu without making a change, click on the 
small box icon at the top of the menu, or press <ESC>.

Scrolling lists are more like spreadsheets than menus. You can select more 
than one item from them, and you can change the numerical values for the 
selected items. To open a scrolling list, simply Tab to that field, or press Alt and 
the field letter, or click on the field. Use the up and down arrows to scroll 
through the list, or point and click with the mouse. Use the plus and minus 
keys, or Return and Backspace, to change the value next to each item on the 
list. For the Spell list allows you to use five keys as toggles for the Learned 
fieldÑReturn, Backspace, space bar, plus, and minus. "Toggle" means that if the 
field is blank, pressing any of the accepted toggles will put an asterisk there, 
and if there is an asterisk in the field, pressing a toggle will change the field 
back to blank.

Creating A New Character

To create a new character, select New from the File menu or press Alt-N. This 
brings up a blank character record in the entry screen. The first two lines of 
the entry screen are where you enter your character's name and physical 
description. These are text fields; you can enter anything you want, as long as 
it fits. In the Name field, you will need to either delete the existing entry, 
"Unnamed," or overwrite it. Once you have assigned a name to the character, 
and saved the file using that name, the name appears at the top center of the 
screen. The remaining fields are discussed in current order of use; the field 
order may change in future versions of EDGE, but the type of field and its 
contents will remain the same unless noted in future versions.

Character Race

The Race field has a pop-up menu. The default race is human. In order to open 
the menu, either press Return when the field is highlighted or click once on 
the Down arrow next to the field. You must scroll down through the menu to 
see the last two races. Note that the highlighted race changes as you scroll 
through the menu. You must either double-click on a race or press Return in 
order to select the highlighted race and leave the menu. To leave the menu 
without making changes, press <Esc>.

Discipline

The Discipline field has a pop-up menu that operates just like the one for Race. 
Available Disciplines are: Archer, Beastmaster, Cavalryman, Elementalist, 
Illusionist, Nethermancer, Sky Raider, Swordmaster, Thief, Troubadour, 
Warrior, Weaponsmith, and Wizard. If a Discipline is flashing or highlighted 
in red, the race you have chosen cannot follow that Discipline. 

Circle

Beginning characters start at First Circle; do not change the entry in the 
Circle field unless you are a gamemaster creating a gamemaster character 
(NPC). EDGE is set up to allow your character to grow through awarded Legend 
Points, and you should use this method to keep your character balanced and 
within the parameters of the Earthdawn rules.

Attributes

As discussed earlier, EDGE sets Attributes at a default of 5 unless a racial 
adjustment applies. You can increase Attribute values by highlighting the 
field next to the Attribute name and pressing the plus ("+") key. (If you have a 
numeric keypad in addition to the regular keyboard, we suggest that you turn 
NumLock On and use the keypad's plus and minus keys for this.) Use the minus 
("-") key to decrease the Attribute values. Notice that the number in the Points 
Left field at the bottom left of your screen decreases as you assign points to 
each Attribute. Increasing an Attribute's value by 1 may cost more than one 
point, depending on the current value of the Attribute: the higher the 
Attribute, the more each point increase will cost. You have a total of 66 points 
for improving Attributes, though the actual number of Points Left may be 
more or less than this due to racial adjustments. When you are finished 
improving Attributes, Points Left should be 0. If Points Left falls below zero, 
the field will flash red (or blink) to remind you that you have assigned more 
points than you are allowed. You must reduce one or more Attributes until this 
number comes up to 0.

The following table shows the starting Points Left value:
Race	Points Left
Dwarf	69
Elf	69
Human	66
Obsidiman	49
Ork	66
Troll	54
T'skrang	69
Windling	63

Note that if you select obsidiman or troll, which have Strength and Toughness 
minimums higher than 5, then change Race back to human or any other, the 
Strength and Toughness numbers do not reset back to 5. Instead, these 
numbers remain set for obsidiman or troll, unless they exceed the new race's 
maximum for those numbers. If the Strength and Toughness numbers exceed 
the new race's maximums, then those fields are reset to the new race's 
maximum Atribute values. Points Left will also be different from the numbers 
shown above. You can reset Strength and Toughness to 5 using the plus and 
minus keys, but you may also simply adjust the new numbers to reflect your 
preferences for the new character.

Talents

After the Attributes, you need to assign Ranks to Talents. Your list of available 
talents will depend on your Discipline and Circle. EDGE only shows the talents 
available to your character. See the Earthdawn rulebook, pp. 94-121, for a 
complete list of talents for each Discipline and descriptions of those talents. 
The number of Ranks you have available to assign to talents is shown in the 
Ranks Left field at the bottom left side of your screen (next to Points Left). 
Each Rank costs 1 Rank point. The Talents field is a scrolling list; use the up 
and down arrows to scroll through the entries (or point and click with the 
mouse). The current talent is highlighted. To increase a talent Rank, press the 
plus key or Return. To decrease a talent Rank, press the minus key or 
Backspace. Press Tab to leave the Talents field at any time.

Note that humans have the Versatility talent (scroll down to view this talent) 
and a list of all other talents made available to them through Versatility. 
Consult the Earthdawn rulebook, p. 120, to find out how to use this talent. 
EDGE will allow you to put as many Ranks into the talents listed for Versatility 
as you have Ranks assigned to Versatility. For example, if you have Versatility 
at Rank 2, you may assign 2 Ranks to any 1 talent in the lower list, or you can 
assign one Rank to each of 2 talents in that list. All 4 Ranks in this example (2 
in Versatility and 2 in talents available because of Versatility) count against 
your Ranks Left total.

Artisan Skill

Consult the Earthdawn rulebook to find out what artisan skills are 
appropriate for your character's Discipline and type it in this field.

Karma

The Karma field shows your character's starting Karma. You can change this 
figure during character creation by spending some of the Points Left to "buy" 
additional Karma Points. To do this, highlight the Karma field and press the 
plus key once for each point of Karma increase. A corresponding decrease will 
appear in the Points Left field at the bottom of the screen. This is only possible 
during character creation, before any Legend Points awards are logged in 
EDGE. As soon as Legend Points are awarded, Karma changes are PERMANENT. 
See "Updating Karma" below for changing Karma after Legend Points have 
been awarded.

Legend Points

The Legend Points field shows your character's current Legend Points. For 
new characters, this will be 0. To award Legend Points, press the plus key 
while in this field. See "Awarding Legend Points" below for a complete 
description of this field.

Armor

The Armor field has a pop-up menu. The EDGE default for this field is "none," 
but you may select any type of armor. Scroll down to see all available armor 
types. Refer to the Earthdawn rulebook, pp. 254-56, for a list and complete 
descriptions of armor types. When you select armor, your character's Physical 
Armor, Mystic Armor, and Initiative fields are automatically adjusted for that 
armor type.

Shield

After choosing armor, you may choose a shield from the pop-up menu. The 
EDGE default for this field is "none," but you may select any type of shield. 
Scroll down in order to see all available shield types. Refer to the Earthdawn 
rulebook, p. 256, for a list and complete descriptions of shield types. When you 
select a shield, your character's Physical Armor, Mystic Armor, and Initiative 
fields are automatically adjusted for that shield type.

Weapons

The Weapons field is a scrolling list. You either have a weapon or you don't, 
and you can have more than one weapon. To select a weapon, use the arrow 
keys or the mouse to highlight the weapon name and press the space bar, 
which acts as an On/Off toggle for selecting weapons. If a weapon is selected, 
an entry appears in the Damage Step/Dice field next to the weapon's name. 
(Some weapons, like nets, do not do damage, and so "N/A" appears in the 
Damage Step/Dice field. Like talents, the Weapon field will only show those 
weapons your character can use based on Strength and Race. If a weapon 
requires two hands to use, the number "2" will appear in superscript next to 
the name.

If your character has an improved or damaged weapon, you can use the plus 
and minus keys to adjust the Damage Step/Dice field accordingly. These 
changes will be shown on the Character Record Sheet as plus or minus 
numbers next to the Damage Step/Dice entry.

Spells

If you have chosen one of the spellcasting talents (Elementalism, Illusion, 
Nethermancy, or Wizardry), a scrolling-list field is provided for selecting 
spells. Make sure you scroll down to the bottom to see everything that is 
available. The Spells menu only shows those spells that are available according 
to your talents, Circle, and Attributes. See the Earthdawn rulebook, pp. 158-
89, for full descriptions of spells and their limitations. Note that you need the 
Spellcasting talent, in addition to one of the talents listed above, in order to 
actually cast spells.

Calculated Fields

While you can Tab through most of the fields on the lower half of the screen, 
they should not be changed because they are calculated from Attributes. You 
can update the Physical Armor and Mystic Armor fields by selecting armor 
from the Armor field and a shield from the Shield field, both of which are pop-
up menus. Total Legend Points and Legendary Status will be updated 
automatically as you log Legend Points awards and improve your character. 
Future versions of the EDGE program will allow you to "buy" weapons and 
armor, and will update your money and Armor Ratings as appropriate. The 
exceptions are Damage, Wounds, and Blood Magic, which should be updated 
between adventures. These fields are discussed in the section on "Updating 
Existing Characters."

Saving Your New Character

Before you print your new character sheet, save the file. You should always 
save any changes you make to a file before perfoming any other program 
functions. To save your character, select Save from the File menu. The first 
time you save a named character file, the Save File dialog box will appear. The 
Save File dialog box shows the default file extension in the first line (*.EDC), 
followed by all existing .EDC files in the default directory C:\EDAWN. You can 
either type in a new name on that first line or use the Tab and arrow keys to 
highlight one of the existing file names. Then, Tab to the OK box on the right 
and press Return. We suggest that you use the character's name followed by 
".EDC" as a file name. We also suggest that you store all .EDC files in a 
subdirectory of C:\EDAWN.

After the character file has been saved the first time, performing Save will 
automatically save changes to that file without offering the Save File dialog 
box. If you are working with an existing character file and do not wish to 
overwrite the existing file with any changes you have made, select Save As 
from the File menu.

Printing Character Sheets

After you save your new character, or save any changes to your existing 
character, print your character record sheet. The printout will provide, in an 
easy-to-read format, all the details about your characterÑits physical 
description, Attributes, Discipline, talents and spells, Karma, Legend Points, 
and Armor. 

To print a character sheet, select Print Character from the File menu or press 
F1 (note the prompt along the lower edge of the screen). Make sure you have 
already selected a printer. If you want to send your character record to a file 
instead of the printer, choose Select Printer from the File menu and enter the 
path and filename in the Device field. You should select Generic as the printer 
type in order to get an ASCII output file. Remember to change this field back to 
a blank in order to send files to the printer.

The character record sheet has two sides, which print as separate pages. The 
first sheet provides most of the information you entered in EDGE. The second 
sheet provides spells, skills, Legend Points, and blank areas for writing down 
information like equipment, racial abilities, treasure, and character 
background notes. You can choose to print only the two pages of the character 
record sheet, or you can print the record sheet and all the applicable talent 
and spell descriptions for your character. You may also print out a blank 
character record sheet.

Updating Existing Characters

To update an existing character, you must award Legend Points and keep track 
of Karma, damage, Wounds, and Blood Magic. We suggest you use EDGE to track 
your character's progress right from the startÑupdating your character 
becomes a much easier process, and you can generate an up-to-date character 
sheet for each game session.

Opening Existing Character Files

In order to update an existing character, you must first open that character's 
record file by selecting Open from the File menu, then choosing the filename 
for that character from the list shown. If you do not see your character's 
filename on the list, check to make sure you are looking in the correct 
directory, and that you are looking at *.EDC files. To change the directory, type 
in the new, full pathname in the filename section, as follows and press return: 
C:\EDAWN\CHAR\

Awarding Legend Points

In order to record a Legend Point award, go to the Legend Points field (next to 
Karma, upper half of the screen) and press plus to bring up a dialog box. Enter 
the number of points awarded. This award will be added to your existing 
(unused) Legend Points and new totals recorded in both the Current Legend 
Points and Total Legend Points fields. Legendary Status will be updated 
automatically when applicable. In order to decrease Legend Points when using 
them to buy talents, skills, or threads, open the Legend Points dialog box by 
pressing minus.

Updating Karma

You can increase Karma using the Karma Ritual, which requires that you 
spend Legend Points to "buy" the Karma. To increase Karma, you must use the 
plus key, and you must have enough Legend Points available to purchase the 
increase. To spend Karma, you must use the minus key to decrease Karma. 
NOTE: All Karma expenditures are PERMANENT. However, if you make a 
mistake when either increasing or decreasing your Karma, EDGE will allow 
you to reverse the mistake. To decrease Karma by 1 point, restoring the cost to 
your Legend Points, press <Shift><-> (Shift key and minus key, simultaneously). 
To increase Karma by 1 point without decreasing your Legend Points by the 
required cost, press <Shift><+>. You do not need to change the Karma die. EDGE 
automatically updates the Karma die when your character advances to the next 
Circle.

Damage, Wounds, and Blood Magic

Use these fields to track damage carried over from game to game. An entry in 
the Blood Magic field affects calculations in the Damage field. For example, if 
your character takes a blood oath, you would set Blood Magic at 2. The Damage 
field will then flash red until you increase it to 2, also.. EDGE will not allow the 
value in the Damage field to be decreased below the value in the Blood Magic 
field. You can only erase these 2 points from Damage by zeroing out the Blood 
Magic field, then decreasing Damage accordingly.. Record the character's 
Wounds in the Wound field.

Improving Attributes and Talents

Once you have recorded a Legend Points award, the Legend Points field will 
show how many points you have available for improving Karma, Attributes, 
and talents. If you have sufficient Legend Points, you can use the plus key to 
increase an Attribute, improve talents, or add new talents. EDGE automatically 
decreases the Legend Points field by the cost of each Attribute point or talent 
Rank added. Only those talents available for your character's current Circle 
will appear until you increase your character's Circle; if you intend to add any 
new talents allowed by a higher Circle, save an appropriate number of points. 
If you add a talent as a skill, you must decrease your Legend Points by the cost 
of that skill rank.

Increasing the Discipline Circle 

This is a two-step process. Before EDGE will allow you to change the character's 
current Circle, you must improve the character's talents to the limits required 
for the new Circle. Once the talents meet the criteria for the new Circle, Tab to 
or use the mouse to click on the Circle field and use the plus key to increase its 
value. Once you have increased the Circle, return to the talents field and 
choose new talents from those available at the character's new Circle.

FOR GAMEMASTERS ONLY: Building NPCs

When building a non-player (gamemaster) character (NPC), you may increase 
restricted fields beyond their maximums without having to improve the 
character as described above by entering numbers using the keyboard. For 
example, you can set the Circle to whatever level you need by simply typing in 
the desired number. Until you balance this out with Legend Points and talent 
Ranks, the Circle field will flash red or blink, warning you that your 
character does not fall within the parameters of the rules. 

To determine how many Legend Points a higher-Circle character would 
typically have, consult the "Gamemastering Earthdawn" chapter of your 
Earthdawn rulebook. This chapter will also provide typical talent Ranks and 
other requirements for characters of a particular Circle.

Shortcuts: Function Keys and Alternate Functions

None of these functions are case-sensitive. The single-letter functions only 
work when the File menu is open.
File Menu Functions

Alt-N	New	Opens a blank character entry screen.
Alt-O	Open	Opens a selected character file.
Alt-S	Save File	Saves the current file to its defined name 
		(only prompts for name if no name exists).
A	Save As	Saves the current file to a specified name 
		(always prompts for name).
L	Save All	Saves all open files to selected names,
		prompts if no name exists.
R	Revert	Reloads current character file.
C	Close	Closes the top open character window.
T	Select Printer	Opens Select Printer dialog box.
B	Print Blank Sheet	Prints a blank character sheet.
F1	Print Character	Prints the current character record sheet.
Alt-X	Exit	Closes all open character windows, prompts 
		to save any changed character files, and 
		exits from EDGE.

Entry Screen Functions

F10	File Menu
Alt-A	Armor (opens menu)
Alt-C	Circle field
Alt-D	Discipline field (opens menu)
Alt-E	Perception
Alt-F	File Menu (opens menu)
Alt-G	Strength
Alt-H	Charisma
Alt-I	Willpower
Alt-K	Karma
Alt-L	Total Legend Points
Alt-P	Spell
Alt-R	Race field (opens menu)
Alt-T	Talent
Alt-U	Toughness
Alt-W	Weapon
Alt-Y	Dexterity
+	Increase field value by 1
-	Decrease field value by 1
Shift +	Correct Karma up by 1 point (no Legend Points debit)
Shift -	Correct Karma down by 1 point (restore Legend Points debit)
Troubleshooting and Technical Support

FASA will provide limited technical support only for registered users of EDGE. 
If you are having difficulty installing or running EDGE, you can call (312) 
243-5660 between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. (Central time). You may send a FAX to (312) 
243-4847 regarding the problem at any time. Include in your FAX such 
information as your PC configuration (amount of RAM, processor, etc.); DOS 
version; mouse, monitor, and printer types and driver versions; any 
background programs you are running and how much RAM they consume; 
and a complete description of what, exactly is happening or not happening 
and under what conditions. Also include a return FAX number or address. If 
you call during technical support hours, please be prepared to discuss all of 
this information in detail. We will attempt to help you resolve the problem, or 
will discuss alternative solutions at that time. The hours listed are the ONLY 
hours during which telephone technical support will be available.

There is one known technical problem with EDGE at this time: if you are using 
a Logitech mouse driver, you will not be able to use the mouse to move the 
cursor below the midpoint of the screen. You will be able to move around the 
lower half of the screen by using either the Tab and Shift-Tab keys, or by 
using the Alt key shortcuts.