Quote from: trollock;546821Is it even possible to ignore the Shadowrun connection?

Yes. It's pretty easy to do so.

Is there a canonical connection between the two IPs of Shadowrun and Earthdawn?  Or is it more a fan-made connection?

It's there, but very subdued. Mainly via the Harlequin adventures.

Yeah, that was a 1st Edition thing, when development was still in-house at FASA, but even then it was really only hinted at until later in the ED/Shadowrun cycle, with things like characters who lived through the Fourth Age and into the Sixth. Mainly immortal elves and dragons, but they were the only ones who knew the Lovecraftian Horrors were going to come back when the mana levels spike.

Metaplot Spoiler ~

Spoiler

Dunkelzhan (who in ED has been identified as Mountainshadow, I believe) sacrificed himself (and used some ancient Theran magic) to delay the crest of the mana cycle in Shadowrun so that the lesser Namegiver races could get their shit together before Verjigorm the Dragon Hunter and his crew/power-level of Horrors came back.

As such, there are parallels. Some of which I'm only begining to understand. For example, Blood Charms = Cyberware. Mr. Johnsons = Agents of [The Great Dragons, The Eye of Throal, Blood Wood, Iopos, etc]...... I think I might start to cannibalize actual Shadowrun adventures after the D&D toolkit is done.

Thanks for the point to the Design, Development, and Gameplay subforum.. I'll have to grab some of my notes.

Quote from: Drohem;546843Is there a canonical connection between the two IPs of Shadowrun and Earthdawn?  Or is it more a fan-made connection?

The cycle of magic rises and falls every 5000 years or so.  5000 years of magic, 5000 years of no magic.  When magic is at it's height, the magic level is high enough for the Horrors to cross over into our world.

ED takes place in the back half of the 4th World (a magic cycle), after the magic level had dropped and most of the Horrors had gone.
Shadowrun takes place in the front half of the 6th World (a magic cycle), when magic has just returned.  

Spoiler

Normally Shadowrun wouldn't have to worry about Horrors for a couple thousand years, but high-powered Blood Magic creates spikes in the magical energy of the world which is like a bridge that can allow the Horrors to come much sooner.  Harlequin's Back adventure, and a few novels deal with trying to break that bridge.