The Book of Exploration is a supplement published by FASA in 1996 for the fantasy role-playing game Earthdawn.
The Book of Exploration presents over twenty stories involving maps, clues, descriptions of monsters, myths and legends. [1] These stories are designed to be of inspiration to referees looking for ideas for their Earthdawn campaign. [2] The second half of the book analyses each story, with specific suggestions on how it could be turned into an adventure. [2]
The Book of Exploration, the second volume in the Earthdawn Legends series, [3] was written by Diane Piron-Gelman, Greg Gorden, David R. Henry, Angel Leigh McCoy, Jim Nelson, Andrew Ragland, and Rich Warren. [3]
In the July 1996 edition of Arcane (Issue 8), Andy Butcher gave this volume a below average rating of only 5 out of 10, saying that it suffered from the same problem as the first volume of Earthdawn legends: "There are a lot of good ideas here, but even the best of them require work to turn into something useful. If you're completely stumped for inspiration, or need a plot quickly for some reason, then this may be of use. Otherwise, steer clear." [2]
In the November 1996 edition of Dragon (Issue 235), Rick Swan called the stories "well-written and tightly edited, they go down as easy as potato chips." However, he questioned why the stories were released as a relatively expensive ($10 in 1996) large format softcover, saying, "This is essentially a collection of short stories. So why not publish it as a paperback book and knock the price down a few bucks?" [3]