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View Full Version : An Ice storm for elven mages: actua



prtr02@scorpion.nspco.co
06-25-1998, 07:31 PM
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> years. This new mighty spell, that new way to get regency or bloodline,
> this
> new imported race or monster.... In short, Birthright is becoming more
> generic
> and overpowered as time goes by. If you breach the barrier by saying "Oh
> yeah,
> it was only humans they were counting in the 120." You open the door for
> things
> like "Well, there's thousands of Drow magic users living under the surface
> driving the Orogs to the surface. We just didn't know about them before.
> Buy
> our new supplement!"

HAHAHAHahahahhar har har. Funny.

I wish TSR was saying "buy our new Birthright supplement". But they aren't.
If they ever do again, it's not going to be the same, it'll be in an "exciting
new format" which is certainly NOT coming out 6 months from now. Maybe 12.
Why do I say that? Because Ed Stark stated that Bill Slaviscek (sp) wanted to
relaunch the line with plenty of advertising and attention, like the Alternity
setting got. And if it's not beginning to happen right now, then you will NOT
see new Birthright by the end of the next 6 months.

What does this mean? It means face it, your not going to see the kind of
Birthright setting materials you've come to know and love. Ever. If you want
to expand your campaign, you are, for the foreseeable future, on your own.
This means if you want to expand Birthright you need to do it yourself.

Personally, I partially agree with Randax in that more powerful magic should
not be introduced, but I feel the idea that having individual DMs add new
magic is going to turn Birthright into a "generic" fantasy game a little bit
silly.

And I'm *not even* going to get into the # of elven true wizards question!
Decide for yourselves how many you think there are. In my game, there are as
many battle-ready elven wizards as there are combined human battle-ready
priests, magicians and wizards, because otherwise the PC kingdoms would've
easily squashed each and every one of the major elven realms by now. Elves
are not loved in my games. But each game is different, and you might give a
different kind of edge to elven realms, or eliminate them altogether.

"Puts on flame retardant clothes"

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**Whomp! Whump! Whap!** Have an ice storm instead! :)

Yeah, you're probably right. If if new BR material was coming out in six months
we'd see the advertising now. *Sigh* Hopefully next summer in time for GenCon.
Maybe if we're lucky the Book of Regency will be released before that.

It's been said that the new BR material won't be too different from the old.
That might not be true a year from now. If it turns out to be more generic,
I won't buy it. With every region of Cerilia covered by a sourcebook (and
Mage: the Sorcerer's Crusade covering the Renaissance) I've got lots to keep
me busy for probably the rest of my gaming life.

Lastly, I'm not saying someone introducing a few elven mages, a new realm spell or well-made magic item is going to ruin BR.
I'm exaggerating for effect. Just beware the
creep toward the Core Rules which would rob the setting of much of its flavor.
It's human nature for players to want the advantages of BR- bloodpowers, armies at their command; without any of the restrictions- decrease of bloodline
strength for poor rulership, very low number of true mages, few magic items etc.
It's the "restrictions" as much as the "advantages" relative to the Core rules
that gives BR its flavor. The Core rules aren't the greatest, there are much
better RPG systems out there. They're old. I don't say "I play D&D." I say
"I play Birthright." While the hobby owes much to D&D (and equally as much to
the all-but-forgotten Empire of the Petal Throne) RPG systems have evolved far
beyond D&D in the past 25 years. Gawd!- I'm becoming ancient! Let's see, that's
- -2 to my strength....

Randax