Why no BR (who needs bloodlines

[Tim Nutting]

Actually, in all the huff about what to do to make it fair for nonblooded
rulers? I've got the simple answer. Non-blooded rulers automatically meet
MINIMUM RP requirements for an action, and that is it. They may never
accrue an RP score, and can only affect outcome by gold at the rate of 5GB
per RP (totally arbitrary and unfounded)

Investiture is a ceremony that simply affirms the regent as being chosen by
god, and in my alternative game is not necessary, though I have yet to work
out an affirmation. In the case of a republic, the vote of the ruling body
(senate or populace) simply counts as an investiture. Any magical effects
are null and voided, however, and a non-blooded regent gets no special
bonuses. too bad...

I guess when the stuff of gods flows through the old clicker you can do some
more stuff than those poor measly mortals, eh?

nuff of this :)

Tim Nutting

[Timothy R. Haney]

Tim Nutting wrote:
>
> I guess when the stuff of gods flows through the old clicker you can do some
> more stuff than those poor measly mortals, eh?

First off, let me say I like the bloodline concept (Really!). But, I
also would like to have my game fairly low level of magic (I have a
setting for high magic). I thought the best way to ensure that is to
have new characters roll for a chance to have a bloodline (using the
method as rolling for psionic wild talents). In this, there will be few
true mages from the characters or the setting. I was hoping that the
new Birthright hardcover would have had non-blood required regent rules
(making them useful for all settings) so that even those non-blooded
character have the chance to become regents later without rolling new
characters. I guess my idea that having divine blood is nice but
shouldn't be something you just pick like the type of weapon you will
use :) And it shouldn't be necessary for ruling domains (though comes
in handy) but that wouldn't be a problem if there weren't so many
regents with bloodlines already making characters without bloodlines
have a handicap they can't recover from. Since I don't plan to use the
regent rules anyway, I'd probably just treat domains the old way I
learned in D&D. Well, enough of my rambling. Just a thought from the
poor measly mortal side :)

- --
Timothy R. Haney
galwylin@airnet.net

The Tome of Galwylin - http://www.airnet.net/galwylin/
Galwylin's Bookshop - http://www.airnet.net/galwylin/bookshop/

[JulesMrshn@aol.co]

The first question is, why is there a non-blooded ruler in a BR Campaign. Are
they from one of the Sourthern Continents?

Ok, here is how I used Non-Bloodeds from the South:

1) No RP no probelm.
They rule through money. Everything with RP Cost is substituted in GoldX3
(Except Diplomacy where the cost is x2)
Priest gain power through Special Holy stones(Idea from the Tome of Magic)
that focus peoples worshiping. They use these stones to cast things similar
to Realm Spells, though they need a circle of 10 preists and one of 13th level
or better to lead the casting. Their power is granted by Azari or any other
evil or corrupt god,. The good things about these stones, once charged, they
can be brought with the preists. Blooded Preists will loose all of their
2)Success.
Same but can be modified by GoldX2
Rule Province Pure success roll, allowed to spend 2 gold vs every RP spent
against it.
3)Actions not allowed:
Any Wizard action
Investiture:Priests cast a realm spell called Land Grant, removing any blooded
control of the province. By doing this the focus of the land RP is sent into
one of the preistly stones and allows the Landed Non-Blooded regnt to keep any
other from investing his land. As long as that stone remains intact and
within the borders of the province, the province can not be invested!

[Jim Cooper]

Tim wrote:
> Non-blooded rulers automatically meet MINIMUM RP requirements for an action, and that is it.<

Actually, I've got a simpler answer: eliminate RP requirements for ALL
actions. Now, RPs are used by the blooded to enhance the actions they
do, which is what the designers intended them for anyway, right? Simple
change RPs to GBs in the requirement line. Now, anyone can do an
action, but having RPs allows for a much better chance at success.

> They may never accrue an RP score, and can only affect outcome by gold at the rate of 5GB per RP (totally arbitrary and unfounded)<

I wouldn't go that far. A simple 1 for 1 conversion, on actions that
allow GBs to be spent to help the action is sufficient I would think.
There is no need to hamstring those not gifted with the blood; the
blooded have enough advantages already - doing the above would start to
make BR unappealing and too limiting a game.

Cheers,
Me

[darkstar]

Jim Cooper wrote:

> Actually, I've got a simpler answer: eliminate RP requirements for ALL
> actions. Now, RPs are used by the blooded to enhance the actions they
> do, which is what the designers intended them for anyway, right? Simple
> change RPs to GBs in the requirement line. Now, anyone can do an
> action, but having RPs allows for a much better chance at success.

Here is some information that I created a while back. It was originally
for my Adurian expansion, before that was changed to include blooded
regents (after Ed's explanation of how they could exist).
Enjoy...

Regency:
The mystical power associated with Blooded rulers and leaders is not as
common in Aduria. Certainly there are a few that have
Bloodline, but it is not common place as in Cerilia. Most of the rulers
are Unblooded and so do not collect Regency Points. This means
that a Blooded ruler would have a great advantage in Aduria over the
current unblooded rulers.

In Cerilia there are around two thousand or so Blooded Scions, while in
Aduria the number is more like four or five hundred, with
most of the kingdom on the continent having never been ruled by a
Blooded regent. About two thirds of this number are actually
members of the Skissshar race, who stole the bloodlines of many of the
Adurian survivors of Deismaar. The rest are travellers from
Cerilia, the Dwarves from Dunedin, or the Lost, who Azrai gave
bloodlines to before Deismaar.

Blooded Scions are unwelcome in large areas of Aduria, especially in the
Adurian Empire where the priests of Azrai will hunt them
down and kill them should they be discovered. A Scion of Azrai however
may be treated differently however, especially if the priests
think it could improve their power in the Empire to have a messenger of
Azrai around. Awnsheghlien are killed on sight though.

The Domain:
The domain of an unblooded regent in Aduria can take many forms, but
they are divided even more along class lines that in Cerilia. In
most realms it is very unlikely to find a priest who rules provinces, or
a merchant with temple holdings. Magicians, and Rangers are
very unlikely to ever rule a province or a holding.

Provinces, like those in Cerilia, are generally political or terrain
divisions in a kingdom. Because of the size of some of the Adurian
Empires, with four numbering more than one hundred provinces, and many
others larger than any of the Cerilia kingdom, an area of
land the size of a province has become less important. Instead regions
the size of entire kingdom are considered.
In the Adurian Empire, which is ruled by an Emperor, there are six
Governors who each rule large states with around thirty provinces
each, as well as several protectorates, also ruled by a Governor. Other
lands also have similar arrangements. The actually ruler of the
entire Empire may control very little in the way of land, but he rules
over a vast areas through Governors or Princes, usually appointed
by him. When this occurs the Emperor usually taxes an entire State,
rather than each individual province, leaving the taxes of the
people up to the Governors.

The Holdings and Assets controlled by a ruler are very similar to those
in Cerilia, except for source holdings, which are held by only a
very few regents indeed.
Guild holdings usually represent trade companies rather than actual
businesses. Because trade is so important in Aduria, especially in
regions where food and natural resources are scarce then merchants can
grow extremely rich transporting goods around the
continent. Both the Adurian Empire and Nehalim have very good road
networks, while in the southern lands trade is conducted by
boats. Some guilds however may also be made up of miners or foresters
who control the income of a small number of provinces. These
guild however do not usually grow that large, and if they do soon change
into full trade guilds.
Law Holdings in Aduria can be very varied, as in Cerilia. In lands such
as the Adurian Empire the law is strictly enforced by the
Legions while in other lands there may be almost no law at all.
Temples in Aduria tend to be very violent towards those who do not
support their views. The temple of Azrai in the Adurian Empire has
been fighting an ongoing war of influence with the Emperor for control
of the Empire. This has been fairly civilised, but in other
lands warfare between religious orders and those who do not agree with
their god are commonplace.

Loyalty:
Like lands ruled by a Blooded regent those ruled by an Unblooded ruler
have a loyalty level which can be influenced by events that
occur in the province. The people of Aduria however do not see their
rulers as being anything special and so rebellions are more likely.
If anyone has enough money to fund an army in a province, and the
loyalty is poor or worse then it is likely that the people of the
province will join with the army to throw out the current rulers. This
occurs quite often in some of the smaller kingdoms, especially
those in the south and control is usually given to however as the most
powerful army.
If a Unblooded ruler does not have a law holding in a province then the
loyalty level will drop by one grade each turn, until the
province rebels and breaks away from the rulers control, or the ruler
sends troops to maintain order.

Investiture:
Unblooded regent do not have any connect to the land, and so provinces
they rule have not been invested to them. Instead the
provinces can be considered occupied by their armies. This type of
occupation however does not cost anything to maintain. However as
noted above a regent must have a law holding or troops in a province to
maintain the loyalty or the people or they will either elect a
new ruler of their own or side with another kingdom.
Because they regent lacks a bloodline it is however impossible to invest
holdings and provinces. Each province must be conquered by
the regents armies, and holding must either be captured or destroyed and
replaced with the regents own. It is almost impossible to
convince law and temple holdings to change allegiances, so these usually
must be destroyed and then the regent can build his own to
replace them. Guild holdings however may sign up with a new regent if
both sides agree to the transfer.

Vassalage:
As Unblooded regent do not collect regency oaths of vassalage are
instead more like trade agreements. Usually the vassal will elect to
serve a more powerful ruler in return for protection from enemies (or
the powerful rulers own armies). In return they will give a
portion of their tax income over to their new liege.

Tax Collection:
Just because an Unblooded regent lack a connection to the land does not
mean that he can not collect taxes. In realms of high law this
usually proceeds without any trouble, but in regions where a ruler has
no law holdings then he had better send some troops with his
tax collectors or the people may refuse to pay.
Use the tables in the Birthright Rulebook to determine tax and
collection income, however the DM may also rule that no tax is
collected if the Unblooded regent does not have enough influence in a
province.



Part 3: Domain Actions:

Adventure:
Type: Character
Success: Special
Base Cost: None
Aduria's Kings and Emperors are usually less inclined to go off on
Adventures, preferring to send in the army if there are any
problems. There is nothing however to stop them doing so. The cost in
time and gold are the same as in the Birthright Rulebook.

Agitate:
Type: Domain (Priest: Free), Realm
Success: 10+
Base Cost: 2 GB
This actions is basically the same as what is set out in the Rulebook,
however Unblooded regents can spend only gold to improve the
success chance.

Build:
Type: Free
Success: 5+
Base Costs: 1 GB+
As in the rulebook.

Contest:
Type: Domain, Realm
Success: 10+
Base Cost: 1 GB
The results are the same as in the Rulebook, but no extra can be spent
to improve the success chance of this spell. Regents with a
similar holding type can influence the roll. This means that a regent
with a large holding in a province is very difficult to dislodge. The
province ruler can not influence the roll as he lack the connection with
the people and the land that a Blooded regent has.

Create Holding:
Type: Domain
Success: 10+
Base Costs: 1 GB
This is exactly the same as in the Rulebook, except an Unblooded regent
can not spend RPs to improve the success chance.

Declare War:
Type: Free
Success: Special
Base Cost: None
Aduria's rulers do not follow the rules of war as do the Anuireans and
are constantly sending armies off to fight each other. Conquest
and war are seen as the only way of spreading influence across the
continent and most kingdom and Empires have large professional
armies ready to move at a moments notice. An Adurian ruler does not need
to actually declare to his enemy that he is going to attack,
and few ever do, instead sending their armies to do the talking for
them.

Decree:
Type: Free
Success: Special
Base Cost: 1 GB
Same as in Rulebook.

Diplomacy:
Type: Domain
Success: 10+
Base Cost: 1 GB
Same as in Rulebook, except no RPs can be spent to influence the
diplomacy. Gold however can be used instead of Regency.

Disband:
Type: Free
Success: Automatic
Base Cost: None
Mercenaries in Aduria are far more organised and disciplined than in
Cerilia. As long as they have been paid their fee they will cause
no trouble when they are disbanded.

Espionage:
Type: Domain (Thief: Free)
Success: Special
Base Cost: 1 GB
The rule for espionage follow those in the Rulebook, except no RPs can
be spent on action of course. In Aduria most lands have
specialised espionage rings that are used to keep an eye on their
enemies. These are usually far more organised than those that have
been set up in Cerilia.

Finances:
Type: Free
Success: Automatic
Base Cost: None
As in Rulebook. In the Adurian Empire until recently it was very common
for Governors of the various states and protectorates to
remove vast sums of money from the treasuries they looked after for
themselves and little was done about it. Now however the new
Emperor regularly sends investigators to check up on his Governors and
ensure they are not stealing from the Empire.

Forge Ley Line:
Type: Domain
Success: 5+
Base Cost: 1 GB
This action is not available to unblooded regents.

Fortify:
Type: Domain
Success: 2+
Base Cost: 1 GB
As in Rulebook. Generally these fortification tend not to be castles,
but rather purely military structures such as forts, guard towers,
and fortified barracks.

Grant:
Type: Free
Success: 10+
Base Cost: Varies
As in Rulebook.

Hold Action:
Type: Free
Success: Automatic
Base Cost: None
As in Rulebook.

Investiture:
Type: Domain, Realm
Success: Special
Base Cost: Special
This action in not available to unblooded regents.

Lieutenant:
Type: Character
Success: Special
Base Cost: None
As in Rulebook.

Move Troops:
Type: Free
Success: Automatic
Base Cost: 1 GB
As in Rulebook. The one exception to this is inside the Adurian Empire.
That nation has set up a network of roads, garrisons etc that
enables it to move troops around its provinces at no extra cost. No
other kingdom has such a good network however and they must pay
the normal cost of 1 GB for every 10 movement points.

Ply Trade:
Type: Character
Success: Special
Base Cost: None
As in Rulebook. It is unlikely however that any of Aduria's rulers would
ever stoop so low as to work on a common trade.

Realm Spell:
Type: Domain
Success: Special
Base Cost: Special
This action is not available to unblooded regents.

Research:
Type: Character
Success: Special
Base Cost: 1 GB+
As in Rulebook.

Rule:
Type: Domain, Realm
Success: 10+
Base Cost: 1 GB
Ruling a holding or province is much more difficult if the regent does
not have a bloodline. The action cost a minimum of 1 GB plus a
number of GB equal to the holding level the regent wants to rule to.
This number is doubled from provinces. The chance of success is
10 plus the level of the holding or province that the regent wants to
rule to.
e.g. If a high priest wanted to increase his temple from level 4 to
level 5 then he would need to spend 6 GB and roll above 15 on the
dice roll. If it was a province it would be 11 GB and 15+
The roll can be influenced only by regents with similar holdings. The
roll to increase a province size can only be influenced by a
wizards source holding.

Trade Route:
Type: Domain, Realm
Success: 10+
Base Cost: 1 GB
As in Rulebook, although no extra RP or GB can be spent.

Training:
Type: Character
Success: Special
Base Cost: Special
As in Rulebook.

- --
Ian Hoskins

e-Mail: hoss@box.net.au
Homepage: http://www.box.net.au/~hoss

ICQ: 2938300 AIM: IHoskins

[Olesens]

Tim Nutting wrote:

> They may never
> accrue an RP score, and can only affect outcome by gold at the rate of 5GB
> per RP (totally arbitrary and unfounded)

But also remember that most actions say you can spend RP and/or GBs to affect
the roll. Now blooded regents will normally spend thier less-valuable RPs on
improving actions, but unblooded ones'll have to spend gold. I would say a 3 GB
per RP on actions which RP can only be spent (like Contest?).