Matthew M. Colville
12-12-1996, 11:16 AM
Hello! I'm totally new to this and think I've figured out how to post
to this digest.
I'm running a successful Birthright Campaign which I am quite
proud
of. Pardon me if I ramble on about it, I've done quite a bit of work
for B-right and want to share it with people who might appreciate it.
The camapaign was initially run as a series of solo adventures
for two
friends of mine. We would get together once a week and play,
one-on-one. Each character was in vaguely the same area of Cerilia as
the other and the idea was that, as they adventured, they *might* run
into each other and not know it. Then, after they reached 3rd level or
so, they would be brought together. The fun part of this (and it worked
really well) was that when they finally came together, they each had a
*real* history to thier characters. Not one they made up on the spur of
the moment.
One of the very few problems I have with Birthright is its lack
of High
Fantasy. Personally, I preferr the Forgotten Realms,
can't-throw-a-rock-without-hitting-a-tenth-level-mage, type of setting.=20
So I have, to a certian extent, amalgamated Birthright with my own ideas
about a fantasy setting.
When the two main characters came together, I also broughgt in
the rest
of our gaming group. The party is surprisingly well balanced.
Feel free to bite any ideas I have, or flame me about them! (if
you
don't want to read a LONG post, stop now.) I may describe some thigns
which are obvious. This is because I sometimes have a hard time
remembering what is true because I made it true, and what is true
because the rules say it is.
Ansen Flaertes; Duke of Tuornen.
Ansen was one of the Original Two characters. He is the only,
actual,
noble, although there are a few other blooded characters.
I allowed Ansen's player to roll up an Cavalier from the UA.=20
This is
because Anuire, it seems to me, is the perfect setting for such a
character, and I wanted Ansen to be *special.* So, Ansen graduated from
the Imperial University, in the Imperial City. The only place in all
Cerilia where Cavaliers come from. I picture Anuire being like
Enlightenment-era France, High Anuirean is French, Middle Anuirean is
common, and Old Anuirean is latin. So no-one calls Ansen a 'Cavalier,'
they call him a 'Chevalier,' which is much cooler.
Two important things have happend to Ansen since he became Duke.
1) A reunion of his Chevalric Order was held. He could not make
it.=20
In his absence, the hall in which the reunion was held burned down and
everyone inside was killed. Prince Avan, the man who hosted the
reunion, called the surviving Chevaliers together. Along with Ansen,
there are 12 of them. The Prince decided to form The Order of Haelyn's
Crown, making the 12 a living monument to their dead comrades. Because
of his high stature as one of the 12 Dukes, and his unexpected loyalty
to the Prince, Avan made Ansen the Head of the Order. Each member
underwent a sacred ritual, and was bound to a certain type of gemstone,
granting them a special power which remains unknown to them. Ansen, as
head of the Order, is associated with Diamond and is now also known as
The Diamond Cavalier. Diamond represents Man's mastery over the Shadow
World and this Ansen is immune to the special attacks of Undead. He is
5th level now and has not yet figured this out.
2) In my Birthright campaign, the Dwarves have not interacted in
any
way with the surface world since the battle at Mount Deissmar (The
Breaking Of The World, as the dwarves call it.) After 1500 years, that
tradition is broken and an ambassador is sent to the surface world.=20
After traveling through all Cerilia, he chooses Darian Avan as the
leader of the humans (this causes a lot of trouble.) Avan, against the
suggestion of his diplomats, chooses Ansen as his representative to the
Dwarves. I sent Ansen through the 'Dwarven Steel' adventure in Legends
of the Hero Kings. He successfuly completed the adventure and won the
right to treat with the Dwarves. He is now also known as Dwarvenfriend,
a unique title (which I ripped off from Thomas Covenant.)
All this is above and beyond the shit he's had to deal with as
Duke,
which is considerable.
Elemain, the Wizard
The other character who we started off with. He began life as
an
apprentice to a Wizard named Pierden in the Imperial City. The first
adventure, Pierden just up and left. He said "Come here, boy," and
invested Elemein right there on the spot, boom. No ceremony, no nothing
("There's usually a bunch of hubub about this, boy, but it basically
boils down to 'touch the staff. Now you're a wizard. Try not to botch
it up.'")
Since then Elemein has been trying to come to grips with filling
Pierden's shoes. This has led to a great deal of fun as Elemein pokes
around, trying different things out, and discovers what his Master had
been up to.
In my B-right campaign, the Royal College of Sorcery is a very
powerful
and introverted organization. The do not participate in *any* way with
the outside world. As a result a loose organization of Wizards has
established themselves in the Imperial City to take care of those things
magical which need taking care of in any large city. They are called
The Rogue Mages (operating in defiance of the Royal College,) there are
only three of them, and they are extremely powerful. Even now, at 5th
level, Elemein has only glimpsed the responsibility his Master had.
So now, along with the Wizards Norvien and Calien, Elemein is a
Rogue
Mage. He made several friends in his first few adventures, one of whom
was a young, attractive, assassin from the Assassin's Guild (there's an
Assassin's Guild in every major city, but only in the Imperial City do
they *call* themselves the Assassin's Guild.) Now, as a result of
decisions he's made, Elemein is the Patron Wizard of the Assassin's
Guild. Something you would never had expected, had you seen what type
of person Elemein is. Many interesting conundrums now face the young
Wizard.
Amoung other things, as he was discovering what his Master had
left
behind, Elemein finally managed to catalogue all the Magic Items his
Master had left him (in an extreme state of disarray). It amount to
approximately 112 potions, 213 scrolls, and a very few wands and staves
(one of which is the first part of the Rod of Seven Parts, although he
doesn't know this. This is because I've purchased the boxed adventure
for the Rod and intend on taking the party through it when they are
sufficient level. Did I mention Pierden was really powerful?) He then
discovered that the '6,000 gp' he found scrawled in Pierden's ill-kep
ledger was *not* the debts Pierden had left him, not how much Pierden
had in the bank, but the *interest* being earned on his savings. Which
turn out to be something like 1,116,864 gp.
Now, you may be crying "Monty Haul!" But I SWEAR to you, none
of these
things help Elemein one tiny little bit. Elemein's player is on the
net, I can have him vouch for me. Money doesn't do him any good. He's
not a Noble and has no overhead. So he can afford to buy a bigger
house, so what? He *likes* the house he has. So the money bascially
sits there, infuriating the player playing Ansen who would *kill* for
that cash! heheheh. . .
And the magic, while powerful, would mean devoting the better
part of 3
months to identifying all of it. Actually, now that he's met a Bard
with Identify, he intends on getting around to it now. It will make him
very powerful, true, but I can handle that, trust me. What it does more
than anything else, is inspire *awe* in Elemein toward his old Master
and make him wonder "Who *was* this guy?"
Who he was was Cerilia's version of Elminster. The mage who
represents
Cerilia to the other realities. That's how the Rogue Mages divvy up the
work. One concentrates on Cerilia, one on the Shadow World, and one
acts as a kind of Ambassador. Elemin has NO IDEA that this is true,
although when he finds out, it will explain a lot.
The party is currently going slowly through Night Below and
everyone's
having a great time. I'd describe the rest of the, equally unique,
party, but I suspect I've already pissed off a few people who didn't
intend getting a message this long in this mailbox!
=20
-Matthew
-
to this digest.
I'm running a successful Birthright Campaign which I am quite
proud
of. Pardon me if I ramble on about it, I've done quite a bit of work
for B-right and want to share it with people who might appreciate it.
The camapaign was initially run as a series of solo adventures
for two
friends of mine. We would get together once a week and play,
one-on-one. Each character was in vaguely the same area of Cerilia as
the other and the idea was that, as they adventured, they *might* run
into each other and not know it. Then, after they reached 3rd level or
so, they would be brought together. The fun part of this (and it worked
really well) was that when they finally came together, they each had a
*real* history to thier characters. Not one they made up on the spur of
the moment.
One of the very few problems I have with Birthright is its lack
of High
Fantasy. Personally, I preferr the Forgotten Realms,
can't-throw-a-rock-without-hitting-a-tenth-level-mage, type of setting.=20
So I have, to a certian extent, amalgamated Birthright with my own ideas
about a fantasy setting.
When the two main characters came together, I also broughgt in
the rest
of our gaming group. The party is surprisingly well balanced.
Feel free to bite any ideas I have, or flame me about them! (if
you
don't want to read a LONG post, stop now.) I may describe some thigns
which are obvious. This is because I sometimes have a hard time
remembering what is true because I made it true, and what is true
because the rules say it is.
Ansen Flaertes; Duke of Tuornen.
Ansen was one of the Original Two characters. He is the only,
actual,
noble, although there are a few other blooded characters.
I allowed Ansen's player to roll up an Cavalier from the UA.=20
This is
because Anuire, it seems to me, is the perfect setting for such a
character, and I wanted Ansen to be *special.* So, Ansen graduated from
the Imperial University, in the Imperial City. The only place in all
Cerilia where Cavaliers come from. I picture Anuire being like
Enlightenment-era France, High Anuirean is French, Middle Anuirean is
common, and Old Anuirean is latin. So no-one calls Ansen a 'Cavalier,'
they call him a 'Chevalier,' which is much cooler.
Two important things have happend to Ansen since he became Duke.
1) A reunion of his Chevalric Order was held. He could not make
it.=20
In his absence, the hall in which the reunion was held burned down and
everyone inside was killed. Prince Avan, the man who hosted the
reunion, called the surviving Chevaliers together. Along with Ansen,
there are 12 of them. The Prince decided to form The Order of Haelyn's
Crown, making the 12 a living monument to their dead comrades. Because
of his high stature as one of the 12 Dukes, and his unexpected loyalty
to the Prince, Avan made Ansen the Head of the Order. Each member
underwent a sacred ritual, and was bound to a certain type of gemstone,
granting them a special power which remains unknown to them. Ansen, as
head of the Order, is associated with Diamond and is now also known as
The Diamond Cavalier. Diamond represents Man's mastery over the Shadow
World and this Ansen is immune to the special attacks of Undead. He is
5th level now and has not yet figured this out.
2) In my Birthright campaign, the Dwarves have not interacted in
any
way with the surface world since the battle at Mount Deissmar (The
Breaking Of The World, as the dwarves call it.) After 1500 years, that
tradition is broken and an ambassador is sent to the surface world.=20
After traveling through all Cerilia, he chooses Darian Avan as the
leader of the humans (this causes a lot of trouble.) Avan, against the
suggestion of his diplomats, chooses Ansen as his representative to the
Dwarves. I sent Ansen through the 'Dwarven Steel' adventure in Legends
of the Hero Kings. He successfuly completed the adventure and won the
right to treat with the Dwarves. He is now also known as Dwarvenfriend,
a unique title (which I ripped off from Thomas Covenant.)
All this is above and beyond the shit he's had to deal with as
Duke,
which is considerable.
Elemain, the Wizard
The other character who we started off with. He began life as
an
apprentice to a Wizard named Pierden in the Imperial City. The first
adventure, Pierden just up and left. He said "Come here, boy," and
invested Elemein right there on the spot, boom. No ceremony, no nothing
("There's usually a bunch of hubub about this, boy, but it basically
boils down to 'touch the staff. Now you're a wizard. Try not to botch
it up.'")
Since then Elemein has been trying to come to grips with filling
Pierden's shoes. This has led to a great deal of fun as Elemein pokes
around, trying different things out, and discovers what his Master had
been up to.
In my B-right campaign, the Royal College of Sorcery is a very
powerful
and introverted organization. The do not participate in *any* way with
the outside world. As a result a loose organization of Wizards has
established themselves in the Imperial City to take care of those things
magical which need taking care of in any large city. They are called
The Rogue Mages (operating in defiance of the Royal College,) there are
only three of them, and they are extremely powerful. Even now, at 5th
level, Elemein has only glimpsed the responsibility his Master had.
So now, along with the Wizards Norvien and Calien, Elemein is a
Rogue
Mage. He made several friends in his first few adventures, one of whom
was a young, attractive, assassin from the Assassin's Guild (there's an
Assassin's Guild in every major city, but only in the Imperial City do
they *call* themselves the Assassin's Guild.) Now, as a result of
decisions he's made, Elemein is the Patron Wizard of the Assassin's
Guild. Something you would never had expected, had you seen what type
of person Elemein is. Many interesting conundrums now face the young
Wizard.
Amoung other things, as he was discovering what his Master had
left
behind, Elemein finally managed to catalogue all the Magic Items his
Master had left him (in an extreme state of disarray). It amount to
approximately 112 potions, 213 scrolls, and a very few wands and staves
(one of which is the first part of the Rod of Seven Parts, although he
doesn't know this. This is because I've purchased the boxed adventure
for the Rod and intend on taking the party through it when they are
sufficient level. Did I mention Pierden was really powerful?) He then
discovered that the '6,000 gp' he found scrawled in Pierden's ill-kep
ledger was *not* the debts Pierden had left him, not how much Pierden
had in the bank, but the *interest* being earned on his savings. Which
turn out to be something like 1,116,864 gp.
Now, you may be crying "Monty Haul!" But I SWEAR to you, none
of these
things help Elemein one tiny little bit. Elemein's player is on the
net, I can have him vouch for me. Money doesn't do him any good. He's
not a Noble and has no overhead. So he can afford to buy a bigger
house, so what? He *likes* the house he has. So the money bascially
sits there, infuriating the player playing Ansen who would *kill* for
that cash! heheheh. . .
And the magic, while powerful, would mean devoting the better
part of 3
months to identifying all of it. Actually, now that he's met a Bard
with Identify, he intends on getting around to it now. It will make him
very powerful, true, but I can handle that, trust me. What it does more
than anything else, is inspire *awe* in Elemein toward his old Master
and make him wonder "Who *was* this guy?"
Who he was was Cerilia's version of Elminster. The mage who
represents
Cerilia to the other realities. That's how the Rogue Mages divvy up the
work. One concentrates on Cerilia, one on the Shadow World, and one
acts as a kind of Ambassador. Elemin has NO IDEA that this is true,
although when he finds out, it will explain a lot.
The party is currently going slowly through Night Below and
everyone's
having a great time. I'd describe the rest of the, equally unique,
party, but I suspect I've already pissed off a few people who didn't
intend getting a message this long in this mailbox!
=20
-Matthew
-