Too easy...

[DeadPretty]

I have recently begun my game in the BR setting, and have been wondering about
a few things... Our characters have become very powerful and influential in a
matter of 3 years (game time). There are three players who all play regents-
Aerenwe, Roesone, and Ilien... They forged an alliance between themselves and
practically rule southern Anuire...

The mage regent has expanded his domain of Ilien to include three new
provinces in Aduria... Mieres did what they could to stop them, but the other
regents flexed their muscle... This huge empire is being forged and it just
seems like it is too easy. The money, regency, blood and experience is
flowing in and it looks like there is going to be no stopping them.

We use the Players Options rules to their full potential which makes the
characters a little more powerful, but the NPCs and enemies are beefed-up as
well so that isnt the problem...

Wars, awnsheghlin, corruption, blood challenges, natural disasters, even a
visit from The Wizard while the characters were low-level... It just seems
too easy.

I would like to hear how everyone else's campaigns are going just so I can
compare... Province/Holding levels, blood strength of the PCs, magical items
owned, etc.



Thanks,



Dead-Chan

[Bret W. Davenport]

DeadPretty wrote:

> I have recently begun my game in the BR setting, and have been wondering about
> a few things... Our characters have become very powerful and influential in a
> matter of 3 years (game time). There are three players who all play regents-
> Aerenwe, Roesone, and Ilien... They forged an alliance between themselves and
> practically rule southern Anuire...
>
> The mage regent has expanded his domain of Ilien to include three new
> provinces in Aduria... Mieres did what they could to stop them, but the other
> regents flexed their muscle... This huge empire is being forged and it just
> seems like it is too easy. The money, regency, blood and experience is
> flowing in and it looks like there is going to be no stopping them.

Well, it would seem to me that the first problem is the alliance. Given that, if it'snot too late,
I would suggest having other Regents realize the inherent danger is
such an arrangement and forming an alliance of their own. It may be one of the
perils of a new campaign, though, as by now, it may be to late to stem the tide.
Remember, though, that what they get the other regents can too. It is a lot of
work to be a DM in such an arrangement, though, so if you don't have the time
to control so massive a task (I know I don't), I would suggest letting this one
play itself out. They player are (hopefully) enjoying themselves and that's one
of the purposes to playing. However, you can always twist the whole thing
around by playing a DMs trump card and forcing an adventure that puts them
on the brink of distruction. Perhaps lull them into a false sense of security. Or
tempt them with a carrot that's really a trap. IE: Suppose they go adventure after
some rare artifact rumored to be powerful enough to aid any regent destroy the
Gorgon himself, only to be pulled into the Shadow World where they are held
for the length of the adventure. Succeeding, as good players will, they eventually
return to good old Cerilia only to realize that 2 full years have passed!!! Their
kingdoms are in shambles! They have to rally quickly, using their wit and
regency to gather back in their territories. From there, you could have numerous
subplots. Gorgon massing troops to the north, perhaps? Rumors that the whole
thing was a set-up from within - who to trust now? - as another possiblity. Much
can be retaken except for all the temples are solidly held and strongest amongst
them is a new religion called "the Open Fist" - a mysterious and secretive group
that has unknown leadership... etc... etc..

At any rate, I would judge the mood and personalities of my players. If your
players are the type who enjoy a good challenge, throw that twist at them.
Challenge them to work for it. Sure they might whine a bit, but if they are
truly wanting a fullfilling campaign, they will have a blast in the long run when
they spoil all your hard pressing plans. If they like it easy, let them have
their bone this time. You can always start a new one later, when usually
even the Monty Hall players will be bored and want more meat with their
dinner...

At any rate, hope this helps...if not, ignore it like most have learned to do
with my posts -grin-

Another 2 GBs of Opinions from,
Bret "Severe Taxation of the Mouth" Davenport

[Samuel Weiss]

>Well, it would seem to me that the first problem is the alliance.<

I agree totally with Brett here. The problem is the alliance. His solutions
are preety much on target too.
Afte my group of bold and merry heroes unified the southern coast from
Diemed to Aernwe and beyond, I staged a major war which they barely
survived. Then, in a fit of brilliance, or perhaps decent alignment play,
they tossed away the greatest part of their gains. As a result, they soon
fond themselves facing a consolidated Avanil, An incredibly agreesive
temporal fief of the Militant Order of Cuiraecen, and other fun things too.
As well, everyone knew they were the ones to oppose. In the end, they
replaced 2 dozen closet enemies for 6 open enemies. Sort of like France
during its long, slow unification. And of course, they still had to figure
out how to manage the whole thing. We ended that campaign at that point, so
they never got to face the widespread heresies and pretenders waiting in
the wings for them.
Outright though, I wonder how they have resolved the problem between the
IHH and ETN. The IHH is not likely to take this all laying down. They want
the ETN gone, and any Roesonean regent just letting things lie would soon
find them causing all sorts of trouble for the heretic ruler. Or do they
control the temples as well as the law and guild sources?

Samwise

[darkstar]

DeadPretty wrote:

> The mage regent has expanded his domain of Ilien to include three new
> provinces in Aduria... Mieres did what they could to stop them, but the other
> regents flexed their muscle... This huge empire is being forged and it just
> seems like it is too easy. The money, regency, blood and experience is
> flowing in and it looks like there is going to be no stopping them.

This is easy to solve. Just give him some Adurian to deal with. I have
been working an Adurian expansion that will be avalible from my webpage.
Currently most of it can be found at
(http://www.box.net.au/~hoss/birth.html) as I am working on updating
some of the info which will soon find its way onto my new page (address
in sig).


- --
Ian Hoskins

e-Mail: hoss@box.net.au
Homepage: http://darkstar.cyberserv.com
ICQ: 2938300

[Brandon Quina]

> I would like to hear how everyone else's campaigns are going just so I
> can compare... Province/Holding levels, blood strength of the PCs,
> magical items owned, etc.

Before I tell you about my game.. If you dont mind the characters
becoming powerful, then you /dont/ have a problem. The only thing you
need to do is challenge them so that it dosnt come easily.

They have gotten powerful by combining their strength-- have some
other regents do the same thing. Imagine if, with this fear over
loosing their hold on the Iron Throne the Avans and the Boeruines
combine forces. That would give them control over a good sized
chunk of anuire-- and I can easily imagine other regents falling
behind them.

Other things are possible too. But anyways. Here is a brief
occurance of what happened in my game..

CHARACTER RACE/CLASS/LEVEL DOMAIN
Aziza bint Joha Khinasi/Wizard/2 Ilien
Marlae Roesone Anuirean/Fighter/2 Roesone
Ryllo Roesone Anuirean/Paladin/2 IHH (temple)

Those were the characters at the start of the game. The first
couple of domain turns passed pretty easily. The heros went on
some adventurers-- they ended up with a Long Sword +2 (which
went to Ryllo) and a pair of Chainmail +1 (Marlaes) after afew
gaming sessions.

The Impregnable Heart of Haelyn started contesting RCS holdings
in Roesone and ETN holdings in Ilien-- holding firebrand sermons
about these lesser faiths taking up hold in the heart of anuire.
"No wonder the land has split, if its people refuse to look to
Haelyn for guidance."

There were some border clashes between Roesone and Ghoere, and
Ilien assited with some realm magic.

Medoere contested the IHH holding in Medoere (two can play at
that game, and all that). That really got our paladin friend
pissed. He went to his sister, and she agreed to support his
efforts with troops.

Messages were sent via ship to Diemed, and more specificly the
Orthodox Imperial Temple of Haelyn. Basically, they were planning
a holy crusade into Medoere.

After much planning and working up, Roesone and Diemed marched into
Medoere and burned the temple holdings to the ground and scattered
the faithful. People were converted at swordpoint. The religions
quickly made a mad rush to get their temple holdings back up--
Roesone took control of Caerwil. Diemed took Alamier. Ilien
took Braeme.

Rournils Celestial Spell was pretty much destroyed, its followers
now followers of one of the two faiths of Haelyn that had taken over.
All in all the IHH got more faithful than the OIT due to the fact
that they took over in Braeme as well.

So here we are with an expanded church. All of Roesone, Ilien,
and 2/3rds of what was Medoere is now the IHH. Then a diffrent
sort of crusade went into Aerenwe. The temple slowly started to
convert the populous (contest, rule, contested rule) and after
afew years the populous was pretty well converted over to haelyn,
with afew 'small enclaves' of worshipers.

During this time, Roesone has been helping her brother as she
can. Ilien is getting abit weary of all this thats going on.

Next thing that happens, is the church decree's that Ghoere is
an affront to Haelyn and pressures everyone to war. Armys rise,
and war /does/ start. Roesone, Diemed, Endier (endier didnt
donate armys, but it did let Diemedian armys help), Osoerde,
Elinie, and Mhoried all march to war against the 'unholy'
Ghoere. Once again, our little paladin managed to unite several
of the faiths, and is currently getting what he needs done.

This is where the game is currently.





- --
(lore@tmgbbs.com) \|/// Zzzzzzzzzzzz
Brandon Lance Quina (- -)
ICQ Number: 6809944 ---ooO(_)Ooo---

[Brian Stoner]

I have to say, that sounds like a wonderful problem. In every BR game I have
DMed, the regent PCs have bickered and fought, looking for every chance to stab
each other in the back (or, heart). It got very difficult to come up with viable
reasons for the characters to unite in any sort of adventure. I tried to
encourage alliances, but they each, especially the thieves-guilds, wanted all the
GBs and RPs they could get...to Azrai with everyone else.

Brian

DeadPretty wrote:

> I have recently begun my game in the BR setting, and have been wondering about
> a few things... Our characters have become very powerful and influential in a
> matter of 3 years (game time). There are three players who all play regents-
> Aerenwe, Roesone, and Ilien... They forged an alliance between themselves and
> practically rule southern Anuire...
>
> The mage regent has expanded his domain of Ilien to include three new
> provinces in Aduria... Mieres did what they could to stop them, but the other
> regents flexed their muscle... This huge empire is being forged and it just
> seems like it is too easy. The money, regency, blood and experience is
> flowing in and it looks like there is going to be no stopping them.
>
> We use the Players Options rules to their full potential which makes the
> characters a little more powerful, but the NPCs and enemies are beefed-up as
> well so that isnt the problem...
>
> Wars, awnsheghlin, corruption, blood challenges, natural disasters, even a
> visit from The Wizard while the characters were low-level... It just seems
> too easy.
>
> I would like to hear how everyone else's campaigns are going just so I can
> compare... Province/Holding levels, blood strength of the PCs, magical items
> owned, etc.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Dead-Chan
> ************************************************** *************************
> >

[Neil Barnes]

On Sun, 8 Mar 1998, Brian Stoner wrote:
> I have to say, that sounds like a wonderful problem. In every BR game I have
> DMed, the regent PCs have bickered and fought, looking for every chance to stab
> each other in the back (or, heart). It got very difficult to come up with viable
> reasons for the characters to unite in any sort of adventure.

We've found an interesting way around that. Two of the PCs are siblings
(hi Al!), one of the other PCs relies upon these two for military
support, and the other two just hang around looking for people to like
them (hi ru!).

We still have inter-party plotting, but it's less violent, and more a
case of my character just trying to run everybody's life... ;)

neil

[Tim Nutting]

IMC... hehehe.... about the only darn thing my players want is that nice
little unassailable corner down there by Aerenwe. I've run 3 (sadly
abortive) campaigns in that little corner of the world and I swear the
Gavin Tael and I have talks over whiskey....

It is admittedly the easiest spot to start and make alliances.

The best I ran down there was a real departure. I went back 20 years in
the history of the region and rewrote it. Teried Roesone, afflicted with a
curse, needed an alliance badly against the young and very aggressive Gavin
Tael, so he ties himself to Lillien Swordwraith of Aerenwe. They get
married, almost in secret, and surprise Anuire with the announcement of the
Aerenwean Empire, a renunciation of the Iron Throne, and declare themselves
King and Queen, with a written commitment to submit once more to the Iron
Throne when a worthy emperor sits once more.

All well and good, except certain powers hate this, and conspire to harm
the Roesones even more. Roesone and Aerenwe are now one nation, ruled by
the Roesone family. Terried and Lillien (T has a "remission" in his
disease for a few years) are blessed with a son who allready shows his
Divine Aura at birth. Named Daen Roesone II, with Lillien's ties to the
Reoles (see RoE), it is widley guessed that he will be the next emperor).

Soon, Terried dies to his sickness and Lillien continues on, but dies a
year or so later from "unknown causes". Marlae Roesone takes office,
barely into her teens. A year and a half late Marlae and her brother are
dead, slain by demons summoned by the Sword Mage. Their general "knows"
this, and for decrying war against Ghoere, he is soon assasinated as well.

This leaves the Roesone's court chaimberlain the only man "in office" with
a young heir incapable of ruling. He divides the huge realm up to the
local noble families, having them all swear an oath of vassalage to young
Dane.

The story and game begin with the players each as the lords of the local
houses, all sworn to an NPC, all with tiny little realms in a corner of a
world where Tael licks his chops and Heir Diem REALLY wants his family's
lands back.



Well hope it spawns some ideas, I know I'm going to try it again in the
future!

Later all!

Tim Nutting

[Mark A Vandermeulen]

On Wed, 8 Apr 1998, Tim Nutting wrote:

> The story and game begin with the players each as the lords of the local
> houses, all sworn to an NPC, all with tiny little realms in a corner of a
> world where Tael licks his chops and Heir Diem REALLY wants his family's
> lands back.

Gosh, that sounds like an EXCELLENT set up. I wish I was gaming with you.
Actually, I wish I was gaming with ANYONE right now (sigh). Talking about
gaming isn't much of a substitute for actual gaming, but at least its
something. :)

Mark VanderMeulen
vander+@pitt.edu

(P.S. If ANYONE in the Pittsburgh area wants to play Birthright, PLEASE
let me know.)

[Brett Lang]

Tell me about it ! My group of six has disintigrated to 2.5, as the others
have moved north to work. It's a problem in a country like Australia,
people play the game, but finding them in the area you live in is HELL !

- ----------
> From: Mark A Vandermeulen
> To: birthright@MPGN.COM
> Subject: Re: [BIRTHRIGHT] - Too easy...
> Date: Thursday, 9 April 1998 20:48
>
>
>
> On Wed, 8 Apr 1998, Tim Nutting wrote:
>
> > The story and game begin with the players each as the lords of the
local
> > houses, all sworn to an NPC, all with tiny little realms in a corner of
a
> > world where Tael licks his chops and Heir Diem REALLY wants his
family's
> > lands back.
>
> Gosh, that sounds like an EXCELLENT set up. I wish I was gaming with you.
> Actually, I wish I was gaming with ANYONE right now (sigh). Talking about
> gaming isn't much of a substitute for actual gaming, but at least its
> something. :)
>
> Mark VanderMeulen
> vander+@pitt.edu
>
> (P.S. If ANYONE in the Pittsburgh area wants to play Birthright, PLEASE
> let me know.)
>
>> To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@mpgn.com with the
line
> 'unsubscribe birthright' as the body of the message.

[Tim Nutting]

Well, finding roleplayers out here in Seattle USA region isn't all that
difficult. Finding people who can actually role play is another issue all
together... :)

L8tr all

Tim Nutting

[Shade]

At 08:48 AM 4/9/98 -0400, you wrote:
>
>
>On Wed, 8 Apr 1998, Tim Nutting wrote:
>
>> The story and game begin with the players each as the lords of the local
>> houses, all sworn to an NPC, all with tiny little realms in a corner of a
>> world where Tael licks his chops and Heir Diem REALLY wants his family's
>> lands back.
>
>Gosh, that sounds like an EXCELLENT set up. I wish I was gaming with you.
>Actually, I wish I was gaming with ANYONE right now (sigh). Talking about
>gaming isn't much of a substitute for actual gaming, but at least its
>something. :)
>
>Mark VanderMeulen
>vander+@pitt.edu
>
>(P.S. If ANYONE in the Pittsburgh area wants to play Birthright, PLEASE
>let me know.)

I feel the same way. If anyone in the Austin area wants to play Birthright,
let me know.