Customizing Cerilia

[Magnus Argent]

One of the aspects of the Birthright setting I find so appealing is that the source material is often purposefully (or so I choose to believe) a little vague, ambiguous, or even downright contradictory. Each of these instances is an opportunity for DMs to customize the setting a little bit, based on how their interpretations.

Although I believe canon is important when discussing the official version of Cerilia, there's something to be said for deviating from canon in order to create a fun adventure or campaign plot twist. In doing so, we create our on customized version of Cerilia.

For example, in my version of Cerilia, I decided that the temples of Cuiraecen who embraced the "War for war's sake" philosophy are, in actuality, promoting the teachings of Belinik. Only temples who embraced the "protect the weak" philosophy were truly Cuiraecen's temples.

I decided that priests belonging to the Almighty Temple of Belinik (a temple controlled by a lacky of The Raven) have been instructed to infiltrate temples of Cuiraecen in Anuire and to spread the "War for war's sake" heresy. These temples would effectively be subverted to Belinik and served as the opening moves of a coordinated invasion of Anuire by the Raven, Magian, and the Gorgon. At the beginning of the campaign, approximately half of the Temple of Storm Heights has been converted (the half supporting Jaison Ranech), all of the Hidden Temple of Cuiraecen in Boerune had been converted, and the segment of the Militant Order of Cuiraecen under the leadership of Stiele Gheiste in Ghore had also been converted.

This created a fun scenario where the player character regents had to work together in order to survive.

Does anyone else have any fun examples of campaigns you participated in (either as a DM or as a player) where a particular aspect of canon was turned on its head, creating a unique and fun experience for everyone involved?

I am not looking to judge anyone who responds to this question. Rather, I think it might be helpful to provide examples for DMs who come to this site in order to be inspired.

[Doyle]

As a DM of players that have read all the source material, I adore those contradictions.

When a player wants something in their character background that is contradicted in another source document, I say "sure - point of view A is completely true from your character's point of view". I note down the contradiction and what is actually true for this campaign (it might change in the next campaign). This makes it so much easier to shock them later. Listed alignments tend to annoy me - if a regent / major NPC is obviously doing evil / good acts, then fine, but if they are being subtle about it, then the players should be unsure about opposing / assisting them.

My favourite switch on a contradiction was the Nadia Vasily / Teodor Profiev issue. Nadia was mostly right. Teodor had not changed his holy patron to Haelyn, he was a devotee of the Cold Rider (5e style patron) and working to bring Azrai back to Aebrynis.
In one of the final scenes of a ten year campaign, Teodor faces the Gorgon on the battlefield with the party dealing with lieutenants. Half the party is backing Teodor, the other half have realised that Teodor winning would be much worse than the Gorgon winning the day.

In the current campaign I've got a few other switches running that had never been revealed in the previous game. Some of these have been helped by players bias for their characters. I have to bite my lip every time the Paladin of Avani refers to the IHH as the child-stealing cult of Haelyn.

Rather than leave spoilers for my players that read this forum, I'll post the reveals only after my players have revealed them.

[Sorontar]

In the current campaign I've got a few other switches running that had never been revealed in the previous game. Some of these have been helped by players bias for their characters. I have to bite my lip every time the Paladin of Avani refers to the IHH as the child-stealing cult of Haelyn.

Rather than leave spoilers for my players that read this forum, I'll post the reveals only after my players have revealed them.

As one of the players I will admit it is fun how Doyle's present T(ea) Team campaign is going in Ilien - I don't think any of us are Anuirean. A lot of us have gripes with the standard Anuirean establishments. A number of us don't have strong Wisdom, so we are making assumptions and rushing to judgement on matters that might come back to hurt us. With 3.5 players who are new to Birthright, Doyle can run switches on canon NPCs etc as much as possible and he can probably guarantee that no-one will realise what has happened, or care that he has done it (there are some things that I have had to keep quiet about so to not spoil the game, though Doyle has put out carrots to tease us - I knew they were carrots but I think others just saw them as part of the description). If it works, do it!

Yes, there are a lot of canon material that is very basic. For instance, the Burrows has a regent that runs a realm council. Some of the council members are named, but none are given classes or any other description. There is no detailed map for the Burrows, or even any description of the 5 provinces. This is why I have tried to fill some of those holes on the wiki, but also been vague enough that a DM can just treat those as starting points and adapt them however they like. I am just trying to make things easier for the DM, and consistent for the setting.

Sorontar

[Witness3]

I don't know if any of this is really an answer, but this conversation looks fun for sure and I wanted to contribute anyway :P

Religion speaking, all cults are much more polytheistic in nature. A priest of Erik will grant you blessings from the moon, the night or the sea, but will not bless a war unless against unnatural (read: undead) stuff is involved. But if you ask them who's the boss, they will say Erik is. Other churches such as Sera's Perfekt Simmetry will be even more expanded, as they gathered all the small cults, but if you ask them "Why Sera's and not EveryGod's perfekt simmetry?" They will answer "It's just what our founder called the order - who are we to change such holy words!". Only Nesiries's churches are considered strongly connected to the goddess - but they are much like our nuns. Of course when a player chooses a church domain he/she 's have the option to be whatever he/she likes, be it a sect or a wide pantheon.

Regarding the now-old "why 3 gods of war" debate, In my setting Haelyn is worshipped by the upper class, while Cuiraécen is worshipped by adventurers and the lower class. In a battle, the general will pray for Haelyn's wisdom in choosing the best tactic, while the soldier will pray for Cuiraécen's courage and harshness to slay his enemies. Belinik is more like conan's Crom in Voosgard, while in other lands he is the god of the survival of the fittest - he is not there to help, but to judge your worthiness. His benevolence is the only right you need to rule.

As for other changes, I think the main change I did is expanding the cultures to be a bit more global and not include just northen Europe/Great Britain. Brechts are much more like Renaissance's Italian city states and Italian-based than the hanseatic league, which I never knew before this game, while keeping the dutch/polish language. Dwarves have a hebrew based culture and language, instead of the usual scottish, and Elves are much more like native americans in aestethic while keeping the welsh as language (unfortunately). Khinasi lands near to Anuire are much more like renaissance Spain than the next Al Qadim clone.

Also, Darien Avan is loved in Avanil but is loathed in any of the southernlands - in my setting he's basically a Fonzie chad thinking he's the best out there. Boeruine is just an older version of Darien. There is no way one of the two would really have the guts or wisdom to reforge the empire.

[Fizz]

Regarding the now-old "why 3 gods of war" debate, In my setting Haelyn is worshipped by the upper class, while Cuiraécen is worshipped by adventurers and the lower class. In a battle, the general will pray for Haelyn's wisdom in choosing the best tactic, while the soldier will pray for Cuiraécen's courage and harshness to slay his enemies.

There is something similar mentioned in one of the sourcebooks, BoP maybe?


Belinik is more like conan's Crom in Voosgard, while in other lands he is the god of the survival of the fittest - he is not there to help, but to judge your worthiness. His benevolence is the only right you need to rule.

That is an interesting take on him. Certainly Belinik has that aspect, because being Strong is the only thing that matters to him. I am not super famiilar with the Conan books; was domination an aspect of Crom? If not, are you saying you've softened your version of Belinik? (Not judging, just curious.)


Brechts are much more like Renaissance's Italian city states and Italian-based than the hanseatic league, which I never knew before this game, while keeping the dutch/polish language.

Yes, Italian city-states are a good analog, though i have difficulty envisioning their attire (Meditteranean vs Baltic... heh).


Dwarves have a hebrew based culture and language, instead of the usual scottish,

I've thought that Klingon works for the Dwarven language, and it has many sounds in common with Hebrew. (There was even am episode of the sitcom Frasier about that). And yet whenever i've roleplayed a dwarf the scottish accent keeps coming out. Lol.


and Elves are much more like native americans in aestethic while keeping the welsh as language (unfortunately).

Why unfortunate? I love Welsh. Heh.


Khinasi lands near to Anuire are much more like renaissance Spain than the next Al Qadim clone.

I've always felt Khinasi as a whole was more akin to Moorish Spain than Arabia, so i'm with you here.


-Fizz

[Fizz]

One of the non-canon additions i've toyed with is runic magic for the dwarves. I have always really liked the Vikings Campaign Sourcebook for 2nd Ed. It has a Runecaster class and a new system for creating runic effects. They aren't just wizard spells in a frock, they're different.

So for Birthright i envision the dwarves being the masters of runecasting. The runes effectively infuse mebhaigl directly into objects, rather than channeling and shaping it through the dwarven frame (which can't happen as dwarves resist direct magic).


-Fizz

[Malphas]

One of the non-canon additions i've toyed with is runic magic for the dwarves. I have always really liked the Vikings Campaign Sourcebook for 2nd Ed. It has a Runecaster class and a new system for creating runic effects. They aren't just wizard spells in a frock, they're different.

So for Birthright i envision the dwarves being the masters of runecasting. The runes effectively infuse mebhaigl directly into objects, rather than channeling and shaping it through the dwarven frame (which can't happen as dwarves resist direct magic).

-Fizz

small heads up. yu can find additional runes (and a different rune class) in FOR7 giantcraft
there was also a weaker totem version for elves somewhere. but i don't recall where ATM.

[Witness3]

There is something similar mentioned in one of the sourcebooks, BoP maybe?



That is an interesting take on him. Certainly Belinik has that aspect, because being Strong is the only thing that matters to him. I am not super famiilar with the Conan books; was domination an aspect of Crom? If not, are you saying you've softened your version of Belinik? (Not judging, just curious.)


Actually, yes. See, In my view Vos do not see themselves as inherently evil or "traitors of the old gods"; I see it as an evolution from Vorynn's misticism to a more stoic , fatalistic view. Certainly a warlord will see Belinik as a divine justification for violence and bloodshed, but the regular or less bloodthirsty vos will worship Belinik as the god who moves the thunder and makes avalanches, and there is nothing inherently bad in this - when it's your time, it's your time, death is a natural part of life. If only, Belinik represent the will to master your fate and decide by yourself how you will die. It's an Odinesque figure in a sense.



Yes, Italian city-states are a good analog, though i have difficulty envisioning their attire (Meditteranean vs Baltic... heh).


When you find out that Rjurik were meant to be a mix between vikings, 1400 Denmark and native americans, nothing is impossible anymore :p



Why unfortunate? I love Welsh. Heh.


It's almost torture for us ignorant mediterraneans to try to read welsh, leat alone speak. I am almost physically unable to prononuce Ll.



I've always felt Khinasi as a whole was more akin to Moorish Spain than Arabia, so i'm with you here.

And, In full honesty, I stole that idea from you when you mentioned it some post ago ;)

[Fizz]

small heads up. yu can find additional runes (and a different rune class) in FOR7 giantcraft
there was also a weaker totem version for elves somewhere. but i don't recall where ATM.

I am familiar. Actually, i think the Giantcraft version is based on the Viking's sourcebook version, just tweaked for that setting. It has something interesting ideas, though i prefer the Viking's version.


-Fizz

[Fizz]

When you find out that Rjurik were meant to be a mix between vikings, 1400 Denmark and native americans, nothing is impossible anymore :p

Interesting, i've always taken the Rjurik to be a mix of the Scandinavians (language, aesthetic) and the Celts (religion, druids, etc).


It's almost torture for us ignorant mediterraneans to try to read welsh, leat alone speak. I am almost physically unable to prononuce Ll.

Heh, i can't pronounce it either, maybe that's why i find the language so endearing... all those letters that are pronounced totally differently from english... heh.


And, In full honesty, I stole that idea from you when you mentioned it some post ago ;)

Wow, someone listened to me. Happy i was able to contribute. :)


-Fizz

[Magnus Argent]

These are all great examples of ways to alter the campaign setting.

To be clear, I don't think anyone is advocating or encouraging DMs to make changes just for the sake of making changes. Rather, there are, I believe, any number of ways to make alterations for the purpose of making your particular Birthright campaign better. If it ain't broke, don't fix it (as they say).

These cultural changes are a great example of putting this theory into practice. The value in altering how we, as DMs, present a particular culture to our players is an increase in accessibility. Many DMs find it difficult (or off-putting, even) to try to present a culture in the setting that is modeled after a real-world culture they are unfamiliar with.

Also, Birthright was created to facilitate domain play. Conflict between religions, cultures, and kingdoms is baked into the setting. But what if you are running an adventure-based campaign and social conflict isn't one of the themes you're looking to explore? Making Cerilia more global in nature with certain basic facts being commonly accepted across the continent certainly makes a DMs life easier. Racism is something many of us don't want to have to deal with in the real world -- why would we want to have to deal with it as part of a game we play for entertainment? Animosity between Sidhe and humans can be a fun part of Domain level game play but if that's not what your campaign is about, it may serve you better to have a general acceptance of peoples differences and keep the bigotry and racism as elements of antagonists and other characters who are presented specifically as being evil.

[Sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt the conversation. Please continue! I just wanted to take a moment to connect some of the dots for people who may be here looking for inspiration and practical advice. And if there are other ways your campaign benefited from the examples you are sharing, please feel free to highlight them!]