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  1. #1
    Joao Medeiros
    Guest

    Blood Enemies Questions

    > You are correct there. However, the issue is caused by some
    >passages in the Blood Enemies sourcebook which indicate that elves (in
    >the past, before Deismaar) seemed to have the ability to use ley lines
    >and sources (this before there were any bloodlines). However the
    >rulebook states that a bloodline in necessary to use realm magic (ie.
    >ley lines and sources). These two entries seem to be inconsistent. Can
    >elves use ley lines without a bloodline??
    >
    >Paul L.
    >

    This may be true, but the book of magecraft seems to explain this. According
    to it there existed a network of natural ley lines before Deismaar. They
    were literally rivers of magic. However the explosion of Deismaar disrupted
    and destroyed all of these, preventing elves from using them as they did
    before. Although one or two still exisit they are so badly damaged as to be
    useless.

    -Joao Medeiros
    lcgm@elogica.com.br

  2. #2
    Joao Medeiros
    Guest

    Blood Enemies Questions

    > Concerning power gaming, I think the problem lies less with race
    >than in questions of alignment. Players who play characters of evil
    >alignment tend to unbalance a party. As a DM, I set a strict limit by
    >not allowing any of my players to play evil characters. I've seen and
    >heard many people defend the position of playing an evil character. All
    >I've seen it as is an excuse to bully other player characters, gain
    >magic the easy way (mugging NPCs etc). And then these players get upset
    >when the city guard or some paladin come along and take them down.
    >That, to me, is a real problem with powergaming.
    >
    >Paul L.

    I agree with you on the question of alignment. However, I do not
    believe in banning evil characters, at least not in BR where they do not
    work as closly as in other campaign worlds. In my BR campaign I have a evil
    PC. He chose his alignment and I see no way to alter it with out forcing him
    to do something that he doesn't wants. I do have a soloution though. As I
    learned AD&D with the DL campaign I am very familiar with the notion that
    evil will always turn against itself. His fate has already been planned out,
    and by no means is it pleasant(It includes artifact possesion and the
    gorgon). Any way, what I am saying is that you cannot ban someone from being
    evil and not expect him to still want to be evil. You have to show him that
    it is not a good idea to be evil in the first place, and a good way to do
    this is though demonstration.

    -Joao Medeiros
    lcgm@elogica.com.br

  3. #3
    Joao Medeiros
    Guest

    Blood Enemies Questions

    At 07:42 23/08/97 -0400, you wrote:
    >I don't think you should punish someone for just being evil, yes if he
    >commits an evil act that gets him in trouble, well it's his own fault, but
    >don't just kill his character because he wanted an evil guy.

    I don't kill him because he is evil. I use his evil nature, his lust
    for power, to lure him to his own doom. Through this method he will gain
    great power in the beginning, but in the end it will be all for nothing.
    Absolute power corrupts absolutely.

    -Joao Medeiros
    lcgm@elogica.com.br

  4. #4
    Joao Medeiros
    Guest

    Blood Enemies Questions

    >That's it, if you play fairly an evil character will have the same
    >chances of a good character to fall in disgrace...evil doesn't mean
    >stupid, and a guy that cannot resist to temptations is not evil, he's
    >an idiot. An evil character, to me, is just somebody who only cares
    >about
    >his own plans and needs but if he wants to survive he has to learn that
    >the only safe way to use people is by not letting them know you're using
    >them...the ancient and noble art of the backstab in a dark alley...where
    >nobody can witness what happened. Probably sooner or later he's going to
    >be caught but hey, probably sooner or later that Pitfiend will use the
    >valiant paladin as toothpaste.

    My point exactly. A smart evil character can easily get to the top and
    challenge all comers. BUT there is a critical difference between an evil PC
    and an evil NPC. PCs, in general, get too cocky for their own good, this is
    especially true if they are evil. That is why it works better for a campaign
    that the good PCs work together to offset each others flaws. As an example,
    the evil PC that I am referring to has already caused a scandal in his
    nobles by executing his own cousin, with no proof of guilt, on the spot(a
    formal gathering, the Duke of Calrie's funeral) just so he could gain a
    bloodline point.

    -Joao Medeiros
    lcgm@elogica.com.br

  5. #5
    Joel Parrish
    Guest

    Blood Enemies Questions

    In ancient Greece and Rome, the gods that they worshiped represented
    different aspects of NATURE, and face it folks, their pantheons are what
    most of the ones in our fantasy realms are based on. In Birthright, this is
    true also. If you look at the desciptions of the gods, they each represent
    aspects of nature. The power of the Blood makes connections to the land, not
    the gods. If this were not true, Haylen would only allow those of Andurias'
    derivation to worship him. The dwarves and elves see the Blood as a
    connection to the land itself, to NATURE, not to gods of any sort. True that
    the original derivation does change what abilities they have, but that can
    be seen as an inherited trait. The elves don't beleive in the human gods,
    but a Flame Strike will toast them just as easily as any other race. The
    blood represents the ancient powers of the land, drawn up into the human
    gods, and then redispersed to the land and those who were at Mt Deismarr.
    Also remember that Rhuobe himself followed a human god, Azrai, into the
    battle at Deismarr. He may know that the power was from the gods essence,
    but that doesn't stop him from using its power to destroy the humans. Hope
    this helps. And sorry if it wasn't exactly linear, long night last night.

    KOS
    For every light lit, a shadow is cast. Be careful not to confuse the two.

  6. #6
    Paul Lefebvre
    Guest

    Blood Enemies Questions

    MagnusKhn@aol.com wrote:

    > Thanks for the info, Sepsis. My area has had next to nothing for
    > BR... EVER!
    > Therefore I have very limited source material...
    > ...BUT...
    > What about the Elves, Dwarves, and Halflings before the humans ever
    > came?
    > They would have had their own rulership way before Deismaar, so why do
    > they
    > NEED to be blooded to rule now? Elves mastered magic long before
    > humans, yet
    > they NEED the blood of a human's god to use True Magic, with ley lines
    > and
    > all? Dwarven deities have always seemed practical and sensible to me,
    > yet
    > Moradin must be crazy, because only a dwarf with the blood of a HUMAN
    > god can
    > become regent of DWARVEN temples?
    > Again, with as predjudiced as many elves are toward humans, why would
    > the
    > blood of a human god be something to respect? It would seem that the
    > most
    > extreme of these elves would disdain those with the human-god blood,
    > yet
    > their leader, Rhoubhe, has gallons of it!
    > Most of the rules on being a regent seem to primarily apply to
    > humans...

    I've noticed the same problem myself. I believe that TSR probably
    did things this way to keep from having to make the rules too complex
    (ie. different ones for humans and demi-humans). At the Gen Con
    "broadcast" in realaudio for birthright, one thing that was discussed
    was the probability of TSR ruther differentiating the magic of humans
    and elves...perhaps this will include the use or possession of
    bloodlines as well.
    However, there is perhaps a logical explanation to this. What if
    normal (ie. non blooded elves, humans, dwarves) could be regents and
    rule domains (and in case of elves use sources and ley lines). These
    people had to live before and rule themselves before Deismaar (in fact,
    the human tribes were fleeing a huge evil empire in Aduria were they
    not?), without bloodlines. So let's just assume non-blooded people can
    rule. But what if bloodlines (given that they are the power of a
    departed deity) in fact give so much advantage (just think of what a
    bloodline implies) over non-blooded people that they just couldn't
    compete. A blooded character would win any competition with a
    non-blooded character. After all, the powers gain their strength
    through the worship of their followers right? Therefore, it stands to
    reason that a character with a bloodline might naturally have greater
    ability to get a non-blooded character to "follow" them. In this case,
    the fact that dwarven priests need the blood of a human power to rule a
    dwarven temple does not seem so inane. The blooded dwarven priest
    simply has this incredible reserve of power that a non-blooded dwarf can
    never have...

    Paul L.

  7. #7
    Paul Lefebvre
    Guest

    Blood Enemies Questions

    DURKS95@aol.com wrote:

    > If I recall correctly, Un-blooded elves can cast true magic.
    >
    > Quote form the Rulebook
    > "True magic include all other schools fo magic, but only elves,
    > half-elves
    > and blooded humans can command it's arcane power."
    >
    > This gives me the idea that both elves and half-elves need not be
    > blooded to
    > cast true magic.

    You are correct there. However, the issue is caused by some
    passages in the Blood Enemies sourcebook which indicate that elves (in
    the past, before Deismaar) seemed to have the ability to use ley lines
    and sources (this before there were any bloodlines). However the
    rulebook states that a bloodline in necessary to use realm magic (ie.
    ley lines and sources). These two entries seem to be inconsistent. Can
    elves use ley lines without a bloodline??

    Paul L.

  8. #8
    Paul Lefebvre
    Guest

    Blood Enemies Questions

    MagnusKhn@aol.com wrote:

    > Irda, Githzerai, drow, etc. DO NOT BELONG ON CERILIA! The land
    > supplies the
    > power, Ruornil governs it, and the only reason elves are able to use
    > all
    > magic without necessarily being blooded, Is because they are CERILIAN
    > elves... they are closely linked with their land. The other races
    > would be
    > completely subject to the rules of Cerilian magic, after all, Ruornil
    > and
    > 'the land' like it the way it is, and aren't going to be giving away
    > freebies
    > to offworlders... On the Shadow World seminar recording, it says that
    > any
    > planar travel to Cerilia deposits you in the Shadow World, and if you
    > think
    > native Cerilians have a hard time there, offworlders would be zombie
    > chow.
    >
    > ...(V)agnus |{haine...

    Oh I know that they are not meant on Cerilia...I was simply
    wondering what would happen to a planewalker who stopped by to
    visit...What I was unclear on was whether or not it is humans (and other
    non-magical races) that can't use true magic without a bloodline or if
    it is anyone who is not an elf (including highly magical races visiting
    temporarily from other planes).

    Paul L.

  9. #9
    Paul Lefebvre
    Guest

    Blood Enemies Questions

    breye@earthlink.net wrote:

    > >
    > > What about other races that are heavily magical though?? Irda,
    > > drow, githzerai, aasimar (half-human, half-aasimon, from
    > Planescape).
    > > Think these would use true magic??
    > > Is there any birthright product where the lifespan of Cerilian
    > > half-elves has been shown?? A normal elf lives 500-700 years, while
    > a
    > > human lives 100-140. A half-elf lives about 250 years....but in
    > > Cerilia, the elves are immortal. Does a lifespan of about 400-500
    > years
    > > make sense for half-elves??
    > >
    > > Paul L.Ummmm....Birthright elves are immortal I thought.

    Yeah, I know that they're immortal...what I was doing was comparing the
    lifespan of "standard" elves adn humans and how that results in the
    lifespan of a "standard half-elf", with the immortal lifespans of
    Cerilian elves, and how long-lived a Cerilian half-elf would be.

    Paul L.

  10. #10
    Darkstar
    Guest

    Blood Enemies Questions

    DURKS95@aol.com wrote:
    >
    > If I recall correctly, Un-blooded elves can cast true magic.
    >
    > Quote form the Rulebook
    > "True magic include all other schools fo magic, but only elves, half-elves
    > and blooded humans can command it's arcane power."
    >
    Doesn't it say right underneath that
    "Wizards must be born with the stuff of magic in their veins to wield
    spells of 3rd level or higher from all schools of magic"

    I have always read this to mean that Elves, and Half-Elves could cast
    true magic, just not as well as blooded characters anymore. That is how
    I have been running it in my campaign.

    NOTE: Magicians can only cast spells up to 2nd level from other spheres
    so this is different from them.

    - --
    Ian Hoskins

    e-Mail: hoss@box.net.au
    Home Page: http://www.box.net.au/~hoss
    Page Updates: http://www.box.net.au/~hoss/update.html

    From the Darkness we came.
    And to the Darkness we will return.

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