>>If she was the only one in Cerilia why did she go hunting
>>for "baddies" instead of looking for other possible psionicists ?
>>Or are there in fact more psionicists in Cerillia then thought,
>>maybe hiding there advantage?

>I don't know the answer to this one myself, but it's been
>hashed over numerous times. So, somebody answer his
>question, and let's make sure this one gets on the FAQ as well.

I think the only way to answer this is that it is up to the referee.
Cerilia offers referees the chance to run non-psionic campaigns, and the
rulebook is quite right, there is enough going on in Cerilia without it.
Personally, I never liked psionics. They're OK for sci-fi games where
some sort of pseudo-scientific 'magic substitute' is desired, but there
is a word for strange mental powers in a fantasy setting - Magic. How
many historical settings used the term 'psionics' or an equivalent? If
there are any, I've never heard of them, but most believed in some form
of magic.

So, as to the FAQ entry:
Q: Are there psionicists in Cerilia?
A: Psionics are extremely rare in Cerilia, to the point that there is
only one known psionicist ever to have existed, and she is believed to
have travelled in from another realm only to end up with her head
sticking out of the side of the Hydra (see Blood Enemies).

I'd also add: Let this stand as a warning to psionicists regarding
Cerilia with greedy mind's-eyes!

But that's just my own predisposition showing through.

I don't see the need to give an absolute answer. Let referees decide to
allow psionics if they wish. I don't wish to encourage it!
__________

>Suppose a regent dies with no heir, what
>happens to the regent's holdings?

I'd say something similar to the rulership of Ilien happens. Somebody
unexpectedly inherits the bloodline, or it gets split among a number of
the regent's favourites. I don't think bloodline can be destroyed that
easily.

>What if two people tried to grab such a leaderless holding at once?

The same question applies to any unoccupied holding, whoever tries to
'rule' it first gets it, as determined by
__________

>"...being an NPC, he gets away with stuff..."

One of my players spotted a Level 3 province with two rulers sharing
holdings, whereas the rules state that a province must be Level 3 (I
think) to have more than one holding-holder. I explained this by saying
that that province probably was Level 4, but it's level got reduced by
one.

Actually, that raises an interesting question. If I rule a level 4
province, and two other regents each own level two temple holdings, and
the province gets reduced by one, how would you determine which temple
gets reduced? How about a d20 roll, 1-10 is one holding, 11-20 is the
other, and either holder can spend regency or gold bars to modify the
roll.
__________

>"Do I need to have Guilds at both ends of a trade route?"

I have a similar question to this, "Does a trade route between two
provinces count against (and generate money for) both provinces?
__________

>2) Quoting - replies should only include that
>material which is being directly referenced.

Can we all try to adhere to this rule a bit more carefully, please? 50%
of the birthright-digest is complete re-submissions of someone else's
post, including the 'unsubscribe' text at the end.


philip.hibbs@tnt.co.uk or phibbs@compuserve.com
http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/phibbs