Nice to see so many comments on 'Vampires in Birthright'. I called this
second part deliberately 'Vampires in Cerilia' for the next reason : since
the Romantic Era in european history there was the matter of "Blut und
Boden" - translated from German : "Blood and Land". The whole idea of
Birthright's bloodbonds of kings with their respective lands is derived
from this historical fact. It was believed or rather imposed that kings or
rulers - closest to (the) God(s) - had this special affinity with their
land, as a matter of fact the king WAS the land. So far for historical
matters. I think the emphasis should indeed be on the fact that blood of
scions in Cerilia is closely linked to the land. Therefor I suggest that
the emphasis of the subject of ' Vampires in Birthright' should be one of
'Vampires in CERILIA', the land. Before opting the possibilities of
vampires connected with Azrai, we should take a closer look at what these
bloodlinks really are. We know of the Battle of Deismaar and the
derivations of Bloodlines, we know of the scions who are gifted with
special bloodabilities, we know of regents who represent the 'ideal' of
this bloodlink... but what do we know of the blood itself? What do we know
about its effect on vampires... All of this is a matter of personal taste,
'cause the rules don't mention it. Let's investigate the blood as a mere
physical component of known reality :

1) blood - as we know it - is vital for PHYSICAL life
2) blood is liquid and can be stored in some sort of container (flask...)
3) deep wounds cause blood to leave the body
4) the amount of blood in one's body determines his chance of survival (we
can only loose a specific amount of blood or otherwise die...)
5) blood contained in some fashion is subject to decay

What about vampires ? :

1) they feed on blood
2) they have no blood running through their vains
3) they are undead but still have a 'PHYSICAL' form

What about scions ? :

1) their blood is special, giving them some specific abilities
2) the come from a familyline directly connected with the Gods of
Deismaar, who appeared in their PHYSICAL form
3) it is the fact that the Gods appeared in such manner, that made it
possible to distribute divine powers via a PHYSICAL carrier
4) bloodtheft is limited by means of certain conditions to be forfilled

What about all these factors combined in the Cerilian reality ?
(now we come to the vampires...)

1) since vampires have a PHYSICAL form and use to suck their victims'
blood, one could suppose that they gain bloodabilities by doing this.
Otherwise : blood only 'works' while running through vains and since
vampires have no blood running through their vains... one could say that
they do not 'steal' their victims' bloodabilities/bloodlinestrength.
2) on the other hand : a scion being sucked by a vampire should lose some
points according to the amount sucked and thereby losing some
abilities...but can a vampire handle this divine blood or not, in other
words is it even POSSIBLE for a vampire to suck a scion? Well, since the
scion's blood is blessed with divine energy one should think it isn't
possible. Still : is this divine energy a PHYSICAL element of the scion's
blood? I don't think so : it's a non-physical element carried by a
physical element. And what about Azrai, the 'evil' bloodline. I'd say a
vampire sucking a scion with Azrai derivation could steal some abilities,
even when the blood is only consumed and not entered into the vascular
system...

3) it all gets too medical I think, but if blood is the topic one can only
speak of terms known to us about blood and that's medical!

4) conclusion : blood and vampires, abilities and scions' blood... it
doesn't seem to provide a general, logical rule or idea. Nevertheless,
here's my view : a) vampires can suck commoners and scions
b) only from Azrai-derived scions do they gain abilities
according to the amount sucked
c) divine energy in a scion's blood is not lethal to
vampires (if scions can live with an Azrai derivation without themselves
being evil, than why shouldn't an evil being be capable of sucking divine
blood derived from 'good' gods...)
d) Azrai (the god) isn't able to create legions of
blooded vampires gifted with abilities, because there's no blood involved.
But as in point b) : this possibility should exist to spice up adventures
in Cerilia

As a reminder : when I find - as a DM - some rules of RPG's
non-appropriate or narrowing... I just drop'em. The major concern is
always the fun of the players, not the dogmatic obeying of some other
guy's imagination...

It is said.

Mario.Floryn@rug.ac.be