At 02:54 AM 5/7/98 EDT, you wrote:
>Hello all,
>
> I don't have the Birthright player's handbook, so was wondering if
>someone could help me here. We have a blooded spell caster in our party. If
>she deals the death blow to a blooded villain by using a spell, does she get
>the same blood points as if someone blooded had killed the villain with a
>sword? If no, why not, and how are blooded mages/ wizards supposed to go up
>in blood points if they aren't regents?
>
>Take care,
>Kirby

No, you cannot. The Rulebook specifically describes it as the killing blow
to the heart. I think of it, kind of like the "quickening" in "Highlander"
except instead of whopping off someone's head, you're stabbing them through
the heart.

Ya can't do that with a spell. Mayhap the blade actually connects to the
center of someone's BL at the instant of death and transfers teh BL up
through the blade, into the recipient. Such a transfer couldn't happen
with a spell being cast, or an arrow shot, or even a blow to the head.

If they aren't regents, they don't have THAT much use of their BL anyway.
I mean, they _might_ get a few more bloodabilities--

Otherwise, they don't--or they could stab the people through the heart,
whether in conjunction with a hold person, or whatever. Personally,
bloodtheft seems like a pretty iffy proposition anyway, and just isn't that
common in any case, and some might argue the whole affects alignment have
on intentionally killing other humans of arguable evil intent.

E