At 10:18 AM 9/10/98 -0500, you wrote:
>Sorry if my last message sounded like I was flaming TSR/Wizards. I will ask
>again though...
>Have they officially given up on Birthright or not?? Anyone? Hello?

Sigh. I answer this question every month or so, but I guess that's part of
my job.

Here's the deal: BIRTHRIGHT, as a campaign setting, is on hold--think of it
as the "physically unable to perform list" from pro sports. It's off this
year's schedule; it might show up next year; it should show up in the next
few years--its career at TSR isn't over.

Okay, enough with the sports metaphors.

Some material for BR is being/has been converted for other use. The most
radical example of this is THE SHADOW STONE by Rich Baker. It was his
second BR novel, but it has been heavily reworked and released (this month)
as an FR novel. It fits the FR world very well (thanks to Rich's and the FR
group's efforts) and tells a good story.

Other material will probably be presented as "core" or "optional" AD&D
material in the near (next year or the year after) future. We've discussed
releasing the Cerilian "world" as a sourcebook, the BR domain rules as a
universal AD&D "kings" system, and we've had other ideas. Nothing is
definite until it appears in the catalog--and, with the exception of this
year and last year, TSR catalogs have been pretty darn accurate in the
past. We expect to get back to that in the future.

In the meantime, DUNGEON, DRAGON, and POLYHEDRON, as well as the RPGA, are
supporting BR by using material as adventures, articles, and tournaments.
Despite my unavailability at GenCon this year, there were several RPGA
tournaments run for BR, and we continue to receive tournaments and magazine
submissions.

The best way to see BR get back on the schedule is to keep writing to the
magazines with ideas for articles and adventures, submit tournaments to the
RPGA, and, if you don't want to get into the heavy writing, writing letters
to TSR expressing your interest in the game setting. Participation is what
gets these worlds off hiatus and back on the schedule. It worked for
GREYHAWK in a big way, it worked for AL-QADIM in a smaller one, and TSR is
already planning other visits to other old worlds and game settings because
of renewed, rekindled, and/or vocal audience interest.

That should go for another few months ;-)


Ed Stark
Game Designer, Wizards of the Coast/TSR Division
Asst. Brand Manager
ALTERNITY Team
TSR Website: http://www.tsr.com