First off, I'd like to say that no world published by TSR or any gaming
company I know of comes close to the realism and style or flavour of the
Birthright world. Buy the basic campaign set; it's not too expensive. I
bet it'll grab you by the balls and make you love Cerilia. If not, then
you still have a fine set with a mass combat resolution system and good
ideas to incorporate into any other campaign. If you do like it, there
are loads of supplements to really flesh out the different cultures and
nations. Now, here's my answer to your questions:

1. Do Arthurian-type Legends adapt well to this campaign
setting?(Merlin, Holy Grail, Excalibur, Lady of the Lake)
Or, would you recommend making up another world?

It depends on what you would call Arthurian flavour. There are
many realms with brave knights, mysterious sorcerors and noble
kings. However, the Birthright world has an incredibly detailed
history, going back for about 2000 years, whereas the times of
Arthur were only preceded by Celtic and Roman times. And most
Arthurian people weren't even aware of that history. So Anuire,
the culture that in my opinion would come closest to Arthurian,
has far more history and has advanced further. Where Arthur is
generally set in the Dark Ages, Anuire is fully medieval, having
knights in full plate armour and large units of pikemen. As for
Dark Age cultures, The Rjurik and Vos would come to mind. But
the Rjurik do not have knights; they are Vikingesque, though
they have a bit of a Celtic mindset and decorative art. They
practise druidism. The Vos are bloodthirsty barbarians, but they
too have advanced far beyond your average Pict. They use chain
mail and plate mail, too.
So, can it be made Arthurian? Perhaps, if you're not too picky
on what you consider to be so. It is perfectly acceptable for
Birthright to have adventures of noble knights questing for the
Grail or such. As long as you don't want it too precisely, you
should be fine. But the Moonshae isles on the Forgotten Realms
are probably just as usable.



2. What if anything is detailed in the box set?

Loads. First of all, there's the rulebook, containing the rules
for a resulotion system for large battles. They are fought out
with cards. These, too, come in the set; a hundred or so of them.
Also in the rulebook are the rules concerning bloodlines and
being
the regent of a country. The PC races are explained, among which
are five human subcultures that give Birthright a unique flavor.

Then, the box has the Atlas of Cerilia. Herein is the history of
Cerilia described. It also has 5-10 line explanations on each
state
in Cerilia. And there's a lot of them!

The Ruins of Empire book describes in detail the realms of the
southwestern part of the continent.

There are also some cool play aids.



3. Are there thumbnails of the realms? Or, are
the realms all contained in their own books?

Every nation is briefly (5-10 lines) described in the Atlas.
Detailed information is given on the most prominent human
subculture, the Anuireans, and their states. For the other
four parts of the continent, there are campaign expansions.
Finally, if you really want the ins and outs of a single
domain, which is really handy if you want to be the regent
of that realm, there are Domain Sourcebooks. For Anuire,
there are about seven; the others have a little less. There
is ample room for further releases, however.

4. What problems have you come across in your campaigns?
Are the rules for realms pretty complete?

Can't really answer this one as we only use the setting and
don't actually rule any land, guild or temple. What I can say
is that it is very hard for the DM to make a good story if
the players are kings, as they will be occupied with mundane
and uninteresting things. It takes a good DM to make cool
adventures, especially if more than one player is a regent.

5. Can a commoner become a king? Or, do you have to begin
as a noble to rule?

Depends. A 'commoner' in BirthRight means: someone who has no
bloodline. It is true that most if not all nobles have
bloodlines.
And to actually rule a domain you MUST have a bloodline. However,
it is quite possible for someone who is 'of the blood' to have
the social status of a commoner. Only if you're blooded can you
become a king, and almost all blooded persons are nobles, but not
necessarily so.

6. Are there some rules for Etiquette? Jousting? Fencing/Deuling?

Not that I now of.

7. Are human multi-class players allowed?

Human DUAL-class characters are allowed as usual. There is no
official rules change saying humans can now become MULTI-classed
too, though. It's a fine distinction.

8. Are there any new character classes in the BR set? {Kits}? The old
chevialier class?

Not that I know of. Priesthoods are detailed, if you call that
new character classes.

9. Are there any new monsters in the BR set?

Yep. And they're cool, too!
You don't want to mess with the Gorgon!

10. Does the history of the world appeal to you? Does it seem too
simplistic? Is there room for the DM to expand on?

It's great! One of the best things about BR.
It's not simplistic but quite complex and realistic.
It doesn't leave room for more than finishing touches
in small parts of the world, though.

11. Are there raise dead and resurection spells? Are clerics all
powerful?

Resurrection does exist, but in the whole of Cerilia
the number of priests that can cast it can be counted on one
hand. Magic in general is very rare. Clerics are definately
not all-powerful. They make good characters, but not more so
then others.

12. Just as an aside have any of you used elements of Monty Python's The
Holy
Grail? I know it would probably throw off the mood of the setting, but I
just love that movie (Knights of Nee and all).

Yeah, right...

'Fetch the Holy Handgranade!' ;)

Hope that helped!
Martijn
- -_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_

Would you suffer eternally...
or internally?

Petrus T Steele

- -_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_
|| Martijn Buijs - martijn7@pi.net ||
-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-