Hi, I'm a new member in this list and I've been playing Birthright for
about a year.
Being an experienced roleplayer (I also play Dark Sun and Dragonlance), I
can say that BR is one of the best AD&D campaigns T$R has ever released. It
combines beautifully designed adventure settings with a dream wich in most
other campaign settings is almost impossible to achieve - to rule. To
actually boss someone around.

However, it has an incredibly complex paradox. The system of battle. While
it is simple enough to avoid waisting precious roelplay time, it is also so
simple that looses all credibility. The thing looks almost like a
simplified chess game. Example: a unit of pikemen, no mater how many times
it has gone to battle and survived, it is always as strong and has exactly
the same statistics has a newly created unit of pikemen; however, the hit
system is so diminute that any bonus one might give to a unit for being a
veteran unit, would become an incredible advantage - to incredible to be
real.
The terrain the defending party chooses should be more decisive to the
outcome of battle, not simply a place where your archers can hide. Before
the mighty-powerful-guns-and-bombs-and-chemics wars, the terrain where the
battles were fought had a major influence in the decision of victory or
defeat.
And lastly, why does a king battle? To gain political benefits, to gain
territory, or for personal revenge. Now, why does the common villager
battle? Of course, he can achieve personal glory after the 137th battle,
but where's the short term benefit? Spoils of war. I think that when a
group of units defeats another in battle there should be, for those that
would take it(and they'd be dumb not to), an opportunity to collect the
spoils of war, wich would go up to a maximum of half the unit's initial
cost. And it wouldn't be considered an act of evil, either. Many noble and
honoured warlords dit it in ancient time, particularly in the middle ages,
wich is where most of the fantasy roleplaying games are set. Of course a
major part of the spoils would be taken by the soldiers but a significant
part would go to the treasure also.

Any suggestions to improve these problems of mine would be "thankgodly"
taken.

Thanks

"Death is but what the haughty brave, the weak must bear, the wretch must
crave"
- Byron

jonasfel@mail.telepac.pt