Advancing the Timeline

[Delazar]

If anyone wants specifics on what I've done, by all means ask away! I'm quite happy to share.

I could babble on for hours and hours about my favorite setting - BR!

I find it more productive for people to ask for feedback, and I can provide my own suggestions toward their specific ideas and thoughts, however.

I'm actually very interested! But I don't want to derail this thread. Do you keep notes online, or some sort of journal that you're willing to share?

[Osprey]

I'm so tempted to write a small conversion document to play Birthright with the Dragonbane rules. Somehow Dragonbane really gives me a Birthright vibe! Maybe it's the art style of the starter set, very evocative!

I've been thinking the same! I only just received the box set the other day and haven't had time to read through the rules yet, but nearly 30 years ago I recreated the basics of Drakar och Demoner 4th edition from my memory of reading it in Swedish while I was abroad there, and later a friend sent me a copy of the magic supplement to help flesh out that aspect. I used that to run my own homebrew game world for 3 years, and absolutely loved the down-to-earth, intuitive mechanics. I found that only high-powered magic had the potential of really breaking the story away from characters remaining very human throughout their careers. Experienced characters were just more skilled, and almost always remained quite mortal and vulnerable to threats at all levels. This helped retain dramatic tension in all action scenes, and made sure the characters rarely reached a level of simply dismissing most regular people or monsters as non-threatening. As a result, the characters stayed very relatable, and roleplaying was very intuitive, a huge plus for every game. For my players being introduced to RPGs for the first time it was terrific - less focus on digesting a shiteload of rules, and an easier time focusing on thinking, acting, and speaking through their characters' perspectives. For my veteran players, they were able to very easily dive deep into their character personas, because for most there wasn't a lot of focus wasted on trying to min-max the system. The only exception was one character: a druid who eventually mastered healing and regeneration, shapeshifting into a werebear, and earth-melding...a combination that was so OP it stole the challenge out of almost every encounter. Lesson learned!

I'm curious to learn what has been reformed in Dragonbane/DoD since those days - hopefully it retains the best elements while adding a few improvements!

[masterdaorin]

I'm actually very interested! But I don't want to derail this thread. Do you keep notes online, or some sort of journal that you're willing to share?

I don't do anything online, though I'm keeping word files of everything. Once everything is finished, I could offer them as downloads here, if the site administers wish.

In the meantime, I could provide specifics about general aspects, if you wish. But, as I noted, its particular to my own gaming group, so I'm not sure how helpful it would be.

I can offer tips and advice with your own campaign or game, however.

For example, in the above noted example IMC, I decided that I needed a way to track alignment changes. So now I have a simple mechanic for that.

[masterdaorin]

... I found that only high-powered magic had the potential of really breaking the story away from characters remaining very human throughout their careers. Experienced characters were just more skilled, and almost always remained quite mortal and vulnerable to threats at all levels. This helped retain dramatic tension in all action scenes, and made sure the characters rarely reached a level of simply dismissing most regular people or monsters as non-threatening. As a result, the characters stayed very relatable, and roleplaying was very intuitive, a huge plus for every game...

This is exactly what I'm talking about.

My solution in my D&D games is to basically forget CL/CR and experience rules. and write the story that I want to tell - the rules be damned. I keep things at low- to mid-range level, for the most part, for the PCs, and they rarely advance beyond that, unless they do a lot of training and/or adventuring, or the story demands their growth (i.e. a certain high-level spell or ability). Most NPCs are rarely above 1st or 2nd level, unless they are important to the story. You would be surprised, for example, just how effective a horde of about 20 thugs (or 1 HD "monsters") can be versus a group of higher-level PCs.

My encounters are rarely "balancing", by any edition of the rules. I also roll the dice out in the open, and the results speak for themselves; I rarely use "DM Fiat", unless it's absolutely crucial to the story (and I somehow missed a contingency that I didn't plan for in the encounter - it happens). Sometimes the players just have to learn that there is always a bigger fish...

And, IMO, the BR setting is perfect for that very reason...

[Fizz]

One of the very best systems I ever played (and ran for 2 years) was the Swedish RPG Drakar och Demoner. It's quite simple but extremely gritty and down-to-earth in the sense that characters are...always going to be pretty squishy as humans or similar species. Veterancy can help a bit, but mostly you increase skills with experience (including magic if that is your skillset), instead of inexplicably multiplying durability and developing superpowers.

It used to be that the game only existed in English, but recently a version of the game was created by Free League Publishing (Frialigan), and now includes an all-English version called Dragonbane. It's very reasonably priced as a starter box set or pdf, and I couldn't help but think it might make a truly awesome game system for adapting to Birthright.

This sounds quite interesting. I like gritty systems. Have you tried it yet? Perhaps we should start another thread to discuss.

-Fizz

[Outlaw Pope]

I am working on something like as someone who is relatively new to Birthright - mostly for the purposes of making a PW in the game NWN - I needed a kitchen sink and basically was looking for locations that would fit for it and I decided on Thaele because it is known to the Cerilia civilizations, doesn't have much lore, and wasn't a massive continent like Aduria and the little Anuirean colonies there.

My basic idea is basically 100-200 years have passed. Some things I am thinking of currently to create chaos that makes Thaele a "setting" adjacent to all of the famous/important stuff.


*) Bad stuff in general is happening. It seems as though the barrier between the Shadow World and the Daylight Realm is weakening - monsters/beings (for better and for worse) from other worlds and planes are taking root all over.

*) The Cold Rider may or may not be tied to this. I am not entirely sold on making the cold rider an explicit successor of Azrai - considering making them a rising god of Death and the End akin to Nerull where as they are opposed to the goddess Nasirie who is the idea you'll die and your legacy remains and the dead out to be honored. But the rise of this power is also messing things up.

*) The Gorgon has displaced the Ice Witch who has migrated and founded an "evil" civilization on Thaele through some of the areas she was previously prospecting. He has also conquered significant portions of Anuire and the settled Rjurik civilization. A heresy/apostasy in the church of Haelyn has declared a new Cult of Raesene, a successor or savior from all the disorder in the world, a new and rightful god for a new empire yadda yadda. Something like that.

*) The Serpent also has risen - his cult and empire has overtaken some parts of Khinasi, establishing his serpent cult, and basically larping a renewal of Masetia alongside what is effectively the introduction of Yuan-ti born from him/his priesthood and ruling caste.

*) The Raven is basically putting Vosgaard's human civilizations under his boot as many of Belinik's people respect his strength and bend the knee to him - some are going off into the wastes with the monsters - others fleeing to the Ice Witch's city in Thaele.

*) The Magian I do not yet know what to do yet, I am considering he has also advanced some but might be trying to play the Serpent and the Gorgon off one another.

*) The Manslayer I am considering has riled up a new age of elven hate for a few very noteworthy human purges, causing elves and half-elves in Anuirean lands both under the Gorgon and beyond him to just purge or pogrom - some elves flee to Thaele after rumors of old ruins discovered there.

*) Gunpowder has been catching on beyond the naval applications, largely, because Brecht trades have learned or bought a dwarven innovation used in mining. This has lead to the Brecht becoming better able to defend themselves from their neighbors despite their smallness - gunpowder has a similar dislike as arcane magic has, but its proven military powers has caused many to experiment with firearms. Dwarves and Brecht effectively have them fully embraced.

*) Gnomes have been found to have a large indigenous population in the forests of Thaele and are now more common in the north. I have been debating between having them being an entirely typical DnD origin as a separate race similar to the elves having come from the faerie realms long ago - or that they are the result of Dwarven and Elven pairings which are undocumented and supremely rare. Again, not really sure how I want them themed but I want gnomes to be available.

*) Demonic/devilish worship pops up now and then because of the presence of fiends in the Shadow World and the implications of Azrai inviting fiends into this world in its youth - now blossoming into temptations of new magics sourced off compacts with these fiends.

The TL;DR basically "the continent is going through a bad time, monsters, men, and gods are going at it" and this has caused Thaele which is on the edge of the world to become a place of refuge/high adventure.

Stuff that'll be relevant and let players kind of advance things that are basically:

*) A city founded by and ruled over by the Ice Witch who may have even abandoned her continental holdings to seek after something here on Thaele. She has made a coalition of corrupted Rjurik pirates, Vosgaarders from the Raven's domain, and numerous monsters (orogs, kobolds, goblins) to help in her efforts to explore/colonized Thaele.

*) Another city which was initially a Rjurik village, then an Anuirean colony, and now an independent city-principality ruled over by a displaced Khinasi lord. It tends toward a more "kind" playstyle.

*) Brecht populations and traders go between both places and you can find them as mercenaries/settlers on both sides.

*) Elves/Helves might have a secret civilization forming here, but can be found as adventurers and refugees on both sides.

*) A dwarven clan has either found an old dwarven ruin and are reclaiming it or are making something new here. There is an evil clan of dwarves who practice dark sorcery and worship a god of magic/exiles (Laduguer) in the Ice Witch's territory.

*) Halflings will be present in typical fashion - but there might be infiltration of Shadowy, corrupted halflings loyal to their warlords and The Lost, as well as other minions of those ancient evils present in the area.

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Obviously still working on it and I also really won't be filling in every gap because I want room to expand/add and largely leave it to the playerbase if we get one to make stuff change there.