Savage Worlds Birthright

[ConjurerDragon]

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For example, there isn`t a "Raise Dead" power in savage worlds. I`d be just as happy to leave his as is, perhaps creating a Realm spell. Cerilia just seems like a place where the dead are not meant to be raised and it only creates a bit of confusion when a regent is raised after passing on the bloodline and control of their realm.
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I`m leaving Raise Dead out, for sure. I never liked it anyway, much less for BR.

Raise dead wasn?t so much an issue in 2E as it is in 3E. That is one of the reasons I would have liked to have more restrictions on the 3E priests in Aebrynnis and not all generic 3E priests which are different only in the 2 domains they choose.

Using 2E rules the restrictions were that Not every god granted the Healing (major) sphere to his priests/clerics (all were "specialty priests") and that there were very few highlevel clerics assumed to exist.

[jdpb1]

Raise dead wasn?t so much an issue in 2E as it is in 3E.
. . .
Using 2E rules the restrictions were that Not every god granted the Healing (major) sphere to his priests/clerics (all were "specialty priests") and that there were very few highlevel
clerics assumed to exist.

You make a good point.

As I think about this and Tannen's suggestion, maybe a Raise Dead would make a good Realm Spell. That would certainly limit it's usage. It would also make raising of the dead a special act that would probably only be available to the VIPs given the costs and time involved. It would be "big news" throughout the land too because the realm spell requires such time, effort and focus from a powerful temple regent to accomplish.

Thanks for your input
Joe

[jdpb1]

Tannen

The stuff on Ruornil and Belinik is perfect! Exactly what I'm looking for. Thanks!

If I remember my notes correctly, I have fully written up Laerme & Sera. Haelyn, Avani, & Cuiraecen are pretty far along as well. I have worked on duties and sins for them all, but no spell trapping stuff.

I have Nesirie's "Duties" down, but have not worked on sins or spell trappings.

If you have more ideas to share, I'd love to see them.

Joe

[jdpb1]

Tannen

Your race analysis is excellent. I actually have no qualms about leaving elves a bit powerful. I've always felt that they were somewhat superior to the average human on an individual level.

That said, your No Faith hindrance is interesting. I certainly agree with the Edge restrictions. The "no beneficial miracles" thing seems awfully harsh (as you point out). It seems to imply that "if you don't believe, you can't benefit." This might open up questions about whether priests could heal or bless (boost trait) a member of a different faith, or an animal or a friendly centaur, etc.

I think No Faith should be included, and forbid AB (miracles), Champion, and Holy Warrior. I would leave out the other restriction for now.

Thanks
Joe

[jdpb1]

The discussion about the elven "No Faith" hindrance reminds me of another conversion issue: Paladins.

Right now I have simply renamed the Champion Edge, "Paladin." I changed the prereqs to: "Vow (major) (Haelyn, Avani, Cuiraecen, or Nesirie). ); Spirit D8+; Strength D6+; Vigor D6+; Fighting D6+.

I thought about adding spellcasting somehow, or creating a separate AB (paladin) edge with a limited spell list. I decided against doing either for now. If a paladin type character wants spell casting, he can take AB (miracles) as normal. No need to complicate things or make it feel too much like a D&D class.

Anyone have feelings about this?

[jdpb1]

Merchant: Buy bulk commodities at 25% standard price, Allows Guild Holdings
------> Master Merchant: (Requires: Merchant) Sell bulk commodities at 25% above standard price, Allows Trade Routes.
------------> Guilder: (Requires: Merchant, Master Merchant), buy and sell bulk commodities at additional 10% margin, Allows RP from Guild Holdings, <bonuses to guild-related domain actions>

This means that to get full benefit from guilds at the domain level, a regent is required to buy 3 Edges, plus any associated skills that might be requirements for each of the edges in the tree. But, regents can still 'dabble' in guilds by just buying the first one or two edges in the tree.

Hmmm . . . I'm not sure I'm feeling this.

I still don't see how buying "bulk commodities" at a discount would ever come up in a BR campaign - so that benefit isn't much a benefit. Likewise, while I do like the idea of an Edge to permit guild RP collection, I think spreading it out over 3 Edges might be overkill.

I think "Guilder" as an Edge with some solid prereqs. (Smarts; Persuasion; Streetwise; Knowledge (Administration); etc) works great. Receiving Guild RPs should be sufficiently enticing that a Character level benefit is unnecessary. I think it was for the "Master Diplomat" type edges discussed earlier (since they only provided a +2 to certain Domain rolls), but not for "Guilder."

As a side note, I have included a couple of new Knowledge skills in the conversion. Knowledge (Administration) functions similarly to the BRCS skill. With a successful skill check, it helps reduce domain maintenance costs and gives a bonus to Rule Holding and Rule Province actions.

Actually. . . I'll post the current draft of the "Skills" section of the PG next.

As always, thanks
Joe

[jdpb1]

DRAFT of "skills" section of player's guide.

I admit that some of this is less a BR conversion and more a reflection of my preferred "SW house rules."


Unavailable Skills:
The following skills are unavailable in this campaign and may not be purchased:

Climbing
Driving
Gambling
Piloting
Swimming
Tracking

New Skills & Changes to Existing Skills:

Athletics – This new skill is linked to Agility and covers a multitude of physical actions, including climbing, swimming, jumping, tumbling, etc.

Knowledge (Warfare) – This skill represents education in the military sciences of strategy, tactics and logistics. The character is skilled at commanding both small squads of soldiers and entire armies. He has also studied advanced techniques for defeating military fortifications.
This skill is used in mass battles to determine the initiative of the commander’s troops, as well as possibly allowing him to determine the most favorable terrain for his army and forcing this opponent to fight there. (see Mass Battles in the Domain Guide)

Knowledge (Administration) - The character is a capable administrator and understands the workings of the apparatus of government and the governmental hierarchy. He also has a practical, working knowledge of a government's legal system and codes.
This skill can be used each Domain Turn to reduce the Domain Maintenance cost, representing the character’s mastery of running smooth, efficient operations. In addition, a successful skill check will provide a bonus to the character’s Rule Holding/Province Domain Actions. (see Domain Rules in the Domain Guide)

Knowledge (Blood Lore) - The character is knowledgeable about blood abilities, derivations, familial heritages, the investiture and destruction of bloodline, etc.

Knowledge (Nobility) – The character is well versed in the histories, genealogies, and relationships of the various noble families in Anuire.

Sleight of Hand – This new skill is linked to Agility and covers a wide range of subtle and precise trickery including picking pockets, legerdemain, coin tricks, etc.

Speak Language – All races begin play proficient with their regional dialect (Anuirean, Basarji, Low Brecht, Rjuven, or Vos for humans; Karamhul for dwarves; Sidhelien for elves; any for Halflings). Characters may learn another language at the cost of one skill point during character generation, or one Advance. A character is limited to one additional (non-native) language per die step of Smarts above d4.

Unlike other skills, Speak Language does not have die type ranks, and cannot be improved. A character either speaks a language fluently, or he does not.

Survival – This skill remains unchanged from the core rules, but now also subsumes the Tracking skill.

[jdpb1]

I would not go too much into fire for Avani. Basaia was the godess of
fire and Laerme has that aspect now. Avani is the Sun.
Being the godess of Reason the INT boost spell could be
"Avanis/Avanalaes brilliant mind" just like your example of Haelyn?s
courage.

I just noticed this "hiding" in your original post. Makes sense to me. "Reason" and "sunlight" are going to be the two key ideas for Avani.

Thanks
Joe

[Tannen]

Tannen

The stuff on Ruornil and Belinik is perfect! Exactly what I'm looking for. Thanks!
<snip>
If you have more ideas to share, I'd love to see them.

Joe

OK, I'll see what else I can add.

Re: Raise Dead. I'm happy to see it just stay 'gone' from the SW conversion. If you make it a realm spell, would you limit it to just certain deities' priests?

[Tannen]

Tannen

Your race analysis is excellent. I actually have no qualms about leaving elves a bit powerful. I've always felt that they were somewhat superior to the average human on an individual level.

That said, your No Faith hindrance is interesting. I certainly agree with the Edge restrictions. The "no beneficial miracles" thing seems awfully harsh (as you point out). It seems to imply that "if you don't believe, you can't benefit." This might open up questions about whether priests could heal or bless (boost trait) a member of a different faith, or an animal or a friendly centaur, etc.

I think No Faith should be included, and forbid AB (miracles), Champion, and Holy Warrior. I would leave out the other restriction for now.

Thanks
Joe

That's fine. I thought it was quite harsh (and probably a bit of a pain in play too), but wanted to make sure it was worth the '-2' rating as a hindrance. Perhaps prohibiting those edges is enough.