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  1. #1

    Birthright 3e: I'm interested, but uncertain

    I only found this group yesterday, when I was looking around the web for old BR stuff. I was thinking of trying to get the boxed set, and convert it to 3.5, when, lo and behold, someone seems to have done it for me.

    I took a quick look at the rules (all of about 15 minutes), and they left me a bit uncertain. Before I invest more time in them, I thought I'd ask some questions that have probably been asked before:

    1. The first thing that struck me is that the rules seem long. I think the page count was 187. I am NOT interested in getting into a version of BR that has been overcomplkexificated all to Hell and back. Maybe somebody can offer some insight.

    2. What about physical components? Do you still need the original set to play? I saw no war cards, no battlemat, and no map of Cerilia. Or am I just missing them? Can these be downloaded someplace for BR 3e? It seems like a pretty useless exercise if these things are not available.

    3. I thought I saw some things in the rules that were rather sweeping changes, and unwelcome. For one thing, if memory serves, you could play out tactical battles with multiple war cards in the same area. Is this no longer the case? Seems like it would greatly change the tactics of the game.

    Anyway, I am hoping that this system will serve my needs, as I'd like to introduce my present players to BR. Any information would be appreciated.

  2. #2
    Ehrshegh of Spelling Thelandrin's Avatar
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    The BRCS has no world-specific information, other than the Gods (with full personality and worship write-up), but does fully convert everything else - races, blood powers, domain rulership, war, realm magic etc.

    You will need the boxed sets, if only for the world information, but the BRCS otherwise is fully usable. The BR wiki can also serve as both partial stand-in or integrated supplement, depending on what people write about which areas or people.
    Last edited by Thelandrin; 05-29-2008 at 03:16 PM.

  3. #3
    Quote Originally Posted by Thelandrin View Post
    You will need the boxed sets, if only for the world information, but the BRCS otherwise is fully usable. The BR wiki can also serve as both partial stand-in or integrated supplement, depending on what people about which areas or people.
    So no battlemat, warcards, etc.?

    If so, do those things come in the pdf set available from paizo and drivethrurpg?

    thanks.

  4. #4
    Ehrshegh of Spelling Thelandrin's Avatar
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    Well, I was assuming that you already had the boxed sets, but yes, the PDFs include everything in the boxes I believe, though you will need to do printing and suchlike.

  5. #5
    Quote Originally Posted by Thelandrin View Post
    Well, I was assuming that you already had the boxed sets, but yes, the PDFs include everything in the boxes I believe, though you will need to do printing and suchlike.

    I'm not trying to be flip or start a fight, and I mean that sincerely, but how can you ever push a new edition of BR onto a new crowd without the necessary components?

  6. #6
    Special Guest (Donor)
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    Because it is a fan-made work

  7. #7
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    It's not a new edition in the sense that you seem to be talking about. It's just a conversion to 3e D&D. It's almost directly compatible with all your 2e stuff, just with the new classes, skills, feats, and some spells (including domains) and monsters converted to 3e. How scions are handled (classes, templates, or neither, and with Ability Score bloodlines or normal 2e bloodlines) are still heavily debatable, but several workable versions are presented and its just up to you to choose which one you want to use. It's easy to apply to the setting information any way you choose, though.

    It's really more like a conversion supplement than a new version of Birthright.

    It does have some reworkings of the Domain Rules, but they are basically the same. What I like about the domain rule changes are that they have made most things more internally consistent and somewhat streamlined. I think it still needs improvement, but I like it better than 2e.

    As for your war cards, do that however you want. I believe expanding off the square battlemat was just an option. The unit stat breakdowns make more sense and are more consistent and customizable. Opening up the battlefield is a matter of personal preference. The squares are designed for simple battle resolution. The fan designers of BRCS were trying to provide options, suggestions, and variants to handle more realistic scenarios. I personally prefer a more story-driven, asymmetric battlefield myself.

  8. #8
    Site Moderator AndrewTall's Avatar
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    The only caveat I have is that the BRCS playtest isn't the final model (unless someone's updated it since I downloaded it a year or two ago) - chapters 1 and 2 were revised and are in the downloads section.

    The wiki has the revised versions so if your players use the wiki rather than downloading the whole thing they'll get confused if you are using the hardcore playtest.

    If you are familiar with the 2e version then not much is new - the domain rules have been revised a bit (a summary of actions can be found on http://www.birthright.net/brwiki/ind...action_summary) particularly the courts system, bloodlines are now less irregular, but the feel of the setting is still the same.
    Last edited by Sorontar; 05-29-2008 at 11:33 PM. Reason: missing words

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