Hey All. I am new to the forum (only found Birthright.net last month), but I have been into Birthright for years, playing a home-spun version of it with 3.5.

Since I want to help out the campaign world I dig so much, I have volunteered to generate some of the NPCs. HOWEVER, I have some VERY basic questions. I have searched the FAQ, read the draft Chapter 1, and done a search on the forum, and in some cases there's no clear answer to the question, and in others, conflicting answers (and way to many of them).

SO, I post this out of confusion, and hoping get a better sense of WHY and HOW some things work.

1. The Noble Class - What's it's purpose? Original birthright didn't have it. Is it to provide class skills to rulers? It seems that a lot of its class abilities nerf EVERY other PHB class. Fighters can no longer rule nations effectively, compared to the Nobles... There were no nobles in the original system, so just I don't get this at all. If I am going to be converting NPCs from the original system, I need to understand the Noble class I imagine. AND, if a powerful NPC regent was a 15th level fighter in 2e, is he now a 5th level fighter / 10th level Noble? 10th level fighter / 5th level Noble? What's the comparison?

2. The Noble Class - Why first level? Why is it necessary to START as a noble? couldn't one be bestowed a noble title after winning their land through martial (or magical or religious or commercial) means? This seems to limit Players to character concepts who were born noble, as it totally outshines other classes in rulership, no player will take ANYTHING but a noble for first level character if they EVER aspire to being regents. Historic characters like Daen Roesone certainly weren't born into Nobility, but they certainly ruled well... How do I work this into the NPCs I am supposed to convert? What about favoured class penalties for non-humans? Did anybody think of this?

3. The Human ability mods - Where did they go? A lot of the flavour seems to have been sucked out of the humans... Is it because they're only +1s and -1s that they were dropped? The bonuses to saving throws don't make sense for Vos and Khinasi - Strength and Intelligence don't affect saves. For the NPCs I am to generate, should I reduce the wis of all Anuireans by 1 and add 1 to all their dex to compensate for the 3.5 draft's missing ability mods? Likewise, should I add 1 to each Khinasi NPC's Con and subtract one from their Int? etc etc...

4. Where can I find a working copy of Chapter 2? How are blood points and bloodline strength calculated? Is it a template, 7th ability, class, or what? I have read posts advocating all these things, but I can find no definative answer.

Thanks for everybody's patience. I don't mean to second guess or criticize anybody's work up to this point considering I am certainly a Johnny-Come-Lately, but if I can have strong rationalizations for WHY these decisions were made, I would be able to contribute to the Atlas a little easier.

L8er
The Gautch