At 08:41 PM 10/29/97 -0800, Tripp Elliott(kmelliot@erols.com)wrote:
>

>
>Ok, Let's say my bloodline is that of,oh, let's pick Reynir[because I
>like wolves]. Ok, for some reason or another, I do a horrible, and
>despicable act, who knows, maybe I killed my parents and raped the
>horses. Alright, I'm blooded, so my folks probably were too. For
>simplicity sake, let's say the were both Reynir as well. Now, why the
>heck should I get, or even have it possible to get, an Azrai bloodline
>out of this[assuming all of the horses were unblooded]? There's no
>Azrai related blood within 100 miles of our farm[at the East end of
>Albiele], so where woulde it come from? Frankly, I see no reason for
>Azrai to enter into this at all. Now, surely it was an evil act and
>all, and standard Alignment penalties will derive from it[unless I was a
>hideously evil person already], but it shouldn't do anything to my
>Reynir bloodline except maybe raise it's Strength for the Bloodtheft
>itself.
>

>
>As a final note, let me remind everyone, that nobody out there is
>arguing that especially good acts will bring about an Bloodline of
>Anduiras spontaneously, so why should Azrai's be any different.
>

>

There is only one reason for spontaneously tainting(or at least threatening
to)a BL with Azrai Blood, and that is PC control. I have been gaming with
my Players for over a decade and many of them are excellent role-players,
but often I hear stories from other DMs(on this List and others)about newer
players who become power hungry. The BAs of BR can make this problem worse.
Really new Players will often pay heed to warnings about alignment shifts,
but someone who has been gaming a year or two may laugh them off preferring
power to virtue. At this point corruption of the characters BL can be the
perfect tool. There is little or no need to reward good Players beyond what
they will earn from their acts(although the granting of a BL for a
particularly good, self-sacrificing, and pious act might make a good plot
line for an adventure). I don't believe anyone will argue that beneficial
BLs should not be handed out as rewards, but I can see where some DMs would
use the Azrai taint as a way to prevent such power hungry actions, like
producing mass offspring just to "harvest" their BS. While I can understand
this train of thought, I don't agree with it. I say if they go mad with
power-lust then let them, but let them reap what they sow. Bad reputations,
vengeful friends or relatives, Curses, and even the old alignment shift,
can be just as effective and a little more subtile. Without having to use
much in the way of game mechanics you can create a great role-playing
opportunity. Still I have heard some DMs *need* to use a heavy hand, and
that is a shame. I'll stop my babbling here.


Sepsis, richt@metrolink.net (ICQ:3777956)

"War is a matter of vital importance to the State;
the province of life or death;
the road to survival or ruin.
It is mandatory that it be thoroughly studied."
-Sun Tzu,(The Art of War)-

BR Netbook: http://webpages.metrolink.net/~veleda/birth.html