Back in 1997-2000 I ran a three-year Birthright AD&D campaign that ended with the unfortunate (but also badly DMed) wipe of a party. 3e and 3.5 were fun in a different direction (Forgotten Realms, hearkening back to basement d20 rolls when I was 16) but the inevitability of marriage and kids destroyed our regular group and 4e couldn't get it flowing again. Now the 5e is a thing, it became clear to friends old and new that now was the time to pick up the game again. The questions were how, where, and who would DM?

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I started a new job about a year and a half ago and discovered my manager was a Pathfinder player. Eventually I moved to a different department, but our friendship took the form of WH40K games instead of Pathfinder - I discovered and groomed two 40K players in my building who were both part of existing Pathfinder games. Their stories got me back into the roleplaying itch, but their games were full and my old crew just couldn't make a Pathfinder group happen.

Lo and behold 5th Edition and its similarities to 2e/3e, which led to stories back and forth with Pathfinder Manager (Thief from here on in) and somehow I related my failure as a DM back in college. He asked which campaign world I liked, and I said Birthright was always my favorite. I was surprised and amazed when he was familiar with it but wanted to know more, and within two days the creative juices for a new Birthright campaign were flowing.

I knew right away where and how I wanted to DM a campaign - it would be a Brecht "group of regents" type of party. Back in the '90s the group had revolved around Tuarhievel and eventually the Giantdowns, and I wanted a change of scenery from what I consider the closest to "normal" D&D, Anuire. I also wanted to maintain the flavor of Birthright and I thought choosing a specific and uncommon flavor might make that idea work best. Surprisingly the two 40K/Pathfinder coworkers (Thief and Fighter) were excited about the idea of a Dungeons and Dragons campaign where Dragons were pretty much a no-go and Dungeons might come second to Court Intrigue or Building Roads.

I decided to enforce the Birthright campaign setting as I saw it - true magic required a bloodline, races were limited, classes and gear were also specific to the campaign world. No gnomes, no half-orcs, no dragonborn. Sorcerers were out, but I decided to take a chance on Warlock and I'm considering Khinasi monks. Warlock was a tough call, but original source material for BR includes outer-planar beings (see Warlock of the Stonecrowns) so we'll see how that works out. Elves, casters, and magical items would be rare.

I happily found four players: Thief, Fighter, and Warlock (an old friend), along with To Be Determined, one of the guys from my original high school days (an older friend!). So far I have two Brechts and an Anuirean/Brecht raised to be an Anuirean fighter so he could play something a bit more platey - the idea of a landsknecht didn't sit well with him. So far all three are blooded, though their bloodlines are all minor and contain no particularly powerful blood abilities. To roll bloodlines I used the original 2nd ed source material for bloodline derivation, strength and blood abilities. For now, I've allowed the 5e bonus of +1 to all ability scores for a human, adjusted by the ability score adjustments for Brechts and Anuireans in 2e.

Given the nature of the new system, the haphazard conversion I am doing for Birthright, and me being out of a DMing loop for a good decade, I already plan on allowing the characters to do some tweaking and fine-tuning of their characters at 3rd or 4th level.

In one week is our first game, and I can only become more excited as it approaches. More details as we proceed!