BRCS:Chapter eight/Outside the lines/Non-Cerilian settings


Main Page » Chapter eight/Outside the lines » Chapter eight/Outside the lines/Non-Cerilian settings

If a DM wishes to incorporate the d20 BIRTHRIGHT domain rules into a different campaign setting, several important issues must first be addressed.

[top]Regents and bloodlines

The domain rules assume that regents carry the blood of the gods. If you wish to use these rules in a campaign world without scions, use twice the character's level as their "bloodline score" to determine maximum collection and regency reserve.

[top]The value of a gold bar

In a non-BIRTHRIGHT setting, you may select any coinage equivalent to a Gold Bar, as appropriate. The default value of 2,000gp in coinage should be acceptable for most campaigns. It should be noted, however, that a Gold Bar is not just a measure of monetary assets; it is a combination of many factors that is expressed in a term for use on domain-level spending/value. Typically a GB is a combination of coinage (sp, gp, etc.), valuable assets (gems, artwork, etc.), or owed services and goods (weapons, armor, food stuff, cloth, etc.). The assets represented by a GB may vary based on both culture and time; for example, in the winter months a collected GB probably represents worked goods, not foodstuffs (which might be represented at harvest-time). The Gold Bar is a game abstraction and can be anything the DM deems reasonable.
Does an Anuirean GB have the same value as an Rjurik one? For the purposes of abstraction, the question is not relevant. A GB collected and spent in Anuire has the same relative purchasing power as a GB collected and spent in Rjurik. Only when Gold Bars cross culture boundaries does the exact value of the GB becomes truly relevant. As BIRTHRIGHT is an action-oriented game setting (rather than a cultural simulation), it is recommended that the relative economic status of various cultures be disregarded. In effect, a Gold Bar has exactly the same purchasing power everywhere. DMs who wish to institute rules for inflation, devaluation of coinage, and other economic factors are encouraged to do so, but such detail is beyond the default scope of the setting.
It should also be noted that some BIRTHRIGHT domain purchases in gold bars do not always reconcile well with the gold piece value guidelines presented in the Dungeon Master's Guide or other official d20 source books. The gold bar values for castles, ships, military units, and other domain assets are based on the established (and well play-tested) domain-level values introduced in the original BIRTHRIGHT setting. Discrepancies could be explained by noting the prices in the official source books may include the value of the land on which the castle/keep is built, plus the cost of creating a significant agricultural area with which to support the castle's inhabitants; such factors are already accounted for in the domain-level rules and thus the perceived prices may differ. It should be taken as read that the price for some assets have a different value in the BIRTHRIGHT setting. Use the values for assets in other campaign settings with care; combining two possibly different scales of asset valuation is potentially unbalancing.
 
This article is a Birthright Campaign Setting (D&D 3.5/D20) page
The BRCS Document is a comprehensive toolbox consisting of rules, races, classes, feats, skills, various systems, spells, magic items, and monsters compatible with the d20 System version of Dungeons & Dragons from Wizards of the Coast.
 

Tags for this Page

Similar Pages

  1. Chapter one/Character/Elves, Cerilian
    By Sorontar in forum Birthright Campaign Setting 3.5
    Comments: 5
    Last Post: 03-14-2015, 08:52 PM
  2. Chapter eight/Outside the lines
    By Sorontar in forum Birthright Campaign Setting 3.5
    Comments: 0
    Last Post: 10-28-2008, 06:05 AM
  3. Non-Cerilian settings
    By Sorontar in forum Main
    Comments: 0
    Last Post: 10-28-2008, 06:01 AM
  4. Chapter nine/Creatures/Dragon, Cerilian
    By Sorontar in forum Birthright Campaign Setting 3.5
    Comments: 0
    Last Post: 09-05-2008, 07:00 AM

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

Posting Permissions
  • You may not create new articles
  • You may not edit articles
  • You may not protect articles
  • You may not post comments
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your comments
BIRTHRIGHT, DUNGEONS & DRAGONS, D&D, the BIRTHRIGHT logo, and the D&D logo are trademarks owned by Wizards of the Coast, Inc., a subsidiary of Hasbro, Inc., and are used by permission. ©2002-2010 Wizards of the Coast, Inc.