Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 Pyrate_Jib Jan 31, 2014 9:30:07	I've often thought that the Brithright setting is a perfect world for a "Game of Thrones/ Song of Fire and Ice" styled campagin.  One that features intrigue and deception along with mass scale battles.   The PCs party can easily resemble a Noble House in Westeros.  Some taking roles as bloodline tied family members (regents and heirs).  Others as fosterlings from other bloodlines and domains.  Still other PCs could become retainers and bannermen.  Other roles could include those of Master of the Hunt, Ambassadors to other realms, Royal Tutors, Hearalds, Lords and Ladies of the court, wealthy and influencial merchants.  Players who want to play commoners could take the roles of servants or even hirelings.   Parts of the setting also mirror the world George R. R. Martin has created.  The Khinasi are somewhat culturally similar to the people of Dorne.  The Rjurik are similar to the people of the North.  The Brechts have much in common with the Free Cities.   Vos Wildlings!  Of course these may be a bit of a stretch for your imagination.   What is even nicer is that many of the domain books for Brithright are now comming out as low cost pdf files!  One domain could start a whole campaign!   What I struggle with is creating a ruleset for rulership bloodline powers.  Much of the regency powers resemble the Dragonmarks in Ebberron so that could be a clue.  Of course it depends upon which set of rules you prefer.  3E and 4E allow for Feats which could be used to select a regency bloodline.  D&D Next also has  Feat but they slide in at 3rd level.   Mass combat is also a hard fit for any ruleset.  I almost wonder if it shoudl be a more of a background element.  4E had some great ideas that could work in large scale combat.   Your views?
#2 Scriptyk Feb 09, 2014 12:35:40	I completely agree with you on the similarities between the worlds of Birthright and Westoros.  I thought the same thing the first time I watched Game of Thrones.  Especially with how the Anuirean Empire mires itself in political conflict over which of the handful of powerful Barons, Dukes, and Princes should rightfully ascend to the Throne.  The influence of the Shadow World seems to be present at least in theme in both settings as well.   I've thought over how best to handle bloodlines in a 4e game many times now.  Outside of making it a completely different mechanic, these are the best possibilities I've come up with.   1. Make the Bloodline into a variety of themes.  Themes tend to be campaign specific and add a small element of power to any basic character that meets the requirements.  They are not always allowed in every campaign and in a Birthright 4E game I'd say that only those specific to Birthright should be allowed to merit the fact that blooded characters are typically a bit more powerful.   2. Make the Bloodline feature similar to a hybrid class.  This would require a lot more groundwork as essentially you are forcing a character to opt out of core class abilities to gain additional utility out of a bloodline.   3. Make Bloodlines a paragon selection.  This allows for either of the two above or can stand alone.  It sets the precedent that truly blooded characters are significantly powered before they can truly advance.   All of these ideas require a lot of mechanical work to be done ahead of time with themes being probably the least time intensive.  Unfortunately, I don't think there is a very simple way of introducing blood abilities into 4E.
#3 Pyrate_Jib Feb 13, 2014 9:23:55	Have you looked at the D&D Next playtest data?  I was considering Bloodlines as an optional Feat gained at 4th level.  What do you think?
(Reply to #3) Pyrate_Jib	Created a facebook group for this very topic!   https://www.facebook.com/groups/401673343306226/
#5 bigmac Dec 21, 2014 16:51:18	There is a topic called Westeros and Birthright over at the Birthright forum at The Piazza, that you might want to investigate.