Sinister,
Thanks for your interest. I think I should a have fairly solid drafts of the Player’s Guide and Domain Guide within two weeks. Once it’s in decent shape, I’ll see what I can do about trimming the copyrighted stuff out and creating a “sanitized version” that can be shared freely.
In the meantime, I’d love to hear any thoughts and suggestions you or any other SW fan has about how you would handle a conversion.
Thanks
Joe
I, too, would be very interested in taking a look at your conversion. Unfortunately, I fear I don’t have much to contribute - I am more or less a SW noob. Still, I’d love to read over what you’ve done!
Glad to hear it Tannen. I will certainly keep you in mind when I finish my drafts.
I will start a new thread about the SW conversion so as not to hijack this thread further.
Hello Folks,
Sorry Steve for the long delay, but been frightfully busy at work, tis the Silly Season and all and shoplifters be thick on the ground!
Yeup, the folks at Green Ronin on a whole do danged good work. While there’s still no disadvantage built in nor a HP and level caps, the magic system is beuatiful to behold: no fire-and-forget spells, VERY limited at low levels but powerful-as-demi-gods-like at higher levels and infinitely variable in effects. Explaining it is NOT easy in a quick manner, but lest just say it does indeed capture magic use in the novels PERFECTLY. Really, no tweaking required, works just like it and all that. The critics over at RPGNet had near apolectic fits of joy over it!
Combat is still basic D20 but with some tweaks concerning criticals, initiative, damage rolls, massive damage rules, and the mechanics of surprise to make combat freaking deadly. However if everyone is more less going into a fight on equal terms it can turn into a typical D20 perpetual slugfest. On the other hand surprise and a lucky roll can let a 1st level fighter toast a 10th level fighter! I’d get the CONAN RPG from Mongoose Publishing and combine their take on D20 combat (simple but surprisingly realistic). CONAN also has caps on HP at 10th level, the idea being that a person can get only so tough, even the big Cimmerian himself.
Classes are pretty good, with a slight variation on the fighter and absolutely no priestly type (just another type of academic), or priestly magic for that matter. The class that impressed me the most is one every fantasy game lacks, but shows up in nearly every novel: the Jack-Of-All-Trades. You know, the guys that bounces from occupation to occupation and picks up numurous skills as his interest flows. Croaker is the best example from the Black Company novels. It’s also easy to jump from class to class, though easier in the CONAN RPG. With humans the only race, I would liked to have seen the various ethnic groups as done in CONAN RPG, but it does give ideas for this. Another lack is any class or template for a mounted warfare focus type. This is easily cured by using the Knight prestige class for the A GAME OF THRONES RPG which is suitably realistic and avoids the “kewl new prestige class” problem. It’s more a skill set that a batch of powers.
Prestige classes are varied and flavorable, pushing the gritty, nuts and bolts, low power flavor of the setting. More importantly they are very specialized, even ubermenche-like when in the right enviroment, but can be very vulnerable in the wrong place as they have NO supernatural elements.
The feat list is the same: no supernatural flavor. The author also bans bringing in ANY feat that has such a flavor.
No disadvantages, but a recent Kenzer & Co. release ACES & EIGHTS, though a Wild West game, has such a system and it’s frightfully easy to use or adapt (I use as is). It definitely allows one to create very unique characters. Thick on Croaker’s smallpox scars and wide streak of romanticism. Now they are actual playable traits the player can’t ignore when suddenly inconveinent. I love the one that gives you a chronic case of body odor. Considering the various unsavory traits or features just about every member of the Company has, these are appropriate. To give incentive, taking such disadvantages gives one points to spend on skills or other such goodies. Check it out.
Of course, for BIRTHRIGHT I mainly use the CONAN RPG with some additional classes and certain feats from the BLACK COMPANY, THIEVE’S WORLD, A GAME OF THRONES, and the MEDIEVAL SOURCEBOOK. For magic I use Monte Cook’s ARCANA EVOLVED spells and system (more or less) with aspects of the THIEVE’S WORLD magic system, mainly for divine magic. I limit divine magic: considering the pain wizards are, why keep them around if clerics are nearly as uselful? On the other hand every cleric has “prayers and blessings” (from the AGOTRPG and MEDIEVAL SB) that can be used at any time, and no small amount of status and authority (hey, it IS a Medieval world!).
Lastly I use the armor and weapon rules and stats from CONAN RPG as these are the most realistic and also easily altered to fit any new research one does. I like CONAN’s rules for various weapon qualities, how they affect armor, and specializes them on how they attack armor. Some weapons have nasty bonuses to pierce plate for example…Armor is similarly handled, can be stacked (as in real life) while feats and rules for stacking DEX in combat (dodge is VERY important) mean even lightly armored types can survive. Where heavy armor is a big advantage is in mass melee (when multiple hits are coming in) and when arrows are flying. My players have gotten to where they wear heavy armor only when going into a “stand-up” fight, and wear padding, leather, or a chain shirt.
On a whole, we’ve come to use BIRTHRIGHT as a setting rather than play lords and such.
That reads like advertising puff. Could you perhaps pare it down so it doesn’t read like a press release?
I apologize, Thelandrin, such a “puff” feel was unintentional. I simply had the time and decided to be thorough as possible with the sources I use so Steve could peruse accordingly. However, I assure you it’s no puff piece: The sources are from four different companies, one of which is now defunct totaling five+ book lines three of which are, or will soon be, defunct.
Plus I’m just a talkative little insommniac:D!
Very well. 
Not that it matters but I find ltlconftpost to be informative. I do enjoy the birthright world but I find 3.5 to be a cumbersome system. I enjoy hearing what other systems people are using, even if they are trying to push a product. I will still decide if the system in question works for group and myself.
Thanks for the information! I’m a huge fan of the novels and when I read in the 2e rule book that fighters could gather units of troops to follow them I immediately thought of these novels. I always wanted to have my own PC led Black Company and the Birthright setting seemed perfect. Especially if you started out in Mieres working for the govenor and then was approached to go to work for Avanil. This is like the first couple of chapters of the first book.
I’ll check out the book.
Steve
Hello Folks,
Sorry for the absence, but work swamped due to the Silly Season. Go for the look, but be warned if you buy that the prices for any of these books is VERY steep! Prices are off the charts for any RPG these days and I’m very much a lurker on the second-hand book sites or just going for the second hand section on Amazon (hey, I’m only a lowly slightly above minimum wage-slave folks, I’ve no shame). Sure they’re a bit scuffed but they work, so look for a good deal.
As for Savage Worlds, played it a few times at local Cons and truly enjoyed it’s slick speed on mechanics (unintrussive and quick and my measuring stick), but the vast majority around here worship the ground D20 walks on (plus it’s often the only thing much of the under-30 crowd knows: “Change, it frightens us!”). Thus if I wish to run a game I must comply or be burned as a heretic, silly but there it is. So I’m a good Gyrene and adapt and overcome and make a D20 style I can live with and I’m pretty proud of the bastard child I’ve created. I thus can be a bit shameless on tootin my horn. I apologize for getting too cocky.
I do recommend Savage Worlds as an option if your willing to put the work in on fleshing it out for the uniqueness of the setting. Doing such is more a matter of how complicated you wanna get anyway, and the system seemed pretty flexiable the few times I had the opportunity to play it (always one shots at Cons).