Birthright

A campaign setting that revolves around noble birth and political intrigue.

Nobles and most players in this setting are "descendants" of dead deities and their divine bloodlines can give them awesome abilities (or totally useless ones if they are unlucky). Also their blood ties them to the land in which they rule by some sort of "strange magicks" so if they are successful rulers they can increase the strength of their bloodlines.

The game also features rules for managing your domains (lands, temples, guilds etc.) and also for large scale battles. The battle system is a simplified version of other wargames and it uses cards. (hey! they are cheaper than miniatures!)

Setting

The game is set in the world of Aebrynis, specifically on a continent named Cerilia. There is only one plane linked to this world and that is a darker version of the reality called Shadow World.

Races

Humans

Humans in the Birthright setting can come from 5 different cultures, thus adding a bit more personality (and stat bonuses) to your characters. They are:

• Anuireans, a culture based on the English and French during the 100 years war.
• Brecht, culture based on the Hanseatic League.
• Khinasi, culture loosely based on the Moors.
• Rjurik, a culture based on a mixture of medieval Scandinavian and Celtic peoples.
• Vos, culture based on Dark Ages Rus.

Playable Non-Human Races

• Elves - Sidhelien as they call themselves. They are often at odds with humans and other cultures due to past history. They are magical creatures related to the Fey.
• Halflings - Originally hailing from a parallel world, they live amongst other humans, often hiding their origin.
• Dwarves - Strong but isolated, the dwarves

Non-Playable Non-Human Races

• Goblins - Smarter than the average goblins. They even have their own states and a fallen empire. This race represents the entire spectrum of goblinoids; goblins, hobgoblins, and bugbears are all recognized as "goblins," just coming in a wide array of sizes.
• Orog - Ancient enemies of the surface races and dwarves, completely replacing orcs in this setting. Notably more patient than their kinsmen, and therefore more frightening.
• Awnsheghlien - Singular "awnshigh," literally elfish for "blood of darkness." Not really a race. They are creatures who once were scions of the tainted Azrai bloodline and the evil workings of that corruption turned them into truly powerful monsters, the strongest of which run whole kingdoms. Not all of them are actually evil, with a few of them being neutral and pretty-alright lords in their own ways, but most of them fall into darkness and the strongest of them almost always are because they have few conniptions about bloodtheft. Most D&D monsters are instead unique awnsheghlien, with a few creating less-powerful "henchman" monsters through mating with other beings. For instance, rather than an entire race of hydras, there's only the Hydra, and the hydrakin that occasionally spawn from blisters on its body to stalk its habitat for prey. Some are animalistic, and some possess keen and frightening intellects.
• Ehrsheghlien - Singluar "ehrshegh," literally elfish for "blood of light." Similar to the awnsheghlien, but derived from bloodlines other than Azrai and generally less malevolent and involved.

Bloodlines

The seven old gods died in a big battle at a place called Deismaar, and their power were transferred to warriors at the battle. The luckiest became the new gods and the others got to be scions of the different bloodlines. One bloodline was spawned for each of the perished gods and they grant powers according to the god it once belonged to.

The seven bloodlines are the following:

• Azrai - the god of darkness and deception and evil, the other gods sacrificed themselves to destroy him.
• Anduiras - patron of Anuireans, he was the god of Law and Justice.
• Brenna - patron of the Brecht, the goddess of commerce and fortune.
• Basaïa - patron of Khinasi, goddess of light and reason.
• Masela - patron of the now extinct Masetians, she was the goddess of the sea.
• Reynir - patron of Rjuven, god of the hunt and nature.
• Vorynn - the god of magic and former patron of the Vos, but they left him for Azrai.

System

Birthright was an aD&D campaign setting. Since TSR suspended and Wizards of the Coast canceled production, for all subsequent editions there are only fanmade rules, so far.

Special Classes

The system mostly uses the standard aD&D classes, with a few exceptions

• Bard: they can only learn illusion, divination and enchantment/charm spells, but are some of the only spellcasters in the setting who don't need to be part of a bloodline or the backing of a deity or creature that is.
• Druid: they have some special powers, like move silently. Technically, the non-elf ones are special priests of a god called Erik.
• Magician: an illusion/divination specialist mage. They can only cast 1st and 2nd level spells from other schools. Storywise they can't access true magic because they are not scions of a bloodline.
• Wizard: Only blooded characters can become wizards, who are capable of using realm magic, magic that affects whole domains.
• Guilder: a Brecht class that serves as a middle-class merchant/trader/adventurer. Strong in skill selection.

External Links

• www.birthright.net
• Birthright Wiki