DerekSTheRed
Explorer
WotC has hinted that Wizards will be supporting in Dragon and Dungeon other settings including a "semi-obscure but flavorful" setting. I'm hoping it's my personal favorite, Birthright. If it is, my goal of writing my own version will seem obsolete. I've been trying to work on my own for some time since 4E was released. I don't have as much free time as I would like, so the going has been slow. In addition, the new design philosophies of Essentials convinced me to trash at least half of what I had written. Still, I wanted to write a quick summary of what I think 4E Birthright should be in case WotC is writing their version.
Blood Powers
For Blooded heroes, I decided they should be equal in power to non-blooded heroes. This is unlike 2nd Edition where blooded heroes were more powerful but non-blooded PCs received an XP bonus. A PC may choose to be blooded during creation. If so, they get access to extra build options. During combat, if a blooded creature is not marked or the subject of Defender Aura, he or she is marked by the nearest blooded enemy if one exists. Blood Powers are heroic tier utility powers that a PC can select if he or she is blooded. Each Bloodline Derivation (determines which dead god your ancestor got his powers from) has a feat that gives a flavorful ability that is minor, but useful at all levels. A PC can have only one Bloodline Derivation feat. In addition, some of the Blooded utility powers work better if the user has a specific bloodline derivation. The 10th level Blood Utility powers have a requirement of a Bloodline Derivation (feat) in order to select them.
I am writing two Blooded related Paragon Paths. The Blooded Scion will have the updated versions of the 2nd Edition Blood powers Invulnerability and Divine Wrath. The second Paragon Path is the Avatar of Ancient Gods. Each of the dead gods had an animal totem and this Paragon Path will have powers related to the different animal totems. Since Birthright was the first setting to encourage PCs to try to become gods, I have an Epic Destiny, Lesser God, for blooded PCs.
I decided against using the bloodline score. Consequently, Tighmaevril weapons work differently. They are essentially legacy weapons (and implements) that can get more powerful. In the hands of a non-blooded PC, they work as minor magical weapons (and did I mention implements?). In the hands of a blooded PC, they can potentially grow in power if the user kills another blooded creature with the tighmaevril weapon and completes a ritual (no skill check required) that uses enough gold to upgrade the weapon 5 levels. The blooded creature killed with the weapon must be of a certain level and each upgrade will require a higher level enemy slain. The weapon or implement must still be made of blood-silver so only weapons and implements made of metal qualify.
Realm Spells
Realm spells would be Realm Rituals. You have to be blooded or Fey to cast them. They all require a location as a focus. For Arcane Realm Rituals, that would be a ley line nexus. For Divine Realm Rituals, they require a congregation of sufficient size (based on level of Realm Ritual) in a consecrated place of worship. For Natural Realm Rituals (didn't exist in 2nd Edition, but Druids should be able to cast Realm Rituals with the Nature as the primary skill), a consecrated Druid's grove is required.
Finally, blooded PCs who are also rulers can create a blood tie between themselves and the land they rule. This blood tie gives the blooded scion the ability to detect an invading army and sense when his domain is the subject of a Realm Ritual (although they won't know the caster).
Races
For races in Birthright, I give Halflings the option to select Shadow Jaunt (Shadar-Kai racial ability see Dragon 372) instead of Second Chance. I was going to write some shadow related feats for the Halfling, but now I'm writing them as Racial Utility powers seeing as how that's how WotC is doing racial add-ons now. I also took a page from Dark Sun and re-purposed Goliaths as Orogs. Half-Orcs can then be Half-Orogs. Any half human, half beast (Minotuars, Gnolls, Centaurs, Kenkus, and perhaps Dragonborn and Shifters) are collectively known as Beastmen and were created by the now dead evil god Azrai to fight in his armies. Only Gnolls are on Cerillia in any large numbers. I added Tieflings to the island of Torova Temylatin North of the Vos lands (and they speak with an Eastern European accent just like the Vos). Instead of Fire Resistance, they have Cold Resistance since they come from a land of ice and snow.
I ret-conned the history of Birthright to have the Feywild especially close in the Aelvinwode. The difference between the Elves and the Eladrin are their respective ancestral homes. Elves ironically descended from the Sielwode and Eladrins from the Aevlinwode. When the Human migration came to Cerillia, they began in the South in territories that bordered the Sielwode. The humans quickly (or gradually depending on your lifespan) encroached on the Elven homeland and war broke out. Eventually the Sielwode became a fraction of its former size. The Eladrin wielded the power of the Feywild to keep the humans at bay. Both the Eladrin and Elves allied with the evil god Azrai and fought against the humans before switching sides at the climatic battle of Mount Deismaar.
Mount Deismaar saw the death of the old gods and the rise of the new gods. It also saw a re-ordering of the cosmology. The Feywild became more distant, robbing the Eladrin of much of their power. The Shadowfell became much closer and many shadowy creatures passed to the mortal realm. Fortunately many (but not all) of Azrai's lieutenants became trapped in the Shadowfell and now seek to return to the mortal realm with large armies to finish the conquest their master failed to complete.
The Eladrin over the years have attempted to reestablish the closeness of the Feywild and have had mixed results. The Eladrin of Lluabraight created the Twelve Gems of Arborea (nine of which remain) to reconnect with the magical source holdings of the Feywild. When the Eladrin held all twelve, it was said they were able to cast epic level Realm Rituals. The Eladrin of Cwmb Bheinn managed to transport their entire forest kingdom back to the Feywild for years until the Raven undid their magic. The Eladrin of Tuar Annwn attempted to reestablish their magical source of power in the Feywild in a desperate and failed attempt to stop the human invaders from the nation of Velenoye. While the Eladrin failed, the humans of Velenoye were instead stopped due to a massive influx of monsters from the Shadowfell.
Blood Powers
For Blooded heroes, I decided they should be equal in power to non-blooded heroes. This is unlike 2nd Edition where blooded heroes were more powerful but non-blooded PCs received an XP bonus. A PC may choose to be blooded during creation. If so, they get access to extra build options. During combat, if a blooded creature is not marked or the subject of Defender Aura, he or she is marked by the nearest blooded enemy if one exists. Blood Powers are heroic tier utility powers that a PC can select if he or she is blooded. Each Bloodline Derivation (determines which dead god your ancestor got his powers from) has a feat that gives a flavorful ability that is minor, but useful at all levels. A PC can have only one Bloodline Derivation feat. In addition, some of the Blooded utility powers work better if the user has a specific bloodline derivation. The 10th level Blood Utility powers have a requirement of a Bloodline Derivation (feat) in order to select them.
I am writing two Blooded related Paragon Paths. The Blooded Scion will have the updated versions of the 2nd Edition Blood powers Invulnerability and Divine Wrath. The second Paragon Path is the Avatar of Ancient Gods. Each of the dead gods had an animal totem and this Paragon Path will have powers related to the different animal totems. Since Birthright was the first setting to encourage PCs to try to become gods, I have an Epic Destiny, Lesser God, for blooded PCs.
I decided against using the bloodline score. Consequently, Tighmaevril weapons work differently. They are essentially legacy weapons (and implements) that can get more powerful. In the hands of a non-blooded PC, they work as minor magical weapons (and did I mention implements?). In the hands of a blooded PC, they can potentially grow in power if the user kills another blooded creature with the tighmaevril weapon and completes a ritual (no skill check required) that uses enough gold to upgrade the weapon 5 levels. The blooded creature killed with the weapon must be of a certain level and each upgrade will require a higher level enemy slain. The weapon or implement must still be made of blood-silver so only weapons and implements made of metal qualify.
Realm Spells
Realm spells would be Realm Rituals. You have to be blooded or Fey to cast them. They all require a location as a focus. For Arcane Realm Rituals, that would be a ley line nexus. For Divine Realm Rituals, they require a congregation of sufficient size (based on level of Realm Ritual) in a consecrated place of worship. For Natural Realm Rituals (didn't exist in 2nd Edition, but Druids should be able to cast Realm Rituals with the Nature as the primary skill), a consecrated Druid's grove is required.
Finally, blooded PCs who are also rulers can create a blood tie between themselves and the land they rule. This blood tie gives the blooded scion the ability to detect an invading army and sense when his domain is the subject of a Realm Ritual (although they won't know the caster).
Races
For races in Birthright, I give Halflings the option to select Shadow Jaunt (Shadar-Kai racial ability see Dragon 372) instead of Second Chance. I was going to write some shadow related feats for the Halfling, but now I'm writing them as Racial Utility powers seeing as how that's how WotC is doing racial add-ons now. I also took a page from Dark Sun and re-purposed Goliaths as Orogs. Half-Orcs can then be Half-Orogs. Any half human, half beast (Minotuars, Gnolls, Centaurs, Kenkus, and perhaps Dragonborn and Shifters) are collectively known as Beastmen and were created by the now dead evil god Azrai to fight in his armies. Only Gnolls are on Cerillia in any large numbers. I added Tieflings to the island of Torova Temylatin North of the Vos lands (and they speak with an Eastern European accent just like the Vos). Instead of Fire Resistance, they have Cold Resistance since they come from a land of ice and snow.
I ret-conned the history of Birthright to have the Feywild especially close in the Aelvinwode. The difference between the Elves and the Eladrin are their respective ancestral homes. Elves ironically descended from the Sielwode and Eladrins from the Aevlinwode. When the Human migration came to Cerillia, they began in the South in territories that bordered the Sielwode. The humans quickly (or gradually depending on your lifespan) encroached on the Elven homeland and war broke out. Eventually the Sielwode became a fraction of its former size. The Eladrin wielded the power of the Feywild to keep the humans at bay. Both the Eladrin and Elves allied with the evil god Azrai and fought against the humans before switching sides at the climatic battle of Mount Deismaar.
Mount Deismaar saw the death of the old gods and the rise of the new gods. It also saw a re-ordering of the cosmology. The Feywild became more distant, robbing the Eladrin of much of their power. The Shadowfell became much closer and many shadowy creatures passed to the mortal realm. Fortunately many (but not all) of Azrai's lieutenants became trapped in the Shadowfell and now seek to return to the mortal realm with large armies to finish the conquest their master failed to complete.
The Eladrin over the years have attempted to reestablish the closeness of the Feywild and have had mixed results. The Eladrin of Lluabraight created the Twelve Gems of Arborea (nine of which remain) to reconnect with the magical source holdings of the Feywild. When the Eladrin held all twelve, it was said they were able to cast epic level Realm Rituals. The Eladrin of Cwmb Bheinn managed to transport their entire forest kingdom back to the Feywild for years until the Raven undid their magic. The Eladrin of Tuar Annwn attempted to reestablish their magical source of power in the Feywild in a desperate and failed attempt to stop the human invaders from the nation of Velenoye. While the Eladrin failed, the humans of Velenoye were instead stopped due to a massive influx of monsters from the Shadowfell.
