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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Silveras" data-source="post: 1297274" data-attributes="member: 6271">Homebrew Birthright Conversion part 5: Domains and RealmsDomains and Realms---------------------------------------------------------This is another section that saw some significant changes. The basics of Provinces, Holdings, Domains and Realms are unchanged; however, the rules for gaining Regency from them are significantly different, as is my treatment of Tribal cultures. In addition, I have made some changes to the development limits of the different types of terrain. Domains, Holdings, Provinces, and RealmsThe basic rules defining Domains, Holdings, Realms, and Provinces are unchanged from the Birthright rulebook. The optional rule relaxing the limits on how many Regents of each type may have holdings in a province based on its level is assumed to be standard in my campaigns. Terrain and DevelopmentThe standard Birthright rules place a limit on how high a Province's level can be raised, based on the terrain. However, the terrain limits in the core Birthright rules strike me as applying only to humans; they don't seem to reflect the abilities of the other races to deal with that terrain type. Therefore, in my approach, all Provinces can be ruled to Level 10, however, some level "slots" are only available to creatures able to thrive in certain environments. Marshes, for example, have some "slots" that are only available to Aquatic races. [Code]Modified Terrain Table                 Surface Subterranean  OtherTerrain Type     Level   Level         LevelDesert           3       5             5 [Fire] or [Cold]Glacier          1       1             8 [Cold]Heavy Forest     6       2             6 Sylvan/FeyHills            9       1             5 [Air], AerialLight Forest     8       4             4 Sylvan/FeyMarsh/Swamp      6       0             4 Amphibean,                                          Aquatic, [Water]Low Mountains    7       4             5 [Air], AerialMedium Mountains 5       6             5 [Air], AerialHigh Mountains   3       8             2 [Air], AerialMoor/Highland    6       2             2 Amphibean,                                          Aquatic, [Water]Plains           10      4             0     Steppes          6       2             0Tundra           2       2             6 [Cold]Coastal Waters   0       0             10 Amphibean,                                           Aquatic, [Water]Ocean Waters     0       0             10 Aquatic, [Water][/Code]Subterranean levels are only exploitable by Dwarves, Goblins, and other races at home in such an environment. This also means that 2 (possibly more) races can "share" the space in a province. It is also possible that the sum of the "slots" of different types may come out to more than 10, so the two may wind up in conflict over the ability to build. Consider Plains, which humans can build up to 10. If there are Goblins living in 3 Underground levels, the Humans on the surface can only build up to 7; there will likely be trouble. The Goblins, too, may want to build their 3 up to 4. Variant: Covert HoldingsThis is a variant rule based on some PBeM games I was involved in. Several players desired the ability to create "secret" holdings. While not an unreasonable idea, I often found the implementations to be over-powered. So here is my version. Some Holdings may be created without disclosing their ownership. That such Holdings exist in a Province may be readily discovered by any Regent in the Province who wishes to find out. This requires a Gather Information check against DC 20 – the Level of the covert holding. The Regent owning the covert holding may affect the check by spending Regency and/or Gold Bars (at 2 RP or GB per 1 adjustment factor). The Regent seeking this information may also spend Regency and/or Gold Bars to influence this check.  The Province owner receives a +2 modifier to this check. This skill check is a Domain-Turn Free Action. The ownership of such Holdings can be determined (DC 25 – the Holding’s level).The location of such Holdings can also be determined (DC 30 – the Holding’s level). The Level of such Holdings can be discovered in a number of ways, though not usually with certainty. The Regent who successfully used Gather Information to find such Holdings always knows if the Holding found is less than or equal to the number by which his/her roll succeeded. Otherwise, subtracting the known Holding Levels from the Province Level gives a bare estimate. Note also that the existence of such Holdings, though not the number, is automatically revealed by a Rule action which fails because there are no “shares” of the appropriate influence available. A single regent’s Covert Holding levels may not exceed one-third the level of the Province (i.e., they are not possible in a Province 0, 1, or 2; are limited to 1 level in a Province 3 or 4; are limited to 2 levels in Provinces 5, 6, and 7; and are limited to 3 levels in Provinces 8, 9, and 10). Exception: Criminal guilds; their Holdings are always considered covert, but may occupy any number of slots in a province. Covert Holdings may be used to initiate actions. Doing so immediately reveals the existence of the Covert Holding, unless an Intrigue action is also used in the same or preceding Action Round specifically to mask the source of the action. If the Covert Actions variant is in use, Covert Holdings may be used to initiate Covert Actions without revealing the existence of the Covert Holding. Covert Holdings may be used to influence actions within the Province, just as overt Holdings may be, except that the cost for “Additional RP and GB” is doubled. The use of the covert Holding’s level as a modifier to the success of an action always reveals the existence of a covert holding and the modifier based on the Level of the Holding is revealed to the Regents with Holdings in the Province. Using RP and GB to affect the resolution of an action does not automatically reveal the covert holding. Covert Holdings count as 2 Holdings when determining the Maintenance costs for the Domain. If a Regent has mixed Covert and open Holdings in a Province, each is counted separately (the Covert ones still count as 2), generates income separately, and so on. Covert Holdings cost twice as much GB and RP to rule up as do normal Holdings. The inefficiencies involved here come from the enormous expense of maintaining the secrecy. Variant: Guild Holdings - Criminal vs. MercantileThe standard Birthright rules consider all Guilds to be a mix of some honest business and some shady dealing -- the exact balance is left to the ruler of the Guild Domain. I wanted a stronger separation of the types, so I created a variant rule where the two types were not part of the same organization. This variant also presumes the use of the "Covert Holdings" variant. Criminal guilds have minimal legitimate business interests. Their holdings are always considered covert (if that variant is in use). Criminal Guild holdings cannot be attacked without first being “found” (through Espionage or the Gather Information skill check mentioned under Covert Holdings, above). Criminal Guilds cannot benefit from Trade Routes or Caravan actions. These organizations focus on illegal activities, both “soft crime” (Burglary, Prostitution, Fixed Gambling, Smuggling) and “hard crime” (Assassination, Highway Robbery, Kidnapping, Slavery, Drug running). When performing an Espionage action to commit these activities, the Criminal Guild receives a +4 competence bonus to the result check. Mercantile guilds have minimal illegal operations. These guilds primarily operate legitimate businesses and only engage in criminal activities as a sideline or a necessary workaround. Their criminal activities are limited to “soft” crimes. These Guilds can use their extensive legitimate business contacts to operate Trade Routes or take Caravan actions. When performing either of these actions, this type of Guild receives a +4 competence bonus to the result check. Tribes, Nations, and HordesTribes are a special case of Holding. A tribe is a nomadic or semi-nomadic band of loosely-related extended families. These tribes can grow in size to number several hundred members. As such, they are essentially mobile provinces. Tribes often have some Temple-like spiritual organization, as well as some amount of Law-type influences. Some advanced tribes may have Guild-type activities as well, but these are rare. Typically, Tribal societies leave magic to the divine spellcasters, and refuse to associate with arcane spellcasters – so they have no Source type influences. What this means is that, like a Province, a Tribe can support Law, Temple, and/or Guild Holdings of up to the Tribe’s Level. Usually, the Tribal chief owns the Law, but not the Temple, “shares”.Tribes do not pay Maintenance on the Domain or on their troops. Tribes, based on their population, vary between Level 0 (population 500 – 999) and Level 2 (population 5,000). Tribal leaders are often vassals to the leaders of the Nation they belong to (if any). They are sometimes vassals to the Regents of Realms in which their nomadic lifestyles take them. A Nation is a related group of tribes under a single chieftain. Nations are semi-permanent, but usually come together once every year or two, remaining dispersed between those ceremonial occasions. One tribal leader holds the vassalage of the others, and is the overall chieftain. This position is usually open to challenge from the other tribal leaders, and so the dominant tribe may change frequently. A Horde is a group of Nations united under a single leader. Very rare, Hordes are a menace to the populations of non-nomadic lands because they usually subsist by raiding those settlements, and sometimes conquer and enslave the populations. AssetsAssets are mostly as described in the Birthright rulebook. Armies, Navies, Roads, Bridges, Ley Lines, Trade Routes, Castles, and Fortifications are all assets. Armies and Navies would have gotten their own treatments, but I ran out of steam on that, so they can remain exactly as described in the Birthright rulebook. Ley Lines are unchanged. For Trade Routes, I clarified what I thought was a vague point in the Birthright rules (which led to some debates in the PBeM games). A Trade Route requires a Guild holding to anchor it at each end. The same regent does not need to own both, but in that case, the two rulers share the income. A Diplomacy action may be required to negoiate anything other than a simple 50/50 split. The exception is Sea Trade Routes to "parts unknown", which operate exactly as described in the rulebook. I converted the Castle and Fortification building rules a bit. The main idea was to tie the cost to a number of "Stronghold Spaces", from the Stronghold Builder's Guidebook. As that volume is not Open Content, I suggest sticking with the core Birthright rules for now. Roads and Bridges are a bit modified. I re-defined roads as composed of "road segments", which connect population centers (still taking as complex a path as the builder likes). The reason for this is to make it easier for electronic tools to represent that "Province A is connected by road to Province B". For the most part, the fact that the provinces are connected is much more important than is the fact that six villages in Province A are also connected to each other. Road segments are expected to be wide enough for 2 carts or wagons to pass each other, paved with stone, and solid enough to last for about a decade. With Bridges, I got a good deal more elaborate. You may not want this much detail, but I had fun thinking it out, so here it is: Bridges begin at 1d4 GB to build a simple wooden bridge. The price for a bridge depends upon many factors. The basic cost is (1d4 + Material + Ornamentation) x Size Multiplier x Durability Modifier in Gold Bars. MaterialWood: +0Stone: +1Iron: +4Steel: +6Adamantite: +10Mithral: +12OrnamentationNone: +0Understated: +1Ornate: +2Baroque: +3SizeGargantuan (24 men or 8 carts wide): x4Colossal ( 12 men or 4 carts wide): x2Huge ( 6 men or 2 cart wide): x1Large ( 3 men or 1 cart wide): r x.75Medium (1 person at a time over a stream): x.0.5DurabilityEternity: x10Century: x5Decade: x1Year: x.5Domain Turn: x.1Action Round: x.01Bridge surchargesstream: .5 lengthsminor river: 1 lengthgorge: +.5 lengthsmajor river: 3 lengthsFor example, a plain wooden bridge wide enough for 6 men or 2 carts to cross across a minor river meant to last a decade would cost (1d4 + 0 + 0) x1 x1, or 1d4 GB. An ornate stone bridge of the same size and durability would cost (1d4 + 1 +2) x1 x1 or 1d4+3 GB. A bridge with the same qualities crossing a major river would cost three times as much (3d4+9 GB).</blockquote>

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