It should be accessible via this link or in the sidebar; it connects to the old version and overwrites it entirely. The change list is enormous and I didn't keep track of every little thing I tweaked, but the gist is as follows:
- Rebalanced all races/ancestries.
- Reworked all blood abilities and derivation passives in a sweeping and complete fashion to make them easier to understand and have fewer flat-out bad choices.
- Revised a number of domain actions.
- Allowed both RP and GB to contribute toward bonus success chance.
- Clarified terminologies across the board.
- Renamed some confusing terms.
- Reworked languages that were erroneously referenced; who knew that my boxed copy was missing that card?
- Cleaned up Garradalaigh patron warlock (and removed erroneous references to the term "pact").
- Fixed up plenty of errors in the Waging War section.
- Added provisos for attacking holdings in your own territory (since that uh, came up... don't ask).
- Added a new section for optional mechanics, which for now includes Tournament game rules; archery, jousting, melee, and racing are included here and kept fairly abstract for quick resolution.
- Added more campaign options and optional rules for how playtest parties played the game.
Wow, excellent work my friend! Love the fact hat you have put so much time and effort bring Birthright to 5E, it really is one of the best settings IMO. Just curious, why did you change the document aesthetically speaking? The earlier one looked more polished, even if your revised version is more balanced.
ReplyDeleteHello! I am glad this is of use for you! As far as the formatting, I wanted a greater degree of control and ease of use than the previous tool (GM Binder) allowed, though its aligning to the 5th Edition "look" is definitely better than that provided by Word with the design tools I have. I am, frankly, rather rubbish at visual design! It's something I want to improve.
DeleteThat said, the doc will continue to get iteration as I get new ideas, and I'll be working on improving the visual presentation.
Cool - going to pick thru this at somepoint this winter!
ReplyDeleteSay, looking at the wizard a archetype I noticed that it only has one 2nd level ability. Shouldn't it have two?
ReplyDeleteMost of the core traditions had a scribing cost reduction built in, but if I were to revisit this (which I might!) I think I would give them a second ability. At the time, I think I believed the one to be strong enough to count as both, but in hindsight I don't think it's quite good enough. I'll see about updating this!
DeleteIt seems like humans are a bit... underwhelming. Speaking strictly mechanically, what makes humans a compelling choice?Elves, dwarves, halflings, and humans all seem to get +3 to attributes. In addition to that, elves, dwarves, and halfings get a bunch of racial abilities, and humans get what looks like the equivalent to a skill proficiency.
ReplyDeleteI'm curious how you came to this design choice.
Humans are tricky, since you're always fighting uphill against variant human and its feat. My reasoning was that humans got their +3 total ability score points plus the proficiency and other ribbon ability, but I'm reticent to give them too much more.
DeleteThat said, it's entirely possible they could use an additional ribbon and it's worth looking into that. :)
DeleteI missed that the regent character begins the game with with an entourage of bodyguards, although the rest of the adaption are perfect.
ReplyDeleteDo you plan to include it in an updated version?
Wow, sorry for the incredibly belated response. Blogger didn't tell me I had pending comments for ages.
DeleteIn an earlier draft I had an Heir background option that had a small entourage, but in playtesting it felt unbalancing with other players. That said, it does feel like an important part of the game if all of your regents are out adventuring and need protection.
I am looking at a draft right now that has some optional rules for bodyguard entourages for all PCs though, so you may see it in the next version. In the meantime, my recommendation would be to give the players anywhere from 4 to 8 Guards, upgraded to Knights at level 10, and upgraded to Veterans at level 15 (at least until I've had time to playtest these new rules).
Intresting setting just wondering you adding other 5e races/classes work with this.
ReplyDeleteSuch as tieflings and artificer
Oof, sorry for the delay in responding! Blogger neglected to tell me when I had comments to moderate for like a year and a half.
DeleteThere is a section in the back for suggesting Tieflings in play, though Artificer wasn't out of playtesting at the time when I originally drafted this. In the current game I'm playtesting in, there is in fact an artificer and they work quite well! I can add in a section next time I do an update.
Hey dude, been reading this conversion over the past two days and I really like it! You've done excellent work here. One question I have, what should the player's domain look like when they begin play? I'm reading a lot about how to manage and expand a domain but I don't see anything on getting started
ReplyDeleteThank you! In old Birthright, you typically took control of a Recommended domain from a list and inherited all of its assets. I didn't include that here if only because it would be a reprint of existing information and thus kind of plagiarizy. :)
DeleteI have considered adding a section for creating your own domains, cribbing a little from the old 2E rules for inspiration, but haven't quite gotten around to it yet.
I question some of the conversion decisions made in your 5E Revision Rulebook. For example, how did the Enhanced Senses blood ability for scions of Vorynn morph from a once/day ability to approximate a 4th level cleric Divination spell to a once/week ability to approximate a 2nd level Augury spell? How did the Alter Appearance blood ability available to scions of Azrai and Vorynn morph into 5E version available to just about everyone *except* for scions of Vorynn? How is it possible that clerics of Kriesha gain access to the Arcana domain but clerics of Ruornil do not? Having said that.. putting personal quibbles aside, you are to be commended for the time, energy, and thoughtful consideration that obviously went into the 5E conversion. Any attempt to make Birthright more accessible to 5E players is absolutely wonderful and very much appreciated.
ReplyDeleteHeh, to be quite honest, I made this long enough ago that I probably would've made different choices today! Your points are well-taken, and the playtest campaigns my groups were running ran short for one reason or another and not all the bits you noted were looked at by many folks. That said, I can dust this off and make some adjustments based on your observations, because you are not wrong by any means.
DeleteAs to what reasons I made those particular decisions for, I couldn't really say anymore. I probably had what I thought was a good reason at the time, usually in the form of trying to not go overboard on power creep, but I surely don't get it right all the time.
Thanks for your notes and bringing my attention back to this project. I'll give it a few pokes with the stick this weekend between other projects.