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Colin McComb, L. Richard Baker, Sue: Birthright Campaign Setting (Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, 2nd Edition/3100) (Paperback, Wizards of the Coast) No rating

Birthright was another one of those #dnd settings that fall under "great concept, bad rules". The idea of player characters starting out as the rulers of their own domain was and is awesome (although I've grown a bit leery about the whole "Divine Right of Kings" thing - but I can let that slide for a good story). However, the rules for managing domains and fighting armies were a mess, and would involve more spreadsheets than I want to bother with for recreational gaming.

If I were to run a #ttrpg campaign in this setting, I'd probably use @GregStolze@mastodon.social 's Reign (with bits of Wild Talents thrown in for the birthright powers) - rules for running domains (or "companies") are integrated into the ruleset from the start, and they are also much more scaleable - if you plan to conquer all of Anuire, this should be much less of a headache.

Although I'd have to re-read the assorted magic rules of Reign to see if they have something similar in mood to what *Birthright offers (which is mostly D&D magic, but with some significant thematic differences from more "standard" campaign settings).

@juergen_hubert

The interesting thing about Birthright to me is that there wasn't actually a "divine right of kings". It was explicitly transferable, and was transferable by violence. If you were a shitty ruler, people could and would rise up and kill you, and your chunk of divinity would either die with you or be taken by someone who killed you correctly.

@NinjaDebugger@mastodon.sandwich.net Didn't the people who killed you also need to have a divine bloodline in order to receive the benefit?

Although I think there were some special artifact swords who circumvented this... it's been a while since I read them.

@juergen_hubert

As far as I know, it was definitely possible for someone without the spark, because ultimately _everybody_ had some degree of possibility, thanks to a long time and plenty of illegitimate children.

It was absolutely _easier_ for soemone from a neighboring bloodline who wasn't anywhere near inheritance to pop over and lead a revolution, but successful revolutions usually involve the powerful from nearby countries in one way or another.

@juergen_hubert

Also, and this is kind of weird to say, maybe...

but Birthright is an explicitly post-apocalyptic setting, so it's actually kind of ripe potentially for a reskin/remake in PBTA.

@gianniseviltwin@ludosphere.fr Eh, there are some #dnd settings where "gonzo adventuring" works totally fine as a campaign concept.

The Forgotten Realms is possibly the most famous example, though presumably Greyhawk and Mystara fit as well.