3E Birthright - Birthright Conversion Manual v1.31.pdf - Birthright - Sheera

conversion manual

The Unofficial

3 rd Edition Dungeons & Dragons ®

Birthright ® Campaign Setting

Conversion Manual

Version 1.31

October 1st, 2000

Compiled/Edited by: Travis Doom (travis.doom@wright.edu)

Contributions by: Mike Spehar, James Frampton, and members of the

Birthright mailing list.

Thanks to: The Adventure’s Guild of Wright State University

This conversion manual is not for sale or resale.

AD&D, ADVANCED DUNGEONS & DRAGONS, DUNGEON MASTER, BIRTHRIGHT, and the TSR logo are registered trademarks owned by TSR, Inc.

All TSR characters, character names, and the distinctive likenesses

thereof are trademarks owned by TSR, Inc.

TSR, Inc. is a subsidiary of Wizards of the Coast, Inc.

details about plot, conversations, descriptive text, etc.

Remember that the goal of the conversion document isn't

to replace the original product -- it is to serve as a sup-

plement. No one should be able to print out a conversion

document and run an entire adventure without having the

original in hand.

With these restrictions in mind, I have done my best to

accurately present a set of rules that will allow new or

existing BIRTHRIGHT ® campaigns to take advantage of the

3rd edition Dungeons & Dragons. Rules which are not

strictly necessary for a baseline conversion under this

philosophy, but which I feel more accurately represent

the underling mechanics of Cerilia under 3rd edition, will

be presented as optional rules in this conversion manual.

Introduction

The BIRTHRIGHT ® campaign setting allows players to ex-

plore the grand scope of national politics as they guide

their domains and influence the events of Cerilia. Al-

though discontinued, the BIRTHRIGHT ® setting has con-

tinued to engage the imaginations of a small (but loyal)

group of adherents who enjoy role-playing in the rich

tapestry of Cerilia. These loyal adherents face a new dif-

ficulty with the transformation of the 2nd edition Ad-

vanced Dungeons & Dragons game into the 3rd edition

Dungeons & Dragons rules system.

This is a book for such players – a tome of information

for players facing a transition to the new rules system.

This conversion manual is designed to be used in con-

junction with published BIRTHRIGHT ® Campaign Setting

material, the 3rd edition Dungeons and Dragons ® Players

Handbook (PHB), and the 3rd edition Dungeon and

Dragons ® Conversion Manual .

Whats new?

The following changes have been made since the previ-

ous minor version of this document:

•

Many minor editing errors have been fixed.

•

Information from the DMG has been incorporated.

•

The magician class has been redefined.

Disclaimer

WotC's Jim Butler gave his blessing to the notion of con-

verting old AD&D materials to 3rd edition Dungeons &

Dragons (on DND-L):

We [at WotC] wholeheartedly encourage anyone to

go through and make whatever conversion notes for

various products they'd like. Just don't OCR the en-

tire product in with those conversions and make the

entire product available. Make them notes that can

be used with the product, not a complete reprint.

We'll be releasing all of the older, out-of-print game

materials over the website at some point in the near

future. Some of these products will be available for

free, while others will be pay-for downloads or sub-

scription-based (your choice). You're free to make

the conversions and include the entire text of the

free products available. For the pay-for products,

we ask that you stick with the conversions.

In addition, Eric Noah has provided the following sage

advice regarding conversion to 3rd edition Dungeon &

Dragons ( www.rpgplanet.com/dnd3e ).

Convert "by the book": Don't extrapolate more than nec-

essary or add to what is there, just convert from 2E to 3E.

Convert only what needs converting: If it turns out that a

potion of healing is the same in 3E as it was in 2E, then

don't mention it in the conversion.

Quote only what needs quoting: This goes for the prod-

uct being converted as well as the 3E rulebooks. The less

that is quoted, the less risk their is of violating copyright.

Examples: Only certain game-mechanic aspects of the

work need to be converted. There is no need to include

What remains to be done?

The scope of this version of this conversion manual is a

comprehensive conversion of the core BIRTHRIGHT ® rules

(found in the box set). Conversion rules for material from

other BIRTHRIGHT ® material has not been comprehen-

sively covered. For instance, no attempt has been made

in this edition of the conversion manual to address:

• The spells and magic items appearing the Books of

Magecraft, Priestcraft, and Regency, or els ewhere.

• Blood abilities from the Book of Regency and Blood

Enemies .

• The NPC or monster statistics appearing in any

BIRTHRIGHT ® sourcebook other than the box set.

• Domain actions from Havens of the Great Bay and

the Book of Regency .

• Prestige classes for BIRTHRIGHT ® kits.

This material may be presented in subsequent major ver-

sions of this conversion manual. Persons wishing to

contribute to future editions should contact the author.

Printing this document

This document is best viewed (and printed) from a ma-

chine which has Arjan Duijs’ BIRTHRIGHT ® -like true-type

font “bebris”. Unfortunately, I have been unable to em-

bed this font in the PDF file with the tools that I have

available. Arjan has made the bebris font available as a

download on www.birthright.net

Part I:

Character race

Cerilia is home to a number of races that differ slightly

from the standard races described in the 3rd edition PHB.

The traits for Cerilian versions of standard PC races are

presented below.

Birthright

characters

Human Racial Traits

•

Most human Cerilian characters belong to one of the

five common nationalities or subraces. Ability ad-

justment by subrace: *

•

Character generation

BIRTHRIGHT ® characters are generated or converted in the

same way as characters in other 3rd edition Dungeons &

Dragons campaigns, with a few campaign-specific excep-

tions.

Anuirean:

+1 Wis, -1 Dex

•

Brecht:

+1 Dex, -1 Wis

•

Khinasi:

+1 Int, -1 Con

•

Rjurik:

+1 Con, -1 Cha

•

Vos:

+1 Str, -1 Int

•

Medium-size; base speed of 30 feet.

Ability scores

Existing characters and NPCs should follow the guide-

lines for converting ability scores that appears in the

Conversion Manual. New characters should be gener-

ated using the rules appearing in the PBH or DMG. The

standard point buy system (DMG, pg. 19-20) seems par-

ticularly suitable for BIRTHRIGHT ® . In keeping with the

new feel of Dungeons & Dragons, it may be appropriate

to use the optional point buy system for bloodline

strength when creating new characters (see bloodline

generation in Part II of this manual for the optional rules

on purchasing blood strength). If using this optional ex-

tension characters should receive an additional 4 points.

A total of 32 (28+4) points is therefore recommend for a

“tougher” regent-level BIRTHRIGHT ® campaign.

•

Bonus feat at first level.

•

Bonus skill points.

•

Automatic Language: Anuirean, Basarji, Brecht, Rju-

ven, or Vos. Bonus Languages: Andu, Anuirean,

Low Brecht, High Brecht, Basarji, Rjuven, Vos, Sid-

helien, Karamhul, Giant, Gnoll, Goblin, Orog, Ogrish,

Troll.

•

Favored Class: Any.

Dwarven (Karamhul) Racial Traits

•

+2 Constitution, -2 Dexterity. *

•

Medium-size; base speed of 20 feet.

•

Darkvision: Dwarves can see in the dark up to 60 feet

(in black and white).

•

Stonecunning: +2 to notice unusual stonework;

automatically sense depth underground.

•

Increased density: A dwarf's dense body suffers

only half damage from bludgeoning attacks.

point buy system

•

Enduring strength: Dwarves can carry amazing bur-

dens. Dwarves receive a +4 bonus to strength when

determining carrying capacity.

Ability

Score

Stat

Bonus

Spells

Cost

•

+2 racial bonus on saves vs. poison & spells.

-1

•

+2 dodge bonus against orogs and ogres.

-1

•

+2 racial bonus to appraise and craft checks related

to stone and metal objects.

•

Automatic Languages: Karamhul. Bonus Lan-

guages: Anuirean, Low Brecht, Basarji, Rjuven, Vos,

Sidhelien, Gnoll, Goblin, Orog, Ogrish, Troll.

-/1

-/1/1

•

Favored Class: Fighter.

-/1/1

-/1/1/1

Elven (Sidhelien) Racial Traits

•

-/1/1/1

+1 Dexterity, +1 Intelligence, -1 Constitution, -1

Strength. *

-/1/1/1/1

•

Medium-size; base speed of 30 feet.

Halfling Racial Traits

•

Immunity to magic sleep spells and a +2 racial saving

throw bonus against Enchantment spells or effects.

+1 Dexterity, -2 Strength, +1 Wisdom. *

•

Small-sized, base speed of 20 feet. As Small crea-

tures, halflings gain a +1 size bonus to Armor Class,

a +1 size bonus on attack rolls, and a +4 size bonus

on Hide checks, but they must use smaller weapons

than humans use, and their lifting and carrying ca-

pacities are three-quarters those of Medium-size

characters.

•

Low-light Vision: Elves can see by starlight as well

as humans see by daylight.

•

Agelessness: The Sidhelien are creatures of faerie

dust and starlight. Gifted with immortality, they do

not suffer the ravages of time and are thus immune to

aging attacks and normal disease.

•

Trackless Step: A Cerilian elf leaves no trail in natural

surroundings and cannot be tracked (as a druid).

•

+2 racial bonus on Listen, Climb, Jump, and Move

Silently checks.

•

Woodland Stride: A Cerilian elf may move though

any natural terrain or impairment without damage or

penalty (as a druid).

•

+1 racial bonus to all saving throws.

•

+2 morale bonus on saving throws vs. fear.

•

+1 racial attack bonus with a thrown weapon.

•

Proficient with either longsword or rapier; proficient

with shortbow, longbow, composite longbow, com-

posite shortbow.

•

Faerie Sight: Halflings possess the ability to see into

the Shadow World. By concentrating, halflings may

make a Search check to detect evil (DC 10), detect

undead (DC 15), and detect magic (necromantic

only) (DC 15) (at the 5th level of ability). This is a

super-natural ability.

•

+2 racial bonus on Listen, Search, and Spot checks.

Automatic search check within 5’.

•

Alignment Restriction: Unpredictable and fey, Ceril-

ian elves must follow a non-lawful alignment.

•

Enter Shadow: Three times per week, a halfling may

attempt to dimension door or shadow walk (at 10th

level of ability). To succeed, the halfling must make

a Wisdom check against a DC ranging from 25

(bright sunny summer day in a city) to 5 (cold winter

night in a tomb). This is a spell-like ability.

•

Automatic Languages: Sidhelien. Bonus Languages:

Andu, Anuirean, Low Brecht, High Brecht, Basarji,

Rjuven, Vos, Sidhelien, Karamhul, Giant, Gnoll, Go b-

lin, Orog, Ogrish, Troll.

•

Favored Class: Wizard.

•

Automatic Language: Any. Bonus Languages:

Andu, Anuirean, Low Brecht, High Brecht, Basarji,

Rjuven, Vos, Sidhelien, Karamhul, Gnoll, Goblin,

Orog, Ogrish.

Half-Elven Racial Traits

•

+1 Dexterity, -1 Constitution. *

•

Medium-size, base speed of 30 feet.

•

Immunity to magic sleep spells and a +2 racial saving

throw bonus against Enchantment spells or effects.

•

Favored Class: Rogue

•

Low-light Vision: Half-elves can see by starlight

twice as well as a human.

Gnome Racial Traits

Gnomes are unknown in Cerilia and available as PC.

•

+2 racial saving throw against disease and aging

attacks.

* [Editor's Note: In September, 2000, WotC released the

following conversion advice:

Ability score bonuses should always be even num-

bers. Otherwise, it allows a character to create a bo-

nus (by adding +1 to an odd stat) and hide a penalty

(by subtracting from an odd stat). Essentially, odd

(+1/-1) ability score bonuses for races mean that all

characters are going to effectively have a +2/-0, since

you can put the +1 where it benefits you and put the -

1 where it doesn't hurt you.

Although true, I believe that keeping the standard BIRT H-

RIGHT ® modifiers does not cause an imbalance as almost

every race receives this "phantom" benefit. Furthermore,

characters who take advantage of this "penalty hiding"

make it more difficult to increase their bonuses in those

abilities due to level-based attribute gain in the future. I

recommend, however, that DMs who wish to follow

•

+1 racial bonus on Listen, Search, and Spot checks.

•

Elven Blood: For all special abilities and effects, a

half-elf is considered an elf.

•

Automatic Language: Sidhelien and the language of

their human parent. Bonus Languages: Andu,

Anuirean, Basarji, Brecht, Rjuven, or Vos. Bonus

Languages: Andu, Anuirean, Low Brecht, High

Brecht, Basarji, Rjuven, Vos, Sidhelien, Karamhul, Gi-

ant, Gnoll, Goblin, Orog, Ogrish, Troll.

•

Favored Class: Any

Half-Orc Racial Traits

•

Half-orc (Orog) is not a recommend player character

race and requires DM approval.

•

Use the standard Half-Orc Racial Traits appearing in

the 3rd edition PBH. *

WotC's advise utilize the following optional (but not rec-

ommended) conversion rule.

Optional: Double all racial ability modifiers (except

Strength additions) for all races. (e.g. +2 Wis, -2 Dex for

Anuireans; +4 Con, -4 Dex for Dwarves, but only +1 Str, -

2 Int for Vos).

Arcane magic-users that are not capable of casting true

magic lack the ability to advance above 4th level as a

wizard. They may continue their studies in the arcane

arts as a bard or as member of the magician prestige class.

Barbarian

Both Rjurik and Vosguard are known for the fierceness of

their native warriors and large tracts of unclaimed wilder-

ness. In Cerilia, barbarians are found only among these

people; generally only characters of these two nationali-

ties may choose this class

2 nd edition fighter characters from Rjurik, Vosguard or

with the berserker or barbarian kits may convert to the

new Barbarian class. Cerilian barbarians follow all appro-

priate rules in the 3rd edition PHB. In addition, they have

access to the appropriate additional skills and feats pre-

sented in this conversion manual.

Barbarians do not rule with any great facility. Barbarian

regents collect only 50% regency for held law holdings

and none from guild, temple, or source holdings.

Character class

The classes for a BIRTHRIGHT ® campaign are generally the

same as those presented in the PHB. Existing characters

should be converted using the 3rd edition Dungeon and

Dragons ® Conversion Manual . The following entries

provide modifications to these standard classes to more

accurately reflect Cerilian characters (if necessary).

In particular, it should be noted that arcane magic oper-

ates somewhat differently in a BIRTHRIGHT ® campaign.

Cerilian mages recognize three orders of magic: lesser

magic, true magic, and realm magic. Any person of suffi-

cient intelligence and training can comprehend lesser

magic - the art of creating illusions and casting divina-

tions. True magic includes all other schools of wizardry,

but only elves, half-elves, or scions of the blood can

command this arcane power.

Under 2nd edition BIRTHRIGHT ® rules, spell preparation

(memorization) is necessary for the casting of any arcane

magic. The entire 3rd edition magic system can be inter-

preted almost seamlessly in the BIRTHRIGHT ® campaign

setting under the assumption that the elven spellsong

technique (Book of Magecraft) is the only method

through which arcane spells may be cast without prepara-

tion (memorization) in advance.

Most magic-users capable of casting true magic do not

follow the elven spellsong tradition and should therefore

be converted or created as wizards. Those who follow

the spellsong tradition, however, should be converted or

created as sorcerers. The sorcerer class should generally

be accessible only to eleven characters - mastery of the

spellsong requires decades of study and practice.

The first Cerilian bards are said to have been wandering

elves that were sent into human lands to teach and learn

from their human neighbors. Each of these elves founded

a bardic college; today human students continue the

work of their elven mentors. Those trained in these bar-

dic traditions (regardless of race) have limited mastery of

the spellsong techniques and thus do not have to pre-

pare their spells as do most human users of arcane magic.

In addition, followers of the bardic colleges are privy to

elven charms to draw upon the power of nature to aid the

sick or wounded. Unfortunately, bards have neither the

time nor the knowledge to master spellsong fully and are

limited to the spells presented in the 3rd edition bard spell

list.

Bard

Cerilian bards follow all appropriate rules in the 3rd edi-

tion PHB. In addition, they have access to the appropri-

ate additional skills and feats presented in this conver-

sion manual.

The spell-casting abilities of 3rd edition bards can be

used almost seamlessly in an existing or new BIRT H-

RIGHT ® campaign under the assumptions that the root of

bardic magic is the elven spellsong tradition (see above).

Cleric

Cerilian clerics follow all appropriate rules in the 3rd edi-

tion PHB. In addition, they gain followers as noted in the

BIRTHRIGHT ® rulebook and have access to the appropriate

additional skills and feats presented in this conversion

manual. Every cleric in a BIRTHRIGHT ® campaign must

chose one of the Cerilian powers. Deities appear in Part

III of this book.. Since elven cultures have unique views

on the roles of gods and priests, they do not (generally)

have clerics.

Although priests of Erik generally advance as Druids, a

very few advance as clerics. This is rumored to be the

case among some of the more “civilized” priests in the

temple of the Oaken Grove of Erik.

Druid

All Cerilian Druids are priests of Erik and follow all ap-

propriate rules in the 3rd edition PHB. In addition, they

may gain followers as noted in the BIRTHRIGHT ® rulebook

(under priest) and have access to the appropriate addi-

tional skills and feats presented in this conversion man-

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