Birthright (campaign Setting) - The Domain Level

The Domain Level

Because bloodlines allow scions to collect regency the Birthright campaign includes a set of rules for players to participate in the "domain level" of play. That is, their characters can control various types of large scale organizations. Those who rule such organizations are called regents. They are able to use the power they gain in the form of regency to manipulate events in and around their domain.

Domains are made up of provinces and holdings. Provinces are the basic political unit of the domain level. They represent the actual land, population and natural environment of a domain. There are four types of holdings; law, temples, guilds and sources. Law holdings represent the legal authority of regents in the province while temples and guild holdings are the religious and economic aspects of a province. Source holdings represent the magical energy contained by the natural environment of a province. Both provinces and holdings are described using levels.

The size and shape of provinces varies significantly in the published materials, but they average roughly thirty to forty miles across. Provinces have a population level (a number from 1-10) that has several effects on play. Regents collect regency (RP) based on the population levels of the provinces they control, and the population level determines the maximum level of law, temple and guild holdings in that province.

As regents, player characters can perform domain actions. Domain actions are month-long activities that have a wide range of effects. Increasing population, creating holdings, waging war, diplomacy, trade and dealing with random events are all possible domain actions. Regents can also choose to build castles, muster troops, issue decrees, establish treaties, etc.

Both priest and wizard characters are able to utilize their holdings (temples and sources, respectively) to cast realm spells. Realm spells are large scale magic that can affect entire provinces. They are often costly both in terms of gold and regency.

Another area of spell casting unique to Birthright is called War Magic, and uses War Cards in large-scale battles.