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1st Edition AD&D	-	Dragon #151	-	Dragon magazine

Earn Those Heirlooms!
Only the honorable should inherit the goods
by Jay Ouzts

Between the covers of Oriental Adventures
exists a very troublesome set of
rules: the dreaded birthrights in Table 40,
page 34. As the rules stand now, players
of lucky die rolls and distinguished birth
have a chance to begin their adventuring
careers with armor or weapons of quality,
large amounts of cash, shares of the family
?s productive property, or even magical
weapons. Acquisition of these goodies is
absolutely free; there is no risk involved
and no special service required. This can
give a DM a real headache, for these rules
give neophyte Oriental characters an
advantage over most low-level monsters.
Besides, characters with three or more
birthrights may dominate the party, and
this is not good. On the other hand, birthrights
do allow some characters to start
off with a bit of extra cash which, given
the high cost of equipment in the Far East,
can be very useful. Thus, completely discarding
the system is not the answer. If
the rules were modified so that one would
inherit his heirlooms gradually, the system
would work much better.

Having players earn their heirlooms
instead of acquiring them on a silver platter
is not as unreasonable as it may sound;
in fact, it make perfect sense. After all,
why should a character?s elders hand over
the family?s most prized possessions simply
because one of their dear children is
beginning a life of danger and adventure?
One well-placed hit from a bakemono?s
naginata and all of those treasured heirlooms,
not to mention the beloved kinsman,
are lost. Besides, being selected to
inherit such treasures is an honor due
only to those who have first proven themselves
worthy. Until characters have done
so, all heirlooms (and, as a result, any
honor and experience that accompany
them) should be retained by their elders.

The rules proposed here introduce the
concept of inheritance points. Inheritance
points, or IP are an abstract way of measuring
whether or not a character has
proven himself honorable enough to inherit
any heirlooms due him; they are, in
effect, simply used to ?buy? birthrights.
Inheritance points may be obtained in one
of two ways. First, one starts with the
number of IP equal to the sum of one-half
his family honor (round fractions up) plus
one-half his personal honor (again, round
up), divided by 10 (round down). Second,
one receives ½ IP for each point of honor
gained. The opposite is also true; one loses
½ IP for each point of honor lost; however,
losing honor affects neither birthrights
rights inherited not birthrights due. Characters
entitled to no birthrights never
receive IP. Note that fractions are retained
and that it is possible to have fewer than
zero IP.

Inheritance points are awarded at the
same time as honor points. They may be
spent immediately, or they may be saved.
There is, however, a particular order in
which birthrights must be purchased, as
will be discussed shortly.

Players should roll for honor, caste,
families, and numbers of rolls on the
birthrights table as outlined in the rules.
However, use the Expanded Birthrights
Table presented here and record the results
under the heading "Birthrights Due."
When an heirloom is inherited, simply
deduct the cost of the item from the character
's current IP total.

Cash strings, if any, must be obtained
before anything else. Fen are obtained
first, followed by yuan, tael, and ch?ien,
respectively. If there is more than one set
of a particular coin (two sets of yuan, for
example), the set with the fewest coins is
obtained first. Most cash strings cost 1 IP
each; ch?ien cash strings, however, cost 2
IP each.

Once all cash strings have been inherited,
horses are inherited. Should a PC be
entitled to more than one set of horses, he
gets the set with the fewest horses first.
Each set costs 2 IP. The horses may be of
any type the player desires, but they all
lack saddle and tack.

Inheritance of any suit of armor of quality
follows; each suit or piece costs 3 IP.
Should a character be lucky enough to be
due more than one set, he gets the one
with the least protection 1st.  Should a
character be unable to USE armor, allow
him to reroll.  Determine the type of armor
randomly.

Weapons of quality follow armor.  Allow
the character to select the table on page
132 (tables 80 through 85, inclusive) on
which he would like to roll.  The weapon
itself must be determined randomly.
Should the character get a weapon he is
not allowed to USE, allow him to reroll.  If a
character is entitled to more than 1
weapon, he may select the one he wants to
inherit 1st.  Weapons of quality cost 3 IP.
    <Table 80: SWORD CLASS>
    <Table 81: BOW, CROSSBOW, and SLING CLASS>
    <Table 82: MISCELLANEOUS MELEE CLASS> 
    <Table 83: MISSILE CLASS>
    <Table 84: MARTIAL ARTS CLASS>
    <Table 85: NINJA CLASS>

Magickal weapons are inherited next.
Magickal items cost 2 IP + 1 IP per magickal
bonus; thus, a +1 weapon costs 3 IP.
Should a character be eligible for to receive
more than 1 magickal weapon, he must
receive the 1 worth the fewest IP first;
in the event of a tie, he may select the
weapon he wants first. The type of
weapon is determined in the same manner
as a weapon of quality. There is a 5%
chance that such a weapon is +3 to hit
and damage, a 35% chance that it is +2,
and a 60% chance that it is + 1.

Famous works of art (which come next
in the order of inheritance) include paintings,
sculptures, pottery, or jewelry by the
most famous artisans. If the character had
a famous artisan in his ancestry, each
work of art was crafted by that ancestor.
Such treasures are worth 4d10 × 1,000
tael, and each work costs 4 IP. Should a PC
be in line to inherit more than one artwork,
he gets the least valuable one first.

Finally, the character may inherit property
shares. Each share costs 4 IP. No one
may possess more than a 30% share of a
single property. If a player gets more than
the 30% limit, or if his family owns no
productive property, treat the roll as ?no
result.? Property shares earn two honor
points for the first 10% share and one for
each 10% share thereafter.

Remember, deduct the character?s birth
order from the number of rolls allowed on
the birthrights table. However, the oldest
child always gets at least one roll.

Note that in the case of cash strings and
horses, it is possible that more than one
such item will be called for by a single roll
in the results. In these cases, all such items
are inherited at once. Thus, if a player
rolls a 55 and a 95, he gets two sets of
yuan cash strings. One set may have only
one string while the other has three, but
each set costs only 1 IP.

Example: Yingtze Xio-Tung is allowed
five rolls on the birthrights table and gains
two strings of fen, a suit of quality chain
mail, three more strings of fen, two
horses, and two strings of tael. His family
honor is 31; his personal honor is 22.
Therefore, he starts with 2 IP as [(31/2) +
(22/2)]/10 = 2.65. He decides to immediately
spend these on the fen, using 1 IP for each
set. Note that he could saved his IPs for
later, had he wished, or he could have
spent only 1 IP to purchase the first set of
fen. He could not, however, have used the
IP to acquire the tael, the horses, or the
chain mail until all of the fen had been
acquired.

During a playing session, Xio-Tung is
invited to serve under a powerful lord and
later saves the life of his master at great
risk to himself, thus earning seven honor
points. This results in the simultaneous
gain of 3 ½ IP. He immediately spends 1 IP
to acquire the tael and 2 IP for the horses.
This leaves him with ½ IP. Since his horses
are worth one honor point, they are also
worth ½ IP. Xio-Tung ends the session
with 1 IP.

During his next adventure, Xio-Tung
loses a contest. Being a poor sport, he
accuses the judges of foul play and throws
a temper tantrum in public. To make
things worse, his rival accuses him of a
theft he did not commit. These events
bring a loss of seven honor points (one for
losing the contest, two for improper social
behavior, and four for being accused of a
crime) and 3 ½ IP. Thus, he ends the day
with — 2 ½ IP.

With the rules presented here, 1st-level
characters will no longer walk about with
a full arsenal of magical weapons, valuable
property, or large amounts of cash simply
because of a few lucky rolls of the dice.
Game balance is preserved. In addition,
players will be forced to take honor even
more seriously, especially those in proud
families who have much to inherit. Each
moment of honor and glory brings one a
step closer to his next inheritance, and
each moment of shame and defeat sets
him a step back.

Expanded Birthrights Table

1d100	Result	Honor	IP cost
01-03	Nil	n/a	n/a
04	Reroll; use next higher die*	n/a	n/a
05	Nil	n/a	n/a
06	Property share (10-30%)	**	4
07	Reroll; use next higher die*	n/a	n/a
08	Property share (10-30%)	**	4
09-16	Nil	n/a	n/a
17-18	Property share (10-30%)	**	4
19	1 horse	0	2
20	1-4 cash strings (fen)	n/a	1
21-30	Nil	n/a	n/a
31-33	Armor of qualituy	2	3
34-40	Nil	n/a	n/a
41-45	Property share (10-30%)	**	4
46-50	Nil	n/a	n/a
51-53	1-6 cash strings (fen)	n/a	1
54-55	1-6 cash strings (yuan)	n/a	1
56-60	Property share (10-30%)	**	4
61-63	Weapon of quality	2	3
64-70	Nil	n/a	n/a
71-75	Armor of quality	2	3
76-80	2-5 horses	1	2
81-84	Famous work of art	2	4
85-87	Nil	n/a	n/a
88-91	1-6 cash strings (tael)	n/a	1
92-94	2-9 cash strings (tael)	n/a	1
95	1-4 cash strings (ch'ien)	n/a	2
96-98	Weapon of quality	2	3
99	Magical weapon	**	**
00	Reroll; add +10 to result	n/a	n/a

* “Use neat higher die” means 1d4 becomes 1d6, 1d6 becomes 1d8, etc. If using 1d100, add + 10 to the roll.
** Special