D&D 3E/3.5 Jewish magic items?

[Bohandas]

How about an immobile item for bulk production of holy water whose design is based on that of a mikvah

 

[Samloyal23]

Yes of course the Tellifin - those leather boxes that are strapped to the forehead during prayer and contain verses from the Torah to remind Jewish men to follow the Law.

The DnD usage is its general mean of a containing for a ‘magic’ charm so still related generally

Tefillin. Don't forget the tallis, a fringed prayer shawl. They can definitely be blessed items.

 

[tommybahama]

Don't forget the tallis, a fringed prayer shawl.

Tallis. This item can cast Guidance on any Charisma based skills check up to three times per day. This effect can be used before or after any Charisma skill check.

 

[Eltab]

+1 for the mention of Testament. Be aware its historical coverage fades away during the Persian Empire. No discussion of Alexander the Great or anything afterwards (such as the Maccabees or the Roman Empire).

 

[Samloyal23]

Way back in the bad old days of 2E AD&D, I LOVED the Historical Reference series, but I was extremely disappointed by the lack of rules for Jewish characters, especially in the book on Rome. I homebrewed a fighter kit for Jewish Zealots, but I really wanted to make addendums to the whole series with rules for Jewish characters.

 

[LuisCarlos17f]

In the AD&D sourcebook about the Roman Empire there was a cleric kit for Christians...

My point of view is miracles in the Bible aren't like the magic rituals among the pagans. That power "charismas", is a divine gift to help the rest of the community. If you really want a miracle you have to offer the same one you ask: love and obedence.

Ocultism and esoterism may be source of inspiration for D&D magic and fantasy, but D&D divine spellcasters shouldn't be too close to real clerics.

If you want to create magic about summoning genies (worshiped as gods in the past by the gentiles and now they don't like to be only slaves with superpower by ordinary short-lived mortals) my advice is to give a moral to the story: who can give all you ask also can take off all you have got.

 

[Quartz]

Going back to magic items, there's always the Ark of the Covenant....

 

[Eltab]

IMO, the Ark would be an Artifact not a 'magic item'

There was a story a while back that a congregation in Ethiopia claims to possess the true Ark. If you want to do an Indiana Jones story starring your PCs, there you go. The complication that the players don't know is that the Ark used to be there (before living memory) but was secretly moved in the past - perhaps to avoid the Muslim conquests up the Nile, or the Communist gov't of the 1980s, or even Mussolini's Italian conquest in the 1930s.

 

[Quartz]

You're talking about a raid, aren't you?

 

[Eltab]

You're talking about a raid, aren't you?

Or a last crusade, which ends with the PCs leaving it where it was, because it is meant to remain hidden from common knowledge.