Making up the last third of the book, the Appendix holds all the new material that isn’t as player-friendly as new races and classes.
We first have 39
New Spells. While most are learnable by PCs in this adventure, quite a few are surprisingly 6th level or higher which would put them out of reach of the expected campaign. Clerics, Sorcerers, and Wizards get a fair bit to learn, with Paladins surprisingly getting few (the bulk of which are 1st level).
There are seven spells themed around magnifying sinful behavior in others: Induce Envy, Induce Lust, etc. Overall they serve as debuffs hindering certain actions in addition to giving the Charmed condition in regards to the caster. For example, Wrath will force a target to attack the nearest creature, Sloth can impose a level of exhaustion if the target isn’t already exhausted, Greed forces a target to spend their movement and action to move up to a nearby object and pick it up, etc.
Two more sin-generic spells are used by the archdemons. Weave Sin creates a simulacrum the caster can transfer their soul into, while Aura of Temptation generates a 1 mile radius effect that can tempt people into more easily committing a certain category of sin. They are 8th and 9th level respectively, so they’re not the kinds of things which can be cast by the PCs during the regular campaign. I honestly feel that they’re better served as plot devices.
Some of the more interesting spells include Covenant (lasts 30 days where targets swear an oath and the caster intuitively knows if the oath is broken), Create Golem (creates a golem servant for 24 hours), Every Knee Shall Bend (reduce target speed to 0 as they bow down upon hearing God’s name), Magnificent (if a target casts a hostile spell on you they take radiant damage), Mark of Cain (the Hebrew letter “Vav” appears on forehead of target and caster, half of damage dealt to caster transfers to target), Scapegoat (celestial in form of goat appears, can transfer damage dealt to a nearby creature to the goat instead), Turn the Other Cheek (cast as reaction upon taking damage, attacker is turned and spends next minute fleeing from caster on a failed save), and Unum in Christo (ignore range and sight restrictions on spells cast on a specific willing target you touched for the next 24 hours).
But there are three spells that bear special discussion on their own. Do Unto Others is a first level enchantment cast as a reaction upon performing a selfless action done out of concern for another’s well-being and not selfish gain. If these conditions are met at the DM’s discretion, the universe bends itself over the next 3 days to have aid given in kind to the caster reflecting the original selfless action. For example, casting a healing spell on a target can grant the benefits of a same-level spell to the caster later on. The spell can also be cast as a form of inaction, like if the caster doesn’t respond to a challenge or act of aggression then bandits may choose to not attack the party if they’re later triggered as a random encounter.
This spell is incredibly open-ended. While one can argue that the casting of the spell is “selfish” in the sense of expecting some future benefit as a metagame concept, I presume that’s more of an in-character roleplaying justification; otherwise the spell’s entire purpose is moot.
Two related spells are Lesser and Greater Atonement. The former spell requires a valuable offering related to one of the seven sins to be burned: a gem worth at least 500 gold for greed, the caster’s spellcasting focus for pride, etc. The spell can divinely forgive sins of that type to those inside the radius as well as dispelling any magic empowered by sin. It doesn’t protect a character from more earthly consequences of their sin but works in regards to things like a paladin’s code of conduct. The spell is concentration duration for up to 1 hour, and deals automatic damage to the simulacrums of archdemons. Greater Atonement summons a spectral ram to instead serve as the material component of the spell, can reduce simulacrum to 0 hit points, and has a greater range of 1 mile and has an instantaneous duration.
There are some spells which are very questionable balance-wise. For instance, the 9th level spell Ascension can teleport the caster’s body and soul into Heaven, but without any description of what Heaven is like in this sourcebook it’s practically flavor text. There’s the 7th-level spell Hail and Fire, which creates 4 cylindrical AoEs anywhere within 1,000 feet of the caster. The damage is a meager 2d6 bludgeoning and 2d6 radiant, but overlapping areas of the cylinders do additional damage to a maximum of 8d6/8d6. Compare this to the Fire Storm spell, which is also 7th level. That spell does 7d10 damage and creates 8 10 foot cubes within 150 feet of the caster, and the damage doesn’t overlap. So not only is Hail and Fire at a
much greater range than virtually any core spell, it can also do much more damage than one of the blastiest spells for the Sorcerer class at the same level.
I’ve already addressed how open-ended Do Unto Others is, and Scapegoat does much of the same of what Warding Bond does in regards to damage transference. But Scapegoat is 1 level higher and requires concentration. Maybe the upside is that the damage transfers to a goat that disappears upon spell’s end rather than the caster or target, but as the goat only has 4d8 hit points it may not be as reliable for warding off damage.
Magic Items gives us 85 magic items, although a significant amount are copy-pasted from the 5e SRD. 63 of these items are completely original. I’m not going to cover every magic item, and several have already been discussed in the adventure section, so instead I’ll cover the ones which catch my eye.
Several magic items are implied not to be magical so much as being exemplary craftsmanship by certain cultures. Boots of Chinese Silk grant advantage on Stealth checks related to quiet movement, Roman Centurions carry Gladiuses which are +1 shortswords or longswords, Persian arrows are +1 arrows, Persian Chain is a chain shirt that grants +1 AC and anyone who wears it is treated as being proficient with it, and medium and heavy armor made of Egyptian design doesn’t impose disadvantage on Stealth checks. Roman Armor is a breastplate which turns any critical hit against the wearer into a normal hit. There is one exception to the non-supernatural influence: Jokoto are Chinese swords with ornamental rings on their pommels indicating allegiance to a particular faction or military unit. They are +3 longswords or shortswords, and anyone who wields them can read and speak Chinese.
The Censor of Atonement can allow anyone to cast the Lesser Atonement spell provided they have the proper material components, and it was commonly used by people willing to repent for sins but a priest wasn’t around to cast the spell. Joseph’s Coat of Many Colors can cast the Dream spell once per 1d4 days and has a chance of granting the wearer a Vision every time they go to sleep.
Holy Ground isn’t a magic item so much as a place of great historical and religious significance which is forever altered by God’s will. Good-aligned creatures who enter immediately gain the benefits of a short rest and can take long rests in just 1 hour. Evil aligned creatures are compelled to leave and must devote concentration (as though concentrating on a spell) to willingly remain within the area. Those resting can roll a DC 20 Grace check to roll from a d12 Font of Blessings table. 5 of the results grant a unique magic item, while the other 7 grant a powerful permanent boon such as Truesight out to 30 feet, becoming immune to all poison and disease plus gaining advantage on Constitution saves, gaining proficiency in “all abilities” which I presume means ability checks, or can cast a single chosen 4th level spell once per day without expending a spell slot.
The Mark of Cain Tattoo is inscribed as part of a ritual to mark the bearer as a descendant of Cain, the first murderer, and allows them to cast the spell Mark of Cain once per long rest. Mark of the Guardian Tattoo lets the bearer summon an Angel Guardian to their side once per day. The Medallion of Gomorrah is a cursed locket with a piece of stone from that wicked city, and when opened can be used as a gaze attack that can turn a target into a pillar of salt if they fail three Constitution saves. Sarah’s Lucky Necklace, which can be purchased from Sarah back in Teredon, allows the wearer to reroll an ability check or saving throw once per day. The Song of Deborah isn’t an item so much as the lyrics of a song by Deborah, a famous Israelite judge. Those who sing it and spend 6 hours in meditation permanently increase their Charisma score and Charisma maximum by 2.
The stones Thummim and Urim are famous divination devices used by priests in ancient Israel. On their own they can cast Zone of Truth or Augury once per day respectively. But when someone attunes to both stones at once, they gain immunity to being Surprised, Truesight out to 30 feet, and add their Wisdom modifier to their AC and all saving throws. Meaning that for Wisdom saves they add the modifier twice!
Monsters and NPCs is the bestiary section of the Adventurer’s Guide to the Bible. There are 68 stat blocks, although 12 are core creatures taken from the 5e SRD. But even in the latter case there have been slight alterations to make them fit in more with the setting, such as the Noble’s main weapon being a hidden dagger that deals bonus poison damage. Even in such cases there’s flavor text explaining how they fit into societal roles in the First Century.
I already covered quite a few of the monsters and NPCs in the adventure, including the Archdemons, so like the magic items I’m only going to focus on some of the more interesting ones. Most of the creatures here are within the bounds of the adventure’s level range, with only a few going above CR 10. Those are Lilith and Abaddon, along with the Behemoth and Leviathan who aren’t meant to be fought in this campaign. The other two monsters are the Tannin sea serpents (which don’t appear in any violent encounters by default and are more setting dressing in the Great Sea) and the Cherubim angel (which most parties aren’t likely to fight).
Sadly, I have noticed a few errors in stat blocks. In some cases the bonuses for certain skills and saves are off in regards to the calculation of proficiency bonus and their ability modifier, such as Angels having +10 to History and Religion in spite of several being CR 5 with no Intelligence bonus. The Sentry Golem’s Perception bonus is +6 (CR 4, Wisdom 0 but Expertise should mean it’s +4) but its Passive Perception is 13. The spellcasting NPCs don’t specify what classes they are; while this doesn’t impact their useability, it is breaking in tradition with prior stat block methods. One monster, the Addax, is CR 0 but their horns do a powerful 2d4 piercing damage. Such a CR is normally reserved for harmless and near-harmless beasts who usually do 1 point of damage if any.
Without further ado, let’s get to the monsters!
We have the Agama, a tiny lizard whose skin can change in reflection of its mood. Having them as a familiar can let them change color based on the emotional state of people nearby.
Angels are servants of God, appearing on Earth to do specific missions on his behalf. Their unwavering focus means that they often don’t grasp the subtleties and changes in mortal society. They also share a special affinity for mortals that is not always present among other celestials: when Satan rebelled against allowing humans into Heaven, the angels were the first to defy him. Challenger Angels communicate the will of God through violence, which usually takes the form of challenging a mortal in a non-lethal duel as a means of bringing about some change or growth. They primarily attack with a sword but have a variety of spells. Guardian Angels protect mortals through subtle means and have more defensive abilities and magic. Messenger Angels seek to deliver important lessons to mortals, not through direct messages but more through subtle manipulations behind the scenes as a means of allowing mortals to come to such conclusions themselves. Their primary means of offense are a ranged lightning strike, and most of their spells are defensive or utility in nature.
Archangels are a more powerful tier of angelkind, tasked with guarding the material plane from otherworldly threats. Michael is the most famous to mortals for fighting Satan himself, and in surviving the battle makes him a veteran of demonic tactics and manipulations. They are like angels but with more powerful attacks and magic along with the ability to pronounce judgment and proclaim good news to impose buffs and debuffs in battle. The Cherubim are among the most powerful celestials in existence, and Satan was once among their number. They are CR 23 beings with legendary actions and wield unique swords that can move and float of their own accord while generating pillars of flame. Cherbum are blessed with supreme intellect, but lack an understanding of human experiences that rob them of empathy. Although they have a moral compass, they cannot understand mortal perspectives such as the hope people cling to in times of uncertainty or the love a mother has for their child.
Angry Mobs deserve a special mention, both for the fact that they’re a kind of “summonable monster” for the Zealot subclass and being an NPC ally entry of characters who can accompany the PCs on their quests. It’s a general representation of any group of non-military trained people who join together into a crowd to avenge or defend against a real or imagined injustice. They’re a Huge-sized swarm of Medium humanoids who can be best described as a Steel Cannon. The mob has a beefy 165 hit points but are pretty easy to hit (AC 10) and slow at 20 feet. They’re remarkably resilient against most mental-based effects with +3 and +8 to Wisdom and Charisma saves, and add +5 to initiative despite their average Dexterity and win ties in initiative.. They can attack up to
four times a round, with three meager Throw Stone attacks but one very damaging Overwhelm attack which can grapple a single target. If they’re reduced to 0 hit points, the Mob doesn’t “die” so much as scatter into a bunch of Commoners with the Frightened condition.
All in all, a useful ally for PCs to have when violence is the preferred solution, although unlike other DMPC allies they’re not good for much besides straightforward combat. As for the Zealot subclass, their HP is determined by how many silver pieces are paid to summon them, and require 3 days in advance. Gaining a mob with the full HP value costs 1,000 silver (or 100 gold), whereas the minimum is 250 silver for 50 hit points. At the time the Zealot gets this ability at 13th level, it’s a rather meager class feature to have, especially when compared with summoning spells.
The Behemoth isn’t actually encountered in battle during the campaign but whose stats are included for reasons of completeness. It is akin to the Tarrasque in being a CR 27 physical powerhouse with frightful presence and legendary actions that allow for powerful AoE attacks. The Leviathan, by contrast, is a powerful water-based monster with a fiery breath weapon and can generate lightning storms.
Dybbuk are departed spirits residing in Sheol. Some escape back into the material plane, and the Rephaim are tasked with hunting them down to bring them back. They are incorporeal monsters who can possess targets as a rechargeable ability.
Enchantress are your typical “hot people who use their looks and implied magic to manipulate others.” They aren’t gender-specific, and they lack any direct-damaging attacks save for blowing a kiss that deals psychic damage in an AoE cone. They have the ability to auto-reflect any Enchantment spell cast on them back on the caster, can cast Suggestion at will, Charm others with a dance, and can use a magical ring to summon 6 Guards to aid them once per day.
Given that Salome mentioned earlier uses this for her stat block and the
Is That In the Bible? section mentions that this was inspired by her character in that holy time, this ties back into my earlier concerns and criticisms of her character in the earlier Atlas.
There are a few monsters which aren’t explicitly in the Bible but included more for the writer’s own personal inspiration or related folklore at the time. Feign Spiders are a nearly-extinct species who survived the Great Flood and now live in the abandoned Noah’s Ark. They are capable of weaving invisible webs to trap prey. Deepmaw are Huge-sized fish common to rivers in Mesopotamia, and can swallow smaller targets on a successful bite attack. T’ifiri are giant scorpions who are a plague on nomads and merchants moving through the deserts, capable of digging through sand and detecting prey on the surface via tremorsense.
Golems are artificial humanoid beings created by rituals mimicking the act of God breathing life into the first human. As mortal replication is an imperfection of this process, golems aren’t truly alive and have animal-level intelligence. They take all orders literally and to the word,
leading many frustrated mages to experience the pains of computer programmers two thousand years early. The Adventurer’s Guide has three new types of Golems which are lower Challenge Rating (CR 4) than the ones in the Monster Manual. Death Golems are often used for assassinations, having rending fist attacks and can score critical hits on surprised creatures. Sentry Golems are often tasked with watching over an item or area and have advantage on sight-based Perception checks. Helper Golems are primarily designed to help with manual labor and have the greatest Strength scores and spells such as Floating Disc and Spider Climb to help in such tasks.
Magi have been discussed earlier, but there are three stat blocks for ones with different areas of expertise and all of which are used for one of the Three Wise Men. They are brainy mages who share identical stats save for a specific Namburbu they can use three times per day and unique spell lists. Researcher Magi have high-level divination spells, Seeker Magi have movement and teleportation-based ones, and Tactician Magi have a multitude of Area of Effect spells.
Night Spirits are invisible evil entities who are the servants of demons. Their Dark Insight lets them ferret out mortal secrets and failings if they fail a Charisma save, and several times in the module the Archdemons and other evil characters make use of them to learn more about the PCs so as to better tempt or manipulate them.
Parthia and Rome’s soldiers are special enough to warrant their own stat blocks. Parthian Cataphracts are heavily-armored mounted archers who can do a Parthian Shot* by turning around to fire at people behind them in the saddle, represented as a bonus action ranged attack when they move at least 20 feet. Parthian Spahbeds are military commanders who can Parry and Multiattack with melee weapons but otherwise don’t have anything truly unique or special. Roman Legionaries are heavily-armored infantry with spears, and their Pack Tactics (advantage on attack rolls when adjacent to allies) makes them deadlier than your average Guard or Bandit. Roman Centurions have the benefits of Legionaries but with better stats, as well as the ability to trade in one of their attacks for granting a reaction attack to a nearby ally. Centurions all carry +1 Gladiuses.
*which was the origin of the ‘parting shot’ saying, courtesy of a sidebar in the book.
Queen Makeda is the ruler of Sheba. Her past is mysterious and her origins of how she came into power unknown, but she is a fair ruler and her subjects are fine with this. Her kingdom’s strategic position sees heavy trade, and along with being the leading producer of myrrh and frankincense makes Sheba a very wealthy nation. The Queen has a variety of offensive spells but her primary actions involve granting boosts and bonus actions to allies.
The Shadow of the Beast cult attracts mortals from all walks of life, who for various reasons are the witting or unwitting pawns of the Archdemons. There are three generic statblocks: Shadow Cultists aren’t very powerful save for a poisoned dagger attack being their main offense. Shadow Mages gain their powers from demons and in addition to typical spells can do an AoE hellfire attack as a rechargeable ability. Shadow Champions are esteemed warriors, immune to all spells of 2nd level or lower and can Multiattack with infernal longswords that deal bonus fire damage.
Shedim commonly serve as the demonic officers of the Shadow of the Beast, acting as local leaders. They appear like humanoid serpents with a snake-like body with human arms. Shedim can change their shape into a humanoid of choice, have a poisonous bite, can cast Suggestion at will, and do a blast of hellfire as an Area of Effect attack.
Sicarii is actually a generic stat block that can be just as easily used for Zealots, but the concept reflects the Jewish insurgent forces conducting guerilla warfare against the Roman occupation. They’re basically low-level Rogues with the Assassinate ability of the Assassin subclass.
Sunwings are giant, intelligent, eaglelike beings who have a special bond with the Nabateans of Petra. Those they’re bonded with provide a special resistance vs supernatural enchantments that would force them to attack those they bonded with, and they can revive a creature struck dead within the last minute to 1 hit point once a day. The book notes in a sidebar that they’re based off of the common folkloric concept of magical eagles in this region of the world. As for Biblical accuracy, they are prominent in the book of Fourth Baruch, which is regarded as a legitimate book by the Ethiopian Orthodox Church but not by other Christian sects.
Tannin are powerful and dangerous sea serpents. Many ships avoid taking the most convenient and direct routes in order to avoid them, and with good reason. They’re powerful CR 12 creatures who have steam breath weapons and can generate rip currents that can affect creatures, ships, and objects alike.
The Zenido, or Desert Drake, are winged hunters who prey on large animals in the desert. They often target passing caravans in the Assur Wates and Wilderness of Zin. Unlike typical D&D dragons they are more bestial and animalistic in mindset, being instinct-based hunters. They still have typical dragon features such as flight, a bite and claw attack, and a fiery breath weapon.
Is That In the Bible? is our final section of the Adventurer’s Guide to the Bible. It is a comprehensive alphabetical listing of virtually every major character, creature, location, and artifact in this sourcebook. If it appears in the Bible, the proper chapters and verses are marked along with a Bible symbol. There are three other symbols: a scroll for being mentioned in other ancient writings around this time period, a paper and quill for archeological evidence and reliable secondary sources, and a paintbrush and paint pallet for when creative liberties were taken. In the case of the scroll and quill the author elaborates on the sources, albeit less a bibliographic listing and more mentions of general topics such as “Rabbinical literature” and regional folklore.
Beyond the symbols, many entries have short descriptions elaborating on things. For instance, the Deepmaw is a giant fish that can swallow people which definitely appears in the Bible and folklore, but the name and new monster is inspired by the stories. Or the Catacombs of Kadesh, which were based on the Battle of Kadesh but the underground catacombs serving as the final dungeon were invented for the adventure.
Thoughts So Far: The balance of a lot of the new material is questionable and may not necessarily map well to existing core material. Quite a few spells feel too weak, powerful, or open-ended for their respective levels, and several monsters can do with another editing pass. Additionally, the large amount of repeated OGL content in the magic items and monsters sections feels like artificial padding.
The magic items are my favorite part of the Appendix along with
Is That in the Bible? Many of the new items are cool and in keeping with the historical fantasy themes of the region and Abrahamic faiths.
Is That in the Bible? shows that the authors did their homework in compiling resources and inspiration, and given the likely high standards a project of this type requires, it is good to see that they delved into things more than a surface level pop culture reading of Christianity.
Final Thoughts: Overall I found myself impressed with the Adventurer’s Guide to the Bible. Writing an historical fantasy drawing upon explicit religious themes is a difficult task without falling into the common perils that suffuse such an undertaking. Overall I feel that Red Panda Publishing more or less threaded the needle in a way that gives people a quality open-ended adventure, and who don’t necessarily have to practice the faith to find it enjoyable. I have nothing but praise to say about the campaign’s sandbox nature, and how non-linear exploration is encouraged while giving players and DMs multiple avenues of resolving or coming upon certain quests. This is very much a campaign I can see running for an extended period of time and in a variety of ways with different gaming groups without having to heavily resort to homebrew. The research and resources of the authors is also to be commended, for not just creating an immersive setting that feels authentic but is also fun to play.
With that being said, I do have my criticisms. There are aspects of the book which could use a second editing pass, from the questionable balance of several class and spell options, mistakes made in sentence grammar, or the calculation of certain monster/NPC stats. There are also adventures which can require a lot more work on the DM’s part to heavily revise or plan for their players in ways it feels the book should’ve got around to addressing, such as Aphrodite’s Touch or certain elements in the Way of the Cross. And while it’s not a constant, the use of DMPCs at certain points in the adventure is also one that needs more care taken given how hard it is for many DMs to handle such characters in a non-disruptive manner.
I thank everyone who has read this far with me. I don’t know what I will review next or when that time will come, although I have a few ideas. Until then, I hope this Let’s Read helped shed some light on one of the most innovative third party D&D sourcebooks to come out in quite some time!
