D&D General Drow & Orcs Removed from the Monster Manual

[Sepulchrave II]

<Snip>I just looked it up in my bible to make sure, and sure enough there is footnote explaining it.

I can’t engage with this in all conscience without trampling all over the Board’s exclusion of religious discourse.

Suffice it to say that my exegetical framework is not theological, and I don’t agree.

 

[Remathilis]

Edit: changed my mind

 

[Umbran]

I really could have done without the pedantic correction. It added absolutely nothing to the conversation and just served to antagonize me.

Mod Note:
It was relevant information, given the implications of your statement. So please chill out.

 

[Parmandur]

I expect it can be found in a number of titles referenced in the original Appendix N.

You know what, wildly enough I do not believe that Gygax would have gotten it directly from the New Testament, since he was a Bible study teacher for the Jehohvah's Witnesses, and this is their translation of Matthew 23:5 (the one verse where Phylactery appears):

"All the works they do, they do to be seen by men, for they broaden the scripture-containing cases that they wear as safeguards and lengthen the fringes of their garments."

So, either he would not have associated "phylactery" with Jesus critique of the 1st century turn Pharisees...or, perhaps more interestingly, the Jehohvah's Witnesses may have changed their translation more recently to move away from the polemical history of the word.

 

[Voadam]

If you can find me a reference to phylactery between 200 CE and 1975 (when it was incorporated into the D&D lexicon) which doesn’t apply to tefillin, I’ll be impressed. Because I can’t find one.

Wikipedia says phylactery is used separately as a term for amulets, reliquaries, speech scrolls, tefillin and the D&D usage. Granted, the citations for the reliquaries and speech scrolls are to more contemporary books but they do not look like they are D&D inspired.

 

[Voadam]

A reminder that Gygax's lich description does not make a big deal about phylacteries, only referencing them in passing in the 1e MM. The whole phylactery as soul receptacle thing came from Greenwood later and the tefillin evocative descriptions came from later authors, mostly in the WotC era.

From the 1e MM here is the only phylactery discussion.

"A lich exists because of its own desires and the use of powerful and arcane magic. The lich passes from a state of humanity to a non-human, non-living existence through force of will. It retains this status by certain conjurations, enchantments, and a phylactery."

Gygax's OD&D's lich description does not reference a phylactery at all.

 

[Sepulchrave II]

Wikipedia says phylactery is used separately as a term for amulets, reliquaries, speech scrolls, tefillin and the D&D usage. Granted, the citations for the reliquaries and speech scrolls are to more contemporary books but they do not look like they are D&D inspired.

Amulet - well, yes. Literally a translation of φυλακτήριον into Latin.
Speech scrolls - looks like some kind of post-2000 manga reference

But reliquary? That’s a new one to me. If there’s an historical reference, consider me impressed.

Obviously, the word has propagated through various rpg and rpg-adjacent media since D&D, so that’s not surprising.

I do consider the possibility that Gygax got it from some obscure pulp fantasy plausible.

 

[Selvarin]

a) Removing them probably allowed more space for more monsters.

b) They also want to get past the idea of orcs and drow being inherently evil and (usually) monsters...which I disagree with.

The Woke is strong with WotC, and it shows, such as removing race/species ability score modifiers and moving that to backgrounds. Yes, it can be worked around but long-term they want to flatten some aspects of the game. They seem squeamish about some things that gamers themselves aren't bothered by.

 

[Chaltab]

When. It's been pointed out WotC is late to this party. Paizo, EN Publishing and Bethesda all made a terminology change much earlier that Wizards.

Just out of curiosity where did Bethesda make the change?

 

[MGibster]

The Woke is strong with WotC, and it shows, such as removing race/species ability score modifiers and moving that to backgrounds.

What does that even mean?