"D&D is evil. I have seen it from the inside."

[Hand of Evil]

Of course, the real story here is that the "Alexandrian Tradition of Witchcraft" incorporates elements of Dungeons and Dragons, not the other way around. I should know, because I was on the inside.

I was the High DM of my gaming group (Michigansian Tradition, but not affiliated with the Kalamazoo Heresy) when I was contacted by an Alexandrian warlock who wanted to ensure that his rituals correctly reflected the real spells contained in the Player's Handbook. So he and two of his fellow witches sat in on one of our gaming sessions and took copious notes -- they wanted to make certain that their religion was as real as possible. You would have been amused at some of the simple spellcasting mistakes they were making -- using balls of used cat litter instead of bat guano to cast fireball; drawing "square" circles of protection (yes, they WERE making those kinds of fundamental mistakes; I told you they were confused); saying "bic" instead of "zip-po" when casting the firefinger cantrip; the list goes on. We set them straight for the most part, though the one warlock did seem intent on using in a...peculiar way the iron rod necessary to casting a hold person.

Anyhoo, my group likes to think of ourselves as the Hegel to the Alexandrian tradition's Marx.

Thank you.

And when is your next book out?

 

[Nilhgualcm Leahcim]

I have several family members who practice so called "pagan" rituals. They get upset when I ask them if they can wildshape. And when I hurt my finger, not one of those selfish SOBs would cast even a cure minor wounds on me to take the pain away. DAmn, all that cool occult power, and so stingy in their use.

 

[Torm]

Originally Posted by PaulKemp
Of course, the real story here is that the "Alexandrian Tradition of Witchcraft" incorporates elements of Dungeons and Dragons, not the other way around. I should know, because I was on the inside.

I was the High DM of my gaming group (Michigansian Tradition, but not affiliated with the Kalamazoo Heresy) when I was contacted by an Alexandrian warlock who wanted to ensure that his rituals correctly reflected the real spells contained in the Player's Handbook. So he and two of his fellow witches sat in on one of our gaming sessions and took copious notes -- they wanted to make certain that their religion was as real as possible. You would have been amused at some of the simple spellcasting mistakes they were making -- using balls of used cat litter instead of bat guano to cast fireball; drawing "square" circles of protection (yes, they WERE making those kinds of fundamental mistakes; I told you they were confused); saying "bic" instead of "zip-po" when casting the firefinger cantrip; the list goes on. We set them straight for the most part, though the one warlock did seem intent on using in a...peculiar way the iron rod necessary to casting a hold person.

Anyhoo, my group likes to think of ourselves as the Hegel to the Alexandrian tradition's Marx.

Thank you.

And when is your next book out?

This.... made my brain splode. }BOOM{

 

[chrisnd]

:Looks at calendar: Um, it's not April 1st dude. Save this silliness for a few months and drag it out then.

Not sure which part was "silly", but you can bet your bottom dollar that I can get very, very silly around that time of year. Must be the moon.

 

[Hand of Evil]

Not sure which part was "silly", but you can bet your bottom dollar that I can get very, very silly around that time of year. Must be the moon.

Unless you have lurked, as I look at your joined date...you will feel quite at home here on April 1st.

 

[PaulKemp]

Thank you.

And when is your next book out?

Hand of Evil, thank you for asking!

"Resurrection," book VI in the War of the Spider Queen series, will be released in late April or early May '05.

"Midnight's Mask," book III of the Erevis Cale trilogy, will be released in November '05.

I've got another anthology appearance that will be released between those two, but I don't think the book's been announced yet, so I have to stay mum.

 

[chrisnd]

WARNING: some of the following involves religious commentary. I mean no offense to anyone, and apologize ahead of time to anyone I will inevitably offend, anyway.

3. There IS an extreme JudeoChristian point of view that says that anything that is not done to glorify G-d and/or according to G-d's Law is Satanic. I have a great deal of respect for people who TRULY believe this to the extent of trying hard to model their whole lives around it - mostly Amish, Mennonites, and such. Unfortunately, most of the time this concept is pulled out and put on display by people who hypocritically want to apply it only to things they want it applied to - i.e. it applies to Dungeons and Dragons because "different" people play that, but not to golf. Even though the people who play both make nods at deities from other religions, and aren't busy studying the Bible or following the Law.

For someone who is not of the JudeoChristian background (which I assume you are not due to your Wiccan/Deistic background), this is very well said. Probably explained better than I ever could.

As I said before, I think that Chick Ministries is an extremist group that looks to find fault in everything that they don't personally condone. And, as many others have stated, certain members of religious groups (and I am thinking mostly towards Christians) can be narrow-minded bunch of sheep. Lemmings, more like it. And, unlike Chick, I know this for a fact, because I am one of them. A sheep, not a lemming. But that is a different discussion.

Regardless, one of the reasons I like the game so much is because I get to actually improve my skills of being able to think for myself. Ha ha, what a novel concept - one in which those subscribers to the Chick point of view clearly do not excel at.

 

[chrisnd]

Unless you have lurked, as I look at your joined date...you will feel quite at home here on April 1st.

I am looking forward to it - I have not been a lurker, I joined the first day I found the site.

Regardless, I think that my presence here may in fact be construed as an April Fools Joke. I am probably one of the few people here who are willing to actually discuss their Christian faith as it applies to the d20 game (mostly because I don't want to break the main rules, so I need to make the connection somehow). I think that most of that has to do with the fact that just not very many Christians play this game. Maybe that has to do with the effect of the Chick Ministries, or the 700 Club, or whatever it may be. But regardless, I think that it is a disappointment to those who are missing out on what is a wonderful way to share stories, be creative, hang out with friends, and have incredibly enlightening conversations.

I will be staying for quite some time, if that is okay with everyone. I think that I may be able to add perspective to something (even if it is nothing more than the viewpoint of a jacka**).

 

[Turanil]

But imagine my disappointment when there were no explicit instructions in that book at all! You can believe me, next time I went to the local priest and yelled at him because of that false advertising. But then the game itself wasn't bad, either, and now we'd rather eat crisps and drink soda than butcher another animal. We even (almost) got that vomit smell out of the cellar!

​

 

[Hand of Evil]

Hand of Evil, thank you for asking!

"Resurrection," book VI in the War of the Spider Queen series, will be released in late April or early May '05.

"Midnight's Mask," book III of the Erevis Cale trilogy, will be released in November '05.

I've got another anthology appearance that will be released between those two, but I don't think the book's been announced yet, so I have to stay mum.

Thank you for replying, looking forward to them.