Jewish RPG Content

[Samloyal23]

Pastrami of Healing! Bagel of Protection +2! Lox of Water Breathing! Irving's Irresistible Kvetch! A cleric that calls down Flame Strike with a menorah! Do it!

Feh. So look, I tried to get my son into magical school, but he couldn't stand the smell of bat guano. And I tried to get him to fight, but he couldn't stand the sight of blood. So I had him be a scribe.

So you see...this is the dungeon where I kept the treasure...and this is the dungeon I wouldn't go to for anything.

Look, the curse, we remove it, nu? I know the rabbi, he casts remove curse, it's done. He's right by the restaurant, they have the best food from Shou Lung in Waterdeep.

Do you eat the bagel of protection to activate it? How long does it work? Or do you carry it like a talisman? What does the kvetch spell do?

 

[Blue Orange]

I imagined you'd wear the bagel as a bracer until it goes stale. If you eat it there ought to be a synergistic effect with a schmear of protection.

The regular kvetch causes the enemy to be unable to cast spells due to being forced to complain all the time (like a silence 15' radius, but noisier). The more powerful irresistible kvetch doesn't allow a save. (It was apparently devised by the powerful kabbalist Irving of Waterdeep.) The reverse, kvell, negates kvetch; if cast on a target not under the effect of a kvetch spell, it similarly prevents spellcasting, but is more pleasant to listen to.

There's also power word oy, which is like power word stun, but again noisier.

Jewish versions of the feeblemind spell are of course more varied; rather than simply making someone feebleminded, variants of the spell can make someone a schmendrik, a schlemiel (causing all Dexterity checks to be made with disadvantage until the spell is dispelled, with negative effects on anyone under the effects of a schlimazl spell), a schnook (causing all Persuasion or Deception checks to be made with advantage against them), a schlub (inducing disadvantage on Intimidation and Persuasion checks), or others.

Yes, my parents took me to see Jackie Mason when I was a kid. This is based on twentieth-century Ashkenazi culture and the Biblical period is probably more appropriate for a D&D game.

 

[Tun Kai Poh]

Have you heard of Doikayt, the Jewish TTRPG anthology?

Doikayt: A Jewish TTRPG Anthology by riley rethal, a. fell, Adira Slattery, Evan Saft, Randy Lubin, Marn S., Eli Seitz, JR Goldberg, Lucian Kahn 🌈🧛🏻‍♂️

A collection of tabletop RPGs written and illustrated by Jews about the ways we see our Judaism.

metagame.itch.io

 

[Twiggly the Gnome]

I have the Knights Adventurous supplement, but never played Pendragon, so I never noticed this. I was just thrilled to see actual content for Jewish characters in a game.

There's a Pendragon variant based on Charlemagne and his Paladins. I'd be neat if there was one built around David HaMelech and his Gibborim.

 

[Samloyal23]

Have you heard of Doikayt, the Jewish TTRPG anthology?

Doikayt: A Jewish TTRPG Anthology by riley rethal, a. fell, Adira Slattery, Evan Saft, Randy Lubin, Marn S., Eli Seitz, JR Goldberg, Lucian Kahn 🌈🧛🏻‍♂️

A collection of tabletop RPGs written and illustrated by Jews about the ways we see our Judaism.

metagame.itch.io

I have, it has good reviews, I do not have a copy yet...

 

[Eltab]

What does the kvetch spell do?

The target now emits the special effects of Vicious Mockery in an aura (besides taking the HP damage and being affected itself), and auto-fails Stealth checks, until it makes a Save at the end of its turn.

 

[Blue Orange]

I have to say, one of the things I always found depressing is that, for (understandable) fear of antisemitism, we had faux-Germany (Brechtur, Molthune) and faux-Ireland (Moonshae Isles, Bretonnia) and faux-Mesoamerica (Maztica) and faux-China (Zhou Lung, Cathay) and god knows how many faux-Japans (Kozakura, Rokugan, Nippon...), but no faux-Jews. I can play a dwarf casting spells with runes or an elven samurai with an ear-piercing kiai, but I can't play a wheeler-dealing merchant traipsing between rival kingdoms or a scholarly kabbalist magic-user plumbing the occult mysteries.

Oh well. Good luck with this Doikayt thing.

EDIT: bought it, doesn't work for D&D but there are a lot of indie-style short games that might be fun for non-roleplayers.

Plus there's Lunch Rush, this Powered by the Apocalypse variant about running a deli, with these stats:
• Chutzpah/Audacity
• Tsuris/Desperation
• Gezunt/Fortitude
• Yidishe kop/Cleverness
• Bupkis/Nothing at all. Invent a statistic specifically relevant to
your character's backstory and insist it applies to every situation; the DM will decide.

 

[Thomas Shey]

I can't remember the name off hand but I do remember there being a d20/3.x book out for roleplaying in the Biblical times. I do remember the Judge feat being super beefy for obvious reasons

Scott Bennie's Testament I suspect.

And well ninjaed by the kitten.

 

[babi_gog]

There is the Ars Magica supplement Kabbalah, about Judaism in Mythic Europe.

 

[aramis erak]

There is the Ars Magica supplement Kabbalah, about Judaism in Mythic Europe.

Which edition is that from?