Silvercat Moonpaw
Adventurer
I'm definitely going to agree on Soul Anchor.
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Pathfinder 2E Paizo drops use of the word phylactery
- Thread starter darjr
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J.Quondam
CR 1/8
Yeah, I like this. Soul cage (or soul vessel; either is fine, tbh) works for me because the terms are completely neutral with respect to what form they take.
So one lich might use an actual "phylactery"; while another uses a "shabti"; and another uses a "hunping"; and another uses a literal (bird)cage. And the cleverest of all uses a toaster in a nondescript house in Luxembourg.
A souls-ter?
Justice and Rule
Hero
"Master, why did you switch away from the toaster?"
"It turned out that while the bread will only toast, the soul still burns."
That sounds like a peer-to-peer service for swapping souls.
J.Quondam
CR 1/8
Soulstr™: Swipe to swap!
Justice and Rule
Hero
God, I want a setting where liches are the equivalent of peer-to-peer torrenters, illegally leaching soul energy through soul vessel servers, and the God of Death hires out out adventurers to shut them down.
"Guys, don't use Vecna Bay unless you have a VPS, otherwise the Raven Queen will send you a Cease and Decease notice."
Doug McCrae
Legend
Are D&D Phylacteries Jewish?
Introduction
The Oxford English Dictionary gives four different meanings for the word "phylactery". The fourth is not relevant to the question asked by this post. The first three are:
Image from Wikipedia of tefillin worn by an IDF soldier:
This post considers whether phylacteries in AD&D 1e, D&D 3e/3.5e, and Pathfinder 1e/2e are Jewish using the above sources and others.
AD&D 1e
There are four types of phylactery in AD&D 1e. Three are DMG magic items useable by clerics only – Phylactery of Faithfulness, Phylactery of Long Years, and the cursed Phylactery of Monstrous Attention. The fourth is the lich's phylactery in the MM.
Only the Phylactery of Monstrous Attention has a specific bodily location – it is an "arm wrapping". The Phylactery of Faithfulness warns the cleric when something may "adversely affect his or her alignment and standing with his or her deity." The Phylactery of Long Years "slows the aging process."
The lich's phylactery preserves its condition of unlife. "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." The lich's phylactery is, then, a sort of inhuman and unnatural counterpart to the Phylactery of Long Years. In AD&D 1e it was not yet a container for the lich's soul – that was introduced in AD&D 2e.
Three of the traits of AD&D 1e phylacteries are the same as tefillin – religious function, attached to the arm by straps, extending life. The amulet (the 2nd meaning in the OED) has, at best, one of these traits – preserving life, which is similar to extending it. The holy relic case (the 3rd meaning in the OED) also has one – religious function.
The tefillin is associated with long life. Haskel Lookstein, Tefillin and God's Kingship (1961) (emphasis mine):
Yehudah Cohn, Tangled Up in Text: Tefillin and the Ancient World (2008) argues that "the word tefillin originally described the function of the amulet that it signified, as a prayer for long life, much as the Greek word phylakterion described a protective function of the amulet it signified."
D&D 3e/3.5e
D&D 3e has two phylacteries – Phylactery of Faithfulness and the lich's phylactery. D&D 3.5e adds the Phylactery of Undead Turning.
In 3e the Phylactery of Faithfulness is "a small box containing holy scripture affixed to a leather cord." The 3.5e description is "a small box containing religious scripture affixed to a leather cord and tied around the forehead."
MM 3e: "The most common form of [lich's] phylactery is a sealed metal box containing strips of parchment on which magical phrases have been transcribed. This typically has a leather strap so that the owner can wear it on the forearm or head." The text in the MM 3.5e is the same but omits the second sentence.
Phylacteries in D&D 3e/3.5e are therefore extremely similar in form and bodily location to tefillin.
Pathfinder 1e/2e
Pathfinder 1e has four phylacteries: Phylactery of Faithfulness; Phylacteries of Positive and Negative Channeling, which increase damage versus undead or living creatures, respectively; lich's phylactery. Pathfinder 2e has two phylacteries – Phylactery of Faithfulness and the lich's phylactery.
In Pathfinder Core Rulebook 1e, the Phylactery of Faithfulness is "a tiny box containing religious scripture. The box is affixed to a leather cord and tied around the forehead, worn so that the box sits upon the wearer's brow." Pathfinder Core Rulebook 2e has slightly altered wording – a "tiny box" that "holds a fragment of religious scripture sacred to a particular deity. The box is worn by affixing it to a leather cord and tying it around your head just above your brow."
According to The Oxford Dictionary of the Jewish Religion, the tefillin placed on the head, the shel ro'sh, "lies just above the spot where the hair begins to grow and directly above the space between the eyes."
Pathfinder Bestiary 1e describes the form of the lich's phylactery using identical text to the MM 3.5e. The text in the Pathfinder Bestiary 2e underwent minor changes: "The standard phylactery is a sealed metal box containing strips of parchment inscribed with magical phrases."
Pathfinder is similar to D&D 3.5e but makes the Jewishness of the Phylactery of Faithfulness even more explicit.
Conclusion
Phylacteries in D&D and Pathfinder are Jewish, whether those phylacteries have good or evil uses. This was strongly suggested in AD&D 1e and, in my view, is obvious in D&D 3e/3.5e and Pathfinder 1e/2e.
From D&D 3e to D&D 3.5e to Pathfinder, the Jewish features of the Phylactery of Faithfulness were increasingly emphasised. From no bodily location specified (D&D 3e) to "tied around the forehead" (D&D 3.5e) to "worn so that the box sits upon the wearer's brow" (Pathfinder 1e). The Jewishness of the lich's phylactery was however reduced between D&D 3e and D&D 3.5e. From "this typically has a leather strap so that the owner can wear it on the forearm or head" (D&D 3e) to no bodily locations and no leather strap in D&D 3.5e and Pathfinder.
These changes were consistent. The connection of Judaism with an evil undead monster, the lich, was reduced, and its connection with a magic item that has a beneficial religious function was increased. I think the creators of D&D 3.5e and Pathfinder were right to make these changes.
Introduction
The Oxford English Dictionary gives four different meanings for the word "phylactery". The fourth is not relevant to the question asked by this post. The first three are:
- A small leathern box containing four texts of Scripture… worn by Jews during morning prayer.
- An amulet worn upon the person, as a preservative against disease, etc.; also fig. a charm, safeguard.
- A vessel or case containing a holy relic.
Two specially made cubical black leather boxes traditionally worn by adult males during the weekday morning service… These boxes, which are bound by black leather straps to the left hand (or to the right hand for a person who is left-handed) and to the head, contain four scriptural passages.
Image from Wikipedia of tefillin worn by an IDF soldier:
This post considers whether phylacteries in AD&D 1e, D&D 3e/3.5e, and Pathfinder 1e/2e are Jewish using the above sources and others.
AD&D 1e
There are four types of phylactery in AD&D 1e. Three are DMG magic items useable by clerics only – Phylactery of Faithfulness, Phylactery of Long Years, and the cursed Phylactery of Monstrous Attention. The fourth is the lich's phylactery in the MM.
Only the Phylactery of Monstrous Attention has a specific bodily location – it is an "arm wrapping". The Phylactery of Faithfulness warns the cleric when something may "adversely affect his or her alignment and standing with his or her deity." The Phylactery of Long Years "slows the aging process."
The lich's phylactery preserves its condition of unlife. "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." The lich's phylactery is, then, a sort of inhuman and unnatural counterpart to the Phylactery of Long Years. In AD&D 1e it was not yet a container for the lich's soul – that was introduced in AD&D 2e.
Three of the traits of AD&D 1e phylacteries are the same as tefillin – religious function, attached to the arm by straps, extending life. The amulet (the 2nd meaning in the OED) has, at best, one of these traits – preserving life, which is similar to extending it. The holy relic case (the 3rd meaning in the OED) also has one – religious function.
The tefillin is associated with long life. Haskel Lookstein, Tefillin and God's Kingship (1961) (emphasis mine):
The prayer recited preparatory to the donning of the Tefillin concludes with the hope: "May the effect of the Tefillin be to extend to me long life with sacred influences and holy thoughts, free from sin and iniquity, even in thought. May our evil inclination neither mislead nor entice us; but may we be enabled to serve the Lord as it is in our hearts to do."
Yehudah Cohn, Tangled Up in Text: Tefillin and the Ancient World (2008) argues that "the word tefillin originally described the function of the amulet that it signified, as a prayer for long life, much as the Greek word phylakterion described a protective function of the amulet it signified."
D&D 3e/3.5e
D&D 3e has two phylacteries – Phylactery of Faithfulness and the lich's phylactery. D&D 3.5e adds the Phylactery of Undead Turning.
In 3e the Phylactery of Faithfulness is "a small box containing holy scripture affixed to a leather cord." The 3.5e description is "a small box containing religious scripture affixed to a leather cord and tied around the forehead."
MM 3e: "The most common form of [lich's] phylactery is a sealed metal box containing strips of parchment on which magical phrases have been transcribed. This typically has a leather strap so that the owner can wear it on the forearm or head." The text in the MM 3.5e is the same but omits the second sentence.
Phylacteries in D&D 3e/3.5e are therefore extremely similar in form and bodily location to tefillin.
Pathfinder 1e/2e
Pathfinder 1e has four phylacteries: Phylactery of Faithfulness; Phylacteries of Positive and Negative Channeling, which increase damage versus undead or living creatures, respectively; lich's phylactery. Pathfinder 2e has two phylacteries – Phylactery of Faithfulness and the lich's phylactery.
In Pathfinder Core Rulebook 1e, the Phylactery of Faithfulness is "a tiny box containing religious scripture. The box is affixed to a leather cord and tied around the forehead, worn so that the box sits upon the wearer's brow." Pathfinder Core Rulebook 2e has slightly altered wording – a "tiny box" that "holds a fragment of religious scripture sacred to a particular deity. The box is worn by affixing it to a leather cord and tying it around your head just above your brow."
According to The Oxford Dictionary of the Jewish Religion, the tefillin placed on the head, the shel ro'sh, "lies just above the spot where the hair begins to grow and directly above the space between the eyes."
Pathfinder Bestiary 1e describes the form of the lich's phylactery using identical text to the MM 3.5e. The text in the Pathfinder Bestiary 2e underwent minor changes: "The standard phylactery is a sealed metal box containing strips of parchment inscribed with magical phrases."
Pathfinder is similar to D&D 3.5e but makes the Jewishness of the Phylactery of Faithfulness even more explicit.
Conclusion
Phylacteries in D&D and Pathfinder are Jewish, whether those phylacteries have good or evil uses. This was strongly suggested in AD&D 1e and, in my view, is obvious in D&D 3e/3.5e and Pathfinder 1e/2e.
From D&D 3e to D&D 3.5e to Pathfinder, the Jewish features of the Phylactery of Faithfulness were increasingly emphasised. From no bodily location specified (D&D 3e) to "tied around the forehead" (D&D 3.5e) to "worn so that the box sits upon the wearer's brow" (Pathfinder 1e). The Jewishness of the lich's phylactery was however reduced between D&D 3e and D&D 3.5e. From "this typically has a leather strap so that the owner can wear it on the forearm or head" (D&D 3e) to no bodily locations and no leather strap in D&D 3.5e and Pathfinder.
These changes were consistent. The connection of Judaism with an evil undead monster, the lich, was reduced, and its connection with a magic item that has a beneficial religious function was increased. I think the creators of D&D 3.5e and Pathfinder were right to make these changes.
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Tun Kai Poh
Hero
Soul Vessel is good. LANCER uses Soul Vessel for its Lich in the supplement The Long Rim.
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