Testament: An Awesome D&D Supplement

[ptolemy18]

This drives me nuts as well. I don't think it has any redeeming value in a book.

Personally? I didn't find it bothersome. I haven't tried photocopying any of those black-on-gray pages, yet, though.

Jason

 

[Crothian]

I would absolutely love to play in a campaign centered around Israelites going forth & obliterating the neighboring non-believers using fire & sword as dictated in the OT.

Unfortunately that would be a very hard campaign to handle without becoming offensive to one side or another.

Instead of worrying about offending people, I'd just get a group of players who wouldn't be bothered if it got offensive.

Great game by the way, one of the few books I have 2 copies off.

 

[Krieg]

I'd just get a group of players who wouldn't be bothered if it got offensive.

I typically limit my gaming to folks I am friends with in the real world, which is probably why I don't have any real stories to add to RPGNet's infamous thread.

I have two players who are debout one a Jew and one a Catholic and I also have one militant atheist. Everyone gets along well and are quite respectfull of the varying beliefs, but I don't really feel a need to introduce a game that will specifically push hot buttons for folks on all sides of the fence.

 

[Crothian]

I typically limit my gaming to folks I am friends with in the real world, which is probably why I don't have any real stories to add to RPGNet's infamous thread.

I have two players who are debout one a Jew and one a Catholic and I also have one militant atheist. Everyone gets along well and are quite respectfull of the varying beliefs, but I don't really feel a need to introduce a game that will specifically push hot buttons for folks on all sides of the fence.

Ya, maybe not the group to try this type of game with.

 

[Krieg]

Ya, maybe not the group to try this type of game with.

LOL They are actually a bunch of great open minded folks who can deal with just about anything. This is probably just the single campaign that would have too much baggage for everyone.

Oops I forgot to mention before...Testament does in fact rock.

...and black on grey still sucks.

 

[MulhorandSage]

No one was happy with the way the page backgrounds turned out.

I've also got a .pdf Testament adventure in development. I can't wait to see what everyone else comes up with.

 

[HalWhitewyrm]

So - Lurianic Kabbalah is based on the belief that the world exists in spheres, and that each sphere represents a certain quality of G-d.

Right. These are the ubiquitous Sefirot (or Sephiroth, depending on the source of your transliteration) we hear so much about. In Kabbalah (in general, not only in the Lurianic [Rabbi Yiztchak (Isaac) Luria] tradition) these are divine emanations through which the Ein Sof (the Eternal, Endless quality of G-d) was "synthesized" into the physical realm.

When G-d created the world, the spheres had to contract ao allow room for that creation. Many of G-d's rays shattered, becoming the source of Evil**.

Just a note: though Lurianic Kabbalah does use the notion of the breaking of the sparks as an explanation for the existence of Evil in the world, it nonetheless follows traditional Jewish belief that Evil is only an earthly adjective, as all comes from G-d. Kabbalists also refer to a place called the Sithra Achra (literally "Other Place") from whence the forces of worldly evil emanate. This Sithra Achra is only "other" in relation to the physical world, not to G-d, who is everything, and as thus, though it is the Kabbalist's duty to liberate the sparks trapped in the world in order to close, so to speak, the entrance to the Sithra Achra, there is a bittersweet element to it, as it does mean closing off another source of G-dly emanation. In essence, it provides pathos to the quest to do a rectification of the world.

Man's job, therefore, is to - through prayer and devotion - put those pieces back together (I believe the phrase for this is Tiggum Olam, but I could be mis-remembering).

Tikkun Olam (lit. "Restoration [of the] World).

I would like to put a spin on the theory and say that the shards are *physical* things that must be retrived in order to bring the Messiah... so, essentially, the basic D&D game... there are X amount of powerful artifacts missing: go find them. I think it could be a lot of fun... and I would get to use all sorts of fun biblical stuff...

Sounds cool. A simple spin on an already-established quest of mystical proportions. I could suggest that perhaps not all the sparks are physical items. Our sages teach that some of the sparks are trapped in items both natural, like mountains or rivers, and man-altered, like inside the wood used to build a house. Each soul is also a spark, and for Jews, getting other Jews to practice the commandments (the mitzvot) enables that spark to ignite and begin the process of reunification. Some sparks are trapped in metaphysical realms/concepts, so perhaps a spark is in the astral realm, while another is trapped in the moment of a newborn boy's cry when he is circumcised. This way you can mix it up a little, have some quests that involve some heavy thinking (How do you get a spark trapped in that moment in time when a boy is circumcised? Well, tradition says that the soul of Elijah the Prophet is present at every circumcision, and Elijah can be contacted either physically during his lifetime [though he may not be aware of the things his soul does after his time on Earth] or through other mystical means. Just an example.) along with others that are your good old adventure romp through the fertile crescent.

Sounds interesting. Hope it turns out to be a good game and hope the above helped a little.

**When I initially attempted to type Evil, I typed Email... "Many of G-d's rays shattered, becoming the source of Email." THERE'S a profound statement.

Wow, that's profound indeed!

 

[Queen_Dopplepopolis]

Hey HalWhitewyrm - I really appreciate the input/corrections/all the info... really helped clarify some things... I've really enjoyed what I have leared about Jewish Mysticism, and aspire to learn even more... It's incredibly interesting - especially to the midwesterner that met her first Jew when she was 16.

I look forward to someday running this game - I'm sure it's in the far-flung future... I'm an experienced Dungeon Mistress that doesn't have a lot of time for developing game ideas... but, that one has been festering in the back of my brain for a while now... *dreamy sigh* Someday.

 

[HalWhitewyrm]

No problem. Glad to be of help. If you should need more info, the links I included in my post should be of great help.

 

[Voadam]

Hey HalWhitewyrm - I really appreciate the input/corrections/all the info... really helped clarify some things... I've really enjoyed what I have leared about Jewish Mysticism, and aspire to learn even more... It's incredibly interesting - especially to the midwesterner that met her first Jew when she was 16.

I look forward to someday running this game - I'm sure it's in the far-flung future... I'm an experienced Dungeon Mistress that doesn't have a lot of time for developing game ideas... but, that one has been festering in the back of my brain for a while now... *dreamy sigh* Someday.

I enjoyed the ars magica supplement mythic Kabbalah for background on kabbalah stuff in a game setting. I didn't have any background in Kaballah before reading it and found it very interesting and fun.