Testament from Green Ronin!!!

[Iron_Chef]

Just saw this at the store and it looks great for something I thought I'd have no interest in as an athiest. I'm going to gloss over the biblical/historical aspect of the book (which seems very thorough and helpful for those interested in the setting) and cut straight to the non-setting specific crunchy bits:

"Dream" skill

50 new feats

100 new spells, including some sex/fertility magic, new curses, etc.

Something like a dozen new core classes and PrCs (Idol-Maker, Spy, Qedeshot (temple "prostitute" suitable for clerics of FR's Sharess and Loviatar)

Mass Combat Army Rules (finally, a concise system that makes sense!)

New magic items (from the ark of the covenant to simple charms and incense, including new weapon and armor properties)

Expanded equipment lists (including normal houses to buy and slave prices as well as new armor types)

Piety Point System, complete with list of sins and their punishments, and conditions to render someone "Unclean" in the eyes of the faithful (like menstruation); you can use your piety to pray for boons from your deity once per session, and negative piety point scores can cause you to become cursed!

Simple, easy to use Childbirth rules (Fort save + modifiers)
_____________________________________________

Most everything I saw in these sections could be yoinked (with little to no tweaking) for any D&D game, and a lot of it could be used for FR's "Old Empires" of Mulhorand, Unther, & Chessenta, or GH's far western "arabic flavored" realms like Ull and Zief.

Testament is an excellent resource whether you use the setting, modify it, or throw it away; this is yet another in a long list of superior d20 gaming products from Green Ronin that caught me pleasantly by surprise. Check it out!

I hope Green Ronin will release more in their Mythic Vistas line, such as Imperial Rome, Dark/Middle Ages and Renaissance settings. Kudos to all involved.

 

[GravyFingerz]

Just saw this at the store and it looks great for something I thought I'd have no interest in as an athiest. I'm going to gloss over the biblical/historical aspect of the book (which seems very thorough and helpful for those interested in the setting) and cut straight to the non-setting specific crunchy bits:

"Dream" skill

50 new feats

100 new spells, including some sex/fertility magic, new curses, etc.

Something like a dozen new core classes and PrCs (Idol-Maker, Spy, Qedeshot (temple "prostitute" suitable for clerics of FR's Sharess and Loviatar)

Mass Combat Army Rules (finally, a concise system that makes sense!)

New magic items (from the ark of the covenant to simple charms and incense, including new weapon and armor properties)

Expanded equipment lists (including normal houses to buy and slave prices as well as new armor types)

Piety Point System, complete with list of sins and their punishments, and conditions to render someone "Unclean" in the eyes of the faithful (like menstruation); you can use your piety to pray for boons from your deity once per session, and negative piety point scores can cause you to become cursed!

Simple, easy to use Childbirth rules (Fort save + modifiers)
_____________________________________________

Most everything I saw in these sections could be yoinked (with little to no tweaking) for any D&D game, and a lot of it could be used for FR's "Old Empires" of Mulhorand, Unther, & Chessenta, or GH's far western "arabic flavored" realms like Ull and Zief.

Testament is an excellent resource whether you use the setting, modify it, or throw it away; this is yet another in a long list of superior d20 gaming products from Green Ronin that caught me pleasantly by surprise. Check it out!

I hope Green Ronin will release more in their Mythic Vistas line, such as Imperial Rome, Dark/Middle Ages and Renaissance settings. Kudos to all involved.

Wow, that sounds like a good buy. I will have to pick it up when I can afford it, after I move.

 

[Henry]

Inner Dialogue:

C'mon, boy, Gencon, Gencon, you can hold it together 'till then, c'mon, baby, c'mon, c'mon, Just 'till Gencon, that's it, boy, hold it together, hooold, hoold it...

 

[Renaissance Man]

I hope Green Ronin will release more in their Mythic Vistas line, such as Imperial Rome, Dark/Middle Ages and Renaissance settings. Kudos to all involved.

Renaissance - yea, bully, and huzzah! I'd give my eye-teeth for that! Chris Pramas - you listening? MY EYE-TEETH!

 

[I'm A Banana]

I've been interested in it since I first saw it advertised, and I'll almost certainly be picking it up, and this may be the first campaign setting I actually use mostly-unaltered for my hapless PC's...

I have to be able to afford it first, but yeah, it's above the 3.5 rules for me.

 

[BigFreekinGoblinoid]

Inner Dialogue:

C'mon, boy, Gencon, Gencon, you can hold it together 'till then, c'mon, baby, c'mon, c'mon, Just 'till Gencon, that's it, boy, hold it together, hooold, hoold it...

Hey Henry,

just curious - why do you have to wait until GenCon to buy books that are already out? I'd think that would be just one less book to lug around...

 

[Gothmog]

Iron Chef, I just picked this book on Saturday, and have read about 200 pages through it so far. And I can say in a voice from on high: "THIS BOOK DOTH VERILY KICK ASS!"

I wasn't sure I'd be very interested in it either, but after skimming it at my FLGS, I couldn't pass it up. For those of you who are worried, its not at all like Dragonraid- players are not forced to quote scripture in order to gain experience. In fact, the book details four cultures extensivly: Israel, Babylon, Canaan, and Egypt from the time periods 3000-135 BC (with 8 distinct periods detailed).

The game high points to me were the Piety system, the new spells (most of which are not combat spells, but instead focus on fertility magic, curses, afflictions, true names, and dealing with the Hidden world of angels, demons, and spirits), new classes (the Psalmist- divine bard, the Khery-heb- Egyptian sorcerer-priests, the Ren-hakau- Egyptian master of summoning and true names, the Magus of the Starry Host- Babylonain astrologer wizards, the Qedeshot- Canaanite temple prostitues, and the Spy- a social-based rogue class). The new monsters are also great, from the new angels (cherubim, malachim, mazzalim, and seraphim) to demons and devils (Azazel, possessor, tempter, and ruination), sin dragons, the nephilim (usually CE offspring of angels and men) and half-nephilim template, Babylonian demons (lamashtu, imhullu) scorpion guards, bull of heaven, akilem (demon locusts), zebub-spawn (demonic flies from the flesh of Zebub, aka Baal-Zebub) and several new Egyptian monsters (phoenix, Apep-spawn snakes, and accursed ka-spirit). The mass combat rules are also excellent, with specific mass combat feats. Finally, the last 100 pages of this book is devoted to setting and fluff, which is wonderfully done and sparked dozens of adventure ideas from me easily. All I can say is buy this book- its just another notch in Green Ronin's belt, and proof again that NOBODY (and I mean not even WotC) does a setting book or D20 rules better than Green Ronin.

 

[Henry]

Hey Henry,

just curious - why do you have to wait until GenCon to buy books that are already out? I'd think that would be just one less book to lug around...

My logic goes like this...

Henry buys nifty-cool book now, and spends 30.00.

Henry goes to Gencon, INEVITABLY finds more nifty-cool books for more money, and buys them.

Henry finds, approximately 6 to 10 weeks later, that he had absolutely no use for HALF the crap he bought in Gencon stalls, and has wasted even more money.

As a result, Henry spent money on purchases he hasn't thought out. "Hal's Meteoric Die" syndrome strikes again.

I am currently trying to convince our other DM (He currently posts now as "Torm" on these boards) to run a Testament game, which I believe he'd be fantastic at, so I have a use for it. But When I get to that Dealer Room at Gencon, I'm like Jojo the Sweaty Monkey, and I geek out at the mountain of cool stuff for sale.

 

[Henry]

http://enworld.cyberstreet.com/showthread.php?postid=967702#post967702

Also, this post has some excellent information on the game book itself!

 

[Fenes 2]

I pre-ordered the book long ago, and only hope it will get shipped soon - I am currently running a campaign in an egyptian-style setting, so I will probably be able to use most of the material (apart from the biblical stuff) in the book.