Testament: In the Shadow of Sinai. (full)

[yangnome]

Also, how do you want us to generate HP?

 

[yangnome]

OK, here's an initial post for my character. I still need to choose a feat and do a couple other things like equipment. I also still need to work on my background. what I've posted is more like a journal entry, trying to feel out his personality. if this doesn't gel with the campaign, or if it doesn't gel with the times, please let me know.

Ghostknight, I have a question about his background/family. Assuming he is a Kohenin, descended from Aaron, considering its only been 30 years or so since leaving egypt, how many offspring does Aaron have? Its been awhile since my Old Testament survey class, and while I had an excellent instructor, my mind is really fuzzy on the details. Anyhting that will help me draw a good background and family history would be appreciated.

Caleb
Levite Priest 4

STR 10
CON 14 (+2)
DEX 12 (+1)
INT 15 (+2)
WIS 16 (+3)
CHA 12 (+1)

Hit Points: 24 / 24
Initiative: +1 (+1 Dex)
AC: 11 (+1 Dex)
Attacks: Staff + 3 melee, damage .. ( .. ); sling + 4 ranged, damage 1d4
Fort Save: +4
Ref Save: +1
Will Save: +4
Piety: 0 / 30
Flaw: Fanatic
Domains: Law, Protection
Flaw: Fanatic
Languages: Hebrew
Skills: Concentration 6 (+2), Craft 3, Diplomacy 6 (+1), Heal 3 (+1), Intimidate 7 (+1), Knowledge (religion) 7 (+2), Perform 4 (+1), Profession, Sense Motive 6 (+3), Spellcraft
Feats: Pious, Turning Spell, ..
Equipment: Staff, sling w/ 10 stones, Priest’s outfit

XP: 6,000 / 10,000
28 years old, 5'8", 132 lbs.

I was born a couple years after God freed our people from the bonds of the Egyptians. I was fortunate enough to be born into the Levite tribe. I was chosen from my birth to do God’s bidding. There are many who don’t want these duties, or would rather be free to follow their own whims, but for me, there is nothing I’d rather do.

Since I was young, I’ve been instructed in God’s teachings. I was told of the miracles that led to our freedom from the tyranny that was Egypt; the locust swarms, how the rivers turned to blood and the death God’s angels reaped upon the land of the pharaohs. I was told of the parting sea, where the waters opened up so that we, God’s chosen people could flee the pursuing slavers and how the waters then swallowed those who’s goal was to enslave us once again. God’s gifts to us have been plentiful.

Despite God’s grace and these wondrous displays of might, there are those among us, many whom even witnessed these miracles first hand, who now turn their backs upon God. These people saw God’s power with their own eyes, received the food He sent from the Heavens, yet they now doubt his existence and cry that he has abandoned us. Now they turn to false gods, the gods of those below us. They create golden calves and offer sacrifices to them. It makes me sick. All of the grace that god has shown us, yet they turn their backs upon him.

My own sister Sarah gave her jewelry to melt into an idol! We who have received blessing upon countless blessing now turn our backs on the one who has freed us. I will no longer tolerate this. Those that bear false worship, those that look towards the heathens for spiritual guidance will suffer my wrath. The demons that possess these misguided fools will be banished in His name by my hand. I will seek out the idolaters and the heathens that tempt them and I will drive them from the earth. The Lord frees us, yet they once again beg for slavery, they once again beg for punishment from Him. Only strict guidance from those in my position can aid in turning us from this fate. By my word, I will do what the Lord has asked me to.

 

[Maerdwyn]

A question on equipping characters - how do we equip our starting characters - are magic items etc still available in this setting or not? DO we need to rework magic items so for example would tzitzit of protection be better than a cloak of protection? Do magic weapons exist or should they be "holy" i.e. bonuses from sacred/profane sources?

What special materials (if any) are avialble? About the only clearcut element is that masterwork items are easily explained!

Thanks

Longish answer to this.

There are magic weapons - most of the cultures of this era have no problem with using arcane magic to construct them. By contrast, the Israelites have few actual priests, and those they have aren't spending much time or energy on making weapons - maybe a few, but not on the whole. True magic items are very rare indeed among the Israelites. Enhanced weapons are a little more common (throughor the region, actually, not just among Israelites.)

When I ran a Celtic campaign in which sorcerors were hunted, we used this feat (as well as leveled weapons) to explain the magic items present in the setting. I was mor a behind-the-scenes system, rather than one meant for PC use, but it's available if you want it:

Forge Enhanced Arms and Armor [Item Creation]
Prerequisite: Knowledge (Metallurgy): 4 ranks. Craft (Weaponsmith): 9 Ranks and/or Craft (Armorer): 9 Ranks.

Benefit: The character can create any magic weapon, armor, or shield whose
Enhancement bonus is equal to or less than the character's Knowledge
(Metallurgy) rank divided by 4. To craft a magic weapon or piece of armor, the
character must first (personally) smelt the alloys to be used for the weapon from raw materials costing 1/2 the finished item's gp value. Because of the opportunity cost of the time and effort spent on the item, the smith must also expend 1/25 the item's GP value in XP. Once the alloy is properly creeated, the smith must forge it into a materwork-quality weapon, at which point the enhanced weapon is finished.

As with other feats dealing with magic item creation, the smith must work daily on such items until they are completed. Characters wishing to forge Magic Armor must have at least 9 ranks of Armorsmithing, and could not also forge magic weapons without at least as much skill in weaponsmithing. The same holds true for those forging magic weapons. This feat does not replace "Craft Magic Weapons and Armor ," but is, rather, an alternative choice for a non-spellcasting smiths. The extra time for creating the weapon from scratch is the trade-off for not taking a spell casting class.

New Skill:
Knowledge (Metallurgy) (Trained Only): The character understands the intrinsic nature of metals and their alloys. The character must still have sufficient quantities of the ores/metals he want smelt on hand in order to successfully use this skill. This skill may also be used to esitmate the strength of a particular piece of metal, be it a pair of shackels, a gate, or a bridge. The DCs of smelting various metals and alloys are as follows:

Lead:10
Copper: 15
Bronze: 25 (Standard for Israelite culture)
Iron: 35
Steel: 50

Once a particular metal becomes the "standard" for a culture - that is, there is a pool of craftsmen proficient in smelting a particular metal, the DC for that metal drops by 10 or to 20, whichever is lower. Thus the DC for an Israelite smith to smelt bronze is 15. (25 minus 10)


Other Magic items exist, created solely by divine casters - and rarely at that - among the Israelites, but all types among other cultures. Items that mimic existing ones form the DMG are fine (Tzizit of Protections, for example, but they cost more - gp and xp value to create - if they don't use up one of the standard magic item slots).

We won't go into too much reworking. Because the majority of your opponens will be humans equipped with a similar level of magic, removing a certain level of magic is not as big a deals as if I was going to be throwing an unending mass of DR15/+2 undead at you.

EDIT: I think I need to expand slightly on the previous two paragraphs - there are, of course, people among the Israelites who don't follow all the teahings of their religion, and those who have picked up customs and practices of their Egyptian masters - figure that there are at least a few adepts and maybe some love level sorcerors around, as well as some charms and potions made by arcane magic. They aren't out in the open, however.

Finally, on equipping your characters: At this point, create your chracters with bronze weapons and armor (if any), all non-magical. The people may grant you access to better stuff later if you mission warrants it - but we aren't there yet, and things may go different than I expect. If your family is wealthy, or you think ther eis something else about the PC that justifies owning a masterwork weapon or armor, go for it.

 

[Maerdwyn]

Also, how do you want us to generate HP?

Full Hp at level 1
3/4 maximum thereafter, round up.

 

[Maerdwyn]

OK, here's an initial post for my character. I still need to choose a feat and do a couple other things like equipment. I also still need to work on my background. what I've posted is more like a journal entry, trying to feel out his personality. if this doesn't gel with the campaign, or if it doesn't gel with the times, please let me know.

Ghostknight, I have a question about his background/family. Assuming he is a Kohenin, descended from Aaron, considering its only been 30 years or so since leaving egypt, how many offspring does Aaron have? Its been awhile since my Old Testament survey class, and while I had an excellent instructor, my mind is really fuzzy on the details. Anyhting that will help me draw a good background and family history would be appreciated.

Yangnome,

We're only about a year out from Egypt, so your chracter will have ben born in Egypt, if that's okay. Thant may change some of your other background - I'm not sure, so I'll wait to comment.

Aaron is a spry nonagenarian at this point and has four sons: Nadav, Avihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. Both Eleazar and Ithamar already have sons. I'm unclear about who had daughters.

 

[yangnome]

ah, I thought we were 30 years out of egypt...I'll have to look over the character. I'd imagine that being only a year out would limit the number of kohenim. Any thoughts on this from you or ghostknight would be appreciated.

 

[Maerdwyn]

There are certainly very few priests - and the Levites have yet to be consecrated, if I'm not mistaken. You are certainly welcome (ecouraged, in fact) to run one of those priests, but understand that you are one of a very few, and that you will be expected to have babies

 

[humble minion]

The Versatile feat solves my skill rank requirements nicely - I'll take Versatile (Diplomacy and Knowledge(Religion)), which would seem feasible for someone who's had to raise a family, especially since failing to give your children proper religious education is a sin according to the Israelite code.

I'm looking to take a hyena (3.5e MM) as an animal companion. It's more suited to the region than a wolf but with almost identical stats, and, being a rather creepy carrion-eater, it adds to the sense of social isolation I was going for.

Regarding the ranger spellcasting issue, might I suggest a compromise? As I'm only planning to take ranger up to 5th level regardless, how about I forgo ranger spellcasting entirely in exchange for my animal companion being one level more advanced than it would otherwise be? This would let the companion get the next level-based advancement before I leave the ranger class, and hopefully remain useful a little longer as the group rises in level.

I still haven't got internet access at the new house, so I'm posting this from work. Hopefully I'll be able to post a full character writeup in the next couple of days.

 

[Ghostknight]

ah, I thought we were 30 years out of egypt...I'll have to look over the character. I'd imagine that being only a year out would limit the number of kohenim. Any thoughts on this from you or ghostknight would be appreciated.

Well, being a grandson of one of Aaron's makes it easier for you- once the Levites get consecrated you would automatically become a Kohen, unlike his actual son's who had to earn it

We're only about a year out from Egypt, so your chracter will have ben born in Egypt, if that's okay. Thant may change some of your other background - I'm not sure, so I'll wait to comment.

I thought we were starting at the base of Sinai? If so it would only be a couple of months since Egypt (forty days from the red sea to Sinai). If not then would this be after the golden calf etc? (if the spies are being sent then the Kohenim have been consecrated and the ark and its acroutements built as well.)

A point of note for people- the sin of the Golden Calf was primarily of men. The Mishnah points out that in general the women refused to give their jewellery and the golden calf was a small idol. In contrast, when Moses asked for people to donate jewellery etc for the making of the ark/acroutements of the ark/symbols of the kohenim- the women gave so much he had to stop them giving as they had collected too much!

As for my character - I was looking to have masterwork leather armor and leather whip- the PC justification being that he had come form a wealthy Egyptian family and would have been kitted out by his family.

 

[Maerdwyn]

I thought we were starting at the base of Sinai? If so it would only be a couple of months since Egypt (forty days from the red sea to Sinai). If not then would this be after the golden calf etc? (if the spies are being sent then the Kohenim have been consecrated and the ark and its acroutements built as well.)

Sorry - there may e some accelerations in time as the campaign goes along, but the first scene of the campaign is going to be the golden calf. We may, from there (which is a scene that I think is a good one to get to know each of the chracters a bit, and to see how they react in that sort of situation) move ahead to when the spies are sent out, but maybe not, if plot hooks present themselves earlier than that.

First "on screen" appearance of the characters will be about 40 days after Moses went up to Sinai.

[/quote]As for my character - I was looking to have masterwork leather armor and leather whip- the PC justification being that he had come form a wealthy Egyptian family and would have been kitted out by his family.[/QUOTE]
Sounds fine to me Not sure you'll win any points from the Israelites brandishing a reminder of your days as a slavemaster though