Testament

[Messageboard Golem]

There were giants in the Earth in those days, and also after that, when the sons of God came in onto the daughters of men and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown.
The Book of Genesis

The world of the Bible comes to life in this campaign setting for the d20 System. Play a wandering Babylonian magus, a sorcerer in the service of Pharaoh, a Canaanite maker of idols, or a prophet of the God of Israel. Walk the streets of ancient Jerusalem, stand beside King David as one of his Mighty Men, smite Philistines, ponder the mysteries of gargantuan tombs, look upon the dwellings of the gods, and battle demons, dragons, plagues, and the legendary beasts of Babylon. Testament gives you everything you need to immerse yourself in the Biblical Era, including:

A dozen new core and prestige classes, including the Levite Priest, the Egyptian Khery-heb wizard, and the Desert Hermit.
Over 30 new monsters, including Nephilim, Tempter Devils, and Zebub-Spawn.
Over 50 new feats and over 100 new spells.
Rules for barter, curses, piety.
Guidelines for leading a small tribe through the hazards of the Bronze and Iron Age world.
The Biblical Battlefield Resolution System, a new way to fight epic combats.
Full cultural details on ancient Israel, Canaan, Egypt, and Mesopotamia, including history, beliefs, holy days, architecture, and more.
Dozens of new magic items and artifacts.
Part history, part mythology, Testament is the d20 System setting that's both instantly familiar and yet unlike any game world you have ever experienced.

 

[GameWyrd]

"You’ve read the book, now play the game!" announces the back of this mystery d20 product. What could the book be? It’ll have to be something that publisher Green Ronin is confidant that most gamers will have read. Lord of the Rings d20? Nope. Not that. It’s a more popular book than the Tolkien omnibus edition. Harry Potter d20? Try again. Less popular than the most recent tales of the boy wonder. What’s this? You’ve read the title of the review? That’s cheating.

Yes, this is a review of Testament, the d20 roleplaying game set in the Biblical Era. Sodom and Gomorrah don’t seem to be Open License. The Bible doesn’t appear to be in the recommended reading list and bibliography. That’s good. I’d hate to actually have to read the thing in order to play this game. So no, Testament isn’t a book that offends me in anyway. I can only hope that someone sent the religiously anti-roleplaying Jack Chick a copy with the disclaimer that Moses wasn’t really a 3rd-level paladin.7th-level Levite priest/10th-level prophet of the Lord with an enchanted staff of control water scratched out.

My God! That was my first reaction as I opened up the 240-paged paperback rulebook. Look at that text size! Look at that density! This isn’t a game I can read without my glasses on. The print is small. The book is black on grey too, there’s no blasphemously boring white paper in Testament. The whole book has the appearance, albeit greyscale, of parchment and the border regions are marked by an insidiously clever darkening of the background rather than by a sharp contrast. Testament is a good-looking book. The illustrations are good. The layout is better. The contents page and index are both accurate and detailed.

What about the content? Goliath is a Challenge Rating 16 Half-Nephilim fighter and David’s as a CR 19 multi-classed wonder. The outcome of that fight wasn’t a fluke. I’d bet on David any day. Multi-classed wonder? Okay. You asked for it. He’s a 7th-level Fighter, 9th-level Psalmist, 2nd-level Aristocrat and 2nd-level Rogue. Psalmist is one of the new classes available to the Israelites. There are plenty of new classes, prestige classes, feats, spells and monsters in Testament. There’s even a type of feat, the mythic feat, that’s sectioned off as not being suitable for normal game balance but which some GMs may allow for a mythic game. I think its right to judge Testament entirely on its ability to provide an engaging game. It’s about entertainment. That’s the key. The introduction makes that point to, "But RPGs work best as entertainment" it says. This isn’t a study guide. This isn’t a theological study. Having decided on the best way to view Testament it is easy to get to the truth. This is a good roleplaying game!

Most campaign settings focus on only a single point of time. It’s not uncommon to read what’s currently going on in the campaign world nor is it unheard of supplements to take the game world plot forward. Testament doesn’t do this. Testament spans eras. In it’s own words "Testament covers four major political spheres over a millennium of time". The Antediluvian Era is the first possible era, it is given the rough date of 3,000 BCE. Giants walked the land, men lived to be 900 years old and corruption threatens to bring the Deluge of the Lord’s wrath. The book notes eight further eras but they’re all prefixed with the "Israel" tag. In truth the Antediluvian era is the Israelite interpretation of it too. GMs don’t have to concentrate on the Israelite point of view, though it’s easier to do so, the book provides classes and world information for Babylonians, Canaanites and Egyptians as well.

Every character in Testament is flawed. There’s a list of flaws and PCs have to take at least one. The player isn’t allowed to ignore the flaw but can roleplay it as much as they like. I guess that means you can scale the flaw as anything from a mild quirk to an obsession. This is a good idea. It suits the mood of the era and it encourages plot twists and good roleplaying.

Flaws are mandatory but piety is optional. Testament presents the Piety Score as an optional replacement for D&D’s alignment system. There’s an irony here. D&D’s alignment system is terribly Old Testament in its belief. There are no shades of grey and it is not contradictory to kill in the name of goodness. I guess Testament feels the need to shuffle away from that "one way is good, one way is evil" feel in order to fully deal with all the different religions in this setting. There’s no suggestion that following the Babylonian gods is evil. Piety represents how well you follow the teaching of your god. You can fall into the negative Piety level and there’s a risk that you’ll end up getting cursed by your angry god as a result. Now there’s a claim to fame. It wasn’t some wimpy sorcerer who cursed me with the pox, but God! Different religions. Different sins. With typical gaming jinx there’s a layout error on the Israelite Sin chart that draws attention to the fact that rape is only a –2 sin. The Babylonians, Canaanites and Egyptians all list the crime as –3. The Israelites have more sins to worry about, casting arcane magic is a sin, divination is bad and consorting with demons is even worse! Looking at the chart here I can see that "trimming one’s beard at the corners" and "tattooing self" are –1 sins. Just in case it ever comes up in your roleplaying game, sexual intercourse with an animal is a –3 sin for the Israelites but doesn’t seem to feature as a concern for the other religions. The Egyptians Gods may smite you down if you’re cruel to a cat or export one out of the country though. Okay. Despite the idiosyncrasies of right and wrong, I think the Piety system works. It’s better than the alignment system. In the Biblical Bestiary, however, you’ll get the traditional alignment values for the monsters and demons rather than any piety. The same is true of the famous NPCs that pepper the books. Aw. I wanted to see how pious Jezebel (of Babylon, yeah, _her_) is.

Jezebel is another multi-classed wonder. One of her classes is Idol-Maker, you don’t need to be the whore of Babylon or even a Babylonian to be an Idol-Maker as it’s one of the general classes used by the book. The book introduces core classes and prestige classes appropriate to the Israelite, Babylonian, Canaanite and Egyptian spheres. Testament also makes it clear which standard core classes and prestige classes (from the main rule books) are allowable for each sphere. It’s easy to find this information. It’s listed at least twice – good. You can’t be an Israelite and a Bard; the Psalmist replaces the class. Idol-Maker is a general class but it’s not open to the Israelites. I won’t go on with the examples except to note that Barbarians and Druids are out.

Testament is innovative in many ways but the most obvious example (aside from the Biblical Era concept) is the whacking great chapter for battles. The Biblical Battlefield is a reason to buy Testament. The minute a game offers me high diplomacy with the possibility of blood soaked armies as a kicker – I’m there. Testament keeps it simple but engaging. This is a winner formula. There’s virtually nothing on movement on the battlefield, nothing that looks like a war game at all. The system could almost fairly be summed up as two sides lining up and knocking seven shades of hit points out of each other. You can scale the carnage and realism by using either the realistic, heroic or mythic settings. Troop quality matters too. I’m pleased this is here. From watching too much Discovery Channel I know just how important it was. When empires became complacent they tended to meet a sticky end at the sword of the first competent aggressor that came along. It takes a little GM skill to handle magic on the battlefield. Battlefield feats are as potent in battle play as normal feats are in normal situations. There’s just enough in the system to give the PCs in the mass combat a chance to shine. The only downside to this chapter is that if you’re not interested in it then the lists of sample armies go on for a little too long.

Speaking of competent aggressors, imagine the horror of watching your men’s expensive breastplates completely fail to stop the spearheads of rival troops using some strange new metal. Testament can be set in the Bronze Age or later on in the Iron Age. It seems especially fun to run a game just when iron was new and a secret known to a few (enter The Secret of Iron feat). Huh oh? If you’re beginning to worry that your history isn’t up to the game then don’t worry; Testament eases you in. Actually, starting the "Economics, Community Management & Equipment" chapter with weapons and equipment is a cleverly roleplayer friendly way to explain concepts like the barter economy and community building. Running a small community of farmers and keeping safe from raiders is a challenge the PCs are more likely to face than some dungeon inexplicably buried in the desert. Testament provides comments and rules on such things as population changes, random community events and even a childbirth table. There’s a hasten birth spell!

There are lots of new spells. Old stalwarts such as blackguards and clerics receive new Testament styled spells but there are entire new classes with new spell lists that need to be catered for. They are. There are new domains too: Desert, Fertility, Heaven, Pestilence and Thunder. Given all this it comes as no surprise to see that there are pages and pages of new spells. Pages. However! What grabs my attention here isn’t the Dance of Nakedness spell but the Community Protection spell. Testament really does push forward the sense that you’re fighting for your people in a way that many RPGs just fail to do. It’s all about flavour. Testament oozes with flavour and you know it when you start spotting spells that strike you being extremely useful when you probably wouldn’t even consider them in another game. After pages of spells there are more pages of magic items and artifacts.

The Biblical Bestiary is divided up by sphere, that is to say there’s a section for Israelite monsters, Babylonian monsters, Canaanite monsters and Egyptian ones. "Monster" means anything not human. Angels make an appearance here. No stats for God, however. Boo. I wanted to see the Challenge Rating.

Chapter 10 through Chapter 24 are the meat of the setting. The book cycles through the main areas in the region, the Middle and Near East, starting with Israel and Canaan, and looks at the geography, the history of the peoples living there and their beliefs. As is the case for the entire book, the Israelites receive the most attention but no means do they receive all the attention. You can use this RPG to play in ancient Egypt. How cool is that? It’s here that you’ll find the stats or aside summaries for key figures in mythic history; Samson and Delilah, King Nebuchadrezzar, Cleopatra (who seems too late to have a biblical era claim), etc. You’re given sample names, handy if you can’t think of any Canaanite names off the top of your head, lists of deities and notes on cosmological views. It’s enough to make you wish you’d studied ancient anthropology at University, not because you need to have had to understand it all, but because of all this great campaign material that’s just waiting here to be tapped into.

If you’re slightly worried about campaigns for Testament then the book concludes with some observations and advice. It’s pick’n’mix. You won’t catch me speaking in Thous and Thys for normal GMing as the book suggests, I’ll save that for the NPCs. The numerous reference tables at the back of the book will make GMing that much less time consuming.

Poking fun at Testament is like shooting fish in barrel. Jesus saves. The rest of you take full damage. This isn’t a bad thing. As made clear from the trick is not to take the game too seriously and to enjoy it. Cheap shot jokes provide a few seconds of smirks but this game is good enough to provide years of game play. Testament could be an epic in every sense of the word. The campaign setting is amazingly engaging. The d20 adaptation is good and well supported. You need to see it to believe it. If you’re at all sceptical about concept then visit your local store, flick through the book and watch as the shop owner gets ready to accept your money. Testament isn’t a book you can flick through without wanting to buy it.

* This Testament review was first published at GameWyrd.

 

[Psion]

Testament

Testament: Roleplaying in the Biblical Era is the first book in Green Ronin's Mythic Vistas series of books detailing new settings. Testament provides details for play in a mythical version of the cultures present in northeast Africa and the Middle East during the time period covered by such religious texts as the Old Testament and the Torah, including Babylonians, Canaanites, Egyptians, and Israelites.

The book is written to version 3.0 standards as it was released before the revision was.

A First Look

Testament is a 236-page perfect bound softcover book priced at $32.95. This is reasonable for books of similar size and format.

The cover of the book is dominated by a depiction of ancient horsemen and charioteers being consumed in an onrushing wave of water; I am guessing that this is supposed to be a depiction of the Egyptians that pursued the Israelites through the parted red sea. The cover illustration is by WotC alumni artist Sam Wood.

The interior is black-and-white. Interior illustrators include Ilya Astrakhan, Kent Burles, Toren "MacBin" Atkinson, Chris Keefe, Mike May, Josh Parker, Chris Martinez, and James Smith. Overall the quality of the art is good. Some art has similar tone to typical d20 fantasy products, though much of the art has a much more personable tone, showing more in the way of expressions. However, considering that much of this book's audience will doubtlessly hail from Christian and Jewish gamers, I was a bit surprised that they showed a bare-breasted demon in the book.

Cartography is done by Todd Gamble and is of excellent quality.

The interior body text uses a rather small font. This delivers a very good text density, which is impressive for a book of this size. Unfortunately, the pages have a grey texture on the pages that comes out a little dark, making extended reading a little taxing.

A Deeper Look

Testament is organized into 25 chapters (enough to defy a chapter-by-chapter breakdown in this review), plus a glossary, reference table, and index.

The author sets forth stating that it is specifically not his intention to write the book from the standpoint of Christian and Jewish religion. This claim seems fair enough considering further examination of the text. Treatment of religions and practices of non-Israelite cultures of the era seems as even handed and non-judgmental as that of the Israelites.

Overall, the book provides a mythical feel to the era, drawing strongly from many myths of the people of the time. However, a great deal of historical attention is paid to the book. Cultural practices, attitudes, history, economics, and religious observances are all very detailed, which should provide good grounding for roleplaying in the era.

Testament does not focus on a single era. Rather, it provides a number of different eras which the GM may be interested in running, from the antediluvian (pre-flood) era circa 3000 BC, to the time of the Seleucid Empire circa 135 BC.

Similarly, there are a number of possibilities for the nationalities of the characters. The primary choices supported by the setting are Babylonian, Canaanite, Egyptian, and Israelite. Each of these nationalities has a listing of available classes. Many of these classes are core and prestige classes are drawn from the (pre-revised) d20 System core rules (not replicated herein; you need the core rulebooks).

However, there are a number of new core and prestige classes defined for each nationality to help fit the feel of the culture better. Some new classes are open to most or all nationalities, while others are specific to certain cultures. For example, spy is a core class open to all nationalities, desert hermit is a prestige class available to all nationalities, and idol-maker is a prestige class available to all nationalities but Israelite. On the other hand, Levite priest and Psalmist are Israelite specific core classes (replacing cleric and bard respectively), the magus of the starry host is a wizard of Babylon, and the Khery-heb is an Egyptian wizard.

For the most part, the new core classes are variants of existing classes (primarily cleric, wizard, and bard) with a number of changes to their spellcasting ability and/or class abilities to let them better fit the cultural and mythical details associated with them. For example, the Levite priest is a divine spellcaster like a cleric, but casts spells spontaneously, is restricted from casting certain spells, and has variant abilities from the cleric. The Levite priest can turn or rebuke demon possessed or (at higher levels) dragons, and has special protection against arcane magic (which was depicted as blasphemous by Israelites.)

Similar to the classes, a number of feats are provides appropriate to the era and cultures depicted herein.

A new aspect of character generation in testament is that of Flaws. No, you don't get any special goodies from taking flaws; all PCs in Testament are all expected to take one or more flaws, though it may change through the course. This should help engender roleplaying without courting the the "min/maxing" mentality associated with such systems in other games that grant special boons.

Another major mechanic to help bolster the biblical feel of the setting is the piety rule. Characters in Testament gain and lose piety during the game; the precise factor that affects piety varies according to the character's culture/nationality. Much like an ability score, piety provides a modifier equal to half of the piety score.

Piety can affect a number of things. Most notably, it can affect the character's vulnerability to certain spells. In addition, a piety check may be called for it the character is present in various religiously significant locations and events. Failure can result in deleterious effects to the character.

Further, characters with positive piety scores may call upon their deity for a favor up to once a game. Possible results of this include increasing hp, improving saving throws, smiting evil, or seeking divination.
Another major accommodation to stories of the era is the inclusion of a mass combat system. The combat system is very abstract, more so than other d20 mass combat systems I have seen, but like most other system, relies on abstracting a number of soldiers into the equivalent of a single combatant and using the d20 combat rules. The system assumes there are two armies, and armies have three or four "sides".

Each side has characteristics like hit points, armor class, BAB, damage, and initiative modifiers like a single d20 system combatant. In addition, sides have a morale modifier, part of morale system that has been added. The hit points represent a number of combatants; most other aspects of the side are represented by the relative skill of the troops in the side.

A variation of the standard d20 combat rules are used to resolve the combat. The movement rules are more simplified, and special rules are used to resolve the effects of spells and individual scale combats between leaders.

In addition to this basic system, sides are allowed a certain number of "battlefield feats" that alter their characteristics or make special maneuvers available.

To help fit the d20 fantasy assumptions to Testament, a few chapters are devoted to equipment, spells, magic items, and creatures appropriate to the history and beliefs of the depicted cultures at the time.

The equipment chapter deals with two fundamental issues. The most obvious is that the equipment available would vary; new equipment and equipment list is provided. A bigger complication is that there was no coinage in most of the era covered by Testament. As a result, some brief rules are provided to represent the barter system. Bluff and appraise skills govern the resolution of an exchange in the system, with scarcity of the items controlling the DC of such checks. Overall, it appears to be an interesting alternative to a rather mundane aspect of the game.

The spells chapter provides new spells and spell lists for the new classes, new domains (desert, fertility, heaven, pestilence, and thunder) and some new spells are added to existing classes used in the setting, namely clerics, paladins, blackguards, and sorcerers. I had expected a significant list of spell restrictions, but the only spells that are restricted are spells like astral travel and plane shift which allow travel to other planes of existence, though many are noted as being difficult for some new classes earlier in the book.

Some of the new spells are restricted to one of the four major new religions depicted in Testament. Many of the new spells are some form of curse, divination, cure, or protection. The spells are interesting, but I fear that with so few restrictions, players not in the mood to self-govern might fall back into the old pattern of using flashier spells from the core rules.

The magic items chapter includes new weapon qualities, staves, wondrous items, and artifacts (including the Ark of the Covenant). In addition, two new forms of items are introduced. Incense is produced by Babylonian magi, and produces effects when burned (generally helpful effects.) Mekhtets are Egyptian amulets that can hold a number of single use charms (generally protective), the exact number depending on the wearer's wisdom.

The Biblical Bestiary chapter provides game statistics from the religions of the four major cultures of Testament. In addition to the new monsters, listings are provided for four major regions of the setting describing which monsters might be encountered in the area, including new creatures introduced here and existing creatures from the core rules.

Israelite creatures are predominantly outsiders (angels, demons, and devils), but also include the behemoth mentioned in Job, wild cattle, the "sin dragon", the leviathan, and a demon possessed template. The coverage of creatures of the other cultures are less extensive, and also include many outsiders (good and evil) and other fantastic beasts such as Babylonian scorpion guards, dragons, and the Egyptian phoenix.

Overall, the creature statistics seem well done, mechanically sound as well as being interesting opponents. The only error I caught was that one creature (the Babylonian Imhullu demon) has its con bonus to HP calculated as if its constitution were one point higher.

Most of the remainder of the book – nearly 100 pages – is devoted to detailing the background and cultures of the region. Chapters cover geography, cultural details, historical timelines, temples, religious rites and figures. Important characters are statted out in d20 System terms for each era and culture, including such notable figures as Cain, Moses, Abraham, Daniel, King Nebuchadrezzar, Imhotep (no, he's not quite the Imhotep of the Mummy movies for those not familair with the actual historical figure), Akhenaten, Ramesses II, and Cleopatra. More attention is given to Isrealite and Egyptian figures that less-well known Canaanite or Babylonian figures.

The last, short chapter (2 pages) provides a guide for the GM in running a Testament campaign. This includes language and cultural tips that the GM can use to achieve a more biblical feel and campaign ideas including some interesting alternate history scenarios.

Finally, the book provides a bibliography, reference table, and indices.

Conclusion

Testament is an intriguing and daring product. Some controversy has already arisen around it, but for the most part, the author and editors did a good job portraying the depicted era is a balanced manner while at the same time making it an intriguing setting to game in.

The mechanics are solid, with just enough changes to the d20 System elements to do the job. The amount of research that went into the product shows, and the author does a good job in picking out the more gamable elements and matching them to the generally high fantasy feel of the base d20 System.

If there is anything else I thought the book could use, it would be a background tone that is a little lighter on the eyes and perhaps a little more effort to filter out some of the less appropriate magic from the d20 System core spell list.

Overall Grade: A

-Alan D. Kohler

 

[Simon Collins]

This is not a playtest review.

Testament is a 3.0 d20 sourcebook for roleplaying in the biblical era from Green Ronin.

Testament is a 240-page mono softcover product costing $32.95. The page backgrounds are a darkish grey and the font is small which may cause readability issues for some, but for most this means a heck of a lot of info is packed into the 240 pages and there's little 'wasted' space (1 ad at the back). Titles and subtitles are in an ancient-style font, with all the vowels underlined, which look cool but takes a bit of getting used to. The quality of the art is generally good though varied in style, and is on the whole appropriate to the text it sits alongside. Writing style is educational, intelligent, and engaging. Editing is fine with occasional minor errors.

Introduction: Age Of Bronze, Men Of God
The introduction gives an overview of the important aspects of the setting - in particular how the different cosmologies of the setting are treated, the different eras that are available for play, and introduces the concept of Piety to replace Alignment. The setting is pseudo-historical in nature, with many of the elements of the bible extrapolated to make the game playable in d20 terms.

Chapter 1: Characters
The chapter begins with further detail about the different eras available for play - ranging from before the Flood (approx. 3000 BCE through to the Maccabees (323-135 BCE). Moving on, we have character nationalities rather than Race - Babylonian, Canaanite, Egyptian, and Israelite (with allowable classes and regional languages). The following section details Flaws, of which each character HAS to take one - these include such things as covetous, lecher, superstitious, and wrathful. The languages noted in the nationalities section are detailed a little further here too - you get to find out where Nubian was spoken, and when Ugaritic was common in Canaan. A new skill, Literacy, for written forms such as hieroglyphs and cuneiform is also offered.

Chapter 2: New Character Classes
A table reiterates the allowable character classes and prestige classes for each nationality. We see no barbarians, druids, monks, or wizards, but the remainder of the core classes are still to be found. Several new core and prestige classes can be found to replace those missing:
* Levite Priest - an alternative cleric, with lower hit die but more skill points and spontaneous casting of almost all cleric spells (limitations reflect the taboos of the time) as well as access to druid and arcane spells under certain conditions. To balance this, a number of spells are termed Difficult - showy spells that do not work without an additional Piety check. The Levite Priest also gains a number of powerful class features such as the ability to turn/rebuke those that are demon-possessed, speak with serpents, and cause disease. Available only to Israelites.
* Psalmist - an alternative bard with more cleric-like spell list who can cast spells through psalms and is empowered when others join him in song. Available only to Israelites.
* Khery-Heb - alternative wizard specialising in magical scrolls and charms, as well as being able to turn into an animal-headed human, like the depictions of Egyptian gods, at higher levels. Available only to Egyptians.
* Magus of the Starry Host - alternative wizard who rely on astrology to power their magic and gains access to the domain of Heaven, as well as being able to make magical incense and potions. They have no spellbooks or scrolls. Available only to Babylonians.
* Qedeshot - alternative bard/cleric, who performs magic through sexual/sensual/dance performances, and is a cleric of the fertility goddess Asherah/Ishtar. Various bard-like powers are available through dance and sensual acts. Available to Babylonians and Canaanites.
* Spy - specialist in intrigue and concealment, with skill bonuses and a limited arcane spell list (available from 4th level) to enhance this focus. Also gains bonuses to defence and movement.

Additionally, there are a number of 10-level prestige classes in this section:
* Champion of Israel - combat-orientated PrC, expert at causing damage with great blows. Israelite only.
* Judge - PrC with ability to judge sin in others. Non-standard save progressions. Israelite only.
* Prophet - PrC focused on consecration of place and person, along with divinatory abilities, and odd-level divine spellcasting level improvements. Israelite only.
* Ren-Hekau - Thoth-worshipping experts in the magic of names and words, with odd-level spellcasting level improvements. Egyptians only.
* Desert Hermit - holy mystic available to any nationality, a sort of desert ranger/cleric mix.
* Idol-Maker - PrC specialising in making idols imbued with sentience and spells, which can also be animated. Available to all nationalities except Israelite.
* Master Charioteer - Egyptian and Israelite PrC specialising in driving chariots.
* Royal Astrologer - PrC focused on astrology for divinatory purposes, with gains to spellcasting class every other level.

Chapter 3: New Feats
Over forty new standard feats are presented in this chapter. Several of these are marked as being suitable for use with the mass combat system presented later in the book - battlefield magic. There are also a number of divine feats such as godstrike (spend XP to improve an attack roll), and exalted spell (a metamagic feat that improves the effects of bless and similar spells). Other spells are more mundane such as farmer, herdsman, and mountain born, which reflect the focus on more mundane tasks that the setting also has.

Fifteen further feats are separated into their own section and termed Mythic Feats. These feats are recognised as unbalanced for normal play by the author, but made available to give a mythic feel to the setting if the GM is happy with the lack of balance. These include feats such as divine grace (cannot be killed in battle), and slaughterground champion (increases the number and effects of whirlwind attacks that can be made in a round).

Chapter 4: Piety
This system measures how dedicated to the tenets of their religion a character is. Each character starts off with 0 Piety Points and can gain or lose points depending on their actions. Losing points eventually ends up with the character becoming cursed by his god, whilst gaining Piety Points allows a character to ask a boon of his god once per session (at no cost), which includes such things as bonus hp, a smite evil attack, or a prophetic vision. A Piety check must be made if a character comes into contact with sources of great holiness or unholiness and can suffer some pretty nasty afflictions if they fail. Different methods of gaining Piety are described in detail, and there are tables for sins that can cause loss of Piety for each of the nationalities. Various 'Temptations' are also described, which allow the character to make use of the powers of unseen devils and demons at the cost of Piety points. There is also a short section on making oaths and their impact on Piety. There is also a sidebar discussing the optional rule of using Piety instead of alignment, with some rough guidelines for GMs to set a character's Piety score where necessary.

Chapter 5: The Biblical Battlefield
This chapter details the Biblical Battlefield Resolution System. In biblical stories, one hero can slaughter mountains of the enemy and thus the rules are fairly abstract to allow for both mass destruction and heroic single combat within a biblical battle. The system is similar to other mass combat systems in that groups of soldiers are broken down into units (actually 3 'sides' per army) with stats much like a single character, and the d20 combat system is then applied with a few changes for such things as movement and spellcasting. Captains of units can also engage in one-on-one combat with other captains and heroes. A morale system is also added whereby a unit must make a morale check when significantly damaged. Aspects of terrain and troop quality also have an effect. A number of Battlefield Feats can be applied to the units and some ideas of how different types of armies use combinations of Battlefield feats are given. The chapter ends with a fairly lengthy example of how the system works in a battle between Israelites and Assyrians.

Chapter 6: Economics, Community Management, & Equipment
The first section of the chapter describes a simple but neat system for bartering, involving Bluff and Appraise checks for certain goods. Various new pieces of equipment are then detailed and included in tables alongside their available counterparts for the setting (many items of equipment are just not available in these historical eras). New equipment includes the khopesh, leather cloak, chariots, camels, myrrh, saffron, and land rental prices for farming.

The next section of the chapter looks at community management - this is an optional system for GMs who want to get the players to experience the realities of bronze-age agrarian lifestyle. Adventures take place between the important tasks of growing and gathering food and drink, and the community management system looks in detail at this more mundane side, with random events affecting the community and its livelihood. The system is somewhat reminiscent of a cross between the Winter Phase in Pendragon and the random regional events in Birthright, and provides an unusual and interesting backdrop to the game that has not really been addressed by previous d20 products AFAIK.

Chapter 7: New Spells
This chapter provides well over 100 new spells, as well as five new domains (desert, fertility, heaven, pestilence, and thunder). These new spells provide a plethora of choice for the new classes as well as the old, and include such spells as bestow affliction (e.g. cataracts, impotence, phobia), compel true name, dance of nakedness, exile, infant's augury, inflict pain, mass curse, plague, rain of blood, sense temptation, wall of thunder, and, of course, water into wine. There are some nice expansions of the bestow curse spell too. I did notice that a lot of the spells seemed to fall into the bracket of levels 3-6.

Chapter 8: New Magic Items
A relatively short chapter with a variety of magical items such as various wondrous incense (e.g. fascination, peaceful rest, poison protection), amulets (or mekhtets), a couple of staffs, a few wondrous items (e.g. bowl of demon binding), some minor artifacts (e.g. Breastplate of the Lord), and some major artifacts (e.g. Book of Thoth, tablets of destiny, and of course the Ark of the Covenant). There are also a number of weapon and armour special abilities such as weapons with multiplying criticals, and holy/unholy armour.

Chapter 9: Biblical Bestiary
Over 30 new monsters are provided in this section, although many of them are broken down into sub-sections of angels, devils, and demons. Angels are given an appropriately wrathful twist to mirror their descriptions in the bible - we get cherubim (storm angels) and seraphim (fire angels) as well as the mazzalim (guardian angel), which fits with more modern concepts of angels. Possessor demons are described, along with a demon-possessed template, and we also get tempter devils and ruination devils. More mundane monsters are included such as aurochs and hippopotamus, as well as legendary creatures such as the phoenix and the Giant Nephilim (as well as a half-nephilim template and an undead variant called rephaim).

Chapter 10: Geography Of Israel and Canaan
A single page chapter giving a brief overview of the major geographical features of the region along with a map of the major communities in the area.

Chapter 11: Israelite History
If you don't know the bible, this chapter details the important events in the history of the Israelites from 'The Beginning' through to 135BCE. All the important people such as Cain, Abraham, Moses, Joseph, Samson & Delilah, David & Goliath, and King Solomon are all discussed and statted out. Sidebars add interesting historical notes and gaming advice to the discussion, and each of the four eras discussed includes a detailed timeline and a brief gazetteer. Events include the Exodus, the fall of the city of Jericho, the loss of the Ark of the Covenant, the war between the Israelites and the Philistines, the Exile, and the Maccabees.

Chapter 12: Israelite Culture
This chapter looks at a whole slew of economic and social issues such as housing, food, recreation, law and order, prostitution, and slavery. There's also information on the calendar and ideas for character names.

Chapter 13: Israelite Religion And Cosmology
This chapter discusses the priesthood, sacred law (e.g. the ten commandments), temples, symbology, and cosmology.

Chapter 14: Canaanite History
This is a one-page chapter giving a brief overview of how the Canaanites fit into the historical proceedings.

Chapter 15: Canaanite Culture
A two-page chapter covering much the same ground for Canaanites as Chapter 12 did for Israelites, only much shorter.

Chapter 16: Canaanite Religion And Cosmology
Another short chapter discussing the Canaanite pantheon and their temples.

Chapter 17: Geography Of Egypt
Some information on the population, cities, and neighbouring nations of Egypt

Chapter 18: Egyptian History
Discusses the history of Egypt from creation myths through to 30 BCE with a timeline, typical NPCs, as well as stats for famous NPCs such as Cleopatra and Ramesses II.

Chapter 19: Egyptian Culture
Covers much the same ground as previous cultural chapters but also includes information on Egyptian pets and hieroglyphs.

Chapter 20: Egyptian Religion And Magic
This chapter takes a look at the Egyptian pantheon (including such notables as Isis, Horus, Osiris, Thoth, and Set). There is also a section on the Egyptian afterlife and mummification, religious symbology (ankh, scarab, etc.), cosmology, and temples. Strangely, there is little on the pyramids.

Chapter 21: Geography Of Mesopotamia
A single page chapter with a map of the area and notes on the major cities.

Chapter 22: Mesopotamian History
This chapter looks at the various city-states of Mesopotamia from a historical standpoint, including detail on Sumer, Babylon, Assyria, and Persia. Sidebars cover information on the famous epic of Gilgamesh and the Hanging Gardens of Babylon. There is also a brief timeline.

Chapter 23: Mesopotamian Culture
Covers much the same ground as previous cultural chapters with information on social, economic, and political issues, as well as the Babylonian calendar and suggested Babylonian names.

Chapter 24: Babylonian Religion
Deals with the less well-known Babylonian pantheon (Ishtar, Nergal, Marduk, etc.) as well as the cosmology and temples (and priests), along with a sidebar on Zoroastrianism.

Chapter 25: Campaigning
This short chapter gives advice on creating an authentic feel to your biblical roleplaying campaigns, with ideas for using biblical-style speech and advice for handling the religious issues that might arise. One section may help GMs deal with this particular aspect by bringing in a more fantasy element into the setting, such as making the kings of nations into dragons, or introducing 'what if?' scenarios to the campaign such as if Moses died during the Exodus.

The book ends with a decent bibliography (including games, references, and web sources), weapon reference tables, equipment and goods prices, and a 2-page index.

High Points:
Both the level of research and the way in which the setting has been handled to give a rich but playable setting is exemplary. The rules heighten the authenticity of the setting by giving it an epic feel, full of prophecy, impending doom, and the influence of gods and famous NPCs of the different eras. I particularly liked the Piety system, which seems a very useable system for other settings, with appropriate changes made for cultural differences.

Low Points:
I would have liked to have seen more direct adventure ideas in the final shorter chapters of the book, though the text and the timelines are full of possibilities. I would have liked the author to have taken some of these up and developed them as adventure ideas, as he did such a good job on the rest of the product. My only other desire would be to have had some more information on pyramids in the Egyptian chapters.

Conclusion:
Certainly one of the best written and designed campaign settings released under d20. I would have had little interest in the setting before reading this product, but the breadth and depth of the product impressed me hugely. The manner in which the ruleset is tied into the setting to enhance its authenticity is certainly one aspect that anyone designing a campaign would do well to take note of. And there are plenty of other rules and ideas that could benefit non-biblical campaigns and adventures.

 

[storyguide3]

I think the reason for the lack of detail on pyramids is due to the focus of the game on time periods correlating to the New Kingdom and later. By that time, the pyramids of Giza were some 1000 yerars old and the pyramids at Saquara were even older. We probably know more about them than did the people alive at the time. They were partly buried in sand and were of no great interest to the people of New Kingdom Egypt, aside from being evidence of the antiquity and stability of their culture.

 

[ssampier]

Sounds great! Your review was very thorough and gave me a good idea what to expect. I'm very excited to pick this book up. My only concern is how much information would be transportable to other settings. I want to transport some of the Israelite religion information to another setting (with modification of course). Would this be feasible?

Thanks again for the great review.

 

[Simon Collins]

storyguide3

Sounds about right - my modern mind getting in the way again!!

 

[Simon Collins]

ssampier

There are definitely plenty of ideas that are transportable out of this product, and the religion/piety would certainly seem feasible for doing this.

 

[Messageboard Golem]

So what were Goliath's ability scores?