By request, a let's read...
First of all, the book as a whole is a mostly classy, high-quality piece of work, 361 pages, full colour. The graphic design and layout are solid, there's no dangling headings at the bottom of pages etc, though I DON'T like how the font used for minor headings just looks like enlarged Times New Roman. The art is all original and technically very good though there's some nitpicks i can make. The much-discussed anachronistic armour etc on the cover was obviously a point of some controversy among playtesters, because the authors saw fit to acknowledge and try to justify it in the fronticepiece, but another one which irritated me slightly was an illustration of a Parthian city that was all medieval castle with towers with pointy conical roofs like something out of a Disney animated movie. Character illustrations for significant NPCs are common (and universally brown-skinned, except for the Romans), although there's a bit of a tendency for female NPCs to be drawn young and hot and draped in rather scanty 'exotic' garb etc even when this contradicts their stated age.
Foreword. Talks about how storytelling is a powerful formative human experience, and an RPG is one form. Can be used to make more real the world of the bible, but also, it's just a game and the point is to tell a good involving story.
Introduction is BIG, there's lots of stuff they want to cover here, a lot of it feels like pre-emptive disclaimers. What is an RPG? Why the bible? (RPGs are a modern form of the oral tradition, and allow people to imagine themselves in the shoes or dealing with the dilemmas of people in those times or the in the familiar biblical stories) Degree of biblical accuracy? (there's a LONG appendix where they offer biblical references for the monsters/people/events they use in here, for the use of people who are concerned about textual authenticity, but also a note that this is a game and a story, not a script) Magic? (magic can come from god, from talent/skill, or from evil spirits; good miracles and evil sorcery are distinguished by the purposes to which they are put, magic for helping others is good, magic for selfish gain is evil; the word 'spell' is a purely game mechanical term used for both) Content sensitivity? (morality is individual not national, there are good/bad Jews/Egyptians/Romans etc, don't stereotype. Also, a very reasonable and sensible discussion of session zero and being sensitive about topics/themes that players might find uncomfortable or traumatising, which is VERY NECESSARY considering some of the material in the campaign!) In-fiction discrimination? (Again, a sensible discussion about how historically there was loads of racial/religious/gender discrimination at the time, but how DMs should talk to their groups about the degree to which this is included in the game). Sticking to the bible story? (the campaign runs in parallel to the gospels but doesn't follow Jesus every step of the way. Don't just walk through the New Testament word for word, the game is boring if everyone knows how it ends, and someone IS going to fireball the Sermon on the Mount if they get bored and feel railroaded) And finally, DMing for non-believers? (It's a game first and foremost, have the discussion about how the game assumes the truth of Christianity before the campaign starts and make sure all players understand that so there's no upset later, but don't proselytise in-game. Let people have fun, a game is not the right time or place to have major real-life spiritual discussions)
Setting
Covering the basics of the world, what everyone would know. Major powers are the dominant empires of Rome and Parthia who influence or colonise most of the ancient Fertile Crescent empires, Judaea, and Egypt. They're on the brink of war, with Sheba hiding down the bottom of the Arabian peninsula playing Switzerland. China and India way off to the east somewhere and are mostly used in the context of 'a faraway place we trade with sometimes'
Couple of pages on languages (which matter in this campaign more than most). The part of 'Common' is taken by Greek.
Rome, Parthia, Greece, Egypt, Sheba, Judea, India, China, and the nomads of the desert all get a bit of 101 discussion about government, religion and pantheons, military, culture, trade, and their presencce in the region (very minor in the case of India and China). The history here is pretty questionable, obvously there's only so much you can do in about 2/3 of a page each, but this is Hollywood history not serious history. Though the authors are clearly setting your non-Judean PC up to be ready for conversion once they meet Jesus though - Sheba and the nomads are talked up as being followers of the Abrahamic religions (which I'm pretty sure was NOT the case for the latter at least), and there's a bit of distinctly poor-taste discussion about how Hinduism in particular is basically comparable to one-true-god monothetistic. Confucianism gets the same treatment, though marginally less blatantly.
Coinage, a nice and evocative bit on typical foods, common domesticated animals, tech level of tools and weapons and armour (some gear isn't available or is very expensive, the best armour available is lorica segmenta which I think counts as plate)
God and Cosmology
The setting and campaign assumes a benevolent omnipotent monotheistic god, who is worshipped in various different imperfect ways (and monotheists are stated as not necessarily being better or closer to the truth than polytheists). The campaign takes place at a time where god has taken human form to bring hope and understanding. Magic is real and can be accessed via god, via demons, or via talent and study. There are two 'planes'. Sheol, which is the realm of the dead, and 'beyond the veil', which is where angels and demons dwell in their natural forms, though they can push a lesser form of themselves through to the real world. Bit of discussion about angels and demons and their roles in the setting (no blood war here, they're all fallen celestials!)
Next up, campaign intro and character options...
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