D&D 5E The Bible Is A New 5E Setting

The Adventurer’s Guide to the Bible is a 5E setting and adventure set in the first century AD.

The 350-page book, created by Bible enthusiasts, included four new lineages, a range of subclasses, and an adventure for character levels 1-10, along with a full first-century AD setting with locations like the Library of Alexandria and the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, NPCs, and monsters such as giants, seraph serpents, angels, and demons. The adventure itself involves a search for three missing Magi.

It's $25 for a PDF, or $39 for a hardcover.

The Adventurer's Guide to the Bible for 5E

A fifth edition campaign setting with new rule options for players and GMs, and a full adventure for characters of levels 1 - 10.

www.kickstarter.com

Cleopatra is dead. Rome and Parthia struggle for control of the Fertile Crescent in a bid for world domination, while local politics in the Middle Kingdoms become increasingly divisive. The prophecies of the so-called “Messiah” have long been forgotten, and an ancient Evil lurks in the shadows, corrupting the hearts of humankind. Three of the wisest mystics known as the “Magi” travelled to Bethlehem following a star they believed to be a sign. They never returned. Hope grows dim as the world descends into darkness. What we need are answers... and those brave enough to seek them.

This isn’t the first biblical era setting for D&D, although it might be for 5E. Green Ronin released Testament: Roleplaying in the Biblical Era for 3E over a decade ago.

 

[haakon1]

I can't remember the name off-hand, but I remember there being a Biblical campaign setting for 3.X, probably 3.0. The main thing that stuck with me was how beefy the feat to be a Judge was, like Samson - if I remember right, it was +8 to a stat, and some other things, with of course drawbacks.

There’s a Dungeon adventure during the Crusades with stuff like the True Cross. Not quite what you were thinking, I suppose.

 

[Zarithar]

It's extremely well done based on my initial scroll through of the PDF. My only gripe is that there are some redundant magic items and monsters. For example, do we need the stats for bandits and unicorns? They could have just said "see page X of the Monster Manual" or something similar. Ditto for magic (miraculous) items (bag of holding, pearl of power, etc). One thing I would have liked to see is a list of suggested monsters from the generic 5e setting which would be suitable for the Biblical setting - for example djinn, lamia, and some others immediately come to mind. Ditto for many of the Hellenistic creatures like the chimera, minotaur, etc.

For the most part though, I was extremely impressed. The layout and artwork is great, and I plan to liberally steal from this book and insert some things in my own campaign at the very least!

 

[Zarithar]

Oh... and for those who were wondering, they (wisely) did NOT give a stat block for Jesus, but they did dedicate a couple of pages to him and some suggested powers and ways you could use him if you choose to in the campaign.

 

[wellis]

My PDF copy of this arrived today. Happy to do a first impressions/let’s read if there’s interest.

Please do so. It would be interesting to see how it is.

Oh... and for those who were wondering, they (wisely) did NOT give a stat block for Jesus, but they did dedicate a couple of pages to him and some suggested powers and ways you could use him if you choose to in the campaign.

Were they afraid players would try to kill him like they did with the gods in Forgotten Realms once they, and not their avatars, were given stats?

 

[doctorbadwolf]

I would rather adventure in the time of Solomon and such, but it is an interest idea. Glad to hear it’s well done.

 

[J-H]

Were they afraid players would try to kill him like they did with the gods in Forgotten Realms once they, and not their avatars, were given stats?

As I recall, the discussion on the Discord netted a number of different responses. Reasons to not stat out the Son of Man / Son of God certainly included the typical "If it has stats, we can kill it" issue, especially since D&D almost always under-CRs/under-stats deities. The metaphysical aspect of "I swing sword, I kill something that's an embodiment of an idea and requires no body to live" doesn't ever carry over well. Even when limited to avatars, apparently Auril's avatars were pretty underimpressive.

Statblocks imply that things outside of the statblock can't be done, and having the possibility of skill checks or rolls implies chances of failure.
One suggestion was adding a "It's not my time" rider in the statblock where basically any attempt to kill Jesus just fails for some reason (guards come along, swords break, whatever).

I think ultimately changing to some explanatory/advisory text is a better idea. I also think most people who actually get interested in playing a D&D game in this setting are not going to be doing a trollish "Let's go kill Jesus!" as they track down what ever is in the adventure.

The adventure is set it before the public ministry of Jesus, so unless the player characters know to go searching around in a specific city for a specific carpenter, the closest they'll get is running into a nazirite guy named John out in the desert wearing animal skins and preaching repentance.

I got the link for the PDF download last night, but I'm going to do what I did for A5e and wait for the physical book to show up. I looked at the map, and based on where named cities and things that look like dungeons or named caves are, the party probably spends 3/4 of the time outside of Judea, ranging from Egypt over to parts of northern Arabia and Mesopotamia.

 

[wellis]

I wonder if, due to being set in the Roman Empire, whether this book may also emphasize how tough travel back then really was, even on well-established routes.

 

[Weiley31]

I mean, Jesus would be hax since he pretty much has Auto-Rez pre-installed. Yeah, it has a three-day recharge period, but it doesn't require magic or anything to use.

 

[Yaarel]

Regarding the concept of the resurrection:

There is a difference between a resuscitation and a resurrection. The resuscitation is moreorless posthumous healing of a wounded body. The resurrection is something different.

The resurrection is the emergence of an immortal being that cannot ever die again.

Translating into D&D mechanics, perhaps this immortality concept is more like a creature inhabiting the Celestial planes, but that simultaneously exists as a physical avatar in the Material plane. The immortal is a physical body but is also an angelic "mental body". A whole person is simultaneously angelic and physical. There is both an earthy physical nature of flesh and a heavenly spiritual nature. If the physical body gets destroyed the angelic aspect reforms it. The angelic aspect cannot be destroyed but can grow and evolve. In D&D the astral plane and the alignment planes are dreamlike mindscapes, where conceptual similarity defines experiential nearness.

The New Testament views Jesus as the first person to resurrect immortally. But ultimately the entire human species will resurrect this way. The catch is: only the good deeds survive eternally. The nongood actions cannot persist eternally. So in the judgment, only the good parts of ones identity survive. The rest of oneself is "erased" from the book of life when entering the eternal life of the world to come. Trusting God is a key to personally surviving judgment, but one can survive whole or with "utter loss". Most humans are a mix of good and bad actions, normally entangled completely. So, most people enter immortality somewhere between whole and loss.

For D&D, the Good alignment becomes highly significant when understanding what an immortal human resembles.

 

[Voadam]

As I recall, the discussion on the Discord netted a number of different responses. Reasons to not stat out the Son of Man / Son of God certainly included the typical "If it has stats, we can kill it" issue, especially since D&D almost always under-CRs/under-stats deities. The metaphysical aspect of "I swing sword, I kill something that's an embodiment of an idea and requires no body to live" doesn't ever carry over well. Even when limited to avatars, apparently Auril's avatars were pretty underimpressive.

Statblocks imply that things outside of the statblock can't be done, and having the possibility of skill checks or rolls implies chances of failure.

That depends entirely on the conception of the god.

Greek mythology for instance has gods range from Olympians down to nymphs.

Arachne and Athena had a weaving contest where it looked like Arachne was winning until Athena saw that Arachne's weaving was insulting to her so the goddess struck her down with a curse to become a spider ending the contest before completion.

Whether Lolth is a 66 hp demon or the unkillable deific embodiment of malice is going to depend on the specific D&D cosmology. D&D has varied widely in its treatments of the nature of gods and appropriate stats and what they represent.