The Chump is Stumped out!

[jgbrowning]

Now for my serious question:

What was the logic behind the witch burnings? If one was a witch, they could use their magic to escape whatever trap was presented them. However, if one wasn't, they'd die, which was against the commandments.

Exodus 22:18 says, "Suffer not a witch to live." Deuteronomy 18:10 says, "There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch."

It wasn't a question of "logic" it was a question of "religion." There was also a lot of various social reasons for the occurance.

joe b.

 

[Voadam]

What's a good way to get witch burning into a medieval fantasy setting where good clerics have magic and divinations.

 

[Voadam]

How expensive and tough should it be to make a scramasax? Should they be considered the medieval version of a Shiv?

 

[Drawmack]

What was the name of the first real world seige engine and who invented it?

 

[Voadam]

How much would divinely powered polytheism throw off the three estates of classical feudalism? How monolithic should churches realistically be in a medieval fantasy setting?

 

[Voadam]

How would you suggest portraying religious schisms and factions in a world where deities can talk directly to priests?

 

[jgbrowning]

What's a good way to get witch burning into a medieval fantasy setting where good clerics have magic and divinations.

By the tone of your question I'm assuming here that you believe witch burning was an injustic that could be prevented through good clerical use of magic and divination. NOT that the witch is evil and deserves it. Which would be my first way of incorporating witch burning.

You can have a good cleric who belongs to a predominatly neutral chuch who is forced to follow his church's doctrine and hence, punish those whom another authority has deemed a witch. The doctrine of the church could preclude the use of divinations on subjects to reduce the number of church vrs. other authority conflicts.

You could also simply have a good church using witch burnings to futher their goals. Good doesn't mean always and only doing good, it can also mean mostly doing good and ocassionally doing evil because that single evil promotes the greater good.

from MMS:WE
A religious institution of the magical medieval period has many
facets to consider. Religions deal with spiritual matters that
surpass this world, but are also tied into land ownership, feudal
obligations, lords, and kings. Though the idea of religion being
separate from worldly concerns is certainly a popular one, in
a magical medieval society, nothing is separate from feudalism.


excellent question!

joe b.

 

[Joshua Randall]

Based on the size of the villages/towns/cities connected, what would the typical track/road/highway be like? And, in D&D terms, what would the movement rates be for those roads?

 

[jgbrowning]

How expensive and tough should it be to make a scramasax? Should they be considered the medieval version of a Shiv?

From Stone's Glossary of the construction decoration and use of arms and armor.

Scramasax: A Frankish dagger. It had a broad, long blade grooved on both sides. (Boutell 93)

Would probabably be simply viewed as a dagger for DnD mechanics.

joe b.

 

[Tsyr]

Aha! Another tricky question! How many dieties do you have in your campaign?

For an average of 650pop village, you'll have 13 members of the clergy spreed amongst the various gods. This doesn't include the number of clerics as listed in the DMG. I'm assuming only clergy/clerics count as devout followers.

You'll also have a chance (46%) for a wandering mendicant (1-1400).

*takes another drink of soy milk*

joe b.

Actualy, by devout, I meant any members of the community that activly worshiped a diety, rather than just paying, say, lip service to one. IE, what percentage of the village would be attending church services on holy days (Assuming hypotheticly that all the dieties had the same holy day).