Someone mentioned Biblical times a while back. I actually had an idea one time about a game about Old Testament heroes, trying to keep the Chosen People virtuous and free in the face of foreign tyrants, demonic forces, prideful kings and the stubborn habit of the common people to start breaking commandments as soon as you leave them alone for five minutes. I had gotten as far as sketching up the four basic character classes of Prophet (good at dealing with crowds), Judges (good at dealing with individuals), Champions (personal combat skills) and Leaders (battlefield command skills) before I realised that actually, I was just a little bit afraid that there might actually be a hell. Well, that, and I realised that it would take more historical and biblical research than I actually wanted to do.

The is no hell in the Old Testament so no worries.

Quote from: Voros;956556The is no hell in the Old Testament so no worries.

On the other hand, shaving your beard means you don't get into heaven.

Mythic Russia is intended for the Heroquest modern-Glorantha, but has a lot of nice setting material and feel for a fantastic medieval Russia game.

Quote from: Naburimannu;956590Mythic Russia is intended for the Heroquest modern-Glorantha, but has a lot of nice setting material and feel for a fantastic medieval Russia game.

Yes, this is one of the most fantastic RPG culture references I've ever come across.

Quote from: Voros;956556The is no hell in the Old Testament so no worries.

Yeah, but it's still part of Christianity, and for some reason I got an entirely irrational sense of blasphemy from it. It's weird, I've written fiction about Heaven and Hell, including some where God is explicitly evil and that never bothered me at all, but the idea of statting up the Prophet Elijah made me feel like I was finally going too far. Don't ask me to explain it.

Quote from: Tristram Evans;956563On the other hand, shaving your beard means you don't get into heaven.

Perfectly fair. Shaving is a horrible thing to do to an innocent beard. :cool:

Pretty sure Judaism doesn't believe in a heaven, that we get to go to anyway, either. Folk forms of Judaism of course probably do though.

I think an Old Testament setting could be cool, hard to pull off as there's not a lot of truly fantastic material post-Eden, except for God zapping people to death of course.

Quote from: Voros;957036I think an Old Testament setting could be cool, hard to pull off as there's not a lot of truly fantastic material post-Eden, except for God zapping people to death of course.

It'd definitely be a low fantasy setting with the PCs as more or less the only real "magical" people around - but that sort of thing can be fun, if the mundane world is sufficiently detailed and interesting. Which is of course where we run into my "oh man, this would be so much work!" problem.

Quote from: Baeraad;957048It'd definitely be a low fantasy setting with the PCs as more or less the only real "magical" people around - but that sort of thing can be fun, if the mundane world is sufficiently detailed and interesting. Which is of course where we run into my "oh man, this would be so much work!" problem.

Why would you assume that the PCs would be more magical than everyone else;)?

Quote from: AsenRG;957060Why would you assume that the PCs would be more magical than everyone else;)?

Because my basic idea was that they'd be Old Testament heroes, i.e. the sort of folk who did go around working miracles?

Quote from: AsenRG;957060Why would you assume that the PCs would be more magical than everyone else;)?

As I recall from OT Studies, there is a full range of deities and their own magic/miracle sets.  The prophets of Baal and Asheroth, the Priests of Molech and a plethora of Cananite ideas that can be used.  Dagon of the Philistines is a great set of strange for use.  I've worked on and given up several times on an Old Testament setting.  Would be nice if it was done right

Quote from: Voros;957036Pretty sure Judaism doesn't believe in a heaven, that we get to go to anyway, either. Folk forms of Judaism of course probably do though.

I think an Old Testament setting could be cool, hard to pull off as there's not a lot of truly fantastic material post-Eden, except for God zapping people to death of course.

That would depend on the sect the Hebrew followed.  New Testament had them down to Pharisees and Sadducces one believed in heaven reward and Angels, the other did not.  But that's a topic for another thread.

Is there an RPG about Korea's Three Kingdoms period? That'd be fun. A rather neglected place, even in places that give nominal nod to its existence (Kara-Tur's Koryo from Forgotten Realms).

Quote from: rway218;957182As I recall from OT Studies, there is a full range of deities and their own magic/miracle sets.  The prophets of Baal and Asheroth, the Priests of Molech and a plethora of Cananite ideas that can be used.  Dagon of the Philistines is a great set of strange for use.  I've worked on and given up several times on an Old Testament setting.  Would be nice if it was done right

To be sure, but in the Old Testament none of those other deities are presented as working genuine miracles, right? I mean, I can't claim to have read the whole thing, but all the parts I've read or heard of make a big deal out of the Israelite God being the only one who's actually going around doing things, with that usually coming as a nasty surprise for any foreigners who trust their own gods to protect them against Him.

Though I guess it's often left vague whether the foreign gods are simply not real, or if God is just so much more badass than them that He can effortlessly block their attempts to help their own followers... Either way, the idea I had was that the world was simply entirely mundane except when and where God chose to intervene.

The other religions are presented as having sorcerers who can also do miracles, but of course their miracles fail hard in front of God's Power;).

Quote8Now the LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying,
9“When Pharaoh speaks to you, saying, ‘Work a miracle,’ then you shall say to Aaron, ‘Take your staff and throw it down before Pharaoh, that it may become a serpent.’”
10So Moses and Aaron came to Pharaoh, and thus they did just as the LORD had commanded; and Aaron threw his staff down before Pharaoh and his servants, and it became a serpent.
11Then Pharaoh also called for the wise men and the sorcerers, and they also, the magicians of Egypt, did the same with their secret arts.
12For each one threw down his staff and they turned into serpents. But Aaron’s staff swallowed up their staffs.
13Yet Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he did not listen to them, as the LORD had said.

So no, the world in the Bible isn't "mundane apart from God". That's a much later idea, and would leave any of the people at the time of the Old Testament, Jew and non-Jew alike, dumb-founded and probably ready to doubt your sanity:D.