Post originally by Archangel at 2003-08-04 05:41:52
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I don't know if I'd play the game, since it ~is~ intended to evangelise (something I'm ideologically opposed to), but it's nice to see:
a) an evangelist not condemning roleplaying as being intrinsically evil - the guy seems to know something about roleplaying other than what the lying Patricia Pulling told him.
b) an evangelist willing to mess around with religion - non-human intelligent species, 'magic' and all that other stuff that normally has fundamentalists frothing at the mouths.
Intriguing, and a pleasant change in tone, particularly in light of the Pope's recent rant.
Post originally by Chris at 2003-08-04 16:57:32
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Well just the premise of the game made me have to check out there website.
According to it they are working on a printed version and have a few supplements out as well as a wild west version with a futuristic 7 year tribulation version in the works.
That and its low price makes it something I may have to take a closer look at.
Post originally by Nawara at 2003-08-04 22:43:07
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I'll second what DaWaterRat said... there are a good number of Christian roleplayers out there, and I include myself in the number. Sure, it means I have to put virtually ALL of my Vampire books away when people come over to the house (90% of Vampire books have "Blood", "Sins", or "Night" in the title), and I'm one of about six people on the planet willing to play a Celestial Chorister, but that's about it.
Oh, and my Barbarian has Strength 12, Intelligence 14, Charisma 14, no ranks in Climb, maxed-out Diplomacy, and the Persuasive Feat.
Post originally by Kester Pelagius at 2003-08-05 00:14:19
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Greetings,
My first knee jerk reaction is to shout: For the love of God have your review pulled and run it through a word processor and resubmit it without the unsightly grammatical eyesores! Luckily, having submitted a review or two myself, I realize that this is not your fault at all but purely the result of an infestation of vile little gremlins. Yes, I know, they are hard to get rid of and virus scanners can’t detect them. Which means we reviewers have to be extra diligent in future.
That said, good review. (Yeah, bit backhanded that. Sorry.) Having seen the demo/lite PDF for this game in the past I thoroughly sympathize, and yet. . .
“As things stand, SWtRPG provides us a classical magic system with quotations from the Bible. As a magic system it needs a lot of rework. As a “Bible: The Game system” it does not do its job: To allow the player to go to the Book and turn it into a game device.”
Taken as described this sounds far from a ‘classical magic system’, rather what this describes is more a magic system based upon bibliomancy. Furthermore, aside from the section where you succinctly manage to detail the dice system- granted one based upon your own work- the descriptions otherwise seem vague, lackluster, and often leave much to be desired. In short after having read your fine review I have no idea what the ‘system’ really is though you discussed things all around it! Which makes me wonder how coherent the rules you had to read were. Anytime a reviewer has to stumble around and around like a punch drunk dazed fighter of the Drunken Master School it bodes ill for the rules being reviewed.
So I gotta ask:
Were the rules really that disjointed, or were they merely fluff that seemed to be put in as an after though to pad a ‘evangelical tool’?
Post originally by Cassander at 2003-08-05 01:42:27
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<<When the Catholic crusaders were reading themselves for the final assault on the Albigensis heresy’s stronghold, there was something worrying the commander of the Christian forces so he decided to seek the counsel of the Archbishop of Toulouse:
“Your Grace”, he said, “there are good Christians among the heretics. In the course of the battle how are we to identify who are the Faithful so that we can spare their lives, and who are the heretics that are to be put to death?”
“Kill them all”, replied the Archbishop, “God will know how to discriminate among them.”>>
That didn't actually happen; the story was made up years after the events involved for propaganda purposes.
Post originally by Loz at 2003-08-05 02:02:34
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<<Most game situations are handled through skills. The first thing to say about the list of skills is that it includes some odd choices. For instance, would you consider things like “Compassion”, “Repent”, “Recover from damage” as skills? Not to mention things like “Resist Pain” and “Handle Torture” (besides, why are these two separate skills?), or damage modifiers. All of these should not be skills. Where they should fit in the system is open to debate but making them skills seems a poor choice.>>
I can think of several other games, and some eulogised by the reviewer, that use very specific abilities as skills very successfully: 'Hero Wars/Quest', RQ, Stormbringer to name but 3 or 4 systems. I see no reason why "resist pain' and 'handle torture' shouldn't be classed as skills; there are definite techniques to each, and they are separate disciplines (although a canny GM could make cunning use of both in different ways in the same situation). So I think you're misguided on this one Sergio. 'Compassion' and 'Repent' I'm unsure about as I haven't seen the definitions in the rules, but from experience you could certainly classify them as skills or even traits, ala Pendragon.
<<Next, as I said skills are broken up into attribute-based categories. Now, there are skills assigned to what seems to be the wrong attribute. Would you consider that “Jumping” or “Swimming” fit better under Strength or under Dexterity? So do I think that under DEX would make more sense, while in SWtRPG they are classified under STR. >>
Perhaps, but again, perhaps not. I consider my personal Dexterity as good, but I am not strong. I am not a good jumper (either in height/length terms) or a strong swimmer. You also find athletes training to improve strength and stamina as well as dexterity and suppleness. I see no reason why these should not be classed as Strength-based skills; again, it depends how Strength and Dexterity are defined in the rules.
Post originally by Oliver at 2003-08-05 03:08:40
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What's worse, it's horribly mangled, because the 'stronghold' was the city of Beziers, and Arnaud Amaury was abbot of Citeaux, and later appointed archbishop and duke of Narbonne. Toulouse as a city, and as a county, was sympathetic and supportive to the Cathar cause. The massacre of Beziers stood at the beginning, rather than the end of the Albigensian Crusade.
Whether the quote is actually authentic or not I don't consider particularly relevant, since the massacre is. The fact that the quote was not made doesn't change the fact that it reflects the attitude of the time.
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