OSSR - Testament by Green Ronin Publishing
Posted: Thu Sep 22, 2022 9:40 pm
We're setting the wayback machine to 2003. George W. Bush was in the white house and American forces overthrew Saddam Hussein's regime in April. If you're anything like me, that didn't really help me to situate this book in time or space. 2003 was also the year that Arms & Equipment Guide and Savage Species were released. Yes, dear reader, it was the year that 3.0 was supplanted by 3.5. Like in 2022, D&D was experiencing a moment in the cultural zeitgeist - players old & new were bellying up to the table. While some voices were vociferously complaining that D&D was the only game in town, the ease of access of the OGL meant that there was a glut of 3rd party provided products and services. Gaming stores were overflowing with product of highly variable quality. Among the many publishers that took advantage of the booming market was Green Ronin; they released Testament: Roleplaying in the Biblical Era as GRR1019 immediately after Skull & Bones and just before Tales from Freeport.
From the back cover:
*I honestly don't know if Testament did it first, just earlier than The Adventurer's Guide.
Testament has 239 numbered pages; the interior is 100% black & white; Scott Bennie is listed as the author; 7 play testers are credited along with the Green Ronin staff. While the book is softcover, the quality is good for 2003. All the pages are printed with grey texture (darker around the edges) with black text; for me the contrast is sufficient to read the book clearly. Especially compared to my last review, the text is small. I legitimately think that they used an 8pt font for virtually all text. That does mean that stat blocks are fairly condensed (especially by late 3.5 standards), but ~20 years after this was originally published it's not something that everyone is going to be able to read easily (though less of an issue if you have the PDF and can zoom).
The book is divided into 25 chapters. The longest chapters are around 25 pages (3), but most chapters are 3-10 pages. A few are only a single page. Roughly the last 100 pages (15 chapters) are setting material about the cultures in the setting; the first 9 chapters are 'standard game sections' including classes, feats, spells, monsters (you know, the reason players might buy this book). The Table of Contents in READABLE - headings and sub-headings are listed, but not EVERY SINGLE THING. For example, under Chapter 8: New Magic Items New Wondrous Items, Staffs, Minor Artifacts and Major Artifacts are all among the subheadings with specific pages, but it doesn't list EVERY SINGLE ITEM or EVERY SINGLE SPELL.
The last 2 pages of the book are an Index, and I'm pretty sure that every feat, spell, class, etc. is listed there - close enough that I'm not going to check them all. It's a VERY MINOR nitpick, but subheadings in the Index are not organized consistently alphabetically. For example, under 'Names' there are sections for Canaanite, Egyptian, Israelite, and Babylonian - that's not the order they appear in the book, either, and some other subheadings use the same order; others use an alphabetical order. I'm guessing it was among the last things that the editors hit. And they probably thought we wouldn't notice.
Well Green Ronin, when it comes to editing, I DEMAND you answer to a higher authority
As far as this review, we're going to generally follow the order that the book presents things. Commenting on EVERYTHING would be a slog, so I'm going to talk about whatever I think is most interesting in the book and I'll try to relate it to my thoughts regarding historical gaming and how their approach works with D&D - one point in it's favor - it's going for an explicitly MAGICAL version of the world of the bible. That doesn't mean that they think every 3rd edition class belongs in this world, but they didn't toss them ALL OUT. But I'm getting ahead of myself.
While this is BIBLICAL ROLE-PLAYING, it is decidedly Old Testament. The eras they suggest playing range from 3000 BCE to 135 BCE. That's still a huge amount of time, but if you want to hang with Jesus (in the figurative or literal sense) you're probably better off with the Adventurer's Guide to the Bible.
And if you don't think that this book is going to offend you, just wait until we get to Chapter 4, Piety, where sins are listed and given a 'severity' (culturally specific).
From the back cover:
Used copies are selling online for more than $30. The PDF version is $15.00. I purchased mine used for $13.00 which is more than I'm usually willing to spend on a gaming book of uncertain quality, but I have generally been pleased with Green Ronin's quality, and I figured I'd check it out at some point. Today is that day! Libertad wrote a review of The Adventurer's Guide to the Bible - but Testament did it first*, so let's see who did it best.You've read the book, now play the game!
There were giants in the Earth in those days, and also after that, when the sons of God came in onto the daughters of men and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown. - The Book of Genesis
The world of the Bible comes to life in this campaign setting for the d20 System! Play a wandering Babylonian magus, a sorcerer in the service of Pharaoh, a Canannite maker of idols, or a prophet of the God of Israel. Walk the streets of ancient Jerusalem, stand beside King David as one of his Mighty Men, smite Philistines, ponder the mysteries of gargantuan tombs, look upon the dwellings of the gods, and battle demons, dragons, plagues, and the legendary beasts of Babylon!
The first release in Green Ronin's Mythic Vistas line of campaign settings, Testament gives you everything you need to immerse yourself in the Biblical Era, including:
- A dozen new core and prestige classes, including the Levite Priest, the Egyptian Khery-heb wizard, and the Desert Hermit.
- Over 30 new monsters, including Nephilim, Tempter Devils, and Zebub-Spawn.
- Over 50 new feats and over 100 new spells.
- Rules for barter, curses, piety
- Guidelines for leading a small tribe through the hazards of the Bronze and Iron Age World.
- The Biblical Battlefield Resolution System, a new way to fight epic combats.
- Full cultural details on ancient Israel, Canaan, Egypt, and Mesopotamia, including history, beliefs, holy days, architecture, and more.
- Dozens of new magic items and artifacts
Party history, party mythology, Testament is the d20 System setting that's both instantly familiar and yet unlike any game world you have ever experienced!
*I honestly don't know if Testament did it first, just earlier than The Adventurer's Guide.
Testament has 239 numbered pages; the interior is 100% black & white; Scott Bennie is listed as the author; 7 play testers are credited along with the Green Ronin staff. While the book is softcover, the quality is good for 2003. All the pages are printed with grey texture (darker around the edges) with black text; for me the contrast is sufficient to read the book clearly. Especially compared to my last review, the text is small. I legitimately think that they used an 8pt font for virtually all text. That does mean that stat blocks are fairly condensed (especially by late 3.5 standards), but ~20 years after this was originally published it's not something that everyone is going to be able to read easily (though less of an issue if you have the PDF and can zoom).
The book is divided into 25 chapters. The longest chapters are around 25 pages (3), but most chapters are 3-10 pages. A few are only a single page. Roughly the last 100 pages (15 chapters) are setting material about the cultures in the setting; the first 9 chapters are 'standard game sections' including classes, feats, spells, monsters (you know, the reason players might buy this book). The Table of Contents in READABLE - headings and sub-headings are listed, but not EVERY SINGLE THING. For example, under Chapter 8: New Magic Items New Wondrous Items, Staffs, Minor Artifacts and Major Artifacts are all among the subheadings with specific pages, but it doesn't list EVERY SINGLE ITEM or EVERY SINGLE SPELL.
The last 2 pages of the book are an Index, and I'm pretty sure that every feat, spell, class, etc. is listed there - close enough that I'm not going to check them all. It's a VERY MINOR nitpick, but subheadings in the Index are not organized consistently alphabetically. For example, under 'Names' there are sections for Canaanite, Egyptian, Israelite, and Babylonian - that's not the order they appear in the book, either, and some other subheadings use the same order; others use an alphabetical order. I'm guessing it was among the last things that the editors hit. And they probably thought we wouldn't notice.
Well Green Ronin, when it comes to editing, I DEMAND you answer to a higher authority
As far as this review, we're going to generally follow the order that the book presents things. Commenting on EVERYTHING would be a slog, so I'm going to talk about whatever I think is most interesting in the book and I'll try to relate it to my thoughts regarding historical gaming and how their approach works with D&D - one point in it's favor - it's going for an explicitly MAGICAL version of the world of the bible. That doesn't mean that they think every 3rd edition class belongs in this world, but they didn't toss them ALL OUT. But I'm getting ahead of myself.
While this is BIBLICAL ROLE-PLAYING, it is decidedly Old Testament. The eras they suggest playing range from 3000 BCE to 135 BCE. That's still a huge amount of time, but if you want to hang with Jesus (in the figurative or literal sense) you're probably better off with the Adventurer's Guide to the Bible.
And if you don't think that this book is going to offend you, just wait until we get to Chapter 4, Piety, where sins are listed and given a 'severity' (culturally specific).