Pyramid Pick
Testament: Roleplaying In The Biblical Era (for d20 System)
Published by Green Ronin Publishing
Written by Scott Bennie
Edited by Spike Y. Jones
Cover by Sam Wood
Interior Illustrations by Ilya Astrakhan, Kent Burles, Toren "Macbin" Atkinson, Chris Keefe, Mike May, Josh Parker, Chris Martinez, & James Smith
Cartography by Todd Gamble
240-page black & white perfect bound softback; $32.95
The first release in Green Ronin Publishing's "Mythic Vistas" line has the potential to offend a large segment of the community, and unfortunately were they to become aware of it, quite possibly will. Yet having read through Testament: Roleplaying In The Biblical Era, there is relatively little here to cause such offense. One might be the chronological dating system it employs, another the proofreading errors that are really silly mistakes, but the first is to be found on the back cover of the book. The all too bold strap line, "You've Read The Book, Now Play The Game!" really is dreadfully awful in its triteness. Although that said, the publishers deserve something for having the chutzpah to use it.
Part of the real reason that Testament should not be cause for offense is that it is not just another Christian-themed roleplaying game, even arguably, a Christian-themed roleplaying game at all. This is because it is set firmly in the Mythic Ages described by the Old Testament, and it consciously strives to be religiously neutral. For example, the dating system is denoted as BCE and CE -- Before . . .
This article originally appeared in the second volume of Pyramid. See the current Pyramid website for more information.
Article publication date: September 12, 2003
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