tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2290828421410624791.post8191751281096621349..comments2024-03-14T10:32:29.233-05:00Comments on Blood of Prokopius: Holmes & Cook: ReligionFrDavehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00459281821319914530noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2290828421410624791.post-77734712155772801112011-10-01T11:14:43.305-05:002011-10-01T11:14:43.305-05:00@Brendan
Thanks for your kind words. Just so you k...@Brendan<br />Thanks for your kind words. Just so you know, the whole concept of names having power is a Judeo-Christian thing. God allows Adam to name the animals in order to allow him to be a co-creator. Moses asks for God's name (to which he gets the ambiguous and evocative answer I AM). Abram is renamed Abraham when God makes His covenant with him. Jacob is renamed Israel after he wrestles God (the literal meaning of the name). Places are named for revelation, etc.FrDavehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00459281821319914530noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2290828421410624791.post-31412655941730208852011-10-01T09:31:58.326-05:002011-10-01T09:31:58.326-05:00Wow, this is one of the most evocative posts I hav...Wow, this is one of the most evocative posts I have read in a while. Take this idea of one language, and the tower of babel and combine it with the le Guin notion of power residing in true names (also echoed in the recent Rothfuss series, The Kingkiller Chronicles, though in a much more prolix manner). (Incidentally, I would be interested in knowing from what mythology le Guin drew from for the Earthsea books.)<br /><br />For present-day adventurers (from the perspective of the campaign world), the arcane arts are a pale imitation of the past true language of creation, which man lost access to due to his pride.<br /><br />I am thinking of situating my campaign world in a sort of melange of post-Empire but pre-Christ time where many clerics in the past used to worship the one true God, but now most believe that the one God has abandoned creation (or dissipated into nothing, or been destroyed, or originally nothing more than a spirit or demon pretending to omnipotence), though some clerics continue to keep the monotheistic traditions alive, waiting for the messiah. Most clerics (of the kind that have supernatural power, at least) derive their skills from saints/angels (holdovers from the past religion that have come to be treated in an almost polytheistic manner), demons (these clerics are often called warlocks), or witch-kings (I have always liked the ambience of the templars in Dark Sun).Necropraxishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12716340801054739658noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2290828421410624791.post-57177410462853137452011-05-18T16:48:11.662-05:002011-05-18T16:48:11.662-05:00Now, this is a terribly interesting way to see soe...Now, this is a terribly interesting way to see soemthing very specific from a few vague descriptions. Nice work.Matthew Slepinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04056247825064943944noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2290828421410624791.post-78147246670758293132011-05-11T11:21:02.265-05:002011-05-11T11:21:02.265-05:00@BreeYark!
In my view, arcane magic is a bit like ...@BreeYark!<br />In my view, arcane magic is a bit like science. While all pagan spell casters would be arcanists, not all arcanists need to be pagan. As you observed, the good or evil of a tool depends upon how we use it.<br /><br />@Nick<br />The quote was to demonstrate that all the various spells implied by Holmes having Ring Spells, Wand Spells and Potion Spells in his Scrolls Magic Item Table are all arcane magic as opposed to divine magic, despite the fact that many of these spells emulate Cleric spells.FrDavehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00459281821319914530noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2290828421410624791.post-29070087055233020422011-05-11T10:25:57.338-05:002011-05-11T10:25:57.338-05:00Just to clarify, are you saying that the line &quo...Just to clarify, are you saying that the line "The spells written on scrolls can be read only by magic users, except the protection spells" is a "powerful implication" of how all D&D players are unique? o_o?<br /><br />Love your interpretation of Control spells, though, and how they may have led to the rise and subsequent fall of civilization. Real cool.Nickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09358099916267465455noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2290828421410624791.post-26248200231823440622011-05-11T08:24:26.248-05:002011-05-11T08:24:26.248-05:00Hmmm, that's an interesting take on the whole ...Hmmm, that's an interesting take on the whole stones/bricks thing. I had always just assumed that was a minor detail about geography.<br /><br />My take on the Tower of Babel is that it was a response to Noah's flood, and thus, to God's judgment. I figure they were trying to build a tower big enough that they would be immune to God's judgment, had He ever sent another flood. Thus, man was trying to lift (exalt) himself above God.<br /><br />If you wanted to continue with this theme in your game, I guess you could see arcane magic as being developed by man to try to thwart and even overpower God. Perhaps you already see it that way. That wouldn't require all PC magic-users to be "pagan," since all this merely says is the impetus for developing the arcane was such, not that it need only be used in such manner.<br /><br />Nothing is inherently evil, all was created good. Anything can be used correctly (for good), or incorrectly (for evil).Bree Yark!https://www.blogger.com/profile/06805609633299134038noreply@blogger.com