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Of Fists and Faith - A 5th Edition D&D Quest

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[X] You are unsure. But parts of the Bible could be the writings of men, and not the words of Yahweh. People have been arguing about it for centuries, after all.

Hmm I'm unsure where to go, might change to one tomorrow.
 
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Considering our goal here is syncretism since we want both of our bonuses to stay active, I do think there's some danger to saying the bible is fallible and that parts of it aren't divinely inspired.

Mainly, because it leads to a lot of doubt on the base of Alice's entire faith, which may hurt By the Blood of His Son since it opens her to questioning Jesus as depicted in the bible when the existence of magic makes miracles seem less like miracles now. Walking on water, turning water to wine, resurrecting the dead and curing illness, demonic possession, and injury are all within the wheelhouse of magic too. Granted, those are all minor to Jesus dying for our sins and saving us from original sin which has no magical equivalent that I know of, but I'd rather not take risks while we're still low level and need every bonus we can get.

We aren't quite sure what the answer is yet, and that's fine. It wouldn't be a crisis of faith if it has easy answers. Alice is a learned woman, and to come to a proper conclusion, she needs to explore the nature of the new world first.
 
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[X] Delay answering this. You do not have enough to make a decision in any direction. You need more information.
 
[X] You are unsure. But parts of the Bible could be the writings of men, and not the words of Yahweh. People have been arguing about it for centuries, after all.
 
Alright, so working on updating the front page a bit. Mainly giving you a scratched out last name (Actually slightly important for Verse 3), and putting the Otherworld Bible in your Magical Items section.

I'm also considering changing Direct to Driven. I'm leaning towards making the change. There is no difference other then the name.

Also, Happy Labor Day!
 
Alright, got a surprise preview for Verse 3! It's not affected by the vote, so it's safe to read and consume

--

And as you finish up the last of your ice cream, you glance over to the other tome you possess, the Dungeons and Dragons Player Handbook.

You think for a moment, trying to recall what you know about the game. Once again you barely notice yourself moving your left hand, except this time you whisper "History" as you think.

You've been doing that a bit lately. Well, the thinking too, but mostly the physical movement and the whispering. It seems to help you focus, but you are worried about picking up a physical and verbal tic from it. It also admittedly would look a little odd to anyone who saw you.

As for D&D, the first thing you remember was Reverend Goodfellow leading an outdoor service where people would burn their "occult material." That included video games, tarot cards, fictional books about fantasy, and other things Satan used to blind the youth from the truth. A couple days before, he had given every member of the youth program this tract called "Dark Dungeons", and said it told the truth about this "innocent game." About people learning how to cast spells and perform witchcraft and sacrifice babies to Moloch!

…you don't feel like sacrificing babies. Besides, you're a Monk! You don't cast spells!
 
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  • Voting
    • Scheduled vote count started by Novus Ordo Mundi on Sep 2, 2024 at 12:51 AM, finished with 22 posts and 16 votes.
    • [X] Delay answering this. You do not have enough to make a decision in any direction. You need more information.
      [X] You are unsure. But parts of the Bible could be the writings of men, and not the words of Yahweh. People have been arguing about it for centuries, after all.
      [X] Yes, He can be wrong. However, that doesn't mean everything He said was wrong. You still believe the tenets of salvation. You will figure this out.
      [X] There are other worlds than these. There are other timelines than these. While you are unsure everything that entails, you could make a logical guess: There is more than one Yahweh.
      [X] Write-in
      -[X] The words of The Bible are not the direct words of G-d, but still hold valuable truths in their entirety, and His teachings still shine through.
      [X] Write-in
      -[X] There is God and there are gods. There is only one God but there can be many gods.
    Click to expand...
     
  • Voting
    • Good Morning!

    Alright, 8-7 on Delay. Sweet. It's probably going to be a bit before I can get the update up. I'm still waffling on something, and got a few things to do over the rest of the week. I will have it by Monday night worst case scenario.

    Also, have this:

    [Personality: (Insert Here) - You don't like making decisions blind. You prefer trying to get as much information on a situation and options before committing to something. And the bigger the ramifications, the more information you want before making that decision.]
     
    Okay, I have decided to go with Decision Making: Well-Informed. Instead of just saying "Personality: Stuff", I'll go with [Thing: Stuff], like temperament and combat style. Though now I think I need to change Personality: Direct to Problem-Solving: Direct]. I'll put it all under a Personality section. Unspoilered, due to me needing to be able to refer to it when I write, and I don't want to have to click a tab every time. (Laziness FTW!)

    Also, the preview has changed significantly. I felt it tilted too much in one direction, so I rewrote it quite a bit, and I like where it is now. Current words is just under a thousand words, and I've found some extra time to write! Probably still Monday, but an earlier time may be possible now.!
     
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    The Crisis of Alice, Chapter 1, Verse 3
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    • "I feel I was denied critical, need-to-know information." You whisper to yourself, before giggling. Your parents never did find out you watched the Tremor series. Sure, Burt Gummer probably isn't the font of wisdom you should be drawing from, but it does highlight the crux of the situation

    …you don't have enough information.

    This feels like something you are going to have to do a lot of research. On Selune. On the Abyss and that portal. And even on Yahweh, a topic you had assumed you knew a decent bit about.

    And the consequences… well, obviously eternity in Hell if you're wrong is the big one. Though there are plenty of others even if that turns out to not be the case. Does Selune have her own version of Hell? Maybe outer darkness where the moon never shines? That doesn't feel right with what you do know, though you cannot say definitively. Which highlights that you need to find more information.

    And you're hoping the other book you have can give you some help. At least as well as the Cookies and Cream is right now. Though you are going to need some actual food soon.

    [Decision Making - Well-Informed: You don't like making decisions blind. You prefer trying to get as much information on a situation and options before committing to something. And the bigger the consequences, the more information you want before making that decision.]

    After you finish up the last of your ice cream, you quickly wash and dry your hands, before going over the Player's Handbook.

    So, when you think "Dungeons and Dragons", the first thought that enters your mind is that Pastor Jeremy McLean - your old youth pastor - liked to lead games of it every so often. Not as part of the official services, but as more a way to interact with the kids. Get the introverted out of their shell, or the ones with more anger issues to find non-violent solutions.

    …now that you are thinking about it, Pastor Jeremy seemed pretty different from a lot of the pastoral leadership. He didn't talk down to you, or use big words, or feel like he was holier and more perfect than you. He just… tried to meet you where you are. In your case, it was mainly just grabbing you and a few of your friends and grabbing a burger and a milkshake at the local Whataburger and talking about life.

    You wonder if you should try and find him again. You were sad when he left a little before you turned eighteen. Which seemed to annoy your parents for some reason. And the new youth pastor, whose first act was to lead the youth in an "Acts 19:19 Service", seemed to take delight in making sure there were no traces left of Pastor Jeremy's influence. Especially D&D. He'd scream about how it'd taught you to cast spells and sacrifice children to Satan to anyone who asked.

    …you don't feel like sacrificing babies, though. Besides, you're a Monk! You don't cast spells!

    But the trip down memory lane doesn't really help here. What do you know about the game?

    (Once again you barely notice yourself moving your left hand, except this time you whisper "History" as you think. You've been doing that a bit lately. It seems to help you focus, but you are worried about picking up a physical and verbal tic from it. It also admittedly would look a little odd to anyone who saw you.)

    (History Test. Roll: 11. Guidance: 2. Total: 16. DCs 10, 15, 20, 25.) DC 15 Passed)

    Right. You know the basics. It's a tabletop roleplaying game. It's fantasy, kind of like Lord of the Rings. It's got classes, races, and magic. You use a map and little figures to represent yourself, others, and the enemies. And there is a lot of math and dice rolling involved. Though why they used a twenty sided die never made sense.

    You do remember Pastor Jeremy having his players fighting against evil things like the undead, and obviously demons. While that conflicted with what you know about demons - you can only fight them with the power of Jesus, after all - it seemed like it thrilled everyone at the table.

    Games could last several sessions, called a campaign. They'd keep their characters written on sheets of paper, and refer to it when they rolled or needed to do something.

    Unfortunately, that's about as far as your knowledge goes. Well, you also know this book was always on the table. Though the front art looks different from Pastor Jeremy's. Maybe it's an Otherworld version like the Bible?

    You open the Handbook and quickly look through the table of contents, hoping to find something about Selune. Or at least something involving gods. But no dice, though there was something about the Multiverse?

    But when you open to the Table of Contents, you only see five things in it: Species, Classes, The Multiverse, Spells and the Divine. Two of them are very sparse, with Species only having Human, Classes having Monk. The Multiverse has more sections, having Faerun, Earth, and The Abyss. The Spells has Cantrips and 1st Level Spells. And the Divine has sections for Selune and Yahweh.

    There's not much here at all. Wait, something is writing itself into the Table of Contents: Factions - Grace and Love International. Wait, what? How…

    No, you don't want to get distracted. Obviously, you head over to the Divine section first. You're not sure how much info is in there, but you have to look. Could this be the answer to your prayers? Will you finally get answers?

    –

    You have time to read the Divine Section, plus something else, before you are thrust into your first combat situation. What do you read?

    [] - Species and Classes

    [] - The Multiverse

    [] - Spells

    [] - Factions

    --

    Author's Note: So remember how I said I'd have this done by Monday? Well, my brain gave me an idea that would allow for an early vote. And honestly, I'm feeling like 1-2K per update feels perfect for most sections.
     
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    • [X] - The Multiverse

    Time to learn about how deities from different worlds interact! This should provide more clues we can use for Alice's crisis.
     
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