Highmoon's Ponderings

I opened My Yahoo! this morning to find that religion has front-page status today with three different articles.

First up, an article about two stations’ refusal to air the new NBC series, The Book of Daniel. I’ve been seeing the promos for the show and I have to say it looks funny enough for me to set it to tape tonight and check it out later. I think people really need to relax, these are just TV shows.

Next up is an article that actually made me laugh out loud: An Italian court is set to hear a case in which it will be determined if Jesus actually existed. Two 70-something men–one a priest and the other an atheist, both from the same central Italian town, both having attended the same seminary when young and then going down different paths–are set to go head to head in court to prove the existence of the historical Jesus. I quote:

The plaintiff, Luigi Cascioli, became a vocal atheist who, after years of legal wrangling, is set to get his day in court later this month. “I started this lawsuit because I wanted to deal the final blow against the Church, the bearer of obscurantism and regression,” Cascioli told Reuters.
Cascioli says Righi, and by extension the whole Church, broke two Italian laws. The first is “Abuso di Credulita Popolare” (Abuse of Popular Belief) meant to protect people against being swindled or conned. The second crime, he says, is “Sostituzione di Persona“, or impersonation.
“The Church constructed Christ upon the personality of John of Gamala,” Cascioli claimed, referring to the 1st century Jew who fought against the Roman army. “In my book, The Fable of Christ, I present proof Jesus did not exist as a historic figure. He must now refute this by showing proof of Christ’s existence,” Cascioli said.

This kind of thing only happens in Italy, I swear. I’d love to be in the courtroom for this case!

Lastly, and on a more serious note, 700 Club-dude Pat Robertson has spoken again:

Robertson Links Sharon Stroke, God’s Wrath
Christian broadcaster Pat Robertson suggested Thursday that Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s stroke was divine punishment for “dividing God’s land.”
“God considers this land to be his,” Robertson said on his TV program “The 700 Club.” “You read the Bible and he says `This is my land,’ and for any prime minister of Israel who decides he is going to carve it up and give it away, God says, `No, this is mine.’”
More.

I just want it to go on the record that it is Robertson, a Christian, who’s saying this, so they don’t go blaming the ultra-Orthodox Jews around (though I am 100% sure there have been some of those as well, I’m sad to say).

Now the big question, do I agree with him?
Not in the literal, no, but I cannot discount that I also had seen the link between the events of Tisha B’Av/August 15, 2005 (the expulsion of Jews from Gush Katif) and his current condition. I am very careful not to sound like a hatemonger or a divine-retribution-with-a-lightning-bolt kind of guy, which is why I say that I don’t agree with Robertson’s literal expression, but I cannot shake the feeling that there indeed is a connection between the two events. G-d alone knows the whole truth, and I don’t think I am in any position to be passing that kind of judgement. I actually do wish Sharon a refuah shelemah (full recovery to health) regardless of the fact that I don’t agree with his plans to continue to give away land.

Highmoon Media Productions is seeking writers to contribute to our Liber Sodalitas line of products.

From our website:
Liber Sodalitas (LEE-ber So-DA-lee-tas), the Book of Societies, presents different organizations from a variety of backgrounds, each generic enough to be easily usable in any fantasy campaign, but with enough detail to give you a fleshed-out group to simply drop into your game. Each group is presented along with its history, tenets, ways of becoming a member, as well as with iconic NPCs, generic NPCs that can be used to introduce the group to your players, and new rules such as new feats, spells and prestige classes.

Writers for Liber Sodalitas should be well versed with d20 fantasy rules. You will be expected to write both crunch and fluff. It’s ok to use existing OGC, though we like to present around 60%-70% new material. The Liber Sodalitas organizations should be interesting, and explore new concepts of fantasy or, alternatively, present staples and archetypes in a new light. Though we do have a template of information that each product should present, the rest is really up to you. I try to be flexible with my freelancers and give them the opportunity to really get creative.

Payment for this project would be in royalties, and paid monthly via PayPal.

We already have three titles in the series, which I strongly encourage would-be applicants to be familiar with. You can find more info about them at our website: Liber Sodalitas product line info.

We are looking to expand the series to at least 15 throughout the rest of the year, though if we can make more, then all the better. Once we have between 10 and 15, we will collect a number of them into a Liber Sodalitas book to be offered both as a PDF and POD.

If you are interested, and/or would like more information, please just email me at submissions@highmoonmedia.com and we’ll talk.

From Order of the Stick #262:

“Love makes the world go round. And has been known to provide a +2 circumstance bonus to certain skill checks.”

Ain’t that the truth!

Happy New Year 2006 Everyone!!!

No Other Gods has received its first review at RPGNow.com from Staff Reviewer Anthony Roberson, who gives it 4 stars!

The review came in super fast at one day after release. The only low-point it finds is the Testament background, which apparently is still too dark, so it’s just a matter of lightening it a little more. Beyond that, the review gives great marks to the product as a whole, from Scott’s writing (and, by omission, Spike’s excellent editing) to the layout and design of the book. I hope that this will help us out in the long run to generate sales, because I want to keep producing Testament material.

Highmoon Media Productions, in association with Green Ronin Publishing, is proud to present No Other Gods.

Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
-Exodus 20:3

The Lord is displeased with Bethbeer. This village in southern Israel has been experiencing a series of strange occurrences, from inordinately high birthrates to mysterious sightings in the wilderness, for three years. Visitors from afar have taken a keen interest in the isolated roadside town, and shadowy figures conspire with powers alien to the Lord. Will you discover the secret of Bethbeer and help redeem the village from its downward spiral into heresy?

No Other Gods is a challenging adventure set in the world of Testament: Roleplaying in the Biblical Era for heroes of 1st- through 3rd-level. Set in the time of the Judges, it can be easily adapted to any era between the Conquest and Exile, as well as scaled for higher-leveled parties.

No Other Gods is the first adventure in the Terra Mythica line, and the first licensed adventure for Green Ronin’s Mythic Vistas setting Testament: Roleplaying in the Biblical Era.

Written by: Scott G. Carter
Pages: 28, Fully Bookmarked

No Other Gods is available now from RPGnow.com.

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Our first adventure for Testament is now finally out for sale, and I am so incredibly psyched about it. This adventure has taken a long time to get done for various reasons, mostly dealing with timing and conflict with other projects, and the incredibly bad luck I had with freelance artist over the past year. Three different artists agreed to do illustrations for the adventure, and each of them cancelled/disappeared from the face of the planet over the past 6-7 months, leaving me, in the end, with no interior illustrations for the adventure, something I regret. Unfortunately, the adventure was fast approaching that dreaded state of Vaporware, and I couldn’t wait any longer if I wanted to protect my investment.

I am, however, quite happy with the end product. Scott Carter did an excellent job of writing an introductory adventure that highlights the themes and feel of Testament; Spike Y Jones did a superb job as editor, teaching me along the way all that the position entails (hint: a LOT more than proofreding!); Craig Zipse came through with two great maps; and the graphic design by Deborah Balsam, of Dog Soul Publishing, truly tied it all together and gave the project its very own identity. (My layout is ok, I guess, though I already see a lot of things I can improve on for the next one.)

Special thanks go to Robert J. Schwalb at Green Ronin, who as Manager for the Mythic Vistas licensing program, has been of utmost help in getting this product done, not to mention a great supporter of the whole project. Many thanks also to Chris Pramas, and everyone else at Green Ronin, for the opportunity to play in their sandbox and letting us use their tools as well.

I love Testament, which is why I went ahead with this product, even though it is a niche-within-a-niche release. We have other products in the works, as well; be sure to check out the last page of the adventure for a teaser ad of our next big project for Testament, coming in 2006.

I guess it had been a while since we’d have some @$$hole out himself publicly like this:

Iranian Leader Calls Holocaust a ‘Myth’ – Yahoo! News

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad escalated his anti-Israeli rhetoric Wednesday, calling the Holocaust a “myth” used by Europeans to create a Jewish
state in the heart of the Islamic world.

Ahmadinejad last week questioned whether the Nazi destruction of 6 million European Jews during World War II occurred and said Israel should be moved to Europe. He also provoked an international outcry in October when he called for Israel to be “wiped off the map.”

But Wednesday was the first time he publicly denied the Holocaust. Touring southeast Iran, Ahmadinejad said that if Europeans insist the Holocaust happened, then they are responsible and should pay the price.

“Today, they have created a myth in the name of Holocaust and consider it to be above God, religion and the prophets,” Ahmadinejad told thousands of people in the southeastern city of Zahedan.

“If you committed this big crime, then why should the oppressed Palestinian nation pay the price?” Ahmadinejad asked rhetorically.

“This is our proposal: if you committed the crime, then give a part of your own land in Europe, the United States, Canada or Alaska to them so that the Jews can establish their country,” he said, developing a theme he raised in Saudi Arabia last week

I am speechless. I shouldn’t be, really. I should know there are pieces of work like this moron out there, but everytime I see or read one of these I am honestly dumbfounded by the capacity for stupidity some people have.

Sometimes, just sometimes, it is really hard to believe in good.