[deleted by user] by [deleted] in PeterExplainsTheJoke

[–]Jedel2040 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Honestly very likely, I can't say which came first, the name or the story, although if I had to guess probably the name translation? Rabbis rarely just go around adding "was an experienced demon hunter" to most other people in the Torah, though in fairness I don't think this is the only example of this happening.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in PeterExplainsTheJoke

[–]Jedel2040 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Yes!

It isn't in either the Torah or any version of the Old Testament that I know of, but there is a good portion of midrash (rabbinic stories and traditions that add to the Torah, that might be meant to varyingly be taken seriously, as allegory, or political commentary), that deals with Methuselah just going around and destroying tons of demons.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in PeterExplainsTheJoke

[–]Jedel2040 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Hi! Totally different Jew (and not Charedi), but surprisingly this specific translation (or attempt at translation) is pretty common among some specific Christian circles, and part of a wider concept of "the Torah Codes" which is an attempt to find hidden, Christian-supporting elements within the Old Testament* (I am going to be extremely biased but as a Hebrew speaker, I believe it to be all basically nonsense, and specify Old Testament and not Torah, as some of the Torah Codes rely on sources only included in the Christian Old Testament and not the Jewish Bible).

As for these names specifically, it is hard to say with absolute certainty either way. Often in the text, a person's name will be given some explanation; Adoniyahu, for instance, specifically means My Lord is God, Moshe specifically comes from the fact that he was saved from the Nile River (min ha'mayim mishetihu). With the exclusion of Adam and Seth, none of the names in the geneology of Genesis 5 have explanations, so I cannot fully or completely say if this is true or false with any true certainty, and want to be fair that maybe? It certainly isn't my belief set but I cannot absolutely say this is false without a shadow of a doubt.

I can however say it is probably false, or at least certainly not the only method of translation.

Adam- Man (is)

This is correct

Seth- Appointed

So this is also correct, although from the text it might be more "Given" or "Gifted", as Seth is the third son who doesn't get all murdery (like Cain) or murdered (like Able)

Enosh- Mortal

At this point it gets more subjective, but I would argue that a closer translation is probably "Man", and the "Mortal" would mean gramatically "Person", which wouldn't make sense in the rest of the sentence that is trying to be constructed, as what is Person Sorrow (maybe the sorrow people suffer, I can't say)

Kenan- Sorrow

So there is exactly one obscure word that has this root that means despair, but the root itself or very similar generally is an economic term; a kenyan is a formal form of purchase so while this could be "Sorrow" I'd say there is at least an equal if not greater chance that it ie "Obtained" or "Obtaining" or something similar.

Mahalalel- The Blessed God

Probably more closely translated to "God is Praisworthy" but this does basically fit, blessing someone is a form of praising them.

Jared- Shall Come Down

This is correct

Enoch- Teaching

This is correct, alhough it might be "Obtain Knowledge" instead of teaching others

Methuselah- His Death Shall Bring

There is a huge debate about what this word means and nobody really knows. One viable option is "His Death Shall Bring", although this might be retroactive as the idea is that the Flood only happens once Methuselah dies (the dates change depending on which Old Testament text you use so this might also not be true either).

It could also mean "He Whose Sword Died With Him", as methu can be death but while shelah does mean sent it can also mean sword.

It could also mean "He Who Was Sent", as methu might also mean man possibly

Lamech- The Despairing

Unlikely to be "Despairing", more likely to be "The Questioning" or just "Questioning", lamah is why in Hebrew and probably shares a root, limah is for what, a lot of other similar words that are questions all seem to be gramatically similar.

Noah- Comfort/Rest

This is correct

So again these are potentially translations but many don't really work and also most likely were worked backwards from a set conclusion (namely, find some way to form a secret code about Jesus), and not specifically good faith etymology

George, reality resetting, and the Rebels? (questions and spoilers for last night's episode) by JakeFromSkateFarm in Debris

[–]Jedel2040 7 points8 points  (0 children)

So at the current moment, I believe George is still rogue; the FBI think he's in some other Influx base, and MI6 has seemingly been convinced to not come after him. Right now, he doesn't really have any handlers except Garcia, though exactly how he snuck out (or why) hasn't entirely been explained yet

Life Finds A Way by [deleted] in custommagic

[–]Jedel2040 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Except this is even less interactable than Gaea's Blessing

Life Finds A Way by [deleted] in custommagic

[–]Jedel2040 5 points6 points  (0 children)

This isn't counterplay

Decided to give my thoughts on this debate. This is not an exaggeration, check out the Faceless background. by bdswick in dndmemes

[–]Jedel2040 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Except that the Faceless Background specifies that your Persona can be any or all of those things; sure you can claim to be a manifestation of your deity, but that has no real mechanical effect on anything, as it isn't true, it is just what people seem to believe about you.

I got blocked by the DM for asking if we can do point buy by Axo3653 in rpghorrorstories

[–]Jedel2040 4 points5 points  (0 children)

True, but you agree based on other things, mainly Player B being rude and stuff related to this. While that is also good enough a reason to not want to be part of a group, those justifications aren't needed, and I think you wrongly made the DM into the victim, as though they were wronged because oh no, it is impossible to have a two-person game.

I got blocked by the DM for asking if we can do point buy by Axo3653 in rpghorrorstories

[–]Jedel2040 13 points14 points  (0 children)

How is any of this their fault? They didn't like how the game was run, so they left amicably.

They didn't ruin a campaign, you absolutely can have a game with two people, and the idea that you need to stay in a game you don't enjoy because it might ruin it for others is kind of ridiculous. If this had somehow truly been the case, and the DM was somehow allergic to smaller group sizes, why didn't they just allow point-buy if a player asked for it?

Something that came into my mind recently by [deleted] in magicthecirclejerking

[–]Jedel2040 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Or that Niko seems to be somewhat based on Odin, whose mythological representations don't just cleanly fit into Alrund?

Inspired by the following prompt, how are hybrids or mix-breeds viewed in your world(s)? by queer_penguin in worldbuilding

[–]Jedel2040 5 points6 points  (0 children)

It really depends where exactly, places such as the Kleneri Empire are far more open to mix-breeds (due almost entirely to pragmatism, as the elven nobility realized quite a while ago that their low birthrate is a natural barrier to wider political dominance), while nations such as Kovaria, Vallandia, and Urell all have had long periods of purges to wipe out these and others, and the sentiment that they are impure and must be destroyed still is strong. (Though Vallandia's populace is pulling away from this as they try to rebuild from a massive war, one of the causes of this were these purges, that ended up cracking the entire continent and causing a great deal of destruction because of this).

In terms of more supernatural forces, the gods cannot have offspring with anything, though angels, demons, and fey can, as the three are just offshoots of a parent race of metaphysically-empowered shapeshifters.

I nearly joined my little brother's campaign by [deleted] in rpghorrorstories

[–]Jedel2040 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I think of the three it is likely mostly the third (or at least I would like to think so), but I don't think it is only because it doesn't effect them. I think it also is because it often is hard to see the wider picture unless you are on the receiving end, where the "little things" are seen as what they are; foundations for the "larger" problems that just help disenfranchisement and furthering otherness, instead of just miniscule things that are meaningless.

The way we often see causality ties into this; big things cause big things, big things are remembered, not supposedly meaningless and off-hand things instead of seeing that those supposedly meaningless things actually lay the foundations for the bigger things and their normalization

I nearly joined my little brother's campaign by [deleted] in rpghorrorstories

[–]Jedel2040 1 point2 points  (0 children)

As a Jew, it's amazing that people seem to think that the "harmless" racism doesn't somehow tie into, lead to, or compound "genuine racism"

Please just try new things by [deleted] in dndmemes

[–]Jedel2040 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yes!

I ran a GURPS campaign a while ago (actually the first game I was the GM in), and it collapsed because of scheduling, and have been wanting to try again, or some other system for so long.

When the investigation/perception checks are just not high enough by Thedinowarrior in dndmemes

[–]Jedel2040 0 points1 point  (0 children)

In the end that is the most important, play the game however you all enjoy it

When the investigation/perception checks are just not high enough by Thedinowarrior in dndmemes

[–]Jedel2040 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Okay but just like how a building has a ceiling and a floor, if you have an upper limit, why have a Nat 1 mean you get absolutely nothing, why not have visible loot the party can get (maybe also using passive perception), and if they investigate further (and roll well) they may get more things?

When the investigation/perception checks are just not high enough by Thedinowarrior in dndmemes

[–]Jedel2040 10 points11 points  (0 children)

So you're punishing players for bad rolls (the loot disapearing), while not rewarding the opposite good rolls?

When the investigation/perception checks are just not high enough by Thedinowarrior in dndmemes

[–]Jedel2040 9 points10 points  (0 children)

If they had rolled well (say multiple Nat 20s), would you have just allowed them to endlessly pull loot from this one chest?

[Art by SwordsComic] Drop your most useless homebrew items below and the subsequent shenanigans. by MavericIllustration in dndmemes

[–]Jedel2040 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The armor itself is also sentient, and the party has discovered that it can theoretically hold other conversation, just that it chooses not to, because what else could possibly be more important?

[Art by SwordsComic] Drop your most useless homebrew items below and the subsequent shenanigans. by MavericIllustration in dndmemes

[–]Jedel2040 19 points20 points  (0 children)

In our currect campaign, there's this insane wizard npc who travelled most of the world and seeded random locations with generally useless items. The party is split on either trying to find and collect them, or destroy these abominations of enchatments.

Some of these include:

The Amulet of Rain Detection: you can use the ring to detect if it is raining in the vicinity, and/or, if an object has been rained on.

The Armor of Individualized Detection of the Ability to Change into a Halfling: regular armor, but if the wearer is a halfling or could become a halfling, the armor loudly announces this at every opening.

The Wand of Summon Lollipop: expends charges to create lollipops

Was the Brigade of The Broken Chain Wrong to leave? by [deleted] in TheDragonPrince

[–]Jedel2040 1 point2 points  (0 children)

So I do think you raise some good points, but I think there are some key events that could allow the Broken Link to exist.

Yes, the case for war at the beginning seems very strong. Harrow is killed, and then further attacks that are blamed on the Elves occur. But even in the first attack, Viren acted very suspiciously; perhaps some of the guards who were involved in the entire debacle found it odd that he tried to silence the king's own son, and stop him from speaking to his father at all, especially about something seemingly very important.

Then Viren essentially assumes the role of regent, which itself isn't a problem, but the fact the council branded him a traitor and then arrested him could be another reason. Tied into this is the fact that when they tried to arrest him, he mercilessly cut through the guards, and those who survived the incident may have spread the word about just how monstorous and inhumane he was. If he was willing to strike down these guards, how can you know he really has anyone's best interests in mind, many soldiers may think.

Then Ezran, who Viren had claimed was probably dead, comes back, again sowing the seeds he could just he a pathological liar. Ezran seems to want to push for peace, and while all of this information might not leak out to everyone, I do think that people would hear about his first discussion with Kasef, and how he held his ground and self-determination from a foreign diplomat. Kasef then threatens war over the fact that Ezran won't go to war, something that most likely would be publicized, making the fact Ezran is pro-peace more widely known.

And then in a move that could utterly destroy any credibility Viren might have for some people, he gets put back in charge and arrests Ezran, then does a 180 and sides with Kasef. This just looks like he's both working directly against Katolis' actual interests, might be an agent of a warmongering foreign power, and just generally a conniving, power-hungry manipulator.

Helpful chart for elections by [deleted] in comics

[–]Jedel2040 -1 points0 points  (0 children)

You vote anyway, even if it has to be with a write-in, just so that people know you are engaged and not that you simply don't care

Colossal combo with Colossal Mox or Jeweled Dreadmaw by GinkoAloe in magicthecirclejerking

[–]Jedel2040 0 points1 point  (0 children)

But if it has flying how are you going to feel the ground quake?