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Thanks. More ideas are always welcome. I'm never satisfied with my non-combat sessions. I feel that even a pure roleplaying session should be as interesting and eventful as fighting monsters and grabbing treasure, but its hard to achieve that effect.
I am looking for advice on creating an interesting one session game based on the following general description: Intelligence for the Kingdom of Northron indicates that Lord Wolfsbane of the rival Estron Kingdom has come to resent his king intensely due the King's failure to follow through with a planned marriage of a prince to his daughter. With the right inducements and guarentees, he might be convinced to switch sides, swear allegiance to the Northron King, and allow Northron troops to occupy his lands and thus gain control of a strategic point on the river. The PCs must seek an audience with the Lord and try to convince him to switch sides. The PCs are a mercenary party, selected for "plausable deniability" reasons. A planning session at the inn followed by a few hours of parley with Lord Wolfsbane doesn't sound too exciting. I'm looking for better ideas to spice this up. The ideal game would lots of opportunity for roleplaying and also involve a little combat or threat of same.
Odd policy. Why the secrecy?
Does Paizo pay for Pathfinder Society scenarios? If so, how much?
Good points. We won't start this if we don't first have answers to such issues. This won't be a theme park MMO. That seems to be what you are thinking of, and constantly generating new content for that would indeed be impossible. This would be more of a sandbox MMO. but not a total sandbox either, more of a directed sandbox, for lack of a better term. There would be no "quests" in the usual sense of the word. Player characters would be mercenary hirelings, like they usually are. The modules that they play in would mostly be missions determined by the higher level GMs and admins who would be representing factions and playing the game against each other, using missions undertaken by PCs to accomplish their ends. As ends are accomplished, or not, the world changes. Coming up with missions for players would be how the higher level GMs and admins play the game, and as such the missions should come naturally. For example: "my intelligence service revealed that the mayor of Bordertown (an NPC) resents the local duke. A diplomatic mission might be able to turn him to our side, but if we fail, we will have to kill him." We don't know at this point how much effort it would take to turn a statement like that into a one or two session adventure - maps and collections of NPCs would be there, but detail and color has to be provided to flesh out the adventure. Whether enough such content can be generated to handle the demands of the game depends a lot on the ratios of higher level paid content creators/admins/GMs, and the non-paid first level GMs and players. How high a ratio we can afford is an economic issue. Below a certain point it won't work. Of course there would be dungeons and ruins that players could explore, containing wandering monsters and treasure, but these would be secondary diversions important to the main action only as sources of historical artifacts, inscriptions, and scrolls that will be relevant to the game once their meaning is deciphered.
My vision of the ideal encounter is one where the players all get knocked down by a good chunk of hitpoints and some get so low they seriously start worrying, but they win in the end. A victory that you have to work for is a victory that you can savor and a victory that you feel you've earned. I think that is what players have come to expect in my games. Unfortunately I find it hard to achieve this fine balance, tending to underpower or overpower the bad guys. Fortunately, the players don't know precisely how many hitpoints the bad guys have, or what spells they have and so forth. So if it looks like the players are definitely being overpowered because of a mistake on my part with no reasonable hope of at least escaping, I will shave some hp off of the NPCs and let them live. If I wind up underpowering myself, I usually just let the players have an easy one that time.
The only Neverwinter Nights persistent world games I was aware of were either those made by individual GMs for their own group of players, or some sort of mods where everyone or every group entering the server went through the same campaign, fighting the same monsters, overcoming the same bad guys, etc. I never played in one. If you know of some run differently I would be interested in links - but please send them to my email address - penfieldgamer@gmail.com - I don't want to turn this thread into a discussion of Neverwinter Nights. What we are trying to achieve is a game where the player has the feel of being inside a big fantasy novel where his or her actions have a permanent and unique effect on the world, as opposed to just going through the same quests or campaigns that everyone else is going through, like in normal MMOs, or tabletop living games.
What we want to develop is nothing like Neverwinter Nights or conventional MMOs - what we want to develop is an online game played by small groups of players, with a GM running each game, using tokens on VTT map boards, die rollers, etc. just like any other tabletop game. The closest analogies are living games - like Pathfinder Society, except that in our case every module, quest, or exploration would be unique, with everything that happens permanently effecting the world. And the overall "plot" so to speak, arising out of admins playing against each other at a higher level.
I am one of a group of gamers who are investigating the possibility of an running online MMORPG done pen and paper style through VTTs as a profit making venture. We are studying the economics of running such a game to determine if it could be economically viable, and that is what this survey is about - please read on. We are veterans players of MMOs as well as tabletop living games and rpgtonight's experiments in an online living game a few years ago. Here is a brief description of the concept: This would be a persistent world, similar to those found in conventional MMOs. One major difference between this world and conventional MMO worlds would be that it is even more persistent than they are. For example, if someone removed an item from a dungeon, it would be gone from the dungeon and no one else would ever find it there. A second major difference is an outgrowth of the first - there would be no repeatable quests. The modules that players went through would effect the world permanently. A bad guy could be killed only once, a treasure stolen only once, etc. A third major difference is that the action in the game - the modules that the players play and GMs run will be determined by a group of paid admins and GMs, who will be playing the game in their own way as representatives of major political entities and other factions (i.e. kingdoms, guilds, at least one big time evil bad guy, etc.), and who will be hiring PCs as mercenaries or followers to advance their causes. The game would be played online, mostly through a browser based VTT (virtual tabletop), but individual groups could play most modules through their own favorite VTTs or at face to face play sessions, reporting their results to admins. The official game system would probably be a new totally software based system being developed by a third party for use with VTTs, though Pathfinder or D&D are not out of the question. For now we are investigating a monthly subscription model, with a Kickstarter campaign and a few "insider" investors providing the start-up capital. The beta would be launched in late 2014. Our goal would be to create opportunities for players to play in at least one game per week, with more being possible for players who want more. Here is the survey - you can just copy the questions and type your answers after them; you can post them here or email them to penfieldgamer@gmail.com: 1) Would you be interested in playing in such a game as a player if Pathfinder was used as the official game system? 2) Would you be interested in playing in such a game as a player if the aforementioned automated VTT based game system was used (assume that it lets you do what you want to do in an RPG, is pretty much bug free, and is as easy/difficult to learn as a typical RPG system)? 3) If you are interested, and if only one game was available per week, how much would you expect to pay per month to play? 4) How much would you actually be willing or able to pay? 5) If you are interested, and if you could play in as many games as you wanted per week, how much would you expect to pay per month
6) How much would you be willing or able to pay? 7) How many games would you be like to play in per week? The following questions relate to interest in becoming a GM or admin. There would be three levels of GMs/admins in the game, with the highest two levels being paid positions: The first level GMs would run most of the game sessions. These game sessions would consist of both modules supplied by admins and by player or GM instigated explorations of pre-existing dungeons and other sites of interest. The first level GMs would not be paid for their time, but they would get to play for free. GMs would also be allowed to play as PCs most other games. Their PCs would be granted some choice items in echange for their services as GMs. These GMs would not represent any particular political entity, they would just be normal GMs. Level 1 GMs would also have the opportunity to be promoted to level 2 GMs when openings arise. 8) Would you be likely to play as a first level GM under these conditions? The second level GMs would be expected to run some games, and would have to act a special NPC on occasion, but would spend most of their time playing as a certain political entity or faction. They would be responsible for conceptually devising most of the scenarios that the level 1 GMs run, but not necessarily writing them. Player's success or failure in these scenarios would determine the GM's success or failure in their goals. Second level GMs would be part time (20 hours per week) paid positions. Level 2 GMs would also have the opportunity to be promoted to level 3 GMs when openings arise. Level 2 GMs would be hired as contractors, meaning they would not be employees or receive benefits, would be responsible for payment of their own taxes. etc. We believe that Level 2 GMs could reside outside of the United States without us running afoul of US labor law - for now assume that this is the case. There would be a very limited number of level 2 GMs compared to normal GMs. 9) Would you be likely to play as a level 2 GM if offered the chance? 10) What hourly rate (in USD) would you expect to be paid? (if from another country please convert to USD using any online source). Each third level GM, a GM/administrator, would represent very high level factions - including a Big Evil bad Guy Who is Trying to Take Over and Enslave the World. When they aren't cooking up plots for their factions, they will be developing modules for the lower level GMs. Third level GMs would be employed full time (40 hours per week). It is likely that they would work as salaried employees, with taxes and social security withheld, and with health benefits. Only a very small number of level 3 GMs would be employed. 11) Would you be likely to become a level 3 GM under these conditions? 12) What hourly rate (in USD) would you expect to be paid? We will need module designers. People who will have to write most of the modules that the GMs will be running. Most of these will be very simple, things like stealing a key item,ambushing a caravan, defending a fort against bad guys, etc. but some will be more complex. And of course even the simplest scenarios will benefit from embellishment and background. We expect that module designers will be freelancers. 13) If you are an experienced adventure designer, how much do you currently charge for developing a simple one-game-session adventure, OR, how much do you get paid on average from companies who buy your adventures? 14) Same question as 13 for a string of one game session modules constituting a longer adventure? 15) How long does it typically take you to develop a single session game adventure?. 16) We will also need freelance artists as the game is being developed. They are not a part of this survey, but if you are an artist who does freelancing please email us for future reference.
RPGtonight has not been around for several months....but its genetically modified chimera offspring may see the light of day again...for totally different purposes.
The second round of playtests for the RPGtonight Living Game are currently getting into full swing with several games every week. We have 9 GMs with a few admins acting as additional GMs, and we have decided we need more players (though we won't turn you away if you are interested in being a GM instead!). RPGtonight.com itself is an online virtual tabletop site. This is a playtest for a unique online tabletop style "living game," that began in January and will run for several more months. The living game is a persistent "sandbox" world where multiple GMs and dozens of players all play and interact within the same game world. It is quite a bit different from traditional living games like Living Greyhawk. The GMs, as well as the players, play the game, taking the part of noble houses who must hire adventuring parties of players to accomplish their goals and work against a menacing evil that is slowly rising up to threaten their kingdom. GMs can occasionally become players in the admins' or other GM's games, going on various missions. Think of it as an MMO game done tabletop style. If interested please take a look at the information on the main page of our site and in the Living Game Information and Recruitment section of our message boards (www.rpgtonight.com, then use the "text bulletin board" button near the top of the left column). Then post in the Living Game recruitment thread or PM "Living Game". Free rules sets are emailed to GMs and players promptly. Game times depend on the schedules of the GMs and the players. The playtests use the D&D 4e system, simply because that is what most people in the world are playing right now. We also run beginner's games on most Saturday nights, starting at 8PM Eastern time US. These are intended for people who are new to tabletop roleplaying, and also for people who are new to RPGtonight and want some practice in using the system. If you are interested in getting into a beginner's game, please post in the beginner's game thread.
There is still room for more GMs and players. There are two GM slots open and unlimited room for players. The playtests will start this week and run for several months. See the first post for details.
RPGtonight (a virtual tabletop site www.rpgtonight.com ) is looking
Games will occur on different nights, depending on the schedules of the GMs and the players they happen to be running for a given session.
RPGtonight is a free online virtual tabletop that works in your
RPGtonight, an online virtual tabletop site, is hosting beginner's games every Saturday night for people who are new to tabletop style roleplaying. Games run from 8PM Eastern Daylight Time US to (?) We use the 4e system. All you have to do to join in is create a first level 4e character and send it in. See the beginner's game thread on our forums at www.rpgtonight.com for instructions on creating characters, a process which we will help with. Click on the "text bulletin board" link on the left side of the main page then look for the Beginner's Game section in the forums. RPGtonight is a free online virtual tabletop that works in your browser. There is nothing to download. PS: We are not 4e centric - if there are GMs out there who would like to hold sessions to introduce new people to Pathfinder we would love to hear from you. PPS: For more experienced players, want more 4e games every week? Join our extended Living Game playtests in an online "sandbox" setting with multiple GMs and dozens of players. Again, see the Forums.
Actually, I was going to look it up in Wikipedia at first, but then realized it would be much more fun to start a thread that would grow to several hundred pages in length over the next few years and never resolve anything :D
There used to be a thread here called "What Conservatives Believe." What I want to know is what progressives believe, because I honestly don't know. What is a progressive? Can progressive's beliefs and ideology be condensed into a handful of talking points, like the conservatives? What's the difference between a progressive and a liberal? Inquiring minds want to know.
Actually, I'm confused -- by "market share", do you mean the number of people buying RPG products, or the number of people playing a given RPG? Certainly more people are buying 4e stuff than 3.5. By "Market Share" I meant the number of people buying, or sales volume, whatever. I used the term "player base" to mean the number of people actually playing the game. My impressions have more to do with player base, actually, because I've never asked anyone how much product of each type they sell.
Interesting topic - who has the biggest market share and player base now?
See my post in Gamers life if you want to discuss it. (PS: and sign up for the playtest at rpgtonight.com too. Players are just starting to get organized into parties and all that. Sorry - 4e only.)
Up in the gamer connection section, I posted a notice about an online "Living Game" playtest that a website I am involved with is doing. In it I stated that D&D 4e was being used for the playtest because it is what most people seem to be playing nowadays. This sentence elicited many expressions of surprise and incredulity. It is my impression, from both the net and my local area, that more tabletop gamers are playing D&D 4e than anything else, and that the majority of tabletop gamers are playing 4e. Obviously that is not true of people on this board, but it seems to be true in the English speaking world in general. And yet...I keep seeing indications that D&D no longer holds the commanding lead it once had in sales or player base. I keep hearing WOTC and Paizo mentioned in the same breath as the market leaders, with everyone else behind. And there seem to be a lot 3.5er's out there who are still very active with that system. So what are the figures like? Does anyone know? Does anyone else have different impressions?
The first functional playtest of the RPGtonight Online Living Game is about to start up. We are still accepting players and GMs. The more of each the merrier! Players are organizing themselves into parties and GMs will soon start recruiting parties to perform adventurous and nefarious deeds on their behalf. If interested please take a look at the information on the main page of our site (www.rpgtonight.com ) and in the Living Game Playtests section about midway down our message boards, and respond with an email to admin@rpgtonight.com if you are interested. Players and GM's manuals will be sent to will be sent out promptly. Please state whether you are interested in testing as a player or GM. We particularly need more GMs. The playtests will use the D&D 4e system, simply because that is what most
This living game is unique and quite a bit different from other living games. There are no pre-planned scenarios or adventures. Instead, the GMs themselves are playing the game amongst themselves, with characters of their own instead of random NPCs, and using the actions of adventuring parties to advance their interests and thwart the goals of others. The rules set that we have devised to make this happen is what is being tested.
But the big question is did he really show up and did he really perform miracles? All we have is a group of second hand accounts saying that some poeple witessed this and that happening, without any independent verification from other sources (something that I understand historians insist upon before accepting anything as fact nowadays). We also have other written accounts of men claiming to be representatives of God or gods that contradict the Christian record. What basis is there to accept the Christian record over the Koran or the teachings of Bhudda or the stories in the ancient Indian holy texts? Or for aqccepting that any of them are true at all?
I think that it's better to prosecute the individuals responsible for crimes, not the organizations they work for. Organizations are abstract entities. Crimes are committed by individual people and usually hurt other individual people. Prosecuting an organization only lets the people who committed the crime hide behind the organization and skate free without consequence while the organizations gets fined or sanctioned in some manner. We already do things that way in the corporate world. An example of the results we get is the recent coal mine explosion in West Virginia. The company responsible violated federal safety regulations on numerous occasions. They were also fined on numerous occasions but treated the fines as just part of the cost of doing business. I think there would be a whole bunch of miners alive today and working in safer mines if the punishment for violating federal regulations had been jail time for the president and officers of the company.
At one time, I even wanted to be a priest. Sorry, they don't let poodles become priests. Not even male heterosexual ones.
What I find amusing is that pretty much all religions say don't be a jerk. Surprisingly, even Satanist. My impression of satanists from the only Tee-Vee segment I've seen about them is that they sound like Ayn Rand-ites who believe in magik. Too bad there aren't any satanists here to explain their side of things.
1st group: circus, silence, court neutral2nd group: circus silence court
I am a male heterosexual. I tend to respond positively to female anything.
Unfortunately, many mistake the medicine for poison.
No, the people of Somalia are living in "interesting times." The people of North Korea are living in "interesting times." The people in Nazi Germany and Stalinist Russia and the Black Plague epidemics were living in "interesting times." Anyone posting on this board has had it better than 99.99% of the people who ever lived on this planet, even if they are posting from a crack house. I'm beginning to think that guy in the Matrix was right. I can't remember the details of his little speech, but basically what he said to Neo was that we humans are hardwired for pain and suffering and angst. Put us in paradise and we just can't handle it.
Who has the best looking babes is what I care about.That would be Brazil. ;) Did you know that the Girl from Ipanema, the teenager named Helô Pinheiro that the song was based on, is now a 66 year old businesswoman living in Rio de Janeiro? She was featured in the Brazilian edition of Playboy in 1987 and 2003. Fact of the day brought to you by Wikipedia.
Are christians persecuted? Honestly yes they're ridiculed for their beliefs, yelled at for showing up at your door to witness, told that their beliefs are outdated.... etc. That is mostly what you face in america.... The first one is a form of persecution, the second might be or might just be justified anger on the part of a busy the homeowner who was rudely interrupted (and may have been repeatedly interrupted in the past), but the third is definitely not persecution by any stretch of the imagination. If I tell a conservative that his political beliefs are out of date, is that persecution? If a vegan tells me that I'm an animal holocaust denier and ought to stop eating meat, is that persecution? If a Republican tells a Democrat that his policies are turning the United States into a socialist tyranny, is that persecution? No, no and no! All three are called "open debate" and "expressing ones opinion." Yet when it comes criticism of their religion, religious believers often get all prickly, and yell "persecution" when confronted with challenges to their beliefs or world view that would be considered normal debate in any other context. And indeed that is all it is, normal debate.
At his 4:00 PM EST press conference, Stupak, flanked by six or eight other Democrats announced that he and the Dems had reached a deal on abortion provisions and that he and his fellow anti abortion holdouts would be voting yes. This gives the Dems more than enough votes to pass the house bill.
Can't we all just get along? How about if we put whiskey in our tea and coffee. Is that OK?
It's been awhile since I've watched a good anime series. What recent titles would the posters here recommend seeing, that have been released in the US either dubbed or subtitled? I've watched and enjoyed quite a few over the years that were fantasy related, in part because they gave me ideas for plots for my games, some of them humorous. These include Rune Soldier, Escaflowne, .Hack Sign and .Hack Roots, Lodoss War and one of the spinoffs, and Those Who Hunt Elves I and II (yes I admit to liking Those Who Hunt Elves), and a couple of the El-Hazard series. Slayers not so much. I also like science fiction, but I'm not into giant robots. Again, I'd be interested in any suggestions from among releases during the past couple of years.
Not yet. Iran just announced that it has made some 20% enriched uranium. I hear they need 80% or 90% and a good deal of it to start making bombs. Then they have to build and test the bombs. Israel already has nukes, the figures I've heard are in the 100+ range. So Israel has the upper hand for now. And while they do, the motivation to attack is very high. As will the motivation for the US to sit back and let them, so that we don't have to. As for China and Russia, just give them a few decades of growth and a few decades of Russian economic stagnation, and China might just be able to buy Siberia.
Try www.rpgtonight.com it's free, works in your browser, nothing to download or connect. I don't know if anyone has tried Pathfinder on it, but it ought to work. It's not system specific. BTW, see my post below about playtesting for a "living game" if you are into that sort of thing. That's DnD 4e though.
4e is just for playtesting. For the real game we are looking for an alternative system. Preferably copyright free or open license, so that we can use it freely without potential licensing fees/legal issues under certain conditions. If you have any you like, we'd love to hear about them and maybe try them out.
RPGtonight (a virtual tabletop site) is looking for at least 10 more GMs and a large number of players to playtest a unique online tabletop style living game. If interested please take a look at the information on the main page of our site ( www.rpgtonight.com ) and in the Living Game Playtests section of our message boards, and respond there. The playtests will use the D&D 4e system, simply because that is what most people are playing right now. Currently we are just recruiting. Rules sets will be sent to GMs and players in February and playtesting will probably start in early March.
Assuming that you are a conservative, can you clarify what you mean by by providing some examples where you believe that government bureaucrats are currently making choices about people's lives that you think they ought not?
Thank goodness its not Ann Coulter. Haven't seen her crawl out of the woodwork for a long time. Betcha she's envious of Sarah Palin for being the reigning conservative diva since last year's convention.
That's the Republican Party's big problem nowadays. What exites the base tends to turn off the populace in general. Sarah Palin got people on their feet at the convention but may have wound up costing McCain the election. She polled high after the convention but her numbers tanked steadily after that. There are other examples: the Terry Schaivo(sp?) affair; George Bush for the last two or three years of term 2; the conservative challenge to the liberal Republican candidate in the recent upstate NY election; abortion, where the majority want to keep the law the way it is, even those who don't support abortion personally; and taxes, which are low enough that they are no longer a big issue with most people. And support for gay marriage is slowly increasing and is very high among the young, so the republican base won't even have the population on their side with that issue in the future.
If man's carbon dioxide emissions are causing climate change, isn't the problem going to more or less solve itself on its own over the next 50 years or so? We're supposedly near, at, or just past peak oil, and demand for oil is increasing. That means gasoline prices are generally going to go up from now on, which means that people are going to use less gasoline one way or the other, which means that less CO2 is going to get spewed from cars. I don't know what the trends in coal use are, but won't places like China go the same way as UK did in the 19th century? As they develop their economies won't they find that other sources of energy like hydro and nuclear, and in the future solar and wind, are cheaper and easier to deal with?
This is an old idea, I heard it more than a year ago. Some even go further, saying that global warming will shut down the Gulf Stream and trigger a bigger ice age across the northern hemisphere. The media trots out this ice age stuff whenever the temperature gets really cold, or they trot out global warming stuff whenever its hot. But climate change, whether up, down, natural or manmade is mostly a very slow process with lots of yearly variation, and what the temperature is like in a given year tells you absolutely nothing about long term trends. 
The new decade doesn't start until 2011. Darn you people!
Actually it makes sense (unless the attendant bureacracy makes implementing it more costly than its worth). A fine is supposed to be a disincentive to illegal behavior, a way to cause a bit of pain and inconvenience to those who commit minor infractions of the law, in hopes that this will make them less likely to commit such infractions in the future. A $100 traffic fine may cause a bit of pain and inconvenience to me and therefore it is a disincentive. But $100 is not a cause of pain and inconvenience to someone making several million dollars per year. To such a person, a $100 fine would be no more inconvenient than a dollar or two for me. So a higher fine should be charged to the millionaire just to make the disincentive higher. On the other hand, there is the possibility that the traffic cops would then hang out in rich neighborhoods in order to maximize revenue for their towns, which would be unfair to the rich drivers and also make the roads in poor neighborhoods less safe.
Ah! but plots for world domination have become soooo much more sophisticated today.....Let's see. First they get us to run up a huge trade deficit, then they buy up all our treasury bills to get us trillions of dollars into dept, then they watch in amusement as we get ourselves into trillions of dollars more dept by invading the wrong country and defending a continent that has more money than us and should be defending themselves..... Now where'd I put that Chinese language course??
That's something I've been wondering since the Soviet Union imploded. Doesn't Europe have a collective population and GNP that is greater than the US'? And two of their countries have nukes. So why can't they handle and pay for their own defense? Let's save some money by pulling our troops out.
So you believe I, a non-Christian, should pay my taxes to support your religion just because I'm a minority? Oh, look, textbook case of tyranny of the majority.Sure if the voters have an issue kick the mayor, state senator, whatever elected offical out. I still think the local government gets to pick and choose, but the courts don't.So, you'd support tax dollars going to a satanist religious display, then? Freedom of religion means freedom of ALL religions, not just yours.I think this is what many conservatives point to when they say legisating from the bench or activist judges. It is also why judges are less trusted to be fair and impartial these days. an an atheist I don't mind the government paying for trees and tinsel snowman decorations. Those aren't religious symbols. Besides, I celebrate the secular aspects of Christmas too. I also don't mind Christian groups setting up creches in the the square as long as they pay for them plus the setup and takedown, to me that's part of free speech (and don't the courts allow that?). I do, however, insist that Jews get to set up menorahs and Hindus and Muslims and Satanists get to set up whatever it is they set up on their holidays, and us atheists get to set up anti-religious displays when we think its appropriate and maybe a pro evolution display on Darwin's birthday.
I know there is the Divine, in all his aspects. An Athiest believes there isn't.I've got to say that this one bugs me a bit, unless I'm misreading it. You appear to assert that you "know" your position is true, whereas those who disagree with you merely "believe" so? My understanding was that, in a Christian sense, omniscience was reserved for God, not His followers. I may be wrong but I think that Matthew may be confusing "believing very strongly" or "being confident that his beliefs are true" with "knowing." I don't know the philisophical ins and outs, but it seems to me that "knowing" is a different beast than "believing." For example, I know that 1+1=2 in base 10 in standard arithmatic blah blah blah. I know what the name of my hometown is. I don't know the current distance to the planet Mars. However, I *believe* that Niel Armstrong walked on the moon (very strong evidence, counter evidence is not credible, but I wasn't there), and I *don't believe* that god exists (evidence for and against exists, but evidence for is not very credible by modern standards and evidence against seems stronger and more direct). Unless Mathew claims that he can actually experience the divine with his senses, in other words, that he is a visionary, he cannot "know" that the divine exists.
Aaaarrgghhh!!! Foiled by the Post Monster!
Not explicitly, but in the past I've heard plenty of people who start in arguing that America is a Christian country and the founding fathers were Christians, not Diests and go on in the next breath to claim that the separation of church and state is a myth propagated by liberals and secular humanists...so I have to wonder.
Or maybe he was just an itinerant preacher who's followers got the Elvis Sighting syndrome or started exaggerating the tale a bit each time they passed it on after he died. Personally, I never understood why conservatives admire a guy who told everyone to turn the other cheek and give their money away to the poor :)
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