Lord Hideyoshi, the regent of Japan at the time, took the first step toward the control of firearms. It was a very small step, and it was not taken simply to protect feudal lords from being shot at by peasants but to get all weapons out of the hands of civilians. He said nothing about arms control. Instead, he announced that he was going to build a statue of Buddha that would make all existing statues look like midgets. It would be so enormous (the figure was about twice the scale of the Statue of Liberty), that many tons of iron would be needed just for the braces and bolts. Still more was required to erect the accompanying temple, which was to cover a piece of ground something over an eighth of a mile square. All farmers, ji-samurai, and monks were invited to contribute their swords and guns to the cause. They were, in fact, required to. -- from publisher description.

Set Sail for Adventure! From the jeweled islands of the tropics to the ice-choked polar seas and everywhere across the bottomless briny blue, the Pirate Campaign Compendium from Legendary Games offers 448 pages of amazing expansions for any nautical campaign using 5th Edition DnD. This beautiful book is perfect for embarking on epic journeys of exploration above or below the waves, voyages to distant shores, or full-on pirate campaigns of plunder and pillage! The Pirate Campaign Compendium brings you an incredible collection of rules for nautical campaigns of every kind, including:- Dozens of archetypes, class features, feats, and more for nautical characters like the privateer, and ship mage, new sorcerer metamagic and wild shape options, and tricks for underwater combat like Eel Strike and Sea Shooter, plus new character backgrounds and expanded firearm rules!Maritime magic with over 60 new magic items and nearly 70 spells drawn from traditional Caribbean pirate lore but also from the distant corners of the fantasy world, from Arabia to the Arctic, to the Far East and South Pacific!- FIVE complete adventures for characters from 4th to 14th level!- Over 40 savage sea monsters ranging from Challenge 1/8 to 23, from coral golems and seaweed leshies to deep ones and the star-spawn of Cthluhu!- Nearly 70 ready-to-use NPCs from common pirates to officers of the line, as well as richly detailed and evocative heroes and villains ideal as recurring characters and playable pirate PCs.- Simple and advanced ship-to-ship combat rules, plus a dynamic and exciting fleet battle system for running major naval engagements and modular rules for shipbuilding and special ship modifications.- Plus tons of bonus material for navigation and storms at sea, fame and infamy, aquatic and underwater terrain, shipwrecks and plunder, shipboard roles, pirate punishment, grog, seasickness, sea shanties, a pirate glossary, and even peg legs and eyepatches!The Pirate Campaign Compendium is your indispensable resource for any 5th Edition campaign that charts a course for adventure on the open sea! It's time to leave the shore behind and Make Your Game Legendary!

Background becomes foreground in Moyer Hubbard's creative introduction to the social and historical setting for the letters of the Apostle Paul to churches in Asia Minor and Europe. Hubbard begins each major section with a brief narrative featuring a fictional character in one of the great cities of that era. Then he elaborates on various aspects of the cultural setting related to each particular vignette, discussing the implications of those venues for understanding Paul's letters and applying their message to our lives today. Addressing a wide array of cultural and traditional issues, Hubbard discusses: • religion and superstition • education, philosophy, and oratory • urban society • households and family life in the Greco-Roman world This work is based on the premise that the better one understands the historical and social context in which the New Testament (and Paul's letters) was written, the better one will understand the writings of the New Testament themselves. Passages become clearer, metaphors deciphered, and images sharpened. Teachers, students, and laypeople alike will appreciate Hubbard's unique, illuminating, and well-researched approach to the world of the early church.

"Complete with the original 2002 foreword by Kinji Fukasaku"--Cover.

A Tokyo college student’s discovery and eventual obsession with a stolen handgun awakens something dark inside him. On a nighttime walk along a Tokyo riverbank, a young man named Nishikawa stumbles on a dead body, beside which lies a gun. From the moment Nishikawa decides to take the gun, the world around him blurs. Knowing he possesses the weapon brings an intoxicating sense of purpose to his dull university life. But soon Nishikawa’s personal entanglements become unexpectedly complicated: he finds himself romantically involved with two women while his biological father, whom he’s never met, lies dying in a hospital. Through it all, he can’t stop thinking about the gun—and the four bullets loaded in its chamber. As he spirals into obsession, his focus is consumed by one idea: that possessing the gun is no longer enough—he must fire it.

Acclaimed author Sam Sykes returns with a brilliant new epic fantasy that introduces an unforgettable outcast mage caught between two warring empires. Her magic was stolen. She was left for dead. Betrayed by those she trusts most and her magic ripped from her, all Sal the Cacophony has left is her name, her story, and the weapon she used to carve both. But she has a will stronger than magic, and knows exactly where to go. The Scar, a land torn between powerful empires, where rogue mages go to disappear, disgraced soldiers go to die and Sal went with a blade, a gun, and a list of seven names. Revenge will be its own reward.