Could you make a Christian-oriented RPG?
jmucchiello
Hero
There is going to be a Fudge release of an RPG based on Katherine Kurtz' Deryni series. (It's been in playtest for over a year now.) Those books take place in a fictional England/Scotland where the Christian church is very important to the story line.
And of course, there's always In Nomine from Steve Jackson Games. There's been rumor of a dark ages supplement for that game (rather than they publish modern setting) for a while now.
Joe
And of course, there's always In Nomine from Steve Jackson Games. There's been rumor of a dark ages supplement for that game (rather than they publish modern setting) for a while now.
Joe
Heh blame Nutkinland for my snarkiness, that's what I'm going with 
Anyway I think it could quite easily be done, however I don't think that standard Dnd makes much sense for the system.
Realistically what would best capture the feel of investigating the Christian faith would be on of the following:
Possibly playing the roles of Romans during the life of Jesus, during this time period it seems like you could touch on pre-nicene faith and it's relationship to other faiths such as Mithraism etc.
Another possibility would be playing modern day papal investigators that search for evidence of Miracles, possession, etc. The investigators would have to balance thier faith with inherent skepticism plus you could thow in the occasional possession etc. If you want you could even put a x-files spin with religious orders keeping the truth (some gnostic interpretation) from the populace.
Anyway I think it could quite easily be done, however I don't think that standard Dnd makes much sense for the system.
Realistically what would best capture the feel of investigating the Christian faith would be on of the following:
Possibly playing the roles of Romans during the life of Jesus, during this time period it seems like you could touch on pre-nicene faith and it's relationship to other faiths such as Mithraism etc.
Another possibility would be playing modern day papal investigators that search for evidence of Miracles, possession, etc. The investigators would have to balance thier faith with inherent skepticism plus you could thow in the occasional possession etc. If you want you could even put a x-files spin with religious orders keeping the truth (some gnostic interpretation) from the populace.
Demon definitely takes a very christian stance, probably most influenced by gnosticism, Blake, and Dante combined with the newer vertigo graphic novels depicting Lucifer as a not altogether evil presence.
All in all it's very powerful and while not as good as the material could be, it is a difficult subject to create a workable game framework around.
All in all it's very powerful and while not as good as the material could be, it is a difficult subject to create a workable game framework around.
Celebrim
Legend
Beginning with a system similar to D20 modern, the first place to start would be replace the combat system mechanic with an equally sophisticated alignment system mechanic so that you can conduct and be subject to 'spiritual warfare'.
Create a bunch of feats and skills designed to corresspond to the christian virtues, gifts, and teachings.
For instance, instead of 'dodge' and 'improved initiatve' a serious D20 'Christian RPG' would have 'gifts' like: 'Faith', 'Hope', 'Charity', 'Compasion', 'Soberity', 'Tongues', 'Prophesy', 'Holiness', 'Healing', 'Discernment', and so forth.
Anti-Feats and limitations would be very important to the game: 'Addictive Personality', 'Depression', 'Frivolity', 'Lazy', 'Short Temper', etc.
Instead of skills like 'pick pockets', 'tumble', and so forth, 'Christian heroes' would pour skill points into 'Evangelism', 'Teaching', 'Discipleship', 'Ministry' and so forth. Other tradiational skills like diplomacy, sence motive, perform, and heal would still be popular.
Alot of the game would focus on obtaining sufficient 'guidance' and 'violition' points to overcome obstacles faced in thier way and achieve the goals of their mission. Players would probably have less freedom to act compared to tradiational RPG's, and alot of the game would be trying to gain control of your character when faced with various 'trials' and 'temptations'. Failure on a trial or temptation check would result in your character either doing nothing, or worse yet doing something harmful to himself or to someone else.
One of the most difficult things about the game would be coming up with real challenges for the players, since most people know what they ought to do and would always try to do it in a RPG, but in real life people don't always do what they know to be right. (Thus all the rules limiting freedom of action). It would be a very hard game to DM and would cut a little too close to home for me alot of the time. Besides which, I'd feel very uncomfortable taking the role of the God as a DM.
You'd probably be better off using an arbitrary fantasy setting and introducing aspects of Christian morality, though as pervasive as Christian morality is in Western though I dare suggest you'd be hard pressed not to be influenced by Christian perceptions of good and evil.
Create a bunch of feats and skills designed to corresspond to the christian virtues, gifts, and teachings.
For instance, instead of 'dodge' and 'improved initiatve' a serious D20 'Christian RPG' would have 'gifts' like: 'Faith', 'Hope', 'Charity', 'Compasion', 'Soberity', 'Tongues', 'Prophesy', 'Holiness', 'Healing', 'Discernment', and so forth.
Anti-Feats and limitations would be very important to the game: 'Addictive Personality', 'Depression', 'Frivolity', 'Lazy', 'Short Temper', etc.
Instead of skills like 'pick pockets', 'tumble', and so forth, 'Christian heroes' would pour skill points into 'Evangelism', 'Teaching', 'Discipleship', 'Ministry' and so forth. Other tradiational skills like diplomacy, sence motive, perform, and heal would still be popular.
Alot of the game would focus on obtaining sufficient 'guidance' and 'violition' points to overcome obstacles faced in thier way and achieve the goals of their mission. Players would probably have less freedom to act compared to tradiational RPG's, and alot of the game would be trying to gain control of your character when faced with various 'trials' and 'temptations'. Failure on a trial or temptation check would result in your character either doing nothing, or worse yet doing something harmful to himself or to someone else.
One of the most difficult things about the game would be coming up with real challenges for the players, since most people know what they ought to do and would always try to do it in a RPG, but in real life people don't always do what they know to be right. (Thus all the rules limiting freedom of action). It would be a very hard game to DM and would cut a little too close to home for me alot of the time. Besides which, I'd feel very uncomfortable taking the role of the God as a DM.
You'd probably be better off using an arbitrary fantasy setting and introducing aspects of Christian morality, though as pervasive as Christian morality is in Western though I dare suggest you'd be hard pressed not to be influenced by Christian perceptions of good and evil.
AngelTears
First Post
In Nomine.
There is a roleplaying game published by the catholic church, or so I have heard, dealing with pious chritians going on Crusade. There are also two "role-playing games" that have been published by the Finnish Lutheran Church. I know they exist since I have seen them.
-Angel Tears
There is a roleplaying game published by the catholic church, or so I have heard, dealing with pious chritians going on Crusade. There are also two "role-playing games" that have been published by the Finnish Lutheran Church. I know they exist since I have seen them.
-Angel Tears
Capellan
Explorer
Dragon Warriors, while not a "Christian RPG", presents a game setting that features monotheistic religions (as well as pagan alternatives), church vs magic suspicion, and similar features of real world medieval culture. The game leaves it up to the PCs and DM to decide whether the various faiths and beliefs are seen as "good" or "bad" within the campaign.
Dragonraid was an explicitly Christian RPG, which used religious catechisms in the game mechanics. It used to be available online for free - not sure if it still is.
Maelstrom (the old Puffin novel-sized RPG - not the more recent release) was set in Elizabethan England and therefore could barely help but end up having some religious themes. Priests are able to exorcise demons and fell spirits, for instance ... assuming your game used such things, anyway - they were optional.
As for D&D itself, I see no reason why it couldn't be easily modified to run as a Christian-oriented game, if you wished to. I started a thread some time ago about Narnia d20, for instance, which I think would inevitably have some Christian elements. But even the core rules could work reasonably well. As someone suggested, the first step would be getting rid of the full pantheon of Gods and replacing them with a monotheistic church. (I will resist the urge to try and define Christianity's domains - too much potential for flame war!).
If you're looking for an example, Sepulchrave's story hour has some fairly evident Christian elements in his Oronthian Church.
Dragonraid was an explicitly Christian RPG, which used religious catechisms in the game mechanics. It used to be available online for free - not sure if it still is.
Maelstrom (the old Puffin novel-sized RPG - not the more recent release) was set in Elizabethan England and therefore could barely help but end up having some religious themes. Priests are able to exorcise demons and fell spirits, for instance ... assuming your game used such things, anyway - they were optional.
As for D&D itself, I see no reason why it couldn't be easily modified to run as a Christian-oriented game, if you wished to. I started a thread some time ago about Narnia d20, for instance, which I think would inevitably have some Christian elements. But even the core rules could work reasonably well. As someone suggested, the first step would be getting rid of the full pantheon of Gods and replacing them with a monotheistic church. (I will resist the urge to try and define Christianity's domains - too much potential for flame war!).
If you're looking for an example, Sepulchrave's story hour has some fairly evident Christian elements in his Oronthian Church.
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