Could you make a Christian-oriented RPG?

[Wolfspirit]

Yes, I think it would be possible to have a monotheistic system, however I don't think I would feel right pretending to follow a religion that is too much like a real world religion. That's the main reason I don't really support a Christian RPG, I would be very leary of putting words into God's mouth, as it were. There's also the thing that I don't like having too much reality in my fantasy

Just my 2cp

 

[s/LaSH]

Heh, whatever I do normally ends up with religious themes and dragons in it - even the hard scifi. So the campaign I DM is pretty Christian (OK, it's medieval Europe, it's got to be Christian). It's not about the game mechanics, it's about how the characters react to stuff... and the cleric is played very well. If you've read the early pages of my strip, you'll know what I'm on about; if not, well, let's just say he's very willing to give monsters the benefit of the doubt. Oh, and he's killed a sentient, living being precisely once so far (in the comic, at least).

Honestly, game mechanics are secondary to the spirit and goals of the game, which can be fairly easily tweaked.

Now, as to the subject of magic... a party with a Christian priest and a mage in it would have problems if I stuck with the common view of 'magic is bad'. Fortunately, the topic's a little more confusing than most people believe. Just looking at real history, with the aid of the Chambers Dictionary of World History, I can state that "In England, where white or harmless magic was recognised by Common Law as not identical with the malefica of witchcraft proper"... Isn't that interesting?

Now, white magic is in no way related to fireball-slinging. So I had to go an extra step, and elevated magic to the level of technology. In fact, the future timeline of my campaign has some very interesting advances, including spells above third level. In this case, I assume that the source of magical energy is purely natural, and follows principles that (while not fully understood by Medieval thinking) are just like, say, radio reception. The priests are trained in a similar field of endeavour, except they don't draw on elemental powers, they draw on positive energy.

Now consider Amish folk. They disapprove of technology on religious grounds, or so I'm told (don't have any in New Zealand). Consider, then, what would have happened if magic had the same credence as tech; there would be people denouncing it, but they'd be a distinct minority.

Well, I think that's about covered my behind. Just wanted to say: I've done it, and you can too; it's all in the way you look at things.

 

[HellHound]

There are a few truly Christian RPGs out there.

The most recent has already been mentioned, being Celestia Ex, a game about Angelic RPing.

An older one is Spiritual Warfare, by Golgotha Games. It's a D&D Sword & Sorcery type RPG with a christian slant. There is also a Wild West setting for the same system called Blaze of Glory.

 

[Greatwyrm]

Why exactly would magic have to be cut out? The bible is chock full of it.

--Pharo's ministers turn their staves into snakes. Moses does the same and his snake eats the others.

--Moses parts the Red Sea.

--The Hebrews spend 40 years in the desert eating food that God makes magically appear for them.

--You want magic items? How about the Ark of the Covenant? Zaps infidels, collapses cities.

--Can't forget the flaming sword that guards the entrance to the Garden of Eden once Adam and Eve get kicked out.

--How about the three guys that get thrown in the brick oven for most of a day and come out just fine?

There's all kinds of magic in the bible. Some of it is specifically prohibited (in Dueteronomy? (sp?)). Good characters are going to get any magic they have from God. Just make sure nobody is using Creeping Doom or Slay Living unless you're in some kind of "Avengers of God" campaign.

 

[I'm A Banana]

Just need the right campaign setting, I'd think.

If I had the time to do the research and effort, you can bet your buddha I'd be making a Biblically-inspired RPG setting.

Think about it...

Set a campaign before the ascent of Jesus, where you're God's Chosen People, without home or palace, struggling against a hostile world.

Set a campaign in ancient Jerusalem, where prophets and seers are a dime a dozen and rebellion is fermenting. Maybe this is before or after the big J, maybe during...

Set a campaign in Rome, either before, after, or during it's
Christianization. You could represent the persecuted "cults" of true believers, for instance, fighting against the Satan-Empowered Roman Empire.

Set a campaign in the middle ages -- it's close enough where you'd have to do only flavor changes. All arcane casters must be evil, divine casters must worship God. Maybe you could be a Sorcerer, a "blessed one" who can work miracles, for the class...

Set a campaign in the exotic and flavorful multiverse of the Divine Comedey, or Milton's Paradise Lost. Play angels against Satan's will. Play humans, caught in the struggle...

d20 Modern also lends itself to the setting pretty well (being, y'know, modern and all...)

You'd have to change quite a few little things here and there, but, honestly...I'd shell out for something that drew honestly on biblical source material, and presented the setting in a great way. There's lots of great source material to draw on.

Also, in addition, regular D&D can be "christian," as well. The Bible says nothing, really, against pretending to worship other gods in the game...as long as you don't start seriously allocating your worship to it, it should be okay. It's only a certain mindset -- I learned how to play D&D from guys I met at my Catholic school, so the two certainly aren't mutually exclusive, to those who desire to see it. At the same time, I can't really find "fault" with anyone for seeing D&D as evil...the logic used works, if you accept what they do.

 

[kenjib]

I think old testament d20 would be pretty cool, and I'm atheist.

7th Sea has a monotheistic religion which, in the standard 7th Sea fashion, is really just the Christian Church with the serial number scratched off. It works well.

 

[ColonelHardisson]

Ars Magica (I'm surprised i was first to mention it) actually deals with the Christian church and its power, and how it relates to the other powers in Mythic Europe - Faerie, Infernal, Magical. There are rules for how each interrelates with the others. Basically, the game makes the assumption that all these powers actually exist, and have actual, tangible effects on the world. It's worth checking out, because it probably deals with the subject the best of any RPG I'm aware of.

 

[ced1106]

<g> I've always thought D&D **was** a Christian-oriented RPG...

It doesn't straightjacket you into someone else's notion of Christianity (the most common complaint about institutions which cclaim to promote Christianity but I digress but D&D's default is a party of **good** characters in a system the promotes cooperation among different classes and races. If those aren't values we should learn from religion, I don't know what are.


Cedric.
aka. Washu! ^O^

 

[Tyrant]

While playing a celestial would be interesting and potentially difficult (could you remain dedicated to "good" in the face of so much power as is depicted in the celestial stats?) I had in mind a purely human rpg when I started this thread. I read through Jack Chick's little tract again today, having seen in numerous times in my 20 years of gaming. It seems the writer came from a background as a witch during the late 70s and, interestingly enough, fixates on magic as perhaps the most reprehensible part of the game, at least from his point of view. That is why I wanted to center on magic for the moment. Magic is what makes D&D so alien to our own, adding the fantastical into an otherwise mundane world.

But, does the concept of magic really alter the eternal story of God, the Devil, Good, and Evil? Or does it merely elevate it to a higher plane? Does it simply "up the ante" as it were? The source of magic and the intentions of the wielder are paramount in classic literature and, in most cases, in the spirit of the games Ive played in. How does a storyline in which mortals have and wield magic differ from a storyline where we as humans play celestials with great powers against the devils and demons of Satan? Is it the divine nature of the magic? Would having a system where heroes wielded only divine magic that originated from God be more in a classic Christian tradition?

Im not sure that an RPG has to be an evangelical bent in order to be classified as Christian. Thus, "Gather Information" wouldnt necessarily be replaced with prosletyzing (pardon my spelling). I was imagining a system that pitted heroes against a myriad of common and uncommon moral delimmas. Such a system would HAVE to have a mature person to guide the players through the game. Calling him (or her) God would probably be in extreme bad taste, especially since he is playing the bad guys... lol

In closing, I think kamikaze had some great ideas for campaign settings.

Any other thoughts about the subject?

Eric

 

[kenjib]

Did you read that thread a while ago about the guy who wanted to run a campaign based on the paintings of Bosch? I thought the idea was kind of interesting of having the players go though scenes in his paintings, with seven tests relating to the seven deadly sins.

I wonder what he ended up doing. Anyone remember who that was?