Religion and politics...OR.. Politics and religion?

[diaglo]

Yeah, ditto.

ditto.

 

[S'mon]

IMC currently politics rules and religion influences, though certain players/PCs failed to realise that (they assumed "worships X" = "fanatical instrument of X"), which resulted in a very skewed take on the situation.

 

[DragonLancer]

In both my TT Dragonlance game and in the IceHaven game, politics rules but is advised by the churches.

 

[Nifft]

Mine varies from place to place too! Also, there are only six gods, but arch-fiends generally have the power of a god.

In the main Kingdom, the King is a half-celestial -- he's got some real strong ties to one god, and his "divine right" is visible to all. In this kingdom, many Nobles are Aasimar... and many are Tieflings. Most nobles support the same church.

In another part, the Oligarchs are all desendants of a particular Fey union. Religion there is smaller and less organized, even if they tend to follow the same pantheon.

In yet another part -- a banking island ruled by a dragon -- the humans in charge are, shockingly, often half-dragons. They are not particularly religious.

So far, the PCs have only seen a small bit of political tension between different faiths. They haven't seen any internal strife... yet.

-- N

 

[CRGreathouse]

Politics is king, but religions often have a strong voice in the local politics. A major church's leader can be more influential than a Count or even a Duke (in the right circumstances). Heck, before his death, the leader of the largest religion in the land IMC wielded more political power than anyone in Pirthia but the king himself. (His successor hasn't had much luck in the same regard.)

There are some theocracies, but they're not all that common. IMC only the city-state of Pertrem immediately comes to mind: a city ruled by the clergy of a LE god of truth and justice/vengeance....

 

[Driddle]

My wife, currently working toward additional degrees in religious studies and history, would argue that most political conflict is often driven by religious differences (truer at a larger scale; think global). The two elements are rarely inseperable.

So rather than try to draw a line between imaginary politics and religion in a roleplaying game, it might be easier to embrace both and come up with something in the middle, a more organic combination.

 

[tm80401]

There's a difference between Politics and Religion?

 

[Thornir Alekeg]

The homebrew that I have been developing has religion as the base for the enitre conflict of the uberplot. One land is ruled by a theocracy. This land is monotheistic and has set out to bring the word of their god to the rest of the world and "save" others from their "false" gods. They have subjugated a second land that was once dominted by a very elemental/nature religion. The people of that land for the most part pay lip service to the "One God" and quietly keep their own traditions, but from a political standpoint, they are controlled by the ruling theocracy. The last land, which is where the PCs will be from, has a more traditional D&D style pantheon of gods as the dominant religion. The land is ruled by a monarchy, which acknowledges the power of the gods but remains mostly separate from the religious heirarchy. This land will be under seige by the first land and this will be the driving force behind the story arc of this campaign.

 

[Driddle]

Yep. No difference.

 

[Voadam]

There's a difference between Politics and Religion?

Not all politics has a religious element.