Real Religion in Adventure Design

[pemerton]

Some of the major works in the fantasy/sci-fi canon are about religion. Just within the English-language tradition,

• The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and the other Narnia books have Aslan as the Christ;
• CS Lewis's "sci fi" trilogy has religious themes;
• JRRT's work is extremely Christian, including a new telling of the creation and multiple reworkings of the Fall;
• REH's Conan stories are rather aggressively atheistic (except for The Heart of the Dragon);
• Arthurian romance, the Grail quest, etc are infused with Christian ideas and ideals;
• etc.

That doesn't mean that fantasy RPGing has to engage with religious themes, ideas, etc. But it is hardly out of place for it to do so!

I'm not as familiar with other traditions, but - to echo @Bedrockgames upthread - when I watch wuxia films religious characters and ideas seem to figure pretty prominently. Just to give one example, Tai Chi Master is all about Jet Li's character changing from an establishment-oriented Buddhist outlook to a more idiosyncratic Daoist outlook, which enables him to be victorious at the end. Just as I would expect Christianity to figure in some fashion in an Arthurian game, so I would expect Buddhism and Daoism to figure in some fashion in a wuxia game.

 

[pming]

Hiya!

So, do you think these implementations of explicit religion can be done tactfully within an adventure, even one meant to be published for profit?

Yes...but only if the people at the table are either (A) Atheists/Satanist, or (B) Have a very 'real world and grounded sense of self'.

I have met Theists who are quite happy in their belief...and quite happy to accept that others don't share it, and they don't care. They know that when someone, for example, "take's the Lords name in vain" (sp?), that the person saying it does NOT mean it as any sort of insult or blasphemy. The Theist understands "Yeah, I don't say that because of my belief...but I get that other people don't feel as I do. I'm fine with that".

So...yes. Totally possible. In fact, I'd LOVE to do a sort of "Supernatural-Meets-Walking Dead" zombie apocalypse campaign. I find the Christian religion quite interesting (fascinating, actually). I really like all the Angles and "Host", and power structure hierarchy, major characters (Cain and Able, Adam and Eve, Noah, etc) and their stories....and I like to extrapolate them "up to modern times". As I mentioned, Supernatural (the TV series) is one of my all-time fave series. Absolutely LOVE the set up and "The Boys"! Such great stories to be told and examined from a more 'modern' perspective. IMNSHO, Supernatural managed to do just what you (the OP) is asking...use real-world religion, but not outright "offend a great many people".

EDIT: As a bit of a co-inky-dink, I just, as in today, started watching the Amazon series/remake/adaptation of Stephen Kings "The Stand". Only at episode...4? So, a LOOOOONG way to go. So far I'm liking it at least as much as I liked the 'original TV version' made back in the...er...early 90's?

^_^

Paul L. Ming

 

[Emerikol]

Are genuine believers the target audience, or do they even play the game? I knew a few believers growing up that were not allowed to play at all, even as a paladin battling devils. It was the 80s though so things may have changed.

Really? Not every person who played D&D had parents who were crazy. My D&D group has traditionally been made up of at least some Christian believers.

 

[Ixal]

Really? Not every person who played D&D had parents who were crazy. My D&D group has traditionally been made up of at least some Christian believers.

Depends on what kind of believer is meant. There are those who go to church on sunday and thats it and the ones being able to quote the bible from memory (same for other religions).

 

[Emerikol]

Depends on what kind of believer is meant. There are those who go to church on sunday and thats it and the ones being able to quote the bible from memory (same for other religions).

Well in my case I think there are many who fall somewhere in between. For a lay person I consider myself well studied when it comes to the bible. I believe it is the inspired word of God and I read it literally (there is a super long set of words that fully describe my view but I will only post if you really want them).

I don't have a problem playing a make believe game with fantasy elements. I don't feel any conviction from God about doing so.

 

[Dire Bare]

Depends on what kind of believer is meant. There are those who go to church on sunday and thats it and the ones being able to quote the bible from memory (same for other religions).

If you are a "believer" . . . it simply means that you have an honest belief in your faith, and there are many different faiths.

There are plenty of "believers" who play D&D, listen to rock music, and play violent video games.

 

[TheSword]

Let’s be honest there are some pretty cool biblical times that would make excellent setting for roleplay. The conflict of different ideas and particularly where the theological buts up against the secular is really interesting.

- The Middle East around the time of Jesus. Roman occupation and the stories of that time. Indeed Rome itself becomes very interesting at that time as Christianity spreads to the capital.

- Ancient Egypt at the time of the Exodus

- Warring kingdoms like Judah and Phillistine at the time of Saul, David and Solomon.

- The spread of Christianity across Britain in the wake of the Roman Empire.

If anyone is interested in learning more in an accessible way. Bernard Cornwall’s series starting with Enemy of God is a great fictional account of Christianity vs Druidism in Dark Ages Britain. Also Tony Robinson (of black adder fame) did a very funny series on the kingdom of Judah called ‘Blood and Honey’. It’s available on youtube.

 

[Aldarc]

- Ancient Egypt at the time of the Exodus

- Warring kingdoms like Judah and Phillistine at the time of Saul, David and Solomon.

About those things... yeah...

 

[TheSword]

About those things... yeah...

Sorry I don’t understand your point?

 

[Sepulchrave II]

I think it’s problematic unless you consciously narrow the perspective and make that narrow perspective an explicit feature of the game you are trying to create. In the real world, religion is embedded in culture and cannot be meaningfully distinguished from it. The best you can hope for in a game is caricature.

When you talk about “Christianity” in an Arthurian RPG like Pendragon, it is idealized in the context of medieval romance envisaged through a modern lens; in Kult you have a kind of “Gnostic” world-view with a very dark cast etc. But in neither case do these religious systems faithfully represent anything beyond a literary re-imagining (in the case of Pendragon a modern re-imagining of a medieval re-imagining). I mean, how close is “Christianity” in Pendragon to what was happening on the ground in Sub-Roman Britain in the 5th Century – not very.

My interest is because real religions have such a rich and diverse set of traditions and cultures with iconic stories and memorable moments that define the beautiful aspects of the various regions they originate from. Having the party meet the Judeo-Christian Messiah or the Shinto Goddess of Sun Amaterasu or the Hindu Deity of Destruction Shiva would make for excellent encounters and events that not only show the lore of the fictional world but also gives context to real life religious figures and how they operate.

I wanted to repost this because it underlines just how problematic it is to speak in generalities with regard to religious figures.

• Amaterasu has a number of different creation myths associated with her. If she is “real” (in the game world) you could either choose one of them, or have her origins obscured. In any case, you are already constructing a lens dependent on time and place (Kojiki or Nihon Shoki versions? Yamato period?)
• Views of the Jewish Messiah and the Christian Messiah are, broadly, different. Beyond that, which Christian Messiah are we talking about? 2nd Century Palestine? 6th Century Constantinople? 21st Century Texas? Again, you need to choose your lens.
• Characterizing Shiva as a “God of Destruction” is very narrow (and rather Orientalist, no offense intended); you’ve already chosen a lens here. Shiva is one of the most complex and enigmatic deities, but is considered “God” {big “G”) by about 200 million Hindus.

So I would say:

• Pick your lens and make it explicit
• Stick to your lens as much as possible
• Admit that your lens is capable only of caricature