Introducing fantasy RPGs to religious players

[Jürgen Hubert]

Some of my co-workers have been asking me to introduce them to gaming, and I am happy to oblige. I will likely use WFRP, since it is fairly easy to get "in character" with this game (thanks to random PCs and careers).

The problem is, one of the players is a devout Muslim. He is the guy who is the most interested in gaming. However, he is also freaked out by the blatant polytheism in many fantasy worlds - when I suggested a D&D game set in the Forgotten Realms and explained the religious cosmology, he said that he "only wanted to watch in that case".

So for my WFRP adventure, I will simply hand-wave religion away in the beginning and make no references to temples and faiths. This isn't fully satisfactory, of course - the religions of the Warhammer World are an important part of the overall tapestry of the setting. After a few adventures, I will talk to that player again and I'll see if he is comfortable with introducing religious topics - or not. We'll see what happens after that.


So, for those of you who have introduced deeply religious players to gaming: Did you have any similar problems? Did you have to make some adjustments to the fantasy world to avoid stepping on anyone's toes?

 

[Turanil]

If I remember well, it's the second time you ask that same question, most probably about the same muslim player, on this same forum...

However, in Warhammer, you could easily tweak the religion, in making it a monotheistic faith as in our real world, but keeping the numerous demon-gods who are not on par with God, and act (as it should) as supernatural enemies that must be fought.

 

[wingsandsword]

This is potentially touchy, but I'll try and approach it with respect.

In my experience, deeply religious potential players, who are open minded enough to actually try and play, but object to things like polytheism, religions other than their own, arcane magic, or cosmological or fundamental setting implications that violate tenets of their faith are very difficult to get into gaming.

I don't know WFRP, but if I wanted to introduce a religious player who was very conservative and devout with their beliefs to the point that the typical fantasy milieu would object, I would be very careful about how I would start them out. A campaign set in Middle Earth, with a cosmology/history that was created to be compatible with Abrahamic faiths is an option. A quasi-historic game set in a fantastic historic Earth with at least token mention of their faith (admittedly a "cinematic" version) might be an option if the player wouldn't take such depictions as blasphemy. A quasi-historic game set during the late Roman Empire would also be an option, when Christianity was gaining legitimacy but other faiths existed, so there is a monotheistic faith available to PC's, but the PC gets used to the idea of priests of other deities. You could throw in the chance to defeat lots of fiends and traditional foes from literature like vampires, play up the "fighting evil" aspect, make it clear that the game rewards virtue (introduce the player to the Paladin maybe) and evil is to be destroyed.

If they get used to the fantasy, and see it's all a game that incorporates openly fictional deities that are purely literary constructs, and not any kind of polytheistic worship then you might move up to incorporating more fantastic elements like arcane magic and polytheistic cultures.

I play in a major fantasy LARP that bans religions from the game for this purpose (www.nerolarp.com) (also, having no religions in a big fantasy larp gives them big proof against concerned parents or interested local authorities who are wondering what's going on at our campsites). While religion is banned, there are meta-religious subjects like afterlives, immortal and nigh-invincible elementals and planar beings, and ressurrection spells, but players don't openly venerate planar beings (nor would they be allowed to), but characters often devote themselves at least abstractly to an element, trying to uphold the principle of Life, or Death, or Fire, or Dream or a similar concept (usually just for roleplaying purposes). Without a name, a symbol, organized churches, or other religious indicators, it gives characters many of the benefits of a religion, without the negative consequences.

 

[Jürgen Hubert]

If I remember well, it's the second time you ask that same question, most probably about the same muslim player, on this same forum...

Yes, it is a recurring theme with me...

However, previously I wasn't sure how to proceed with this player. Now I am sure - I simply wanted to know if other gamers have encountered similar problems.

 

[Mouseferatu]

Never once had that problem. It's true I've never played with a devout Muslim, but I have played with devout Christians and Jews, of various denominations. I've never once played with anyone who failed to make the distinction between "the religious beliefs of a non-existant character in a non-existant setting" and "my real-world religious beliefs."

 

[Mouseferatu]

Hmm... That last post looks more judgmental than I intended. I'm not saying the guy's "wrong" for feeling the way he does. Just that I personally have never seen it, and don't really understand it.

 

[Li Shenron]

The problem is, one of the players is a devout Muslim. He is the guy who is the most interested in gaming. However, he is also freaked out by the blatant polytheism in many fantasy worlds - when I suggested a D&D game set in the Forgotten Realms and explained the religious cosmology, he said that he "only wanted to watch in that case".

Ok, you already have made your decision, but anyway I would have suggested not to change your game, play FR if you want, and as your workmate suggested himself just invite him to watch.

Then don't hide the religious aspects of Faerun while he's there. Play a religious-based adventure in front of him so that he can see how it works and decides if he finds that bothering or otherwise acceptable.

I am very sure this guy would like to find out what's the whole matter with religions & RPG, so don't "adapt" your adventure to what you expect to be more acceptable for him. Otherwise he may get a wrong idea, decide to join the game, and regret it later. I think it's better to be open and honest.

A couple of our gamers are definitely very religious, but they never have any problems because (doh!) D&D is just a game Those same people like watching Buffy or horror movies, and they are not offended by all the silly 'blasphemies' of such entertainment, because it is simply fiction. Eventually be sure to remind this to your players...

 

[Zappo]

I never had this problem because I never met a strongly religious player. Most of the people I game with are between atheist and agnostic.

 

[Plane Sailing]

I think the key solution is to NOT go with fantasy RPG which almost always features religion in one sense or another. Instead, go for Sci_fi. It can be just as easy to get people introduced to RPGs that way and completely avoids the religion 'hot button' which might be causing a potential problem in this case.

Star Wars is a fine example in that everyone already knows something about the star wars universe, but they might be disappointed that they can't be 'just like the films'; there are plenty of other good sci-fi settings that could be used.

Seriously. Go sci-fi for your introduction (or superhero with Mutants and Masterminds)

 

[Zander]

A quasi-historic game set in a fantastic historic Earth with at least token mention of their faith (admittedly a "cinematic" version) might be an option if the player wouldn't take such depictions as blasphemy.

Try Fantasy Wargaming by Bruce Galloway. Despite its name, it's an RPG, not a wargame. It's set in late medieval Europe with fantasy elements. IIRC characters can be Christian, Muslim, Jewish or Pagan. All of these are treated with respect. Muslim and Jewish characters have easier access to magic than PCs of other faiths which makes them quite cool IMO.

Fantasy Wargaming is long OOP but copies are available for just a few $'s at ABEbooks. This game should not be confused with a similarly titled book by Martin Hackett that was published by the same company about the same time.