Though it's a long time since I read the Qur'an, I don't recall anything against acting. If you want to find a medium which is forbidden by Islam, Judaism and Christianity, look at representative visual art. "Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth".
Introducing fantasy RPGs to religious players
- Thread starter Jürgen Hubert
- Start date
DonTadow
First Post
I have a basic rule with my game. I won't offend any particular religion but I also won't cater to any one in particular either. I would rather keep real religion out of my game as much as possible. I don't want to know what the religious faiths of my players are and I don't want them to know mine. A bless you to a sneeze is as far as I go. I run a fantasy RPG game with emphasis on the fantasy. IF you want a world with one god and such then by all means they have hte right to make a character who wishes this, but I wouldn't allow religious debates in my game. I would allow them to create a religion and attempt to build a church in the campaign (as a very loose subplot.)
Religion for me and I think for most should be a personal thing between you and whomever. I'll respect it, but I won't make other people at my game feel uncofomrtable with overzealousness of it.
Last year, I had two very religous people in my campaign, and it asn't as much as they were religous but super open about it and readily questioning and disrupting the campaign world with their real life views. It made me and the other player uncomfortable and feel awkward.
The only changing of my campaign I would do would limit openly offensive things such as wenching and cursing, but other than the basic moral offensive stuff, I'm not going to change it. Doing so could offend the others in your group.
Religion for me and I think for most should be a personal thing between you and whomever. I'll respect it, but I won't make other people at my game feel uncofomrtable with overzealousness of it.
Last year, I had two very religous people in my campaign, and it asn't as much as they were religous but super open about it and readily questioning and disrupting the campaign world with their real life views. It made me and the other player uncomfortable and feel awkward.
The only changing of my campaign I would do would limit openly offensive things such as wenching and cursing, but other than the basic moral offensive stuff, I'm not going to change it. Doing so could offend the others in your group.
HellHound
ENnies winner and NOT Scrappy Doo
DonTadow said:
I guess I just don't read this as an issue that would ever involve changing a campaign.
After all, the initial poster is distinctly describing starting up a -new- game with new players, not introducing them into an existing campaign.
I think that missionary gaming in this style (adapting a game to suit the gamers) as being incredibly important to gaming in general. As I said before, by doing this, and then expalining afterwards that you don't normally run games in this style, the players get a chance to learn about roleplaying before having to make a decision about joining a group that doesn't share their morality.
Last year, I ran a game with an entirely different setting and style in order to bring 7 new players into the fold. 6 of them are still gaming, all in an extension of that game that they run themselves (which fits their comfort zone) and 3 of them are also playing in other games now outside of that initial comfort zone.
Catering to that comfort zone, I feel, is VITALLY important if we are to spread gaming to new people, and give them a chance to have a positive view on our favorite passtime.
DonTadow
First Post
HellHound said:
But even with new players, you can be doing a diservice to those new players by overemphasising elements that aren't normal for the typical RPGs just to apease the religiuous guy. I'm a big fan of the one conforming to the others as opposed as the other way around. You can have a campaign that is respectible to devout religous people without changing the game. Heck, if the other players wish you can adopt one of the many campaign worlds that has polytheism god structure. But adding too much real life religion takes away from the fantasy.
I think the hobby will grow just fine without real relgioning it up. I doubt that everyone whom plays it is a devout heathen.
derbacher
Explorer
HellHound said:
Thanks for the clarification. Just the sort of well-thought-out post I've come to expect from you. As always, you make your point in a very honest and compassionate way. I've read quite a few of your thoughts on this subject in various threads, and find myself agreeing on almost everything. I just didn't see from the original post the distinction of two seperate groups. (Sometimes I'm slow that way
)
Dr. Harry
First Post
HellHound said:
There has always been a certain amount of thread creep, and the discussion has always contained some discussion of how to address this problem in more general terms. In order to do this, some mention of differing practices of different religions/denominations is reasonable. As long as this can be maintained in a descriptive form, and there is no post that enters into advocacy, I don't see the problem.
There have been a number of threads closed due to a slide/fall into aguing religion, as opposed to describing practices, but I certainly do not think that has happened here.
According to the standard that you are showing, saying "Tony Blair is currently serving as Prime Minister of the UK" would constitute a "discussion" of politics.
Mentioning a point further for factual clarification has not been banned yet, but if you want to report this, go for it. I don't recommend that you do this as I consider that it would be wasting the mod's time, but that's just me.
Where I have seen in the U.S., Christian denominations are typically spoken of as "Catholic" and "Protestant", out of, I think, sloppiness along with a couple of nativist political traditions of the last 200 years. Obviously, this is patently inaccurate in the case of the Orthodox churches, and I can see the point about treating the Anglican Church as a special case.
S'mon said:
Depends on when you consider the Reformation, as it started in the early 16th century itself. It also depends on if you mark the final break as happening under Henry or Elizabeth. (I have seen both argued by different sources - both with axes to grind - and I haven't been forced into picking
)My basis was looking at the denominations that name churches after individual saints.
The people I've gamed with included quite a number of religiously observant people (including myself) of a variety of backgrounds, and I have not seen a problem. There was one fellow on the boards who left D&D for d20 Modern due to his personal religious objectives. That's always available.
HellHound
ENnies winner and NOT Scrappy Doo
DonTadow said:
My latest missionary game was a game that was purposefully made girl and kid-friendly for a group of just teenage anime fans. It got them into gaming, even though it was using elements that are atypical for gaming in my house (Sailor Moon style scenarios and characters, villains that can be defeated by wishing they were your friends).
It got them gaming. As I said above, most of them still game, and some game in non-shouju anime oriented games too.
I don't see how doing this was a diservice to these girls, who now love gaming, and would love to hear how it could be so.
Saying that not having strong religious elements is atypical for gaming is doing a diservice to a lot of games that lack religious elements, including some fantasy games (such as the aforementioned Wheel of Time RPG).
Last edited:
DarrenGMiller
First Post
As a "religious person" and a gamer, I don't find the game offensive, as I know it is just a game. Have you explained the game to the prospective gamer and asked if he would find it offensive? The best way to go about it is to talk to him. Don't assume what he would or would not be offended by and adjust the game to those (possibly incorrect) assumptions. You are only going to drive him away in the long run. Have an open conversation about the game. I am sure that as an adult, he knows more about the game than you think and will not react as badly as you might think to the psuedo-religious aspects of the game. He will know that it is just a game.
Here is a resource that I found EXTREMELY useful in explaining the game to my wife, who DID originally find it offensive: Religious Tolerance.org . I hope it helps.
DM
Here is a resource that I found EXTREMELY useful in explaining the game to my wife, who DID originally find it offensive: Religious Tolerance.org . I hope it helps.
DM
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