New Religion Checklist

[BSF]

Hello everyone!

I am starting up a new campaign soon. One of the players wants to play a Cleric, which is cool. I don't have a God that is similar to the one he thinks his character would worship. In my mind, this is a great opportunity! I can actually work with the player to develop the religion and (hopefully) the player will be a bit more involved in the game and enjoy playing more. However, I am having problems getting the player to put in this work.

The good news is that it does not appear to be player apathy. It is more that the player just doesn't know where to start and is afraid of doing it "wrong". Despite my reassurances, the player is still "stuck". So, I volunteered to put together a checklist of points that I, as the DM, need to know to help run the background religion. Then, the player could start working on those points and will hopefully think of new things to add.

My problem is that I am having a hard time designing such a checklist. For gods and churches, I have always done it in a freeform manner. I will start writing and keep adding stuff as it comes to mind. Looking back on it, the results are usually good enough, but it isn't a very structured way of putting things together. So, I am hoping that you can provide some advice.

How do I put together a relatively concise checklist on creating a God, religion and church structure? What elements do I need to remember to include? Most importantly, how do I do all of this without making it seem like too much of a daunting task for the player?

 

[Lalato]

I know this isn't quite what you're looking for, but I've heard very good things about GURPS: Religion with respect to designing new religions/pantheons.

Deities & Demigods goes over some of this, but I found it a little lacking in this respect.

--sam

 

[Oni]

Things that immediately spring to mind as being semi important (and probably obvious too, but hey).

Origin of the deity or if it's known.

Origin of the faith, which may or may not be tied up in the origin of the diety.

What the deity values.

What the deity opposes (anything from certain traits to specific people or organizations).

Level of interactivity between the church and the deity

Church dogma, which may vary somewhat from the values of the deity based on how much the deity interacts with the church.

duties of clergy

attitudes toward other faiths

size, and general public oppinion of the religion/deity.

how organized is the religion

any specific events or rituals of particular importance

how hard is it to join as a layperson/or as a clergy

 

[Bloodsparrow]

You also might want to have him start small and work his way up. Obviously, he has a basic idea of what his god is like. He has a diety that he wants to base his on. So ask him how his god is like or unlike the one that he uses as an example.

Then maybe ask him what an average day would be like for his Cleric, if he's not out adventuring. And then expand on what he gives you each time...

So if he says an average day is getting up, saying morning prayers, eating brakefast, spending the morning in the temple administering to the people who come to the temple. Lunch, study, chores, supper, evening prayers, and then bed.

Then ask him questions about each thing. What are you praying for when you prey in the morning and evening? Are you thanking your diety for someting, or asking for something, or is it just an affermation of faith? Is what you eat for meals significant in any way. Where, and what, do you study when you do so? Is there a holy text that your faith follows? How is it decided who does which chores? What do you do? etc...

 

[Wicht]

The blurbs in the Kalamar Campaign Guide about the different religions are, IMO, excellent.
They contain:

Generic Names of the god
Regional names of the god
Spheres of influence
Alignment
Symbol
Divine Focus
Holy/unholy days
Places of worship
Divine Color
Divine animal
Appearance of deity
Name of church
Name of clergy
Clerical raiment
Type and frequency of sacrifices
Causes for advancement of clerics within church
Characteristics of clerics
Friends/allies
Foes/enemies
Typical sayings of pious follower

 

[BSF]

Wow! Thanks for the ideas so far. I think I will modify my approach a little. I will start off asking for some info on the God and then some broad questions on the faith. Then I think I will follow Bloodsparrows advice and try to start feeding off the answers that he provides, using the rest of the ideas as a reminder for things I am working toward.

Hopefully, that will allow me to draw the player out a little bit at a time. With a little luck, he will pick up some confidence as we go and will get into the character a little more. I am trying to approach this campaign a little differently. With somebody like a cleric, I figure their religion plays a large part of their life. So, why not work out many of the details with the player that is involved? That way, when other characters ask the cleric questions about their god/religion the player doesn't look at me for the answers.

If anyone else has ideas they want to add, please do so!

 

[widderslainte]

Deities & Demigods sucks. Just remember it's all about the religion. Unless you're doing divine interventions, the gods themselves don't matter. I swear, the next person that publishes more deity stats will get pelted with d20's.

Think about what prople know and believe in, and what sort of answers would be given. Why are here? Where did the world come from? What is good/bad? What happens when we die?

 

[Tonguez]

Personally I'd have the Player write up a list of Sacraments (What the faithful must do) and Ordinances (what the cleric can do) of the religion and describe there form.
Then develop the nature of the diety and structure of the Church based on the 'form' of the rituals

Sacraments include the following
Rites of Initiation (eg Baptism, Ritual Dancing)
Rites of Sacrifice (eg Ritual Sacrifice, Obedience, Prayer, Service)
Rites of Vocation (eg Marriage, Taking Holy Orders)

Ordinances might include the following
Healing the Sick
The Performance of Sacraments (eg Celebrating Marriages, Annoiting Clergy))
Commanding of Spirits (Burying the Dead,Turning)
Bestowal of Divine Grace (ie Blessings, Spell casting)

 

[Olive]

Deities & Demigods sucks. Just remember it's all about the religion. Unless you're doing divine interventions, the gods themselves don't matter. I swear, the next person that publishes more deity stats will get pelted with d20's.

I agree almost entirely. Except I think one of the things that D&Dg did pretty well was salient divine abilities. Deciding on those can be a really good way to understand what the god does, and how the god would be seen etc.

And Kamikaze Midget's Deity-A-Week Thread agrees.

I think that this thread has some really good starting points for gods. Check it out!

 

[Dr. Strangemonkey]

A very important aspect for a cleric of any deity is how the deity goes about revealing itself and its will to the faithful, the cleric, and everyone else and how the cleric fits into that process.