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ShortQuests -- individual adventure modules! An all-new collection of digest-sized D&D adventures designed to plug in to your game.

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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Grimhelm" data-source="post: 2646708" data-attributes="member: 37079">An attempt to answer a few questions...Thormagni, I share your skepticism when it comes to "truth", though I really do believe in a truth that must be the starting point of any philosophy or religion.  I really don't wish to sound preachy here.  After all, we all have ideas, and in every sense, our ideas are all valid.  But what I refer to is the sense we all have in our hearts that first, we are part of something grande and wonderful.  Second, all things are united.  I do not speak of truth in a moral sense, for all morality is subjective.  I do not speak of spirituality in this way either, though I would hypothesize that all spiritual investigation leads to the same ultimate answer.This answer isn't one that can be quantified of qualified, so there is no sense in speaking about it.  Every sage that has tried, from Jesus down to Buddha has found an understanding audience in only one place:  those who have discovered it for themselves already, thereby making any of the sage's "teachings" null and void, for no one who has not been "enlightened" will possibly understand what they had to say in the first place!!!Now.  God and religion in role playing.  In Arenaia, there are religions, yet I have kept it completely a mystery as to what they really believe, and what their motivations really are.  I think, essentially that this is the only way to present religion in RPGs.  I do not believe cleric characters should have any function whatsoever.  I do not believe anyone associated with religion should have powers assigned to them by god.  It is scenery, if you ask me, and nothing more.  After all, religion is a culturally specific phenomenon, just as wooden shoes and lederhosen are.  As for the Silver Tree, it was an embodiment of a set of ideas.  I can see it necessarily changing as the groups who play in Inzeladun change also.  I never saw it as a religion that was to be set in stone.  As for Inzeladun, I have my own ideas where that world should go, but I will keep that to myself until such time as I am asked what my opinions really are on the subject.  <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f609.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=";)" title="Wink    ;)"  data-smilie="2"data-shortname=";)" />I will say this, however, since we are on the subject; there has never been any more single harmful element to enter Inzeladun, than the element of pre-existing pantheons coinciding with the world's religions.  These should be scrapped entirely.  In fact, if the truth be known, I never really saw the Silver Tree as a religion.  It was a symbol of chilvalry and honesty, and nothing more.  In some respect, this is the place all religion should have in a role playing game.  Hell, give them a symbol and three vague ideas associated with it and let the players fill in the damned blanks.  God knows they will.This is the only true way to role play; let the characters and players invent their own fantasy.  <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f609.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=";)" title="Wink    ;)"  data-smilie="2"data-shortname=";)" /></blockquote>

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