Wanting players to take in-game religion more seriously

[Ed Laprade]

One of the reasons for this, imho, is that there usually isn't any real feel for the gods in most games. Someone mentioned following the rites of the gods. What rites? Unless you make them up yourself (or borrow them from elsewhere) they just don't exist. Needless to say, making up all the religious rigamarole that goes with a living religion would be a LOT of work, and few of us have the time for that.

 

[Arcadian Games]

I think it is the DMs responsibility to push religion. After all, it is such a central part in the lives of the populations in the worlds we create. I think the players will get more out of it once they accept its importance. Perhaps the rites and rituals can be made clearer to the clerics. Perhaps they need special components. Why not have the cleric write or even perform a sermon - perhaps even in front of their seniors in the hierarchy. The player could write it out and be judged upon it in terms of converts - or even criticised and sent out to perform penance or complete a task for the church.

 

[Yaarel]

The best solution is to allow each player to define their own spiritual beliefs for their own character. If they are monothesists, fine. If they are animists, fine. If they are philosophical atheists, fine. Whatever. Just some kind of coherent world view.

If the DM wants the *players* to care about worldviews. Then the DM must integrate those worldviews that the players actually care about.

 

[Shasarak]

The best thing about DnD is that if you piss off one God there is always another waiting in the wings.

 

[intently]

Wow, this is a great discussion, very helpful to me.

To clarify a bit, most of the comments that annoy me from the players are out of character, not directly to npcs -- which makes it hard for the npcs to react.

I think the best way forward, for me, is to add some depth to the gods that the players can interact with. Holy days, quests, shrines with in game effects, etc. give them a reason to respect the gods.


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[Sunseeker]

Wow, this is a great discussion, very helpful to me.

To clarify a bit, most of the comments that annoy me from the players are out of character, not directly to npcs -- which makes it hard for the npcs to react.

I think the best way forward, for me, is to add some depth to the gods that the players can interact with. Holy days, quests, shrines with in game effects, etc. give them a reason to respect the gods.


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Well, OOC chatter is really a DM-player cooperative gaming thing. You shouldn't punish PCs for OOC chatter, but it's certainly something you should talk to the group about out of game and tell them that you'd like to cut down on OOC chatter.

 

[Yaarel]

This planet has millions, maybe billions, of humans, who, if you tried to force them to worship gods, would either choose to die or kill you.

The standard rules of D&D needs to be extremely cautious around the topic of religion.

 

[Yaarel]

This whole thread is essentially about a DM who wants to bully his players into worshiping false gods.

There might be more diplomatic to characterize it, but its is what it is.

This is a kind of bullying that D&D needs to stay far away from.

 

[Croesus]

This whole thread is essentially about a DM who wants to bully his players into worshiping false gods.

There might be more diplomatic to characterize it, but its is what it is.

This is a kind of bullying that D&D needs to stay far away from.

Or...it's a GM who wants to run a particular style of game in which the characters take the campaign's gods seriously.

Note: you said players, but nothing said by the OP suggests he wants his players to worship fictional gods. This is, after all, just a game. It's not real life.

 

[Lanliss]

This whole thread is essentially about a DM who wants to bully his players into worshiping false gods.

There might be more diplomatic to characterize it, but its is what it is.

This is a kind of bullying that D&D needs to stay far away from.

No, this is more about a DM who wants his players to treat his world like a world, or at least something somebody worked on, and not a toilet. No real reason to demonize the DM.