 |
 |
 |
|
Latest Reviews| Oregon |  | | Reviewed by: Ron McClung |
|
|
 |
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
‘Non serviam!’ Why not? Religion on RPGs
(1032 total words in this text)
(2638 Reads) 
5-21-01
Posted by
Antonius
‘Non serviam!’ is the phrase the angel called Lightbringer said to God according to the Christian belief when he started his revolution. He fell from grace and became Satan. The phrase is in Latin and stands for ‘I will not serve!’
(This article will probably be more of use for the GMs and players who play in an ongoing campaign and want to add depth and ‘realism’ to their role-playing experience. It doesn’t mean that for religion to be incorporated in role-playing lengthy campaigns are needed, but admittedly some time is needed to work the concepts out).
The inflation of d20 products is bringing some new ideas on the table concerning religion, its impact and how to portray it in campaign worlds. Products like ‘Relics and Rituals’, ‘faith and …’, the new pantheon concepts of the world of Scarred lands and of Kingdoms of Kalamar add elements that can make characters and GMs alike concentrate more on religion. Admittedly some of these products deal exclusively with game mechanics while others deal with ‘flavor’, so let’s start by the concept of religion: ‘a particular system of faith and worship based on the belief of existence of a god or gods, who has/have created the universe and gave man a spiritual nature which continues to exist after the death of the body’ (Oxford Learners).
That is, role-playing religion is ALL about flavor.
Do you currently play a character?
a) Decide on the position of the character towards religious matters. This is not as easy as it sounds. Your character can be religious, non-religious or anti- religious. Pay attention to the dynamics of the campaign. In high-fantasy anti-religious characters are almost non-existent, in the World of Darkness though or modern settings like Conspiracy X the chance of one being non-religious or even anti-religious rises sky-high. The more ‘current’ the setting, higher are the chances of the characters not falling in the ‘religious’ category.
b) Justify it. Maybe in real life you are an agnostic out of boredom or a believer out of habit but your character doesn’t have to be the same. Did he have good experiences with religion? Bad? Why does he have this particular predisposition towards religion?
c) Flesh it out. Repeating ten times per session one god’s name is simplistic and deprives your GM of useful tools and style, especially if you play a religious figure, a priest, a member of a cult, an obsessed fanatic. There are thousands of details that one can think in an instant just to give his character the religious boost he needs. When is his name day? Any particular practices he has? Does he feast? Not every religious fanatic is a basher and your character can be different.
This is even more the case in polytheistic religions, which many players treat as if they are the sum of one-gods. That is not what a pantheon is about, and in worlds with a pantheon the character can worship and mention up to every single god of it, including the evil ones. ‘May Pelor bless this dinner’, ‘let’s appease Nerull with this (non-human) sacrifice’. In contrast to the concept of monotheistic religions that most have in mind and which supposedly believe in god out of love, in polytheism gods can be revered because of dread or because of personal ambition. In effect polytheistic gods are the images of humans and they can be revered as such. Calling for Hextor in a brawl seems logical no matter your alignment.
Now what can you fellow GMs do? The same things!
a) Decide on the religious aspect of your campaign. Conspiracies and religion are an all-time favorite, no matter the era. Medieval fantasy, WWII, the present era, it fits everywhere. Religion is one of the tools that can give you the fairest results in creating strongly themed adventures with a minimum amount of work. It creates sub-plots and machinations the players cannot always unveil. Not to mention that because of the natural feeling of awe that most people have towards religion, you are more likely to ‘touch’ your players directly when it comes to the feel of the game and not through their characters.
Of course a non-religious or anti-religious world is totally acceptable as long as there is a reason for it. A world which the gods are deserting, or one in which the notion of religion never sprang out are only two of the concepts that can be worked upon.
b) Justify it. The cultists armed with toxic gas and the warriors of Hextor are not behaving in this manner because they believe they are evil, they do it because they believe they are right or that they are justified in doing it. Any chance they are indeed right and the characters are wrong? What is the impact of their actions in the spiritual level?
c) Flesh it out. Your players can only play with the info you give or allow in the game. Create realistic pantheons or one-gods, or even conflicting pantheons like the ones of Greek mythology (gods vs. titans). In high fantasy Kalamar, Scarred Lands, Elric! and especially Earthdawn, they all have or appear to have solid and plausible ideas. Greyhawk needs quite some tampering to work for you in a more realistic and elegant way. Don’t feel limited by canon material and add your own details. Make each God unique for his followers to be proud of. Maybe one is the god who first appeared to mortals and the other the god who first gave them divine spells. Gods have messengers, avatars or holly figures of every magnitude, from the sexton to the Pope. What about holy days? For the biggest Christian denominations every day has a religious significance, it can be the same in your world. Let your players experience the ‘reality’ of their world by interacting with different customs closely or loosely tied to religion.
Religion is often overlooked by role-players but it is definitely an element that enriches a campaign if used properly. In fact, there are three aspects of society I believe they contribute to an interesting campaign no matter the era or the setting: religion, social structure and governance. Well, guess what I will be dealing with in my next article… |
[ Back to Gaming Advice | Sections index ] |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
