Religion in the Game

[Aaryq]

Howdy, folks.
I know religion is a hot topic to discuss. Let me preface by saying this: If you are not able to respect a person regardless of their religious beliefs, please do not post in this thread. Mods, if this topic is out of line, please feel free to lock it

Alright, I'm not a minister. I will be, hopefully in a year and a half. But I do not intentionally incorporate my faith into my gaming. I don't cuss, I don't drink (there's nothing in the Christian faith that says you can't drink, just that you can't get drunk but I'm a recovering alcoholic so I choose not to drink at all since one turns into many), I don't cheat on my wife...but all things aside I have my personal relationship with Christ. I'm the type to share it with whoever wants to know more but I don't force it on anyone. When I GM or when I play, I don't force my beliefs on anyone. My actions speak for me but I don't force it on anyone and I will still play my characters in characters.

My question for you is have you had any players of any religious persuasion (or lack thereof) that try to play with their religious agenda out in their games too much?

The purpose of this question is more of a tool for PC's and GM's to know what's not acceptable in game. It is not to hate on anyone's religion or lack thereof.

[J. Lionheart]

I look at it this way.

In real life, we are who we are. We have certain beliefs, certain things we were raised with, and certain feelings about what is right.

In game, we are not who we are. We are playing characters, who do not have our beliefs. They have their own.

Always always always, we must play the character, not ourself. Playing oneself is meta-gaming, and is among the greatest sins there is in role-playing. We are literally playing roles, and those roles require different perceptions than our own. If the character has certain religious beliefs, then absolutely, play with them in mind! Just make sure they are, in fact, the beliefs of the character rather than yourself. Often, this is easiest if you play characters that are opposite of yourself. Me, for example, I played an evangelical minister as a BTS character, who used the money he raised via televangelism to buy weaponry with which he killed monsters... demons, as he thought of them. He would preach up a storm, condemn sinners, etc, but it was strictly in character. I have other characters who don't give a rip, and plenty in between.

If there were to be somebody who tried to bring their personal real-life religious baggage/agenda in to the game as a character, they would get a stern warning. Failure to drop it would be a swift invitation never to return. Draw a line between the character and the player. They are not the same.

[Silveressa]

An interesting question, and like others have said, it depends on the char you are playing as to whether religion (of any sort) is a fitting part of that chars life let alone a religion based off real world ones.

Playing a priest in Rifts Wild West might be a lot of fun for someone who is a real life priest or a Wiccan playing a druid if PF (since they can easily get into char and might enjoy representing their faith in a char, much like a real life soldier rping a CS Dead boy or Merc enjoys being able to use his real life military training/experience in the game setting)

Generally though I've never given much thought to a chars religion outside of how it effects their moral approach to life/alignment. (Unless playing/npcing a priest or deranged fanatic of some sort)

As for my group, most of us are long time gamers of varying beliefs, (from Wiccan to Christian) that approach rping much like acting, and are more concerned with playing in character then worrying about if a pc is doing something they personally would never do/condone for religious/moral reasons.

[Cyrano de Maniac]

It wasn't a Palladium game as unfortunately I haven't had many opportunities to play these fine games, but I did play a retired minister in a D20 Modern game heavily house-ruled to implement the world of The Matrix.

I'd have to say it was rewarding to try to puzzle out exactly how his faith intersected with and changed when he was unplugged and became aware of the real world and what was going on in it. I played it such that it definitely humbled him and he went through a period of questioning what he knew, but in the end held onto his faith as even more important to him now than before his awakening.

The GM and I had a minor disagreement in that he thought this event should cause my character to completely lose his faith. Much to the GM's credit though (best GM I've ever had, by far), he was willing to accept that my character could come to the point of believing that it didn't matter if others were aware of the "real world" or not, that their faith was inside them, not something that came from the outside.

I can't say that this little conviction of my characters' ever really worked its way into the game's story, but I have no doubt that had I continued playing (unfortunately life got in the way), the GM would have made good use of it.

Oh, and when coming up with the character concept the GM and I had a good honest discussion of what it would mean to run a character like this. We both agreed to not be offended if/when circumstances made it incredibly difficult/uncomfortable to play this all out. I think that conversation was critical to make sure that everyone knew what to expect and bought into what was to come.

Brent

[Silveressa]

Oh, and when coming up with the character concept the GM and I had a good honest discussion of what it would mean to run a character like this. We both agreed to not be offended if/when circumstances made it incredibly difficult/uncomfortable to play this all out. I think that conversation was critical to make sure that everyone knew what to expect and bought into what was to come.

Those kinds of convos are always an excellent idea, not only for the inclusion (or not) of religion but a good idea before including other potentially touchy topics in game, such as violence against children, sexual abuse, etc.. since some people (especially parents with young children, or victims of such incidents) find the subjects too disturbing to comfortably let into a game they play.

[Aku-Arkaine]

I'm running a BTS game that was started back in 2003. The game is heavily involved in religion, with one of the PCs being a nun. Part of what's made this so successful is that I've kept this to the movie stereotype, exorcist type of play her. I don't really force any religion on anyone in the group, and play the Hollywood angle.

[drewkitty ~..~]

I prefer players to use a fake religion in the game then to to play christianity as what the pop culture portrays Christianity as being.

[Nekira Sudacne]

Howdy, folks.
I know religion is a hot topic to discuss. Let me preface by saying this: If you are not able to respect a person regardless of their religious beliefs, please do not post in this thread. Mods, if this topic is out of line, please feel free to lock it

Alright, I'm not a minister. I will be, hopefully in a year and a half. But I do not intentionally incorporate my faith into my gaming. I don't cuss, I don't drink (there's nothing in the Christian faith that says you can't drink, just that you can't get drunk but I'm a recovering alcoholic so I choose not to drink at all since one turns into many), I don't cheat on my wife...but all things aside I have my personal relationship with Christ. I'm the type to share it with whoever wants to know more but I don't force it on anyone. When I GM or when I play, I don't force my beliefs on anyone. My actions speak for me but I don't force it on anyone and I will still play my characters in characters.

My question for you is have you had any players of any religious persuasion (or lack thereof) that try to play with their religious agenda out in their games too much?

The purpose of this question is more of a tool for PC's and GM's to know what's not acceptable in game. It is not to hate on anyone's religion or lack thereof.

Never found it to be an issue in any game i've played.

The closest i've ever seen is I play under one GM who dosn't allow things like 'Jesus!' (As an explicitive), and similar at his game table, saying it's blasphemy. It's a bit of an odd rule, but not one that's pushy. And other than that, the characters are free to sin in pretty much any other way they see fit. So it's not a big deal

[Misfit KotLD]

Howdy, folks.
I know religion is a hot topic to discuss. Let me preface by saying this: If you are not able to respect a person regardless of their religious beliefs, please do not post in this thread. Mods, if this topic is out of line, please feel free to lock it

Alright, I'm not a minister. I will be, hopefully in a year and a half. But I do not intentionally incorporate my faith into my gaming. I don't cuss, I don't drink (there's nothing in the Christian faith that says you can't drink, just that you can't get drunk but I'm a recovering alcoholic so I choose not to drink at all since one turns into many), I don't cheat on my wife...but all things aside I have my personal relationship with Christ. I'm the type to share it with whoever wants to know more but I don't force it on anyone. When I GM or when I play, I don't force my beliefs on anyone. My actions speak for me but I don't force it on anyone and I will still play my characters in characters.

My question for you is have you had any players of any religious persuasion (or lack thereof) that try to play with their religious agenda out in their games too much?

The purpose of this question is more of a tool for PC's and GM's to know what's not acceptable in game. It is not to hate on anyone's religion or lack thereof.

Never found it to be an issue in any game i've played.

The closest i've ever seen is I play under one GM who dosn't allow things like 'Jesus!' (As an explicitive), and similar at his game table, saying it's blasphemy. It's a bit of an odd rule, but not one that's pushy. And other than that, the characters are free to sin in pretty much any other way they see fit. So it's not a big deal

That's more a personal respect thing; us not saying blatantly inflammatory things to his religion.

[Razzinold]

Religion plays a small part in our games to this point. All pc's are ok with killing the "bad guys", one pc used to bless his victims with the sign of the cross (but that was a quirk he worked out with the GM, it was to the point of obsession, he would do it in the middle of a battle and was shot one time because he paused to do it during our escape. Made for a fun pc to play with)

Mostly it comes up if say, we need a priest for some protection (blessing of water and such) when fighting vamps and stuff like that. When I played back in the day two guys were athieasts (spelling?) and others were a mix of different beliefs. Luckily it never played a factor in our games (or out of)

[Nekira Sudacne]

Howdy, folks.
I know religion is a hot topic to discuss. Let me preface by saying this: If you are not able to respect a person regardless of their religious beliefs, please do not post in this thread. Mods, if this topic is out of line, please feel free to lock it

Alright, I'm not a minister. I will be, hopefully in a year and a half. But I do not intentionally incorporate my faith into my gaming. I don't cuss, I don't drink (there's nothing in the Christian faith that says you can't drink, just that you can't get drunk but I'm a recovering alcoholic so I choose not to drink at all since one turns into many), I don't cheat on my wife...but all things aside I have my personal relationship with Christ. I'm the type to share it with whoever wants to know more but I don't force it on anyone. When I GM or when I play, I don't force my beliefs on anyone. My actions speak for me but I don't force it on anyone and I will still play my characters in characters.

My question for you is have you had any players of any religious persuasion (or lack thereof) that try to play with their religious agenda out in their games too much?

The purpose of this question is more of a tool for PC's and GM's to know what's not acceptable in game. It is not to hate on anyone's religion or lack thereof.

Never found it to be an issue in any game i've played.

The closest i've ever seen is I play under one GM who dosn't allow things like 'Jesus!' (As an explicitive), and similar at his game table, saying it's blasphemy. It's a bit of an odd rule, but not one that's pushy. And other than that, the characters are free to sin in pretty much any other way they see fit. So it's not a big deal

That's more a personal respect thing; us not saying blatantly inflammatory things to his religion.

I do beleive that's what I said.

[Misfit KotLD]

Howdy, folks.
I know religion is a hot topic to discuss. Let me preface by saying this: If you are not able to respect a person regardless of their religious beliefs, please do not post in this thread. Mods, if this topic is out of line, please feel free to lock it

Alright, I'm not a minister. I will be, hopefully in a year and a half. But I do not intentionally incorporate my faith into my gaming. I don't cuss, I don't drink (there's nothing in the Christian faith that says you can't drink, just that you can't get drunk but I'm a recovering alcoholic so I choose not to drink at all since one turns into many), I don't cheat on my wife...but all things aside I have my personal relationship with Christ. I'm the type to share it with whoever wants to know more but I don't force it on anyone. When I GM or when I play, I don't force my beliefs on anyone. My actions speak for me but I don't force it on anyone and I will still play my characters in characters.

My question for you is have you had any players of any religious persuasion (or lack thereof) that try to play with their religious agenda out in their games too much?

The purpose of this question is more of a tool for PC's and GM's to know what's not acceptable in game. It is not to hate on anyone's religion or lack thereof.

Never found it to be an issue in any game i've played.

The closest i've ever seen is I play under one GM who dosn't allow things like 'Jesus!' (As an explicitive), and similar at his game table, saying it's blasphemy. It's a bit of an odd rule, but not one that's pushy. And other than that, the characters are free to sin in pretty much any other way they see fit. So it's not a big deal

That's more a personal respect thing; us not saying blatantly inflammatory things to his religion.

I do beleive that's what I said.

Except that rule covers in character and out of character action.

[Nekira Sudacne]

Howdy, folks.
I know religion is a hot topic to discuss. Let me preface by saying this: If you are not able to respect a person regardless of their religious beliefs, please do not post in this thread. Mods, if this topic is out of line, please feel free to lock it

Alright, I'm not a minister. I will be, hopefully in a year and a half. But I do not intentionally incorporate my faith into my gaming. I don't cuss, I don't drink (there's nothing in the Christian faith that says you can't drink, just that you can't get drunk but I'm a recovering alcoholic so I choose not to drink at all since one turns into many), I don't cheat on my wife...but all things aside I have my personal relationship with Christ. I'm the type to share it with whoever wants to know more but I don't force it on anyone. When I GM or when I play, I don't force my beliefs on anyone. My actions speak for me but I don't force it on anyone and I will still play my characters in characters.

My question for you is have you had any players of any religious persuasion (or lack thereof) that try to play with their religious agenda out in their games too much?

The purpose of this question is more of a tool for PC's and GM's to know what's not acceptable in game. It is not to hate on anyone's religion or lack thereof.

Never found it to be an issue in any game i've played.

The closest i've ever seen is I play under one GM who dosn't allow things like 'Jesus!' (As an explicitive), and similar at his game table, saying it's blasphemy. It's a bit of an odd rule, but not one that's pushy. And other than that, the characters are free to sin in pretty much any other way they see fit. So it's not a big deal

That's more a personal respect thing; us not saying blatantly inflammatory things to his religion.

I do beleive that's what I said.

Except that rule covers in character and out of character action.

Which is what I said. Read again.

[Nekira Sudacne]

Well, that puts an end to that obnoxiousness. Y'all realize you can't put more than 5 nested quotes, right?
So, was this one of those things where you each start placing your hands around a stick or baseball bat, and whoever's hand tops it wins?

I was merely explaining my point. No need to be Obnoxious.

[Nekira Sudacne]

That's malarky. Ya don't need to nest one-sentence quotes upon each other to explain a viewpoint.

Aw well. I vote for the hand-over-hand interpretation; the one whose hand hit the top wins.

And what's wrong with nestling quotes? that's normal.

[Misfit KotLD]

That's malarky. Ya don't need to nest one-sentence quotes upon each other to explain a viewpoint.

Aw well. I vote for the hand-over-hand interpretation; the one whose hand hit the top wins.

And what's wrong with nestling quotes? that's normal.

It's not like we invited him to our argument anyway.

[Misfit KotLD]

That's malarky. Ya don't need to nest one-sentence quotes upon each other to explain a viewpoint.

Aw well. I vote for the hand-over-hand interpretation; the one whose hand hit the top wins.

And what's wrong with nestling quotes? that's normal.

It's not like we invited him to our argument anyway.

Yet here I am.
Say, while we're on this general topic of religion, how do folks here feel about Sartre's "No Exit"? I just read it last night, it's about 40 or 50 pages when stretched out by theatre formatting, and I gotta say I liked it. Especially the bit about how, once dead, your life is no longer yours to define.

I haven't read it, but I'm thinking it doesn't take death to limit one's ability to define one's life.

[Cinos]

It's widely varied for me and my players (none of which are what you'd call religious, Spiritual AT BEST).

Of them, I'll be honest, I've got it in for the orginaized religion (any, it's not like I dislike just Christianity / etc, just any large collection of single belief). All that said, many of the players characters and mine (I'm oft the GM), almost always have some connection to a church or religious theme in them (one is a Priest of Utu who takes a view of life and death very seriously, mending unjust death, and causing just death), one was a Paladin of Rurga, another did one of the Church of Light, and did it well (a lot of fun questions of faith, etc). In my core game, I play on religious icons a lot (casting them in duel lights, many of the greater opponents are named after deific figures in some way, both real ones and those shown in the game), and serve as a sort of 'good idea take to horrific levels' to show fallacy in morality without thought.

I also love to include morality ideals into games I run in some way (players learning to abuse an opponents moral stance to predict or lure them, good or bad). One set of campaigns was set on Alignment values, every player was forced to play the same Alignments to see how they could stick to it (Principled, Anarchist and Diabolic), all three proved popular.