Passages: a new "Christian" RPG

[dindenver]

Seth,
  You have already got a lot of great advice from these guys, but one point doesn't seem to have been hit on very well:
The characters are still worshiping a false god...

  It is important that if the game is to be a Christian-themed RPG, that it embraces God. This is something people believe in strongly, you can't half-ass it. And its not like you will get sued for copyright violation if you include names/passages from the bible...

  For fundamentalist Christians, the following are satanic:
Demons (obviously)
Devils (duh)
False worship
Magic
Alchemy
Summoning
Astrology
Divination
Elves
Fairies
Dragons

  Its at this time that I might suggest to you that either your "magic" is psionics-based or that you make a system that has no magic. Every time a designer suggests a Bronze Age/Iron Age adventure game, ears perk up. There is no good system that lets people play Medieval without magic...

  Either way, you need to couch the above list in terms that do not glorify them.

  Also, I can't emphasize that enough, XPs based on the 7 cardinal virtues (or 10 commandments) instead of killing would be AWESOME!

  Anyways, good luck man!

[Ken]

Hi-

Back in the 80s, when I first starting gaming ( I was like 12 or 13), my step-dad gave me grief about D&D being satanic; he never read it, and didn't really have reason to believe that it was, other than thats what he heard, so it had be true. Promising that I wasn't going to play a pagan or whatever didn't really help here; it was bad enough that I had a book with demons and monsters in the house. It also didn't matter what light they cast these evil creatures in; having them in the game at all made the entire game satanic. Technically, I don't know if I can really argue with that, but the funny thing was that he loved the Lord of the Rings books, and had no problem with me playing the ICE game based on Tolkein's world. Anyway, as it turned out, I'm not much of a fantasy fan and ended up playing supers and sci-fi; so it wasn't a big deal.

My point here being that if you're going to make a Christan rpg, make a CHRISTAN RPG. I don't think that taking D&D and adding a Christan option to it would really make much of a difference, if all of that non-Christan stuff were still in it and available.

Just based on my own personally design preferences, I would take the things that are important about Christan belief as it relates to your setting and wrap the system (not just the setting) around those elements. Make Christan belief inexorable from your mechanics; name stats after elements of Christan dogma, etc. The idea being that your GAME is about being a Christan and about the things that make Christianity important and unique. Making it the most popular of ten religious sects diminishes the position in the game (and in general).

I wouldn't go into any detail on mystic evil at all (its enough that they are against God). They could have their own different type of characteristics that signify their level of challenge without giving too many specifics. I would suggest that they function soley as plot elements and not be written up like characters. Why? Mainly because then someone may want to play an evil character, and the ability for that to be done may undermine your goals here.

Also, fighting monsters in general is kind of a relic of the D&D way of thinking. In a game like this, I think that deliverer of doom and temptation is just a symptom of evil and is not as important as how a Christan hero deals with it and their own failings. Pushing through on faith and conviction is certainly more impressive that just wading through endless dungeons with swords ablazing. Any challenge the characters face should assault their faith as much as their flesh, and this could give your combat system a very spiritual and narrative flavor.

As far as magic goes, I would lean more towards prophecy, miracles, and divine intervention. These would not be controlled by the characters but maybe driven by the players through some narrative sharing when they want to shake things up. Maybe players could invoke something miraculous by undergoing a trial of some sort before hand or afterwards.

These are just some ideas. As I wright this, I definitely see this as a more narrative than tactical game.

Thoughts?

Merry Christmas,

Ken

[David B. Goode]

Dave makes a really great point. If you wanna make a Christian rpg, do it. There's no need for "false gods", at least not those with any true power. I loved in the Prince of Egypt how the priests of Ra were charlatans. And maybe some folks even use magic and calling it the powers of (insert false god's name), knowingly or deluded.

The point is, you don't need to make a game that tip-toes around differing religious points of view. Dogs in the Vineyard is an excellent example. I'm not sure what the ratio of Mormon vs. non-Mormon players is, but I do know that you don't have to be in the Church of Latter Day Saints to enjoy the game.

A point I'd like to add to Dave's is this...

"For fundamentalist Christians, the following are satanic:
Demons (obviously)
Devils (duh)
False worship
Magic
Alchemy
Summoning
Astrology
Divination
Elves
Fairies
Dragons"

There are many, many, many Bible believing, evangelical Christians who do not see elves or faerie as satanic. It certainly is true of some. I remember reading my Elf Quest comics one summer at my grandparents'. My grandfather asked, "What are those supposed to be?"

"Elves," I answered.

"Those are demons," he assured me.

I just turned back to the book in silence. It was very awkward.

Anyway, the proliferation of faerie creatures, like elves and fauns, in Christian literature, particularly the works of Lewis and, if you'd count it, the Lord of the Rings, should allow you to involve elves without ruffling to many feathers.

On the other hand, if you want something more certain to be inoffensive, Dave's spot on.

I do believe, though, and this is strictly my opinion, that nerdy, dorky, and geeky past-times face prejudice in the church just like they do in the rest of the world. The secular world, though, is much less likely to associate things they don't know or understand with satanism. So, no matter what content you put into your game, you're likely to see some controversy. You might be careful not to remove everything that might somehow be offensive to someone.