| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| RedneckBadgerLord |
Posted - 18 Sep 2008 : 11:41:36
Just wonderin' 'cause I DM an FR D&D campaign an' the way I been runnin' the game is like you have the 'true' God in Ao and the good and neutral deities carry out his will. Is this reasonable for someone who is a good Christian, but still wants t'play a Realms campaign?
PS: I have the evil deities as demon lords who serve Satan.
Now before y'start witch-huntin' me for being the good Christian I am, I want to prove to my colleagues who condemn D&D that you can run a Christian-based campaign. |
| 13 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| BARDOBARBAROS |
Posted - 21 Sep 2008 : 08:56:20
quote:
Originally posted by RedneckBadgerLord
Just wonderin' 'cause I DM an FR D&D campaign an' the way I been runnin' the game is like you have the 'true' God in Ao and the good and neutral deities carry out his will. Is this reasonable for someone who is a good Christian, but still wants t'play a Realms campaign?
PS: I have the evil deities as demon lords who serve Satan.
Now before y'start witch-huntin' me for being the good Christian I am, I want to prove to my colleagues who condemn D&D that you can run a Christian-based campaign.
You are right ... Actually evil in our world is present and it is overwhelming good in my opinion, but it is well hidden in the whim of circumstances of civilization... |
| Jamallo Kreen |
Posted - 20 Sep 2008 : 19:56:15
quote:
Originally posted by Dalor Darden
...
In the Forgotten Realms I have even introduced a Dwarven "Pardoner" who would redeem your soul...so long as you could afford it. As a priest of Moradin who was very lawful and good this fella was often strict, but just as often a drunken priest found deep in his cups when he was most needed (he was my Friar...).
...
Ha! I used a very similar concept when a time-space warp dropped the PCs into 16th century (?) Averoigne. Using rules from A Mighty Fortress I created a Catholic indulgence seller who was a thorough villain as it turned out, but who had an escort of a couple of reiters in half-armor plus a small arsenal of wheellock pistols ("star pistols" in the Realms). He was quite willing to help the PCs against some undead, but his true motives were inscrutable to them at first.
Except for the "inscrutable" part I have drifted from the topic of Ao, to which I now redirect everyone's attention.
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| Dalor Darden |
Posted - 19 Sep 2008 : 02:06:58
quote:
Originally posted by RedneckBadgerLord
Just wonderin' 'cause I DM an FR D&D campaign an' the way I been runnin' the game is like you have the 'true' God in Ao and the good and neutral deities carry out his will. Is this reasonable for someone who is a good Christian, but still wants t'play a Realms campaign?
PS: I have the evil deities as demon lords who serve Satan.
Now before y'start witch-huntin' me for being the good Christian I am, I want to prove to my colleagues who condemn D&D that you can run a Christian-based campaign.
Feel free to do as you wish...even Tolkien's world draws on the inborn Westernized (Westernese?) ideas of religion with forces of good opposed by former servants now turned evil.
Look at nearly any religion's origins and you will find the concepts of what is "right" and what is "wrong" with those being "wrong" the evil-doers.
Many people played D&D using various things like "Castles and Crusades" and other books published by TSR having to do with lots of different cultures.
In the Forgotten Realms I have even introduced a Dwarven "Pardoner" who would redeem your soul...so long as you could afford it. As a priest of Moradin who was very lawful and good this fella was often strict, but just as often a drunken priest found deep in his cups when he was most needed (he was my Friar...).
Stereotypes from our world work really well with players on lots of different levels in our campaigns...so I see nothing wrong with instituting a familiar religious structure.
Especially now that Asmodeus is the epitome of true evil in the D&D Universe with legions of devils at his call...
The only thing I would do, which I think you are doing (I think) is replacing the real world names with the fantasy names. This gives some seperation from our own world and allows more immersion and suspension of disbelief so that the players can enjoy the game more without the hard-line connections to daily life. It would probably prevent degeneration into actual religious quarrels of "well, in Corinthians it says..." That sort of thing.
I've always liked real world comparison...but on religion I try to keep it rather vague to prevent awful debates that invariably occur. |
| The Sage |
Posted - 19 Sep 2008 : 01:16:36
Okay, we seem to be delving a little too deeply into the subject of real-world religions. Let's try to keep it brief, eh?  |
| Christopher_Rowe |
Posted - 19 Sep 2008 : 01:03:51
Right! Lewis, of course, being an Inkling. |
| Markustay |
Posted - 19 Sep 2008 : 00:35:49
Well, considering C.S.Lewis - author of the Chronicles of Narnia - wrote more Christian Books then Fantasy Ones, I don't see a problem with being a devout Christian AND an RPG player.
His Scrwetape Letters was excellent by the way. 
I have put a little bit of Judaeo-Christianity into my Over-Cosmology (THE God is MUCH higher then Ao - in the Greater scheme of things, Ao's about the equivalent to an archangel). I also have it where the Multiverse took seven days to build, and have even included the famous "Let there be Light" statement... thats how God threw Cthulhu out.
My Cosmpolgy is based on the Wheel, with real-world religion thrown in (so I had to make a few adjustments).
Anyhow, since the game is supposed to be about a group of heroes 'saving the day', I don't see why a game that teaches values like that can't be both fun and educational.
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| Rinonalyrna Fathomlin |
Posted - 18 Sep 2008 : 23:46:57
quote:
Originally posted by RedneckBadgerLord
Just wonderin' 'cause I DM an FR D&D campaign an' the way I been runnin' the game is like you have the 'true' God in Ao and the good and neutral deities carry out his will. Is this reasonable for someone who is a good Christian, but still wants t'play a Realms campaign?
As a non-religious person, I would have to say that the answer depends entirely on what you and your players feel comfortable with. |
| The Red Walker |
Posted - 18 Sep 2008 : 21:23:55
quote:
Originally posted by RedneckBadgerLord
Just wonderin' 'cause I DM an FR D&D campaign an' the way I been runnin' the game is like you have the 'true' God in Ao and the good and neutral deities carry out his will. Is this reasonable for someone who is a good Christian, but still wants t'play a Realms campaign?
PS: I have the evil deities as demon lords who serve Satan.
Now before y'start witch-huntin' me for being the good Christian I am, I want to prove to my colleagues who condemn D&D that you can run a Christian-based campaign.
Sounds fine with me. As the Dm you really have no rules, you should do whatever makes you and your players comfortable and allows you to enjoy playing! |
| Christopher_Rowe |
Posted - 18 Sep 2008 : 20:38:08
Heartily second the recommendation of the Tolkien essay. If you have an account at an academic library you should be able to find a copy through JSTOR or MLA. It's seminal--hugely influential in 20th century fairy- and folk-tale studies. The concept of "eucatastrophe" is something I think any would-be writer of speculative fiction should be familiar with, even if only to reject it.
And of course, the essays of Tolkien's fellow Inklings shine some interesting light on fantasy from somewhat different Christian perspectives as well. |
| Hawkins |
Posted - 18 Sep 2008 : 17:56:12
Hmmm...I have a powerpoint that a friend and I made for my Psycology and Christianity class to show how RPGs are not evil back when I was in college. I will see if I can dig it up. Also, the Christian Gamers' Guild is a good resource to show other Christians that RPGs are not evil. Check out some of the articles in the Chaplain's Corner.
EDIT: Another resource that I like is the Tolkien Reader. In it there is an essay by Tolkien titled On Fairy-Stories (IIRC), which describes why it is not wrong for Christians to read, write, and enjoy fantasy stories. |
| Lord Karsus |
Posted - 18 Sep 2008 : 17:10:55
-Ao doesn't function like that, but if that's the spin you want to put on it in your game, it's your game. You can do whatever you want.
-That said, if a group of people need to have the game "Christianized" before playing, I wouldn't even bother with them. I won't even delve deeper than that, though. |
| RedneckBadgerLord |
Posted - 18 Sep 2008 : 11:56:25
Would 'y believe I tried that slogan already? I nearly got yelled at.   |
| IngoDjan |
Posted - 18 Sep 2008 : 11:47:42
New slogan!
"Forgotten Realms - D&D. You can do anything." |
