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On Gods and Clerics.
Still reading the Kushiel's Legacy series, no into the second trilogy. But the religion of Terre D'Ange and how faith is handled in other lands has got me to thinking about religion in FRPGs.
Religion is a vital part of life for most people, especially in your typical fantasy setting where the evidence for the existence of the divine is right in your face everyday. Clerics can heal wounds, call down the wrath of the gods, and even raise the dead! Faith isn't really a part of the equation, in these settings you worship the gods for the same reason we obey the law - the penalties for failure are very real. But sadly, when it comes to the actual role of clerics, most games and settings fall short. Sure, there are lists of gods and each city has a temple district, but it ends there. What does the faith demand of it's worshipers? What are the holy days? What sacrifices are required? What does the religion teach about dealing with strangers? What is anathema to the faithful? These details can really make a religion live. Especially for the clerics.
FRPGs tend to treat clerics as walking medicine chests. Moderately effective combatants who cast "Cure Light Wounds" after every melee. Order of the Stick has a lot of fun with this stereotype. But beyond carrying a generic holy symbol and probably having the name of their deity scribbled on the character sheet somewhere, rarely is there anything more to indicate that this is a person who has dedicated his life to the worship of a deity or set of deities. What order does this cleric represent? What rules must he follow? As a priest, is he obligated to render service to fellow members of the faith? What are the politics of the order like? Again, these are all details that improve a game. Even Friar Tuck never forgot that his main role in the Merry Men was to serve as their spiritual adviser. D&D Third Edition addressed some of these concerns with Clerical Domains, so each god had specific focus and granted unique spells and abilities to their priests. (I also got rid of the stupid weapon restrictions ages ago.) Religion is as much a part of the setting as the map, it should be as detailed.
Then there's the nature of the gods. Kushiel's Legacy posits that there is one True God, the creator of the universe, but he is removed from his creation. Instead, he works through angels/demigods. Yeshuva was one of these (although his sacrifice led directly to the creation of Elua, see above link for the whole story) and other deities in other places seem to follow the "local focus, limited reign" model. This world's version of Venice, for example, is protected by Asherat-of-the-Sea, an ocean goddess and patroness of the city. Her power seems to be limited to the northern Adriatic; although it might be that her protection would be conferred on ships blessed by her priesthood. So you have a patchwork of local deities of varying scope. Interestingly, there is some evidence that a deity's powers can extend even into lands not consecrated to them (I'm think of the bone priests here). But it does create an interesting scenario for gaming; the cleric is less effective in lands with few worshipers or shrines to his patron god. This gives conversion a new urgency.
There's another model for the gods. In this one there is but one deity for each of the classic archetypes. There is War, Sun, Ocean, Healing, etc,. War is every aspect of war, from bloody slaughter to grand strategy to chivalrous orders. Each culture that worships War puts their own face the god. Thus barbarians see War as a god of slaughter and pillage, while the civilization facing those barbarians might see War as a virtuous shield-maiden, eternally guarding the frontier. War doesn't care, the prayers of both cultures reach him, and all he cares about is the fighting. The same goes for all the other deities. Asherat-of-the-Sea is just the local name for Ocean, Apollo is just another local cult of the Sun. This allows for a more universal use of clerical powers, but has some disturbing implications for the campaign. If all the gods of war are one god, why worship the god who sends waves of barbarians against you? This is far more a setting of immensely powerful beings that see mortals as tools and toys.
No matter what course you take in your game, make the religious world as important as the other details of world building. The campaign will be better for it.
Religion is a vital part of life for most people, especially in your typical fantasy setting where the evidence for the existence of the divine is right in your face everyday. Clerics can heal wounds, call down the wrath of the gods, and even raise the dead! Faith isn't really a part of the equation, in these settings you worship the gods for the same reason we obey the law - the penalties for failure are very real. But sadly, when it comes to the actual role of clerics, most games and settings fall short. Sure, there are lists of gods and each city has a temple district, but it ends there. What does the faith demand of it's worshipers? What are the holy days? What sacrifices are required? What does the religion teach about dealing with strangers? What is anathema to the faithful? These details can really make a religion live. Especially for the clerics.
FRPGs tend to treat clerics as walking medicine chests. Moderately effective combatants who cast "Cure Light Wounds" after every melee. Order of the Stick has a lot of fun with this stereotype. But beyond carrying a generic holy symbol and probably having the name of their deity scribbled on the character sheet somewhere, rarely is there anything more to indicate that this is a person who has dedicated his life to the worship of a deity or set of deities. What order does this cleric represent? What rules must he follow? As a priest, is he obligated to render service to fellow members of the faith? What are the politics of the order like? Again, these are all details that improve a game. Even Friar Tuck never forgot that his main role in the Merry Men was to serve as their spiritual adviser. D&D Third Edition addressed some of these concerns with Clerical Domains, so each god had specific focus and granted unique spells and abilities to their priests. (I also got rid of the stupid weapon restrictions ages ago.) Religion is as much a part of the setting as the map, it should be as detailed.
Then there's the nature of the gods. Kushiel's Legacy posits that there is one True God, the creator of the universe, but he is removed from his creation. Instead, he works through angels/demigods. Yeshuva was one of these (although his sacrifice led directly to the creation of Elua, see above link for the whole story) and other deities in other places seem to follow the "local focus, limited reign" model. This world's version of Venice, for example, is protected by Asherat-of-the-Sea, an ocean goddess and patroness of the city. Her power seems to be limited to the northern Adriatic; although it might be that her protection would be conferred on ships blessed by her priesthood. So you have a patchwork of local deities of varying scope. Interestingly, there is some evidence that a deity's powers can extend even into lands not consecrated to them (I'm think of the bone priests here). But it does create an interesting scenario for gaming; the cleric is less effective in lands with few worshipers or shrines to his patron god. This gives conversion a new urgency.
There's another model for the gods. In this one there is but one deity for each of the classic archetypes. There is War, Sun, Ocean, Healing, etc,. War is every aspect of war, from bloody slaughter to grand strategy to chivalrous orders. Each culture that worships War puts their own face the god. Thus barbarians see War as a god of slaughter and pillage, while the civilization facing those barbarians might see War as a virtuous shield-maiden, eternally guarding the frontier. War doesn't care, the prayers of both cultures reach him, and all he cares about is the fighting. The same goes for all the other deities. Asherat-of-the-Sea is just the local name for Ocean, Apollo is just another local cult of the Sun. This allows for a more universal use of clerical powers, but has some disturbing implications for the campaign. If all the gods of war are one god, why worship the god who sends waves of barbarians against you? This is far more a setting of immensely powerful beings that see mortals as tools and toys.
No matter what course you take in your game, make the religious world as important as the other details of world building. The campaign will be better for it.
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