Religion
From Tazlure Gaming System Wiki
|
This article is part of the |
|---|
|
The Theme Park |
See Also Faith
[edit] Introduction
Tazlure was a fantasy game and therefore its setting contained an entirely made up religion, though based on some historic principles and examples. In our partnered game Age of Intrigue in contrast the use of the historic time period of the 17th century has lead to an exploration of the various forms of Protestantism, Roman Catholicism, Judaism, Russian Orthodoxy etc. It is nearly always a theme to some plotline or other because faith is a very personal thing to characters, often driving their actions, including politics. Considerations how to use faith in your setting are in our world building article on Faith.
[edit] Suggested Plotlines
Now how to run a religious plotline then? Here are some regularly used ideas:
- Divine testing: The PC gets in a nasty heap of troubles; it should be very tempting for him or her to abandon the rules of their deity. Central word: doubt. Giving in might solve their problems in the short run, but they may also lose the goodwill of their deity. Sticking to the high standards and principles might gain them the favour of a god or a goddess. The code of honour of each cult can be found in the world guide. Religious training nearly always encompasses divine testing, obviously.
- Go get’em: Deity bestows task upon PC, the standard religious quest. Eliminate vile demon, steal something from a temple of a rival deity, restore sacred spot, incite a leader to wage war against another etc. Again, the description in the world guide will aid you in finding the goals and motivations of the gods. Variation: PC gets tricked into thinking he or she is performing a quest for their god.
- Oh, to be a priest: Once a character has successfully completed paladin or priest training, he or she is supposed to act like one. Perhaps a priest will be asked to perform bury rituals; a travelling paladin might be asked to marry a couple in secret. It doesn’t really need further explanation that these tasks create countless opportunities for ‘regular’ plots: for example, the parents of the married couple may get very angry with him. Maybe they are powerful noblemen?
- The rules of the house: Major temples and abbeys of most deities are a political spider web on their own, and high members of clergy are often involved in worldly forms of power too. In such environment, there are tons of political plotlines possible. Does the local landlady need an ear inside the temple? Does the abbot need a player to get rid of some traitor?
- Training: Religious PC’s need to learn a great deal of skills. Paladins also need combat and tactics training too. Considering the amount of skills religious PC’s need, it might be worth while to make their training a little more than just training. Make it an interesting, integrated plot.
