Game WISH 75: Religion and Controversy

This weeks Game WISH is about Religion and Controversy

A lot of neogamers I play with are uncomfortable with taking real religions and putting them into play. With all the "Satanist" backlash against D&D that there's been, do you feel comfortable having any religion in your games? Do you scrub it of anything controversial?

Being a believer myself, I feel that including any real-world religion in a game that also includes magic and supernatural elements is always going to be a situation where you have to tread carefully, especially if any of the players are strongly religious. I would not want to include anything that made any player uncomfortable. Religious faith, much like sexuality, is an important part of people's identity, which is why religion, like sex, can be a very touchy area.

My own position is that games must treat any real-world religions with respect; if the world-view of the gameworld is completely at odds with any mainstrean faith, then it's better to avoid explicit mentions of that religion in the game. For example, I would never play a strongly religious character in a Call of Cthulhu game. On the other hand, I do play a believer in STD, a game based on Steven King's The Stand, as does at least one other Christian player.

I had mixed feelings about In Nomine, the game of Angels and Demons. Some people feel the game is inherently blasphemous, and it can be if you play it that way. But it can also be one of the most explicitly Christian games out there; I've certainly played games that have had a very strong moral tone. It is about the ultimate struggle between Good and Evil, after all.

When it comes to fantasy worlds with fictitious religions, I have trouble imagining a plausible world where religion plays no part whatsoever. I'm very into well-defined and coherent worlds with detailed histories and cultures, and religion should play an important part in that. Take the religion out of Glorantha and you won't have much left. Likewise my own Kalyr setting would be much weaker without the enigmatic Guardians and the array of wierd and wonderful human cults.