Religion in Roleplaying Games

Religion in most RPG’s has always seemed bland to me. No doubt it’s due to the sensitive nature of the subject, but it seems like successive systems have generally glazed over the concept in ways that don’t do it justice — particularly compared with the detail in which magic and psionics are usually described. It’s not that there’s not enough development within the religions themselves; many rulebooks have presented complex pantheons, cosmologies, entire church hierarchies, countless religious classes and prestigue classes, histories and holy wars, but there’s little actual description of how and why religion and divinity works, which almost always leaves the players and the DM wondering how to approach the subject. Other than granting spells to clerics, the gods rarely interact with their followers, rarely do anything interesting, and so the churches are often static and uninteresting organizations. When you consider how much of an effect religion has had on our own history, shouldn’t it play an even bigger role in a fantasy world? This is my attempt to add some life and flavor into a game aspect that has so much potential that it shouldn’t so often be just an afterthought.

The gods in my game are real beings that do interact in the lives of mortals. They answer prayers at times, they meddle at others, and they do occasionally enjoy smiting. Gods rarely interact or meddle with one another, instead focusing their efforts on their worshippers and being worshipped. While gods are immortal, their power is ultimately derived from the devotion of their worshippers — they act as a sort of divinity power plant. Thus, the very popular gods are more powerful than the unpopular ones, and the gods who play a more active role in their followers’ lives have more followers.

So what are the gods exactly?

Gods are extra-planar personifications of abstract terms. Wrath, Love, Bounty, Wisdom, War, and so on. Some of them began as mortals who managed to attract more and more followers until they reached a critical level and ascended to godhood (such as the deification of ancient kings, or saints). Others were extra-planar creatures that took up a mantle of godhood (such as very powerful demons or angels). Other gods were spontaneously born out of the energy from their worshippers. Regardless of their origins, all gods are vitally connected to their worshippers. Without worshippers, their power would diminish until they became an ordinary member of their race, or they might even wink out of existence entirely. Therefore gods do have a strong interest in maintaining a stable body of followers.

Different cultures have called the gods different names. Some given grandiose titles, others (rarely) by the concept itself. The point being though that there is no difference between Ra, the Egyptian god of the Sun, and Amaterasu, the Japanese Sun Goddess; they are both aspects of the same being. Their followers might not believe that, and might even fight each other over that, but that is due to the fact that humans run religions, and humans tend to pick fights.

There is practically an infinite number of gods. Any philosophy or concept can potentially become a god. However, not all gods are equal. The most powerful gods tend to be the most general and vague concepts, like Love, Life, and Death, while the weaker end of the spectrum might include narrower concepts — gods of Gambling or Sailing or Healing.

Gods whose conceptual realms overlap form hierarchies; for example the concepts of Sex and Lust would fit under Love, and thus those would be part of Love’s church. (Devotees of a sex cult would add to the power of both Sex and Love, while followers of a sect devoted to filial piety and brotherhood would contribute to both Brotherhood and Love, but not Sex.) Gods in such a hierarchy may or may not acknowledge the gods who serve them. For example, Famine, Disease, Rot, and other unpopular gods might serve the god of War, but not play much of a role in his church — after all, most people do not want to think about those aspects of war. There are other minor gods and proto-gods that exist outside of these hierarchies (such minor concepts, or powerful creatures seeking godhood), but they are generally not powerful enough to grant much of a boon to their followers. Consequently they are not popular enough to gain much of a following.

Gods tend to leave other gods alone even when their spheres of power come into direct conflict. The gods of Life and Death have a mutual understanding that they both need the other to survive, and thus do not generally quarrel with each other (however, their minor servants like Birth and Disease might occasionally try to tip the scales in their master’s favor). In other cases, because all gods have incredible power, there is a general understanding of Mutually Assured Destruction should one god find a way to tip the system too far in his or her favor. For this reason, conflicts are generally raised and resolved on the mortal scale rather than on the divine scale. Most of the time, however, gods are content to receive worship and condone anything that facilitates their worship, while ignoring all else and enjoying their extra-planar paradise.

What kind of roles do gods play in human lives?

Being immortal, gods are generally uninterested in mortal concerns like current politics, hoarding money, and petty wars (except of course for the gods who are of those particular concepts). A god of Gambling would happily bless a new casino, or smite a cheater, but is unlikely to be of any help at all if hordes of orcs come to raid the village – after all, orcs enjoy gambling as much as any “civilized” race. Gods have learned over the millennia to interfere just enough to keep a healthy following, while remaining aloof enough to ensure their followers still need them. (If everybody who prayed won the lottery, nobody would need to pray for luck anymore!) Mortals’ prayers are often answered or not depending on how notable the prayer-giver is to the god. A great warrior who slays a terrible beast would certainly receive some notice from the god of War; a 14-year-old acne-ridden teen with an angsty grudge would not.

Part of the power of being a god is omniscience in all things relating to your spheres, so a War god knows of every battle and every invocation of his name at all times. In essence, they see you when you’re sleeping, know when you’re awake, and they know if you’ve been bad or good. Thus, a great Warrior might be petitioned by townspeople to pray on their behalf to the god of War, because he is most likely to get his prayers answered.

How do people choose a church?

Most people pay homage to any number of gods whenever it’s convenient for them. Going on a trip? Make a donation to the god of Travels. Building a new home? Ask the god of Construction for his blessing. A few people will devote themselves to a single god; farmers, sailors, warriors, for example. A sailor prays so often to the gods of the Sea that he may even pray to them when asking for things unrelated to sailing. He’s built up so much favor with that one god that he has a better chance of having his prayers answered.

Non-controversial gods, like Agriculture, Fertility, Sailing, Love, and Luck are popular among many people and many cultures. Races with strong military traditions are also likely to have a very favorable view of the War gods. Praying to Death at the end of one’s life is not uncommon, as you’re about to meet him anyway — might as well try to earn some favor before the end. But there are also some less-wholesome gods who still manage to find important places in society. For example, if your daughter gets the plague, do you pray to an impartial god like Life, trying to win his favor? Or do you pray to Pestilence and ask him to spare your little girl and take someone else’s life instead? On the one hand, Pestilence is much more likely to respond than Life, but on the other hand, by praying to him, you’d be increasing his power. This question often comes down to morals and alignment. The gods who are more often called upon by evil people are more often reviled by good people. In that sense, society tends to shun these gods and keep them away from civilized areas. Consequently these gods tend to shun society and attract a much less wholesome crowd of followers, like monsters or cults.

Discussion

These religion rules can be incorporated into pretty much any campaign world’s existing system. They add some flavor and depth to an already rich pantheon by giving the gods and the churches some form of motivation and reason to exist. It’s up to the DM to determine how often the players’ prayers get answered, but if the players know there’s a chance the gods might hear them, they will probably become a lot more interested in that aspect of your campaign world.

Have you tried a system like this? Have you used any other ideas to engage your players in your game world’s religions? How much of a role does religion play in your campaign? Share your ideas with us!

Editors Note: For some alternative viewpoints on religion in RPGs (an admittedly popular topic) you may be interested in checking out one of more of the following articles at these other excellent sites:

1. “Monotheistic Religions in Roleplaying Games“, by Michael Wolf from Stargazer’s World.
2. “A Monotheistic Approach to the D&D Pantheon“, by Paul King from Creative Kingworks.
3. “The RPG Blog Carnival: Religion“, hosted by The Dice Bag in 2008 featured a round up of over 20 blog posts relating to RPGs and Religion. An excellent jumping off point to say the least.

Edited by Jonathan Jacobs