Defining Faiths
What actually exists?
What might exist?
- Pantheistic all-encompassing God
- Reincarnation
- anecdotal evidence
- core nature of the planet and the return of spirits to the core
Religion and its practice on Shashnia
Functional effects of Religion
Players can appeal to gods that are within the category that they subscribe to. Gods can be appealed to even if outside of their religion if the correct ceremony is done. Gods will grant favours. Gods appear to be mischevious characters that can do things to characters at seemingly random intervals. They do this for some obscure higher purpose or, preferably, to make good story lines. Gods are prone to in-fighting; while under the patronage of one, don't expect to get blessings from their enemy. (Yes, they're all fragments of the same whole, but it doesn't matter to them, because the fragments are meant to be distinct and act that way).
Religion is essentially a system for gaining bonuses, energy and aid.
Discussion about Religion in the Shashnimyn world
Religions may be at odds. There seems to be a human desire to convert others to your faith, perhaps to prove to yourself that your belief is supported. I do want Shashnia to place a large unhappiness with missionary efforts that seek to indoctrinate rather than just help in aid efforts and offer the opportunity to learn their ways. Being that the gods are somewhat active (or superbeings if you will. Could have the characters harass each other. Some calling them gods, others getting pissed off for calling them that. Essentially, it’s a personal choice whether or not to see them as gods. Some readers may be offended by calling them that, others may not. Even Life/Death will not refer to her/himself as a god, merely a being with higher dimensional awareness and corresponding abilities. The discussions between L/D and the protagonist will surely include discussions of the nature of God, the ultimate being, the Everything, the Infinity.
When designing a religion, consider the basics.
-motivation: ultimate goal? To do good for others, to make it to some special afterlife, to seek personal or group power, to please a vengeful universe.
-manner of worship: churches? Meditation. Physical practice, holidays, ceremony, customs, etc. how would this affect their basic interactions
-rules. Morals, values
-pilgrimage quests!!! Wheee, this type of thing could be well melded into an rpg
naturally there will be some nasty religions as well as nice ones. Some purely self-serving, others downright evil and have the patron of some nasty lovecraftian like things
the current religion could be something that is pretended in our world, but the fact that there are physical manifestations of deities and ‘miracles’ happening on a semi-regular basis means that the mores of any religion can be maintained by the immortal and prevent faking. The gift of a religious artefact under control (probably indirect, but not without effect) of a deity or god would certainly go to those only who uphold the morals and practices they have sworn to. Quest idea: be a good _ and get a godly gift! Please your god and be rewarded. It’s just like a boss, you can go with them, against them or switch and the fruits of each come down to your choice. Religious auras can also be presented at initiations. These may have the potential to be sensed by magical means. It’s kinda like one of the god’s eye is on you, and this leaves a subtle mark that the skilled can see. Naturally, there will be ways to deceive and disguise (but not lie!).
religions should not be exclusive. There should be nothing preventing an individual who worships the gods of nature to pray to the gods of technology, war/challenge, fortune etc. the pleas of a character will be more well-received by those who more closely follow the religious tenants of the god in question. Bonuses for praying should be often but primarily short-lived effects. Appealing to different gods should be most likely in cases where the gods are likely to be shared, eg. The bit you wrote about the sun in your yellow notebook. Almost all cultures will recognize the power inherent in the sun and thus can appeal to it’s warmth, guidance, whatever.
Cults
Major cults or The Old Religions, are those belief systems which predate the arrival of the Dual. They are all animistic/naturalistic.
Minor cults, are those religions which have arisen recently or have never had many followers. Players are welcome to create minor cults, but their NPC growth is contingent with their fit into the theme of the world. Some minor cults even oppose the Dual, claiming that they are actually linked to the cause of the Demon Seige.
Discussions/Notes
religion as an intellectual and artistic movement, ritual and ceremonies seek to connect the practicioners with the world's cycles and its power. explorations of themes through religious art. meditations and sermons as reflections of contemplation.
Most citizens of Shashnia are not members of one single religion. There are commonly shared beliefs between all faiths and systems of ideals, things like morality, belief in the afterlife & reincarnation. The variations in the specifics of these make discussion more than conflict.
Relgion is practiced by actions to honour beliefs. Priests are myn who've dedicated their lives to the pursuit of these expressions, whatever deity they choose.
Life talks about growth and newness, death talks about renewal and change. These two together are the most practiced religious traditions, and have events to celebrate and acknowledge the major cycles of the year.
Life - Death
Anger/force
Despair
Love/family
Desire/sexuality
Harvest/bountiful
Memory/honouring the past
Gratitude/generosity
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organized religion
by having your faith and church aggregation given to a single individual, you are tithing them a bit of your power. You may not fundamentally notice it, but they are gaining power through your faith in them. in large institutions of many followers, the power gained is significant. it has been in this way that demons have created cults of worship and become more powerful in this world.
this has not prevented the spread of similar teachings. the primary religion of Life and Death within Shashnia is widespread, but there are not small numbers of world rulers representing and commanding the whole. there's a logical flaw in the system that has been acknowledged. There is evil done in the world by myn, therefore myn have the capacity to do evil. If an individual is given enormous power over large numbers of individuals, evil will inevitably occur at some point in time. Thus over history spans, it's preferred to plan for many small movements co-operating than a monopolous risk. In a lower energy system this may be a feasible model. But when devotion is the source of increase of potential in mind control powers... well, you'd already be convinced of this article.
the major organized religions are:
Life & Death, the Pantheon (as individuals, or in cohorts), Nature religions (local to each region) and the cults.
It is not a bad thing to be a member of a cult, in fact, much can be achieved when belief and common values are a cause of organization. The devotion and worship can be focused with intent to achieve all manner of goals, from building castles, protecting the Demon Gate, predicting the future, summoning favor of the Gods, etc
Cult devotion in the wrong hands, is a source of power for the demons. It is of some rumour that Wurmspawn is a demon because he inspires worship.
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Characters can go without religion or moral codes, but to do so means they miss out on the bonuses that come with. Since I’d like every action to be rewarded in some sense, the restrictions placed upon an individual by any religion should be less than the benefits they reap. As the above case for the ‘caveman’ type lack of morals…hmmm, I don’t want all the undecided ppl to have to start as cavemen…dunno
I don’t want alignments. That’s what moral codes and religions are for. Each player will complete a questionnaire at their leisure which defines their views and the resultant bonuses. Alignments are pigeon-holing, there are a variety of viewpoints allowed within a single religion and a flexibility of moral codes (or lack thereof on some issues). Making the effective alignments distributed over a bunch of personal views and ethics is far more reasonable than saying “you Bad, me Good.”
MAR Barker implies that religions come about with the opportunities provided by adequate food supply for specializations. I am prone to believe this, as Jared Diamond’s human culture evolution largely supports it, and it’s happy logical. The opportunity for players to choose a group with very little moral restrictions would potentially limit their choice of tribe since no large and techn’lly advanced society would allow large disruptions to occur if they could prevent it. So this means that the player can either choose from a limited number of tribes in the advanced areas, or choose a less technologically advanced group. The ‘primitive tribes’ will be hunter-gatherers and have much more physical skills and talents than other groups. This will make them great warriors, but a prejudice against the general lack of morals in their Clannu (a family of tribes) might be a disadvantage to players. This sacrifice should not hamper the fun of the game, but subtly it should make players realize that in turn for not having to follow any rules, they have access to less of the benefits that arise from co-operation. Naturally, these characters can convert to a new moral code (is religion the same thing) in the game (probably by a quest of initiation). Their initial equipment and items will represent their home and technology of origin. I can see it being quite entertaining to play a brute warrior fighting monsters with stone weapons. And then later have this same brute do the tarzan thing and enter civilization with advanced engineering. On shashnia, anything is possible.
An issue that I have had trouble with figuring out, is how to have the areas relatively isolated from each other. That is, isolated enough that gene flow is reduced to levels that tribes are subspecies in difference from each other and technology levels can vary widely. I coud attribute it to tradition, but that seems an unrealistic cop out. Perhaps resource levels are an explanation, but again it is incomplete as the shashnimuyn race as a whole is benevolent. Could the separations be merely to lack of long distance travel? That would require each area to be a little more self-sufficient and mostly trade with the areas around them. That could work…ok, so then no trucks, tanks or trains that travel at any large speed, or those that do cannot do so for a very long time.
Oil? Why not internal combustion? Well, as a hippy reminder, they had oil deposits in their history but they used them all up in the last big war. The amounts of pollution and the fact that it was a limited supply made them give up on it as an energy source for any large form of transportation. They still use internal combustion, but the fuel is alcohol or simple hydrocarbon based that is produced by plants, thus limiting the usefulness of the IC engines.
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Relevant links:
Society
The Dual God Goddess
Spirit Animal
The Pantheon
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