Creating a Religion
Creating a Religion involves two parts: a "Content" part, and a "Mechanics" part.
The Content part involves defining details about the belief and practice, in the following dimensions: Main Type, Sacred Themes, ideal values, myths, worship, priesthood, aesthetics and taboos
The Mechanics part involves giving the followers of that religions and their priests some roll modifiers that make sense according to their belief system and religious practices. This is responsability of the GM, or agreed upon between Player and GM, since a fertility religion will be very different from a chastity one, for example.
If the latter is the case, the Player may create his own religion, but the GM may rule out certain aspects or the entire creation if it jeopardizes setting credibility. A settlement ruled by an intolerant monotheistic warrior theocracy may prove too much of a challenge for a priest of Dinky the Pink Unicorn. Alternatively, a ridiculous religion about "Pizza the goddess of Deliciousness" may simply blow the GM's plan for a gritty, bitter and dark setting where famine is a constant.
Example:
Laura is creating a Priestess, but she is eager to start playing so he decides to do an express creation. She defines a Henotheistic religion, which implies there is a pantheon, and the following will focus in the god she follows: She will follow Xalatli, the coyote god. She decides the most sacred things are Nature as a whole, Coyotes, and your own soul. The associated values are Adaptability, Cunning and Respect towards Nature. Hence, she says the religion has to do with communion between your soul and Mother Nature, and has a pantheon of animal gods, representing different themes.
Priesthood lacks hierarchy, they are independent, belong to both sexes, without special restrictions but favoring meat consumption. They perform fasting, martial arts, and pranking. Their concern for politics is quite low, interfering only when survival of the settlement is in jeopardy. Laura decides to flesh out the religion during gameplay, and the GM is ok with that.
A peaceful religion encouraging meditation could make their followers more adept in the Control skill, and will probably suck at the Heavy Melee skill, whereas the followers of a goddess of love will be probably better at the Seduction skill, and could be weak on other aspects.
Since the diversity of possible religions is huge, it is not possible to determine the affected skill s in a deterministic way without introducing an enormous amount of complexity. Hence, this will be left open the the GM and players.
Hence, each religion grant the following to the characters who follow it:
GMs can create religions for their settlements, but a player creating a Priest might want to create his own religion.
If the latter is the case, the GM defines the best way to achieve this among these options:
She decides that for her, the relationship with nature requires to be more of a generalist to be adaptable, and cunning will be applied and specialized in combat. Hence, she suggests a +1 in Survival and +1 in Nature Lore rolls, and a +2 in Tactics. She also thinks her character's focus in nature will lead her away from tech, so she gets a -2 in Tech; that arrows are not the way of Coyotes, so she gets a -1 in Ranged, and that art is a wasteful endeavor that's too sophisticated for a wasteland roamer, thus getting a -1 in Performance.
The Content part involves defining details about the belief and practice, in the following dimensions: Main Type, Sacred Themes, ideal values, myths, worship, priesthood, aesthetics and taboos
The Mechanics part involves giving the followers of that religions and their priests some roll modifiers that make sense according to their belief system and religious practices. This is responsability of the GM, or agreed upon between Player and GM, since a fertility religion will be very different from a chastity one, for example.
Content Generation
You can do this quickly or thoroughly. If you want something quick, refer only to the Main Type, What is most sacred, Ideal Values, and Priesthood dimensions. If you have more time, go for the rest.- Main Type (Select 1) - In cases different from monotheism, you will be describing a specific path among many
- Animism - Everything has a spirit, humans, animals, places, things (myriad of spirits)
- Polytheism - Worship of many gods (there is a pantheon)
- Henotheism - Worship of one god, without denying existence of others (there is a pantheon)
- Monotheism - Worship of one god, denying the existence of others. No pantheon.
- No traditional "god" - Some disembodied force with no personality nor will, deemed sacred.
- Sacred Themes: (Select 1 to 3, select specifics when relevant)
- Cosmos as a whole
- Celestial bodies (Sun, Moon, Planets and Stars)
- Nature as a whole
- Natural themes or forces (Fire, plants, water, storms, fertility, death)
- Natural specifics (wolf, eagle, a specific river)
- Human endeavors (farming, war, crafting, trading, science, technology, knowledge)
- Abstract concepts or values (justice, wisdom, love, envy, nothingness)
- Ancestors
- Own soul/self
- Trascendental god (a god out of this physical world, as the christian god)
- Humanism - Human race and its potential
- Postapocalyptic shit (the Ancients, Mutations, Radiation, Cannibalism, ghosts)
- Ideal Values (select 3 specifics and prioritize)
- Peaceful Values (Love, non-harm, detachment, wisdom)
- Dynamic Values (Change, Adaptability, Survival)
- Warrior Values (Courage, Tenacity, Warrior skills)
- Intellect Values (Rationality, Cunning)
- Purity Values (Cleanliness, Ideological, Cultural, Racial)
- Social Values (Respect for the elder, Social Recognition, Power)
- Relationship with environment (serve, respect or exploit it)
- Mystic concepts (Enlightenment, Salvation, coming of paradise, etc)
- Tell your own
- Myths (Select 1 from each aspect)
- Universe Creation (7 days, dismemberment of a god, big-bang, from another universe, cyclical universes)
- Human Creation (From clay, from animals, extraterrestrial)
- The Fall (warfare, disease, famine, flooding, mutation, injustice, god's punishment, Earth's revenge)
- Worship (Select at least 1 from each aspect)
- Personal rites (prayer, meditation)
- Periodic Social Rites (liturgy, singing, dancing)
- Places (Temples, houses, hilltops, glens, lakes, caves, etc.)
- Life Milestones (Baptism, Adulthood Initiation, Marriage, Funeral, etc.)
- Mysticism (trance states, use of drugs, magic)
- Sacrifice (Humans, animals, self-inflicted wounds, food, flowers, crafts, penance, fasting)
- Religious wear (hats, hijabs, colanders, etc)
- Priesthood (Select 1 specific from each aspect)
- Hierarchy (From fully independent priests to full-blown hierarchic)
- Allowed Genders (Only 1 gender, predominance of a gender, egalitarian)
- Restrictions (Sexual, Eating, Riches)
- Practices (Meditation, Yoga, Ascetism, Self-Torture, Martial arts, Singing)
- Political meddling (from very interfering to strictly spiritual)
- Aesthetics (Define at least 1 thing in each aspect)
- Symbols (crosses, circles, infinite, ankh, other)
- Colors (white, black, red, green, etc.)
- Fetishes (Statues, Paintings, Altars, Amulets, Prayer beads, bells, garments, etc.)
- Taboos (select 2, and give specifics)
- Sexual (don't fuck out of marriage, or your relatives, or weird shit)
- Diet (don't eat humans, or specific animals, or whatever)
- Speaking (such as "do not say the name of god").
If the latter is the case, the Player may create his own religion, but the GM may rule out certain aspects or the entire creation if it jeopardizes setting credibility. A settlement ruled by an intolerant monotheistic warrior theocracy may prove too much of a challenge for a priest of Dinky the Pink Unicorn. Alternatively, a ridiculous religion about "Pizza the goddess of Deliciousness" may simply blow the GM's plan for a gritty, bitter and dark setting where famine is a constant.
Example:
Laura is creating a Priestess, but she is eager to start playing so he decides to do an express creation. She defines a Henotheistic religion, which implies there is a pantheon, and the following will focus in the god she follows: She will follow Xalatli, the coyote god. She decides the most sacred things are Nature as a whole, Coyotes, and your own soul. The associated values are Adaptability, Cunning and Respect towards Nature. Hence, she says the religion has to do with communion between your soul and Mother Nature, and has a pantheon of animal gods, representing different themes.
Priesthood lacks hierarchy, they are independent, belong to both sexes, without special restrictions but favoring meat consumption. They perform fasting, martial arts, and pranking. Their concern for politics is quite low, interfering only when survival of the settlement is in jeopardy. Laura decides to flesh out the religion during gameplay, and the GM is ok with that.
Mechanics Generation
Religious beliefs, values and practices influence their learning processes, and the activities they favor.A peaceful religion encouraging meditation could make their followers more adept in the Control skill, and will probably suck at the Heavy Melee skill, whereas the followers of a goddess of love will be probably better at the Seduction skill, and could be weak on other aspects.
Since the diversity of possible religions is huge, it is not possible to determine the affected skill s in a deterministic way without introducing an enormous amount of complexity. Hence, this will be left open the the GM and players.
Hence, each religion grant the following to the characters who follow it:
- +1 modifier to the result of 1 specific skill rolls, for each faith level above 2 they have in the religion (not stackable).
- -1 modifier to the result of 1 specific skill roll, for each faith level above 2 they have in the religion (not stackable).
- +2 modifier to the result of 1 specific skill roll.
- -2 modifier to the result of 1 specific skill roll.
GMs can create religions for their settlements, but a player creating a Priest might want to create his own religion.
If the latter is the case, the GM defines the best way to achieve this among these options:
- Players make a skill modifier proposal, arguing and grounding their selections, and the GM can approve, reject or suggest modifications or options, until agreement is reached.
- GM make a skill modifier proposal, arguing and grounding their selections, and the Player can approve, reject or suggest modifications or options, until agreement is reached.
- GM defines modified skills. This is recommended in settings where religion plays a major role in making things credible, or plays a major role in the story.
She decides that for her, the relationship with nature requires to be more of a generalist to be adaptable, and cunning will be applied and specialized in combat. Hence, she suggests a +1 in Survival and +1 in Nature Lore rolls, and a +2 in Tactics. She also thinks her character's focus in nature will lead her away from tech, so she gets a -2 in Tech; that arrows are not the way of Coyotes, so she gets a -1 in Ranged, and that art is a wasteful endeavor that's too sophisticated for a wasteland roamer, thus getting a -1 in Performance.
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