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Dumpshock Forums _ Shadowrun _ Religious campaign?

Posted by: vagranttimelord Oct 24 2004, 06:19 PM

Hello everyone, I was just in a car for an hour and a half and for the entire time i was building on a campaign idea.

I would like to know peoples opinions on campaigns that include lots of: religion, magic, threats, more threats, and ending at high karma characters... but still well rounded ones.

I know that if i said my complete idea of the campaign it would sound stupid, but the hint for all of you is.... think Templar.

Ok... now give me those opinions.....

Posted by: Jason Farlander Oct 24 2004, 06:26 PM

So... a high-powered game with a religious (presumably catholic) theme? Something along the lines of the pcs being templars? Sounds fine, if your players would be interested in playing templars rather than shadowrunners. Can't give you a more detailed response unless you provide more information about what your idea entails, this was pretty sparse.

Posted by: Krieger Oct 24 2004, 08:31 PM

I've been tossing around the idea of creating a Templar-linked character for a while, and I think any campaign involving them would be fun as hell. I'd be down for it, though I think it would be best to wrap up a couple others first.

Posted by: paul_HArkonen Oct 25 2004, 01:16 AM

nah, the best was one of my player's characters, Catholic extremeist terrorist. He blew up a mosque, and then basically gave the catholic church a weapon to point at stuff they didn't like. It was quite funny till he blew himself and an entire building up.

moral of the story, religious campaigns can be quite fun, but only if you have players who are into it.

Posted by: toturi Oct 25 2004, 01:26 AM

I can wait to pit the New Knight Templars against the Jamil Islamyah. And have the two groups wipe each other out!

Posted by: Edward Oct 25 2004, 02:10 AM

This sounds like a variant on the “trained to be ghosts” alternat campaign style from SRcomp with the employer being a religious organisation.

I would be in but be shore your players understand the LOYALTY aspect of the game and want to play.

Edward

Posted by: Herald of Verjigorm Oct 25 2004, 02:32 AM

I could see such a game having three potential fates:
1) go to spot, Id threat, destroy threat, repeat
2) as one but with barrages of clues that eventually lead the PCs to decide between destroying certain threats and following certain instructions
3) No one expects the Spanish Inquisition!

Posted by: Adarael Oct 25 2004, 06:14 AM

Dude.
I'm not really religious, but both of my majors (literature and asian studies) tend to be heavily bent toward religion (I almost triple majored, with religious studies as the third). I don't have any vested interest in enforcing dogma, making people believe in god, or burning heretics.

That said... What you have described is *precisely* the sort of game I would love to play. It's a great idea, if done properly. Run with it.

Think about it - a street samurai or two that are of the more humanist religious beliefs, believing that human invention can empower them to channel god. Or maybe they feel cyberware weakens their spiritual connection to the divine. A rigger, the human embodiment of an Ophanim. And, of course, the Adept who beats ass for god. Jesuits from hell, baby.

Posted by: Doctor Funkenstein Oct 25 2004, 06:24 AM

All-magic variations can be a lot of fun. The Sixth World is so diverse and full of life that it's actually a shame not to leave the shadows behind every now and then and explore some of the other avenues.

This type of variation could cover anything including the aforementioned Templar game (which I've done before -- it's a lot of fun and is hardly limited by the three things the Herald mentioned), a game where everyone is a member of an Aztech blood magic gestalt out to explore the darker mysteries of the universe, or even members of a select Draco Foundation team put together to enforce Dunkelzahn's Will and the ramifications it created (another one I've done before and had a blast with).

One of the coolest things about a Templar variation is that it's a combination of an all-magic, mercenary, and dark mysteries type of game. You can run the whole gamut with it as you go out and recover powerful Catholic relics "private collectors" (imagine how much fun/what a bitch it would be if one of those collectors was a great dragon), investigate missing missionaries in the heart of Amazonia, join or foster a secret crusade against the New Jihad, and/or fight the demonic forces of a black magic coven like the Aleph Society.

Posted by: Crimson Jack Oct 25 2004, 08:25 AM

Heh, interesting topic. I don't really have anything to say about a Catholic-bent run scenario, but on the subject of religious runs... I normally run the game like 99% of the time. However, when I get to play, its in a group with a GM who's taking theology at PSU. He's a pretty smart and witty guy. He started telling us the title of each run we'd play, right before we'd play it. I was laughing when he said with a grin, "Tonight's run is Vishnu is from Mars, Kali is from Venus."

Anyhoo, back to Mary and the Templars...

Posted by: toturi Oct 25 2004, 08:44 AM

QUOTE (Crimson Jack)

Anyhoo, back to Mary and the Templars...

Is that a new band?

Posted by: mmu1 Oct 25 2004, 12:18 PM

Hehe... "And shepherds we shall be, for thee o Lord, for thee..." anyone?

Posted by: Adarael Oct 25 2004, 07:42 PM

Precisely so!
Just about half of the PCs I've made in the past five years have been of a religious bent, but I think that's due to having played a bunch of Legend of the 5 Rings, Vampire, 7th Sea, and always picking up the Cleric slack in D&D.

"And Shepherds we shall be
For thee, O Lord, for thee.
Power hath descended forth from Thy hand
Our feet may swiftly carry out Thy commands.
So we shall flow a river forth to Thee
And teeming with souls shall it ever be.
In Nomeni Patri, Et Fili, Et Spiritus Sancti."

I like Boondock Saints. Can you tell?

Posted by: GaiasWrath8 Oct 25 2004, 08:15 PM

When it comes to any game I run, I try really hard to stay away from religon. The group of friends I have are all cool, but most come from difrent backgrounds. So unless you are playing with your church group you might want to stay away from that stuff, you neve know when you might afend some one.

Posted by: Nikoli Oct 25 2004, 08:18 PM

QUOTE (mmu1)

Hehe... "And shepherds we shall be, for thee o Lord, for thee..." anyone?

Boondock Saints, IIRC

Posted by: Bane Oct 25 2004, 08:22 PM

Boondock Saints 2.
Rumor or Reality?
Go.

Posted by: Adarael Oct 25 2004, 08:40 PM

QUOTE

I'm friends with a bunch of muslims, a couple of buddhists, a metric asston of catholics, some zionist jews, some non-zionist jews, one zoroastrian, and a bunch of transhumanists. We get a lotta milage out of different religions in Santa Barbara. But on this subject...

To be very blunt about it, if there is a danger that religion in a game will offend one of your players *simply by being there* - rather than because it was handled poorly or in an ill-educated fashion - then those players should *not be playing*. Shadowrun is about murder, corruption, spies, double-crosses, crime, justice made with your own two hands, revenge, lust, and mystery. If the line from 'it's just a game' to 'OMG WTF' can be crossed by including a church or a priest, then the person who's offended probably needs to take a step back and remind themself it's just a game. If a player can't remind themself that the religion in Shadowrun is part of a game, what does that say about their impressions of Shadowrun's more seedy themes?

Granted, that sounds like an indictment against gamers, but I've known a lot of gamers who were rather seriously unhinged, and the inability to take such simple things as 'part of the game' has been a good warning sign.

Posted by: Nikoli Oct 25 2004, 08:43 PM

Well said.

Posted by: GaiasWrath8 Oct 25 2004, 09:08 PM

You make a grate point. And I myself have studied mythology in collage and some forms of mystisium along with the bible and some modern belifes. I have no problem with religon but if you look at the world today, people are still killing each other over who has the right god. LOL. I rather just stay away from the subject.

As for Boon Dock Saints, That movie kicks so much ass. One of my top 10 of all time!

Posted by: Krieger Oct 25 2004, 10:38 PM

Well, as one of the people in the group that this campaign will be designed for, I think I can say for sure that none of us will be offended by any religious conflicts that we run across.

Posted by: Ecclesiastes Oct 25 2004, 10:44 PM

QUOTE (Adarael)

"And Shepherds we shall be
For thee, O Lord, for thee.
Power hath descended forth from Thy hand
Our feet may swiftly carry out Thy commands.
So we shall flow a river forth to Thee
And teeming with souls shall it ever be.
In Nomeni Patri, Et Fili, Et Spiritus Sancti."

Does anyone know a traslation of the latin in the last line of the prayer?

Posted by: Ecclesiastes Oct 25 2004, 10:48 PM

As far as religious characters go, being a Christian, yeah, a lot of my characters have dealings with the Lord. Most recently I have a character that is an ex-Templar. He saw that he was working for an orginization of man, rather than doing the work of God, so we went AWOL and left to find the God of the Bible, not the one of man. Naturually this lead to the Templars trying to hunt him down and all that fun stuff.

Posted by: mmu1 Oct 25 2004, 10:49 PM

QUOTE (Ecclesiastes)

QUOTE (Adarael @ Oct 25 2004, 12:42 PM)

Does anyone know a traslation of the latin in the last line of the prayer?

God, I am with a heathen...

"In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit."

Posted by: Ecclesiastes Oct 25 2004, 10:52 PM

I figured it was something like that, but the latin to english dictionary I use online isn't the greatest.

Posted by: Kagetenshi Oct 25 2004, 11:00 PM

Pater noster, qui es in caelis, sanctificetur nomen tuum, adveniat regnum tuum, fiat voluntas sicut in caelo et in terra, panem nostrum cotidianum da nobis cotidie, et demitte nobis debita nostra sicut et nos dimisimus debitoribus nostris et ne inducas nos in temptationem sed libera nos a malo.

In nomine patris, et filii, et spiritus sancti, amen.

~J

Disclaimer: I am not responsible for spelling or grammar errors. This is a memory of five years of Latin in a Catholic school.

Posted by: kryton Oct 25 2004, 11:03 PM

I don't even remember my latin from HS....Although I kind of teatered out at the end. Latin and myself didn't work well together.

Posted by: Ecclesiastes Oct 25 2004, 11:05 PM

Languages and myself don't work well together. I got a D in spanish both times I took it and its supposed to be the easiest to learn. And of course I had to marry a mexican that wants to teach me spanish so I can talk to the half of her family that doesn't speak english.

Posted by: GaiasWrath8 Oct 25 2004, 11:12 PM

...right...moving on.

I have always liked games with old religus ties, things like Gaia, Luna, and Helios. Or even norse or greek gods. Since very few people worship these gods nowadays I don't worrie about any one disagreing with my interputation of religus text or actions.

Any ways. Been nice talking. I am think I am done here in the religus section.

Posted by: Ecclesiastes Oct 25 2004, 11:23 PM

Check out Werewolf from the World of Darkness. Its all about Gaia, Luna, and Helios.

Posted by: Whizbang Oct 25 2004, 11:35 PM

Host it, and I will come.

Posted by: Edward Oct 26 2004, 01:22 AM

There is a vast difference between having a religious element (a priest hires you. Your mark is highly religious. A collector hires you to steel the windows from a famous church) and having a campaign where your characters belong to a religious organisation.

I would worry about somebody that had a problem with the first set but some people have a problem with playing a religious character. Ask them first.

Edward

Posted by: Haereticus Oct 26 2004, 02:08 AM

QUOTE (Kagetenshi)

LOL Did I just fall into a pre-Vatican II meeting?

- backs out slowly and with hands raised

Posted by: Deamon_Knight Oct 26 2004, 03:42 AM

Yea, I've always wanted to play a religious game because there is so much history to draw upon, its great Roleplaying material. Of course, if you have people who are offended your milage will vary, but I look at it this way: God's fallen on tough times if my Roleplaying can hurt the omnipotent being!

Posted by: Kremlin KOA Oct 26 2004, 05:48 AM

QUOTE (Haereticus)

QUOTE (Kagetenshi)

LOL Did I just fall into a pre-Vatican II meeting?

- backs out slowly and with hands raised

*stands in the doorway with wings outspread and flaming sword in hand*
Moris

Posted by: Tai-Pan Oct 26 2004, 09:04 AM

QUOTE (Jason Farlander)

Honestly, I have been considering a higher-powered campaign where the runners are hired to work against the Templars in several areas being only. Technically Catholic, I show up for most family weddings and funerals but avoid all other contact, I'd have to do more than a little research on the church.

Posted by: Fortune Oct 26 2004, 10:01 AM

QUOTE (Tai-Pan)

Honestly, I have been considering a higher-powered campaign where the runners are hired to work against the Templars in several areas ...

Run it here ... I'd love to play.

Posted by: Tai-Pan Oct 27 2004, 09:52 AM

QUOTE (Fortune)

QUOTE (Tai-Pan @ Oct 26 2004, 07:04 PM)

Honestly, I have been considering a higher-powered campaign where the runners are hired to work against the Templars in several areas ...

Run it here ... I'd love to play.

I'd Love to run it here but you already know too much.

Posted by: ES_Riddle Oct 27 2004, 05:02 PM

QUOTE (mmu1 @ Oct 25 2004, 05:49 PM)

"In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit."

You left out an "and." In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Sometimes I'm a little anal.

As probably the most religious of the Ames people that this campaign is intended for, I can assure you that the offending people part is not going to be a problem unless vagranttimelord is going to go out of his way to try to offend me. Sometimes I think my roleplaying group is trying to make me fail out of college with their constant stream of good campaigns.

Posted by: Kagetenshi Oct 27 2004, 05:06 PM

*Ahem*

"In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit".

~J

Posted by: Erebus Oct 27 2004, 05:23 PM

Hmm, if anyone's seen it. There was an Anime series called Helsing. I think setting the characters up as Paladins based off something similar to one of the antagonist characters from that would be cool.

Basically, you'd be members of a Secret order of the Church who hunts down monsters/demons, etc. I think it would work pretty well ported to the Sixth World.

Or for more possible ideas see the movie: The Boondock Saints for another odd religious tie-in. Basically two Irish guys who think they've been divinely inspired to hunt down mafia folk, or anyone else who would prey upon the masses.

Posted by: Krieger Oct 27 2004, 11:46 PM

Riddle, take solace in the fact that I'm in worse shape than you are at the moment for the same reason(s), albeit a couple years behind.

QUOTE (Erebus)

Or for more possible ideas see the movie: The Boondock Saints for another odd religious tie-in. Basically two Irish guys who think they've been divinely inspired to hunt down mafia folk, or anyone else who would prey upon the masses.

It's already been mentioned on the first page, and from the responses, I think it's safe to say the vast majority of posters here have seen it.

And now for a random Saints quote:
"Is it dead?"
- Rocco

Posted by: Admin Petrus Oct 28 2004, 10:29 PM

One of my characters is a true believer (christian, catholic, vatican variety) with an hidden agenda.
He's a manipulative bastard - but thats his chars naturally. He does enjoy the excuse to be holier than thou as well as very nasty, and he's actually tempering his usual sadistic tendencies, though he can't hide the effort he makes to stop himself being a totally ruthless killer.

The catholic symbols make great focuses and fetishes. He has a laser spell (See the lord's holy light and burn, sinner) instead of a fireball, crucifixes, saint images... it works very well.

Drives a scooter and wears a habit.

Everybody takes it very well and nobody gets offended.

Of course he doesn't know the deeper agendas of his church, which run deep - and no, its not the standard "bad priests, worse bishops" theme. My world is complex, with many undercurrents of which they catch sometimes the smell, witness the effects or get involved in 4th order ripplings of the wave.

Oh, I also don't like elves. They are not portrayed in the best of lights.

Posted by: Synner Oct 28 2004, 11:31 PM

Boy, somedays I really hate my NDA... Anyways, you'll want to check the upcoming Loose Alliances, when it comes out, for some "interesting" ideas on religious themed groups and campaigns (Christian and non-Christian).

Posted by: PenAgain Oct 28 2004, 11:37 PM

This thread has some great ideas.. I generally shy away from Religion in my SR games, and the thoughts bandied about in here make me regret that, a bit.

Also, nice to see Ames in the header of a post. Makes me all warm and fuzzy.

--PenAgain
(Misguided pride in Iowan cities- it's only a 1 point Flaw but you get busted for it all the time...)

Posted by: Nath Oct 28 2004, 11:39 PM

QUOTE (Synner @ Oct 29 2004, 01:31 AM)

Boy, somedays I really hate my NDA... Anyways, you'll want to check the upcoming Loose Alliances, when it comes out, for some "interesting" ideas on religious themed groups and campaigns (Christian and non-Christian).

It seems balanced, talking like that, you are making everything for the people here to hate you as well

Posted by: Toptomcat Oct 29 2004, 03:09 AM

Sounds interesting...you could look to Hellsing for some inspiration...

Posted by: Tal Oct 29 2004, 03:14 AM

I actually did a few runs involving Hellsing and Iscariot. Worked out pretty well.

Posted by: locomotiveman Oct 29 2004, 03:35 AM

QUOTE (Adarael)

Does your Zoroastrian friend travel or do talks? (I assume its ok to talk about your faith in that faith) My college's looking for speakers for a series and someone from the fourth and least known monothestic religion would be an interesting addition. Even if he doesn't do talks he could point us in the right direction.

Posted by: DocMortand Oct 29 2004, 07:50 AM

QUOTE (Toptomcat)

Sounds interesting...you could look to Hellsing for some inspiration...

Whoa...never even thought about them for a basis - that would be awesome.

Altho frankly, in what books are stats for true old world vamps?

Posted by: Adarael Oct 29 2004, 07:54 AM

QUOTE

Not particularly. He's a business major, and that's really about it. <G> I'll let him know, though.

Posted by: Crimson Jack Oct 29 2004, 10:36 PM

Helsing is very "story-lite" if you ask me. It's more of a cheap action anime. The animation and voice acting isn't all that spectacular either. My 2 .

Posted by: CountZero Oct 29 2004, 11:30 PM

QUOTE (Crimson Jack)

Helsing is very "story-lite" if you ask me. It's more of a cheap action anime. The animation and voice acting isn't all that spectacular either. My 2

The Manga, on the other hand, has a much deeper story, and adds a third side to the whole thing.

Posted by: Deamon_Knight Oct 30 2004, 02:57 AM

Old World Vamps?

HMVV Nosferatu Immortal Tuetonic Elves!

Bella Legosi eat you heart out!