Author: Logan Howard

Religion Terrifying and Beautiful

5 things you can do to make religion more interesting in your fantasy role playing game

I believe that religion in fantasy role playing games falls far short of its potential. Consider how many times you’ve seen a player roll up a cleric that is devoted to a war god. Other than declaring battles “in the name of their deity” and occasionally suggesting that another party member ought to try worshipping (WAR-shipping?) the same deity, that’s the end of it. What about that evil cult? Are they really just going to be another bunch of mooks for a boss demon? How often do we ever learn anything about them and the reasons behind their allegiances? On the flip side, history is full of saints and martyrs. Humans have done some beautiful, romantic things for the love of their deities. Why does religion get reduced to something flat and simplistic in our games? Given a few tweaks, religion can bring more wonder, strangeness and terror into your games. Try one of these techniques and see if you agree:

1. Commitments: Give your clerics and paladins commitments beyond the usual (braining their deity’s enemies and healing friends). Is there a festival or ceremony they need to attend? Do they need to prostrate themselves at the gates of each new town before entering? Do they need to try to bury any humanoid they kill? Do they have a pilgrimage they must fulfill within their lifetime? Maybe they are required to give away their murder spoils to the needy?

2. Origins: The religions in your game had to come from somewhere right? Are they legitimate or the result of some major misunderstanding? Did they undergo some kind of change? You don’t have to write up an entire history. Just try to fill in some of the backstory as you go. What if the evil cult in your game started out as followers of a saintly leader who was then murdered? What if a member of the party was present for the birth of one of the major religions and knows the stories are false?

3. More sophisticated metaphors: Try thinking through all the possible meanings a deity might represent. I was listening to an actual play podcast where a cleric was devoted to a god of blood. As usual, killing monsters and healing friends was the only way the deity manifested in that game. Is there anything else a god of blood could suggest? What if representatives of that faith were expected to deliver babies and placentas were considered sacred to them (maybe even mechanically valuable)? What if only women could be followers because only females bleed without being cut? What if the follower were expected to soak a special cloth in the blood of their enemies and then bring the cloth to their temple once a year in order to seek renewal? Deities often have slightly contradictory domains. Play with the metaphors as much as you can.

4. Temples: Temples should never be common. Unless you are making a point about how the deities expect their worshippers to be simple, a temple (or church, hallowed ground etc.…) should be an elaborate and ceremonial place. This is a perfect way to bring wonder and fantasy into your character’s lives. If it suits your world, use magic. Is the temple to the flame goddess literally filled with fire that never burns her followers but incinerates non-believers? How would you feel if you entered a church and found an enormous severed head floating in the air above the pews, shouting edicts and blessings? What about rituals? Maybe no human is allowed to see the god of beauty and anyone visiting his temple must walk backward. What if speaking to your twin goddesses required you to bathe in spicy wine that burned your skin and then in a frozen spring?

5. Heroic worshipers/Insane fanatics: Sometimes the most impressive thing about a deity is just how far their followers will go to demonstrate their devotion or affection. Don’t forget to illustrate how incredibly motivated these people are. Remember that old temple they knocked over years ago? It turns out that goddess had one last follower and he’s vowed to kill every last living soul as revenge for forgetting her. Did you know that half the people in this slave camp sold themselves into slavery as penitence for their sins? Maybe the cleric in your party was once a duchess but was so moved by holy text that she gave away all her worldly belongings and took an oath of poverty.