This month, Roger and Mike consider gods (what sorts are interesting?) and revolution (which side is more fun to play on and how can we tilt that balance?).
We mentioned:
My Lord John, GURPS Banestorm, The Curse of Chalion, the Infinite Cabal campaign, GURPS Cabal, Hârn, GURPS Dungeon Fantasy, Water Margin, Robin & Marian, and Scum and Villainy.
We have a tip jar (please tell us how you’d like to be acknowledged on the show).
Religion is an important aspect of culture and it can be difficult for those of us living in a secular, 21st-century culture to create and roleplay in other cultures.
On the other hand, there are many aspects of culture that simply do not appear in a roleplaying session–the stuff you would not necessarily mention in “radio theatre.” For example, the everyday prayers before a meal, wearing a particular item of clothing or jewelry, not eating a particular animal meat, and are not described or roleplayed any more than other mundane aspects of our characters’ lives. Sure, we might call it out in the first few sessions to establish elements of the character, but there is no need to highlight it every time.
In discussing religion and gods in rpgs, my mind always goes to Shinto. It can strain our western definitions of what a religion actually is. I would really like to bring this into a rpg setting, though I know I could never do it justice.
Regarding revolutions, it is probably mandatory for someone at this point to wave in the direction of Andor, which is a picture of the formation of the Star Wars Rebellion, written by people who appear to understand something about how and why revolutions happen, with nary a psionic space knight in sight.
Unfortunately, it’s also a really terrible model for an RPG campaign; the major protagonists (an actually morally questionable rogue, his dying mother, a dedicated revolutionary organiser who is driven to even more questionable acts, a semi-secret sympathiser senator, and a seedy inadequate trying to earn a place in the forces of oppression, sorry, law and order) only intermittently intersect, and the whole point of the plot is that we’re seeing everything from multiple very different angles. But it may become the geek-standard image of The Story Of The Revolution for a few years.