Ever have interest in mixing games and religion? Like playing a character with faith? Or maybe having Spiritual Battle in realms beyond the physical? Or just want to chat about ideas you may work on for that game? Here's the space for it.

Don't know if this is where it belongs, but what about religious affiliations of big names in gaming?  I don't know the denominations of Gygax or Steve Jackson or the like, but I remember a Dragon magazine article many, many years ago when it talked about all the various religions represented within their offices.

The only one I know (for obvious reasons) is Tracy Hickman.  He is LDS, and he is a very nice guy (most of them are).  I met him on several occasions even though I'm not a big fan of Dragonlance.  But I loved the modules he created for the early AD&D game.  He lives about an hour and a half away from my house in the US.

Tracy Hickman and Margaret Weiss are my favorite author-couplet thingy. I would love to meet the guy, they are both riveting writers

Well, relating to spirituality in gaming and stuff, isn't there already in some games? We have "Black and White," as well as various other games containing some sort of spirituality (unfortunatly you don't get to play the diety :P)... but my question is, would it be a sin for Christians or Catholics to play those? Because technically it's creating a false god or something ^^;

Is it a sin? For some, absolutely. For all becomes the question that is very debated. Those in favor says yes, it's ok. For those not in favor, do not play, and that's not always because they don't enjoy those games.
I would say that to automatically say it's ok, and you enjoy playing, that is a bit of a bias to say it's ok.
My recommendation is for those who feels it's ok, please take the game to your pastor. They are more learned of the bible, and can step back from the biases that may be present in a roleplayer.

Although I don't have personal experience with this, it seems that the opposite is true.  Many of the influential anti-D&D groups of the 80's (and the smaller ones of the 90's) looked at the holy scriptures and interpreted them in a strict way that a man of the cloth would (presumably) be more likely to do.  I guess itr depends on the individual priest/pastor/rabbi/imam; it's easy to see how many of them could disapprove of a game involving characters summoning creatures, worshipping strange gods, etc. regardless of the beliefs of the players

Your pastor should be able to determine without condemning. And he should be able to tell you what or if there are problems using scripture. It does say to use scripture to correct or reproof.

Worshipping a false god requires worship.  I suppose they say that worship is where your heart is.  Playing games with fantasy gods and pantheons is not considered by the mainstream to be doing this anymore than the Bibbity-Bobbity-Boo of Cinderella is a Satanic magic ritual.  (FYI, this was the analogy given by Tracy Hickman at a convention in the 80's to concerned LDS followers.)

...But putting your entire efforts into games and neglecting the more important things in life probably could be.

I think gaming is a great tool for teaching as well as entertaining. It allows the players to act out events that they might not normally encounter until later in life. It allows them to think out the why's and the how's of life in advance, giving them time to form stronger perceptions of things and also strengthen their beliefs.
To parents whose children are very impressionable, I see their concern. That is why it is important for parents to communicate with their children. To help them understand what things are done in the concept of play, and which ones are beliefs to live by.
We cannot all control which people become DMs or GMs. We cannot control their bias when they create thier stories. With people whose faith are not at all strong, they may be overwhelmed by the ideas brought on by a GM with a strong personality.
Also, there is a good probability for people who do not like their reality to live within the games. It takes a certain amount of emotional stability to play RPG without getting caught up in the game. In the game, they have power, a certain amount of control. The ability to plan out their moves. If only they could apply this outside of the game.

I think that last line just constitutes an obsession Heath, never good whatever it is.

But I'd have to agree in general, if it's a game what does it matter. There's no comparison between playing the servant of an evil god for fun (and sometimes it can be extremely good fun. I had this Drow character that...) and becoming a cultist of some sort in real life.

I really don't think that here is any problem of spillover of someone's beliefs into a game affecting someones worldview (except possibly pointing out that there is more than one way to look at things, and is that ever wrong?)
Very few people lose their distinction between reality and fantasy, and those that do are probablygoing to do it no matter what they are exposed to.

Role-playing games have actually been used in psychotherapy, giving people new ways to cope with the world. Something along the lines of 'think what would your character do in this situation, and do it for yourself'. Particularly good for extreme introverts and other inward turning pshychoses. Apparently it works rather well.

Staistically though role-players are more balanced andbetter adjusted people than the norm. The claims of cult recruitment and suicide inducements (among other things) brought out by individuals and (typically) religious groups have so far turned out to be (I'm going to be rude here) Fart Gas!!

POWER TO THE ROLEPLAYERS! Errr... there's my shameless plug for myself and my friends. But I do have a serious question.

Can roleplaying affect your beliefs, and if so, should it? Should you be allowed to theorize and change your opinions about god, or is that, in fact, a sin?

EH?

I would seriously doubt that Roleplaying would have any effect on someone's beliefs. Unless those beliefs were of the sterotypical roleplayer (from mostly outdated detractor groups views) with no outside existence clutching their dogeared rulesbooks in hand while officiating over occult rituals and contemplating mass murder and suicide.

Playing should change your beliefs in how 'misleading' the game actually is if this were the case.

If you study the claims made by most roleplaying detractors, you see that most of them have only a vague idea what they are actually complaining about.
Though I must say that most people have now actually noticed that roleplaying is not 'wrong' or 'evil' and there is relatively little agitation against it these days.

One of the more common complaints seemed to be against the concept of allowing 'impressionable minds' see that the world is not united in it's belief systems. But these same people tend to keep kids in a shoebox and try to prevent them from seeing that there is something more to the world than the carefully regulated and censored world they have been misleadingly led to believe is a normal state of existence.


Why shouldn't you be able to fully consider other options? If your views are correct then there is no way asking questions and examining your beliefs critically can do any harm because the answers will always be there.
If you just accept anything without personal assessment and examination, then you have been brainwashed no matter what the topic.
If something doesn't fit then you SHOULD find out why, and the correct answer/possibility should present itself.


I think in any way you look at it, magicofrealm,  you can only sin if you subscribe to a belief structure that promotes the concept of sin.
And even then how could doubt, curiosity and investigation be considered a sin?

That's not logical, and would only serve to promote blind adherence to instruction, not personal belief.

Sin isn't a sin because joe smoe says it's a sin. A sinner is a definition. It's not a concept whether you think or agree that you are. It's certainly would not be a thing where you proudly proclaim, "I'm a sinner! Yea!" Example, If I go to Saudi Arabia with my wife, and her wearing shorts is akin to her being a tramp by their rules. It doesn't matter what I believe, as she's being judged by their rules. Their rules exist, regardless of me not believeing them. And even if I left, those rules still exist. Coming back to Canada, shorts are quite appropriate here for her, but by the standards of Saudi Arabia, it is not appropriate. We can ignore their standards, but they are a standard used. A sin is a standard from the Word of God.