www.byzcath.org Forums Faith & Christian Life Parish Life & Evangelization ByzanTEEN Are rpg moral?

It is cool to see that the idea has some interest. And I love monday mornings because they let me play with such ideas.

I think most people play to give themselves a break from reality to some extent, and I think that possibilities are huge in RPG's.

(again I have not gone through all of the pros and cons, but this is fun to imagine)

I agree with no "magic" (players dont throw fireballs or cast spells to turn people into frogs), but how about various spiritual "powers" such as: miracles, levitation, healing, discernment, prophecy, bi-location, blessing, stop natural disasters, walk through walls, the ability to fast for long periods of time, speak to animals, exorsisms, survive tortures... Think of all the increadible things the saints have done! But in order to do something increadible you need to gain enough experience through prayer, fasting and good works to exercise such powers.

Perhaps even as we create characters each person could be granted one spiritual gift from the start, then as one grows in holyness they gain other gifts.

"bad guys" might be able to: curse, tempt, discourage, even possess (however the person posessed should be able to pray and fast their way free), cripple,...

People should be able to do bad things, such as steal, destroy, even hurt others, but... they loose ability to use their God given gifts, and they do not gain anyting except perhaps something useless like money (only computer generated "bad guys" would be able to have evil powers). Evil doers also do not gain experience points. And there would be sacraments for the forgiveness of sins!

One could collect many things such as: vestments, candles (used both for prayer as well as for light in dark monastery caves), bibles, bible commentaries, icons, insence, church goods, prayer ropes, holy water, blessed food,...

The quality of your prayer, the degree of your fasting, the amount of your charity, the time you spend listening and helping others, all are factors to how fast your character grows. Learn the tones; have a better prayer experience. Set up a charitable society; help more people. Enter a school; gain catechetical experience....

People might be able to build and run Churches, create and/or teach at schools or theological institutes, found monasteries, build orphanages, church goods stores, soup kitchens, thrift stores,...

Everyone needs to be able to evangelize, to do charity, to pray, to fast, to eat, to exersise (taking care of our bodies is important too.) Heck even cleaning up the virtual world would gain you experience because God told us to be stewards of creation.

In the oceans one could find leviathan (the great beast He made to have fun), and you could become St. George and slay the dragon.

Perhaps people would not be elves, dragons, trolls or mermaids, but if this is to appeal to our sense of imagination, then why not allow people to be Angels? People could also follow many spiritual vocations: laity, maried people, celabate people, iconographers, cantors, minor orders, major orders, monks & nuns... Heck if one wanted to you could even choose the rite to which you belong which would The possibilities are endless.

I think if one spent all the countless hours setting it up, people would love playing... Unfortunately I do not have those countless hours.

I am curious if this would inspire and help people to actually become more holy in real life (maybe not too much). At least it may help with catechesis.

I look forward to your comments.

Fr. Bo (with too many ideas)

Mine was based around an AD&D second editon sourcebok, Glory of Rome, which had Christian Cleric rules. I tweaked them for my own system

N

I currently see no problem with none of the RPG's as they are for the most part. DnD is fun as long as you have a good group. Now I realize that DnD is poletheistic but in a way so is LOTR, so I really don't see how a polytheistic imaginary world is a BAD thing..

Ned, do you still have the Glory of Rome sourcebook? I wouldn't mind seeing how they configured the "Christian Cleric" class.

R..ocket P..ropelled G..renade....? moral or not, well, is it a 'just' (Augustinian view) war or what..?? Oh, that's not what you mean , ...

RPGs themselves are not something evil, but they can be a tool used by evil. Just like a hammer can be used to build something up or destroy it.

We should not let ourselves 'play around' with, and get comfortable with timgs like polytheism, magic, killing or whatever. Why open the door to un-Christ-like stuff?

Having said this I still say that computer games are not all bad. They can be a healthy break from the busyness of life (which some people need), and as I mentioned earlier they can even be used to teach and inspire us to good things.

As a priest I say:

* avoid playing games that focus on violence, 'evil' (including poly or whatever theism), or other moraly questionable content.

* be careful of how much time one spends on gaming. Dont get addicted. Dont let playing get in the way of living.

* the occasional ("non-morally-questionable") computer game is not bad.

If we are to be healthy balanced Christ-centred people, then do healthy balanced Christ-centred stuff.


Fr. Bo

Hey. I don't have the Glory of Rome book; I think it's in Adelaide of all places. They configured the CHristian Cleric something like a pacifist priest, with healing etc. as major spheres, and only blnt weapons allowed. They pushed the idea of the early Church as being pacifistic, which is contestable, but was mainly in opposition as to their portrayal of Mithraic priests.

N

Check this out! [aquela.com] ]

Someone's been thinking about this same thing - playing D&D with a Christian-spin on it. And, it's certainly got an Eastern-Christian spin on it, at that.

"Petroyeska" is the campaign setting.

I agree. At first, I thought RPG meant the weapon...

I don't have the patience for games that require a bunch of reading - I am the play sports outdoors type - but a lot of my friends actually do play D&D. Why roll dice and talk about swordplay when you can take fencing lessons and do it for real? I guess I'm a reality based person who prefers reality based pursuits. Fantasy and sci fi bore me to tears, most of the time.

My friends generally have played a Tolkienesque game, according to house rules that characters must be "good" (or at least not "evil") for everyone's enjoyment. That seems to be a common thread among adults who enjoy these games.

I find these types of games terribly boring, but the few people I know who play them tend to be observant Christians of the Catholic or Orthodox faith who don't get wrapped up in them any more than an ongoing game of checkers. They tend to use Tolkien style scenarios and focus on problem solving aspects of the game. Still, I can't see hours spent doing this. Big yawn, I say.

I tend to think that some people who are frankly a little weird to begin with and likely to be led astray are not good candidates for these types of activities; especially true of morose high schoolers who want to withdraw from reality. We all knew kids like that when we were of that generation. Too much fantasy can be poison for some people who are escapists in a dark way. I would never blame a game for what they are, but I would say it is a recreational pursuit that should be avoided by some.

this is rekindling a waning intrest in programming...

Though honestly to make such a game work(sell) I think you would almost have to let people be demons as well...

I think it could be "sold" without demons, etc... (of course I could be wrong). Just have a fun & challenging game and people will come.

Besides, not having evil characters would set this game appart from other ones, and would be a positive selling feature for many. (Think of all those who feel guilty playing other games)

Arn't there existing RPG game engines that one could use to set something like this up? I would be interested in 'playing' with the idea in some limited way.

(I will not start another project. I will not start another project. I will not start another project. I will not start another project. I will not start another project. I will not start another project. I will not start another project. ....)

Perhaps someone among you could set up a primative test game and we could see what it would take to make it fun & challenging. If we can't; at least we would have fun trying. I am sure that right here we could find several people willing to test it.

Fr. Bo

I used to play them a lot as well, but the more I read the saints and theology the more it made me realize that they aren't really that good. You can defenitly find more meaningful diversions, prayer, reading, working, hobbies that would be more productive and not as addictive.

I just don't think leveling up for hours a fake character is really going to help your spiritual life much. Ok, you may say it's harmless recreation, but I think it would be better to spend time like that with friends or a good book, or just plain working.

"Why dost thou seekest repose when thou art born to labor." -Thomas a Kempis.