Quote from: Pierce Inverarity"Protestant" just sounds more polite and shorter than "those myriad sects formed by North American ex-colonists in the nineteenth century which include anything from far out Calvinism to mormonism to dancing with snakes, all of which from across the Atlantic, from the coasts, but I'm sure nowadays also from within the heartland itself, look odd and archaic."

It's kind of tricky, really.  The less conventional sects like LDS and Jehovah's Witnesses aren't usually considered "Protestant" by other Protestants.  Of course, they aren't usually considered "true" Christians, either.

I'm not religious, but I hate not having clear taxonomies/hierarchies, so I find the whole thing annoying.

Hmmm...that makes me think of an idea for my own Forge game, "Pamphlets at the Doorstep".  The players will be white shirt/black tie wearing thugs who go door to door and have full moral authority to bug the shit out of any poor bastard who opens the door and is to polite to tell them to fuck off.  Their goal is to harass the guy until his mental resolve breaks down and he agrees to take one of their stupid pamphlets.

Bonus XP if they can get him to talk about religious beliefs, catch him lying about what church he goes to (I need to put a sticky note next to the door one of these days), or agree to come to their church.  Players can also decide to escalate the conflict up to increase the duration of the harassment if the person appears disinterested or pretends not to be home (one of the powers is called, "Endless Knocking").

Depending on where you live in the country, you can switch out the religion between LDS, Jehovah's Witnesses, or Baptists.  

Wow, Pundit is right - that is cathartic.  :pundit:

QuoteDepending on where you live in the country, you can switch out the religion between LDS, Jehovah's Witnesses, or Baptists.

Hell depending on the region, I've gotten all of them in the same week, or even the same day . . .

Quote from: Jeffrey StraszheimI agree completely.  Perhaps the biggest mistake the Forgies made (including, no doubt, me) is ranting how the games were NEW, NEW, NEW all the time and just pissing people off.  The games do have real and important differences, but in an effort to sell the NEW, the rhetoric pushed aside all the parts which were quite wonderfully THE SAME.

So, what is difference between DitV and any other RPG? From what I've seen so far, there aren't any. I don't have the game, just what I've read about it online.

Quote from: Pierce Inverarity"Protestant" just sounds more polite and shorter...

Hey, not that I blame you. I get tripped up by those lables and I have a horse in the race.

Quote from: jgantsHmmm...that makes me think of an idea for my own Forge game, "Pamphlets at the Doorstep".  The players will be white shirt/black tie wearing thugs who go door to door and have full moral authority to bug the shit out of any poor bastard who opens the door and is to polite to tell them to fuck off.  Their goal is to harass the guy until his mental resolve breaks down and he agrees to take one of their stupid pamphlets.

Bonus XP if they can get him to talk about religious beliefs, catch him lying about what church he goes to (I need to put a sticky note next to the door one of these days), or agree to come to their church.  Players can also decide to escalate the conflict up to increase the duration of the harassment if the person appears disinterested or pretends not to be home (one of the powers is called, "Endless Knocking").

Depending on where you live in the country, you can switch out the religion between LDS, Jehovah's Witnesses, or Baptists.  

Don't forget to include LARPing rules!

Quote from: jgantsIt's kind of tricky, really.  The less conventional sects like LDS and Jehovah's Witnesses aren't usually considered "Protestant" by other Protestants.  Of course, they aren't usually considered "true" Christians, either.

I'm not religious, but I hate not having clear taxonomies/hierarchies, so I find the whole thing annoying.

The issue is Trinitarianism. Trinitarian Christians (Catholic, Orthodox and Protestant) believe in the Trinity, i.e. that the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are one God in three persons. Non-Trinitarians include Mormons, Jehovahs' Witnesses, Unitarians, Unificationists (a.k.a. Moonies) and Rastafarians to name a few.

In practice, you can get a lot of politically-correct mileage out of the phrase "Trinitarian Christian." For example when you...

• want to abbr. "Catholics, Orthodox and Protestants"
• DON'T want to say "most" or "real" Christians.
• want to lump Baptists and Catholics together.
• don't want to quibble over whether Baptists are Protestant or not.
• want a label that includes both Jack Chick and the Christian Role player's guild.
• want to emphasize that Fred Phelps is fundamentally at odds with LDS.
• want to know if Trinitarians would view someones beliefs as Christian or not.
• want to talk about those fuddy-duddy Christians that Unitarianism has evolved past.
• Dogs define morality with their guns.

In conversation you can shorten it to "Trinitarians" but say "Trinitarian Christians" a few times to warm people up to it.

QuoteDepending on where you live in the country, you can switch out the religion between LDS, Jehovah's Witnesses, or Baptists.

Or secularists!

• "Hi. Would you like to buy a subscription to this? (shows newspaper) Paper?"
• "We're from the Democratic National Convention. We're here to remind you to vote the Democratic ticket."
• "Hi. Our pussy is on your deck. We're lesbians. Can we come inside?"

Quote from: NazgulSo, what is difference between DitV and any other RPG? From what I've seen so far, there aren't any. I don't have the game, just what I've read about it online.

Rolling dice, leaving them on the table and playing them later is different. From what I've read that can lead to a couple of novelties.

Giving. Sometimes it's in your advantage to give up early since you win a 1d4 trait instead of risking serious fallout. This is different if your players normally only give up after they've lost.

Taking the blow. If the GM saves the good rolls till the end, the players can get stuck on a dilemma. Win and risk death or give up? This is different if you normally have the choice win OR die instead of win AND die.

Mind control. You can convince people with the force of your argument. This is different if persuasion is normally limited to threat of force, deception or magic power.

Mind control II. ...and they stay convinced. This is different if characters normally revert to their original outlook as soon as the threat of force/deception/magic is over.

Also, in this game the objective is the spiritual health of people. The GM provides a moral sandbox of ner-do-wells and the players get to mete out justice as they see fit. This is different if typically NPCs are only valuable to advance a railroaded plot, for killing and stuff taking, or comic relief.

For me, all of this stuff is old hat. There might be something else innovative but I haven't heard of it yet.

Really I'm always surprised people have any bad feelings left to door to door missionaries.  The canvasers for charities and sales people for utility companies are more frequent and pushier these days.

Quote from: David JohansenReally I'm always surprised people have any bad feelings left to door to door missionaries.  The canvasers for charities and sales people for utility companies are more frequent and pushier these days.

I don't usually get any of those.  

And the very few I do get give up easier - instead of, say, spending 20 minutes trying to explain what it really means to be "saved".

And in the end, I respect the salespeople more because they are doing it to make money to feed their families or whatever.  Missionaries are just there to brag about how much better their imaginary friend is than everyone else's.

My grandmother told me once how her father had a habit of meeting missionaries on the edge of his land with his shotgun and telling them they weren't wanted.  I can't help but envy that kind of assertiveness.  

Quote from: jgantsMy grandmother told me once how her father had a habit of meeting missionaries on the edge of his land with his shotgun and telling them they weren't wanted.  I can't help but envy that kind of assertiveness.  

I had a freind who would routinely answer the door (unless EXPECTING company) nude with an open can of beer in hand.  Prevented all sorts of harassment.

Needless to say, I always called before visiting.

The people thinking LDS is a christian faith should review the principles upon which this faith is built.

It´s founder took/ is bound to take god´s place, literally.
He´s "more" than Jesus :eek:

Quote from: SettembriniThe people thinking LDS is a christian faith should review the principles upon which this faith is built.

It´s founder took/ is bound to take god´s place, literally.
He´s "more" than Jesus :eek:

 Oh , so now you're going to knock the LDS faith ? (oy vey!)

Its as much a Christian Faith as the Jehovah's Witnesses are.  Just the JWs don't have an RPG that portrays a thinly disguised version of them.

 And disclosure time : My Aunt, uncle and all my cousins are Mormons. I am not a member of that church.

- E.W.C.

Quote from: malleus arianorumThe issue is Trinitarianism. Trinitarian Christians (Catholic, Orthodox and Protestant) believe in the Trinity, i.e. that the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are one God in three persons. Non-Trinitarians include Mormons, Jehovahs' Witnesses, Unitarians, Unificationists (a.k.a. Moonies) and Rastafarians to name a few.

In practice, you can get a lot of politically-correct mileage out of the phrase "Trinitarian Christian." For example when you...

Quote from: jgantsIt's kind of tricky, really. The less conventional sects like LDS and Jehovah's Witnesses aren't usually considered "Protestant" by other Protestants. Of course, they aren't usually considered "true" Christians, either.

I'm not religious, but I hate not having clear taxonomies/hierarchies, so I find the whole thing annoying.

Hmmm...that makes me think of an idea for my own Forge game, "Pamphlets at the Doorstep". The players will be white shirt/black tie wearing thugs who go door to door and have full moral authority to bug the shit out of any poor bastard who opens the door and is to polite to tell them to fuck off. Their goal is to harass the guy until his mental resolve breaks down and he agrees to take one of their stupid pamphlets.

Quote from: KoltarOh , so now you're going to knock the LDS faith ? (oy vey!)

Its as much a Christian Faith as the Jehovah's Witnesses are.  Just the JWs don't have an RPG that portrays a thinly disguised version of them.

 And disclosure time : My Aunt, uncle and all my cousins are Mormons. I am not a member of that church.

- E.W.C.

Could this wander towards off-topic in favor of talk about roleplaying games?

Quote from: SpikeI had a freind who would routinely answer the door (unless EXPECTING company) nude with an open can of beer in hand.  Prevented all sorts of harassment.

Needless to say, I always called before visiting.

Probably led to some interesting opportunities as well. I like the can of beer touch.

-clash

I don't bother with the can of beer....