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[Rifts] Religion in the kitchen sink

Started by Bloody Stupid Johnson, July 12, 2012, 08:28:44 PM

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Bloody Stupid Johnson

July 12, 2012, 08:28:44 PM
Rifts strikes me as a funny game from a religious POV, since it has a base Earth setting, and then imports all this fantasy game stuff from elsewhere - from settings where gods are real.  So its possible to have characters get powers by worshipping Osiris, and Zeus has stats. But are there any OCCs that get any powers from a Christian-type deity?

I'm wondering if they've deliberately left this out to avoid offending people, and so inadvertently made it a 'false religion' in the game (the only religion that doesn't get powers). Mind you, I don't have Pantheons of the Megaverse, so I'm happy to be wrong on this if there is a holy dude OCC.

beeber

#1
July 12, 2012, 08:34:53 PM
no such animal (or OCC, and insert trademark/whatever) in the pantheons book that i recall.  i'm sure it's just an "avoid shitstorm" thing.  

heh, can you imagine a "dimension book #:  the judeo-christian-muslim religions" release?  what a hoot!

Novastar

#2
July 12, 2012, 09:27:46 PM
Well...
Pantheons does have a magical "Priest" character in it, that gets to trade off between Spellcasting and Miracles. So...a Judeo-Christian Priest could just forgo spellcasting, and work in Miracles, if everyone's okay with adventuring with Jesus.

If not...
There is a Preacher OCC in RIFTS New West, who gets some abilities, but no supernatural gifts. Apparently, God doesn't work in those ways.

I've seen both played excellently, but both were characters I probably wouldn't allow at my table (I'm a Deist, and an asshole, so I'd be too terribly tempted to mess with both).
Quote from: dragoner;776244Mechanical character builds remind me of something like picking the shoe in monopoly, it isn\'t what I play rpg\'s for.

The Butcher

#3
July 12, 2012, 10:42:20 PM
It would be very easy for the powerless Preacher to argüe that the spell-slinging and/or miracle-calling Priests are just another variety of pact-bound sorcerer, like Witches and Shifters, and that the Creator's power does not work in so blatant and vulgar a way.

Though the core book claims religion of all sorts is outlawed in the CS, latter books have CS soldiers using religious interjections and references. I can see a Christian denomination thriving under the Proseks as long as they toe the line above (possibly with a dash of "this is what our pre-Rifts forebears actually believed" for extra cred with the Ministry of Propaganda).

TristramEvans

#4
July 12, 2012, 11:50:35 PM
It's really past time for a Fantasy Wargamming RIFTs  conversion. :)

RPGPundit

#5
July 13, 2012, 03:18:56 PM
Yeah, I vaguely seemed to recall some christian references in the western sourcebooks... and maybe vampire kingdoms?  

RPGPundit
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jgants

#6
July 13, 2012, 04:23:45 PM
Rifts does avoid the "Christian God grants you powers" thing, but then so do most games. Instead, it's always the "very powerful extradimensional being that is so not a real deity" method is used.

Given how wrapped up people can get with religion (especially in the US), I can't really blame Kevin too much for that one.
Now Prepping: One-shot adventures for Coriolis, RuneQuest (classic), Numenera, 7th Sea 2nd edition, and Adventures in Middle-Earth.

Recently Ended: Palladium Fantasy - Warlords of the Wastelands: A fantasy campaign beginning in the Baalgor Wastelands, where characters emerge from the oppressive kingdom of the giants. Read about it here.

Novastar

#7
July 13, 2012, 04:23:49 PM
Quote from: RPGPundit;559733Yeah, I vaguely seemed to recall some christian references in the western sourcebooks... and maybe vampire kingdoms?  

RPGPundit
Only the old saw about Vampires being repulsed by crosses...with absolutely no "in-game" explanation whatsoever.
Quote from: dragoner;776244Mechanical character builds remind me of something like picking the shoe in monopoly, it isn\'t what I play rpg\'s for.

jgants

#8
July 13, 2012, 04:25:59 PM
Quote from: Novastar;559763Only the old saw about Vampires being repulsed by crosses...with absolutely no "in-game" explanation whatsoever.

I was thinking he went with the whole "they are repelled because they used to be Christian in life" thing. But I'd have to re-read it; I may be misremembering that.

Honestly, the whole "they melt from water like a bad M. Night Shamalayan plot twist" part tended to overshadow the other vampire lore in Rifts for me.
Now Prepping: One-shot adventures for Coriolis, RuneQuest (classic), Numenera, 7th Sea 2nd edition, and Adventures in Middle-Earth.

Recently Ended: Palladium Fantasy - Warlords of the Wastelands: A fantasy campaign beginning in the Baalgor Wastelands, where characters emerge from the oppressive kingdom of the giants. Read about it here.

Novastar

#9
July 13, 2012, 05:09:57 PM
Hey jgants! Long time no see! :D

Quote from: jgants;559764I was thinking he went with the whole "they are repelled because they used to be Christian in life" thing. But I'd have to re-read it; I may be misremembering that.

Honestly, the whole "they melt from water like a bad M. Night Shamalayan plot twist" part tended to overshadow the other vampire lore in Rifts for me.
I'm not sure how Catholic even Mexico would be, 300+ years after the Apocalypse...

And as the Cross thing is a standard trope on Palladium Vampires (even those in Palladium Fantasy, IIRC), I don't think running into a Jewish, Muslim, or Atheist vampire mechanically makes much difference...
Quote from: dragoner;776244Mechanical character builds remind me of something like picking the shoe in monopoly, it isn\'t what I play rpg\'s for.

jgants

#10
July 13, 2012, 05:13:12 PM
Quote from: Novastar;559794Hey jgants! Long time no see! :D

One of the downsides of being promoted :D; most days I have too much work to comment on here.


I'm actually surprised Kevin didn't have some wacky explanation for the cross-thing then; he went in to pretty good detail about all the other vampirisms.
Now Prepping: One-shot adventures for Coriolis, RuneQuest (classic), Numenera, 7th Sea 2nd edition, and Adventures in Middle-Earth.

Recently Ended: Palladium Fantasy - Warlords of the Wastelands: A fantasy campaign beginning in the Baalgor Wastelands, where characters emerge from the oppressive kingdom of the giants. Read about it here.

Novastar

#11
July 13, 2012, 05:20:53 PM
Quote from: jgants;559797I'm actually surprised Kevin didn't have some wacky explanation for the cross-thing then; he went in to pretty good detail about all the other vampirisms.
I remember it being more what level of presentation works to repel (crosses on flashlights and head/floodlights being a favorite), rather than the physio/psycho-logical reasons it works.

I'll have to look on my PDF copy later (son's playing SimCity on that computer right now).
Quote from: dragoner;776244Mechanical character builds remind me of something like picking the shoe in monopoly, it isn\'t what I play rpg\'s for.

The Butcher

#12
July 13, 2012, 06:58:16 PM
Quote from: jgants;559764I was thinking he went with the whole "they are repelled because they used to be Christian in life" thing. But I'd have to re-read it; I may be misremembering that.

Actually he went with the much more awesome "Romans hanged execution victims from crosses to keep vampires away from them."

Quote from: jgants;559764Honestly, the whole "they melt from water like a bad M. Night Shamalayan plot twist" part tended to overshadow the other vampire lore in Rifts for me.

I like the idea of vampires as elemental demons, but yeah, fighting vampires with squirt guns might be a bit much.

Bloody Stupid Johnson

#13
July 13, 2012, 08:41:14 PM
Thanks for the replies guys.
 
Quote from: TristramEvans;559491It's really past time for a Fantasy Wargamming RIFTs conversion. :)

Took me a while to get that but yeah... Triple actions, bitches! That should take down Zeus...

Bradford C. Walker

#14
July 13, 2012, 09:19:50 PM
I could never get past the "vulnerable to super-soakers and taped-up flashlights" thing, not even after the awesomeness that is the unofficial movie for it: Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust
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