Classic: Religion

This is Classic material. Some conversion will be needed to use with 4e, some of which may have been done for you.

GURPS Classic - Religion (1994, 1995, 2002) "gives you everything you need to delve into the mysteries of creation and divine power. It opens up whole new vistas of roleplaying. Recreate gods from fantasy and myth, or create your own pantheon and answer the cosmic questions . . ."

The Cosmos

Defining a cosmology is an important step in developing a religion. However a GM should look at why there needs to be a clear religion, myth, or cosmology in his campaign. Then the tricky issues of do the deities of the religion really exist and how do they interact with the world has to be addressed.

Deities

Deities generally should have a back story - how they come into being, what shaped their views, and so on. They also have a personality being Benevolent, Malevolent, Meddlesome, Indifferent, Observant, Oblivious, Forthright, Mysterious, Codal, and/or Random.

Then there are the two big questions: "What Deities Get From Their Followers?" and "What Deities Give To Their Followers?"

"What Deities Get From Their Followers?"

Nothing: Deities that get nothing from their followers generally don't care about their worshippers wants or needs. They can take a hands off approach or do things based on their own reasons without any repercussions.

Everything: The deity's power is directly related to worship or belief in it. Worship or belief may even be vital to its continued existence. This kind of deity can even be shaped by how it is viewed by its worshipers or believers slowly changing with the culture.

"What Deities Give To Their Followers?"

Answers, Love and Pride, and Protection can be of secular nature or divine.

Powers, on the other hand, tend toward being divine and logically will be more common among deities that get everything from their followers.

Development

This is the guts on how to "build" a religion for a campaign focusing on Beliefs, Scripture, Religious Rank and Hierarchy, Church and State, Civil and Religious Law, Religion and Property.

Schisms

No religion is monolithic and there will be variations in belief within it. If there are enough people to belief in a variation then a break can occur. Schisms can be the product of Divine Revelation or Interpretation and Politics. Against Heresies (c 180 CE) by Irenaeus is an example of the schisming happening with 2nd century Christianity.

Symbols

Religious orders generally have symbols be they physical, certain gestures, appearance or dress. Buildings, tools, rituals/veremonies can also be symbols as are the clerics of the religion.

Divine Magic

If clerical magic isn't just simply mages who are clerics of a particular religion then actual divine power involved. This can be items "enchanted" by the high power, Power Investiture, or Divine Favor.

Traditions

"Since before the dawn of time, man's search for meaning in the universe has shaped his thought into countless religions. This chapter offers a quick glimpse into a small number of these many faiths."

Here the matters of Animism, Reincarnation, Ancestor Veneration, Shamanism, Dualism, Polytheism, Popular and Folk Religion, and Geographical Traditions. The matters of Atheism, Agnosticism, Maltheism are touched on.

Sample Religions

• T'si'kami
• Flatliners
• The Kalm of Sequan
• The Disciplines of Change
• Dhala, Destroyer of Worlds
• Gods of Bethany

Compatibility with 4th edition

Despite being a Classic edition book, Religion is totally compatible with 4th edition even with minimal use of GURPS Update. GURPS Thaumatology provides 4e versions of some of these mechanics and ways to reconstruct the rest.

Additional Material

• Faith Based Magic (11/5/1999): Alternative verison of Mana based magic with Clerical elements.
• Divine Favor
• Schisms in Early Christianity
  • Implied by Paul in 2 Corinthians 11:4
  • Irenaeus (c 180 CE) Against Heresies
  • Early Christian Schisms: Before Imperium, The Woes of Constantine, The Council of Nicaea, Ephesus, the Robber Council, and Chalcedon
• Religious Tolerance - tries to "explain the beliefs, practices, and history of a wide range of faith groups, and promote religious understanding, coexistence, cooperation, and tolerance."
• Miscellaneous Myths: Kali Tries To Kill Everything: Hinduism's concept of distinct deities that are also the same entity taking on more specific forms
• Miscellaneous Myths: Aphrodite: had a deity can change with culture.
• List of Dungeons & Dragons deities