Cultural Backstory—Religious Considerations

Religion has always shaped how a society developed. Cultural beliefs vary greatly based on the religious beliefs the society holds dear; this can be seen in every major culture and society in our own world. And, when there are competing religions, or sects, there has been more conflict and unrest within the society. Religion has been used to define who we like and who we oppose. How these beliefs develop is an important part when developing a fictional society.

One of the first things to understand is what makes a religion. A simple reference to use is a set of beliefs that direct how a person lives their life. This definition includes every set of standards people use, including those who claim their beliefs are not religious in nature. This stance even goes as far as to include political views and any other philosophical point of view is a religion. This opens up a lot of areas for discussion and a number of people will point out these are different power structure and not religion. So, we need to look at another level of description to get to what is needed.

For many, religion is defined by the involvement of a supernatural being or power. This can mean there is a central deity, multiple deities, spirits, or the like. This moves it away from many of the aspects like nationalism, or personal philosophies involving a code of conduct. Those involved in the religion now have a model being to aspire to, to be like, or to follow that is greater than what is part of the world we live in. Followers are no longer following man, but God.

Another aspect many consider needed to be a religion is how it is organized. Some years ago I heard an interview with a rabbi, in paraphrasing his comments, he said religion is an attempt to share an individual's spiritual experience within a larger group. To do this there becomes an organization that is needed to take action to share.

With a system of beliefs and an organization to share we now have what most people would consider a religion.

For the purposes of developing your society, you need to determine what level you want, or how organized, is the religion or religions. The structure of the religion doesn't have to reflect the complexity of the society. A highly organized and seemingly complex religion can be part of a primitive society. This leads more to a priest caste that interprets the religion for the more common individuals. This can also be flipped around where a religion can be a very simple set of doctrine to be followed, which can be internalized within the individual without the required aid of a larger structure. However, even in these systems there is usually a portion of the teachings on how to share the beliefs, experience, with others so the religion can prosper.

The level of complexity can even vary greatly within a single religion. It can be argued the ancient Greeks had a single religion with multiple deities representing different sects of that religion. The same level of complexity of multiple viewpoints on how to worship a single deity can be true as we see in modern day religions.

Again, the simplicity of how a religion plays in a society has profound impacts. It doesn't have to be in large churches, but how the individuals of the community view their beliefs and choose to live by those standards.

This brings up the individual within the belief system you present in your society. There will be characters who are devout even when no one sees them and others who will rebel against the religion even when they know it is going to cause them trouble. There will be those who will protect the church they belong to without question, and those who are constantly working to make it better. But, one individual is going to have the largest amount of influence in your religious choice.

The deity's perception, real or not, will influence the religion and the lives of the practitioners. A deity that is involved in the activities of the followers will have more impact on how the people live their lives. If you're developing a society where the gods play a part in how events unfold, where clerics demonstrate power through spells granted, then you should consider the fact that people will be more likely to believe and follow some path of the religion. The more removed the deity is from what people see the more removed the religion becomes, and the more people will choose not to follow the belief system. It doesn't mean the religion is real or false, it means the people have levels of belief. Faith is a different factor.

The charismatic religious leader will also influence the following of a religion. People like to follow others. We see this all the time in places where there is a group moving in one direction, people follow with the assumption they are being led. I saw this in an experience of people who ended up following the employees of a business and ended up at an entrance they were stopped at. The other night my wife and I went to a new restaurant and followed another couple to the wrong doors. This has been the reason for cults along with periods where a specific religion has seen an increase in following. One community might have a more religious influence because of a charismatic individual leading their congregation.

After you determine the level of religiosity your community has, you should consider how the tenets influence activities and views. Even seemingly small aspects can reach areas further out. It can be as simple as saying a prayer of thanks after a hunt, or a gestured ritualistic response. Religion creates many taboos societies live by along with defining power structures.

All these aspects can be drawn from a developed system and implanted on the society you are working on. This is one reason that playing in a developed game world works so well. You can also use those developed systems as a template to create something new for your specific needs.

As a final point, when I originally wrote the first draft of this article I had a discussion with a couple of people who felt religion was not a necessary component of their game. I disagree. Religions have been a part of every society we have known.

I've read game systems and support books where religion was down played or actively removed from consideration. I could tell some of these attempts are done so the game doesn't offend someone. But, these setting are almost always feel flat. Gaming locations that ignore the complexity, impacts, and other influences religion brings with them doesn't reflect enough of what we understand from our reality.

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