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8 months ago ::
Oct 16, 2012 - 8:25AM
#1
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Date Joined:
Sep 28, 2011
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Hi there,
let me begin by stating that I realize that religion can be and often is a touchy subject. I am not trying to offend anyone.
I am a long time fan of Dungeons and Dragons and for many years I've been looking for a way for me to get back into gaming. I have found one avenue that I think would be really fun and that is beginning a gaming session for the kids at my local synagogue. I have spoken with the admins there and they have agreed it could be fun for the kids but they would like me to use the game as a vessel for teaching religious stories and ideas. i have explained that while this may be possible that the game still fundamentally relies to a great extent on violence and that there will be the potential for the killing of creatures and monsters and even people. They acknowledged and understnd this and are ok with it as long as the right messages get across.
All that being said I was wondering if anyone has dealt with this kind of thing before, preferably from a specifically Jewish angle, but any general advice on combining religious stories with the world (possibly) and rules (definitely) of Dungeons and Dragons would be very helpful. I did a preliminary search of these forums and have not found anything, but if I missed something please feel free to reply with a link.
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8 months ago ::
Oct 16, 2012 - 8:36AM
#2
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Hi there,
let me begin by stating that I realize that religion can be and often is a touchy subject. I am not trying to offend anyone.
I am a long time fan of Dungeons and Dragons and for many years I've been looking for a way for me to get back into gaming. I have found one avenue that I think would be really fun and that is beginning a gaming session for the kids at my local synagogue. I have spoken with the admins there and they have agreed it could be fun for the kids but they would like me to use the game as a vessel for teaching religious stories and ideas. i have explained that while this may be possible that the game still fundamentally relies to a great extent on violence and that there will be the potential for the killing of creatures and monsters and even people. They acknowledged and understand this and are ok with it as long as the right messages get across.
All that being said I was wondering if anyone has dealt with this kind of thing before, preferably from a specifically Jewish angle, but any general advice on combining religious stories with the world (possibly) and rules (definitely) of Dungeons and Dragons would be very helpful. I did a preliminary search of these forums and have not found anything, but if I missed something please feel free to reply with a link.
Well, let me say first, that this sounds like a perfectly fine idea. Finding new ways to teach or learn things isn't bad. Also, I wouldn't worry about the violence...I mean, the Tanakh/Old Testament/whatever-one-defines-it-as is full of violence! (that's not a qualitative statement...just some levity)
There are many faith-based classes, so that is a really good starting point for a religion based game. That could be a bit "on the nose" though because the characters in various religious books cover a wide variety of archetypes and roles so I probably wouldn't worry too much about that.
Since the request is for religious stories and ideas, you might find it easy to take your inspiration for quests and such from the religious texts themselves...not necessarily overtly, but a series of quests based around the importance of the 10 commandments might be quite interesting, especially if they reinforce the importance of upholding them. Similarly, for important religious stories, these could be the tales of the world and setting itself. The kids can find scrolls, texts and whatnot in the world as they are exploring that tell them bits and pieces of the stories of people like Moses or Ezekiel or Jonah.
If you could give more info on any thoughts you had on the approach you are considering that might help. I don't want to just throw a wall of text at you. 
I taught Sunday school while in high school even though I'm definitely not what you would call a religious person, but I still think it's really important for kids to understand and learn the important lessons of religion as it can give a good foundation for morals, etc. Good on you for doing this.
I'm on a journey of enlightenment, learning and self-improvement. A journey towards mastery. A journey that will never end.
If you challenge me, prepare to be challenged. If you have something to offer as a fellow student, I will accept it. If you call yourself a master, prepare to be humbled. If you seek me, look to the path. I will be traveling it. #SuperDungeonMasterIITurbo
My blog and stuff http://dmingtowin.blogspot.com/
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8 months ago ::
Oct 16, 2012 - 8:51AM
#3
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Date Joined:
Jul 26, 2009
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I've actually put thought into this one myself. Here's my suggestions:
Take a story of your choosing and modify it to fit within the D&D world. To use an Old Testament story off the top of my head, the Destruction of Sodom and Gemmorah. In this case the players might be the heralds of *insert person/deity here* that have been sent to the cities to warn them of their wicked ways ect ect...
Basically do an alternate 'verse of the story and replace the main characters from the Old Testament with the PCs. Let them make their choices and see where it goes.
Spiteful Wizard and Angry So-and-So of the House of Trolls
The Silent God of the House of Trolls
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8 months ago ::
Oct 16, 2012 - 9:27AM
#4
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Date Joined:
Sep 28, 2011
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These are great replies thank you so much, I'm at work now but I will spend some time later giving more specifics for us to work with. I'm glad to see other people are interested in/have thought about this!
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8 months ago ::
Oct 16, 2012 - 9:58AM
#5
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Date Joined:
May 25, 2012
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David and Goliath - city in the gaming world taken over by a neighboring kingdom, the party faces off against a giant to win the city's freedom.
The Macabees - Again your party has to rally the city against an invading and/or occupying force..."window.parent.tinyMCE.get('post_content').onLoad.dispatch();" contenteditable="true" />
Job - your party starts off very wealthy and properous only to have a long series of misfortunes.
Book of Ester (hopefully there is a girl in the group) - the party fights against an evil tyrant
Noah and the Ark - the local seer in a coastal city has foretold the destruction of the city by a tidal wave, but the people don't believe it. The party's task is to save as many as they can.
(As someone else suggested) Sodom and Gamorah - two possibilities: 1) the party are the visitors and are rescued by the one "good" family, 2) the party are the last vestments of goodness in the city and a group of visitors are attacked.
Abraham's sacrifice of Isaac - In a city, there is an annual animal sacrfice to a deity. this year though the temple priests have proclaimed that this year's sacrifice will be human. It is also announced that the city will be destroyed if the sacrifice is not performed. One of party members is chosen to be the sacrifice through random lots. Does the party try to free their friend or accept their fate?
Moses and the Exodus - the party memebers are of royal lineage, they are served by slaves. They see the slaves are constantly whipped and beaten. Do they put up with this mistreatment or do something about it?
King Solomon's decision - The party is tasked with recovering a kidnapped child. They discover that the parentage of the child is in question. The people who "kidnapped" the child also claim to be her parents. The party is tasked with mediating the dispute.
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8 months ago ::
Oct 17, 2012 - 8:01AM
#6
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Date Joined:
Sep 28, 2011
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This is really great stuff!
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8 months ago ::
Oct 17, 2012 - 5:05PM
#7
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Date Joined:
Mar 22, 2011
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Aside from doing modified versions of specific stories, you can use an RPG as a context for teaching moral principles. Require your players to be good-aligned, and make sure moral consequences are clear and direct.
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8 months ago ::
Oct 17, 2012 - 6:39PM
#8
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Aside from doing modified versions of specific stories, you can use an RPG as a context for teaching moral principles. Require your players to be good-aligned, and make sure moral consequences are clear and direct.
Very true! Part of that is to always make sure that the bad guys get their come-uppance too
I'm on a journey of enlightenment, learning and self-improvement. A journey towards mastery. A journey that will never end.
If you challenge me, prepare to be challenged. If you have something to offer as a fellow student, I will accept it. If you call yourself a master, prepare to be humbled. If you seek me, look to the path. I will be traveling it. #SuperDungeonMasterIITurbo
My blog and stuff http://dmingtowin.blogspot.com/
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8 months ago ::
Oct 18, 2012 - 7:32AM
#9
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Date Joined:
Oct 15, 2012
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I'm interested in this myself. My wife is Jewish, and our family is interfaith, which makes for interesting holidays and some great fodder for DND. Lately, I've been really interested in ways of working the diaspora into my game. Given the nature of the races in the default universe, you could explore various interpretations of the diaspora with a lot of different races. Tieflings and Dragonborn immediately come to mind, but you were willing to make some major changes to the interactions of the planes with the "middle world" you could apply the same to Eladrin. Maybe the feywild, as a kind of pre-moralistic garden of Eden has been lost to them and the campaign can center around trying to make one's way in a world that is fundamentally at odds with the teachings and traditions of the PCs. In this case, the PCs themselves are the points of light, seeking to bring justice and balance to a broken world.
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8 months ago ::
Oct 18, 2012 - 8:31AM
#10
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Date Joined:
Jun 20, 2012
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Aside from doing modified versions of specific stories, you can use an RPG as a context for teaching moral principles. Require your players to be good-aligned, and make sure moral consequences are clear and direct.
Very true! Part of that is to always make sure that the bad guys get their come-uppance too
This is an interesting thread.
A rogue with a bowl of slop can be a controller.
WIZARD PC: Can I substitute Celestial Roc Guano for my fireball spells?
DM: Awesome. Yes.
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