Mary K. Kuhner wrote:
> I think RuneQuest did about the best job with religions that
> I've seen in a published product, though the material is
> spread over too many books and rather hard to pull together.
I'm not familiar with RuneQuest, but looking over all the RPG material I
have read, I think the product line I'd nominate for best handling of
religion is World of Darkness. It has the following virtues:
It doesn't try to dictate The Truth (tm); it explains what various
groups believe - naturally, they don't all agree. I've seen critics call
this "inconsistency"; I claim it's a feature. Since when are the views
of opposing groups supposed to be consistent with each other?
Some of these beliefs (whether or not they involve actual deities) carry
moral weight, they're philosophies you can imagine people actually
trying to live by.
There's a variety of viewpoints represented, including some that are
definitely evil but still coherent; and while White Wolf tend to present
the anti-progressive sides as being right, there's enough slack that one
can play them differently (e.g. I've always had more sympathy for the
Technocracy, and less for the Garou, than the authors - but I've still
happily used them both, and tried to get the moral complexity of the
conflict across).
Last but not least, White Wolf is the only company in the industry whose
products I find worth reading for entertainment, rather than merely to
obtain data for playing a game.
--
"Always look on the bright side of life."
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