On 9/8/2021 8:23 PM, Jeff Zeitlin - editor at freelancetraveller.com (via tml list) wrote: > 1a. A reasoned argument_in favor of_ incorporating religion into > Traveller. > 1b. A reasoned argument_against_ incorporating religion into Traveller. Dragging astrology into this, ;-) , as a Libra I can see both sides of this issue. That said, I think that under the proper circumstances with the right players, religion can elevate a game from "this was good" to "this was frakking awesome!". However, I think this will be the exception and not the rule, though I'm looking at it with a mature (50+ years) point of view where during my formative years religion was an important part of our life (Church on Sunday, confirmation classes in HS, etc.). I acknowledge that the younger generation (teens and 20s) may not hold these views (at least based on the broad scale demographic research that I've seen) as the belief that religion is an important part of life/culture is falling out of favor. The other downside that I see is that religion can easily be turned into a mockery of belief, an exaggeration of certain doctrinal issues or beliefs, and in general turned into a Hollywood villain (and not a very good one at that, even considering the current competition coming out of there). In many cases, at least the games I've been in over the years, GMs/DMs have seen religion as restrictive rather than empowering or freeing. For example, I think I was in one game that lasted all of three game sessions where religion was truly freeing (it was actually rather hedonistic), while pretty much every other time it was more of a list of institutionalized "do not's" that were used to restrict behavior. I'll be the first to admit that my experiences may not be the common ones, especially as I've lived in a rural, generally socially conservative area where religion (or at least the observance of such) played a major part in small town life. When I look at religion in Traveller, I look at what was printed during the CT years (IIRC, there was a bit in The Traveller Adventure and Night of Conquest) and use that as a guide. The bare bones were presented and the GM fleshed out as he saw a need. -- Kurt Feltenberger xxxxxx@thepaw.org/xxxxxx@yahoo.com “Before today, I was scared to live, after today, I'm scared I'm not living enough." - Me -- This email has been checked for viruses by AVG. https://www.avg.com
