Poll: Do you worship a God in RPGs?

[FortheLegion]

I worship Gods in games when the Gods give me power in return for my faith loyalty.
Such as the cleric in Dungeons and Dragons. I would worship those gods like crazy if that meant I could Heal wounds and do other cool magic....

 

[Ixnay1111]

In the Forgotten Realms I like to worship Helm or if evil or Waukeen. It helps with the Role Playing i think.

 

[Timberwolf0924]

The Gods in games have more adequate proof of their existence than the "real life" ones.

Really, because it's easy to hard code a god into a video game than it is to have faith enough in one in Real life. Just because in games you pray at a shrine and get +10 Dex for 1 hour seems to be more than praying at church here instead of out driving around and not knowing that a drunk driver ran a red light at the same time you were at the chuch, and if you weren't at the chuch you would have been driving through the intersection at the same time the drunk driver was. I'm sorry, but I'd like to keep my unknown blessings in real life. (Though +10 Dex for a rogue, great stuff!)

So because I don't worship a needy deity, he is going to strike me down with a car?

Being in one place while one person gets hit with a car isn't proof of God, its proof of science. You can either call it a coincidence, or if you are familiar with large numbers, a statistical improbability.

Maybe it came out wrong. Hmm, how do I say it.. A hard coded, scripted event isn't a 'god' showing themselves in a game. If so then more than likey it wouldn't just give you the + stats ect ect. I know you'll bash just about everything I said (after all you threw in a light insult with the 'if you are familiar with large numbers' section, yes it's an insult either way you look at it) But to quote Morgan Freeman in Evan Almighty "If you ask for paitence, does God just give you paitence or does he give you a chance to be paitent, does he give you bravery, or give you a chance to be brave..." ect ect.

 

[Trolldor]

No.
Even when the gods are factually real within the game world.
I'm the golem from Pratchett's diskworld - I know the gods exist, but I don't believe in them.

 

[Cazza]

When no bonus is given I choose the over god or just none. Just for back story.

 

[KarmaTheAlligator]

Each universe has its own set of deity/beliefs and most of those don't look kindly at non-believers. It's all part of Role Playing to actually choose a god, although I usually choose the one(s) most compatible with my philosophy.

 

[Ketsuban]

I don't worship any gods in real life, because to the best of humanity's knowledge there is no objective evidence for the existence of any. (Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence, principle of maximum parsimony, etc., etc., this isn't the place for that debate.) That said, I think it's absurd to do as a few people seem to have done in this thread (though I admit I didn't read the whole thing in detail) and go "NO THERE CAN NEVER BE ANY GODS IN ANY UNIVERSES EVER" (especially if they prefix this with "I'M A CHRISTIAN/HINDU/MUSLIM/JEW/BANANA, SO").

Take the Pokémon universe, and in particular Arceus. It wields sufficient command over the Unown to create beings which hold dominion over time, space and antimatter, and there is folkloric data suggesting that it is the force that created the universe. Personally, I fail to see how Arceus can be interpreted in any way other than as a god (albeit an interesting one since it's divided in two - Arceus has cognition but no agency, while the Unown have agency but no cognition).

I'm not about to WORSHIP Arceus - that would be as absurd that marrying a wall hanging of Chun-Li - but I don't see why we shouldn't take the author telling us in no uncertain terms that this is the First Mover at face value.

 

[sinboy666]

I love RPGs that make the deity you follow part of the game mechanic. It can really add some flavor to the character. The Iron Kingdoms setting for DnD 3.5 in particular makes the idea of which god you follow very critical to how some things work.
For one thing, most of the gods are very much opposed to resurrected and it is only offered to a select few who have truly earned the right. Also, a cleric CAN NOT heal a character whose alignment or actions goes against their gods. A cleric of Menoth would NEVER offer healing to the scum that praise the devouring wyrm!

Also it can add some fun flavor to your character just for the heck of it. In my last DnD 4th game, My Rogue Assassin ended up being more favored by my Goddess (The Raven Queen) than our Paladin was with his god.(Bahamut)

 

[008Zulu_v1legacy]

Maybe it came out wrong. Hmm, how do I say it.. A hard coded, scripted event isn't a 'god' showing themselves in a game. If so then more than likey it wouldn't just give you the + stats ect ect. I know you'll bash just about everything I said (after all you threw in a light insult with the 'if you are familiar with large numbers' section, yes it's an insult either way you look at it) But to quote Morgan Freeman in Evan Almighty "If you ask for paitence, does God just give you paitence or does he give you a chance to be paitent, does he give you bravery, or give you a chance to be brave..." ect ect.

You find the concept of large numbers insulting or that they exist?

The deities in games are more real. They make their presence know to the character either by clearly recognizable actions or offering tangible proof. No real world deity has yet to prove they actually even exist.

You do not ask for patience or bravery, you decide if you want to be patient or brave. If you have to ask someone else if you are either patient or brave, then your answer by default is No.

 

[KalosCast]

As an avid fan of tabletop RPGs, I gotta say that the guy who plays an atheist in games where the gods regularly descend to the mortal plane for a chat is a guy I want to strangle.

 

[008Zulu_v1legacy]

Maybe it came out wrong. Hmm, how do I say it.. A hard coded, scripted event isn't a 'god' showing themselves in a game. If so then more than likey it wouldn't just give you the + stats ect ect. I know you'll bash just about everything I said (after all you threw in a light insult with the 'if you are familiar with large numbers' section, yes it's an insult either way you look at it) But to quote Morgan Freeman in Evan Almighty "If you ask for paitence, does God just give you paitence or does he give you a chance to be paitent, does he give you bravery, or give you a chance to be brave..." ect ect.

You find the concept of large numbers insulting or that they exist?

The deities in games are more real. They make their presence know to the character either by clearly recognizable actions or offering tangible proof. No real world deity has yet to prove they actually even exist.

You do not ask for patience or bravery, you decide if you want to be patient or brave. If you have to ask someone else if you are either patient or brave, then your answer by default is No.

 

[Jodah]

I usually go with the whole "what benefits me more" plan. 9 times out of 10 that means siding with evil. I'm not doing it to worship them, I'm doing it for the rewards.

 

[GloatingSwine]

The only RPG god worth mentioning:

 

[Vakz]

I've always liked the whole "The light"-thing that a lot of books and RPGs style these days, often coupled with a "creator". What I like with it, is that it's generally a very "open" religion, with few rules and demands on it's "followers".

 

[GBlair88]

When I play RPGs I tend to have my character do whatever I would do and since I'm an atheist...

 

[Rockchimp69]

Since im Christain, nope, I say they are real but they are not gods (in game people) they are like people like Shaogorath or aka ME just people that have alot of power, hoepfully you can become pwerful in skyrim as well...

Isn't god basically just a infinitely powerful and infinitely intelligent being? So by definition I guess you could say that the gods of Elder scrolls aren't technically gods, just higher beings.

I like it when religious people like you actually have proper definitions for things
There's too much blind faith going around.

 

[orangebandguy]

Only The Emperor steels my reserve against mankind's many enemies.

I can believe in him, or rather my character can believe in him, since although he is seen as a God the franchise acknowledges that he is just in fact a man. Albeit an extremely powerful man.

I'm more of a fan of he Horus Heresy era approach to him. Leader of man, leading a powerful secular society rather than the degenerate theocratic nightmare existence his Imperium currently finds itself in.

 

[RatRace123]

I never really thought about it, I guess in Dragon Age none of my characters were devout atheists. It seemed hard to be after The Urn of Sacred Ashes quest.

Beyond that, I never really put much thought in my characters religious beliefs. I think I remember making my Shepard an atheist, or at least he believed in people believing what they want.

 

[Voidpulse]

It's quite funny, actually. I'm not a believer myself, but I often find that in fantasy games I gravitate towards Paladins and similar Faith-based warriors, whatever form they may take. It ultimately depends on the game though, and how it chooses to present/handle the subject. I tend to prefer the versions where the "deity" is more of a force than a personality (The Silver Flame in the Eberron D&D campaign setting for example, hell I'm sure even the Force would qualify).

I always try to roleplay as much as I can when I'm in character, so yeah, within the game I try to create some mannerisms my character would have; which includes religiously based behavior.
All if I'm properly immersed in the experience that is.

As with a few others in this thread, I do sometimes use video game gods to curse or express relief. I've actually caught myself muttering "thank the Light" after narrowly avoiding particularly hairy situations. Both in-game and not.