Campaign Brainstorming: "The New Abbey"

**travellerne** · Mar 22nd, '04, 01:08 AM

Hi All,

After visiting a lot of the the abbeys and cathedrals in England last year I got an idea for a Star Hero campaign setting that I'd like to develop. Here's the premise:

"A Star Hero campaign set thousands of years in the future, where the existence of God has been proven as a fact and humanity has spread throughout the universe."

Obviously, "The Church" will have a large effect on the campaign setting or at least be an influence on everyday life. Religious beliefs and customs might be similar to the beliefs of medieval Europe (or other religious cultures.)

I've done a little work on the setting already, but am nowhere near being finished. Any ideas I've suggested are meant only as seeds and not limitations to any ideas people might want to share.

Any thoughts? ideas?

Hope to talk with you soon,
K.

**Lord Liaden** · Mar 22nd, '04, 04:46 AM

Well, since you're suggesting a Church similar to that of medieval times, there are a number of plot elements that could be derived from that premise. Off the top of my head:

Hierarchy. Is the Church a diffuse presence, or does it have an institutional structure with rank and tiers of influence? The latter probably has the greater potential for generating complications in your campaign, since various individuals and factions will have vested interests that they desire to preserve and increase.

Heresies. Some of the greatest conflicts in history have occured over disputes in interpretation of elements of doctrine. With doctrine accepted as truth, the Church readily lends itself as a powerful support for the established power structure, so these disputes become serious political issues. Marginalization of certain groups, "reformation" movements, persecution, civil war and "crusades" can all be justified under these circumstances. As a corollary to that:

The Inquisition. Depending on how rigid and repressive the Church regime is, such an institution may be a tool of the state, or even wield Church control over the state. Accusations of heresy or other forbidden practices, if backed up by threats of excommunication or more corporal punishments, can be an effective way to maintain order and neutralize opponents, not to mention a useful source of revenue from confiscated properties.

Chivalry. OTOH the Church may be more benevolent or also wear that aspect, and attempt to promote a code of honor to restrain the excesses of the elites. There may be orders of "knights" dedicated to the highest ideals of their faith, attempting to combat injustices and spread the truth of their religion.

Spreading the Faith. The desire to increase the number of followers has been an impetus (or at least a rationale) for missionaries to explore new territories and contact unknown peoples. It's also justified "holy wars" to force the True Faith upon the heathen.

Divine Right of Kings. How important is the Church influence to the leaders of this era? Is there separation of Church and State, or do the leaders need to be "ordained" by the Church a la the Holy Roman Empire? In the latter case there's lots of potential for power struggles between temporal and religious leaders.

God does not play dice with the universe! Are there areas of scientific knowledge that are sanctioned by the Church, and others that are forbidden? If we're talking about a doctrine of deterministic predestination, things like quantum mechanics and chaos theory may be considered blasphemous, or even akin to witchcraft.

The Chosen People. Are there non-human races in your setting? How does the Church view them: as other "peoples" who can (or must) be converted? or as souless blasphemies who are not truly human, and therefore can be persecuted or slain with impunity? Do these aliens accept the faith of mankind, or do they have their own opposed beliefs? To what degree are they allowed to mingle in human society - are they restricted in where they can live, or what type of work they can do? Is there a great nation of non-human "infidels" opposed to humanity?

**zippercomics** · Mar 22nd, '04, 06:27 AM

I realize this might not be of a massive help to you, but I figured I'd suggest it no less. If you're looking at doing a Hard Science Fiction, reality of physics and aliens, etc etc type thing, then maybe - if you can - grab a copy of a book called Calculating God. I can't for the life of me remember the author's name (hero cookie to anyone who does), but it's kinda in the same vein as what you're talking about, but with a totally different story. Aliens who come to Earth to study our palentology, but in the process, reveal that they too believe in God, and have proven him a scientific fact.

When you read the book, you'll be pretty surprised (I think) by all of the "evidence" to support that claim that is presented. It's science heavy, but it pulled me in.

Just a thought.

I'd be interested in seeing any end product you develop, man.

**Lord Liaden** · Mar 22nd, '04, 11:46 AM

Artificial Intelligence. How would religion affect the status of AI intelligences? Are they believed to have "souls?" If not they could be considered inferior beings and treated as property, essentially slaves to organic lifeforms. They could even be declared abominations, mockeries of God's creations, and actively hunted down. They would be forced to conceal themselves, or to flee to distant worlds where they could live in peace. This attitude could also cover products of genetic manipulation, like clones and "altered" organisms.

In such an intellectual climate advanced cybernetics and genetics could be among the "banned sciences" I alluded to above.

BTW zippercomics, that novel sounds intriguing. I'll have to try to hunt it down. Thanks for the tip.

**zarglif69** · Mar 22nd, '04, 01:00 PM

Consider the Pax of the novels Endymion and the Rise of Endymion. There's an interstellar Christian theocracy.

**Tamashii2000** · Mar 22nd, '04, 02:14 PM

Other possible things to concider:
Other Religions: The god of one faith being proven as a fact BEGS the question of what happened to the followers of the other religions that were proven wrong. Many may convert, but just as many may refuse to believe the truth and be actively opposed to the offical church.

Witch,Warlock and Demon's Oh my: If God is proven to exist, then most likely (playing it safe here) most of the other beings in what ever religion your using also exist. Demons, Witchs, Satan Himself....

**Bookwyrm** · Mar 22nd, '04, 03:37 PM

Take a look at the Fading Suns RPG

**Major Tom** · Mar 22nd, '04, 07:50 PM

Originally posted by Lord Liaden
Artificial Intelligence. How would religion affect the status of AI intelligences? Are they believed to have "souls?" If not they could be considered inferior beings and treated as property, essentially slaves to organic lifeforms. They could even be declared abominations, mockeries of God's creations, and actively hunted down. They would be forced to conceal themselves, or to flee to distant worlds where they could live in peace. This attitude could also cover products of genetic manipulation, like clones and "altered" organisms.

In such an intellectual climate advanced cybernetics and genetics could be among the "banned sciences" I alluded to above.

BTW zippercomics, that novel sounds intriguing. I'll have to try to hunt it down. Thanks for the tip.

Okay, kiddies, here's today's phrase for you.
Today's phrase is: Butlerian Jihad.
Can you say Butlerian Jihad?
Sure you can.

Major Tom

**Lord Liaden** · Mar 22nd, '04, 09:34 PM

I can certainly say it, and I could even Google for it; but maybe you would kindly save me a bit of time and effort and synopsize it for my ignorant self?

(I know I've heard this somewhere, but I just can't place it.)

**Major Tom** · Mar 22nd, '04, 10:48 PM

Originally posted by Lord Liaden
I can certainly say it, and I could even Google for it; but maybe you would kindly save me a bit of time and effort and synopsize it for my ignorant self?

(I know I've heard this somewhere, but I just can't place it.)

Can do, LL. The Butlerian Jihad is a part of the background history
in the Dune series of novels written by Frank Herbert, and is
described as a revolt by humans against the "thinking machines"
(A.I.s, robots, etc.) that had enslaved them. The A.I.s and robots
had originally been the servants of humanity, and to some extent
even ran things (apparently, human beings had become apathetic,
letting the machines do the jobs that they were no longer int-
erested in doing for themselves). After the victory over the
machines, a number of changes were made in human existence
to avoid a repeat of what had nearly destroyed it. One of these
changes was the inclusion of the following commandment in the
prevalent religious doctrine of that time: "Thou shalt not create
a machine in the likeness of a human mind". Another was the
establishment of numerous mental training schools, whose
purpose was to teach human beings to develop and use their
mental capacities, as well as to think for themselves. Only two
of those schools still existed at the beginning of the Dune
saga: the Bene Gesserit school for female students, and the
Spacing Guild.

IIRC, there's a new book out that was written by Herbert's son
and some other guy that covers that period, and is even called
The Butlerian Jihad.

Does this help you any?

Major Tom

**travellerne** · Mar 23rd, '04, 03:46 AM

Originally posted by zippercomics
If you're looking at doing a Hard Science Fiction, reality of physics and aliens, etc etc type thing, then maybe - if you can - grab a copy of a book called Calculating God. I can't for the life of me remember the author's name (hero cookie to anyone who does),
...
Just a thought. I'd be interested in seeing any end product you develop, man.

Thanks! It's written by "Robert J. Sawyer" and was a Hugo Award finalist. Amazon.com sells the book for $7. I'll have to read it.

I'll be glad to share The New Abbey campaign with anyone who is interested. I'm planning to referee it at some local conventions early next year.

K.

**travellerne** · Mar 23rd, '04, 03:55 AM

Originally posted by Lord Liaden

The Inquisition. Depending on how rigid and repressive the Church regime is, such an institution may be a tool of the state, or even wield Church control over the state. Accusations of heresy or other forbidden practices, if backed up by threats of excommunication or more corporal punishments, can be an effective way to maintain order and neutralize opponents, not to mention a useful source of revenue from confiscated properties.

I've started two inquistions for this campaign.

Did you know that the Catholic Church had an inquisition until 1969? The Office of the Inquisition studied church dogma (in contrast to the Spanish Inquisitions which tortured lots of people).

So, I've thought of two Inquisitions for TNA:

The Sagittarian Inquisition is more inquisitive and if a character had them as a Hunted disad, they could expect the nuisance of being called in for a hearing.

The Orion Inquisition is more severe. A character Hunted by them could expect punishment, torture and death if found guilty of heresy.

What do you all think?
K.

**Battlestaff** · Mar 23rd, '04, 05:15 AM

This all sounds good. My only suggestion would be to talk with your players so that no one is offended by the take you have on religion and the church.

**Lord Liaden** · Mar 23rd, '04, 10:21 AM

Originally posted by Major Tom
Does this help you any?

Brings me up to speed nicely, thanks. I'd pretty much forgotten about it - it's been a long time since I read Dune. Weren't the Mentats another of the schools founded after that period, though?

If the incentive for persecuting artificial intelligence were religious rather than survival based, the machines might never have oppressed man. They could simply have come to be viewed as blasphemous, and their creation a sin. The conflict could thus be less of a jihad and more of a witchhunt. All seasonable to taste, of course.

**zippercomics** · Mar 23rd, '04, 11:59 AM

Yes, do be careful when including religious doctorine or theories in this kind of thing. It's bit me in the but more than once, albeit I've found that the safest bet in those situations is to either lay it all out on the line first, or blame such religious actions on radical or right wing extremists that may or may not operate with the fullest sanction of the church. Still a good idea, though, and if White Wolf could get away with their Inquisition lasting through the Vampire chronicles, I'm sure you can too.

Great stuff so far, man.