Is your character religious?

[hfergus]

Boy, am I asking for trouble. First I had a post about politics (which actually did not go too badly) and now religion. I must have a death wish. (My bad puns confirm that). As the title asks, is your character religious? I ask mainly because the "Once Bitten" thread mentioned some Catholic characters and it got me thinking. Note that my characters do not necessarilty have my politics or religion. They can't since they are all over the place. (Unless I have multiple personality disorder:rolleyes:)

 

Volt -Even though he is an intensely private person, he is well known as a devout Christian, and does not regret the world knowing. He is not Catholic, and when asked if he is protestant he said "I am not protesting the Catholic church." When pushed further he said "I believe in the Bible, and am in a church that emphasises it, even the Old Testament as it is important." He used to get cold and rather snippy if pushed further. He now sings, in a rather good voice, part of a song called Oh Budda:

"Cause it won't be a Baptist that's sitting on the throne,

A Prebyterian or a Methodist that's calling us us home,

And it won't be a charasmatic that plays that trumpet tune,

So let's all just live for Jesus 'cause He's coming back real soon."

 

Olorin is a pagan - rather a polytheist - so he says. He really is convinced there is a "Maker of all things" and thinks that being gets involved. He does not trust "gods" as he was asked to be one and hated what he found out. He is searching, and many may call him a "seeker". He is busy investigating this worlds major monotheistic religions.

 

Black Tiger is barely a lapsed Catholic. Really his is nothing and does not think about it. His family brought him to mass on Easter and Christmas until he was 6 years old and that is it. The church sex scandal just fed his distrust of all authorities.

 

Futurian Is sort of a Deist. He also believes there is a "Maker of all things", but is not sure about the beings involvement. He calls himself a "agnostic Deist", but does not think too much on it.

 

Leadman is a retired character, but is a good Polish Catholic boy. He got really disturbed when he found out the "widget" he uses to become Leadman was a magical artifact using earth magic. He sort of thinks he is redeeming the object, but it bothers him.

[Certified]

Re: Is your character religious?

 

The short answer, some are and some are not. It depends on if it would have an over all impact on the character I want to portray. In the Metahumans Rising setting religion has not played a major factor in the story so I have not focused on it for most of the supporting characters I've developed. If religion would play into the character as a whole and help shape the personality I will try and show how it has effected their life otherwise I tend to avoid the subject.

 

Characters with a Religious background:

 

Apollyon: A Hermetic Mage, although he does not have a strong religious background his powers come from arcane study and a pact with an entity known as Abaddon. It remains unclear if the entity is the same as the demon Abaddon. This was done to give multiple story elements, from fears of death and redemption to the price of power. Also, by leaving the nature of Abaddon unknown it allows the GM room to adjust without encroaching on the character's background.

 

I've attached Apollyon's hero file since he's changed from the actual post here.

 

Wakan: Of Native American birth her search to learn about her ancestry sent her on journeys of discovery. Guided by her Grandfather she learned the history of her tribe and drew strength from their teachings and ways. Her abilities come from a connection to the spirit world.

 

Wuji: An American sold into slavery in China his understanding of martial arts first came from watching his future master and his apprentice at that time. His martial art of choice a factious unified Bāguàzhǎng, it draws heavily from the teachings of Taoism and the I Ching.

[Trebuchet]

Re: Is your character religious?

 

Zl'f: Devoutly religious (She's Russian Orthodox). Born and raised in communist Russia, she turned to religion after the death of her mother when she was eleven; largely because she inherited her mother's (and grandmother's) antique crucifix. Zl'f is actually more devout than her mother was. Her father, a good Communist and atheist, quietly disapproved but after his wife's death was unwilling to stop something which helped comfort his beloved daughter.

 

Justicar: He's a Roman Catholic priest, so draw your own conclusions.

 

 

I'm personally agnostic, but that doesn't mean I can't respect and admire those of faith.

[GestaltBennie]

Re: Is your character religious?

 

My oldest character, Thundrax, got into a scenario where the PCs had to go to a place that looked a lot like Hell to rescue children from a demonic being.

 

He became a regular Church-goer after that adventure. :-)

[Fedifensor]

Re: Is your character religious?

 

My wife just created a character named Miracle, who has a 15-point distrust of religious organizations. Her character is a former police officer who was paralyzed from the waist down after being shot. She gained her powers while being honored at a 'Hometown Heroes' event, and the microphone fell right in front of the character's very religious mother, who exclaimed, "It's a miracle!" So, she's kind of stuck with the name at this point...

 

Generally, I avoid overly religious PCs in the same way I avoid political characters, though my game world has a vigilante NPC named Avenging Angel (who has sword, wings, and telepathy used to find out if a person is guilty). An important facet of my game world is that I don't want to show proof that God exists. Demons are fine - they could just be dark creatures from another dimension. However, if I prove the existence of God, then that really throws the whole faith thing out the window. Anyone can claim to gain their powers from God, and those powers may detect as magical, but there's no way to prove the source of that power.

[Darkfire]

Re: Is your character religious?

 

Darkfire: Despite her rather dubious morality and mastery of the mystic arts she is a very religious person. perhaps because of her frequent use of Necromancy, Demonology and recent experiences with "divine magic" including a being she believes was an angelic entity Darkfire knows with utter certainty their is a God and their is hell. Given her continued morally questionable actions I'm not sure what this says about the character and whether she feels redemption is possible. while Darkfire would be classified as a Christian, she has no denomination yet. Her beliefs are currently solidifying are the emotional and physical trauma of the Heart of Darkness story arc.

 

Ironhide: would classify himself as a Christian but hasn't been to church or talked religion in years. The issue never really comes up. he's just wants to be a hero and does his best at it.

 

John O'Malley II: Catholic Father, member of the Dominican order, proud member of the holy Inquisition. He is Fanatically Catholic, a card carrying zealot. he is actually a fairly intolerant. He believes his divine powers are a literal gift form God, and he was put on earth to carry out the Lord's will/judgment. Given the Delta Green style campaign he is in and the regular conflict with mythos (call of Cthulhu) entities/cults and evil/daemonic creatures his attitude is very understandable.

[Metaphysician]

Re: Is your character religious?

 

Microman II: Was less than a week old, some things hadn't been hashed out. His father was, IMO, an 'evidence agnostic' ( "Who needs faith, with what I have seen?" ), so I figure Microman II would start at that. Of course, that was before he took a side trip through Heaven. . .

 

Diomedes: A more hardened agnostic, despite being trained by a goddess ( given said training included an aspect of "your job is to keep the other gods from screwing the world up" ). Might have turned into a devout Athena follower of sorts.

 

Jack Frost: Never gave it consideration; I imagine some kind of inoffensive, mostly nonpracticing, Christian denomination.

 

Hermes: . . despite the name, the fact that he is a god, and the fact that he's a scientific supergenius, he's quite religious. Specifically, a devoted follower of Ra. ( long story )

[Comic]

Re: Is your character religious?

 

Victor Vanadis, Norse demigod of Blacklight (all the good domains had been taken), son of Baldur, immortal, licentious, utterly rapacious and amoral lawbreaker, is Episcopalean. "Sure, I'm _a_ god, and the son of _a_ god, but I bend my knee to only One Higher Power. But sure, if the ladies in the audience want to worship me.. I'm open to exploring my options."

[BcAugust]

Re: Is your character religious?

 

Cyrande: Hardcore atheist. Then again, given she's from Malva, finding out there's a god would likely involve her trying to hurt him.

 

Nox: Was a semi-devout Catholic, is currently trying to put her views in order after becoming what might be a goddess herself and being best friends with a member of the Japanese Pantheon.

 

Artemis: In her culture, is considered a goddess. She doesn't really observe any religious beliefs, though.

 

As for others, I've had a UU minister in a vampire game, one believer in the Celtic gods, and several that just didn't have it come up in games.

[Alverant]

Re: Is your character religious?

 

Metromancer is an Atheist. He's been to Elysium and has seen the heavens (note the plural), met and fought with pagan gods, saw young Elvis and old Elvis sing a duet in Bablyon. Even before he earned his powers he felt gods are the creation of man and not the other way around.

 

Smokin Ace is Metromancer's nephew (the GM let me switch characters for a while) is also an experienced superhero who has seen his share of supernatural things and shares his uncle's Atheist views.

 

Divine Wind is Shinto mostly due to the ghost of his samauri ancestor bugging him.

 

James Baker (Pulp Hero) converted catholic due to a need for redemption.

 

Cold Void is in college and still learning about his powers. Religions don't appeal to him as much as learning about philosophy. He doesn't know he's destined to be the equivalent of Eternity from Marvel and be the embodiment of a new and separate universe ... eventually.

[CrosshairCollie]

Re: Is your character religious?

 

Nope.

["V"]

Re: Is your character religious?

 

Jack A Dandy is happily and annoyingly sacreligious. He will mock anyone's religion, often claiming falsely to have personal experience of the deity involved and to consider them effete, lazy, drunken or boorish.

[death tribble]

Re: Is your character religious?

 

The Unicorn. Alien being so no.

 

The Flame. Believes but is not a regular churchgoer. But when your teammate is The Demoness and you fight against a bunch of evil doers called The Pentacle then you tend to believe.

 

The Magician. Believer. Having died as well and come back.

 

The Demoness. Half her soul burns in hell so she believes most fervantly of the Protectors. She can also see the good and evil in someone's soul.

 

The British Bulldog. Basically agnostic.

[Psybolt]

Re: Is your character religious?

 

I had a character named Penance once who was a priest, but also a costumed vigilante. A real fire and brimstone, eye for an eye type.

 

It really depends on the character concept. I'd say most of the characters do not have religion.

 

Of course, years ago I ran a campaign where Jesus supposedly came back. Turned out to be a super villain fraud, but it was interesting. Only one of my players allowed himself to be a believer, and interestingly enough, he was one of the bigger disbelievers of our group.

[eternal_sage]

Re: Is your character religious?

 

all of my characters have a religion of somekind (i'm agnostic verging on buddhist, but i recognized the importance relgion plays on the mentallity of people/places/cultures/events).

 

one of my more notable examples is Takeda Kyo, in a Mage: the Awakening game. he was Obrimos (linked to the realm of Aetherus, where the idea of angels comes from) and believed that his Awakening was actually him reaching (Zen Buddhist) Enlightement. When it was shown to him that all mages, even those of other religions, had awakenings, he just found that to be more proof that he was right, and that all religions are basically just confused versions of Buddhism. that was fun.

 

all of my D&D characters are always devoted to a deity (namely one in the setting) because, damn, how can you not believe in them, since they are walking around down the street.

 

i've played 2 characters who were devoted to some form of Christianity (1 Catholic, and the other Southern Baptist) and despite my real life dislike of it, had a lot of fun trying to stay in character and see through their eyes and not be jaded or mocking.

 

my one Vampire: the Requiem character was non-practicing Anglican, but joined the Lancea Sanctum after getting changed. He was kinda dark and screwing theologically anyway, (raging emo-goth, that one) so it pretty much fit perfectly.

 

my primary supers character (i usually run, instead) is an american boy who has fallen in love with the concept of Japan, (very troubled childhood, which left him looking for answers, which he found in martial arts: Kendo and Karate) he is on the path to Buddhism, but it is a bit much for a teenager to belly up to. he tries to live by the Precepts and the Noble Truths, but often ends up either being a teenager and falling far short, or going to far overboard, often in an effort to compensate for his failings.

[Badger]

Re: Is your character religious?

 

Badger- sort of. He was brought up Catholic, but he doesnt attend church (kind of recluse). And he does tend to ignore some scriptures here and there (As in "thou shalt not kill") He does go by a strict moral code in some aspects. He takes fidelity issues very seriously (no sex till marriage, not that the prospect of marriage is likely given his reclusive nature but anyhow)

 

 

Frosty Bob- well he does believe in afterlife and such. (after all Death granted him immortality.) But, if you are expecting him to have any sense of morality.......just move along.

[hfergus]

Re: Is your character religious?

 

And he does tend to ignore some scriptures here and there (As in "thou shalt not kill") He does go by a strict moral code in some aspects. He takes fidelity issues very seriously (no sex till marriage' date=' not that the prospect of marriage is likely given his reclusive nature but anyhow)[/quote']

I have just enough knowledge in this area to be dangerous. The word really should not be translated "kill", but rather "murder". War, self defense, defense of others, etc are ok. Given that, your character may still not follow it too well.

[fiducia]

Re: Is your character religious?

 

Iron Alloy has had to seriously redefine her stance on religion since being imbued with the power or Ra, the Egyptian sun god. Raised a good Catholic this has, understandably, thrown a wrench into the works of her spiritual outlook. She's since been taking things one day at a time, praying to whomever is out there that will listen.

 

Darkness believes fully in the whole demonic, hell, Satan aspect of the Christian faith. She's seen it. It's real. End of story. Other than that, though, she's rather agnostic. A bit too depressed on a daily basis to lift her mind towards spiritual enlightenment, Darkness perfers to focus on her daily routine of survival and stopping crime.

[Hermit]

Re: Is your character religious?

 

Aquatic- Probably an agnostic, leaning towards believer but unsure WHAT he is believing in. Normally he didn't think about religion that much, though his recent discovery that he is half Atlantean and that yes, virginia, there really is a Poseidon has certainly brought a new twist.

 

Banner- The son of Captain America and Diamondback is non denominational protestant Christian, though he is not a regular church goer.

[Manchine]

Re: Is your character religious?

 

White Knight, is very religious. Even though he can't be killed (Due to a curse on his family name) and fights against Evil Magic all the time. Just like any good Christian!

[Doctor Agenda]

Re: Is your character religious?

 

Drifter--atheist

Optimus II--Methodist

Mr. Trick--generic Christian

Adept--atheist

Huntsman--Lutheran

Sutra--Hindu

[Kal'El Wayne]

Re: Is your character religious?

 

Sir Johnstone is a very dedicated protestant. Like Walter from Hellsing. Seriously religious, but he doesn't deny that other 'Gods' may exist. Just that they aren't the 'one true God' but simply powerful and old magical beings.

[Gideon]

Re: Is your character religious?

 

Even though I am Jewish, most of my characters are agnostic/Christian (Protestant). But on the same note most of those who are religious are mostly non-practicing and don't attend church (or temple) regularly.

 

Mesa (my longest played character) is fairly agnostic (but christian), and his wife is shinto. So the kids are being raised both.

 

Gideon is Catholic and one of my two most religious characters, attending church every Sunday he can.

 

Plastron is Jewish. He is one of the few RPG characters I have ever played who follows my actual religion. And while I am reform, he is conservative.

 

Dr. Pranav is a mentalist I play from India and is strict Hindu. He is strict enough that my GM allowed me to take his religion as a Psych-lim (won't eat beef being part of it).

[Thud]

Re: Is your character religious?

 

Revenant is absolutely certain in his belief that the Christian God is real.

And he doesn't believe that that God is worthy of worship.

He's a nihilist.

[drunkonduty]

Re: Is your character religious?

 

Knight Rider is Japanese and was brought up with a mix of Shinto and Buddhist beliefs but does not practice. She is, if anything, more of a humanist. This is not to say she doesn't believe but she thinks there are more important issues/causes.

 

Stryker: Baptist and reasonably devout. But given his career as a government hitman he does have trouble reconciling his beliefs with his actions. He is likely to wind up being a rather messed up, twisted individual: if he ever gets played again.