Quote:
Originally Posted by Skarg
Some computer games use such systems, for example: Ancient Domains of Mystery
(Of course, it helps to have a computer tracking your every move. And people can and do game and (ab)use the system...) |
Hmm. Thanks for including the link. That would be a HUGE thing to keep track of.
I suspect that analysis of the lists would reveal that there are basically only a few general categories that would cause changes in your "piety" that could be modified for a few specific tools/creatures. That is, killing something leads to a
+ X Piety Points, which would be modified by WHOM/WHAT precisely you killed (a demon, an angel, the local prince, an innocent, etc.). Similarly, desecrating something might be worth
+ Y basic Piety Points, and would then be modified by WHAT precisely you desecrated (an altar, a church/temple, a graveyard, etc.).
If you could break it down to say, five to ten basic "acts," modified by five to ten "elements" that would be modified by those acts, that might be a whole lot simpler to keep track of, but still give you a heck of a lot of flexibility to define religions and their nature...
I also like that they use "Law" (or better still, "Order" would be my word choice) versus "Chaos," which is maybe a better way to define religions than "good" versus "evil." Good and Evil seem to be highly subjective to a whole lot of people (one man's "terrorist" is another man's "martyr"), but if you define things in terms of order and chaos that permits everything from the heavenly hosts all the way down to the Demon Princes without too much trouble. Plus, those terms "heavenly host" and "Demon Princes" can then be applied in a relative manner. If I believe in Chaos, your Heavenly Angel is a Demonic Prince as far as I'm concerned -- and, of course, vice versa. In game design terms, that's a LOT easier to deal with (basically, they're the same kind of creature/monster statistically speaking, they just get labeled differently..."re-skinned" if you will...depending on who's looking at them...). Plus it's easy to argue both ways in the game:
"Order is good, because it provides structure an dignity to every living person while preserving public safety."
"Order is bad, because it results in a monolithic fascist police state dedicated to enforcing a set standard for 'everyone's own good,' regardless of the peoples' desires or actual needs."
"Chaos is good, because it allows the maximum of personal freedom to every individual."
"Chaos is bad, because maximum individual freedom means the power to commit any act or atrocity without any restraint, leading to total anarchy and the bloody rule of tooth and claw."
You can see how the conflict can be framed... ;-)