Setting: The Sword and the Cross

[Greg 1]

Originally Posted by Varyon

On the topic of monsters, I note that some pagan nations appear to be thriving (albeit as "dens of sin," at least from the standpoint of the Christian nations), while others have become overrun with monsters on account of worshipping false gods. Are the surviving pagan nations worshipping actual gods, or just false ones who don't cause monsters? Or do they have some means of keeping the monsters in check?

Good questions. I haven't written about this and am not sure how much I should write.

The line between a true god and a false god is unclear. Christians wield supernatural power but so do pagans, maybe better. Whether the pagan gods are imaginary, real but not gods, or real gods was not something I wanted to take a stand on.

Regarding why only some nations are overrun by monsters, I thought I might just leave that as a mystery. The idea is that magic is unpredictable and dangerous and could easily destroy you. I was hoping that it would be reminiscent of the destruction of Soddom and Gommorah and other sinful places.

Originally Posted by The Colonel

Are you familiar with Lion and Dragon? - it's B/X style OSR but covers a lot of the same ground.

Thanks! It looks really awesome and it would be a useful resource for playing in this setting, or any setting socially similar to medieval Europe.

We certainly head in opposite directions where history and religion are concerned, with my setting leaning in to real history and religion much more. Most obviously, they avoid Christianity and the Christian church, whereas my setting (as will become clearer as I post more) is absolutely rooted in Christianity and the Christian church.