This is Faith in Play #72: Backup, for November 2023. I once played with a referee who had a very interesting strategy. He would maneuver players into very dangerous ventures in part by providing them with trump cards, aces up their sleeves as it were, which could be character lifelines in an emergent situation. Then … [Read more…]
This is Faith in Play #71: Good Witch, for October 2023. The word “witch”, according to the dictionary, has connotations of evil magic, ugly appearance, and a nasty disposition. Yet in our usage we have lost this aspect of witches being evil and ugly. Indeed, if you attend enough game conventions you will meet girls … [Read more…]
This is Faith in Play #70: Holy War, for September 2023. I heard someone make a comment about religious issues in a war-based video game, and it brought to mind Nebuchadnezzar and Darius the Mede. In the ancient world, almost every nation had its own gods, and when they went to war it was often … [Read more…]
This is Faith in Play #69: Steeple, for August 2023. There is something in Jewish history we call the Diaspora. It refers to the fact that having been driven from their homeland many Jews settled in nations throughout the world. It may have begun with the Assyrian Empire and perhaps is technically still happening today. … [Read more…]
This is Faith in Play #68: Prayer, for July 2023. This arose in discussion on the Christian Gamers Guild mailing list. It seems that someone mentioned a new role playing game in which players were expected to verbalize the in-game prayers of their fictional characters to the real God. Guild members had mixed reactions to … [Read more…]
This is Faith in Play #67: Stance, for June 2023. Periodically I ask for topic ideas for this series, and most recently someone replied Player Agency. I hear a lot about it in the OSR world, where a lot of the focus is on giving the player freedom to choose what they do outside of … [Read more…]
This is Faith in Play #66: Promises, for May 2023. I was very young when I saw a western something-or-other (don’t know if it was a movie or a television show) in which one of the characters made a statement that has stuck with me for over half a century: “A man’s only got his … [Read more…]
This is Faith in Play #65: Family, for April 2023. There has been a lot of talk in recent years about something called “Family Game Night”, the idea that families benefit by spending time together playing games. Some might be offended by the use of the slogan, “The family that plays together,” but it’s probably … [Read more…]
This is Faith in Play #64: A Kingdom Allegory, for March 2023. I was musing on random ideas when my mind stumbled on a setting idea, a piece of a larger world I would expect, into which the characters might wander and which they might find confusing but possibly, what, educational? I have couched it … [Read more…]
This is Faith in Play #63: Inadequacy, for February 2023. Decades ago comedian Bill Cosby got a lot of laughs from a sketch about Noah’s conversations with God. Throughout Noah is full of doubts and questions (“Am I on Candid Camera?), not at all happy with what he has been instructed to do. We don’t … [Read more…]