This is Faith in Play #62: Theocracy, for January 2023. Whether our imagined worlds are vast universes or small villages, there is always someone, person, people, or other, who is in charge. We call that government. In most of our medieval-themed worlds, and many of our futuristic ones, we envision a monarchial feudalism. In the … [Read more…]
We again finished the year, and should observe the tradition to post an index of the past year’s articles on the last day. In December of 2021 we published 2021 At the Christian Gamers Guild Reviewed, and in previous years 2020 at the Christian Gamers Guild Reviewed; 2019 at the Christian Gamers Guild Reviewed; Thirteen … [Read more…]
This is Faith in Play #61: Christian D&D, for December 2022. Someone I have known online probably since I first became Chaplain of the Christian Gamers Guild recently read my recently republished book Do You Trust Me? (and made some positive comments about it), but then messaged me thus: …in your book Do You Trust … [Read more…]
This is Faith in Play #60: Afterlife, for November 2022. What happens when we die? The western religious view (I call it “western” because it is the view of most but not all Christians and Muslims) is that the soul or spirit goes to a place of either punishment or reward, depending on what it … [Read more…]
This is Faith in Play #59: Ghosts, for October 2022. At some point I was asking about topics for this series, and someone suggested including the undead, giving a list of several examples in that group. We did a piece about Vampires specifically, but otherwise have left the group untouched. Yet there is one member … [Read more…]
This is Faith in Play #58: Supers, for September 2022. Last month I added Heroes to the list of archetypes from which we can learn something, and in conclusion I distinguished those ordinary people who rise to the need from the more potent archetype which I called the superhero. I said maybe we would come … [Read more…]
This is Faith in Play #57: Heroes, for August 2022. I have a list of topic suggestions from readers to which I occasionally refer. Among the suggestions are lists of archetypes for that miniseries, many of which I don’t understand myself–but the word “hero” appears on several different lists, including Joseph Campbell’s and Carl Jung’s, … [Read more…]
This is Faith in Play #56: Guidance, for July 2022. In most of our games, either God or the gods are irrelevant, or we via our characters tell them what we want to do and ask or sometimes tell them to help. Sometimes the referee decides that we will go on a quest, and a … [Read more…]
This is Faith in Play #55: Marriage, for June 2022. I have written quite a bit about marriage over the years; I’ll not endeavor to list anything here. It strikes me, though, that although in my fiction I’ve had several weddings and character marriages, and in my games likewise, I haven’t written much about marriages … [Read more…]
This is Faith in Play #53: Synchronicity, for April 2022. On the Christian Gamers Guild discussion board, Michael Garcia raised a familiar question with a new twist: how do you bring the hand of God into a role playing game without going over the top? In a game like Advanced Dungeons & Dragons™ magic is … [Read more…]