I started thinking about the similarities between Christianity and D&D, and came up with a chart listing some of the things they have in common. What do you think I should add to the list?
| Religion vs Role-Playing Games (RPGs) | ||
| RPGs | Religion | |
|---|---|---|
| Rules | Set of books describing rules, roles, rewards, and monsters/demons. Requires a fair amount of study, and may be subject to a certain amount of interpretation | Set of books describing rules, roles, rewards, and spiritual beings. Requires a fair amount of study, and may be subject to a certain amount of interpretation |
| Leaders | Dungeon master describes unseen elements of the game and strives to keep the gameplay consistent, engaging, and realistic. Relays messages from non-player characters, interprets outcome of chance events for players, and describes rewards obtained. | Pastor/priest describes unseen elements of the religion and strives to keep the religion consistent, engaging, and realistic. Relays messages from spiritual characters, interprets outcome of chance events for believers, and describes spiritual rewards obtained or anticipated. |
| Quests | Tasks assigned either directly by the dungeon master or else by non-player characters, as communicated by the dungeon master. May involve fighting with monsters and/or non-player characters, as described by the dungeon master. Successful quest completion advances player standing in the game. | Tasks assigned either directly by the pastor/priest or else by spiritual beings, as communicated by the pastor/priest. May involve fighting with spiritual beings, as described by the pastor/priest. Successful quest completion advances believer standing in the religion. |
| Rewards (tangible) | Described by the dungeon master as being of significant value, and also as possibly granting the player certain magical benefits that will assist in gameplay. Rewards described exist only in the gameplay itself, and cannot be physically examined, handled, or sold outside of gameplay. | Described by the pastor/priest as being of significant value, and also as possibly granting the believer certain spiritual benefits that will assist in religion. Rewards described exist only in the religion itself, and cannot be physically examined, handled, or sold outside of the religion. |
| Rewards (intangible) | Players experience social interaction through a series of pre-arranged gatherings for gameplay purposes. The gameplay itself is enjoyable and imparts a certain sense of empowerment to players, through the roles they play and the quests they complete. Players also feel connected with a larger world, outside of mundane experience, in which events have more meaning. | Believers experience social interaction through a series of pre-arranged gatherings for religious purposes. The religion itself is enjoyable and imparts a certain sense of empowerment to believers, through the roles they play and the quests they complete. Believers also feel connected with a larger world, outside of mundane experience, in which events have more meaning. |
| Recruitment | Players are generally introduced to the game by other players whom they happen to be friends with. A few people discover it by reading about it or other indirect methods. Retaining new recruits largely depends on how well the new players fit in culturally and socially with the rest of the group. Some new players drop out as soon as the novelty wears off. Others continue to play, but move on to other groups. And some become committed, continuing, contributing members of the group. | Believers are generally introduced to the religion by other believers whom they happen to be friends with. A few people discover it by reading about it or other indirect methods. Retaining new recruits largely depends on how well the new believers fit in culturally and socially with the rest of the group. Some new believers drop out as soon as the novelty wears off. Others continue to believe, but move on to other congregations. And some become committed, continuing, contributing members of the congregation. |
| Fantasy | Players interact with magical beings and have the potential to use magical powers to solve problems, discover information, or combat opponents, as described by the rule books and/or the dungeon master. Magical beings and powers exist only in the context of gameplay and cannot be observed by non-players. | Believers interact with spiritual beings and have the potential to use spiritual powers to solve problems, discover information, or combat opponents, as described by the Scriptures and/or the pastor/priest. Spiritual beings and powers exist only in the context of religion and cannot be observed by non-believers. |
| Varieties | Players can choose from a number of different RPGs and groups of players. Different dungeon masters will have different styles of gameplay, and players can “shop around” for a dungeon master and player group whose style suits their own personality and preferences. Players from different groups sometimes have disagreements over which ruleset is the best and over proper interpretation of the rulesets. These disagreements can become quite heated, but rarely escalate beyond the level of name-calling and/or ceasing to communicate. | Believers can choose from a number of different denominations and congregations. Different pastor/priests will have different styles of religion, and believers can “shop around” for a pastor/priest and congregation whose style suits their own personality and preferences. Believers from different groups sometimes have disagreements over which Scripture is the best and over proper interpretation of the Scriptures. These disagreements can become quite heated, and can sometimes escalate to physical violence or even outright, literal war. |
| Public Relations | Players are sometimes viewed as “odd” by non-players, and may be subject to misunderstanding or condescension regarding their fascination with the intricate details of gameplay and their “magical” experiences in the context of playing the game. Players sometimes take such treatment with a certain amount of almost perverse pride, on the assumption that outsiders are revealing their own deficiencies by their failure to truly understand the game. | Believers are sometimes viewed as “odd” by non-believers, and may be subject to misunderstanding or condescension regarding their fascination with the intricate details of religion and their “spiritual” experiences in the context of practicing their faith. Believers sometimes take such treatment with a certain amount of almost perverse pride, on the assumption that outsiders are revealing their own deficiencies by their failure to truly understand the faith. |
| Groundedness | Players know they are just playing a game. | ??? |
I’ve often said that atheists should regard religion as a set of LARPs that we aren’t playing — that the players thereof should be allowed reasonable space to play their games, but not to interfere with non-players’ lives, nor to demand that we take their game and its rules seriously.
Unfortunately, under your model, the people playing the LARP are insisting that everyone play their particular ‘game’.
“Believers are generally introduced to the religion by other believers whom they happen to be friends with.”
Actually most believers are indoctrinated in their religions by family and other cultural institutions of the society in which they live, or of a cult of which their parents are a member, and walking away from the ‘game’ of religion can be psychologically distressing and just plain dangerous.
Another critical difference is that the fantasy world of D&D is constrained and not projected outwards by players as a universal reality.
So, rather than adding to the list, I’d suggest removing “recruitment”.
My first thought: Sometimes, rewards can be sold outside of game play. But then I realized, that was sometimes true in religion, too.
So basically, gold farming is like the selling of indulgences.
It’s not a perfect analogy. I’ve never heard of an RPG player who went on to commit crimes who didn’t already have a predilection for it. The same cannot be said of religion.
Yes, there are significant dissimilarities, but I still find the similarities fascinating. I think they account for a lot of the enthusiasm participants have for their chosen recreation.
So I guess that makes
Judaism: Original D&D
Catholicism/Orthodoxy: AD&D
Protestantism: D&D 3.0
Mormonism: D&D 3.5
Based on my prolonged research, we should expect to see v4.0 and v5.0 soon! 😉
You need more research.
Judaism like original D&D draws inspiration from pre-existing mythologies.
Christianity pulls an AD&D and changes half the rules.
D&D 3.0 i would equate with the Catholic/Orthodox split.
D&D 3.5 is Islam coming out of nohwere with fancy new rules and even crazier bullshit.
D&D 4.0 is Protestantism AND Mormonism and all the other crazy cults that sprung up during and after the reformation.
Finally D&D 5.0 is stuff like that crazy christian cult where some of the members killed themselves because they were sure a ufo was coming to upload their minds to their new bodies in space.