Religion in the Playground

[Biabri]

I took a look at the rule on religion before I decided to post something...

Real-world religions (including religious reactions to gaming) is an INAPPROPRIATE TOPIC

The thing is... Lore and mechanics and some naming conventions come straight out of real life religions for some tabletop games... Concepts related to magic and divine sources of power typically draw from some sort of religion. Planar entities and the planes in Pathfinder draw from a mixture of real life religions and mush them together. Now, I'm not suggesting that this is talking about the INAPPROPRIATE TOPIC but, when we talk about religion and attempt to use it as fuel for our inspiration, when we pick things apart and explain why things are so and how things are the way that they are... Is this a violation of the rules?

Are we allowed to look at religion in a literary point of view, basically? I can't really phrase the question I'm trying to ask here!

If we base a monk, for example, off of the religious beliefs of Buddhism (for example in a homebrew) or Islam, for some kind of Jinn magician, and use thematic names, is this a violation of the rules?

Do you have to criticise or try to proselytise for this rule to apply?

What are the terms? Where's the shortprint? Is this post itself in violation of the rules?

[Peelee]

In general, err on the side of caution. Anything more than that I don't dare comment on; when religion comes up, here there be dragons.

[Roland St. Jude]

I took a look at the rule on religion before I decided to post something...Thank you for doing that.

Real-world religions (including religious reactions to gaming) is an INAPPROPRIATE TOPIC

The thing is... Lore and mechanics and some naming conventions come straight out of real life religions for some tabletop games... Concepts related to magic and divine sources of power typically draw from some sort of religion. Planar entities and the planes in Pathfinder draw from a mixture of real life religions and mush them together. Now, I'm not suggesting that this is talking about the INAPPROPRIATE TOPIC but, when we talk about religion and attempt to use it as fuel for our inspiration, when we pick things apart and explain why things are so and how things are the way that they are... Is this a violation of the rules?Sheriff: In short, yes. The dividing line between appropriate and inappropriate is fictional vs. real world. So if you are talking about Thor as presented in AD&D, OotS, or Marvel comics, that's fine, it's clearly fictional. If you are talking about Thor in the in-character thread of a play-by-post game you're running, that's fine; it's clearly fictional. But if you get into discussing the real life analogue (whether current, historical, academic, neutral, evangelical, or whatever else), that's prohibited because it's real world and religious.

Are we allowed to look at religion in a literary point of view, basically? I can't really phrase the question I'm trying to ask here!Sheriff: No. Don't discuss real world religion here for any purpose.

If we base a monk, for example, off of the religious beliefs of Buddhism (for example in a homebrew) or Islam, for some kind of Jinn magician, and use thematic names, is this a violation of the rules?Sheriff: Every use has to be examined individually and in it's own context, but this almost certainly violates the Forum Rules. It's difficult to to create, discuss, or explain this without getting into the real world basis.

Do you have to criticise or try to proselytise for this rule to apply?Sheriff: No, the rule is not concerned with the nature, tone, or purpose of the use. Just don't use real world religion here, with "real world" being the critical aspect.

And, as we always advise, interpret these inappropriate topic prohibitions broadly and err on the side of caution.