It certainly is.
> Harmast never pretended to be Orlanth, or presumed to change the
> myth of Orlanth's actions, or assumed control of Orlanth's actions
> in any way. So I fail to see any points of similarity between this
> example and participating in a game where you play Orlanth.
Hmmm... I had to retype my response after a IE hiccup, so I apparently left part out. I meant to make a point that heroquesting involves identification with the deity, but that strategic boardgames do not. No one seriously believes that he is a king in any sense when he is playing chess (at least, not the way that I was taught); this is definitely different in parlor games where some identification is typically part of the system, i.e. the Hindu Snakes and Ladders game where the player is supposed to learn the moral decisions which lead to Enlightenment. My apologies for missing this part when I retyped it.
> And superstitious folk routinely play games with effigies of the
> gods? You're seriously telling me that playing a game as Orlanth
> and losing isn't horrifyingly bad luck for a Heortling, and probably
> for every Orlanth worshiper involved in the game?
I'm saying that one of the players saying, "This is like that time Orlanth and the Thunder Brothers had to escape the ambush that Vadrus sprung on him" isn't going to instantly doom all the people involved to perdition. If there was a direct ritual identification attempted between the pieces and any deities or daimones (even the lowliest) then the consequences should be dire whether or not the game is lost.
> Taking my godfearing orlanthi hat off for a moment, and puting on
> my modern secularist hat, I've no problem playing god games on a
> computer, or card games where Zeus or Thor are counters in the
> game. I just don't think a Heortling would feel comfortable doing
> it though, and rightly so.
So if my character enters your world and sees someone do something, and says, "Wow that was just like Orlanth" will they kill him because he attempted a ritual identification between that person and a god, and was thus attempting to in some way control the actions of that god or person? So no one wants to be identified with any god, unless they are heroquesting? So no one wants to emulate their god in their actions, because if something bad happens, it will spell their doom?
[Edit:] I apologize in advance for the tone of that last paragraph. I realize it sounds inflammatory, I'm just genuinely interested in how the people of your campaign see themselves, if not in the context of the actions and personalities of their gods. And I'd rather not take the time to retype it before IE hiccups again and loses the content of the form.
Roland Volz
Powered by hypermail