Hello everyone. I'm a former Christian, now Atheist. Even though I am no longer a believer, I still love Christian mythology. I view it no different than any other mythology. The Bible, at least to me, is no more true than the Codex Regius. But I digress.

I'm wanting to run Revelation for my group. My group is a mix of Atheist and Christian players. Now I know that my Christian players are immediately going to wonder why they were left behind, although the scenario makes no mention of the Rapture. Should I just run it straight and narrow? There was no Rapture, the bible only got part of the story right. I know that the bible doesn't actually mention "Rapture", but I don't want to toss this in the face of my believer friends. Is running this scenario a bad idea for this particular group of people? I know that each group and person differs, so I'm just wanting everyone's opinion. If you had a mixed group such as mine, would you still consider running this scenario? Everyone's opinions are welcome. Christian and non-Christian alike.

I think it depends entirely on your group. You'll have to determine if they can handle such a scenario or not. If they can then great, if they can't then that's just as fine. But, without knowing your friends it is impossible for anyone here to give you an opinion on your situation.

It's fiction. Your players can handle that.

If they make a big stink about not being raptured then you tell them their fictional self must have done something awful.

It's fiction. Your players can handle that.

If they make a big stink about not being raptured then you tell them their fictional self must have done something awful.

This had me rolling with laughter. Great response.

If it were an original PC, I would say a Christian wondering why he was left behind would be a great character hook!

If they do complain about it tell them their sin was argueing with the GM ​​

If the Rapture isn't in The Bible, why do you think your Christian players will have a cow?

Going by my experience running "The End", a post-Rapture post-Apocalypse game, the best thing to do is sit down with your players before starting and make sure everyone is in agreement that the way things are in teh game is the way things are in the game not neccesarily the way things are in reality. The same way we accept that the way Star Wars games describe Wookiees as being the way Wookiees work in the game, or the way zombies work in a zombie movie or game.

It can be tricky running a game where the players play themselves in a setting that starts out as a copy of the real world. Real world beliefs have the potential to create sticky situations. But everybody should be able to get on board with "this is a fantasy version of 'what if...' inspired by Revalation".

If your players want to get philosophical and delve deeply into the theology of why they were "left behind", cool, let them. But don't force it on them if they would rather fight the soldiers of the Antichrist and beat up demons.

The simplest option may be to tell them that no ones holy book(s) got everything right.

Those books were after written, rewritten, translated, retranslated and generally dicked around with by any number of persons and groups over the last few thousand years. Changes were sure to have been made intentionally and errors would creep in no matter what care was taken.

Well first off do your Christian friends actually belong to a Christian denomination that believes in the rapture?. Most Christians including Catholics Orthodox Anglicans and Lutheran reject the doctrine of rapture. Personally as a Catholic I've no problem with fictional settings where there is no god or god is evil etc I am more likely to be offended by someone telling me I believe something I don't (like the rapture etc) Secondly for obvious reasons the game has to be taken as a fictional version of EVERYONES world view for it to work. You might also want to check out if your players (including the atheists) are actually comfortable playing this game I wouldn't necessarily spring it on them. It may well be fictional but that might get forgotten when the ensuing theological debates begin.

The way the events in Revelation play out is much more hard core than even the Left Behind series; the Horsemen really tear up the Earth in ways that cannot be resisted or undone. Desolation for miles and miles in their wake. It has more in common with Heavy Metal than Hal Lindsey. Playing on the over the top, operatic series of events that cascade towards the Beast's return is easier when everyone is in the same boat. That is to say, NOBODY was right about Jesus. He is an enigma. And now, he's coming back...

If the Rapture isn't in The Bible, why do you think your Christian players will have a cow?

Thing is, there's still a debate over when the "Rapture" will take place during the Apocalypse. While most traditional Christians do believe it will be early/pre-Apocalypse, some think it will be mid or late Apocalypse instead. So, you could run w/ that if you want. Not to mention various Christian groups also argue over salvation doctrine (how you get into heaven/Raptured in the first place) etc... So you could still run w/ it on the grounds of "Did I interpret Scripture wrong"/follow the wrong philosophy and Theology, etc...

Going by my experience running "The End", a post-Rapture post-Apocalypse game, the best thing to do is sit down with your players before starting and make sure everyone is in agreement that the way things are in teh game is the way things are in the game not neccesarily the way things are in reality. The same way we accept that the way Star Wars games describe Wookiees as being the way Wookiees work in the game, or the way zombies work in a zombie movie or game.

This.

Just because you're the GM doesn't mean you have to make ALL the decisions. If you want to know whether or not your players are cool with this, ask them.

A video documentary about the biblical "End of the world" scenario. Also, fixes the whole rapture problem. Give it a watch. Interesting for even non believers I'd imagine.

Edit: Ignore this post. I had forgotten I made similar comments above several months ago. My mistake. :-/

If they want to play but are struggling with the fact that their character is good/righteous but wasn't "Raptured" then you could always just use the Bible rules-as-written.

Quote

Psalms 37:10, 11, 29 [KJV]

"For evildoers shall be cut off: but those that wait upon the LORD, they shall inherit the earth. For yet a little while, and the wicked shall not be : yea, thou shalt diligently consider his place, and it shall not be . But the meek shall inherit the earth; and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace. ...The righteous shall inherit the land, and dwell therein for ever."

Wrong context but if you interpret it that way.

Personally I don't like this, but the suggestion wasn't for me. I can't stop you