Though still in the drafting stages I am working on running a Dark Heresy game (now be warned - I as a GM feel free to steal anything I can get my hands on then twist to my own evil means....)

My game is going to take place in small cluster of stars on the edge of the Calixas sector called the Sword Worlds (stolen: Traveller) where there are three suns with multiple planets with Sword names (get it?) in close proximity to each other.

The area was liberated from Chaos in the Sword Crusade a few millenia ago and now has an Space Marine presence (Black Templars) and a Sisters of Battle presense - the Eclesiarchy started the crusade but the Black Templars had to finish it.

Just back ground stuff - more but unnecessary.

The real secret is that at the end of the Dark Age of Technology where worlds got separated there were still human religions around (such as Christianity and Judaish, Hindu and Muslim etc...) but those all were "purged" during the Emperor's Cruade (I kind of gather that the Emperor was not a huge fan of religion so I had him try to wipe it out before the Horus Heresy).

In the Sword Worlds which was cut off and had to be reintergrated during the Crusade - Christianity still flurished until the Cruaders arrived and reintergrated them into the Imperium. Christianity went underground.

During the Horus Heresy and the rise of the Imperial Cult afterwards this sect remained hidden. Eventully the Sword world fell to Chaos or Heresy (not sure which) and had to be re-reintergrated as stated above.

As my PCs adventure I plan to have them stumble on this secret sect of Christians who deny the Emperor and have have thier own secret military (a modern Knights Templar or something).

Just looking for any thoughts or ideas or just to generate a discussion.

Todd

interesting idea, don't know if you should use the names of modern religions though, maybe you should use the same practices but not the same name... prevents tension later...

I kind of think that real-life references inserted into the 40k setting would prove jarring and distracting. That's my opinion, anyway...

tcabril said:

Oh, he's a fan of religion all right - so much so that he invented his own! =P

Seriously, though. I agree with the others that it's probably a bad idea to bring real-world religions into the 40k universe. I used to work for a call center once upon a time and I recall that there were three subjects we were taught not to engage in with a customer - sports, politics and religion. The reason being because these three subjects have a funny way of taking things off-topic in a real hurry.

Make something similar if you like - even something that's obviously derived from Christianity - but give it a new name and few twists in terms of the rituals they use. Firstly, this will help keep people from getting into off-topic discussions about the pros and cons of Christianity (even if these don't degenerate into all-out arguments, they still have a way of sucking up time that could be better spent playing.) Secondly, it's actually more realistic when you think about it. Religions evolve over time, just like everything else. For example, I'm told that this whole business about Jesus being the son of God didn't actually get added in until like 400 AD or so - before that he was just a messenger of God, or something. (Not trying to start a fight with any forumites, btw, just repeating a curious tidbit I heard somewhere. Feel free to write me off as a blathering idiot if you want - I certainly don't claim to be an expert on the subject.)

The point is, after 40,000 years cut off from the larger human society on a world which is ultimately not their planet of origin, I'm sure Christianity would look a lot different than it does today, so even if this religious cult is "officially" descended from Christ, there's no need to make it exactly the same.

Having said all that, I don't know the group you're playing with. Maybe your crew is tight-knit enough to handle the concept in stride. Other than the thing about using real religions, it sounds like you've got a solid idea for a campaign, though.

My gut reaction seems to agree with everyone else.

GREAT idea- veil the real world religions. Whatever you decide to do with your game- repost. It seems like it could be very interesting.

Thanks for your input!!!

I could not agree more - inserting world religions into a game can have drastic implications - though I honestly believe my group could handle it (I am the only one who actually goes to church on a weekly basis!!! - so I am pretty sure they would not get too offended).

I like the idea of an "evolved" Christianity (kind of an "Orange Catholic Bible" from the Dune series).

What I am hoping to do is set up an alternate "historical" religious theology that is opposition to the Emerpor Cult and throw in a bunch of stuff regarding the Knights Templar (an evolved Knights Templar?)

This is still a work in progress - but I will keep you posted - thanks for all your asistance.

Todd