Post/Author/DateTime	Post
konrad_the_tall 02-02-06, 05:11 AM	Ok, heres the situation. With two good friends I have recently started a gaming group, alongside a Hackmaster campign I am running, my friend...lets call him steve..wants to run a D+D 3.5 game as well, which is cool. He also wants it to be viking themed, which as we are all viking reenactors is also cool. I have a great idea for a half-orc barbarian with a great axe based from the ilustration in "The complete adventurer" in the feats section. He's going to be called "Grune the Destroyer" And heres the thing that isn't so cool. He is a follower of "the WAY" as he calls it, or Asitry as its somtimes known, and as he wants to set it in a viking village where the only gods are those of the norse patheon. So we can only worship Thor, Odin ect. Now several issues arise from this, .Odin is the gawd of Berserkers .Berserker=Barbarian .Barbarian=non-lawful .Aperently Odin is LN (go figure..) so how can barbarians worship a lawful gawd!!!??! Also as christian/Jewish I don't know how God/y-hweh is going to feel about my character worshiper "real" gods. Kord is ok becuse he's just made up, ditto with any of the other D+D gawds. Any opions on what I should do apreciated, I respect other peoples belifs (no matter how stupid they are) so lets try not to get this unplesent and be nice and respect peoples belifs....Lets be tollerent.....WE'RE NOT PALIDINS PEOPLE!
Kalanth 02-02-06, 05:26 AM	On one hand I understand the issue of Oden being LN and being a problem. I don't have my Deities and Demigods on me, but I believe that is accurate. It is fine for a barbarian to follow him, however, because the Lawful part may dictate a code of conduct within the barbarian hordes. Besides, just because a Barbarian can't be lawful does not mean he is a raving lunitic who runs around screaming and can't speak fluently. A Neutral X barbarian can still adhear to the laws of the land, codes of his people, and more, all the while still not following along with the "system." Yeah pendulum alignments. On the other hand, I am confused. Are you saying that because of religious belief's you are opposed to using Nors Gods because they are real? Not quashing your beliefs, just looking for clarity. Personally, I see no issue with using those particular gods. In essence, they are like the gods of the greeks and egyptians, there is no proof they exsisted at any time, and no proof they are gone and bye bye forever. In the sake of imaginary worlds and fantasy gaming, it should not be an issue to pretend to worship something else. Afterall, you never asked the question of wether or not god has a problem with playing a barbarian who will inevitably kill someone.
Radijs 02-02-06, 05:35 AM	JHWH won't have any problem with you playing a game where your character worships a non-existent diety. IIRC JHWH is the only real God. And think about it. God is smart enough to make a real world in 7 days. A world which has DnD. He should be able to realize that you're just having some harmless fun.
boredgremlin 02-02-06, 05:48 AM	Hmm well there are really good reasons for using real world gods. For startes theres thousands of years of "playtesting" by worshippers, and the gods all come complete with tons of myths, legends and real historical facts about thier churches. Using real world religions saves a DM a ton of time and effort. My only real problem with this idea is Odin being LN. Am i the only one here who is Asatru? Odin changed forms, caused trouble, and tempted both man and god just to see what they would do. At best from the stories i would put Odin at CG, and probably CN. Whoever said he was lawful good didnt know much about Odinism or the norse mythology.
konrad_the_tall 02-02-06, 07:17 AM	I don't know how I feel about this...should I just declare my character as godless and not feel awkard? But then I run the risk of effecting other peoples quality of play which harms the game for other people. If somone has been raised in a village of WAY then 99/100 he will conform to the local culture and worship the local gawds. Grune hasn't been exposed to any other gods apart from the norse pantheon. I would feel strange worshiping a "real" god, I don't want to affect the game by ruining the atmospere though. I could always make my barbarian Jewish I suppose....
Moon-Lancer 02-02-06, 08:03 AM	in d&d you dont need to worship gods. You could even incorperate that into the charicter. I Virin needs no gods... All I need is the feel of my axe in battle, and wemon from conqured villages as spoils of war. Although, even Connan Had a god. His name was Krum
Cymraegmorgan 02-02-06, 08:29 AM	My only real problem with this idea is Odin being LN. Am i the only one here who is Asatru? Odin changed forms, caused trouble, and tempted both man and god just to see what they would do. At best from the stories i would put Odin at CG, and probably CN. Whoever said he was lawful good didnt know much about Odinism or the norse mythology. How does the ability to shapeshift and the desire to test mortals make one unlawful? It was not, those tests, just to see what they would do, but to see if they had the mettle to do what was right. What makes Odin Lawful(in D&D terms) is that he swore, with Loki, the first oath, and would not forsake that oath(by killing Loki), even to avenge his dead sons. And Odin's insistence on the Aesir keeping the Peacestead, though Loki violated it, is another prime reason why he is LN. And, by the way, Happy Hermod's Day!
konrad_the_tall 02-02-06, 09:22 AM	Keeping an oath doesn't make you lawful- It just means that your honourable.
Temrek 02-02-06, 09:46 AM	Keeping an oath doesn't make you lawful- It just means that your honourable. Which is a part of lawful.
pres_man 02-02-06, 09:51 AM	According to the D&D texts, Odin is NG, Thor is CG. Your character should probably be worshipping Thor (or some more neutral god depending on his alignment). Using the D&D rules/descriptions should deal with any "uncertainity" when dealing with RL mythological deities. The D&D writers have no doubtably gotten many facts wrong, thus their ideas of the deities are not exactly the same as the historical idea of the deities, thus you are only playing with deities that have the same name and similiar backgrounds, but are not the same. Someone in your group should get Deities and Demigods sometime and look over the Norse pantheon.
BadCatMan 02-02-06, 09:54 AM	If you like, take a look at the movie The Thirteenth Warrior, where Antonio Banderas is an Arabic noble who travels north with a dozen Norsemen. You could adapt the general idea if you're not used to the Norse mythos. Be a character from distant lands who's lost in the far North and tries to fit in and learn the local customs. Technically it should be Norse-themed with Norse gods. Vikings are just Norse Pirates. Odin also gave his eye for knowledge and wisdom. He was the king god of the Norse, so by extension, most Berserkers probably worshipped him anyway. Thor would be closest to the Berserker in spirit however.
skywyze 02-02-06, 10:29 AM	If you're worried about how god would view your D&D character's choice of deity, just pick Odin because he's the closest thing to Jesus in any religion I can think of. He sacrificed himself for the good of his followers and was ressurected shortly thereafter (the part where he hung himself in a tree). He's the all-knowing "king" of the gods. He's described as long-haired and bearded. I remember hearing a whole tirade of similarities, but I can't think of many right now. I would personally peg Odin as lawful neutral. He doesn't frenzy, but instead he was a battlefield tactician and general. A guide, teacher and judge. He had self-discipline and honor both in battle and outside and he was true to his word. All of these are traits of lawfulness. And hearing Antonio Banderas try to speak my native language in the Thirteenth Warrior was both hilarious and embarassing. :D
2nd Ed Paladin 02-02-06, 11:10 AM	While its a personal choice I have trouble seeing how playing a game where your fictional character worships a fictional god as being sinful (even if it is based on Norse mythology). Unless you are really RP heavy and actually bow down and pray to Odin/Thor/Banju, that might be problematic. Otherwise it just like acting in a play - the actors in Wagner's famous Ring Cycle (Der Ring des Nibelungen) don't actually worship Odin but they act like they do for entertainment.
Sereno 02-02-06, 11:33 AM	Also as christian/Jewish I don't know how God/y-hweh is going to feel about my character worshiper "real" gods. Kord is ok becuse he's just made up, ditto with any of the other D+D gawds. Any opions on what I should do apreciated, I respect other peoples belifs (no matter how stupid they are) so lets try not to get this unplesent and be nice and respect peoples belifs....Lets be tollerent.....WE'RE NOT PALIDINS PEOPLE! I guess this depends on whether YOU are going to start worshipping Odin, or if your CHARACTER is worshipping Odin. If it makes you feel strange, make sure you use phrases like "My character will pray to Thor, now" or "Grune will leave an offering in the bowl on the altar to Odin" Don't get so into character during the worshipping the Norse gods that you start talking "me" or "I". The commandment is to "have no other gods before Me" ... if you aren't REALLY worshipping the D&D gods, you aren't breaking it.
Callista 02-02-06, 12:48 PM	First, the alignment conflict: Despite Odin being LN and your character CN, there's no problem because you aren't a cleric. If you're a barbarian, this is a perfectly natural choice for your deity. Only clerics are restricted in whom they worship by their alignment. As your DM has declared him the god of Berserkers, I'm sure he would have no problem with it. As for a character worshipping "real-world" gods: I wouldn't have a problem with it. For one thing, under the Christian belief system, other deities are either not real or not deities; so your character wouldn't be worshipping a deity, just someone's idea of a deity. And, of course, it's just like your historical re-enactments: You're acting, telling a story. If you had problems with playing a character who worships a real-world deity, you should also have problems with, for example, playing a Roman in a Shakespeare play. Respect for other belief systems--even those we do not agree with; even if we believe that they are wrong--is an important attribute of any decent moral system, including Christianity. Note that, in the New Testament, Paul seems very familiar with Greek philosophy, for example. There are many things to learn from other belief systems, and no sin in playing a fictional character who holds a belief system you do not. But the point of playing D&D is to have fun.. If you are uncomfortable with pretending you are a character who worships Odin, then it won't be any fun for you to play that character. Follow your conscience; we have them for a reason, and if it makes you feel like you are being disloyal, then there is no reason you should play a character who worships someone you wouldn't worship in a million years. Just as you respect others' beliefs, your friends should respect yours. If you have to, just play a character who is disillusioned with the gods in general--a Viking agnostic, if you will. He may pay lip-service to the gods while secretly believing they do not really matter to him; or he may just believe that strength and skill in combat is the only thing that matters. Maybe he knows the gods exist (because in D&D, they do); but that doesn't mean he has to be loyal to them. Another option is asking the DM if your campaign world has a truly omnioptent, usually uninvolved overdeity (like Ao), and putting him down on your character sheet. A character of this sort would recognize (and possibly respect) the gods, recognize that they are powerful beings, but believe that they are not truly divine--that only the overdeity fulfills this role. If you do this, you are essentially re-naming God and having your character worship him. (I'm not sure if your DM will allow this, but you might run it by him.) The character, of course, would have to be a real philosopher to even think about the idea that there might be an overdeity--so no dump-INT/WIS stats for this one.
Cymraegmorgan 02-02-06, 02:48 PM	Keeping an oath doesn't make you lawful- It just means that your honourable. Not just keeping an oath, but keeping an oath upon which rests the validity of all oaths. Tradition and honour, the hallmarks, in game terms, of a Lawful deity.
Hvitar-Hrafnar 02-02-06, 03:07 PM	Ok, heres the situation. And heres the thing that isn't so cool. He is a follower of "the WAY" as he calls it, or Asitry as its somtimes known Is this in real life? If so, is it a religion called Asatru? I'm a member of several Asatru online groups although not one myself. He wants to set it in a viking village where the only gods are those of the norse patheon. So we can only worship Thor, Odin ect. Sounds excellent. I've aspired to try something like this myself. There is the entire Pantheon of Gods, though, both Aesir and Vanir; Remeber that Odin and Thor, although greatly worshipped, are not the only Gods. [In fact, Loki isn't even a God. He is a Giant] .Odin is the gawd of Berserkers .Berserker=Barbarian .Barbarian=non-lawful .Aperently Odin is LN (go figure..) so how can barbarians worship a lawful gawd!!!??! There is a Berserker class or prestige class in Deities and Demigods. I'm not sure if you have this book as I don't, but this may be a class good to use with Odin as a deity. Something people commonly forget is that Odin, although the God of War alongside his son Tyr, is not just some battle crazed old man. In fact, Odin is also the God of Wisdom, Poetry, and a plethora of other things. Referring to real mythology now, Odin sacrficied his right eye and hung helplessly on a tree for 9 days just to gain this wisdom and the runic system called the Futhark. Dwarven, in most cases, is based off Futhark as both Dwarves and Elves originated in Norse tales. If you need help choosing a God or Goddess or would like more information on the mythology to help craft your character, I consider myself a knowledgeable person on the subject. Also as christian/Jewish I don't know how God/y-hweh is going to feel about my character worshiper "real" gods. Kord is ok becuse he's just made up, ditto with any of the other D+D gawds. This is the touchy subject about religion. From an Odinist's point of view, one could say the same thing about the Christian/Muslim/Jewish God, that it's just "Made up". From someone who actually worships the D&D Gods in real life, they could say that both the Norse and Christian/Muslim/Jewish God is made up. A god existing or not, although never proven with facts or hard evidence, is opinion, and therefore subjective. My opinion as a formerly religious person is that God will have no problems with you playing a character that worships another God people actually believe in, such as Odinists and the Asatru religion. If God did care, then people couldn't even write fantasy stories with another Pantheon in it. Take note that J.R.R. Tolkein was a heavy Christian himself, yet still took more than numerous plots in Norse Myth and adapted them to his story. To name a few: -The sword Narsil is similar to Balmung in the Volsung Saga, including the legacy of it's wielders, from Isildur to Aragorn. -Gandalf is very similar to Odin in appearance and attitude. Odin may have even used the name Gandalf when on Midgard. -Dwarves exist, which are from Norse Myth, and craft the finest weapons, armor, and magical devices. -Elves exist, which are from Norse myth and ruled by the God named Freyr. -Many of the Gods, including Odin, have magical rings such as Draupnir. Because it is just a fantasy story, don't feel like it makes you comitted to actually worshipping a different God in real life.
Jon of the North 02-02-06, 03:11 PM	1st off, yeah Hackmaster. 2nd, about your pretend character worshipping a pretend god, I don't see any moral problem. It's not like you're joining a cult. 3rd, go Neutral Bar-bar.
Gedrin 02-02-06, 03:30 PM	If I understand, your friend has chosen to use is RL faith as the actual faith of the fantasy game. Because this is his RL faith, and different than your own, you are uncomfortable with the idea of acting as a character observing that faith. First, I'm not sure how I feel about the DM directly injecting his RL faith into the game in this way. I'm sure there are some faith-based gaming groups out there, and it would certainly be different under that circumstance, but this seems pretty close to the line to me. My recomendation is to go to your DM/Friend and talk to him. Let him know that your spiritual beliefs are such that you prefer not to portray a character that observes an RL religion differing from your own. Let him know that wholely fantasy gods were one thing, but this feels different to you. Just let him know that you plan on playing a Bar-Bar, because you want to participate in the game, and you think he'll run a good game. However, also make it clear that you as a player will avoid religious aspects of the game. It sounds like you have a concern about being able to participate in the game while keeping your faith. Just as you shouldn't mock, denegrate or make the game uncomfortable for your friend because he's made his chioce, your friend should be willing to accept that your commitment to your own faith. As important as a relationship with a higher power is to a person, I don't think it's at all unreasonable that you would want to err on the side of caution in your actions.
Cymraegmorgan 02-02-06, 04:37 PM	Also as christian/Jewish I don't know how God/y-hweh is going to feel about my character worshiper "real" gods. Kord is ok becuse he's just made up, ditto with any of the other D+D gawds. You are playing a role, not changing religions. Imagine you are a struggling actor. You are asked to play Bulvie(sp?) in an upcoming remake of The Thirteenth Warrior. Does the fact you have a RL judeo-christian faith preclude you from playing the role because the character prays to Odin?
BadCatMan 02-02-06, 08:55 PM	There were also a number of Christian missionaries and monks travelling Europe preaching and converting people in the Dark Ages. Your character could be a recent convert. More interesting factoids about Odin: Odin was said to ride across the sky on an eight-legged horse. Now Santa Claus rides the sky in a sleigh led by eight reindeer. The Christmas Tree originated from Yggdrasil, the great World Tree of Norse legend.
rkr1970 02-02-06, 11:50 PM	Also as christian/Jewish I don't know how God/y-hweh is going to feel about my character worshiper "real" gods. Kord is ok becuse he's just made up, ditto with any of the other D+D gawds. Any opions on what I should do apreciated, I respect other peoples belifs (no matter how stupid they are) so lets try not to get this unplesent and be nice and respect peoples belifs....Lets be tollerent..... If you are so devout as to worry about what ramifications playing a character devoted to a deity from a real-world culture other than yours might have, perhaps you should seek the opinion of your spiritual advisor (I'm guessing a minister or a priest). They would surely have more insightful and meaningful advice for you than a random sampling of gaming geeks (not that some of us aren't overly qualified to council you, but you would have no way of knowing which ones we might be). The fear of the reprisal of God in your post is almost tangible. That implies that either you belong to a very restrictive religion, or that you have had God force-fed to you in a manner that prohibits your exploring and understanding Him yourself (or that I am completely misreading your post). Be prepared that if you do turn to your pastor, and you are from a religion that is so restrictive as to make you fear the wrath of God simply for play-acting during a game, there is a good chance that you will be told not to role-play at all. Ever agian! If, on the other hand, you have not had a chance to explore God in a personal manner, and have been told "this is bad, that is good" without ever looking more deeply into your own theological needs, but you are still emotionally distraught over something that, to most people, would be nothing more than an evening's fun, perhaps you should set aside role-playing until you have had a chance to come to know God well enough, on a personal basis, that you can reasonably decide what He will accept and what He won't. I'm not trying to be preachy here. I'm simply saying that if you have to ask, it probably violates your religion. If you don't know if it violates your religion, speak with someone more knowledgeable than yourself, then resolve to learn more about the religion you are a member of. Failure to understand what you believe in, let alone why you believe in it is a rather dangerous position to find oneself in. It's the kind of position that religious zealots find themselves in just before being commanded by their spiritual leader to commit horrors on innocent people. It sounds somewhat harsh, but only because it's the hard truth. BTW, Odin is "the all-father", not "god of berserkers". He's also NG, not LN. Odur (the sun god), Sif (goddess of skill in battle), Skadi (the mountain goddess), Thor (the thunder god), or Uller (the hunter) are more appropriate patron deities for your character. But your game will be run in a pantheistic setting, meaning that all people worship (out of reverence or fear) almost all of the gods. Each character would have a deity or two he would revere above the others, but will make offerings and prayers to most of the gods in turn, depending on his current situation. For example, even a good character is likely to make an offering to the evil god Aegir before trying to cross the ocean, especially since Aegir makes sport of sinking ships that have failed to make proper sacrifices to him and those that drown at sea cannot reach Valhalla.
MistWolf 02-03-06, 12:34 AM	Having a character worshipping Kord has same ramifications as having a character worship gold, ale, horseracing, Odin, or any number of things a person can put before God. Your real concern seems to be that for the DM it's not a patheon he picked for flavor, but because he actually worships Norse deities and is too real for your comfort. You'd feel the same discomfort if the DM in actuality worshipped Kord. I had a DM once who's religion was druidic witchcraft and believed it deeply. To him, the deities in Deities & Demigods were real. I responded by having my character worship no gods- didn't make anything of it- until she was killed & failed her ressurection roll. Even so, all the roleplaying of that aspect was "I sacrifice all the magic items of the character I killed to Hecate" and left it at that. (The character was my one and only with an evil alignment.) But you have to decide for yourself how to play it. Maybe tell him if he doesn't try to preach his, you won't preach yours. Just be firm, polite & respectful
ShadowDragon8685 02-03-06, 12:47 AM	Ok, heres the situation. With two good friends I have recently started a gaming group, alongside a Hackmaster campign I am running, my friend...lets call him steve..wants to run a D+D 3.5 game as well, which is cool. He also wants it to be viking themed, which as we are all viking reenactors is also cool. I have a great idea for a half-orc barbarian with a great axe based from the ilustration in "The complete adventurer" in the feats section. He's going to be called "Grune the Destroyer" And heres the thing that isn't so cool. He is a follower of "the WAY" as he calls it, or Asitry as its somtimes known, and as he wants to set it in a viking village where the only gods are those of the norse patheon. So we can only worship Thor, Odin ect. Now several issues arise from this, .Odin is the gawd of Berserkers .Berserker=Barbarian .Barbarian=non-lawful .Aperently Odin is LN (go figure..) so how can barbarians worship a lawful gawd!!!??! Also as christian/Jewish I don't know how God/y-hweh is going to feel about my character worshiper "real" gods. Kord is ok becuse he's just made up, ditto with any of the other D+D gawds. Any opions on what I should do apreciated, I respect other peoples belifs (no matter how stupid they are) so lets try not to get this unplesent and be nice and respect peoples belifs....Lets be tollerent.....WE'RE NOT PALIDINS PEOPLE! Okay, point by point: Viking re-enactors in a viking game - you're cool. Odin's alignment screw-up - that's what you get when you get people who understand jack about Norse mythology statting out Norse gods for Faerun. Go over the Norse pantheon with your peeps and stat them all out more realisticly. Re: Religion. If you're cool with your Man and your Man is cool with you, no problem. If you're not Cool with your G-Man, then nothing I can do can help you. If your Man's not cool with you and you're cool with him, you don't need him anyway. In short: Decide how orthodox you are, then make your decision based on that.
boredgremlin 02-04-06, 01:05 AM	How does the ability to shapeshift and the desire to test mortals make one unlawful? It was not, those tests, just to see what they would do, but to see if they had the mettle to do what was right. What makes Odin Lawful(in D&D terms) is that he swore, with Loki, the first oath, and would not forsake that oath(by killing Loki), even to avenge his dead sons. And Odin's insistence on the Aesir keeping the Peacestead, though Loki violated it, is another prime reason why he is LN. And, by the way, Happy Hermod's Day! Indeed, but Othin was also called the lord of the hanged because he would send valkyries to invisibly betray great warriors to thier deaths just so they could join his host a little sooner. That doesnt sound lawful to me at all. And dispite Loki's many transgressions over the ages he was welcomed back by Odin time and again with little or no punishment. Which also sound more chaotic to me then lawful. Though its a tough argument when you try to apply game alignments to anything real, or even complicated. Reminds me of a thread a few months ago about the alignments of super heroes, people couldnt even agree whether batman was good, nuetral, or too insane to be fairly classified. So trying to put this sort of label on a god or even a real person is probably a total waste of time. However on the topic of religion. Re-read the new testament. Jesus died for you sins to absolve you. Your allready clear with the guy up top. We all have been for about 2,000 years. If your really paranoid, then as soon as you get news of a terminal illness, abjectly apologize for portraying a pagan in a game and beg gods forgiveness. To my knowledge even the most orthodox of catholics aggree that an honest confession with absolution will make you right with thier boss. But until then, chill, calm down and realize that if your god is up there he has better things to do then micromanage your hobbies that arent hurting anyone. After all havent your heard all the football players this week? God is busy deciding who will score a touchdown in what quarter.
UltimateReality 02-04-06, 02:08 AM	If I understand, your friend has chosen to use is RL faith as the actual faith of the fantasy game. Because this is his RL faith, and different than your own, you are uncomfortable with the idea of acting as a character observing that faith. First, I'm not sure how I feel about the DM directly injecting his RL faith into the game in this way. I'm sure there are some faith-based gaming groups out there, and it would certainly be different under that circumstance, but this seems pretty close to the line to me. My recomendation is to go to your DM/Friend and talk to him. Let him know that your spiritual beliefs are such that you prefer not to portray a character that observes an RL religion differing from your own. Let him know that wholely fantasy gods were one thing, but this feels different to you. Just let him know that you plan on playing a Bar-Bar, because you want to participate in the game, and you think he'll run a good game. However, also make it clear that you as a player will avoid religious aspects of the game. It sounds like you have a concern about being able to participate in the game while keeping your faith. Just as you shouldn't mock, denegrate or make the game uncomfortable for your friend because he's made his chioce, your friend should be willing to accept that your commitment to your own faith. As important as a relationship with a higher power is to a person, I don't think it's at all unreasonable that you would want to err on the side of caution in your actions.Quoted in its entirety because Gedrin's said exactly what I would say. A DM who injects their real world religion into the game makes me wonder....and extremely nervous. For me it seems difficult to picture a true Asatruar doing this, because if he knows you at all he'll suspect your discomfort at the idea, which TO ME would pretty much implicitly violate the Noble Virtue of Hospitality. Stick a very big IMHO in front of this, because I just studied Asatru, and didn't follow it. I've got no handle on how Asatruar feel about proselytizing, but the neo-pagan community in general "officially" (as official as it gets, anyway ;)) frowns upon such things. I'd be nervous around a DM who did that too, and I'm not religious.
DM Dave 02-04-06, 07:50 AM	Keeping an oath doesn't make you lawful- It just means that your honourable. A code of ethics is a PRIMARY TRAIT of a Lawful character. :rolleyes:
SwiftFox 02-04-06, 08:26 AM	Its not like this hasnt already been said, but ill repeat it simply because it bears repeating : Odin = lawful, Thor = chaotic... so, IMO it makes more sense for your barbarian char. to worship Thor than Odin. As for your IRL beliefs influencing your RP behaviour... I personally think you are being pedantic and silly. I mean, if you take your religion so seriously that you consider merely pretending to worship another god a violation of your faith, maybe roleplaying isnt for you... in fact, maybe real life isnt for you and you should just become a monk and cloister yourself :P Even strongly religious people I know dont have a crisis of faith over roleplaying... a classic example would be this mormon friend of mine from highschool, who played an aetheist wizard... which in a way was a bit of a joke to him, playing an aetheist in a world where the existance of the gods was undeniable unlike in our own. My point is he didnt get hung up over declaring that religion was superstitious rubbish in character, because he was secure in his IRL beliefs and wasnt opposed to having some harmless fun, which roleplaying is. If youre secure in your religious belief, whatever it may be, you dont need to defend it at every oportunity... there should be no crisis of faith in declaring "praise be unto Odin, king of the gods!" unless you actually mean it.