Religious Horror

[RPG Post]

Religious Horror

The trailer for The Rapture has absolutely nothing to do with the game but I am a sucker for theological apocalyptic movies and literature. There is just something cool about judgment, angels, demons, pure evil and heroic good. Which makes the game Rapture: The End of Days sound attractive. A killer premise of humanity spread throughout the stars when the rapture comes.

Description:

"The year is 2644. Humanity has cast off religion and mi­grated to the stars. With science as the new savior, man­kind believed himself to be creating new Edens in the far flung heavens.

But God kept His promise. The day of Rapture came.

Those who walked the Earth with a righteous spirit and pure soul were taken into the loving arms of the Lord. Those who skulked with the devil, ignoring God's divine laws, have been cast aside to face the horrors awaiting all sinners. As promised, the Earth burned. The clouds evap­orated. The rule of man, of reason and science, came to an end.

But that was on Earth.

And not all of Mankind was on Earth.

These far flung few who remain, forgotten by God, or per­haps given a second chance, now face a future where good and evil have come into sharp relief; where science has proven to be a false idol, yet one that is vital for survival.

With communications between colonies severed, no one knows for sure what has befallen humanity. The isolated pockets of human colonists are returning to the old ways - political squabbling, superstition and factional infighting are on the rise. As a tide of distrust rises among the survi­vors, unexplainable horrors are emerging.

The legions of Satan are real...

And they are coming for you."

[El'Jinn Uu]

Saw this game months ago... Wasnt sure about itvwhen i saw it.

I hate to say it but, when it comes to Bible-Sci-Fi, if you wish to stay Very true to judeo-Christian canon, inventing fiction for such stories best revolves around either the past (and the unknown pre flood events surrounding the rise of the First human civilization-and the Angellic Sons of Man+ their kids the Nephilm)... Or you go with the events after Christs returning and WAY far out in space... That way you can make up whatever you like.

You have to do this because Magic is not excepted to exist in Christian fundimentalism, thus by default the universe runs off of the pure super science of God (akin to the tech style stuff of Tenchi Muyo or Neo Evan)....

In THAT case, Satan is now out of the events of the future and in prisoned for the next thousand years for his crimes... And his demons are either Dead and or in Hell with the rest of us.

Meaning the human race actually has a fighting chance to live in Science loving peace amoung the stars, without the annoying maccinations of pissy invisible and intangible extra dimension, human hating, racist Fallen angles to contend with!!!

Yeah humanity, those left finally have a fighting chance, yippy skippy.

All you gotta worry about now is possible advanced aliens and their tech, the occasional human sociopath meglo with techno delusions of grandure, Or an occasional Rouge spirit.

Unfortunately those Same humans, if this is a more Catholic take on the Bible, ( more filled with superstitious and magical forces at work), are Toast, since magic makes little if no sense and No one can fight That crazy wicked voodoo... Then they're likely in for a supernatural thriller akin to Event Horrizon meets Omen or Exorcist! Not as overt as CJ Carellas RPG Armagedon, but still allot more flesh.

Better get a priest and some rosery beads.

I'd played it the former way in the past for all of my Palladium (Rifts, Macross, TMNT, and or Nightspawn) games, but never from the Catholic angle...

If it is the more the later, such a game may prove fun since IT can be run More like Call of Chutulu... Very H.P. Love creepy and more of a feel of the "darkness is looking back at you", kind of game. And I do like them 'Old Ones' in ma games.

Hummm first time back to the boards in over 8 months I think. Tis good to have a computer again.

[Stargaizer]

Actually, in Christian orthodoxy magic is very much a real thing. There's even a story in the Bible about summoning spirits of dead people. Basically think of it this way, if magic didn't work, if it wasn't real, why would God have forbidden the practice of it?

That said, Voodoo, spiritists, witches, and wizards don't draw on their own power or some mystic force. They preform actions/rituals, or incantations in order to control and bend to their will the supernatural realm. There are two sides to this supernatural realm, the side that follows God and the side that doesn't (control isn't an issue, God can control it all, but chooses to allow us to exercise free will). The supernatural forces that follow God can't and won't allow themselves to be manipulated in that way (regardless of what the Catholics think or what incantations they have), so they neither grant 'magic' power nor are they affected by it (the power of God protecting his own is greater than any other power).

That leaves the supernatural powers that don't follow God. For whatever their reasons, they allow themselves to be manipulated, and thus grant their powers to humans.

So, magic, mysticism, voodoo, spiritualists, science, etc. All possible, and none are any more 'out there' than any other. Of course, as a Christian fundamentalist, that's just my opinion.

All said, I'm actually intrigued by this product. Sounds very interesting to me.

[Mr Fox]

Actually, she was a charlatan, and when the spirit appeared she was like, 'holy shit batman!'

The whole thing was gods way of telling Saul he had fucked up.

Also, the the idea of banning magic goes back to the 'God is a jealous god' and by turning to magic you are putting something else ahead of god and therefore violating one of the 10 commandments.

That is by way of explanation from the dogmatic point of view, not saying I hold to that belief.

[Akin B'in akin]

Speaking of religios horror, here's a movieline link critiquing one such movie.