Medieval christian themed rpg

[GIR]

Someone on this forum was asking about ideas for a christian video game. I thought the idea was rather bad, kind of like making a pietà out of macaroni and glue, I mean, look at where bible games ended up. Now, however, I think I might have hit upon something that might work: A medieval christian themed rpg.

Here’s how the story might look: a noble commits a grave public sin, like killing someone or having an affair, and decides to make a pilgrimage to the holy land as penance. Along the way, several other period-accurate characters join him on the pilgrimage, like a knight or a monk etc. It would be evangelism disguised as history disguised as a video game… but wait, edutainment AND evangelical… hmmm, maybe this isn’t the best idea after all… but what do y’all think?

 

[coolduude]

Good in concept. But games like these don’t sell. They sell, but they don’t actually sell, if you know what I mean. These types of games (Christian rpg) will never be a Modern Warfare 3 or Halo. They might draw a profit, but not by much. Just saying

 

[Sonic]

Someone on this forum was asking about ideas for a christian video game. I thought the idea was rather bad, kind of like making a pietà out of macaroni and glue, I mean, look at where bible games ended up. Now, however, I think I might have hit upon something that might work: A medieval christian themed rpg.

Here’s how the story might look: a noble commits a grave public sin, like killing someone or having an affair, and decides to make a pilgrimage to the holy land as penance. Along the way, several other period-accurate characters join him on the pilgrimage, like a knight or a monk etc. It would be evangelism disguised as history disguised as a video game… but wait, edutainment AND evangelical… hmmm, maybe this isn’t the best idea after all… but what do y’all think?

You might try making an Adventure Map using Minecraft in order to test out your idea. I certainly wouldn’t mind playing such a game.

 

[Bendzi]

actually sounds pretty cool, combine it with a couple of epic battle scenes like fighting off a siege on one of the Knights Hospitlar castles, Catholic relic hunts- " you must find the tibia of St X stolen from the parish church to pay for you visit at the rectory", and heck meeting crooked Knights Templars along your way.
Id play it =]

 

[GIR]

The problem with christian video games, or educational games in general is they come off as heavy handed. You shouldn’t KNOW you’re being educated. It’s like Tolkien’s view of storytelling. If you’re faithful to the spirit, as it were, and just allow the creative process to flow naturally, your ideas will flow much better from the story. This is the opposite of how educational games work, and also the opposite of how CS Lewis wrote his fiction, that is, by starting with an overt message or purpose, and trying to craft a story that fits your message.

You can see the difference in LOTR vs Narnia. in LOTR, there seems to be no religion whatsoever. The closest we get is mentions of the elves sailing to Valinor. The Valar and Eru aren’t mentioned at all as far as I can remember, but you DO have all of the moral fervor and conviction that religion brings. In Narnia, Azlan is Jesus, period. It’s rather blunt.

But I digress, fighting off a siege sounds cool.

Maybe we could have the party stay at a monastery where the priest is charging for confessions, and have one of the party members comment on how simony is bad, or something.

 

[Lost_Wanderer]

You can see the difference in LOTR vs Narnia. in LOTR, there seems to be no religion whatsoever. The closest we get is mentions of the elves sailing to Valinor. The Valar and Eru aren’t mentioned at all as far as I can remember, but you DO have all of the moral fervor and conviction that religion brings. In Narnia, Azlan is Jesus, period. It’s rather blunt.

You’ve actually nailed it so I’m surprised why you don’t decide to go for what Tolkien did. I for one actually suggested something like this in another thread about making a Christian game. If we’re going to go RPG, how about we mix Tolkien’s style with the likes of Final Fantasy? Let faith guide the spirit but be free to use creative resources and influences that don’t necessarily have to identify with it.