Episode 107: Livin’ on a Prayer: Religion, Worldview, and the Individual

Worldbuilding for Masochists

What do your characters believe? Like, really truly deeply believe? Is it part of a codified religion? Is it a faith without much external structure? Do they trust entirely in science, or in magic, or in a code of ethics?

In this episode, we explore the interplay of religion and point-of-view. The role that religion and faith play in your world can exist on a wide spectrum. In some societies, religion is so woven with life that some degree of faith is just a given, inextricable from other parts of how a character goes about their day. Other societies might be more secular on the whole, but people in them can still have deep spirituality. What your characters believe might fit them in line with their society -- or set them at odds with it. Either way, you can hang some great plot hooks on the choices that their deeply held believes cause them to make!

We also spend a bit of time building some religious beliefs for the nations of our co-built world. From the highly-disorganized but community-focused ethics of Griasta to the holy act of debate among the Fjallaniri to the personalized virtues of the Al'notliri, we apply some of our considerations to our peoples!

Additionally, our Kickstarter has 21 days to go! We're about halfway thorugh our time and not quite halfway to our goal, so please, if you want to read a collection of short stories set in the world of the Magical Nude Gates, spread the word! Convince your friends and family that they need this collection in their lives.

Editor's Note: Marshall calls this episode 108 in the intro, but... we forgot how to count. It's 107.

[Transcript TK]