
It has been
suggested by some that the game, Black & White might serve as a means to
determine the moral philosophy, the overall ethical alignment, of a large
random sample of the human race, thus answering one of Man's oldest questions,
whether humanity is overall good, or evil. I contend that this cannot be the
case, because game players by and large will not approach Black & White as
a serious test of themselves, but instead will, like any game, be played to
experience every whim of curiosity, and thus ultimately can say little about
the player, save that they are playful.
However, Black
& White can teach something equally profound, something that few people
would dare to even question: the moral alignment not of the human race, but
instead of the gods it chooses to worship.
Simply by
examining the myths of various religions, and using those myths as guidelines
for game play, it will be possible within Black & White to test not one's
self, but one' deity. using any given holy book as a manual for acting as a
god, one must simply act as that god, and watch the results to clearly see the
alignment of a deity acting according to that script, a moral litmus test of
any religion.
To this intriguing end, I submit some sample mythologies,
and a quick overview of how to begin playing as the gods that dominate them.
From this beginning, one may simply expand, making use of the actual written
mythos of the given religion itself. I should also note that these
methodologies for acting out the roles of various deities are based entirely on
the given actual written mythos of, and actual historical events associated
with, the religions in question and not on the commonly perceived ideas about
them. Cultural ideas about religions differ greatly from historical fact, and
even religious texts. Thus some uneducated people may be upset by the concepts
expressed here.
Judaism and Islam,
as well as the original Zoroastrianism from which they were derived, can be
considered the quintessential monotheistic desert religions. Both Judaism and
Islam make primary use of the text of what is called the 'Old Testament', a
document which comprises over half of the Koran of Islam, and which, in
combination with the Torah, defines Judaism. The Old Testament also forms the
first half of the primary text of Christian mythology.
The fundamental
essence of these early desert religions revolves around a single god, who uses
displays of power and violence, alternating with moments of kindness designed
to promote the survival of a singular people. Monotheistic religions are almost
exclusively warfare based, and thus fit most perfectly within the gameplay
scope of Black & White.
The player should
constantly keep in mind that one is waging a war, and as such, actions should
serve two primary purposes. The first purpose is to promote the successful
domination of the world, and to that end, the minion population should be made
to feel fear and awe in equal measure. According to Old Testament mythology,
Jehovah in particular describes Himself as both a "god of wrath" and
a "jealous god". Throughout the mythology miracles are most commonly
used to destroy, and only rarely are used to benefit. The object is clearly to
create worship by terror, and to destroy opposition whenever possible.
I suggest that the
player put one fourth of the population to breeding, to provide the requisite
"Warriors Of God", one fourth to construction and resource gathering,
and the remainder expressly to nearly constant worship and prayer. The deaths
of individuals mean little under this mythology, rather the goal is the
survival of the faith, and of the "Chosen People". Monotheistic
desert religions tend to place emphasis on highly religious, even fanatical
believers that are well disciplined and highly self sacrificing. Miracles
should be used to terrify believers and to crush external opposition, and
beneficial miracles should be reserved for matters of survival: food and
defence. In answering prayers, a study of the available texts suggests a
somewhat haphazard approach, with a slight emphasis on those tasks that
ultimately benefit the population, and the faith as a whole. The player should
occasionally threaten or punish their own believers on occasion, arbitrarily,
to "test their faith", and more importantly, to gain power though
fear. Of all the religions, these two offer the most latitude for over the top
use of violent power.
In making use of
the Titan in this role, the Titan should be used sparingly, taught to express
roughly equal measures of support and punishment towards the minion believers.
The Titan conceptually serves the function of Old Testament 'angels' and thus
can be seen as helper and as the 'divine sword of god'. If one is representing
Islam, an emphasis should be placed on the Titan being more kindly, and if
playing Judaism, the emphasis should be on punishment, as this reflect the
relative bias of angelic beings under both religions.
In general,
however, the Titan should play a minor role only. The initial choice of Titan
is perhaps best represented by the Tiger, later being switched for the Lion.
The Historical
Tactics for both Islam and Judaism are straightforward open warfare alternating
with quiet indifference.
The Cosmological
Premise for both Judaism and Islam is essentially the same: a single, all powerful,
fairly demanding god who works directly upon the world to enforce His will.
Occasionally 'prophet' or 'angelic' messengers act on the god's behalf, as
needed, but the focus is squarely upon the primary deity.
The Prospects for
the Player of these religions is good: warfare based, they will tend to
dominate and subjugate the world.
The Christian
religion is a direct offshoot of Judaism, with some elements taken from the
even earlier Zoroastrian faith. This is most obvious in an emphasis on the
equivalent of the Zoroastrian "dark god", 'Tamuz', an equal to the
good god 'Ahriman'. In Christianity this role is taken by a 'fallen angel',
'Satan', originally the Old Testament 'Lucifer' who acted in the role of a
'faith policeman' for the Old Testament god. In New Testament Christianity,
this being plays an adversarial role to the primary deity. Other opposing gods
can effectively fulfill this role whilst playing the game.
The defining
feature of Christianity is the addition of a savior figure, in the personage of
a demigod, called 'Yeshua', the name later corrupted by western translators to
'Jesus'. Depending on the given sect of Christianity this savior is considered
to be either the son of the primary god, or an actual incarnation of the
primary god on earth. This defining feature is best served by the Titan in the
game. The Christian variant game of Black & White must therefore put the
heaviest weight upon the use and development of the Titan. The primary god,
derived from the Old Testament, is seldom directly involved in the affairs of
Men, apparently preferring to leave intervention up to the savior figure. Thus
the game should be played as the inverse of Judaism, with the Titan being
trained to do most of the work, and becoming the central focus of actions,
rather than the primary deity. The idea here is to play in a more removed
fashion, less hands on, as it were.
The best choice
for Titan in playing Christian would initially be the Cow, since the emphasis
of the player should first be in the nurturing of the population. When the
choice becomes available, the player should switch to the Lion, which has,
after the fall of Rome, for centuries been the traditional animal symbol for
the Christian savior. This also reflects a change in play, midgame, towards
heavy conversion tactics. In general, the Titan should be taught to equally
care for the population, and alternately savage the opposition. The primary
symbolic weapon of Christian mythology is fire, so it is recommended that fire
be the primary tool for forcing nonbelievers to conversion. The Christian
player should alternately entice opposing people with gifts, and blast them
with fire if they fail to convert. Under no circumstance should the Christ-Lion
be allowed to harm allied believers, but He can be permitted some calculated
destruction of opposing believers.
Direct, primary,
godly intervention should be kept to an absolute minimum, except when the Titan
savior is in any way threatened, at which point it is reasonable for the player
to pull out the stops and bring on full scale damnation. Additionally, a
constant threat of the potential for Old Testament style destruction should
always be a threat to non-believers, so the odd bit of fire and brimstone can
be judiciously used on occasional whim. If the player is instilling fear into
their own believers, the Titan-Christ should never be allowed to see it occur,
thus keeping the "Good-Cop Bad-Cop" style of Christianity intact. In effect,
Christianity depends on this game, with believers living in fear of the larger
god, and seeking protection from the son of the Big Angry God. The game itself
will actually take care of the inevitable martyrdom of the savior-Titan, at the
end.
I suggest that the
player put one half of the population to breeding, the remaining half to
construction and resources, using them for prayer only as needed. If constant
worship is needed, never use more than one fourth of the population at a time.
Christianity is historically a low-magic religion.
The Historical
Tactics for Christianity are hit and run terrorism and enticement.
The Cosmological Premise for Christianity is that of a single primary deity
that plays a background role of fierce and terrifying enforcer, while a
foreground savior acts as an intermediary between the faithful and the angry
god. Essentially a blend of "Good Cop, Bad Cop" mixed with a sort of
cosmic "protection racket".
The Prospects for
the Christian styled player are very good indeed, because it tends to cover
both punishment and reward fairly equally, and has a strong drive towards the
conversion of others.
The oldest of all
religions, the many and varied pastoral polytheistic faiths all have some
common and defining elements. All believe in the capacity of the individual
(minion in game terms) to do minor miracles, all believe in multiple gods and
goddesses as being valid, and all avoid conflict. One of these qualities are
not possible within the Black & White engine, as minion populace cannot
perform even minor miracles. However, the other two are possible.
The Pagan player
should always strive to create cooperation with other player deities, and avoid
warfare. To this end, the Cow is a perfect choice for the initial Titan, which
may then be upgraded to -any- other creature, as all Nature is considered
valid. Wiccan players may particularly prefer the Wolf Titan, because of the
traditional associations.
The Pagan player
will concentrate on nurturing both the members of it's own faith, and the
members of other faiths. Healing and benevolent miracles the main focus, and
the Titan should be heavily trained in magic. The titan in particular should be
taught to supply resources to those actually performing worship. Attack magic
can be acquired, but the emphasis should be on benevolent magic as most nature
religions have very strict rules about the ethics of destructive magic.
I suggest that one
third of the population be put to breeding, one third to construction and
resources, and one third used for both construction and worship as required by
the situation. Every individual life should matter, and an effort should be
made to prevent the death of minions.
In every case, the
Pagan player should work to form community and to generate an environment based
on co-existence with other gods. This clearly puts the pagan player at a
distinct disadvantage in many ways, and must rely on clever acts of kindness to
hold its own, to sway others to it's side. When under attack, the Pagan player
is free to attack in kind, but not to press the advantage beyond tit-for-tat
defence. Historically, Nature religions did not try to convert or dominate,
relying instead on the idea that kindness alone would win in the end.
The Historical
Tactics for Pagan, nature-based religions are displays of kindness and support,
healing and pleasure. Expansion and conqiest are not important concerns, and
the operating principle is essentially that kindness will win out in the end.
The Cosmological Premise for the Pagan player is that the Universe itself is
alive, that life matters, and that there are many gods and goddesses of varying
types, ranks, and forms. All faiths are considered to have validity in the
scheme of things, though some may arguably be more productive than others. In
effect, life itself is worshipped, a concept that extends to the metaphysical
level.
The Prospects for
the Pagan player are not good, as they will most likely follow the example of
history and be quickly annihilated by more aggressive religions. However, this
can represent a challenge to the player, to see if they can actually make
paganism survive and work. Consider this as an Advanced test of playing a god.
Perhaps the oldest
religion on earth, after basic nature religions, Hinduism is a polytheistic
religion, and it shares much in common with the pastoral nature religions
above, but adds the bonus of some teeth to the mix. The Hindu player should
make the effort to honorably create community, but when attacked, pull out all
the stops and engage in the most powerful and violent magically based combat
possible. Hindu mythology is actually outdoes the Old Testament for number and
scale of miracles, so the Hindu player should focus on the most powerful magic
possible.
Although multiple
gods in one religion are not possible in Black & White, the titan could
conceptually be considered a minor deity to the primary one controlled by the
player. As such, the Titan should be accorded special respect. The initial
choice of a Cow is cute, but the Tiger or the Ape would actually be a more
accurate choice. The Ape, if fact, could even be used to represent Hanuman, a
simian god in the Hindu pantheon. It is regretful that there are no human
Titans in Black & White to take the role of, say, Vishnu or Shiva.
The player can
actually take remarkable latitude within the Hindu Pantheon by focusing on only
one deity from it. Thus a destructive player could choose Kali, or the clever
player Hanuman, or the compassionate player Lakshmi, and so forth. Essentially
Hinduism provides a vast banquet of possible playing styles, but for the
purposes of this article, I will blend the whole into an overall style.
In that vein, the
player should put one third of the population to only breeding, one third to
only construction and resources, and one third only to constant prayer. The
player or the Titan should support this 'priest caste' with food and such, all
the time. The Hindu player should value animals very highly, and see that no
harm come to them. This same reverence has not been historically given to
minion humans, however.
Miracles should be
flashy and powerful and when aggression is called for, only by an actual attack
against the player, then the response should be total, unrelenting and
absolute.
The Historical
Tactics for Hinduism are esentially "live and let live", forming a
vast marketplace of diverse sub faiths and sects. However, if pushed, the Hindu
faithful are permitted to respond with determined force, and often have.
Hinduism is peaceful, but once engaged in war, seldom backs down, and will
press every advantage.
The Cosmological
Premise for Hinduism is that there are many gods and goddesses, but that behind
all of this is a unified 'godhead' or supreme one-ness that defies description.
Religious activity focuses then on the various gods that can be understood, and
worship is performed with the usual expectation of blessings in return common
to all religions.
The Prospects for
the Hindu player are decent, though there could be some difficulty with
extremely aggressive opponents. Combined with a Pagan player, the two might
provide a cooperative benefit to each other.
Buddhism is the
dominant religion of mankind. More human beings follow Buddhism than any other
religious system. Originating in India roughly 3500 years ago, the religion is
interesting in that there is not the direct focus upon a dominating god figure
seen in most faiths. Rather, the goal of Buddhism is less the worship of a god
or gods, and more the elevation of the individual soul to escape what is seen
as the entrapping nature of reality itself. The universe is seen essentially as
a trap for souls, and ultimately, a place of torment. Escape from this reality
is accomplished by focused contemplation and renunciation of the world, to
achive a state known as samadhi, or enlightenment. Many sects and sub-sects of
Buddhism exist, just as in any other religion.
A focal point of
Buddhism is that of the Buddha, both an indivdual (the originator of the
religion, Sidhartha, an ancient Prince who supposedly discovered the secret of
enlightenment), and a state of being to strive for. In game terms, the Titan can
conceptually represent a Buddha, and the best initial choice would surely be
the Cow (later upgraded to any manner of creature, especially the tiger, if
possible later in the game). Within Buddhism, the Buddha is the vey embodiment
of compassion, and thus the Titan should be taught to support and to care for
the population constantly. All prayers should be answered as best as possible,
and the Titan should be encouraged to offer help whenever possible.
Buddhism is not
without teeth, however, and while some sects revere all life to the extreme,
others incorporate martial practices as a path to enlightenment. The Titan, in
particular, should be made especially powerful in hand to hand combat, in
preference to miracles.
Like Hinduism,
Buddhism accepts the concept of reincarnation, and thus the individual life is
less important than the overall goal of the soul. Thus the Buddhist player can
make use of the population to accomplish goals of conversion or domination, and
indeed should, as direct intervention by spiritual forces on a mass scale is
less common in Buddhism. Miracles should be made judicious use of, but not
overwhelmingly. Buddhism can be considered only a moderate level miracle
religion.
The Historical
Tactics for Buddhism are gentle persuasion and education, but if attacked,
large scale force can be used.
The Cosmological
Premise for Buddhism is that the universe is essentially an unhealthy place for
a soul to be, and that the goal is universal enlightnement and thus escape. To
this end, conversion is seen as a tool to end suffering.
The Prospects for
the Buddhist-style player are very good, because of a constant drive to expand
using gentle persuasion backed up with a powerful iron fist if required.
Because the game Black
& White itself will change the appearance and nature of the game world to
reflect the playing style, it should prove interesting to examine the result of
following the pattern of any given religion. In this way, some moral judgement
can be made about the overall ethos of any given deity or belief system and
answer a question more dangerous than whether mankind is inherently 'good' or
'evil', and answer whether a cherished deity is inherently 'good' or 'evil'.
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