Strephon and Christ

[gloriousbattle]

First off, Merry Christmas fellow Travellers!

I was watching Ben Hur and glancing through my Traveller rules (got a copy of SORAG for Christmas) and I got to thinking about an alternate Traveller campaign. I am not planning on doing it myself (at least not now) as I am still deep into my Vampire/Traveller game, but this might be fun.

What if the Imperium, in this campaign, was seen as more or less equivalent to the Rome of the early Caesars, and Christ is born?

Note that though there could be a supernatural element to such a campaign, there would be no need for one. It is a truism that philosophies and religions can topple empires every bit as effectively as invading armies. How would you handle such a thing?

Say that some prophesied Messiah is born into the Imperium. Maybe he is a supernatural being, or the next step in human evolution, or just a brilliant thinker who comes along at the right time. What would you do in creating such a game?

Me? I think I'd have lots of rebellions, chariot races (well, pod races, but it amounts to the same thing), barbarian invasions, etc., as well as the new emerging philosophy/religion starting to plant itself secretly throughout the Imperium.

Would it be supernatural? Super-psionic? A fraud? A new philosophy that might usher in a golden age? I think I'd have hints at all of these, just enough to keep the players guessing, and, of course, dodging the secret police.

You?

 

[Spinward Scout]

You could do this with a second Grandfather - one of people I was going run a game with came up with that concept. Never ran the game but had the character stated out to Level 65 in T20. It was going to be a 'blowing up planets' kind of campaign.

You can look to the Star Wars movies for some inspiration. George Lucas based a lot of the ideas for the Force and the Jedi on a Comparative Religion class. I won't go into more detail - don't want to cross the No Religion line.

 

[leo knight]

Just be careful who you run this for. I know one player I could never run this for because of his strong beliefs. He would immediately walk out.

Regarding this, you might want to change the name, and some of the details. I'm thinking of Paul Atreides in "Dune", or, less highbrow, the character Eli in "Xena".

 

[gloriousbattle]

Just be careful who you run this for. I know one player I could never run this for because of his strong beliefs. He would immediately walk out.

Regarding this, you might want to change the name, and some of the details. I'm thinking of Paul Atreides in "Dune", or, less highbrow, the character Eli in "Xena".

I'd try to be a little more subtle than "JESUS IN SPAAAAAAAAAAAAACE...", focusing on the philosophy and the spread of new ideas, and not making a cookie-cutter Christ figure.

In fact, as I thought further, this trope is probably already present in the Third Imperium, in the form of the Psionics Institutes.

 

[jatay3]

Honestly, I think Jesus a rather boring character from the strictly literary point of view and I am a Christian myself. Your Mileage May Vary.

Paul Atreides is less a Christ figure and more like a classic Young Conqueror. Dune has resemblances to biographies of Alexander, Ghengis Khan, or Cyrus, especially the last two. If you want a Paul Atreides figure, use Arbetrala .