Religion Skill

The Religion Skill for the Atomic RPG System system is mostly a generalization of knowledge of religious and spiritual things in the campaign world, including religious topics, such as the prominent gods in an area, what rituals they perform, holidays they celebrate, and the leaders and happenings within these religious sects. The Religion Skill is also used for knowledge concerning religious creatures such as devils, angels, holy people, and other things that may be related depending on the type of campaign you are playing.

The Religion Skill is something that most religious characters should have some investment in so they can know their own deities well and honor them appropriately.

Spirituality also falls under the realm of the Religion Skill check. This can be used for more metaphysical insight and discovery if the campaign the players are in do not have organized religions or gods.

The character’s Mind Trait changes the Religion Skill’s base score. This starts the Religion Skill slightly higher, but any character can train the Religion Skill to increase it.

Here are some of the common uses for the Religion Skill.

Sample Religion Skill Checks

The Religion Skill in the Atomic RPG System will be used in a wide range of situations. Below is a list of some of the most common uses of the Religion Skill. The difficulty of these checks will be determined by the GM. Normally these will be an Easy, Moderate, or Hard Skill Check. Reference the GM guide for Skill Checks for more details.

Identifying a Diety
Understanding a Ritual
Detect Motivations
Faith Based Interactions
Social Situations
Understand Divine Creatures
Know Social Norms

A character's Mind Trait determines the base skill bonus.

Player Cooperation - Aid Another

Multiple characters can work together to figure something out. This is called Aiding Another.

To successfully Aid Another character the character helping must make the same check the as the one rolling the Skill Check. If they succeed then the player rolling the Skill Check can add their Character Tier to their roll.

However, if the character helping fails in the check, the player will get a penalty to the roll of their Character Tier. Only one player may Aid another at a time.

Passive Religion Checks

Your Passive Nature check is your normal bonus + 10. This is used by the GM to determine things that you may notice or know without having to actively ask to use your skill.

This is a useful tool the GM can use to give out information in the game. Or can even be prompted by the player to see if the GM is willing to give you something for free.

Religion Check as an Action

Religion as an Action will happen when a player character tries to do something that may require a Religion Skill. Examples that would require the use of an Action would include determining if the a symbol is religious, knowing the motivations of the locals, or knowing if a union was legal.

Ceremonies

Characters can use Religion to identify or perform religious Ceremonies.

A Religion Skill check will need to be made to properly perform the myriad of religious ceremonies that may be needed or wanted in a campaign. These can range widely to presiding over a wedding, praying to the gods for rain, and even to appease the evil gods through sacrifice. Often times religious ceremonies held can have more meaning than the immediate role playing moment. Marriages may not be recognized if a religious ceremony which may lead to land or title granted by a local king. Other ceremonies may bless or blight an area even to the point of causing modifiers to PC and NPC rolls alike.

There are many possibilities but all of them will be up to your GM to say what is appropriate for each Atomic RPG System game.

Dictate Action

Characters can use the Religion Skill to find a warm and safe shelter.

The Religion Skill is a good way to learn about religious sects views of right or wrong. The Religion Skill can be used to understand good and evil in the context of the specific Atomic RPG System campaign.

The Religion Skill can help to find out what customs may be important to a certain people faith.

The Religion Skill check can even be used to help a player govern their own actions to be sure they are following their own gods moral requirements.

Identifying Religious Things

Religion can be used to help characters identify and understand all manner of religious things.

Another very useful way to use the Religion Skill would be to determine if some kind of phenomenon the players are encountering is religious or not. Is the glade they are in something that would be considered sacred? This knowledge may be very helpful to the players!

Rolls to determine things such as this will need to be assigned by the GM on a case by case basis.

Understanding Laws

Characters can use Religion Skill to determine local laws.

Knowing the local laws can be very important for characters. These laws are often based off the local religious ideals and moral code. Knowing these can keep the characters of out trouble.

Rolls to determine things such as this will need to be assigned by the GM on a case by case basis.

Learn About Divine Creatures

Characters can use Religion to identify and learn about divine creatures.

The Religion Skill Check can be used to find out information about creatures and NPC’s that are based from, or on, religion and spirituality.

Some examples of these creatures may be things such as devils and angels. There may be many creatures and NPCs in your Atomic RPG System campaign world that are not from the natural world. Instead they are created by the power of deities or their direct servants.

Make sure to discuss with your GM what creature would be considered religious.

Reveal Motivations

Characters can use the Religion Skill to reveal motivations.

Often times during Atomic RPG System adventures as well as other RPG games such as Dungeons and Dragons, many of the PCs and NPCs wear religious symbols openly. With a Religion Sill Check a player would be able to identify the religion being displayed. The PC may also learn a general overview of that person's own beliefs based on the religion they associate with.

Using the Religion Skill in this way can also help to identify motivations and other possible plot points. Often times religious organizations are behind many of the happenings in a world and the Religion Skill can help players reveal what these happenings are.

Religion Skill Has Many Uses

These are the main uses for the Religion Skill in the Atomic RPG System. However, this is not a comprehensive list. Due to the widely flexible and malleability of the Atomic RPG System system there is no way to cover every application of the Religion Skill. Keep in mind that if the player is trying to do something, learn about something, or otherwise interact with religion, spirituality, or the gods it is likely they will need to use the Religion Skill in the Atomic RPG System to do so.

Learn about the other skills by clicking on one below.

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