>I'm not a big fan of how religon is carried out on CF. It
>seems to me that there is no organization at all. Individuals
>roam around and pray at hidden shrines, and once in a great
>while, one of them is good enough to get a tattoo. There are
>no rules for religion, nothing to suggest conduct except for
>some (often) hastily written helpfiles.

That's because the imms don't want to deal with a horde of followers spouting the helpfile back at them. A religion should be a personal thing, that each character interprets differently. Most immortals will give you guidance once you have a spin on it particular to your character.


> As far as learning to
>act how your god wants you to (if he / she doesn't have a good
>helpfile), you're supposed to depend on immteraction to do
>that.. Or use your best judgement.
>

Or speak with other people, perhaps priests of the gods, or read about them in the Lycaeum. Often there is something in the shrine that gives you an idea.

>Even worse off, the game doesn't do a good job of describing
>religion. Everyone is told to pick a sphere, but you can pick
>a sphere and forget it, and the majority of people do. A
>sphere is not a religion.

Correct. A sphere is more akin to a star-sign. In Thera, the stars really do influence your life, perhaps guiding you towards a particular religion without you knowing it. You can, in fact, get tattooed by immortals when you are not under their sphere. I had a sphere balance guy tattooed by Eryndorial who was spheres knowledge, beauty, and something else that I can't remember now.

. In-fact, the best definition I can
>get for religion right now (on CF) is: A sphere that has a god
>with a tattoo.. So all those spheres that cannot yield a
>tattoo aren't religions?

A tattoo represents a religion, not a sphere, so you are unlikely to get one without being religious. If you pray to a god of your own creation, it probably is possible (not likely) to get a tattoo if you are good and lucky enough. However, you'd have to inspire some imm to actually play the part of your made-up god for you.

> They just seem like templates for
>combat to me. Sphere fire (I use fire to kill) etc.
>

I played a sphere vivimancy paladin who was also influenced by fire. He thought of the paladin code in terms of different aspects of fire etc. He preached parables based on fire, (since everyone gets tired of hearing the usual paladin stuff). The vivimancy influence on his life did nothing more than give him his goal -- to restore the lands to a cleansed state, which involved defeating the scions who had corrupted it, and sanctifying Kidiana etc.


>There are no religious wars. No gods go in strict opposition
>to other gods.

Now here you are just plain wrong. God's order their followers to kill other god's priests and priestesses. My assassin was ordered to kill someone by a god purely for religious reasons (and I had to work out what those were).

> No one roleplays religious fanaticism. There
>are no churches.

Well, my assassin recruited people to carry out the work of the particular god who gave him a religious purpose.

> There are temples, but all of them seem to
>be vast generalizations of religion. There are shrines, but
>they are often one-room, never any mobs (that I've seen),

Most shrines have at least one mob if not more.


>never anything to read and immerse yourself in.
>
>

Most have a lot to look at, but sometimes it isn't obvious.

>
>I suggest that we have some more religon in this game. I
>would like to see an invisible aura surrounding people who
>submit themselves to a religion. A spell or supplication
>would allow you to see what aura people have.
>

Or a tattoo? A tattoo doesn't necessarily have powers that the tattooed person knows how to use. Sometimes it is just a mark, and they learn to draw on the god's powers later.

>I suggest that we have some religions, (not) one for every
>god, certain religions can encompass several gods.

There is no reason you cannot play a character like this. My paladin worshipped Savraeth first and Shokai a close second, because his own take on the religion on Savraeth was very much influenced by Shokai's religion.


> These
>religions would need a code of conduct, and a place of
>worship, and a mortal hierarchy. They could mesh with cabals
>fine. It would just be another agenda for players to have.
>

Many religions already do have this, or have had in the past. Ilraeth has/had a high priestess, as did Mynawk (in a sense), and Shokai, and the Scarabs, and those of the Laurel (Eryndorial).

>For these religons, I propose we also have a tally system. If
>you kill someone of the other religon, you are rewarded. If
>you give a tithe to the church, you are rewarded.

As I said earlier, there already are religious wars. When I killed a high priestess, I got rewarded for it. And I wasn't even a tattooed follower. A tattoo often has several powers and I suspect in many cases these are revealed only to those who do actually go out and smite the enemies of their god.