Christian D&D/Pathfinder groups

I'm just feeling this out at this point to see if there is any real interest in this.  I'm a newbie to the world of D&D even though I did play around with it a bit in the mid 70's but never did anything like a campaign or have a group. I joined here because I’m probably looking for something difficult to find, and this may be the best way to find it.  I’m basically looking for D&D (or Pathfinder - which I don’t know much about) but played specifically by people whose strong Christian faith informs their decisions.  Other than the Christian players this is (or should be) the same D&D.  What does this group look like to me?  Forgive me if I'm missing anything critical here. 1. Player characters can only be lawful good or neutral good.  I don’t think other types would fit.  Convince me if I’m wrong on this.  2. There are no thief or wizard player characters or anything else that shouldn’t belong.  Clerics are pastors/priests (and only male) to make it very clear what they are.  Ideally they would only represent the Catholic belief system as there is much division among the numerous protestant branches which leave some of the fullness of truth out.  All characters are essentially good and honest.  Yeah we’re all sinners and certainly no one is perfect, however we’re here to strive to a higher calling, not turn into a group of murder hobos. 3. No magic. Period.  I just don’t see that working.  Not even white magic.  Any supernatural gifts from God granted to the party would come through answer to prayer or devotions.  This is the only “upper hand” the party would have, and these aren’t gimmies either.  Not all prayers are granted. 4. Most importantly, the party does not exist to evangelize, practice apologetics, or convert people, nor is it necessarily on any kind of church mission (that feels too limiting to me if that’s all they did).  This game isn’t about exploring or arguing about faith.  The characters just happen to be people of faith.  The party is here to have an adventure like anyone else playing D&D.  We are in the same world, facing the same monsters, all while taking up the mantle of good fighting evil.  We’re here for a great story too.  Let’s have fun! 5. Swearing happens and I generally don’t care.  Just don’t take God’s name in vain okay?  Hit the bar to have a drink to wind down at the end of a day?  No problem. Just don’t drink to drunkenness.  Drugs have no place here.  Sex does not play any part in this game, nor does any character’s orientation whether moral or not.  None of the characters are cheating on anyone else either. It’s encouraging to see similar posts on here.  I must say I do enjoy watching some of Critical Role.  They do so well at weaving a journey and playing their part.  I'm sure that level of play is probably too high a bar for the typical player to match.  It's probably a lot of work.   Having said that now and then I have to cringe at the things they do/say or characters they choose to play.   I’ve heard of Holy Lands RPG but haven’t looked into it in depth.  On the surface it seems like church mission/adventures only.  Failing finding what I’m looking for here, I’d consider Holy Lands but I’m sure finding groups for that game has the same difficulties just because it's probably a very tiny community. If this isn’t your cup of tea fine.  I’m sure the other 99.9% of groups out there will have what you’re looking for.

As a fellow Christian, and also someone who has long enjoyed fantasy settings, I would like to point out that Tolkien himself intentionally placed many Christian themes, metaphors and analogies into his work--because he, too, was a very pious man. He was excommunicated from the Church for it, though I wonder if he would have suffered the same fate today... Removing magic, and substituting a prayer system is a fun start to a religiously nuanced campaign, but I think by removing thief characters and chaotic or neutral alignments, you're actually losing one of the most important parts of the Christian theme--redemption. How many stories in the Bible tell us of people who never faltered, and did not require saving? There is more to be said, and experienced, I think, in a character who may be good of heart, but has never known grace, and now has the opportunity to become more. Besides, the "Rogue" class really isn't limited to the flavor text in the book. It's a set of mechanical skills that can be reflavored however you see fit. In a modern setting, a car mechanic could use the Rogue class to emulate their knowledge of contraptions, etc. If you intend on running a game, remember that anything and everything can be altered to suit your perspective on acceptable. DMs do this to fit things with their own setting, or even a particular campaign all the time, even without religious connotations.

As a fellow Catholic who DMs and who also knows that there are priests who play... can I just say that you are severely limiting your pool of potential players? As for "letting your faith inform your decisions", well, my first PC in D&D5E was a cleric of Lathander, who strongly reflected my own beliefs in repentance, second chances, and turning towards the Light.  It made for interesting dynamics with the organised-religion-hating warlock, as well as the more LG fighter/paladin who was deeply frustrated with my efforts to rehabilitate brigands through community service, rather than letting her chop their heads off.  But hey, I'd also use cleric spells to help take down the dragon that was terrorising the locals.  Call them prayers, if you will, but it doesn't change the mechanics.  Most of our games have revolved around trying to save the world from some greater evil, and that campaign is continuing onwards to fight the much greater threat of Tiamat, agent of evil and chaos trying to take over and corrupt the world. Basically... I hope you get the game you want. You've already acknowledged that it's not the game most people want. I'm suggesting that D&D, or Pathfinder, are not the most appropriate systems for this, since apart from anything else they rely on magic items etc.  If you're ruling out half of the classes and enemies that the system offers, you probably need to play a different ruleset. And that's fine.  You might want to try Pendragon , which is based on Arthurian legend and where you play chivalric knights doing chivalric acts - only enemies use magic, and you're fighting them.  There is a system of virtues and vices, and while options exist for non-Christian characters (with different value systems) you can just use the chivalric and Christian virtues in creating your character.  Alternatives would include GURPS or Savage Worlds , which can be played without any magic system and in any campaign setting your group chooses, or, if you're open to non-fantasy, playing something like a sci-fi/science fantasy campaign (e.g. Starfinder ). So... good luck getting a group together, but I hope something I've suggested is more enjoyable for you than watered-down-D&D5e with half the stuff removed!

Edit: You can download the latest update of King Arthur Pendragon from the drivethrurpg website for $13 (was going to link, realised we aren't meant to link!)

Thank you both for the thoughtful replies and the suggestions!

No magic, no thieves, and clerics have no abilities... Sounds like everyone is a fighter, which is fine if that's what you are into but I think even the majority of Christians wouldn't enjoy this concept. You might want to try playing the game as is so you understand it better before gutting the core mechanics.

I like your dream, and I believe their are very interesting directions one could take to make a game.   The challenge IMO is that you are so focused on what you don't want, that you forget to tell us what you do want. Roleplaying is storytelling, and all storytelling needs plots, tensions, something worth telling stories about. There are many ways to play roleplaying games too. Some focus on the tactical game of combat at spelunking, others on portraying their characters, acting a personality.  Game can evolve around grand political schemes or inner personal conflicts. The setting can be the grand conflict between Good and Evil, or a more familiar world where everything is shades of grey ... As others have said, DnD is designed for high-magic worlds and removing magic would leave a strange and unbalanced game behind. It can be done, but you end up with a homebrew which is not necessarily easier to recruit for than other games.  There are, however, a lot of games out there. To take a couple of examples. 1. Flashing Blades is set in the world of Three Musketeers , without magic.  One could play any kind of story in that kind of historical setting, though swordplay is emphasised. 2. Call of Cthulhu , based on HP Lovecraft. The players play normal mundane people in 1920s New England, and if faithful Catholics work as well as anything. There is magic, but it appears only when the characters discover that the world is not as pleasant as they thought it was, and if the characters do decide to learn magic, it is wrought with moral dilemma.  It can be avoided.  This might be too much, of course, I cannot judge.  Call of Cthulhu is, in y experience, one of the easiest games to get started with, and one of the most popular ones too. Other games have already been mentioned.  It would be interesting to hear what you really want to play, both setting-wise and plot-wise. 

Nicole S. said: The reality is that some D&D games (each game taking on a unique identity based on the players in a given group) are NOT appropriate for Christians. ...  The most important reason why that is true, is that some games have players who are fundamentalist atheists who do not tolerate differing world-views.  Telling others that because they belong to this or that group (e.g. Christians), this game is inappropriate for them, is a sure way to *make* your game group inappropriate.  Only the individual player can tell what is or is not appropriate for them. Whoever you are, probability is that there will be some games you find inappropriate, for some reason or other.  The trick is to find the games that are not. There is nothing in D&D which categorically make it inappropriate for any group.  We are a lot of players, Christian or otherwise, who enjoy telling stories of characters whose actions we do not condone in worlds which are completely alien to ours, metaphysically as well as physically.  Other players only want to play characters with whom they agree, again this is as true for atheists and agnostics as for Christians. In short, this is not a question about finding a genre of games appropriate for Christians.  It is about games appropriate for OP.

1. Can I play a tiefling? Which races? 2. Is a monk's Ki included in your magic ban? 3. Could one not play Chaotic alignments for the purpose of explicitly doing good? For example: Robin Hood, stealing from the establishment to create charitable giving? 4. Would you not consider the classic view of Jesus, in how he prevented harm coming to criminals and spoke out against the established Pharisees, to be the epitome of Chaotic Good?