Yikes! Coming to this thread late (odd, since it spawned from a picture I posted)
Summary of below;
- No one is arguing the religion rule should be changed, but changing the name of the class would treat the root cause of the confusion rather than treating just the symptom.
- While it is infeasable to have a list of what symbols are allowed, having a list of what symbols are NOT allowed would be better, although it would be always added to as time goes on.
A short off-the-top-of-my-head list would be;
Crosses (Weather this extends to + signs that are also used as a symbol for medicine still needs clarifying.)
Crescent Moons
Triskeles
Swastikas (clockwise or counter-clockwise, the clockwise ones are not Nazi, but are a symbol of life & abundance, but a lot of people don't know the difference.)
Star of David
Pentacles/Pentagrams
Ying/Yang
Quartered Circle
Ankh
Chalice (usually depicted religiously with a flame, but any chalice can draw accociations to Wicca)
Chandalabra
Oroboros
Caduces (arguably)
Eye of Horus
(Probably many more, this is just of the top of my head - Googling 'Religious Symbols' in google images gives a good overview)
There was a discussion on Runes in another thread and people said they were non-religious, however anyone who *really* knows anything about runes, they were said to have been created by the Norse Deity, Odin. Since Deity=Religion=Bad, I would lump runes in here as well (which is sad for me, I was thinking about taking fortunetelling and using a set of rune cards I've had forever that I never did anything with as prop)
And now on to direct responses;
evi1r0n said:
Taking the "Templar" word out of the equation we are left with a costume that violates the rules. This is unfortunate but it is clearly stated in the rulebook to avoid religions themes and iconography for your character (regardless of the templar contradiction). Your rules marshals/staff should have caught that and addressed it.
No one is arguing that the costume is not a violation of the rules (though Canadians tend to be less uppity about such things, they are STILL the rules.)
The point is that if the class was not called the Templar, the confusion never would have occurred in the first place. Lets fix the cause of the problem rather than treating the symptoms.
I didn't mean to start this topic up, I just happened to post a picture of my character that he was also in =Z.
I'd like to point out, however, the icon on his tabbard is a standard medical symbol, and could be interpreted as a healer's mark. The etching on the shield, however, is clearly a religious cross (longer 'tail/support')
(David mentioned this as well, now that I'm reading the whole thread through.)
So why then would having a background that draws too heavily on religion or religious themes be rejected?
My background draws on 'religious' themes, yet draws them to their logical non-religious IG paralell. Specifically, the Healer's Guild fills a smilar role that the Druids did in celtic society (Healers, Judgest, Astrologers, etc) but without the religious trappings. So my character is very non-religious even though the concept draws from a 'priestly' archetype from real-world history. I never refer to myself as a Druid.
Cavalier, Barrister, or a Gallant?
Cavalier suggest horses? Barrister suggests lawyer. Gallant is okay, though Spellblade or Mage Knight or even Warrior Mage fit better, and gives the (applicable) connotation that they are better at magic than their fighter-type equivalents.
Oooh...I love the way Warsage sounds. I think that's my new favourite, with Spell Brawler coming in as a close second.
+1 for Warsage
Mobius said:
we need to do the same with a hell of a lot of symbols, like Crescent Moons, Stars... etc.
+1. Crescent Moons are symbols of Wicca and Islam, so they are out. I see a lot of people when out and about wearing a Triskele and not realising it's a Druid symbol that represents the celtic trinity and power of 3. (Use google image search if you don't know what a triskele/triskellion is), so I can see that happening easily too.