Repent

LUKE: 15-27 KJV

15 For I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which all your adversaries shall not be able to gainsay nor resist.

16 And ye shall be betrayed both by parents, and brethren, and kinsfolks, and friends; and some of you shall they cause to be put to death.

17 And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake.

18 But there shall not an hair of your head perish.

19 In your patience possess ye your souls.

20 And when ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh.

21 Then let them which are in Judaea flee to the mountains; and let them which are in the midst of it depart out; and let not them that are in the countries enter thereinto.

22 For these be the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled.

23 But woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck, in those days! for there shall be great distress in the land, and wrath upon this people.

24 And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.

25 And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring;

26 Men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.

27 And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.

Just a little inspirational wallpaper for myself...

Faith, Grace & Spirit: The Christian Core of Repent

Part 1: Christianity and the End Times of Repent

If there is just one thing, that I know must be in the finished version of Repent: The End Times Role-Playing Game, it is… Christianity, intact, and truthfully presented.

As I am writing and revising this, I realize that maybe the reader does not have any understanding of what a Christian is, except for what they have learned from the world. Too often we get into arguments and debates, without really getting down to what makes a Christian person different than a non-Christian person.

For my part, I like to imagine that the world is a great big ship, like the Titanic, that is sinking, and we are all in the water together, crying, drowning, freezing, dying. But lo and behold, a light shines out of the darkness, and a hand reaches down for each of us, with the promise that we will be rescued, if we just reach out and accept it.

Sure, a Christian by definition is a follower of Jesus Christ, but like anyone they can fall prey to arrogance, pride, judgmental thinking, and all manner of sin. But often times, a Christian is simply someone who finally “gets it”. Someone who finally sees and hears the message, that we are all broken, we are all flawed, and in the end, we cannot save ourselves. And sometimes we have to hit rock-bottom before we can accept that truth.

The end times, including the major events depicted in the Book of Revelation, are primarily aimed at delivering this message to the world. They are God’s iceberg, to the world’s Titanic. God, through his Son, Jesus, is simply saying, “Take my hand, and I will save you.”

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” John 3:16

However, many stories in movies, books and games have gone the secular route of depicting a portion of the end times, only to completely leave out the Christian elements that define its true purpose and meaning. The absence of this Christian foundation typically results in a story which presents humanity as its own hero, saving the world and itself by preventing the apocalypse, or restoring some fictional requirement for a balance between good and evil in order to avert a catastrophe of biblical proportions. In these stories, the fulfillment of biblical prophecy is something to be prevented.

Likewise, there are also so-called Christian movies, books and games that depict Biblical elements and themes, without including any real Christianity at all. These might be family-friendly, or even Christian-approved, but if they are not delivering the gospel of Jesus Christ’s sacrifice, death, and resurrection for the forgiveness of sins and salvation of souls… what is their purpose?

With Repent, the challenge was to create a hardcore apocalyptic role-playing game that stuck to its Biblical guns and did not reject Christ for the sake of reaching a bigger market or avoiding controversy. Plain and simple, if players can pick up a book and learn about fictional worlds, peoples, and creatures, and immerse themselves in the sci-fi, fantasy or horror realm of their choice, then they can just as easily dive into a world of epic good versus evil, chilling ancient prophecies, harrowing spiritual warfare, rock-solid faith, and the power of miracles.

Repent takes the narrow path and aims to present the end times of the Bible with accurate scriptural backing where possible, and inspired creativity where necessary, to deliver a game where players take on the role of Christians battling the Luciferian New World Order, while forming a Christian Underground movement to feed and grow the remnant of the true Christian Church by spreading the gospel of Christ’s sacrifice, salvation, and imminent return.

Or die trying.

Next up: Part 2 – Repent, the Spirit and the Flesh…

Repent: Story & Setting

Part 7: What about the Rapture?

The Rapture is a subject of debate among many Christians, typically lumped into one of three beliefs: that believers will vanish from the Earth and be caught up to Heaven by Christ prior to the Tribulation (the Pre-Trib belief), or midway through, but prior to the Great Tribulation (the Mid-Trib belief), or lastly that we will simply join Him in the air at His Return, the Second Coming, at The Battle of Armageddon (the Post-Trib belief).

For the game, Repent, the point at which all the player characters disappear from the Earth, would seem to be the end of the game. However, for all intents and purposes, the Rapture in Repent is a relatively innocuous event that can either be the beginning, middle, or end of the story. As author and designer of Repent, I am choosing to let this event be entirely up to the players and/or game referee (The Host, as I call them in Repent).

If the Host/players choose to start the game with the Rapture, then it is assumed that all of the player characters have been “Left Behind” and have come to Christ after the event.

If the Host/players choose to place the Rapture in the middle of the timeline, say, just prior to the Great Tribulation, it could be used to end the story of the initial group of player characters, while beginning the story of a new group of player characters who have been “Left Behind”. It could be really interesting if these characters were acquaintances of the original characters, and the Rapture provides the prompting to give their life to Christ as a result.

Lastly, if the Host/players choose to end the game with the Rapture, at the Second Coming, it could be a dramatic wrap up to the player characters story, and a hard-won victory for their faith.

In a nutshell, in Repent, the Rapture is a story-telling variable, that can impact the player characters’ story in any of the ways above, and more, but it has no bearing on the game rules, or session-to-session play.

I hope this deliberately flexible approach to the Rapture meets more approval among future Repent Hosts and players, than if I had limited the Rapture to a rigid and fixed event in the end times timeline. I also hope that you have been both entertained and educated by my 7-part presentation of the Story and Setting of Repent in these posts.

Next up, I will discuss Faith, Grace & Spirit: The Christian Core of Repent...

Repent: Setting & Story

Part 5: The Day of the Lord

First, a catastrophic miscalculation and near miss by a returning comet occurs when it skims the atmosphere of the planet above South America and explodes above North America. The tremendous heat and shockwave setting the Amazon rainforest ablaze, and leaving forests and grasslands burning across both continents, with the final atmospheric detonation of the comet raining fiery shards of frozen methane across North America, killing many.

Second, a tumbling 3km wide rogue asteroid is detected far too late and strikes deep into the heart of the Pacific Ocean, sending out a 300ft tsunami and 100mph winds, destroying ships, coastlines, and sea-life across the entirety of the Pacific Rim nations.

Lastly, when a third object from space is detected hurtling toward the Earth, the NWO maneuvers its orbital weapons platforms to destroy it, declaring a victory for the planet as it shatters before impact. But the cheers turn to screams, as the fragments of the object light up the atmosphere, and meteors composed of toxic minerals rain down across the globe, poisoning the world’s fresh water supply.

The resultant impacts and fires add to the already clouded post-war skies, casting the world in shadow, by darkening the Sun, Moon, and stars.

When the martyrdom of Jews and Christians rises to the levels of global genocide at the hands of the unrepentant Antichrist’s soldiers and followers, God unleashes the terror of two plagues of demons upon the world.

The demons of the first plague, are hideous locust-like creatures which swarm the landscape like a black cloud, descending upon the horrified masses without the Seal of God, tormenting and torturing them. Those who are poisoned by the insectile demons’ stings, are said to be in agony for months, and unable even to take their own lives, a prisoner of their own suffering.

Those of the second, are a demonic army of mounted soldiers, riding upon the backs of creatures that spew forth fire and brimstone, released for the sole purpose of annihilating 1/3 of mankind with no remorse.

By the time the two plagues have passed, it is clear that Death, and Hell have been visited upon the Earth. For the enduring remnant of the Christian Underground who remain, the world now resembles an artist’s depiction of apocalyptic nightmare, hand-painted in reds, and blacks, shadow, and flame.

For every Seal. Every Trumpet. For each call to repent, one turns to the Cross, and one turns to the Beast. Or remains stagnant in the lukewarm bath of indecision. Like ballistic missiles, and stealth bombers, the angelic destroyers and reapers of the Host of Heaven descend, carrying out the Lord’s promise, to bring division, with a sword.

But there is still time to save those who have not yet bowed to the Beast.

Woe to the inhabitants of the Earth, as the final Vials of judgement are poured out upon them, in what the Underground reverently know to be The Day of the Lord. Those who chose to accept the Mark of the Beast, to worship the Antichrist, and rise in support of his Luciferian New World Order, now experience the full wrath of God.

First, grievous, and painful sores erupt upon the skin of those who took the Mark. Those who once rejoiced at the benefits gained, and scolded others for not accepting the inevitable, now stagger and writhe, furious in their agony, hideous in their semblance of the living dead of horror and television.

Then the seas and rivers turn to blood, and all that lived in them, dies. Inexplicable to science, but undeniable to all their attempts to debunk it, the water has turned to human blood. The blood of martyrs. The blood of the unborn. The blood of those sacrificed in black rituals to Lucifer.

When the Sun itself strangely begins to flicker, all eyes are drawn skyward, only to witness with terror as the Earth’s life-giving star expands into a seething red giant, filling the sky and sending temperatures and solar radiation levels soaring as people seek shelter from the scorching rays.

Lastly, a spiritual darkness so black that only demons recognize it, descends upon the denizens of the NWO headquarters and New Babylon, which, coupled with their ghastly sores, dehydration, and solar burns, drives them deep into psychosis, rending themselves and each other in their soulless agony.

And then it stops.

Up next, Part 6: The Battle of Armageddon...