Our latest IRE (I missed last week thanks to ACUS) will acknowledge the 800 pound elephant in the news; the death of Pope John Paul II.
So, the death of a major religious figure. How do you figure it into a game?
Two ideas spring to mind; surprisingly, they both work for religion as background games like D&D.
The better idea is that a foreign (though neighboring) land, long ruled by an evil king supported by evil gods (or, more directly, an evil theorcrat) suffers regicide. There’s a power vacuum that opens up; the PCs are in a position to intervene. What method of intervention will they suggest? Following the implications of the different approaches (invasion, kingmaking, assassinations, church politics, etc.) could spin out a whole campaign– or at least a strong adventure arc.
The weaker idea is that the character’s mentor must journey to the center of their religion, to elect a new patriarch. [Why? Something campaign related; it could be treason like Loris’s in Deyrni Rising, a natural death, a regular competition for leadership– there are lots of options.] An interesting option is to turn over pastoral (or analogous) duties to the PC while the mentor is away; the PC has a chance to shine in a way very different from traditional adventuring. A different option is to have the PCs come along, in which case they might get sucked into the politics of the religion…