Faith is what is held to be true; the beliefs, assumptions, and convictions that shape perception and action.

Within ATET, Faith is not synonymous with religion alone. It encompasses all layers of extended identity, cultural inheritance, trauma-born conviction, and personal ideology. It is the deepest script by which an Incarnation interprets the world and the self.

Faith may uplift, sustain, distort, or imprison. It can stabilize a Tapestry, or cause it to ossify. It can inspire resilience, or blind entire civilizations.

Nature of Faith

Faith operates beneath conscious awareness; most often, it is not chosen, but absorbed.

Players will encounter Faith at multiple levels:

• Personal creeds or guiding principles
• Cultural dogmas and societal norms
• Rituals, taboos, and collective symbols
• Unquestioned narratives born of trauma or longing
• Institutional or political ideologies
• Mythic frameworks elevated beyond mere Fiction through mass adoption

Once woven into a Tapestry, Faith acts as a potent narrative force; not necessarily changing the metaphysics of the world, but shaping how all within it perceive, interpret, and react to experience.

A Fact may be ignored or denied if it contradicts an entrenched Faith. A Fiction may crystallize into Faith if it resonates deeply enough.

Philosophical Frame

In narrative and gameplay terms, Faith draws upon:

• From sociology: Faith structures are the invisible architectures of culture and power.
• From depth psychology: Faith is the complex of internalized patterns that govern perception and action.
• From mythology: The most dangerous or enduring myths are those believed as truths.

Thus, Faith is not opposed to rationality or evidence; it is the lens through which these are interpreted.

Gameplay Function

Accumulating Faith

Players accumulate Faith Eidos through:

• Deep participation in cultural practices, rituals, and belief systems
• Exposure to trauma or transformative personal experiences
• Being initiated into ideological or spiritual movements
• Acting in ways that reinforce or challenge existing Faith structures
• Spreading new beliefs that gain traction within a Tapestry

Uses of Faith

Accumulated Faith enables:

• Weaving Tapestries with strong narrative gravity; worlds with coherent but potentially rigid belief systems
• Crafting Incarnations that embody, resist, or transcend specific Faith scripts
• Unlocking narrative branches where conviction, identity, or cultural fluency are key
• Subverting entrenched Faiths from within, or building new ones through play
• Causing emergent social, political, or metaphysical shifts within procedural Tapestries

Narrative Economy

Faith is the most durable and self-reinforcing form of Eidos:

• It resists change, both in the world and in the player’s own creative palette
• It often shapes how new Facts and Fictions are interpreted
• NPCs and factions are more likely to align with, oppose, or attempt to convert players based on their evident Faiths
• Over time, accumulation of specific Faith Eidos may unlock powerful but limiting world-creation options

Design Intent

Why Faiths exist:

• To explore how belief structures shape identity, community, and conflict
• To give players tools to engage with and transform cultures, not just individual characters
• To make the persistence of ideology and inherited narrative a mechanical and emotional reality in the game loop
• To foster emergent tension between stability (Faith), imagination (Fiction), and direct experience (Fact)

Key Design Notes

• Faith must never be reduced to a simple “religion stat”; it encompasses all layers of belief and meaning
• The line between Faith and Fiction is intentionally porous; mass adoption of a Fiction creates Faith, and abandoned Faith may revert to Fiction
• Faith can both empower and trap; highly Faith-stabilized Tapestries may offer unique strengths but resist player intervention
• Players should sometimes find their own perceptions subtly shaped by accumulated Faiths; not just cosmetic effects, but narrative tone and interpretive frame
• The process of gaining and shedding Faith should feel organic and emotionally resonant, not mechanical