As Starfield inches closer to release on Sept 6, Bethesda is slowly pulling the curtain back on its Xbox console exclusive set in space.

Similar to many of Bethesda’s previous works like The Elder Scrolls and Fallout games, Starfield’s premise is relatively simple, featuring the usual warring factions, complex politics and uneasy conflicts, and all set against an expansive world ripe for exploration (or destruction).

On Aug 16, Bethesda held a new Q&A with fans on Discord, with lead designer Emil Pagliarulo and lead quest designer Will Shen on question-answering duty.

Though many of the answers were the usual ambiguous or expected ones, new details were revealed, such as these that were highlighted by Kotaku:

> Playing the entire game non-lethally is not possible.

> Crimes come with punishment, as players can be sent to jail, pay a fine or resist arrest.

> Crews can have up to 20 named characters

> Certain items are contraband, and will need to be hidden on the ship using special modules to pass inspection

Universals, the Enlightened and the Great Serpent

Pagliarulo and Shen also revealed how Starfield’s fictional religions play an integral part of the game’s world-building, and went a little in-depth on the three religions in the game.

“The members of Sanctum Universum, called ‘Universals,’ believe that God very much exists somewhere in the universe. A higher power is guiding us all. Specifically, they believe that humanity’s ability to travel the universe and ‘grav jump’ is God’s way of saying, ‘I am out here. Come find me’,” he explained.

“[Secondly, there is] the Enlightened; these folks are essentially organised atheists. They teach that human beings have to take care of each other, and they practice what they preach through various community outreach programs”.

Sounds rather benevolent, right? Not quite, as Pagliarulo moves on to the third religion, the House Va’ruun, a death cult that players will sometimes face in the game.

“In the game, you’re not really sure what the complete truth is, but the gossip among the guards is this: a colony ship sets off for a new world, making grav jumps along the way.

After one of the grav jumps, one of the passengers claims he spent that time communing with a celestial entity known as the Great Serpent.

What was a few seconds for everyone else was much longer for him. And he brought back a mandate, which is basically: ‘Get onboard, or be devoured when the Great Serpent encircles the universe’.”