Six Forty Four Games

@six4tyfour - RPG-related blog, mostly D&D, but with other games thrown in.

@neoncitynights - Cyberpunk and scifi blog, may have some posts about related RPGs, games and shows.

@thegodemperorsmycopilot - Purely Warhammer 40,000 and its derivatives, like Necromunda, Gorkamorka, Battlefleet Gothic, Space Hulk, Inquisitor, Dark Heresy, Rogue Trader, etc etc.

@sakurajimahigh - My attempt at writing a light novel about high school, demigods, basketball and somewhat heroic shenanigans. Hit a wall, and stuck.

The way a lot of these characters are written it's as if their own innate goodness somehow shields them from human error and vice, as if they were simply born with prettier souls than everyone else. Many writers will even go so far as to remove any mention of a higher power or divinity for these characters to answer to other than their own heart. Or if such concepts are mentioned, the divine will just meekly agree with whatever their supposed servant does instead of holding actual standards that their chosen is meant to follow. It implies that being Good is something you simply are.

This is a narcissist's idea of what holiness is; the fantasy that you can be heroic without effort or accountability. That if you simply do what you think is right that you cannot go wrong. This is a prideful mindset. I'd even go so far as to say a Satanic mindset because the worst people in history were the ones who convinced themselves that they were infallibly good. That they did not have to answer to anyone for their actions.

Good can sometimes be easy or come naturally. But not always. Being a good person requires choosing to do the right thing on a consistant basis, relentlessly, even in situations where it costs you something or where there is no reward for choosing it. It requires admitting that YOUR standards and values and desires are not the universal good, that your heart can and will lead you astray. It means accepting that there IS something bigger than yourself. It requires facing the ugliest parts of yourself again and again, the parts you most wish to ignore, and fighting them with tooth and nail. It means confessing to the existence of your worst sins and repenting of them. Being a truly good person first requires accepting that you are not one. It requires accepting that you are not God and submitting yourself to Him.

Being good is the hardest thing you can ever be and that is why I find so many of these modern "heroes" so bland and emotionally dishonest. There's no struggle. They have no vices to wrestle, no sins to atone for. They never suffer for their choice to pursue goodness or are tempted to abandon the quest. They never struggle. They never undergo the death to self. They are pseudo-saints that crown themselves themselves with glory instead of being crowned by The Supreme Good for their humility and love. They are fake heroes that are empty imitations of holy people at best and demonic caricatures of them at worst.

Favorite story of someone secretly playing a paladin.

As stated - They aren’t easy to roleplay. If you just play them as ”That Guy” then you probably will annoy folks. There comes a point in such role-play where you’re just a suicidal murder-hobo instead of a murder-hobo.

Any time you role-play a religious character (Clerics too) - you’re going to mess it up if they lose the human element. It’s why I am both for AND against 5E paladins which no longer needing that moral code.

With it - you can potentially some quite masterful role-playing if done well. This also opens you up to the easy failures because it is hard to not live faith quietly and many of us have little knowledge what it might look like. This means [For Example] we default to zealotry instead of pastoral discipline. I have a LOT of respect for those who can role-play faith and who do it well.

Without it - you are a lot more free to define your “oath” and feel less like ”lawful stupid.” This freedom though makes me [DM] see less someone trying to be a conduit/champion of their faith and more of a conduit/champion of a concept. So it’s easy to just be a fighter with a hyper-fixation that happened to grant you divine magic. This -does- free up the role but I feel it loses something special in this ”freedom.”

But I feel I should make clear that D&D the game itself is not exactly at fault here: like, okay, it is sort of at fault in the sense that it is a game of fantasy killing people with swords and magic. And it is easier for people to accept the killing with people with swords and magic part when they can imagine that their characters are at least to a degree justified. That is sort of just built into the game (and the game has built into its lore varying levels of making the fantasy of killing certain types of guy justifiable).

But D&D is not at fault for making people go "okay so it's bad when you kill orcs simply because they're orcs. It's better when you kill people who are bandits, who are a class of evil criminals where killing them is actually wholesome and sensible." Like, yeah, most people probably don't think about it that deeply, but the reason people don't think about it that deeply is ultimately ideological.

BEHOLD! The first range of miniatures for Flak Arcana, the skirmish tabletop game of fantasy mercenaries!

The set includes 10 characters of varying species and archetypes, all fully pre-supported and ready to print, assemble and play on the tabletop. You can buy the minis either separately or as a discounted bundle!

A thoroughly fullered Storta,

OaL: 29.8 in/75.7 cm

Weight: 3 lbs/1360 g

Some of you might have been following the creation of my Dark Sci-fi Universe, ESKATON. This project will soon be released as a goregous hardback artbook through Kickstarter. Please follow the kickstarter page for the latest news!

Just a reminder I have a cute shop full of cute stuff! Sales have been rough this year so shares are appreciated 🙏💕

8th-level transmutation (warlock, wizard)

Casting Time: 1 action

Range: Touch

Components: V, S, M (a small piece of flesh from an aberration)

Duration: Concentration, up to 1 minute

Until the spell ends, the target is unable to feel pain, giving them the following benefits:

The target has resistance to all damage except psychic damage.

The target is unable to lose concentration on a spell as a result of taking any damage except psychic damage.