When the Rules Change

Back when I first started this blog on December 23, 2008 I was trying to bridge the gap between Christians and folks who played D&D. In that goal, I think I made a difference, tiny as it may have been. I think I can say that mine was a small voice in a grand choir that was the Golden Age of TTRPGs.

On September 10th, 2025 the rules changed.

We are now in a Dark Age and I feel compelled to try and communicate how I believe we got here.

In the almost 2 decades(!) I have been spilling electronic ink in this corner of the internet, the Oppressor/Opressed Dialtectic of Critical Theory has permeated virtually every walk of life. In our own hobby, I need only point to WotC’s warning label on all their legacy titles:

We (Wizards) recognize that some of the legacy content available on this website does not reflect the values of the Dungeons & Dragons franchise today. Some older content may reflect ethnic, racial, and gender prejudice that were commonplace in American society at that time. These depictions were wrong then and are wrong today. This content is presented as it was originally created, because to do otherwise would be the same as claiming these prejudices never existed. Dungeons & Dragons teaches that diversity is a strength, and we strive to make our D&D products as welcoming and inclusive as possible. This part of our work will never end.

This statement divides our community into two camps: the Oppressors (those who lived, played, and wrote during the formative years of D&D), and the Opressed (those who produce the latest version of D&D). This bifurcation can be found everywhere, in all parts of life.

The fundamental flaw in the Oppressor/Opressed Dialtectic of Critical Theory is that the categorization is not only arbitrary, but based on what we are instead of what we do. I am a grognard. I was a D&D nerd in the 70s. There is nothing I can do to change that.

As a consequence, what is evil and what is good gets divorced from action and activity. Goodness is no longer a function of what a person does, it is a function of what they are. The consequence of this shift in morality is, as we saw last week, deadly, tragic, and terrifying.

This is why we all saw the celebrations over a father getting brutally murdered in front of his small child. This is how assassination is now a good thing.

I don’t know about you, but I remember when Assassins in D&D had an alignment requirement of evil.

It is hard to see a way out of this darkness.

I can tell you that we all can experience a unity with each other in Christ that cannot be found anywhere else, but my guess is that is not an answer most of you are ready to hear.

One thing that I have learned to see in my many years as a convert to Orthodox Christianity is that God expresses Himself fractally throughout His creation. In other words, the ultimate that is Christ can be partially experienced in various ways throughout human experience. One such experience is our hobby.

When done right, RPGs cross bridges. It doesn’t matter who you are, where you are from, what language you speak, or what edition of D&D you play. Our love of this hobby and of this game crashes through all of those barriers to unite us in a small, but significant, way. We play. Together.

If we do emerge from this Dark Age, it will be because we refuse to accept that evil acts can be celebrated as good. It will be because we overcome our differences because we love to actively play this game we love together. It will be because we will look back together at WotC’s statement above and remember how foolish we were to let the Golden Age end.

Musing on Superman

The new Superman movie is coming out, and given some of the hullbaloo surrounding it, I thought I’d give my two cents about one of my favorite comic book characters. In truth, there aren’t many good stories about Superman. This is largely due to the fact that modern writers do not understand the character, his context, or what he symbolizes.

The Character

This is probably one of the most difficult comic book characters to write because moderns do not understand the fact that Superman isn’t really Superman. He isn’t even Kal El. He is Clark Kent. The fact that Superman so strongly identifies with the Everyman and wants to live a normal life as a human being is the reason he is a hero. Clark Kent understands what the Everyman desires, needs, and fears because he tries so hard to be the Everyman, despite the fact he can never truly be Everyman. At the heart of this character is a level of humility that most people today do not comprehend. Rather, they look to his power and fantasize about what they would do if they were Superman. In so doing, they reveal themselves to be monsters, because Clark Kent would give up his powers in a heart beat if it meant he could live a peaceful, normal life.

The Context

Superman was created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster. Importantly, both were Jews at a time when the nation-state of Israel did not exist and Europe was not a safe place for Jews to live. One can speculate about the fact that “Superman” is an English translation of the German “Übermensch;” however, that leads us back to the power fantasies of monsters. In truth, the Jewishness of Siegel, Shuster, and Superman say less about being Jewish and more about being American in the first decades of the 20th century. While living as a Jew in the rest of the world was difficult at best, America provided a place where Jews could not only thrive, but be accepted as Americans. Take a look at these celebrated American artists of the early 20th century:

• Jack Benny

• Irving Berlin

• Leonard Bernstein

• George Burns

• Aaron Copeland

• Will Eisner

• George Gershwin

• The Marx Brothers

• Mae West

And I could go on and on…ever single one of them is a Jew, but we don’t think of them as Jewish-Americans. Every one of them is embraced simply as American.

The Symbol

Thus, Clark Kent and his hope to be Everyman, and Superman’s acceptance as a hero all hinge on the Jewish experience of the United States in the early 20th century. In other words, Superman symbolizes America at her best. This is why Superman landed in Kansas at a farm raised by a good Christian family. There is nothing more American.

So, modern writers who attempt to make Superman a hero of the world, a man who uses his power to make the earth a better place are doomed to fail. Superman isn’t an all-earth hero. If he were, he wouldn’t be a hero. He would be a villain: a demi-god with enough power to force the world and its people to bend to his will and his vision of the “good.” This is why so many superman clones end up as villains. Without the Kents, without the Jewish experience of America, without the Christian values that gird the American experiment, Superman is not Clark Kent. Superman is not a hero. Superman is a monster. Clark Kent and his humility, his desire to be the Everyman, and his American-ness is the hero.

I live in hope that someone, somewhere understands these things and writes the stories this wonderful character deserves. Unfortunately, my cynical self denies this possibility anytime soon. It is neither cool nor politically correct to celebrate the best of America or the Christian values that make that best version possible.

St. Prokopius the Great

Today is the Feast of St. Prokopius, after which I named this blog. I realize I haven’t been very active in quite awhile and that I still have a couple of projects awaiting my return: both the Suleiman Subsector map as well as a Five Parsecs From Home Campaign. What hobby time I have has been eaten up by an even more agressive version of Gamer ADD that afflicts those of us who love to paint minis. One might call it “OOoo I want to paint THAT!”

Here are a couple of examples:

In the meantime, I wanted to tell the story of how I met St. Prokopius. I was travelling with a group to Mt. Athos (the center of monasticism on the Orthodox World) with the intention of visiting 4 or 5 monasteries. Unfortunately, I had injured my foot just a few days prior on a stone step and it was swollen and angry. Our supervisor decided to try and find any kind of medical advise or treatment upon our arrival. I was placed on a bench to await any possible outcome. This bench was placed in front of a young soldier saint, whose name I did not know. While trying to make out his name, and wondering about his story, I was told that there was a doctor that would see me.

I was led through a maze of byzantine hallways until a pair of ancient doors revealed a white, modern, hospital examination room with several very cool looking pieces of medical equipment. My doctor introduced himself as a convert from Mexico City and proceeded to conclude that my foot was probably not broken, but that I should have it X-Rayed when I got home. He gave me some ant-inflammatory cream and sent me on my way.

I managed to hobble through the next several days and monasteries, but I noticed something peculiar. Everytime I would find a place inside the chapel where we were doing services, I found this young soldier saint standing in front of me as an icon. Every single time.

When I got home, a thourough examination of my foot found absolutely nothing wrong and I learned that the young soldier was St. Prokopius the Great Martyr. He served under the Emperor Diocletian and was appointed as Duke of Alexandria, where he was sent to persecute Christians. After having a Road to Damascus moment, he became a Christian to horror of his mother. In an attempt to persuade her son to change his mind, his mother turned him in to the authorities.

As you might expect, the ploy failed spectacularly and Prokopius underwent all kinds of tortures. This inspired even his own guards to become Christians only to be executed as martyrs. His mother, seeing all of this joined them. She, St. Theodosia, is celebrated today along with her son.

He has been inpiring me since.

I hope to have more soon.

Christ is Risen!

  

[Hades] received a body and encountered God. It took earth and came face to face with heaven. It took what it saw and fell by what it could not see. Death, where is your sting? Hades, where is your victory? Christ is risen and you are overthrown. Christ is risen and demons have fallen. Christ is risen and angels rejoice. Christ is risen and life rules. Christ is risen and not one dead remains in the tomb. — Paschal Homily by St. John Chrysostom