Dan LK, Living Deliciously
@2ndlevelbard.bsky.social
Editor/instructional designer by day, funny dice enthusiast after hours. Sometime DMs Guild author, forever DM. Horror fan. Gourmand. Salty descriptivist. GenX, bi, enby, polyam. He/him, more or less.
Here for elfgames, horror, & occasional leftism.
Here for elfgames, horror, & occasional leftism.
Pinned
If you've ever been tempted to buy something I've made, now is a great time! I'm following up this post with a bunch of links where you can do that.
Feel free to share!
Feel free to share!
Reposted by Dan LK, Living Deliciously
Alright friends. It's been over a year, but I think we're actually ready to...announce that we're almost ready!
The Level One RPG *prelaunch* page is now live on Kickstarter!
www.kickstarter.com/projects/the...
Do me a favor - repost, sign up, maybe try the Beta download on Itch!
#TTRPG #IndieDev
The Level One RPG *prelaunch* page is now live on Kickstarter!
www.kickstarter.com/projects/the...
Do me a favor - repost, sign up, maybe try the Beta download on Itch!
#TTRPG #IndieDev
Coming soon: Level One: A Flexible Fantasy TTRPG
A forty-year passion project to match your style of play, be it narrative, tactical, OSR, or other.
www.kickstarter.com
December 27, 2025 at 2:52 AM
Alright friends. It's been over a year, but I think we're actually ready to...announce that we're almost ready!
The Level One RPG *prelaunch* page is now live on Kickstarter!
www.kickstarter.com/projects/the...
Do me a favor - repost, sign up, maybe try the Beta download on Itch!
#TTRPG #IndieDev
The Level One RPG *prelaunch* page is now live on Kickstarter!
www.kickstarter.com/projects/the...
Do me a favor - repost, sign up, maybe try the Beta download on Itch!
#TTRPG #IndieDev
Reposted by Dan LK, Living Deliciously
Movies aren’t always meant to be shunted into categories of like and don’t like. If you leave the theater or press “exit” and you’re thinking “Ok I don’t know about some of that, I have thoughts,” congratulations you’re engaging with art! Its own special thing.
December 28, 2025 at 2:04 AM
Movies aren’t always meant to be shunted into categories of like and don’t like. If you leave the theater or press “exit” and you’re thinking “Ok I don’t know about some of that, I have thoughts,” congratulations you’re engaging with art! Its own special thing.
Reposted by Dan LK, Living Deliciously
A reminder that the key to writing is getting the very best out of your brain, but in order to get the best out of it you have to take care of your mental health. Stress, concern, and depression will take a toll on your work. So always make sure to take care of YOU and you'll get your best work.
December 27, 2025 at 6:45 PM
A reminder that the key to writing is getting the very best out of your brain, but in order to get the best out of it you have to take care of your mental health. Stress, concern, and depression will take a toll on your work. So always make sure to take care of YOU and you'll get your best work.
Reposted by Dan LK, Living Deliciously
My version of this is "the [whatever] police will not come and arrest you" - you can often do whatever the hell you want, and should! I used to sell spice blends and folks would always ask "can I use this dip mix in chicken salad?" You can use anything for anything! The spice police did not come.
This also reminds me of one of my favorite social media mental health aphorisms: run the dishwasher twice. Stop making rakes for yourself to step on.
December 27, 2025 at 8:35 PM
My version of this is "the [whatever] police will not come and arrest you" - you can often do whatever the hell you want, and should! I used to sell spice blends and folks would always ask "can I use this dip mix in chicken salad?" You can use anything for anything! The spice police did not come.
The formula "Must fulfill at least 2 of [true/necessary/kind]" remains a vital yardstick, though it seems there are folks determined to put a strain on "necessary" far beyond its capacity.
I’m not saying that all nice behavior is pretending. But acting nice when we don’t FEEL nice is one of the primary things that holds a society together.
Voicing or acting on our cruelest thoughts isn’t some laudable form of “honesty,” it’s an act of social corrosion.
Voicing or acting on our cruelest thoughts isn’t some laudable form of “honesty,” it’s an act of social corrosion.
December 27, 2025 at 10:22 PM
The formula "Must fulfill at least 2 of [true/necessary/kind]" remains a vital yardstick, though it seems there are folks determined to put a strain on "necessary" far beyond its capacity.
The principle of Sardaukar Never Help
Late empires consistently develop an array of highly elite military units to enforce their rule. They collapse anyway.
December 27, 2025 at 5:16 PM
The principle of Sardaukar Never Help
Reposted by Dan LK, Living Deliciously
Like this one's such a common factor in imperial collapses I'm surprised it's not mentioned more. Not in all of them, but in *a lot.* Applies to empires large and small. From Rome to Rhodesia.
Late empires consistently develop an array of highly elite military units to enforce their rule. They collapse anyway.
December 27, 2025 at 5:00 PM
Like this one's such a common factor in imperial collapses I'm surprised it's not mentioned more. Not in all of them, but in *a lot.* Applies to empires large and small. From Rome to Rhodesia.
Reposted by Dan LK, Living Deliciously
I've been talking about Castle Automatic a lot, but I want to make sure I pull the camera back and talk about the game system it's built for, HIS MAJESTY THE WORM, too. Gonna make a 🧵 about the core game's principles and add to it over the coming week.
(First post below!)
(First post below!)
December 26, 2025 at 4:44 PM
I've been talking about Castle Automatic a lot, but I want to make sure I pull the camera back and talk about the game system it's built for, HIS MAJESTY THE WORM, too. Gonna make a 🧵 about the core game's principles and add to it over the coming week.
(First post below!)
(First post below!)
Reposted by Dan LK, Living Deliciously
Supremacy wants to gain all the benefits of society without paying any natural costs, like fair competition.
This response to even the slightest leveling of the playing field demonstrates how committed to the supremacist notion we white folk still are.
Imagine if we ever experienced true equality.
This response to even the slightest leveling of the playing field demonstrates how committed to the supremacist notion we white folk still are.
Imagine if we ever experienced true equality.
December 27, 2025 at 3:19 PM
Supremacy wants to gain all the benefits of society without paying any natural costs, like fair competition.
This response to even the slightest leveling of the playing field demonstrates how committed to the supremacist notion we white folk still are.
Imagine if we ever experienced true equality.
This response to even the slightest leveling of the playing field demonstrates how committed to the supremacist notion we white folk still are.
Imagine if we ever experienced true equality.
Last night's spooky fireside reading included @lcvonhessen.bsky.social's "The Patent-Master," a deliciously eerie and unsettling story that also quietly slips in a rebuke of hipster antinatalism every bit as sharp and scathing as @lairdbarron.bsky.social's "More Dark."
December 27, 2025 at 4:29 PM
Last night's spooky fireside reading included @lcvonhessen.bsky.social's "The Patent-Master," a deliciously eerie and unsettling story that also quietly slips in a rebuke of hipster antinatalism every bit as sharp and scathing as @lairdbarron.bsky.social's "More Dark."
Reposted by Dan LK, Living Deliciously
Wonderful, exciting news – my Reynard the Fox is now an audiobook! Completely unabridged and read by the perfect narrator, Joseph Edward Degnan. It's available now at all the usual places, see below for links and a clip!
Sometimes the Maleperduys kitchens were cold and bare,
with only potage and pea soup and coarse dark bread and lean
scraps of bacon and dull, cheap dishes like peas-on-a-stick...
The new #audiobook of #folktale Reynard the Fox, by @annelouiseavery.bsky.social @bodleian.ox.ac.uk 🦊
➡️ lnk.to/Reynard
with only potage and pea soup and coarse dark bread and lean
scraps of bacon and dull, cheap dishes like peas-on-a-stick...
The new #audiobook of #folktale Reynard the Fox, by @annelouiseavery.bsky.social @bodleian.ox.ac.uk 🦊
➡️ lnk.to/Reynard
December 9, 2025 at 11:05 PM
Wonderful, exciting news – my Reynard the Fox is now an audiobook! Completely unabridged and read by the perfect narrator, Joseph Edward Degnan. It's available now at all the usual places, see below for links and a clip!
Reposted by Dan LK, Living Deliciously
It's an amusement park ride. What would be the point of having high quality writing? Has anyone ever complained about the writing on a roller coaster?
The point is to have a good time, and when you get off the ride you don't think about it again. Lots of people are perfectly happy with that.
The point is to have a good time, and when you get off the ride you don't think about it again. Lots of people are perfectly happy with that.
The debate about Avatar "having no cultural impact" is kind of a smokescreen for the actual argument which is that Avatar is "boring" and "bad" and "has terrible characters, worldbuilding, plotting and dialogue"
December 27, 2025 at 7:42 AM
It's an amusement park ride. What would be the point of having high quality writing? Has anyone ever complained about the writing on a roller coaster?
The point is to have a good time, and when you get off the ride you don't think about it again. Lots of people are perfectly happy with that.
The point is to have a good time, and when you get off the ride you don't think about it again. Lots of people are perfectly happy with that.
Reposted by Dan LK, Living Deliciously
And to be clear, I don’t ask this in the workshop because you need to be a specific person or have notoriety to speak to cool people. Never!
But you DO need to know how to have a conversation that lets them feel humanized.
Which means knowing the value you bring. It’s grounded confidence.
But you DO need to know how to have a conversation that lets them feel humanized.
Which means knowing the value you bring. It’s grounded confidence.
December 27, 2025 at 2:25 AM
And to be clear, I don’t ask this in the workshop because you need to be a specific person or have notoriety to speak to cool people. Never!
But you DO need to know how to have a conversation that lets them feel humanized.
Which means knowing the value you bring. It’s grounded confidence.
But you DO need to know how to have a conversation that lets them feel humanized.
Which means knowing the value you bring. It’s grounded confidence.
Do True Crime TV narrators take special training so all their line deliveries sound completely stupid or
December 27, 2025 at 2:21 AM
Do True Crime TV narrators take special training so all their line deliveries sound completely stupid or
Reposted by Dan LK, Living Deliciously
There are people who go to conferences with all the warmth of a circling shark looking for a meal, and that is not how you forge friendships in this biz.
December 26, 2025 at 9:36 PM
There are people who go to conferences with all the warmth of a circling shark looking for a meal, and that is not how you forge friendships in this biz.
This essay really made me sit up and cheer. It says a lot of things that resonate for me about design and play and intent and how those things converge.
I've been thinking a lot about Batfam headcanons, cozy roleplay in D&D, and what it means to assert whether or not a game supports a certain kind of play. So I wrote down my thoughts and turned them into an inaugural post on my new itch blog! seraphim-seraphina.itch.io/my-blog/devl...
What do we mean when we say a game “supports” play?
What do we mean when we say a game “supports” play? This is the first in a series whose placeholder title is “Lunch Break Lectures”. I’m trying to create an avenue for putting my thoughts ou...
seraphim-seraphina.itch.io
December 26, 2025 at 9:07 PM
This essay really made me sit up and cheer. It says a lot of things that resonate for me about design and play and intent and how those things converge.
Reposted by Dan LK, Living Deliciously
the shit I care least in the whole world about is whether the story about the Earl of Sandwich is true. yes it fucking was. my man was playing cards and eating meat with his hands and then he said hold up check this out. you won't believe this shit. bring me some fucking bread & hold onto your hats
December 26, 2025 at 3:57 PM
the shit I care least in the whole world about is whether the story about the Earl of Sandwich is true. yes it fucking was. my man was playing cards and eating meat with his hands and then he said hold up check this out. you won't believe this shit. bring me some fucking bread & hold onto your hats
Here's the thing: people don't reliably know what they'll like. In 1977, I don't think anyone could have said "The public is desperately hungry for mystic samurai space opera."
Make the thing only you can make. Lean in to your obsessions. Your audience might not even know it exists yet.
Make the thing only you can make. Lean in to your obsessions. Your audience might not even know it exists yet.
Constantly reminding myself to make the game that I want to make instead of the thing I think more people will like
December 26, 2025 at 6:38 PM
Here's the thing: people don't reliably know what they'll like. In 1977, I don't think anyone could have said "The public is desperately hungry for mystic samurai space opera."
Make the thing only you can make. Lean in to your obsessions. Your audience might not even know it exists yet.
Make the thing only you can make. Lean in to your obsessions. Your audience might not even know it exists yet.
Reposted by Dan LK, Living Deliciously
Essentially, I think that LLM-generated dialogue only makes sense if you believe that the product of writing is words.
But the product of writing isn't words, any more than the product of justice is prisoners, or the product of love is weddings. The product of writing is meaning.
But the product of writing isn't words, any more than the product of justice is prisoners, or the product of love is weddings. The product of writing is meaning.
I had five fascinating conversations for this RPS piece, gathering perspectives on genAI chatbots in games, as seen in Where Winds Meet. Thanks to @meghna.bsky.social, @pyrofoux.bsky.social, @maxkreminski.bsky.social, and @chrisgardiner.bsky.social www.rockpapershotgun.com/horrible-bor...
"Horrible", "boring", and "cheap": Experts pan new chatbot NPCs, but some leave room for optimism
We speak to a collection of developers and AI experts about the potential impact of LLM-powered NPCs in videogames.
www.rockpapershotgun.com
December 23, 2025 at 7:06 PM
Essentially, I think that LLM-generated dialogue only makes sense if you believe that the product of writing is words.
But the product of writing isn't words, any more than the product of justice is prisoners, or the product of love is weddings. The product of writing is meaning.
But the product of writing isn't words, any more than the product of justice is prisoners, or the product of love is weddings. The product of writing is meaning.
Reposted by Dan LK, Living Deliciously
A good series of skeets, but oh yes, this. This is also why it’s so important that not everyone is called to ministry. One of the best things about Hindu holy text imho is that it bothers to be explicit about how most people are gonna just… have normal lives and do normal stuff and that too is holy.
When you are called to serve the lord in a position of ministry, if you are doing so for personal gain, you are performing a base evil, setting yourself ahead at the cost of those around you. Yeah its hard. It goes against human nature. We want to beat people, we want to succeed and be lauded.
December 26, 2025 at 4:07 PM
A good series of skeets, but oh yes, this. This is also why it’s so important that not everyone is called to ministry. One of the best things about Hindu holy text imho is that it bothers to be explicit about how most people are gonna just… have normal lives and do normal stuff and that too is holy.
Reposted by Dan LK, Living Deliciously
“Woke” is just being aware of these structures of power and authority and knowing that they are there to justify the abuse of others.
The “war on woke” is those the restoration of these structures for the purposes of abusing others.
The “war on woke” is those the restoration of these structures for the purposes of abusing others.
December 26, 2025 at 3:59 PM
“Woke” is just being aware of these structures of power and authority and knowing that they are there to justify the abuse of others.
The “war on woke” is those the restoration of these structures for the purposes of abusing others.
The “war on woke” is those the restoration of these structures for the purposes of abusing others.
I had forgotten that "The Story of a Disappearance and an Appearance" (the one James story that actually takes place on Christmas) is particularly unsettling and strange even by Uncle Monty's standards.
Presents have been given, feast has been feasted upon, and now it's time to commune with the armchair and some M.R. James. Gaudete!
December 26, 2025 at 1:16 AM
I had forgotten that "The Story of a Disappearance and an Appearance" (the one James story that actually takes place on Christmas) is particularly unsettling and strange even by Uncle Monty's standards.
Reposted by Dan LK, Living Deliciously
Merry Christmas to people with strained families, shitty families, or no family at all. I promise you there are so many of us who are struggling to get through these days, as best we can, and that's enough. You are not alone.❤️
December 25, 2025 at 7:25 PM
Merry Christmas to people with strained families, shitty families, or no family at all. I promise you there are so many of us who are struggling to get through these days, as best we can, and that's enough. You are not alone.❤️
Presents have been given, feast has been feasted upon, and now it's time to commune with the armchair and some M.R. James. Gaudete!
December 26, 2025 at 12:37 AM
Presents have been given, feast has been feasted upon, and now it's time to commune with the armchair and some M.R. James. Gaudete!