David J Prokopetz
LightNews LightNews
prokopetz.bsky.social
David J Prokopetz
@prokopetz.bsky.social
6.7K followers 270 following 2.6K posts
Main site at https://prokopetz.net
Posts Replies Media Videos
prokopetz.bsky.social
Lest I be accused of speaking of that which I know not of.
A screenshot of a Windows Explorer window displaying MP3 files variously dated throughout 2002 through 2005. Notable titles include "Simon And Garfunkle - Sound of Silence, The (1966)" (Garfunkel is misspelled in the original filename), "Sinister Ducks - March of the Sinister Ducks", "Sir Mixalot - I Like Big Butts", "Sisters of Mercy - Temple of Love", and "Snap - Rhythm is a Dancer".
November 9, 2025 at 7:16 PM
prokopetz.bsky.social
Some interesting questions have come in the course of playtesting Eat God lately.
Limit Breaks & Missing Information For all their potency, Limit Breaks can be stymied by their wielder's ignorance; theirs is the power to create meaning, not to discern meaning which already exists. For example, a God- eater could not use a Limit Break to transport themself into the presence of “the person who ate my sandwich” unless they already know who that is; indeed, if the God-eater is mistaken about the sandwich-thief's identity, Limit Break effects which target or depend on that identity will replicate their mistake. This is not to say that Limit Breaks cannot enable a God-eater to gain information. Faced with a closed door, a God-eater could use a Limit Break to turn the walls to glass, or bring the door to life and ask it what it conceals. They could even teleport “whatever is behind this door” into their presence, as this effect does not depend on knowing anything about the target other than its location – though if there is in fact nothing there, this may have interesting consequences. (begin sidebar) Metaphysics notwithstanding, the main reason this guideline exists is to avoid overburdening players with the need to invent large swathes of new information every time they narrate the outcomes of their Limit Breaks; you may set it aside at your own peril. (end sidebar)
November 5, 2025 at 4:07 AM
prokopetz.bsky.social
Look, I'm not saying the mechsploitation meme's relationship with its ostensible source media is beyond critique, but when folks go so far as to assert that the "fucked up combat doll with an inappropriate relationship with their handler" bit has NO basis in the genre's canon whatever, I'm just like
Cropped image of a promotional poster for "Neon Genesis Evangelion", depicting Asuka, Shinji, and Rei, from left to right.
October 30, 2025 at 7:07 PM
prokopetz.bsky.social
"Eat God" has been in playtesting for over a year and this morning is the first time that anyone has ever pointed out that Fluttering Flight doesn't actually define what "short range" means. Let's fix that!
33. Fluttering Flight: You're capable of short-range flight. This ability could stem from a number of features; for example, you might have stubby wings, or make gliding leaps, or you might inflate your body and float like a balloon. * Always: You can fly in your particular fashion, with a top speed equal to your running speed. You may travel or ascend a Near distance in this way before you need to land, though you may descend safely from any height. * With Effort: Travel or ascend a Far distance before landing. Alternatively, flutter just out of reach; for as long as you sustain this effort, you can take six (p. 66) on tests to evade or escape from non-flight-capable characters.
October 29, 2025 at 3:27 PM
prokopetz.bsky.social
Me, half-joking: If we're REALLY committed to accessibility, the alt text for erotica ought to be just as horny as the visuals.

Art blog I saw just now: *describes its posts in the flustered idiom of DeviantArt softcore circa 2005, complete with referring to penises as "peens"*

The monkey's paw:
October 27, 2025 at 9:48 PM
prokopetz.bsky.social
1st try: Vastly overestimated interest; only hit first goal of a long ladder at the very end of the campaign.

2nd try: Vastly underestimated interest; blew through entire stretch ladder on day 1, had to scramble to recruit more guest writers while the campaign was still running (fun).

3rd try: ???
A screenshot of three crowdfunding campaigns. The earliest, "Costume Fairy Adventures", shows 122% funding reached on December 10, 2013. The second, "Cerebos: The Crystal City", shows 1416% funded on April 10, 2021. The last, "Eat God", shows 228% funding with 11 days of a 31-day campaign yet to go.
October 20, 2025 at 8:38 PM
prokopetz.bsky.social
This is one of my favourite magic items from the era of D&D before they figured out how to do keywording, partly for the list of modifiers as long as your arm, but mostly because, okay, +2 versus regenerators and +4 versus undead make some thematic sense, but then it's randomly +3 against birds?
An excerpt from the "Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 2nd Edition" Dungeon Master's Guide, reading: "Sword +1, flame tongue, +2 vs. regenerating creatures, +3 vs. cold-using, inflammable, or avian creatures, +4 vs. undead: This sheds light when its possessor speaks a command [...]" (the sentence is cut off by the end of the text column)
October 19, 2025 at 6:23 AM
prokopetz.bsky.social
This is not helping.
A pie chart of poll results regarding which format "Eat God" backers would prefer for a hypothetical printed playset collection. "Fancy hardcover" and "no-frills softcover" are precisely tied at 47.6%, with the remainder of the chart taken up by the response "Not interested".
October 18, 2025 at 8:57 PM
prokopetz.bsky.social
In a recent playtest review of "Eat God" (penguinking.itch.io/eat-god) it was pointed out to me that the text repeatedly implies the existence of this rule, but it's not actually stated anywhere. Thus:
Removing NPCs From Play NPCs with Stress Limits enjoy a measure of protection from the outcomes of player actions, particularly with respect to a player's narration on a successful test. The rule that a player's narration must be commensurate with the degree of success achieved is extended thusly: a player's description of a test's outcome may not cause an NPC with a Stress Limit to be involuntarily removed from play, nor entirely prevent them from taking meaningful action, unless that NPC is Stressed Out (including Stressing Out because of the test being narrated). This rule takes priority over all others. (begin sidebar) This restriction applies even to Limit Breaks (p. 81), though it may be relaxed if the Result of the Limit Break's test added to any Stress already incurred by the affected NPC exceeds their Stress Limit. (end sidebar)
October 18, 2025 at 5:35 AM
prokopetz.bsky.social
A proposed rewrite for the forthcoming v0.7.0 of Eat God (www.kickstarter.com/projects/pen...). It's been remarked in playtesting that this Art is insufficiently bullshit, comparatively; I've tried several approaches to fixing that, but I think this one hits the right Looney Tunes bullshit factor.
15–16. Art of Ascension: You refute the lie of gravity. * While you sustain this art, you may vary the strength and direction of gravity at will; for example, you might “fall” upward, walk on walls, or perch on a spider's web. * At your option, this Art may affect only yourself; only things you are touching; or everything within Near range of you. You can alter this choice without reactivating this Art. A creature or object must fit entirely within Near range of you to be affected. * You may not increase the strength of gravity beyond its ordinary magnitude by means of this Art. * This Art should be practiced with caution outdoors.
October 11, 2025 at 12:29 AM
prokopetz.bsky.social
I think this is a good sign.
A super zoomed in screenshot of the Kickstater project backer counter, reading "666 backers".
October 6, 2025 at 10:59 PM
prokopetz.bsky.social
Look, the rules as written CLEARLY state

("Eat God" is forthcoming on Kickstarter: www.kickstarter.com/projects/pen...; illustration by @curatrix-ribston.bsky.social)
Illustration of a four-armed creature with an onion-like head and an anthropomorphic moth bickering over a large, open book in front of them. The book is upside down.
September 30, 2025 at 2:45 PM
prokopetz.bsky.social
Collected stretch goals for the forthcoming KS for "Eat God" (www.kickstarter.com/projects/pen...), for those who wanted to see it in once place. Remember to hit "notify me" – having more pre-launch followers does Algorithm stuff when a project goes live.

(Graphics by @curatrix-ribston.bsky.social)
A preview of the Kickstarter stretch ladder for "Eat God". The listed stretch goals are, in order: The Dazzling Below, by Titanomachy RPG The Sockiathan, by Wendy Ribston Pippin The Eternal Exhibition, by Austin Ramsay A Confabulation of Wastrels, by Zach Welhouse and Ashley Flanagan Biting at the Ankles of Giants, by thy dungeon gal The Empire Express, by Erika Chappell and Alexandra Altringham Strange Alliances, by David J Prokopetz The Infinite Summer Palace, by Jay Dragon To Be Announced
September 29, 2025 at 12:18 AM
prokopetz.bsky.social
An example of a pre-filled character sheet for "Eat God" we're working up for the Kickstarter page (www.kickstarter.com/projects/pen...), if you're terribly curious what a designed rather than randomly generated character might look like.
A pre-filled character sheet for "Eat God", with a large, horned, bird-like humanoid with a fat, pear-shaped body and fluffy green feathers playing a lute in the portrait box. The filled-in stats show Facets of Ethos 5, Pathos 7, and Logos 3; Forms of Striking Stature (Bulky), Masterful Mimic, and Prismatic Pelt; and mastery of the Art of Exposition.
September 27, 2025 at 9:40 PM
prokopetz.bsky.social
Post hole.
A screenshot from the "Silent Hill 2" remake, depicting protagonist James Sunderland looking at a message scrawled on the wall of Neely's Bar. The message reads: "There was a Hole here. It's gone now".
September 22, 2025 at 6:09 PM
prokopetz.bsky.social
Rob Zombie's "Dragula" is a much more entertaining song if you know what the original Dragula from "The Munsters" actually looked like. I want you to tell me exactly which part of this car you would be "slamming" in, Rob.
A photo of the original Dragula from the television series "The Munsters". It's a low-slung drag racer with a modified wooden casket for a body, organ-pipes projecting from the sides in lieu of exhaust pipes, a front-mounted marble tombstone for a license plate, and a single driver's seat toward the extreme rear of the vehicle, covered by a transparent bubble dome.
September 21, 2025 at 9:40 PM
prokopetz.bsky.social
Some teasers of the prototype PDF design for the expanded e-book version of Eat God, currently in pre-launch on Kickstarter: www.kickstarter.com/projects/pen...; layout and illustrations by @curatrix-ribston.bsky.social.
Preview of a prototype PDF layout for the expanded e-book version of "Eat God", depicting the "Introduction" section. Preview of a prototype PDF layout for the expanded e-book version of "Eat God", depicting the "Trait Forms" section; a God-eater wearing a lit candle on its head peeks out from behind the d66 table of random Forms. Preview of a prototype PDF layout for the expanded e-book version of "Eat God", depicting the "Making Tests" section.
September 19, 2025 at 10:14 PM
prokopetz.bsky.social
I bet some would.
A cropped screenshot from "Hollow Knight: Silksong", picturing the protagonist, Hornet, speaking to a clockwork automaton amid the ruins of a gilded citadel. A name card to the lower right identifies the automaton as the Second Sentinel. Hornet's dialogue reads: "Some would argue that standing guard over a kingdom's corpse is a foolish task, empty of meaning. I wonder, then, will you still hold true to your charge?"
September 17, 2025 at 12:23 AM
prokopetz.bsky.social
Putting together some guidance for Secret Techniques in "Eat God", per recent requests. This material will appear in revision 0.6.2.

(Eat God's crowdfunding campaign is launching on Kickstarter within the next few weeks; you can follow the pre-launch page here: www.kickstarter.com/projects/pen...)
Designing Secret Techniques There are several ways to design a Secret Technique for one of your Forms. Firstly, you can borrow the effortful effect of a different Form, gaining a more limited or context-dependent version suited to your own Form's idiom. For example: * With Bottomless Belly, learn to expel a previously swallowed object with deadly range and accuracy, per the effortful effect of Menacing Missiles * With Firm Flesh, master the Mountain Stance, becoming immovable from the spot where you stand, save through the total destruction of the ground beneath you, per the effortful effect of Sticky Steps * With Weaving Webs, hone your skill at securing sticky threads to objects at range, per the effortful effect of Lanky Limbs, or learn to spend a minute spinning a protective cocoon and place yourself in suspended animation, per the effortful effect of Firm Flesh Secondly, you can choose to gain full access to a version of a different Form's non-effortful effect, though it becomes a sustained effortful action for you. For example: * With Flowing Form, squish to elude any grasp, per the non-effortful effect of Defensive Dermis (Slippery) * With Primordial Power (Fire), propel yourself through the air with bursts of flame, per the non-effortful effect of Fluttering Flight * With Prismatic Pelt, modulate your colouration to display distracting or hypnotic patterns, per the non-effortful effect of Languorous Lure Thirdly, given a Form which requires a choice of one of several options when it is acquired, you can gain access to another of that Form's options, choosing among them with a few moments' effort; this effort need not be sustained once the change is complete. For example: * With Fulsome Fluids, tinker with your internal alchemy, allowing your secretions to become alternately Adhesive or Slippery * With Striking Stature, attain the enlightenment that size is a matter of perspective, gaining the ability to swap between being Bulky and Puny * With Superior Sense, rearrange your facial features using spare organs you keep in a bag, shifting your enhanced perception between Hearing and Smell Finally, you can devise an entirely new effect suited to the Form in question. This option should always be reviewed by the GM (or by the group, in GMless play) to ensure everyone agrees the effect you've invented is reasonable. Some examples might include: * With Cunning Crafter, become able to pass through surfaces made of your resonant material, or simply submerge yourself into them and lurk undetectably for as long as you sustain the effort * With Curative Corpus, spend three points of your supply to concoct a fortifying elixir, granting the imbiber a +1 tool bonus to a specific type of action for the remainder of the scene * With Modal Morphology, explore the possibilities of chimeric transformation, becoming able to manifest your Forms in any combination (though still only two plus Modal Morphology at any given time)
September 14, 2025 at 6:03 PM
prokopetz.bsky.social
Prototype character sheet for "Eat God", designed by @curatrix-ribston.bsky.social. We are aware that many folks' first impression of a game is dictated by its character sheet; thus we throw ourselves on the mercy of the masses. PDF version available here: www.penguinking.games/files/eat-go...
Character sheet for "Eat God".
September 14, 2025 at 12:57 AM
prokopetz.bsky.social
I enjoy how the way some NPCs react to Hornet in Silksong implies that she's got that "hundreds of years old but permanently stuck looking like a teenager because Immortality" thing going on, but the all character designs are only vaguely anthropomorphic, so what that looks like in practice is just
Hornet's default idle sprite; it depicts a flared, high-collared crimson cloak with a large, white, crescent-shaped head with two black dots for eyes and no other facial features poking out the top, and a pair of spindly black legs with no visible feet protruding from the bottom. She holds a spear-like weapon resembling an enormous sewing needle longer than she is tall.
September 11, 2025 at 6:42 AM
prokopetz.bsky.social
Me, making my way through the Citadel after 20 hours: You know, it feels like I must be pretty close to endgame at this point. That's just a vibe that I'm getting.

The achievements:
A screenshot of a Steam achievements list for "Hollow Knight: Silksong", showing 4/7 Crests, 15/28 area maps, 2/6 Silk Skills, 8/18 Spool Fragments, 5/20 Mask Shards, and 19/51 Tools acquired.
September 9, 2025 at 7:26 PM
prokopetz.bsky.social
Sure, I probably COULD have addressed this with a one-line FAQ entry, but that wouldn't have given me an excuse to bust out the "heavy Moon" example.

(An excerpt of ongoing playtest revisions to "Eat God", a tabletop RPG launching soon on Kickstarter: www.kickstarter.com/projects/pen...)
Limit Break Complications The test to perform a Limit Break can incur complications like any other test. These complications may be banal, such as an epic act of consumption causing equally epic indigestion, or a painting brought to life having an annoying personality. Alternatively, they may represent some esoteric warping of the intended effect; for example, when stealing the Moon from the sky, a complication may produce a pocket-size Moon which is impossibly heavy, causing anyone who carries it to become overloaded (p. 91). Under most circumstances, the Calamity Threshold for a Limit Break cannot be improved beyond 11+; even the “safest” Limit Break entails some risk of chaos. If the GM determines that taking six (p. 65) on a Limit Break test is possible at all, doing so will typically require extensive preparations and a lengthy ritual, occupying no less than a full scene.
September 8, 2025 at 6:59 PM
prokopetz.bsky.social
Auspicious.
A screenshot of the Kickstarter pre-launch widget for "Eat God". Text below the "Notify me on launch" button reads "137 followers". The text is circled in red.
September 2, 2025 at 11:21 PM
prokopetz.bsky.social
Soon.™
A promotional banner for the tabletop roleplaying game "Eat God". It depicts a fantastical landscape with twin suns rising over a vista of rocky spires, surmounted by the game's title. To the left of the title is a group of five small goblin-like creatures; below the title is a subtitle reading "a tabletop roleplaying game about causing problems on purpose".
August 27, 2025 at 3:32 AM