QQ&A: AI

This week’s question: where’s AI up to these days?

A few months ago, I used one of the ubiquitous image generators to create a battlemap. The result was pretty good but it didn’t match my prompt. I also had to filter out dozens of wildly inappropriate images. I mean, a battlemap should be a top-down view. Even specifying that still gave me mostly beautiful, artistic and side-on pictures.

I played with ChatGPT recently. It’s better than that. Judge for yourself whether better is good:

Encounter Design

Prompt:

Design a Dungeons and Dragons encounter set in the duergar city of Gracklesturg, including combat and social intrigue. Include morally grey conundrums. The party are popular and respected when they arrive in the city, but the encounter should challenge their social standing

Result:

In the underground city of Gracklesturg, the party is welcomed as honored guests by the duergar inhabitants. The city is a hub of trade and commerce, and the party is invited to participate in a series of negotiations with the city's various factions.

As the party navigates the complex political landscape of Gracklesturg, they must navigate a series of morally grey conundrums. For example, one faction may offer them a lucrative trade deal, but at the expense of another faction. The party must decide whether to prioritize their own gain or to consider the well-being of the city as a whole.

As the negotiations progress, tensions begin to rise between the factions and the party finds themselves in the middle of a power struggle. They must choose which side to support, and their decisions will have consequences for their standing in the city.

Ultimately, the negotiations break down and violence erupts. The party must fight their way out of the city, facing off against the various factions and their hired mercenaries. The battles will be fierce, and the party's reputation and standing in the city will be at stake.

Throughout the encounter, the party will be faced with difficult choices that will challenge their morals and test their loyalty to their own values. How they handle these challenges will determine their fate in Gracklesturg and beyond.

Prompt:

Design a Dungeons and Dragons encounter set on a beach between an elven forest and the ocean. Include puzzles, combat, mysteries and social intrigue.

Result:

The party arrives on a beautiful beach that stretches between an elven forest and the ocean. As they explore the area, they come across a group of merfolk who have washed ashore and are in need of help. The merfolk are being pursued by a group of sahuagin, vicious creatures who live in the ocean and are hostile to outsiders.

The party must help the merfolk by solving a series of puzzles and riddles that will reveal the location of a hidden underground cave. The cave is the only safe place for the merfolk to hide from the sahuagin, and the party must escort them there.

As they explore the cave, the party uncovers a mysterious ancient artifact that the sahuagin are searching for. The artifact is incredibly powerful, and the party must decide whether to keep it for themselves or to return it to the merfolk, who believe it belongs to them.

Eventually, the sahuagin catch up to the party and a fierce battle ensues. The party must use their combat skills and their wits to defeat the sahuagin and protect the merfolk.

Throughout the encounter, the party will be faced with complex moral dilemmas and must navigate the social dynamics between the merfolk and the sahuagin, as well as their own desires and motivations. How they handle these challenges will determine their success on the beach and beyond.

These aren’t bad. They’re vague, sure, but any decent GM can make them work. Still, I asked for puzzles and social encounters, and it told me that there are those things, rather than what they are.

Can we get more specific?

Puzzles and riddles

Prompt:

(I asked for a puzzle suitable for a D&D encounter. I didn’t save my exact wording)

Result:

The party arrives at a room in an ancient dungeon that is filled with a thick fog. As they enter the room, they hear a voice speaking to them from within the fog. The voice tells them that they must solve a riddle in order to pass through the fog and continue on their journey.

The riddle goes as follows: "I am always hungry, but I am never satisfied. I am always searching, but I never find what I am looking for. What am I?"

The party must use their wits and their knowledge of the world to solve the riddle and figure out the answer. If they are able to correctly guess the answer, the fog will dissipate and they will be able to continue on their journey. However, if they are unable to solve the riddle, they will be forced to turn back and find another way to continue.

The answer to the riddle is "a fire." Fire is always hungry, as it consumes fuel in order to continue burning. However, it is never satisfied, as it will continue to burn until it runs out of fuel. Similarly, fire is always searching, as it spreads and grows in search of more fuel. However, it never finds what it is looking for, as it will eventually burn out and extinguish itself.

The “puzzle” is just a riddle with some fog thrown in for no reason. Whatever. Can we get a better riddle than that?

Asking for another riddle gave me the same one above. Asking for original riddles got me this:

I am always with you, but you can never see me.

I am constantly moving, but I am never in the same place twice.

What am I?

The answer is Time

… is it? Air is a better fit. A thousand other things could also work. Good riddles exclude all possibilities but the correct one. I wouldn’t guess time without guessing dozens of other things first.

This isn’t good. But, hey, it’s probably original.

And:

What can be seen but never touched,

And can be heard but never seen?

It travels far and wide,

But never leaves its place.

The answer is sound. Never mind that it apparently can be seen but is also never seen… Also, because bass is a thing, I feel sound more often than I see it.

Whatever. I’m not using that one - not unless I decide that I despise my players and everything they stand for.

Here's a riddle for you:

I'm light as a feather, But even the strongest man can't hold me for long. What am I?

Think you know the answer? Scroll down to see if you're right!

I'm a breath! I'm light as a feather because I weigh almost nothing, but even the strongest man can't hold onto me for long because I'm constantly moving and escaping. (emphasis mine)

Bwahaha. I specified an original riddle - this ain’t that. Otherwise, this response was doing well, right up until the end there. That explanation isn’t what you’d call accurate.

Or sane.

I know many people are keen for AI GMs, since there’s a shortage of people willing to run games. Me? I’m more interested in AI players, so I’ll feel less guilty when I torment them.

Either way, we’re not quite there yet.