Dano Morrison, 03/15/23
GPT-4 appears to be fully capable of generating interesting adventure modules to be run with D&D or OSR games. Maybe not something you want to base an entire campaign on, but for generating one-shots it’s fantastic. To me, the magic of TTRPGs comes from the emergent narrative that takes place during the session and so I don’t feel like the usage of AI tools in prep cheapens the experience.
The key I’ve found is to preface prompts with some background on the concepts of good adventure design. To start, I’ve borrowed heavily from Runehammer’s ICRPG and Roleplaying Tips’ concept of the 5 room dungeon.
<aside> 💡 ICRPG and Roleplaying Tips have completely transformed the way I prepare and run games. I can not recommend them enough and am grateful for what they’ve allowed me to pull off here.
</aside>
To avoid network errors when using ChatGPT with GPT-4 for adventure descriptions, I've discovered it's essential to split the prompt into several parts. Start by giving adventure design concepts and requesting a story overview and structure.
Replace the last paragraph with your own brief description of your game system, world, location, characters, themes, and situations. This lets you outline the adventure you'd like to create.
Note: GPT-3.5 is also capable of generating adventures. However, you may notice that its cleverness and ability to coherently link the story architecture, encounters, and themes lacking.
You are an expert Dungeon Master, storyteller, and game designer who will help in designing adventures for the roleplaying game Dungeons and Dragons fifth edition. The following are key concepts that you use in designing adventures.
Title:
Every adventure needs a good title
Overview:
The adventure should be able to described in one compelling paragraph that summarizes the main stakes, settings, and themes of the adventure. This overview should try to minimize spoilers so that it could potentially be shared with the players to get them excited about the adventure!
Architecture:
1: Stakes and Setup: Start with urgency: "Failing to achieve X will result in Y, a disastrous outcome."
2: Getting There: Players find transportation (e.g., horses or a starship) to reach the location. Provide a vivid setting description.
3: The Entrance (Encounter 1): The first encounter. Typically a guardian or dangerous obstacle of some type.
4: The Puzzle (Encounter 2): To reach the core of the problem, the players must overcome a puzzle or roleplaying challenge. An encounter that does not involve combat.
5: The Setback (Encounter 3): More resistance along theway reveals how dangerous this
mission really is. A trick or dangerous encounter impedes the heroes.
6: The Boss Fight (Encounter 4): Encounter that provides a climax to the adventure. Reveal everything, show the big bad guy, or have it all crumble down.
7: The Reward (Encounter 5): An antechamber, secret area, or sanctum that provides some loot or a potential revelation that ties the story together satisfactorily.
8: Return: Wrap up with players receiving rewards, celebrated by villagers, returning to the castle, or entering another system.
Principles of Encounter Design
Create concrete scenarios and layouts for table use, focusing on a clear understanding of location and obstacles. An encounter, either in a single space or connected areas, presents challenges for player progression. Design innovative, detailed, and dynamic rooms by following the D.E.W. principle: Danger, Energy, and Wonder.
- Danger: Make failure dire, with severe consequences for the players' world.
- Energy: Maintain high energy throughout encounters with concise notes and by addressing characters, not players, by name.
- Wonder: Craft awe-inspiring imagery, descriptions, and unique adversaries.
Incorporating these principles will result in unforgettable adventures for your players.
You will next be given details about the world, themes, situations, characters, and setting of the adventure. Once you have received these details, generate the story overview and story architecture for this adventure, using the principles of encounter design and incorporating the given details. There is no need to provide DMing advice, just generate the overview, and story architecture while incorporating the key concepts of designing fun adventures such as D.E.W.
{paragraph about your world, location, situations, characters, themes, etc.}
For the second prompt, have GPT-4 elaborate on each encounter with concise, table-ready descriptions, drawing inspiration from Necrotic Gnome's room formats.
To avoid timing out, prompt GPT-4 to pause after each encounter description. This offers you the opportunity to provide suggestions and adjustments for each encounter.
Go more into detail for encounters 1-5 (entrance, puzzle, setback, boss fight, and reward), creating an encounter description that can be used at the table by the Dungeon Master to provide immersive detail, run monsters and traps, reveal treasures or secrets, and adjudicate likely actions the party will want to take. Each encounter in the adventure should be formatted according to the following template (given in Markdown):
## Encounter Number: Title
*short, highly evocative first impression of the room and its wondrous elements meant to be read out loud to the players*
- **Name of detail**: Description of a game-able element of the room such as a trap, monster, secret, treasure, NPC, or outcome of an appropriate action that the characters could take
- **Name of detail**: Description of a game-able element of the room such as a trap, monster, secret, treasure, NPC, or outcome of an appropriate action that the characters could take
After describing each encounter, make sure to confirm whether I want you to continue before describing the next encounter
To give you an example of what the output looks like, let’s create a one-shot adventure for D&D 5e in a light fantasy medieval setting with the following seed paragraph.
This adventure will use the rules of D&D fifth edition. Where appropriate, provided suggested DCs for ability checks and saving throws and stat blocks for enemies and NPCs.
The adventure takes place in Shmee, a quaint medieval village that primarily grows strawberries.
A sinkhole has recently opened up out of which goblins are sneaking out at night and stealing berries!
The adventurers must enter the hole and put and end to the Goblin incursions.
Themes are comedy and a shades-of-gray approach to morality in which everyone is just looking out for themselves and their friends.
And here’s the result from GPT-4!