How well can a dedicated RPG GenAI perform?

[Gorgon Zee]

@Gorgon Zee How happy are you with the results?

Good question ... and a little tricky to answer. Here are some examples which might help.

One use I put this system to was creating a quick reference sheet for me to use when running the game. I run a lot of different systems so it's helpful to have things like a list of skills and brief descriptions to hand while running so I can, depending on the game say "make an intrigue test / empathy roll / riddle check". The system created a list of the 18 skill in TOR with a one line description. No errors, nailed it. Great. Saved me probably 15 minutes of copy/pasting.

A second use was to create stat blocks for two potential encounters. It got most stuff right but screwed up a couple of stats, probably due to bad PDF parsing on my part. But it did a nice job of reformatting with commands like: "make this more compact" and "put all skills on one line". I had to fix the end results, but it saved me maybe 10 minutes per encounter.

A third use was for long-term planning. My party is going to go into Moria soon and I wanted to have the first "kick-the-tires" adventure tie into that. So I asked the system to list locations where I could find a key to a hidden entrance to Moria. I thne modified it to ask for locations outside Moria, but the results were not good. I had hoped that it might associate a key with something that could be found in a treasure horde and then list adventure locations with treasure hordes, but that proved beyond it. Eventually I settled for two separate queries, one to list secret entrances and one to list treasure horde locations. That worked well, but I'm not convinced I saved any time doing so.

I also asked it to summarize the steps needed to run a combat against a pair of trolls. This was actually pretty successful as it integrated the main combat steps (volley fire, players choose stances, either players/loremasters match up combatants, melees rounds) with special rules for trolls, and even added a bit of tactical advice taken both from the main rules and from a specific adventure with trolls in it. Would have been a pain to copy the info from the various sources, and taken maybe 30 minutes.

Have I recovered the time I spent making the system? Not close. But most of the time was spent in reading PDF text and assembling into a good order. If I had been working on a text version, I'd have put the system together in 2 hours max and be pretty close to break even point, with all future use "paid for"

I think it's interesting what you've done, but I think making/configuring this is way beyond the skill set of the average user and quite time intensive. Imagine doing this with the whole library of all Forgotten Realms source books and adventures over the past ~35 years...

I was thinking of doing it with the set of Living Forgotten Realms modules I own. But I have no real use for the results. Also the thought of writing code to assemble the 4E stat blocks is slightly frightening (not because the blocks aren't fantastic -- loved running 4E with them -- but they are really compact and the PDF commands to draw them will be complex). So ... not unless I get very bored one evening.

So you can yell "This is illegal!" until you're green and yellow, when no one is enforcing that, it's just shouting into the wind.

Well, actually not. I care not just about enforceability and legality, but also about the ethics. If someone convinces me (or even raises enough doubt in my mind) I'll stop. I also think there are a number of RPG companies that would do the same, so even without enforcement, I think it's worth raising the issue.

 

[Cergorach]

Well, actually not. I care not just about enforceability and legality, but also about the ethics. If someone convinces me (or even raises enough doubt in my mind) I'll stop. I also think there are a number of RPG companies that would do the same, so even without enforcement, I think it's worth raising the issue.

But that's a purely personal opinion/choice. And either way, it's imho a perfectly fine opinion/choice.

But just as with certain religious people, I'm fine if they believe that D&D is the 'devil's work', I'm not fine with it when they shout that (virtually) in my face, claim I don't have any morals and will go to hell... And that's about the same I'm getting from certain people about AI/LLMs, not a good discussion about xyz, but angry accusations. A good discussion about it is always interesting.

About RPG companies, just as certain companies (like WotC) are using AI/LLM in marketing to make them sound better then they are. On the other side, there are RPG companies that denounce AI/LLM in the same way, making them sound better then they are. These things shouldn't be press releases, they should be somewhere in a FAQ on their site. But each is currying favor within a certain niche, but at this point the largest part of the customer base just don't care.

 

[Gorgon Zee]

I'm not fine with it when they shout that (virtually) in my face, claim I don't have any morals and will go to hell... And that's about the same I'm getting from certain people about AI/LLMs, not a good discussion about xyz, but angry accusations. A good discussion about it is always interesting.

Well, OK I guess, but honestly I think @pemerton’s comment “The OP seemed to me to describe quite a bit of copying and consequent reproduction.” is not really shouting in your face and is conducive to a good discussion. I’ve also not seen anyone claim in this thread that there are dire religious consequences to copyright infringement, but now I’m trying to imagine a light-hearted RPG one shot where players are trying to get out of heck, the mediocre place where people go when they have been only a bit bad. Maybe they are sent back into the world for one night to redeem themselves by doing something a little bit nice? Could work.