Ken Whitman creates bizarre AI-powered biographies of TTRPG designers

Ken Whitman is behind the site, and has his own Ai-created biography​

Ken Whitman, a man whose reputation in the gaming industry is controversial at best, is behind a new website called '4 Pillar Games'. The website purports to be a record of influential game designers and companies, and is obviously (and poorly) written by AI with strange, formulaic articles and AI generated portraits of the designers in question. Whitman’s project has caused a strong backlash from those included without their consent or knowledge.

As well as an AI-created directory of game designers, the website also features an RSS-powered news section and a--currently empty--storefront which invites game publishers to apply for inclusion. (Update: The storefront tab appears to have vanished sometime in the last few hours.)

The entries are unintentionally laughable. Also, this is not a picture of Jason Bulmahn. ​

While Whitman's name is not mentioned on the site (other than in his own biography), his name is in the metadata, indicating his 'authorship' (a strong term when referring to RSS feeds and AI generated content). Three others were publicly named on the site in a now-removed 'About' page: Don Perrin (Traveller, Sovereign Stone, Dragonlance), Tony Lee (Games Unplugged) and Reece Wardrip (Spycraft, Twlight:2013). It's not clear why Ken Whitman's own involvement is not mentioned anywhere on the site, although many have speculated that his reputation is such that he is no longer able to be the public face of projects--as Cam Banks (Cortex System, Dragonlance) said on BlueSky, "Ken “Whit” Whitman, notorious in tabletop gaming for various get rich schemes and scams, is back trying to promote a Best Tabletop Designers of All Time Facebook page where he ranks creators using generative AI slop entries and art." The Facebook page itself has since been deleted, but the 4 Pillar Games website is still active and designers are still being added.

This page has now been removed from the site​

Both Perrin and Lee have now reportedly left the project, stating that the site was made without their approval.

The bios are all written by AI, and all follow a similar format: An AI-generated image of the person in question, many of which are laughably bad, and a one-page summary. Many game designers have publicly stated that they did not consent to their inclusion in this 'directory', although some have found amusement by mocking the AI-created images of themselves. Evil Hat's Fred Hicks commented on his own entry:

• Haven't looked this young in 20 years.
• Gave no legal permission to use my likeness in this image.
• Gave no legal permission to use trademarked logos placed on incorrect product images & layouts shown here.
• Them Fate Dice are jank, yo.
• Contemplating legal action.
• Enjoy, mother****er.

Many other game designers have expressed similar sentiments. Chris Bisset (The Wretched, Tunnels & Trolls) was more confrontational, saying "Hey uhhhhh if you make AI slop images of me and I meet you in person I'm going to hit you full force in the throat, just as a little PSA", while award-winning designer Grant Howitt (Honey Heist, Heart: The City Beneath) asked "There's so many pictures of me online. Why not use one of those instead of asking a computer to gin one up with a couple dozen extra wrinkles". Cam Banks said "I sent this Reece Wardrip guy a message on LinkedIn to take down the AI slop photo of me and that AI-written bio. What a colossally lazy and insulting thing to do to people." Philip Reed (former CEO of Steve Jackson Games) said "I was sent a link to a new site that appears to be an AI-generated nightmare. It claims to be about the 'most influential tabletop game designers.' Two things: 1. I do not belong on any list of "influential" anything. 2. W(ho)TF is that? This is creepy and disturbing."

Tabletop gaming historian Shannon Appelcline had more to say: "I knew we had a problem with Ken "Whit" Whitman started publishing LLM-authored designer biographies. I read over one. It had lots of correct facts. The article's subject even said it was great. But it also had a few factual errors and some sentences that implied things that were false. It was pretty obvious to me that that was going to be sucked into Wikipedia or into someone's article that was going to get sucked into Wikipedia and those misstaments and misimplications were going to get taken as fact. I confronted Ken, who I'd had some pleasant interactions with a few years ago when I wrote LOST HISTORIES of a few of his failed companies, and he told me that he had a magical means that got rid of 97% of hallucinations.To which I say, bull****.... Nonetheless, Whitman's crap is definitely going to be making it a lot harder to separate the wheat of RPG histories from the chaff in a few years. Still, it's manageable, because you just have to go back to trustworthy primary sources, as you should be doing anyway."

Some designers have asked to be removed, but have received a stock response from Whitman, such as the one below sent to Spencer Campbell of Gila RPGs. Others who have questioned or criticised 4 Pillar on social media have been unceremoniously blocked.

The designer summaries all read in a similar way, and one cringeworthy aspect is that when you look at the menu of designers, which includes the first line of each summary, it looks a really weak diss track listing things that game designers did not do--we are usefully informed that "Jason Bulmahn did not invent d20 fantasy roleplaying" and that "Peter Adkison did not design Magic: The Gathering." Here's an informative list of other things those mentioned did not do:

• "Aaron Allston's best ideas do not look like inventions anymore."
• "Peter Adkison did not design Magic: The Gathering."
• "Scott Almes did not make small games because small was cute."
• "Cam Banks did not ask one universal question with Cortex."
• "Jason Bulmahn did not invent d20 fantasy roleplaying."
• "John Blanche did not make fantasy darker by turning down the lights."
• "Kris Burm did not make one abstract game and move on."
• "Jolly Blackburn didn't set out to define tabletop gaming culture."
• "Milton Bradley did not set out to become the father of American board gaming."
• "Rich Baker did not make Dungeons & Dragons by inventing from empty air."
• "Richard Berg did not treat history like scenery."
• "Sydney Beckman does not teach Evidence like a museum of rules."
• "Tim Beach was not the loudest name in the TSR building."
• "Tim Bradstreet did not make Vampire: The Masquerade by writing clans, disciplines, dice pools, or city politics."
• "Wolfgang Baur did not build Dungeons & Dragons."
• "Bill Bridges did not build his reputation by making neutral rules."
• "Clyde Caldwell did not make Dungeons & Dragons darker by writing a rule."
• "Isaac Childres did not make the dungeon crawl friendlier."
• "Graeme Davis did not make fantasy darker by adding more monsters."
• "Ryan Dancey's biggest contribution to tabletop games was not a monster, a setting, a rulebook class, or a clever combat mechanic."
• "Jay Dragon does not treat rules like invisible plumbing."
• "Jeff Easley did not make his deepest mark on tabletop gaming by writing rules."
• "Ron Edwards did not ask whether a role-playing game could tell a good story."
• "Larry Elmore did not make his deepest mark on tabletop gaming by writing a combat table."
• "Amanda Lee Franck does not treat the map as a handout."
• "Fred Fields did not shape tabletop gaming by writing a rule."
• "Mike Fitzgerald did not need to invent a new card game to make people lean forward."
• "Sean Patrick Fannon did not build the engine."
• "Ed Greenwood did not start the Forgotten Realms as a product line."
• "Joseph Goodman did not ask what old Dungeons & Dragons looked like."
• "Goro Hasegawa did not invent the idea of flipping discs on a board from nothing."
• "John Harper did not invent fiction-first roleplaying."
• "John Eric Holmes did not invent Dungeons & Dragons."
• "If the d20 system is a cathedral, Amanda Hamon is not the person who poured the foundation."
• "Christopher Jeansonne does not treat media history like a timeline."
• "Jeremy Jarvis did not become important to tabletop fantasy because he painted one famous picture."
• "John Kovalic did not make games look serious."
• "Seiji Kanai did not prove that small games could exist."
• [Billy Littlepage is] not attached to famous boxed games."
• "Lenard Lakofka did not just draw a dungeon and wait for adventurers to kick in the door."
• "Steven S. Long did not invent the HERO System."
• "A Todd Lockwood dragon does not look like a symbol."
• "Tom Lehmann did not become Tom Lehmann when Race for the Galaxy appeared."
• "Angus McBride did not paint fantasy as escape from history."
• "Marc Miller did not give science-fiction role-playing a plot."
• "Kim Mohan did not become important to Dungeons & Dragons by standing in the spotlight."
• "Roger E. Moore did not just write for Dungeons & Dragons."
• "Tom Moldvay did not invent Dungeons & Dragons."
• "Gavin Norman did not become important by inventing a new fantasy engine."
• "Scott Palter did not create Star Wars."
• "Charles S. Roberts did not set out to create a hobby."
• "Volko Ruhnke did not approach conflict like a duel."
• "Carl Sargent did not make dark fantasy by turning down the lights."
• "Jack Scruby did not become famous because one rules system conquered the hobby."
• "R. A. Salvatore did not begin by redesigning Dungeons & Dragons."
• "Ethan Skemp did not create the World of Darkness."
• "Steve Stone did not make his deepest tabletop mark by building a dice engine."
• "Robert J. Schwalb did not build his reputation by making fantasy darker."
• "Francis Tresham did not flood the hobby with designs."
• "Jason Tocci did not make a tiny RPG because he had nothing to say."
• "Donald X. Vaccarino did not begin with a small idea."
• "Michael Van Vleet does not usually build the engine."
• "White Wolf did not begin as the company that made vampires cool."
• "Dave Wesely did not sit down to invent roleplaying games."
• "Jean Wells did not leave behind a long shelf of modules with her name on the spine."
• "Ken "Whit" Whitman did not build his tabletop career like a man protecting one perfect system."

Not sure how we feel about Whitman's latest diss-track​

The PDF gaming store tab is now gone, removed at some point in the last 24 hours. While the (AI) image below purports to show a store teeming with product, as of yesterday the store page was still completely empty, with a button on it exhorting publishers to apply to be included in the store. It looked like the store page was an attempt at something similar to DriveThruRPG. It is not clear why the store page disappeared overnight.

​

With the blacklash online being intense, designers demanding their entries be removed, two-thirds of the project's creators resigning, the Facebook page for 4 Pillar Games being taken down, various pages on the website disappearing overnight, and Whitman's continuing silence, it's not clear how long this project will last.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

At the end of the day, Ken Whitman, the person, is still human, and I have to assume that he's doing his best based on his own lived experience (aren't we all). So while I have empathy for him, I just wish his best didn't harm so many others, over and over. I also have boundaries - and what he's doing is not ok.

When people have told you, repeatedly, over decades, that your behavior is hurting other people, at a certain point, if you continue with your same path, you are making an active choice to ignore those people's concerns.

I don't know what he's doing when he's not wreaking havoc in the TTRPG scene, but he should go back to doing whatever that is.

 

[Morrus]

When people have told you, repeatedly, over decades, that your behavior is hurting other people, at a certain point, if you continue with your same path, you are making an active choice to ignore those people's concerns.

People rarely let themselves believe they’ve done anything wrong.

 

[Umbran]

At the end of the day, Ken Whitman, the person, is still human, and I have to assume that he's doing his best based on his own lived experience (aren't we all).

Doing his best... at what, exactly?

The same could be said for Justin LaNasa, or every bad actor on the planet, really. At some point, folks ought to be held accountable for being jerks.

 

[Sacrosanct]

People rarely let themselves believe they’ve done anything wrong.

It would not surprise me if Ken reads threads like this not to get any insight, but to see if anyone says anything he can sue them for.

Any time there is a decision to make regarding a "new" or impactful process in the ttrpg industry, Ken always seems to make the worst decision in regards to the health of the industry, it's community, and it's customers. Exploiting KS (multiple times). Exploiting AI. Etc. He's either the unluckiest person of all time, or he intentionally makes those choices. People can come to their own conclusion on which.

 

[Ralif Redhammer]

One thing I've been thinking about with AI is that some people are so afraid to put something out that is a little rough. To deal with the limits of their own skillset (whether by going the DIY approach or enlisting the help of other people to fill in those gaps). So they resort to AI, and deliver a product that looks more polished until you start digging into and you realize that the information is wrong, the images are off, the tone is completely generic. All shine and no depth. Quantity and no quality. Shortcuts without direction.

It's okay for things to be ragged and dirty and homemade.

 

[Sacrosanct]

It's okay for things to be ragged and dirty and homemade.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

It's okay for things to be ragged and dirty and homemade.

I suspect and hope that, as happened with industrially created goods, there will soon come a time when the customers will pay more and prefer 100% human made stuff, rather than AI stuff.

I know, personally, that obviously AI generated ads turn me off from the company using them, especially when they're a mom and pop operation where just getting a teenager to film them in their store/bar/whatever would actually be charming and make me more likely to spend money with them.

 

[Morrus]

One thing I've been thinking about with AI is that some people are so afraid to put something out that is a little rough. To deal with the limits of their own skillset (whether by going the DIY approach or enlisting the help of other people to fill in those gaps). So they resort to AI, and deliver a product that looks more polished until you start digging into and you realize that the information is wrong, the images are off, the tone is completely generic. All shine and no depth. Quantity and no quality. Shortcuts without direction.

It's okay for things to be ragged and dirty and homemade.

I think the common term these days is “authentic”. And I hope that term is going to become more and more important as people seek out authentic content.

 

[dragoner]

I'll quit all together before trucking with ai.

 

[JLowder]

People rarely let themselves believe they’ve done anything wrong.

The bad actors in the industry, especially those who repeatedly come back, will deny having done anything wrong or anything they shouldn't have done. Instead, they will claim everyone acts as they do or they were just defending their family and finances (Mark MacKinnon of Guardians of Order and now Dyskami has taken that route in posts on BoardGameGeek) and on and on. Whitman has some grand conspiracies in his head about industry insiders. He keep sidling up to the idea he is the real victim here. That's common too.