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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Scott Christian" data-source="post: 9696206" data-attributes="member: 6901101">Just wanted to share my experiences at having an LLM (in this case, Gemini) act as a gamemaster. I have completed five sessions, each that ran a couple hours long. The system I taught it was my own. The lore it used was written by me, although I gave it creative license to make-up anything it wanted, as long as it stayed with the lore's context. I built several frontload documents for it to reference, which I upload before each session. The frontload documents contain game mechanics, lore, and character summaries. I also have it write a summary of each session, just in case it (or me) needs to reference past events. Here are some key findings:- Pros<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">It does a really nice job with social encounters. That pillar of the game has been consistent, and to be truthful, as good or better than most in-person GMed games. For example, we were spying on the antagonist at a fancy restaurant and the social encounter section (including the skill checks involved) were very well done. The NPCs that have required social skill challenges also went well. For example, we stopped a couple of thieves' guild enforcers using intimidation. </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">The exploration pillar is described very well. The skill challenges seem to match the difficulty, and they appear logical. (At least from what I have seen so far.) For example, one of the characters was trying to disarm a trap. The DC was appropriate. One of the characters was using arcana to find any source of magic in a cavern full of debris. The DC seemed appropriate. </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">In the combat pillar, it used creatures that were of appropriate strength, setting the correct DC, and giving them an appropriate level of hit points for the encounter.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">The storyline has been entertaining, and even though I wrote the lore, it has still managed to surprise me with a good plot twist. </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">It tied in the PCs' backstories very well. (I tried to give it a layup, having the two characters both have their families wrecked by the thieves' guild in the city.) It did this well, and progressed the story nicely.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">I don't know how, but it has a good knack for knowing when to end a session based on the storyline. Like a good gamemaster, it waits until there is downtime and then will end the session. The timing of this has varied. One ended after two hours, another after 45 minutes. But most of the ending were indeed, during a point in the story where you would "start a new chapter."</li> </ul>- Cons<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Oddly, like some GMs, it decided to skip one of my PC's turns - twice. Typical gamemaster behavior.  <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f609.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=";)" title="Wink    ;)"  data-smilie="2"data-shortname=";)" /> Once reminded though, it corrected it and allowed the PC to have their turn.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">For some utterly bizarre reason, it seems to have trouble keeping track of coins my characters have. But it doesn't have a problem keeping track of hit points or luck dice?</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">It requires some out of character responses that generally involve re-teaching. This can happen in a session, where in the previous session, it had done it successfully. For example, I had to explain that just because my character lost initiative, they could still use a combat card during their turn. It had done this correctly in our other three combat encounters. Why it didn't do it in this one is far beyond me.</li> </ul>- NotesFor those interested in trying this out, I would suggest a few things. <ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Use D&D is the first one. It has obviously been trained on that system. For example, it sometimes asks for a skill challenge roll using a skill that is not in my mechanics, but is in D&D's. The frontload document I give it has stopped this. </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Build your frontload documents while you are communicating with it. It will help you use precise wording, and even write it for you after you explain it.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">In your frontload documents, make sure to include examples, and non-examples. </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Ask it what it wants. I know, it's weird. But, it has given me precise answers at times. For example, I asked it if it would run a better game using a small area, such as a single city/kingdom or if it would prefer to run a grander adventure using many locales and settings. I know it can change its answer on a dime, but asking questions like this will help tailor your frontload documents to a more specific train of thought.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Have it write summaries. It hasn't needed them yet and has kept everything pretty coherent (as coherent as most in-person GMs). But knowing its prone to not having a good long-term memory, these might be helpful.</li> </ul>For anyone interested, I have copied the summaries into this document so you can see the storyline progression. Also, I am curious if anyone else has tried this out, and what their experiences were. Thanks for reading. <a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Bt5IuqIAs5o--i_dwC3fMgfa6nuv9D0pPlqvdOmZMG8/edit?usp=sharing" target="_blank">Elias and Emme - Adventure Summary</a></blockquote>

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