D&D and ChatGPT

So, as someone who doesn’t have a group to play D&D with, I’m constantly looking for alternatives to be able to enjoy D&D with myself. I’ve explored using a VTT and just doing it solo but this requires a lot of effort for something that may not be viable over the long term. I’ve played a lot of solo board games to try and get something similar, however it still doesn’t scratch that itch for me. So imagine my surprise when the other night I decided to just try to run D&D with ChatGPT with myself being the player and letting ChatGPT do the DMing and it actually worked pretty well..

Now, I have seen other companies do AI DMing and I wasn’t super impressed which is why I never tried just using regular ol ChatGPT instead. However, I was thrilled when I asked if it could run a D&D campaign and it said absolutely, instead of - sorry! It actually asked what ruleset I wanted and whether I wanted to roll a character or let ChatGPT decide. I actually decided to see the extent of that and told it just a Bard character and a name and let it do the rest. It actually chose things that were most appropriate for a Bard even taking the average roll array and working from that.

Once you have your character created it asks if you want an NPC party or go solo and what type of adventure you want. After that - it sets the stage for your adventure and does a fantastic job creating a story for you. It also gives prompts of things that you could quickly do such as:
1. Pull rope
2. Ask Questions
3. Eat a sandwich

But you don’t have to adhere to its choices. You can actually tell it something completely different and it will change based on what you ask instead. Also, you can do that IN COMBINATION with a choice that it gives you. There were plenty of times when I said something like “Look around the room for anyone suspicious and then pull the rope” and it worked with what I sent it and did those actions in the order I asked. I actually found myself testing the limits of this multiple times and being pleasantly surprised each time. It also handles combat as well by simulating rolls for you. It could be said that ChatGPT could be fudging rolls or whatever but for the most part I felt it was pretty fair. Another thing I like is I can just ….leave the app at any time and pick up where I left off on any of my devices. I want to make it clear that this does NOT replace sitting with a group of your friends and playing D&D - nothing beats that, but when your options are limited this a great alternative.