From Broad Strokes to Fine Details: AI Tech to Streamline D&D Campaigns, Modules, and Encounters

As Dungeon Masters (DMs), we strive to create an engaging, captivating world for our players, allowing them to experience unparalleled adventures. Just as a writer uses words to craft a tale, we DMs rely on campaigns, modules, and encounters to tell our stories. To help understand this structure better, imagine that the campaign is a book. Within this book, modules are akin to chapters, and encounters are the intricate puzzle pieces that players navigate to weave their own narrative that writes the story.

With the advent of AI, building a campaign can be streamlined, ensuring an adaptive and dynamic experience for your players. In today's blog, we will explore the campaign, module and encounter relationships to help GMs create and build your campaign.

To leverage AI to the fullest, the answer lies in crafting the perfect prompt, a blend of persona, context, task, example, and tone. What I refer to as the PCTET Method.

I use the PCTET prompting methodology to build out each layer of my story. Lets dive into the details for each layer.

Campaigns: The storybook approach to your game.

• Definition: A campaign is a series of connected adventures that form a broader narrative. It's the overarching story that contains the heroes' journey, major plot twists, and the resolution.

• Designing a Campaign: Think of it as crafting a novel in real-time, where the end may or may not be known, but how the players reach that destination is up to them. This includes setting the stage, introducing major antagonists, and establishing core themes.

• Duration: Campaigns can last from a few sessions to several years, depending on the depth of the story and frequency of play.

• AI: The Campaign overview is the first thing the AI should be trained on. Think of it like the cliff notes of your campaign.

Once the AI is trained on the campaign overview, I then use structured prompting to further develop my campaign.

Campaign Overview Template

Campaign Template

Campaign Title: [Campaign Title]

Campaign Type: [Campaign Type]

1. Political/Intrigue: These campaigns focus on political maneuvering, deception, and uncovering secrets. Players engage in social interactions, investigations, and navigate complex webs of intrigue.

2. High Adventure/Epic Quest: These campaigns emphasize thrilling action, epic quests, and heroic deeds. Players embark on daring expeditions, face formidable foes, and explore dangerous environments.

3. Dungeon Crawl: These campaigns revolve around delving into dungeons, navigating traps, and battling monsters. Players focus on exploration, combat, and solving puzzles within intricate dungeon settings.

4. Mystery: These campaigns center around solving enigmatic puzzles, deciphering cryptic clues, and unraveling mysterious plots. Players engage in detective work and uncover hidden truths.

5. Horror: These campaigns invoke a sense of dread, fear, and the supernatural. Players confront terrifying creatures, investigate haunted locations, and face the unknown.

6. Urban: These campaigns take place in bustling cities or urban settings, featuring urban intrigue, crime, and city-based quests. Players navigate city streets, interact with diverse NPCs, and uncover urban secrets.

7. Wilderness/Survival: These campaigns focus on exploration of untamed wilderness, survival, and encounters with wild creatures. Players traverse forests, mountains, and other natural landscapes, often dealing with environmental challenges.

8. Heist: These campaigns involve intricate planning, stealth, and executing daring thefts or heists. Players assemble a team, gather resources, and carry out elaborate schemes.

9. War: These campaigns immerse players in large-scale conflicts, battles, and war campaigns. Players strategize, lead armies, and make crucial decisions that shape the outcome of the war.

10. Exploration: These campaigns emphasize discovery, uncharted territories, and uncovering hidden locations or ancient civilizations. Players venture into unknown lands, mapping new territories, and encountering unique cultures or creatures.

11. Time Travel: These campaigns involve time manipulation, temporal anomalies, and journeys to different eras. Players navigate the complexities of time, alter the course of history, and face the consequences of their actions.

12. Planar Adventures: These campaigns take players to other planes of existence, such as the Elemental Plane, the Feywild, or the Shadowfell. Players explore exotic realms, encounter otherworldly beings, and unravel the mysteries of the planes.

Campaign Overview: "The [campaign title], set in the [fantasy world] a [description of the world or setting] where [interesting drama or central conflict], a group of [PCs mission or protagonist type] must face [primary conflict or antagonist] to [overall campaign goal or objective]. Along their journey, the PCs will [list of goals, challenges, or milestones] in order to [final outcome or ultimate achievement]."

Modules (Chapters):

1. [Module 1 Title]: [Module 1 Overview]

2. [Module 2 Title]: [Module 2 Overview]

3. [Module 3 Title]: [Module 3 Overview]

4. ...

5. [n. Module n Title]: [Module n Overview]

Important Non Player Characters

Character Name: [Insert Name]

Race: [Insert Race]

Class: [Insert Class]

Description: [Insert Name} is a [short description] from the [Insert Hometown]. With [describe characteristics].

Campaign Prompt Example

I want you to pretend you are a dungeon master with 20 years of experience. You are working on your next Dungeons and Dragons campaign. I want you to create 3 campaign ideas using high fantasy as a guide. For each idea, use the following template in a Gritty & Realistic tone. Campaign Title: [Campaign Title] Campaign Type: [Campaign Type] Campaign Overview: "The [campaign title], set in the [fantasy world], a [description of the world or setting] where [interesting drama or central conflict], a group of [PCs mission or protagonist type] must face [primary conflict or antagonist] to [overall campaign goal or objective]. Along their journey, the PCs will [list of goals, challenges, or milestones] in order to [final outcome or ultimate achievement]. Modules (Chapters): [Module 1 Title]: [Module 1 Overview] [Module 2 Title]: [Module 2 Overview] [Module 3 Title]: [Module 3 Overview] Include 3 important NPC's using this template, Character Name: [Insert Name] Race: [Insert Race] Class: [Insert Class] Armor Class: [AC] Hit Points: [HP] Stat Block: [Insert Stat Block: Str, Dex, Int, Wis, Con, Chr] Description: [Insert Name} is a [short description] from the [Insert Hometown]. With [describe characteristics].

Gamemasters Platform View of the Campaign Object and Trained AI Assistant

Modules: The unfinished chapters within your story.

• Definition: A module can be a self-contained adventure or a set of adventures that can be played independently or as part of a larger campaign. They represent significant milestones or chapters within the broader narrative.

• Designing a Module: While creating a module, DMs predefine objectives, introduce key NPCs, and set up challenges. The story within a module is often left open-ended, allowing the next module or player choices to dictate its direction.

• Adaptability: Modules can be plugged into different campaigns or used as standalone adventures. They offer flexibility to DMs to craft stories that align with the interests and strengths of their players.

• AI: I use specific prompts to drill into what is going to happen in the module. See the 5 Room Dungeon example below.

5 Room Dungeon Prompt 1 Example

Prompt 1: Act as the dungeon and dragons game master. I want you to create a new fantasy campaign around this scenario.

Title: Storms of Luskan Genre: Nautical Adventure Fantasy Style: Sword and Sorcery

Boss Monster Name and Type: Captain Horik "Thunderfist" Stormcaller, Tempest Giant

Summary: The pirate city of Luskan faces an unprecedented threat. Not from rival pirates, but from Captain Horik, a giant who commands storms. He aims to flood Luskan and establish his watery kingdom.

Question: Can the party FIND the Eye of the Maelstrom, DEFEAT Captain Horik Stormcaller, and EARN the Trident of Tides?

Don’t start yet, wait for my second prompt.

5 Room Dungeon Prompt 1.1 Example

Now follow the next set of instructions:

Write a short summary paragraph describing the scenario, the genre, location, theme, and the important non player characters and monsters.

Then create for me a 5 room dungeon. For each room to include a complete sentence description of the terrain, a complete sentence description of the atmosphere, and a “Map” sub-location within the room, the sub-location should be an interesting thing that is prominent in the room.

Then list out a monster called “Monster” and a treasure called “Treasure” within that room.

• “Treasure” does not need to be an item. The “Treasure” could be information, the ability to find an exit, access to an NPC, political status gain or a player character ability improvement.

• Give each room monster a unique attribute, desire and motivation that makes them memorable.

• Give each room an interesting element to enhance the players' experience.

• Write two options for how I may amplify the intensity in this room through either increasing numbers of enemies or depleting player characters resources

• Room 4 should be the most difficult monster

Here is the Module & Associated Encounters with the Trained AI Assistant

Encounters: The building blocks of the module where playing the game directs the story outcome.

• Definition: An encounter can be a combat challenge, a puzzle, a role-playing scenario, or any situation that demands player interaction. They are the individual scenes within the chapter (module).

• Designing an Encounter: Effective encounters challenge players, engage them in the story, and drive the narrative forward. It could be a battle against goblins, negotiating with a city official, or deciphering an ancient rune.

• Dynamic Outcomes: The beauty of encounters is in their unpredictability. The choices players make, and the outcomes of their actions will direct the course of the story, ensuring each game is unique.

• AI: At the encounter level I am focusing on the details, the foes, NPCs, encounter elements and items. This is where AI helps to fill in the details of the game.

NPC Prompt Example

I want you to pretend that you are a D&D dungeon master who wants to develop a Non Player Character (NPC) for [my campaign] in this [encounter]. Using the template below I want you to fill out this template based on [Belloq, from Raiders of the Lost Ark] for my NPC Thane Grimmbane.

• Basic Information

  • Name

  • Age

  • Gender

  • Race/Species

  • Occupation

  • Affiliation

• Appearance

  • Height

  • Weight

  • Eye Color

  • Hair Color

  • Distinctive Features

  • Clothing/Equipment

• Personality

  • Traits

  • Motivations

  • Fears

  • Strengths

  • Weaknesses

  • Moral Alignment (Good, Neutral, Evil, Lawful, Chaotic, etc.)

• Background

  • Birthplace

  • History

  • Family

  • Friends

  • Enemies

• Skills & Abilities

  • Primary Skills

  • Secondary Skills

  • Special Abilities

  • Weak Skills

• Role in Story

  • Goals

  • Relation to Other Characters

  • Importance to the Story

• Speech & Communication

  • Dialect/Accent

  • Common Phrases

  • Body Language

• Traits Specific to Source Character

  • Unique traits that make them resemble the famous movie character they're based on.

DMs View of the Session for the First Encounter

Dungeon Masters (DMs) craft immersive adventures for players using campaigns, modules, and encounters, akin to how a writer structures a book. With AI, this process is enhanced, making storytelling adaptive and dynamic.

This blog has delved into these storytelling structures and introduced the PCTET Method – a guiding principle in using AI for story building. By leveraging this method, DMs can intricately design each story layer for a richer player experience.

Reach out to me if you want to learn more about The Game Masters Platform.

Happy DMing!