Nerd Pride Radio

Okay! Let's try this again! I'm going to run a new Chat AI game. The premise is that you will be playing yourself. You and everyone else who chooses to play will start in an unlit, dark location. You don't know where you are or how you got there. The gameplay will continue from there.

I will not tell you the premise or style of the game. For that matter, I won't reveal if there even is a starting premise or if it's something that you will develop through your interaction with the AI. You can participate as much or as little as you want. If you choose not to post for a couple of days, that's cool, but once a day I'll prompt the AI with what y'all have chosen to do (or if you've chosen to stand and observe- which is what you'll do if you don't post). I'm not looking for y'all to do any heavy labor here- unless that's what you want.

As discussed the last time we tried this, the AI tends to take agency over your characters (which in this case will be you). If the AI ever describes something that you do or think that you don't like, you are encouraged to post up and correct the AI. For example, if the AI describes Tahlvin slapping Mike, Tahlvin can have me tell the AI: "Tahlvin doesn't slap Mike. He has to much respect for Mike. What did he do instead?" And the AI will correct the narrative. Similarly, the AI likes to ascribe thoughts to characters, but I can correct that for you with a prompt like, "Mike isn't offended that Tahlvin slapped him. Mike likes to get roughed up in a non-sexual way." And the AI will correct that. And all of these inputs will inform future responses and narratives from the AI.

So if you're interested in playing, all you need to do is post in this thread with your name and a short description of yourself that I will provide to the AI. For example, for me I would post: "Kyle- A 50 year old attorney who is married with eight grown children. Kyle is overweight and thinks he's smarter than he actually is. Kyle likes horror movies and spending time with his family."

Tahlvin, a 52 year old software consultant. Married with 3 adult children: a transgender son, a daughter, and a son. Tahlvin exercises regularly, lifting weights and long distance running. He enjoys reading, learning foreign languages, and spending time with his wife and kids.

Mike is a 53 year old man. He is married to Lisa and has four sons, ages 17 to 28. Mike is a self-professed nerd who works as a computer technician. He's smart and well read but tends to be unorganized and forgetful. He is overweight and out of shape. Mike enjoys gaming of all sorts, but especially tabletop roleplaying games, board games and card games.

I'll leave it open through the weekend and start on Monday, even if it's just two people I think that will be fine.

And away we go! Remember that you control your narrative. So if there's something in your pockets, or knowledge you have that might be helpful, put that in your description. Don't be hesitant to take control of the narrative, if that's what you want to do. Just try to limit it to control over your own character, not others or NPCs.

Posted then edited.

I'm so psyched by this. Everytime the AI gives me a response, I want to high five someone because it's always exceeding my expectations. I love this so much, and nothing's even happened.

*High five*

Cellphone flashlight. Duh.

Okay. If I give it a specific action or question that has uncertain results, it will determine those results for me. But if I just make dialogue or observations and don't leave the AI a question or action to resolve, then it takes action for me. As a GM, it doesn't wait around while players talk.

I have no problem with the action it took for me, because I was clearly planning to try that door eventually, but there may come a future post where Tahlvin and I want an extended back and forth before we submit it. We'll talk about that if it comes up.

Yeah- we can work through that when it comes up. I get it.

Does it smell like dead body?

I was so happy at your response, Tahlvin. I put 13% to unsettle you, because I imagine that your own phone sees 13% maybe once a year. If that.

Mike wrote: ↑Thu May 04, 2023 9:53 am I was so happy at your response, Tahlvin. I put 13% to unsettle you, because I imagine that your own phone sees 13% maybe once a year. If that.

I panic when my phone is below 50%

My phone usually sits on a wireless charger in my home office all day while I'm working. It's only on the weekends that it gets low, usually because I'll use it to listen to audiobooks or music while I run, mow the lawn, etc.

Sorry for the delay! I actually got the response yesterday afternoon and thought I posted it, but then realized just now that I never hit "submit." Sorry!

Well shit. I didn't think it was going to progress the action and was just going to answer the question, but now we're here. Sorry I didn't wait for you Tahlvin.

Maybe we should be doing more of what Mike did in the other post of "Mike will not enter the room just yet" or "Mike wants to know the answer to this question and doesn't ascend the stairs yet."

Man, I could use a map of this place.

Let's see where this takes us.

Waiting to see if Mike wants to input anything too.

I swear to god that I didn't tell the AI to run a Saw scenario. But this got dark quick.

This AI GM is a real railroader.

He’s like a real life GM I had once.

Okay. Now we're getting somewhere!

I think we're playing Paranoia.

As 50 year old normies.

So you're saying I should just go ahead and shiv Mike at the first opportunity?

Most of the devices are unfamiliar, but we can recognize a quantum resonator and a phase disruptor. So we're not really normies.

Fair enough- and also, I didn't tell it to run a paranoia game. This is all the AI.

"Bad Decision Making Gas" is the name of my next band. I'm dying here.

I'm also going to run some experiments in a new AI thread and see if it's actually capable of running a paranoia game or at least something paranoia-adjacent.

A bit of an experiment in leading the AI a little. A “yes, and” approach, if you will.

Smart and I think warranted. The AI takes your agency away by putting words in your mouth and actions in your hands. I think it's proper for y'all to also take agency over the environment and narrative. That's why I'm fascinated by this experiment.

After I put in Mike's post, it occurred to me that I should have realized that the AI would answer for Tahlvin and I should have waited for you to actually give your response. Apologies.

This is more of the same issue we had in the Choose Your Own Adventure thread. I'm not telling you what to do, but I would be interested to see what happens if you force the narrative forward with a "Catching up to the shadowy figure, Tahlvin shouts, 'Stop!'" or something like that.

I hate when it does this stuff:

Together, they face the challenges that lie ahead, trusting in their collective strength and resourcefulness to overcome whatever obstacles await them. With each step forward, they inch closer to the truth, uncovering the secrets of their confinement and inching closer to their ultimate goal: freedom.

That actually says nothing. It has no value. It's just there to make the AI seem like a real AI. And quite frankly, I wish the AI would push the narrative forward more at this point. But even when it takes agency over y'all, it still seems to be doing this- "They move forward, ready to face whatever challenges they face... together." Of course you're moving forward together! No shit, AI!

It’s just word salad. And iceberg lettuce at that, with little nutritional value.

I think y'all are getting a good hold on how to control the narrative without overpowering it.

The players say they want to open the door.

The GM dramatically describes the opening of a door without revealing what's on the other side.

I'm trying to think of a rule for that to explain that when the main characters (Mike and Tahlvin) encounter a new area, the AI has to describe what they can see/hear/smell.

And also a rule to keep it from breathlessly talking about the wonder of adventure and sense of purpose and whatnot on every other post.

Haha!

I'm in love with the idea of two guys who are aware that they are in a twilight zone episode with no forward narrative. "Imagine if you will... two men... stuck together... and no way to progress the way forward..."

Fucking excellent though. This response was one of the better ones. I'm interested to see if it will build those restrictions into future responses or if it took it as a one time thing.

Having it freeform an adventure really highlights its creative limitations, but if Paizo took an already finished adventure path and plugged six books worth of story into an AI that knows all the Pathfinder rules, I bet after 6-12 months of play testing and tweaking, they could have a fully functional AI GM that can run their modules as well as half the Pathfinder Society GMs at conventions.

My guess is they'll unleash it at GenCon 2024.

I'll wait for the answer to this one.

Tell me I found something without telling me what I found! Yes, please!

Yeah- and always with a good inspirational final paragraph.

He was in shock when he realized what was in the box! Make sure you watch til the end!

Well shit. Had a busy day and now there's too much to read. I'll catch up on this in the morning. Sorry.

Yeah, sorry Mike. I went with Tahlvin and should have waited for you. But in reality, he was just examining and then re-examining to get the AI to actually describe something.

Y'all play at your own pace. But at some point, I'd start posting things like, "Mike looks behind some suspect shrubbery and discovers an unlocked door that he opens and walks out of the courtyard."

Or something more creative like, "Mike hears a voice calling him to him from the corner of the courtyard. It's the same voice that spoke to them over the intercom earlier. It says, 'And now we're all together," and the figure walks into the light, showing themselves to the trio."

Well that did something!

I felt like the AI was pushing y'all to solve a puzzle in the courtyard and underground, but then wouldn't actually give you any of the pieces to it.

Progress! I'll let Mike chime in next.

And may I say, I'm tired of feeling renewed determination or a sense of purpose.