AI D&D Overview and FAQ

Hello and welcome to AI D&D

I am attempting to see if AI (Specifically Google's Bard/Gemini) has advanced to the point where it can successfully play a game of Dungeons & Dragons.

To see if it works, I will ask the AI via prompts to do everything that any new player in D&D to do. The AI will make all the decisions from party composition, rolling the dice, spell selection, character backgrounds, etc. 

I'll track both the prompts I use, as well as the results by posting them here in the blog. My hope is that I'll get better at prompting for complex queries, but also that Gemini will respond with something that won't get its adventuring party killed.  

The goal of this project is threefold:

    1) To see if AI has advanced to a point where it can play a complicated games with social aspects.

    2) To see variances in responses of prompts and what the end result of those prompts ends up being. 

    3) To see what type of gamer AI actually is.  (IE Rules Lawyer, Munchkin, etc.)

Going forward all prompts to the AI will appear as this:

How should I format a blog post mission statement.

Responses will formatted as follows:

A blog post mission statement doesn't need a fancy format, but it should be clear and concise.

This post is intended as a general overview, I've added FAQs in order to clarify the rules and methods in the experiment. As time goes on I'll be adding to the FAQs and making more blog posts regarding the AI's campaigns. 

If you do have any questions or comments feel free to include them below. I'll try to respond to each of them, but I ask that you be patent as I do have a full time job and active life. Hmmm maybe AI can help out with this as well! 

Thanks for reading, and now the FAQ's

FAQ's

1) What happens if/when the AI gives you multiple results? 

Often Gemini will provide multiple results, so I'll go with the first item it posts as the default preferable choice, unless it contextualizes or indicates a circumstance that would cause it to go with another option. 

I'm using this first item option as this is often how the search engine for Google works, providing the most likely or best match for what is asked.

2) How many times will you prompt Gemini before picking the best one? 

This is going to depend on the results of the prompt. If the AI provides enough info to move forward than nothing additional needs to happen. However if the AI left things out, or if I think of a better prompt I may try a few different ones to get the AI to give more detailed information or to intone a preference. 

3) In a normal game of D&D the players would discuss the courses of action and sometimes disagree. How can Google's AI simulate these collective decisions? 

This is one of the areas that I am interested in seeing how AI handles the decision making process. For such scenarios I'll have the AI generate a conversation between the multiple characters involved in the decision. 

For example if a party comes to a fork in the road, members of the party may have different ideas on what way to go. I'll have the AI script a conversation in order to determine what way the group goes. 

4) Why did you select Google's Gemini AI instead of other AI programs? 

I selected Gemini for a few reasons. First I think Google may have a leg up on the competition as the years of data it has from running the most successful search engine has to be accessible to the AI. This makes for a nice resource and likely gives it a leg up on other AI programs. 

5) Who do you think will be interested in this blog? 

I think anyone who plays Dungeons & Dragons will be interested as the AI may take an approach to the game that could be different from the usual gamers approach. Who knows the AI may figure out something we have missed all along and change the game. 

Additionally people who have played the adventures will likely be able to get a mix of nostalgia as well as that same feeling of having read a book, and discussing with another person who is still in the middle of reading it. 

Additionally if my fun little game of Google Gemini playing D&D is of any value to the developers, or people who want to get better at interacting with AI, then I hope my tracking the prompts and responses proves to be of value as well. 

6) What is the first adventure you will run for the AI? 

I will begin with the Lost Mine of Phandelver. I want to start off with something simple so that I can get an idea of how the AI reacts to prompts, figure out better ways to present complicated situations to the AI and get something back that resembles a response I might hear in a live gaming session. 

If the AI is able to successfully navigate Lost Mines of Phandelver than I will move on to other published adventures in order to test it against more difficult adventures. 

7) What other adventures would you consider running for the AI?

I have a number of adventures I'd like to run to see how the AI handles the different scenarios presented.  The order I am thinking is as follows, but not set in stone:

1. Lost Mine of Phandelver - The basic beginner adventure
2. Candle Keep Mysteries - A series of adventures that focuses on investigation 
3. Keys to the Golden Vault - A series of adventures that focuses on stealth 
4. Tyranny of Dragons - A combat heavy game that will push the characters.
5. Icewind Dale Rime of the Frostmaiden - A game of adventure as well as survival in the frozen wastes.
6. Shadows of the Dragon Queen - Exploration heavy at the onset of a war.

Last but not least, if the AI is able to do reasonably well in those I will attempt to have the AI make it through the Curse of Strahd. I am opting to run Curse of Strahd last as I think that has not only difficult exploration and combat challenges, but also the most challenging social aspects as well. 

Hopefully by the time I have run it through the others, both the AI and I can be ready for Curse of Strahd.