In these days I’m experimenting with chatGPT, midjourney and their joined power to create stunning D&D notes and images. In this post I’ll explain briefly how to generate them with an example, but I also made a youtube video in italian for those who are interested in more details!
Chat GPT
The first step is using chatGPT to create a draft of the next session encounter. In fact, I consider every output of chat GPT a draft, and you should aswell! 🙂
The first step is telling chatGPT how you need it to behave like. For example, we can start the prompt with:
You are the dungeon master of a dungeons and dragons campaign.
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Now that the role is clear, let’s set our expectations:
I will describe the next session to you and you will respond with session notes. The notes should be written in bullet journaling format and in markdown. Depending on the session, the notes may include: a list of locations, a list of NPCs, monsters, objects encountered by the group, and challenges to overcome (combat, puzzles, traps, etc.). For each of these things, write a description for the master. Add all the points, descriptions, and other things you think necessary to make the notes more complete.
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ChatGPT now knows its role and what we expect it to do. It’s time to add a small prompt for how we want the encounter to begin, and see the magic:
Starting situation: the group is traveling through a desert infested with giant insects and encounters a magical obelisk.
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And this is the result:
Session Notes: The Magical Obelisk
Locations:
The Desert: A vast and unforgiving landscape, with towering dunes and scorching heat. The group is traveling through this harsh terrain, trying to reach their destination.
The Obelisk: A towering structure made of black stone, with strange symbols etched into its surface. It glows with a pulsing blue light, and seems to hum with arcane energy.
The party approaches the obelisk, and they notice that it seems to be emanating a strange energy. As they get closer, they can feel the energy growing stronger. Suddenly, the ground beneath them begins to shake, and the obelisk starts to glow brightly.
NPCs:
None.
Monsters:
Giant Insects: Huge beetles and scorpions, with razor-sharp pincers and venomous stingers. They scuttle across the sand, always on the hunt for prey.
Objects:
The Obelisk: A mysterious artifact of unknown origin, it seems to have some kind of magical power. Perhaps it can be used to aid the group in their quest?
Challenges:
Combat: The group will have to fight off the giant insects, which are both numerous and deadly. They will have to use their wits and their weapons to survive.
Puzzle: The obelisk seems to have some kind of riddle or puzzle associated with it. The group will have to decipher the clues and solve the puzzle to unlock its power.
Temptation: The obelisk is a powerful magical artifact, and it may tempt some members of the group to use it for their own ends. They will have to resist this temptation and use the artifact wisely.
Session Overview:
The group is traveling through the harsh desert, their eyes peeled for any signs of danger. Suddenly, they come upon a towering obelisk, glowing with a pulsing blue light. As they approach, they realize that the obelisk is guarded by a swarm of giant insects, who seem to be drawn to its power.
The group will have to fight off the insects, using their weapons and spells to overcome them. Once they have cleared the area, they can investigate the obelisk and try to unlock its power. This will involve solving a puzzle or riddle, deciphering the strange symbols etched into the stone.
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Now, the prompt and the output could be improved in various ways, but.. let’s see what we can do with what we have.
We’ll need a description to be read directly to the players, so we can ask:
Write a general description that can be read aloud to the group, addressing them in first person.
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The output:
As you continue to traverse the seemingly endless desert, the scorching sun beats down on you relentlessly, making every step feel like a struggle. However, amidst the barren landscape, you suddenly spot something unusual in the distance. As you approach, you realize it’s an obelisk, towering high into the sky and shimmering with a strange magical energy. As you draw closer, you can feel the power emanating from it, and a sense of awe and curiosity fills your hearts. What secrets might this ancient structure hold? What dangers might await you in its shadow? Only time will tell, but one thing is for certain: the journey ahead promises to be filled with adventure and excitement.
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Now we want to use this description to generate images. So, we ask chatGPT to create a prompt for each sentence:
Now, for each sentence of this description, create a highly detailed prompt for the AI image generator Midjourney, which describes the scene in intricate detail, adding artistic style, the light setting, artistic descriptive terms and the mood of the image in the form of comma-separated tags
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And the result:
- “You stand before a towering obelisk that glows with a faint magical aura.”
Prompt: Generate an image of a group of adventurers standing in front of a tall, ancient obelisk made of sandstone. The obelisk is engraved with intricate hieroglyphics and emits a soft, otherworldly light. The mood of the image is mysterious, ancient, and magical. Style: Sandstone carving. Light setting: Soft, otherworldly glow. Tags: mysterious, ancient, magical, sandstone carving, hieroglyphics.
- “The surrounding desert stretches out to the horizon, with dunes and rocky outcroppings dotting the landscape.”
Prompt: Create an image of a vast, barren desert landscape stretching out to the horizon. The landscape is punctuated by towering dunes of sand and rocky outcroppings. The mood of the image is desolate, unforgiving, and endless. Style: Realistic. Light setting: Harsh sunlight. Tags: barren, desolate, endless, sand dunes, rocky outcroppings, harsh sunlight.
- “The air is thick with the sound of buzzing wings and clicking mandibles as giant insects scuttle about.”
Prompt: Generate an image of giant insects crawling and buzzing around the adventurers in the desert. The insects are larger than life, with enormous wings and mandibles that click ominously. The mood of the image is tense, dangerous, and oppressive. Style: Surreal. Light setting: Dim, with shafts of light cutting through the insect swarms. Tags: giant insects, wings, mandibles, buzzing, clicking, tense, dangerous, oppressive.
- “In the distance, you can just make out the outline of a crumbling ruin, partially buried in the shifting sands.”
Prompt: Create an image of an ancient ruin half-buried in the desert sands, with weathered stone walls and broken columns. The mood of the image is melancholic, abandoned, and forgotten. Style: Artistic. Light setting: Dusky, with the sun setting behind the ruins. Tags: ancient, ruins, half-buried, melancholic, abandoned, forgotten, weathered stone, broken columns.
- “As you approach the obelisk, a strange sense of foreboding washes over you, as though you are being watched by some unseen force.”
Prompt: Generate an image of the adventurers approaching the obelisk, with a sense of unease and suspicion in their faces. The mood of the image is unsettling, ominous, and eerie. Style: Impressionistic. Light setting: Dim, with shadows creeping across the sand. Tags: unease, suspicion, unsettling, ominous, eerie, shadows, sand.
MidJourney
It’s time to use these prompts to create the associated images with Midjourney! Now, you could use these prompt directly, but I add some text before and after the prompt to make it better. Of course you could instruct chatGPT to add this text for you, but sometimes it doesn’t understand and messes up, so it’s cleaner to add it manually afterwards!
This is the prompt with my additions:
D&D adventure manual illustration ::0.5 Prompt: Generate an image of a group of adventurers standing in front of a tall, ancient obelisk made of sandstone. The obelisk is engraved with intricate hieroglyphics and emits a soft, otherworldly light. The mood of the image is mysterious, ancient, and magical. Style: Sandstone carving. Light setting: Soft, otherworldly glow. Tags: mysterious, ancient, magical, sandstone carving, hieroglyphics. Octane render, 8K, --aspect 16:9
This is a multi-prompt, with the first one being “D&D adventure manual illustration”. This is used to instruct the AI that we want to create an image very similar to an illustration that you could find on a D&D adventure book. This will cause the AI to go in that direction with way more strength than by adding the style at the end of the prompt.
In fact, this is a bit too strong, so I added a 0.5 after it to halve the bias of the first prompt.
At the end, the only additional properties that I added the the chatGPT prompt are octane render, 8k and aspect ratio.
This is the resulting image (HD version here):
Conclusions
Let me know if you like the image or not, but I’m pretty happy with the results! Don’t forget to leave a heart 🙂
