ChatGPT And Game Writing: The Seelie Court

This week I’m back to game developing on Elven Academy after a five-month hiatus. I spent a few days fixing bugs on the live server (because I always leave things in shambles). Now I can dive into the Seelie Court story adventure module.

Sadly, our official human lore of the Seelie Court is quite lacking. Thanks to Shakespeare, we have Oberon, Titania, Puck, and some fairies, and lots of ‘fan fiction’ let’s say. Gladly, this morning I ran across TAGN’s blog posts about AI generation of fantasy royal courts.

This is exactly what I just happened to need today. So I worked up the members of three elven councils, which function in coordination with the royal family. My first question was:

create a council of three good, honest elf businessmen, each assigned to a different island

I was surprised and pleased that the AI actually gave the islands useful names and designed a character around those islands. The AI also seemed to value gender diversity and take into account elven values of nature and ecology. The result is like a rough, generic block to hone down on. One of the results, for example:

1. Galadriel Swiftbreeze – Island of Innovation: Galadriel Swiftbreeze is a visionary elf entrepreneur tasked with overseeing the Island of Innovation. She possesses a creative and innovative mindset, constantly seeking new opportunities and advancements. Galadriel encourages research, development, and technological progress on the island. She promotes sustainable solutions, green initiatives, and investments in renewable energy. Galadriel’s business ventures focus on pushing boundaries, fostering creativity…

The AI-generated characters sound a lot like modern resumes, or bios on corporate websites. The revised result for the campaign:

1. Councillor Gloirse of House Gaothaigéan – Warbler Isle: Gloirse is a visionary entrepreneur tasked with overseeing Warbler Isle. She possesses a creative and innovative mindset, but is in constant struggle with the Peacock Queen over innovation versus traditional elven values. Gloirse encourages research on how to bridge cultural differences between the great Courts of the Underworld. She wants sustainable, honest solutions to helping Warbler Island prosper, but she has been accused of corruption in the past, and working too favorably towards the aims of the Soul Pirates.

I didn’t get scolded or lectured at all in the answers from ChatGPT, like TAGN. I am curious to try some scurrilous and evil requests. I was again very impressed by the answer to my next request (I probably need to improve my questions):

create a council of three good, diverse elf druids

1. Aria Moonshadow – Guardian of the Forests: (a wordy paragraph about guarding forests and nature)
2. Kael Stormcaller – Warden of the Elements: (a wordy paragraph about four elements and keeping them in harmony, casting elemental magic)
3. Rhiannon Dawnrunner – Shaper of Life: (a wordy paragraph of nature-loving, herbalism, and healing)

The revised result for the campaign:

1. Druid Arii of House Gealach – Guardian of the Forests: Arii is a wise and ancient elf druid who serves as the guardian of the forests. She has dedicated her life to preserving and nurturing the natural world. Aria is known for her profound knowledge of plant life, her ability to commune with animals, and her mastery of healing and herbalism. She brings her wisdom, compassion, and reverence for the natural order to the council, advocating for the protection and sustainable use of the forests.

Lastly I needed a High Council that oversees everything and works directly with the king. My question:

create an elven high council with seven members, with political intrigue and conflict

One of the results:

1. Lady Evangeline Shadowheart – The Enigmatic Sorceress: Lady Evangeline Shadowheart is a powerful sorceress whose magical prowess and mysterious nature have garnered both admiration and suspicion. She is known for her persuasive abilities and has a strong influence over the council’s decisions. Her motivations and true intentions are often shrouded in secrecy, causing division and intrigue among the council members.

The revised result for the campaign:

1. High Moth Evangeline of House Beaubeignet – The Enigmatic Sorceress: Duchess Evangeline, or so she calls herself in reference to her lineage of French royalty, is a powerful elven sorceress whose magic and mystery have garnered both admiration and great suspicion. She is known for her persuasive abilities and has a strong influence over the council’s decisions. Her motivations and true intentions are elitist and conservative. She believes high royalty is the true measure of a society, and therefore she believes in high taxes. She is supported by the Royal Family.

Conclusion:

So. I re-wrote 13 generated characters, firmed up the exact councils, their natures, and their political connections, supporters, and leanings, and filed them into my character reference sheet in Google docs, in an hour or two.

I’d say that’s a success. An elaborate backstory and history for a campaign is necessary, but it’s also an enormous amount of busy work. I’m looking forward to checking out the other options in AI, and I’ll hope this stuff remains free-use for a long time into the future. If AI is a gold mine, the winners right now I’d guess are the sellers of picks and shovels.

On that note, I could add that I’ve also discovered the Krita graphics software. After all these years of being a slave to Photoshop, it’s the first platform I’ve seen that seems to do what Photoshop 6 does for my game graphics creation. This is a saver of hassle, time, and also real money when my old Windows 7 + PS6 machine eventually dies.

As far as gaming this spring, I was in FFXIV:ARR for a few months, and I’m still keeping up with Hearthstone for those few months of every year when I really get into it. I’ve played some Saint’s Row. I didn’t buy Redfall, because it was so trashed by critics. We are still waiting for Bloodlines 2. What else? Well, there is GTA 6 in 2025, and Elder Scrolls 6 in 2026? That’s what Google comes up with.

So yeah. And the new Star Wars game doesn’t have a female character option.

Anyway, happy summer vacation, happy gaming, or whatever you are up to. Thanks to TAGN for the AI writeups and getting me on track with that. Looks like I forgot to paint a hanging potted plant on my Seelie Court splash screen (above.) So … I’ll go add that to the endless list of things to do and fix…