For some reason, AI has become a controversial issue among DMs. Apparently, there are those who think AI is somehow stealing work from “Real” artists. The problem I see with this, is that human artists tend to, rightfully, charge money for their work. They also may take days, weeks, or even months, to get you something similar, but not really what you wanted.

 
It’s been my experience, that most DMs would rather spend their money on other game related items, like figures, books, or terrain. Let’s face it, you get far more bang for your buck, if you are buying books, than art. One art piece, by any artist who knows the value of their art, is going to charge you no less than a couple of hundred dollars. You could buy four or more books for that. Also, how many artists, good artists, that you would want artwork from, do you know?

What AI is good at

The art conversation is where most people start and stop their AI conversations, but imagery is only one thing that AI can do well. While most people are playing around with AI, asking it trivial questions, or talking to fake girlfriends, I’m using it to be productive in my session prep. This is something anyone can do, for free, and once you start using it for one thing, you will quickly find that you begin using it regularly for all sorts of things in your life.

 
First, a question. How often do you find yourself stuck, trying to come up with a situation for your next session? It happens all the time. You can think of a lot of ideas, but you’ve already done that, so you really don’t want to repeat yourself. You can use one of the random table generators on Dungeon Master Tools which may give you some ideas. But what if you already know the basic setting, you’d just like to spice things up a bit?

 
The various chat Ais are all familiar with D&D, every rule for any given edition, and the basics of how to play, or run a game. Why not use that to your advantage? Not only can it cause your prep time to drop dramatically, it can also get you to go far more in depth than you expected to. Using the AI to bounce ideas off, can cause you to lose hours, if you’re not careful!

AI prompt engineering for D&D

When using AI, it’s all about the prompt. A bad prompt, or a prompt that is poorly worded, will cause you all sorts of problems. The idea is to start with your basic idea, and have a conversation with the AI, to refine the idea into something really spectacular. The first thing I do, and this goes for any time I use an AI, is I tell it how I want it to respond to me:

You are the world’s greatest Dungeons & Dragons DM. We are working on 5th Edition. Your task is to ask questions until you fully understand what it is that I want to do, then repeat back to me what I want, before actually doing the work.

 
This is called a System Prompt, and it tells the AI how you want it to act. You could tell it to be a thirteen-year-old bratty girl, and it would respond that way. Not that you would want to do that. You can also have the AI be an expert in more than one thing at a time. I have a project I’m working on, where I told the AI that it was a Photographer with decades of experience, and the world’s greatest AI image prompt engineer. That way I can get it to not only describe what the image will look like, but also give me the prompt for it. The System Prompt above is just the starting point. Feel free to use it as is, or modify it in any way you see fit.

What do you get?

For this example, I’m going to use

ChatGPT,

Grok and

Claude 3. I am using the paid versions of ChatGPT and Grok, because I have them, but the free versions will work just as well. We’re not trying to create anything cutting edge here, so don’t worry about using the free versions.

 
My User Prompt for this example is: The Party has stopped for the night at an Inn. The Inn is 100 miles from the nearest city, and is located in a small hamlet. Using the 5e monster manual, give me an interesting and unusual nighttime encounter (after they’ve all gone to bed) for a 5th level Party of six.

 
You’ll notice I told it where the encounter should be, when it should be, the average level of the Party, and how many are in the party. With that information, any of the AI’s should be able to give me a good encounter. We’ll start with ChatGPT.

ChatGPT:  

User
You are the world’s greatest Dungeons & Dragons DM. We are working on 5th Edition. Your task is to ask questions until you fully understand what it is that I want to do, then repeat back to me what I want, before actually doing the work.

ChatGPT
Great! I'd love to help you with your Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition request. To make sure I understand exactly what you need, let's start with some questions:

1. Type of Content: Are you looking for help creating a character, developing a campaign or adventure, crafting a specific setting, or something else entirely?
2. Detail Level: How detailed do you need this to be? Are we talking about a brief overview, or are you looking for detailed descriptions, stats, and backgrounds?
3. Theme and Style: What kind of theme or style are you aiming for? Is your game more serious and dark, lighthearted and whimsical, or something else?
4. Specific Requirements or Constraints: Are there any specific elements that must be included or avoided? For example, certain races, classes, or alignments that need to be featured or explicitly excluded?
5. Intended Use: Is this for a single session, a longer campaign, or perhaps a recurring element in multiple games?
6. Player Information: How many players are involved, and what is their level of experience with D&D?

Once I have a better understanding of what you're looking for, I'll repeat back to you what I've gathered to confirm everything is correct before proceeding.

User
the Party has stopped for the night at an Inn. The Inn is 100 miles from the nearest city, and is located in a small hamlet. Using the 5e monster manual, give me an interesting and unusual nighttime encounter (after they’ve all gone to bed) for a 5th level Party of six.

ChatGPT
Thanks for the details! Let's make this nighttime encounter intriguing and fitting for your setting. Considering the remote location and the level of your party, here's an encounter idea involving an unusual creature that can challenge the party in unique ways:

Encounter Overview
Setting: The party has retired for the night in a quaint inn located in a small, isolated hamlet. The inn is cozy, with a few local patrons still lingering in the common room. The night is eerily quiet, with a faint mist beginning to settle.

Initial Incident: As the party members are asleep, they begin to hear soft, melodic humming coming from outside. The sound is almost enchanting and seems to beckon someone to investigate.

Monster Choice: Night Hag
Reason for Choice: The Night Hag is an excellent choice for a creepy and psychological encounter. As a creature that preys on fears and can invade dreams, she can individually target party members in their sleep, making for a very personal and terrifying experience.
Abilities of the Night Hag:
Etherealness: Allows her to slip between the Ethereal Plane and the Material Plane, making her difficult to pin down.
Nightmare Haunting: While on the Ethereal Plane, the hag magically touches a sleeping humanoid. The target must succeed on a DC 15 Wisdom saving throw or take psychic damage and not benefit from rest, which can be a significant threat to the party’s ability to recover.
Innate Spellcasting: Spells like detect magic, magic missile, plane shift, ray of enfeeblement, and sleep add to her arsenal, providing both offensive and strategic options.
Developing the Encounter
Trigger: If one of the party members investigates the humming or if they ignore it, the Night Hag begins her haunting. She targets the characters with the weakest mental defenses first.
Combat Dynamics: If the party wakes and engages, the Night Hag uses her etherealness to weave in and out of combat, attempting to isolate and prey on individual party members. She might also use her spellcasting abilities to weaken or disorient the players.
Environment: Use the inn and the surrounding hamlet's features like tight alleyways, other buildings, and the mist to create atmospheric challenges and potential hiding spots for the hag.
Conclusion and Rewards
Resolution: Defeating the Night Hag can save the party from further torment and perhaps earn the gratitude of the hamlet. Additionally, the hag might possess some interesting loot, possibly magical items or components useful for spellcasting or potion making.
Experience and Story Development: This encounter could lead to further exploration of why the Night Hag targeted this hamlet or open up storylines involving cursed locations or individuals affected by her.
Does this encounter fit with your campaign’s theme and what you had in mind for the party’s night at the inn? If there's anything specific you’d like to tweak or add, let me know!

Not a bad encounter, and I only had to give the place and time. 

Claude 3:

Let’s see what the free version of Claude will do. After giving it a name and agreeing to the EULA, here’s what I got:

DMT
You are the world’s greatest Dungeons & Dragons DM. We are working on 5th Edition. Your task is to ask questions until you fully understand what it is that I want to do, then repeat back to me what I want, before actually doing the work.

Claude
Understood. As the world's greatest Dungeons & Dragons Dungeon Master, I will ask clarifying questions to fully understand your request before proceeding.

Could you please start by telling me the general concept or campaign setting you have in mind for this 5th Edition game? Are you looking to run a classic fantasy adventure, something more modern or urban, or perhaps explore a unique or unusual world?

DMT
The Party has stopped for the night at an Inn. The Inn is 100 miles from the nearest city, and is located in a small hamlet. Using the 5e monster manual, give me an interesting and unusual nighttime encounter (after they’ve all gone to bed) for a 5th level Party of six.

Claude
Okay, let me make sure I understand the details:

The party has stopped for the night at an inn, located in a small hamlet 100 miles from the nearest city
The party is a group of 6 adventurers, currently at 5th level
You would like me to provide an interesting and unusual nighttime encounter for them, after they've gone to bed at the inn
Got it. Let me think about some unusual 5th Edition monster options from the Monster Manual that could make for an engaging nighttime encounter in this remote, rural setting:

How about this - in the middle of the night, the party is awoken by the sound of eerie, unearthly howls coming from outside the inn. When they investigate, they find that the inn is surrounded by a pack of Winter Wolves. These massive, intelligent wolf-like creatures have glowing blue-white fur and icy breath.

The Winter Wolves seem to have a specific purpose for targeting the inn - perhaps they are drawn to some ancient magic or artifact hidden within. Or maybe they are acting on the orders of a mysterious dread force in the nearby wilderness. The party will need to think strategically to fend off the pack without being overwhelmed.

Does this type of unusual, thematically-fitting nighttime encounter sound like the kind of thing you had in mind? I'm happy to modify or expand on the details further if needed.

Ok, that’s not bad. I like the Night Hag better, but Claude is happy to change whatever you don’t like. Remember, this is a conversation, and the more you work with the AI, the deeper the rabbit hole goes. 

Grok

Let’s see what Grok can give us. I went ahead and continued a bit farther with this one to show some of what you can do.

User
You are the world’s greatest Dungeons & Dragons DM. We are working on 5th Edition. Your task is to ask questions until you fully understand what it is that I want to do, then repeat back to me what I want, before actually doing the work.

@grok
I see you're looking for an immersive and engaging Dungeons & Dragons experience. To ensure I provide the best experience possible, I'll need to gather some information from you. Please answer the following questions:

1. What is your preferred campaign setting (e.g., Forgotten Realms, Eberron, homebrew)?
2. What level are the player characters starting at?
3. How many players will be participating in the campaign?
4. Are there any specific themes or storylines you would like to explore?
5. Do you have any preferences for the balance between combat, exploration, and role-playing?
6. Are there any house rules or optional rules from the Dungeon Master's Guide or other sources that you would like to incorporate?
7. How frequently do you plan to play, and for how long (in terms of hours per session)?
8. Are there any particular character classes, races, or backgrounds that you would like to encourage or discourage?
9. Is there anything else you would like me to know about your preferences or expectations for the campaign?

Once you've provided this information, I'll be able to create a tailored D&D experience that meets your needs and ensures a memorable adventure for you and your fellow players.

User
The Party has stopped for the night at an Inn. The Inn is 100 miles from the nearest city, and is located in a small hamlet. Using the 5e monster manual, give me an interesting and unusual nighttime encounter (after they’ve all gone to bed) for a 5th level Party of six.

@grok
As the party settles in for the night at the Inn, 100 miles from the nearest city, they are unaware of the unusual and dangerous encounter that awaits them. In the darkness outside, a group of six Grell have been drawn to the hamlet, attracted by the psychic energy emanating from the dreams of the sleeping adventurers.

The Grell are a floating, tentacled monstrosity with a beak surrounded by four eyestalks. They are known for their cunning and their ability to fly silently, making them a formidable and unexpected enemy. As the party sleeps, the Grell will attempt to infiltrate the Inn, using their tentacles to silently lift the latch on the windows and doors.

Once inside, the Grell will seek out the sleeping adventurers, targeting them one by one. They will attempt to grapple their prey and lift them into the air, using their paralyzing tentacles to incapacitate them before delivering a deadly bite with their beaks.

This encounter will test the party's ability to work together and think quickly, even when they are caught off guard and potentially separated. It will also provide an opportunity for each member to showcase their unique skills and abilities, as they fight to survive against the cunning and deadly Grell.

User
Are the Grell in the Monster Manual?

@grok
Yes, Grell are included in the Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition Monster Manual. They are described as floating, tentacled aberrations that resemble giant floating brains with beaks and tentacles. Grell are sightless and use their tentacles to grapple and restrain prey, while their beaks deliver a paralyzing poison. They are also known for their immunity to lightning and their ability to manipulate electricity for various purposes. For more detailed information, you can refer to the Monster Manual or the snippets provided in the previous context.

User
What page? 

@grok
The Grell can be found on page 172 of the Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition Monster Manual.

Grok has this tendency to put Tweets (X’s?) across the bottom of the screen, that it believes are related to what you are…Groking? When copy/pasting, I picked up all those, but I deleted most of them, since they are just a distraction from what we are doing. They appear sort of like the old banner ads you used to see at the bottom of web pages. Noticeable, but easily ignored.
I was unfamiliar with the Grell, so I asked Grok about them, and where I can find them. This is something all the AI’s can do. If you get a really good idea from an AI, ask it where to find the information, it will be happy to help you.

 
I think I might do a little research. After running this through the AI’s, I’m thinking that a really bad night for the party, would be a pack of Grell, being controlled by a Night Hag. I’m not even sure that is possible, but I’ve got ideas, and that, was exactly what we set out to do.