First Time With AI Dungeon

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I went looking for an online app I could use for a simple yes/no + and/but oracle for solo RPG play which I can use for a Star Trek RPG run I'm currently formulating. I'm still looking for such an oracle, but on my journey, I found AI Dungeon and was really intrigued.

One of the things I love about it is how you can jump right in with it. The instant I went to the website, it asked me what genre of game I wanted to play, what class I wanted to play as and what my character's name is. Out of curiosity, I picked a fantasy setting, a wizard, and I named my wizard Elara. Here's a transcript of my first experience with the program:

 > You are Elara, a wizard living in the kingdom of Larion. You have a staff and a spellbook. You finish your long journey and finally arrive at the ruin you've been looking for. You have come here searching for a mystical spellbook of great power called the book of essence. You look around and see that the ruins are in a state of disrepair. The walls are crumbling, and vines have grown up around the ancient stones. But despite its dilapidated state, you can feel a strong magical energy emanating from the ruins.

As you approach the entrance, you notice that the door is locked.

Me: I use magic to unlock the door.

> Elara focuses her mind on the lock, visualizing the mechanism and feeling the flow of magic within it. With a wave of her staff and a few words of incantation, the lock clicks open. The door creaks open, revealing a dark and musty interior.  Elara takes a deep breath, gathers her courage, and steps inside.

Me: I look around. What do I see inside?

> Elara's eyes adjust to the dim light, revealing a chamber filled with rubble and debris. Cobwebs cling to the corners of the walls, and dust covers the floor. In the center of the chamber is a raised stone platform with a large pedestal on top of it. On the pedestal sits a book with a leather cover and metal clasps.

Me: do I sense anything odd?

> As Elara approaches the pedestal, she senses a strange energy emanating from the book. It's unlike anything she has ever felt before, a powerful aura that seems to pulse with a life of its own. The air around the book feels charged, and Elara can feel the hair on the back of her neck standing up. She knows that this is no ordinary spellbook.

Me: I use magic to jostle the book.

> Elara raises her staff and whispers a spell, causing a small gust of wind to brush against the book. The book vibrates slightly, and its pages rustle as if responding to the magic. But as soon as Elara stops casting, the book settles back into place, as still as before.

Me: are there any traps in the room? 

> As Elara takes a closer look around the chamber, she notices that there are no visible traps. However, she senses that there may be magical wards or barriers in place to protect the book. She proceeds with caution, keeping her guard up and ready to defend herself if necessary.

Me: I use magic to detect any magical wards or barriers. 

> Elara closes her eyes and focuses her mind on sensing any magical wards or barriers in the room. She feels a faint resistance, as if something is pushing back against her magic. With effort, she manages to penetrate the barrier and senses a complex network of magical protections surrounding the book. There are wards against theft, tampering, and even against harm to the book itself.

Me: I use magic to disable the wards. 

> Elara takes a deep breath and concentrates her magic on disabling the wards around the book. She carefully unravels the intricate web of spells that protect it, one by one, until she is able to reach the book without triggering any alarms or traps. With a final burst of power, she lifts the book from the pedestal and clutches it tightly in her hands.

Me: I read the book. 

> As Elara opens the book, she sees that it is filled with ancient and mysterious symbols that seem to dance across the pages. The words are written in an obscure language that she can barely understand, but she can feel the power pulsing within them. She realizes that this is the Book of Essence, the fabled tome that she has been searching for.

Me: what can I use the book for? 

> Elara knows that the Book of Essence contains powerful spells and secrets that can enhance her magical abilities beyond anything she has ever imagined. With this book, she can unlock new levels of power and wield magic that few have ever even dreamed of. She decides to take the book back to her tower and study it more closely, eager to uncover its secrets and unlock its full potential.

Me: I go back to my tower to study the book. 

And that's where my free trial thing ran out and I had to register to continue. I'm still in the process of figuring out what all is going on here, but there seems to be quite a bit to do. A quick search for "Star Trek" on the site turned up a number of "scenarios", "worlds" and "adventures". There's a reward system with "scales" to keep you hooked and it comes with a number of prebuilt scenarios.

I'm going to explore this more. There's a lot of potential here, even if what I'm seeing so far is pretty basic. The AI referee, powered by ChatGPT 3.5, definitely reacts in the way I've come to expect from ChatGPT. I'll make more posts as I explore the site and play around with the system some more.