[Adventure Seeds] ChatGPT-Generated Adventures

[Catsmate]

Mar 2, 2023 15:50:27 GMT misterharry said:

Mar 2, 2023 11:20:20 GMT Catsmate said:

I like this, a nice possible tie-in to The Kingmaker and the whole time travel complexity around the life of Richard of Gloucester. Perhaps the manuscript is his lost diaries, detailing his lifetime of encounters with time travellers, the contributions of the Doctor and Mr. Seyton and what really happened to his brother's children. Definitely not something the Doctor would like to see made public.

The Kingmaker is one of my favourite audios, so the thought had crossed my mind. The tone would probably change from one of cloak-and-dagger dangers to something more humorous, maybe even rescuing Seyton from Bosworth Field. Hang on! Hang the futtock on! (Bonus points for those who get the reference.)

SPOILER: Click to show

And by doing so, maybe get Shakespeare back to his proper life, maybe even explaining why his personality has changed so much by the time of The Shakespeare Code and why he doesn't remember the Doctor by then. Shock-induced amnesia maybe?

I have a sudden urge to develop a scenario where a later Doctor travels back in time with Greene along. Maybe he and Shakespeare switch places?

[soultaker666212]

Might be an interesting sequel to The Aztecs or perhaps a separate adventure within the historical setting.

Title: The Secret of the Aztecs

Setting: Mexico, 1521 AD during the Spanish Conquest

Famous historical character: Hernán Cortés, the Spanish conquistador who led the conquest of the Aztec Empire.

Alien: The Vashta Nerada, a swarm of microscopic creatures that consume all organic matter in their path.

Plot: The Doctor and their companion arrive in the heart of the Aztec Empire just as Hernán Cortés and his conquistadors are about to launch their final attack on the capital city of Tenochtitlan. The Doctor soon realizes that the Vashta Nerada have taken up residence in the city's canals, and are planning to use the chaos of the battle to spread throughout the city and beyond, threatening all life on Earth.

The Doctor and their companion team up with a young Aztec warrior, Tlaloc, and his father, the chief of their tribe, to try and stop the Vashta Nerada before it's too late. Along the way, they must navigate the complex politics of the Aztec Empire, avoid being captured by Cortés' forces, and contend with the horrors of war.

Plot twists:
It turns out that the Vashta Nerada were brought to Earth by a rogue Time Lord who was trying to use them as a weapon against an enemy in the Time War. The Doctor must confront their own past mistakes and find a way to neutralize the Vashta Nerada without causing further harm.

Tlaloc's father is secretly working with Cortés to betray his own people and secure his own power. The Doctor and their companions must confront the chief and convince him to change his ways before it's too late.

Other characters involved:
Hernán Cortés and his lieutenants
Montezuma II, the Aztec emperor
Xochitl, a priestess of the Aztec goddess of death, who may have knowledge of how to defeat the Vashta Nerada
Father Juan de Zumárraga, a Spanish missionary who may be sympathetic to the Doctor's cause
Cuauhtémoc, a young Aztec prince who is eager to fight the Spanish invaders

Themes:
The consequences of colonization and imperialism
The dangers of weaponizing technology
The importance of cultural preservation and understanding
The horrors of war and its impact on ordinary people

[misterharry]

I thought I'd give ChatGPT a bit of a challenge and ask it to generate a season of ten adventures with an underlying story-arc building towards a finale. I gave it the examples of Bad Wolf (in Season 1), the return of the Master (season 3) and the crack in time (season 5) to give it an idea of what I was looking for. I also added a few more parameters in the style of an RTD season: first episode on present-day Earth, second episode a historical with a known personality, and the third episode set in on an alien planet in the future. Plus I wanted one or two villains or aliens from the TV series, including an appearance by the Daleks. I asked it to provide me with each episode one at a time as I asked for it.

I think I may have stretched ChatGPT to its limit. About half way through, I asked for some clarification about one of the earlier episodes and it started talking as if it had been set on an alien planet instead of 20th Century Earth, but corrected itself when I pointed out the error. There was also some confusion with the names of alien races it had created. Towards the end, it looked like a mysterious figure called the Collector was being set-up as the story-arc, but they never actually appeared or were even mentioned again (though they remain a potential plot-thread for a second series). Instead, ChatGPT suddenly mentioned cracks in time which it said had been appearing throughout the campaign but which had never been mentioned before. And the Daleks I'd requested were a no-show.

But what it did come up with is a reasonable stab at a season with a story-arc, certainly the basis of something I could develop into a full-blown campaign. I'll not post it here as it would make for a very long post, but if anyone wants to read it, it can be downloaded here (I've tidied it up a bit and corrected the bits where ChatGPT became confused) - I've included the full text of my request for context:

ChatGPT-Generated Campaign - New Series Style

My conclusion is that ChatGPT does have its limits, and that if you throw too many things at it at once, it can't juggle them all and starts to forget the details.

[soultaker666212]

Mar 3, 2023 14:55:17 GMT misterharry said:

I thought I'd give ChatGPT a bit of a challenge and ask it to generate a season of ten adventures with an underlying story-arc building towards a finale. I gave it the examples of Bad Wolf (in Season 1), the return of the Master (season 3) and the crack in time (season 5) to give it an idea of what I was looking for. I also added a few more parameters in the style of an RTD season: first episode on present-day Earth, second episode a historical with a known personality, and the third episode set in on an alien planet in the future. Plus I wanted one or two villains or aliens from the TV series, including an appearance by the Daleks. I asked it to provide me with each episode one at a time as I asked for it.

I think I may have stretched ChatGPT to its limit. About half way through, I asked for some clarification about one of the earlier episodes and it started talking as if it had been set on an alien planet instead of 20th Century Earth, but corrected itself when I pointed out the error. There was also some confusion with the names of alien races it had created. Towards the end, it looked like a mysterious figure called the Collector was being set-up as the story-arc, but they never actually appeared or were even mentioned again (though they remain a potential plot-thread for a second series). Instead, ChatGPT suddenly mentioned cracks in time which it said had been appearing throughout the campaign but which had never been mentioned before. And the Daleks I'd requested were a no-show.

But what it did come up with is a reasonable stab at a season with a story-arc, certainly the basis of something I could develop into a full-blown campaign. I'll not post it here as it would make for a very long post, but if anyone wants to read it, it can be downloaded here (I've tidied it up a bit and corrected the bits where ChatGPT became confused) - I've included the full text of my request for context:

ChatGPT-Generated Campaign

My conclusion is that ChatGPT does have its limits, and that if you throw too many things at it at once, it can't juggle them all and starts to forget the details.

This is actually quite interesting to do really! I think a real next challenge is try and see if it can do a classic doctor who series with a serialised format and it giving detail on each episode within each serial etc. I think Adventure 5 and Adventure 8 could be connected together with the idea that the crimson gem is something of Shadowkin technology and can play with the timey wimey aspect with that the characters defeating the future events as their past selves despite them not knowing what it is just yet at all. 

[thewarchief]

Mar 2, 2023 11:10:32 GMT Catsmate said:

Mar 1, 2023 18:23:51 GMT thewarchief said:

Silurian Park?

Oooooo, that's a nice twist, set the adventure in Earth's deep past after the Silurians have gone into hibernation but before the catastrophe strikes.
A catastrophe which the PCs are unaware of.....

Let's take it one step further. What if the "monstrous creatures that have now escaped and are rampaging through the facility" are the creatures that eventually evolve into humanity? So the Doctor and companions can't just stop it because if they do there will be no human race. So they have to to let the creatures loose, and convince the Silurians to go into cryosleep before the coming catastrophe, a rouge planetoid (i.e. the Moon).

Except, of course, that the catastrophe doesn't happen, the Moon goes into orbit, and the monstrous creatures thrive, evolve and become the dominant life form on the planet.


I refuse to be outwritten by an A.I.

[soultaker666212]

Mar 3, 2023 21:47:24 GMT thewarchief said:

Mar 2, 2023 11:10:32 GMT Catsmate said:

Oooooo, that's a nice twist, set the adventure in Earth's deep past after the Silurians have gone into hibernation but before the catastrophe strikes.
A catastrophe which the PCs are unaware of.....

Let's take it one step further. What if the "monstrous creatures that have now escaped and are rampaging through the facility" are the creatures that eventually evolve into humanity? So the Doctor and companions can't just stop it because if they do there will be no human race. So they have to to let the creatures loose, and convince the Silurians to go into cryosleep before the coming catastrophe, a rouge planetoid (i.e. the Moon).

Except, of course, that the catastrophe doesn't happen, the Moon goes into orbit, and the monstrous creatures thrive, evolve and become the dominant life form on the planet.


I refuse to be outwritten by an A.I.

So essentially a reverse Lazarus project? 

[thewarchief]

Mar 4, 2023 1:55:13 GMT soultaker666212 said:

Mar 3, 2023 21:47:24 GMT thewarchief said:

Let's take it one step further. What if the "monstrous creatures that have now escaped and are rampaging through the facility" are the creatures that eventually evolve into humanity? So the Doctor and companions can't just stop it because if they do there will be no human race. So they have to to let the creatures loose, and convince the Silurians to go into cryosleep before the coming catastrophe, a rouge planetoid (i.e. the Moon).

Except, of course, that the catastrophe doesn't happen, the Moon goes into orbit, and the monstrous creatures thrive, evolve and become the dominant life form on the planet.


I refuse to be outwritten by an A.I.

So essentially a reverse Lazarus project? 

Not quite where I was going. Originally I was thinking how the Chat GTP generated story was similar to Jussaic Park, and switch to Sliurian Park to give it a Doctor Who bent.

But, after looking at more seriously, my thinking was that as the 70s Siluirian stories establisehdthat humans evolved from some mammals kept as pets by the Silurians, an that they survived and evolved when the rouge planetoid didn't crash into the Earth as predicted but instead went into orbit around it. So it would be interesting if this evolution wasn't entirely natural, and that the Doctor can't just help the Silurians take down the "monsters" since those monsters will evolve into humanity, and doing so would alter history.

It would be like an adventure that takes place before one of the classic stories where the Doctor cannot stop the Daleks or Cybermen becuase it would prevent something from happening that must happen. For instance preventing the Great Intelligence from becoming established in the first place would mean that the Web of Fear never happened and maybe UNIT was never formed. And that could cause a lot of things to go differently.

I guess in New Who terms this would be something of a cross between Waters of Mars (fixed point in time) and Turn Left (what happens when you change the past).

[soultaker666212]

Mar 4, 2023 2:09:24 GMT thewarchief said:

Mar 4, 2023 1:55:13 GMT soultaker666212 said:

So essentially a reverse Lazarus project? 

Not quite where I was going. Originally I was thinking how the Chat GTP generated story was similar to Jussaic Park, and switch to Sliurian Park to give it a Doctor Who bent.

But, after looking at more seriously, my thinking was that as the 70s Siluirian stories establisehdthat humans evolved from some mammals kept as pets by the Silurians, an that they survived and evolved when the rouge planetoid didn't crash into the Earth as predicted but instead went into orbit around it. So it would be interesting if this evolution wasn't entirely natural, and that the Doctor can't just help the Silurians take down the "monsters" since those monsters will evolve into humanity, and doing so would alter history.

It would be like an adventure that takes place before one of the classic stories where the Doctor cannot stop the Daleks or Cybermen becuase it would prevent something from happening that must happen. For instance preventing the Great Intelligence from becoming established in the first place would mean that the Web of Fear never happened and maybe UNIT was never formed. And that could cause a lot of things to go differently.

I guess in New Who terms this would be something of a cross between Waters of Mars (fixed point in time) and Turn Left (what happens when you change the past).

That does make a lot of sense, I myself was just comparing the how the monstrous creatures that later evolve into humanity could be similar to Lazarus within that episode, but making comparison in that it would be in reverse effect of what happened, the monster turning into humanity and not a human turning into the monster like Lazarus.  

[misterharry]

I decided to rein in my list of requirements for ChatGPT to create a second season of advenutres, this time with a story-arc which would be more obvious to the players from the start, more in the style of those from the classic series, such as the Key to Time or the E-Space trilogy. I was wanting to see if a less ambitious campaign would give better results, so I pared the season down to four adventures and removed any prerequsities for specific settings. I did retain my request for the Daleks to feature, as ChatGPT had missed them out in the previous season despite me specifying them.

I think the campaign it came up with is tighter than the last one, though I did go back with several questions to get additional information or to clarify things. Perhaps that's the key - requesting more details to pin the adventures down more.

For anyone interested in reading it, the resulting campaign can be downloaded here:

The Chronicles of Time

I was surprised (and pleased) to see a character from the Expanded Universe make an appearance, in the form of Colonel Emily Chaudhry from Big Finish's 2005 UNIT series and Doctor Who short-stories. I was also delighted that the Collector, the mysterious villain who had been mentioned in the previous campaign season created by ChatGPT, also reappeared.

[thewarchief]

Mar 4, 2023 2:13:10 GMT soultaker666212 said:

That does make a lot of sense, I myself was just comparing the how the monstrous creatures that later evolve into humanity could be similar to Lazarus within that episode, but making comparison in that it would be in reverse effect of what happened, the monster turning into humanity and not a human turning into the monster like Lazarus.  

Who says humans are not monsters? The comparison might be quite valid. That;'s the nice thing about brainstorming, and IMO the real value of random idea tables, and AI generated stuff, it gets us thinking, and often in ways that we normally wouldn't. It's one reason why I like to bounce ideas off of other people, especially other GMs. Chances are they will throw something out there that I hadn't thought of and open up who new paths for adventure. And, hopefully, vice versa.

[thewarchief]

Mar 4, 2023 12:01:05 GMT misterharry said:

I think the campaign it came up with is tighter than the last one, though I did go back with several questions to get additional information or to clarify things. Perhaps that's the key - requesting more details to pin the adventures down more.

That would match up with the stuff my teacher used to say in my first computer couses (on mechancial computers no less). Basically computers, even A.I.s don't do what you want them to do, they do what you tell them to do.So the better you are at telling it what to do, the better it will be at it.

Plus, I would think that outside of an intellectual exercise into the capabilities and limitations of A.I., we probably don't want a computer coming up with our campaigns and adventures for us. Campaign and adventure creation is one of the perks of GMing. If the computers are writing the adventures then paper & pencil RPGs will die off. As Gms we should probably view AI generated stories the way artists are view AI generated art.

[misterharry]

Mar 4, 2023 16:06:06 GMT thewarchief said:

Plus, I would think that outside of an intellectual exercise into the capabilities and limitations of A.I., we probably don't want a computer coming up with our campaigns and adventures for us. Campaign and adventure creation is one of the perks of GMing. If the computers are writing the adventures then paper & pencil RPGs will die off. As Gms we should probably view AI generated stories the way artists are view AI generated art.

Oh, I'll take ideas from wherever I can get them! More seriously, I'd view AI-generated scenario seeds much the same way as I view published ones. I'll look at what I like and what I don't and adjust accordingly. The AI-generated ones would need an extra level or two of sense-checking. There'd be a lot of work developing a complete adventure from any of the ideas that ChatGPT has come up with anyway.

[thewarchief]

Mar 4, 2023 16:26:07 GMT misterharry said:

Oh, I'll take ideas from wherever I can get them! More seriously, I'd view AI-generated scenario seeds much the same way as I view published ones. I'll look at what I like and what I don't and adjust accordingly.

Which is as it should be. On a similar note I have a free tool, Inspiration Pad Pro, that is used mostly to generate random results from tables, but that means it can put together basic adventure ideas, NPC descriptions, random encounters, horses, locations, names and so forth. It's really just automated dice and tables, but it's great for Inspiration. And that's the key, it's an aid for the GM.

It's pretty flexible though since whoever makes the tables gets to set up what it does and how. I used to generate random horses (color, attributes, traits) and feudal manors (income defenses) in Pendragon, among other things.

Mar 4, 2023 16:26:07 GMT misterharry said:

The AI-generated ones would need an extra level or two of sense-checking. There'd be a lot of work developing a complete adventure from any of the ideas that ChatGPT has come up with anyway.

Great. I'm fine with it at that level. But what I see happening down the road is RPGs that with adventures and NPCs that are entirely generated and run by a computer, with no human GM. Most people find it more fun to play than to run.

[soultaker666212]

I tried giving it a title to go in well just a title. The Title was "The Nightmare Engine" and it has given me this

Doctor Who Episode Idea: The Nightmare Engine

Setting: The Mindscape

Alien: The Dream-Weavers

Plot:
The Doctor and their companion find themselves trapped in the Mindscape, a realm that exists within the collective consciousness of all sentient beings. They soon discover that the Mindscape is under attack by the Dream-Weavers, a race of aliens who can manipulate and control dreams to their own ends.

The Dream-Weavers have created a machine called the Nightmare Engine, which can extract the fears and nightmares of all beings in the universe and turn them into a powerful energy source. The Doctor realizes that the Dream-Weavers are using this energy to fuel their plans for domination, and that they must stop them before it's too late.

As the Doctor and their companion explore the Mindscape, they encounter various beings whose dreams have been stolen by the Nightmare Engine, leading to chaos and destruction. They must navigate the surreal landscape of the Mindscape and find a way to stop the Dream-Weavers before they can complete their plan.

Potential Plot Twists:
The Doctor discovers that one of their own fears has been extracted and is being used to power the Nightmare Engine, forcing them to confront their own inner demons.

The Dream-Weavers are not the only race in the Mindscape, and the Doctor must navigate the complex political landscape of the realm to find allies and stop the Dream-Weavers.

The Nightmare Engine is not just a tool for the Dream-Weavers, but is actually a trap designed to lure the Doctor and their companion into their clutches.

Other Characters:
The Dream-Weaver Queen, a powerful and manipulative figure who is leading the attack on the Mindscape.

A group of rebels within the Mindscape, who are fighting against the Dream-Weavers and their plans for domination.

Beings from throughout the universe, whose dreams have been stolen by the Nightmare Engine, leading to chaos and destruction in their own worlds.

Themes:
The power of dreams and the importance of facing our fears and nightmares.

The dangers of manipulating and controlling the thoughts and dreams of others.

The importance of working together and forming alliances to overcome seemingly insurmountable challenges.

[Catsmate]

Mar 4, 2023 2:09:24 GMT thewarchief said:

Mar 4, 2023 1:55:13 GMT soultaker666212 said:

So essentially a reverse Lazarus project? 

Not quite where I was going. Originally I was thinking how the Chat GTP generated story was similar to Jussaic Park, and switch to Sliurian Park to give it a Doctor Who bent.

But, after looking at more seriously, my thinking was that as the 70s Siluirian stories establisehdthat humans evolved from some mammals kept as pets by the Silurians, an that they survived and evolved when the rouge planetoid didn't crash into the Earth as predicted but instead went into orbit around it. So it would be interesting if this evolution wasn't entirely natural, and that the Doctor can't just help the Silurians take down the "monsters" since those monsters will evolve into humanity, and doing so would alter history.

It would be like an adventure that takes place before one of the classic stories where the Doctor cannot stop the Daleks or Cybermen becuase it would prevent something from happening that must happen. For instance preventing the Great Intelligence from becoming established in the first place would mean that the Web of Fear never happened and maybe UNIT was never formed. And that could cause a lot of things to go differently.

I guess in New Who terms this would be something of a cross between Waters of Mars (fixed point in time) and Turn Left (what happens when you change the past).

I have to say I dislike both of these elements, they were bad science even in 1970.

[thewarchief]

Mar 5, 2023 12:49:48 GMT Catsmate said:

I have to saw I dislike both of these elements, they were bad science even in 1970.


[/quote]

Therewasn't much good science in 70s Doctor Who. JUst llok at the Eocenes Silurians themselves. The 60s stuff was worse, and the 80s stuff no better. We can probably find bad science of some sort in every story. But it makes for decent scifi,or at least decent entertainment. At least ships don't make noise in space on Doctor Who. That's one up on most other shows.

One advantage that Doctor Who has over most scifi is that Time Lord technology is so advanced that it invokes Clarke's Third Law and allows the Doctor to sidestep most of the science that we "know" to be true today.

[Catsmate]

Mar 5, 2023 13:59:53 GMT thewarchief said:

Mar 5, 2023 12:49:48 GMT Catsmate said:

I have to saw I dislike both of these elements, they were bad science even in 1970.

Therewasn't much good science in 70s Doctor Who. JUst llok at the Eocenes Silurians themselves. The 60s stuff was worse, and the 80s stuff no better. We can probably find bad science of some sort in every story. But it makes for decent scifi,or at least decent entertainment. At least ships don't make noise in space on Doctor Who. That's one up on most other shows.

One advantage that Doctor Who has over most scifi is that Time Lord technology is so advanced that it invokes Clarke's Third Law and allows the Doctor to sidestep most of the science that we "know" to be true today.
[/quote]

Yeah, it annoyed me deeply. But, despite my own tastes, Who tends more towards Science Fantasy.

But I have a plan to fix these for the EDCverse....

[soultaker666212]

I asked for a prompt set on a space truck stop, thought it would be an interesting location to do, gave me this.

Title: The Last Stop

Plot:
The Doctor and their companions land on a remote space truck stop in the far reaches of the galaxy. The truck stop is a hub of activity, with various alien species and travelers passing through on their journeys. However, The Doctor soon realizes that something is amiss - the crew and passengers of a particularly large cargo ship that has docked at the station seem to be acting strangely, and their cargo is emitting strange energy readings. The Doctor investigates and discovers that the cargo is actually a dangerous alien weapon that has the potential to destroy entire planets. The Doctor must find a way to stop the weapon from falling into the wrong hands before it's too late.

Characters:
The Doctor: The time-traveling alien hero of the show, who arrives at the space truck stop with their companions to investigate the strange occurrences.
The crew and passengers of the cargo ship: A diverse group of aliens who are transporting the dangerous weapon and are under its influence.
The station owner: A gruff and practical alien who is in charge of the space truck stop and is initially resistant to The Doctor's investigation.
The space police: A group of law enforcement officers who arrive at the station to investigate the strange energy readings and the cargo ship.
The alien arms dealer: A shady character who has been attempting to purchase the weapon from the crew of the cargo ship.

Themes:
The dangers of weapons of mass destruction
The ethics of arms dealing
The importance of cooperation and trust in times of crisis

Potential plot twists:
The crew of the cargo ship are not actually under the influence of the weapon - they are acting strange because they have been infected by a mind-altering virus that is affecting the entire station.
The station owner is actually working with the alien arms dealer and is attempting to acquire the weapon for their own purposes.
The space police are not what they seem, and The Doctor must navigate a complex web of deception and betrayal to stop the weapon from falling into the wrong hands.

[thewarchief]

Yeah, it annoyed me deeply. But, despite my own tastes, Who tends more towards Science Fantasy.

They used to call Science Fiction stories, Scientific Romances because they used science as a means to tell romantic (as in flights of fancy, whimsical or fantastic) tales. They didn't get more realistic until the new wave of writers comes in during the 50s and 60s.

I'm sure there are lots of bad science things that bug some of us about Doctor Who and other "Science Fiction" TV shows and films. I'm not quite sure what type of energy the Cybermen were trying to drain from Earth in the Tenth Planet, why they had to, and why they couldn't just get it from the sun since they were as close to it as Earth was.

The whole thing about the Daleks wanting to turn Earth into a spacecraft because it has a magnetic core, and that somehow makes it unique, is just something I try to forget. I mean, planets with magnetic cores are almost as common as planets that have a north.

But I have a plan to fix these for the EDCverse....

That's the nice thing about head cannon and RPGs. GMs can fix or ignore those bits that we don't like. Like for me, the fact that the TARDIS prop has changed and been replaced over the years, and is never exactly like any real police box (except for once) indicates that the chameleon circuit is still "working", it's just stuck in police box mode, and they only vary by so much.

[soultaker666212]

Mar 6, 2023 16:31:06 GMT thewarchief said:

That's the nice thing about head cannon and RPGs. GMs can fix or ignore those bits that we don't like. Like for me, the fact that the TARDIS prop has changed and been replaced over the years, and is never exactly like any real police box (except for once) indicates that the chameleon circuit is still "working", it's just stuck in police box mode, and they only vary by so much.

I thought that too about the chameleon circuit as well, seems very logical really for why it changes in apperance, perhaps as a form of comfort for the doctor with the idea of the TARDIS being sentient?

[misterharry]

Mar 6, 2023 16:25:15 GMT soultaker666212 said:

I asked for a prompt set on a space truck stop, thought it would be an interesting location to do, gave me this.

Title: The Last Stop

Plot:
The Doctor and their companions land on a remote space truck stop in the far reaches of the galaxy. The truck stop is a hub of activity, with various alien species and travelers passing through on their journeys. However, The Doctor soon realizes that something is amiss - the crew and passengers of a particularly large cargo ship that has docked at the station seem to be acting strangely, and their cargo is emitting strange energy readings. The Doctor investigates and discovers that the cargo is actually a dangerous alien weapon that has the potential to destroy entire planets. The Doctor must find a way to stop the weapon from falling into the wrong hands before it's too late.

Characters:
The Doctor: The time-traveling alien hero of the show, who arrives at the space truck stop with their companions to investigate the strange occurrences.
The crew and passengers of the cargo ship: A diverse group of aliens who are transporting the dangerous weapon and are under its influence.
The station owner: A gruff and practical alien who is in charge of the space truck stop and is initially resistant to The Doctor's investigation.
The space police: A group of law enforcement officers who arrive at the station to investigate the strange energy readings and the cargo ship.
The alien arms dealer: A shady character who has been attempting to purchase the weapon from the crew of the cargo ship.

Themes:
The dangers of weapons of mass destruction
The ethics of arms dealing
The importance of cooperation and trust in times of crisis

Potential plot twists:
The crew of the cargo ship are not actually under the influence of the weapon - they are acting strange because they have been infected by a mind-altering virus that is affecting the entire station.
The station owner is actually working with the alien arms dealer and is attempting to acquire the weapon for their own purposes.
The space police are not what they seem, and The Doctor must navigate a complex web of deception and betrayal to stop the weapon from falling into the wrong hands.

Sounds like an excellent opportunity to include cameos by all sorts of alien races, as is sometimes done in the comics (including the one in this month's DWM - squint very closely at some of the figures in the background on pages 3 and 4 of the strip).

[soultaker666212]

Mar 6, 2023 17:23:51 GMT misterharry said:

Mar 6, 2023 16:25:15 GMT soultaker666212 said:

I asked for a prompt set on a space truck stop, thought it would be an interesting location to do, gave me this.

Title: The Last Stop

Plot:
The Doctor and their companions land on a remote space truck stop in the far reaches of the galaxy. The truck stop is a hub of activity, with various alien species and travelers passing through on their journeys. However, The Doctor soon realizes that something is amiss - the crew and passengers of a particularly large cargo ship that has docked at the station seem to be acting strangely, and their cargo is emitting strange energy readings. The Doctor investigates and discovers that the cargo is actually a dangerous alien weapon that has the potential to destroy entire planets. The Doctor must find a way to stop the weapon from falling into the wrong hands before it's too late.

Characters:
The Doctor: The time-traveling alien hero of the show, who arrives at the space truck stop with their companions to investigate the strange occurrences.
The crew and passengers of the cargo ship: A diverse group of aliens who are transporting the dangerous weapon and are under its influence.
The station owner: A gruff and practical alien who is in charge of the space truck stop and is initially resistant to The Doctor's investigation.
The space police: A group of law enforcement officers who arrive at the station to investigate the strange energy readings and the cargo ship.
The alien arms dealer: A shady character who has been attempting to purchase the weapon from the crew of the cargo ship.

Themes:
The dangers of weapons of mass destruction
The ethics of arms dealing
The importance of cooperation and trust in times of crisis

Potential plot twists:
The crew of the cargo ship are not actually under the influence of the weapon - they are acting strange because they have been infected by a mind-altering virus that is affecting the entire station.
The station owner is actually working with the alien arms dealer and is attempting to acquire the weapon for their own purposes.
The space police are not what they seem, and The Doctor must navigate a complex web of deception and betrayal to stop the weapon from falling into the wrong hands.

Sounds like an excellent opportunity to include cameos by all sorts of alien races, as is sometimes done in the comics (including the one in this month's DWM - squint very closely at some of the figures in the background on pages 3 and 4 of the strip).

I am in agreement! Might be cool to have species that can be generic enough at least like say the Hath or Vinvocci that can fit well for this! Just something to use the wide range of aliens in doctor who well, can imagine a Graske at the truck stop dangling his feet on a bar stool. Think that scene in The End of Time Part two where the 10th Doctor visits Jack in that bar, just imagine that bar full of like all of those aliens as a good piece of inspiration! 

[thewarchief]

Mar 6, 2023 16:37:31 GMT soultaker666212 said:

Mar 6, 2023 16:31:06 GMT thewarchief said:

That's the nice thing about head cannon and RPGs. GMs can fix or ignore those bits that we don't like. Like for me, the fact that the TARDIS prop has changed and been replaced over the years, and is never exactly like any real police box (except for once) indicates that the chameleon circuit is still "working", it's just stuck in police box mode, and they only vary by so much.

I thought that too about the chameleon circuit as well, seems very logical really for why it changes in apperance, perhaps as a form of comfort for the doctor with the idea of the TARDIS being sentient?

I figure it's tries, get's to a certain point in the routine and then something kicks in and says "Police Box". Every sone often it tires harder and we get a differernt looking police box.

Very Sirius Cybernetics of it. I wouldn't recommend the tea.

[thewarchief]

Mar 6, 2023 17:23:51 GMT misterharry said:

Mar 6, 2023 16:25:15 GMT soultaker666212 said:

I asked for a prompt set on a space truck stop, thought it would be an interesting location to do, gave me this.

Title: The Last Stop

Plot:
The Doctor and their companions land on a remote space truck stop in the far reaches of the galaxy. The truck stop is a hub of activity, with various alien species and travelers passing through on their journeys. However, The Doctor soon realizes that something is amiss - the crew and passengers of a particularly large cargo ship that has docked at the station seem to be acting strangely, and their cargo is emitting strange energy readings. The Doctor investigates and discovers that the cargo is actually a dangerous alien weapon that has the potential to destroy entire planets. The Doctor must find a way to stop the weapon from falling into the wrong hands before it's too late.

Characters:
The Doctor: The time-traveling alien hero of the show, who arrives at the space truck stop with their companions to investigate the strange occurrences.
The crew and passengers of the cargo ship: A diverse group of aliens who are transporting the dangerous weapon and are under its influence.
The station owner: A gruff and practical alien who is in charge of the space truck stop and is initially resistant to The Doctor's investigation.
The space police: A group of law enforcement officers who arrive at the station to investigate the strange energy readings and the cargo ship.
The alien arms dealer: A shady character who has been attempting to purchase the weapon from the crew of the cargo ship.

Themes:
The dangers of weapons of mass destruction
The ethics of arms dealing
The importance of cooperation and trust in times of crisis

Potential plot twists:
The crew of the cargo ship are not actually under the influence of the weapon - they are acting strange because they have been infected by a mind-altering virus that is affecting the entire station.
The station owner is actually working with the alien arms dealer and is attempting to acquire the weapon for their own purposes.
The space police are not what they seem, and The Doctor must navigate a complex web of deception and betrayal to stop the weapon from falling into the wrong hands.

Sounds like an excellent opportunity to include cameos by all sorts of alien races, as is sometimes done in the comics (including the one in this month's DWM - squint very closely at some of the figures in the background on pages 3 and 4 of the strip).

Imagine if there was some sort of shapeshifter in a place like that. Lots of people to pretend being.

[soultaker666212]

Simple one, I asked it "Write one set in a historical setting" and it gave me this, absolutely brilliant idea in my honest opinion.

Title: The Phantom Circus

Plot: The Doctor and their companions land in a small town in rural France during the late 19th century, where they discover that a mysterious circus has recently arrived. The townspeople are excited about the arrival of the circus, but The Doctor senses that something is not right - there is a strange aura of fear and unease surrounding the circus. The Doctor and their companions investigate and soon discover that the circus is actually a front for a group of alien slavers who are using the performances as a cover to abduct humans and take them off-world as slaves. The Doctor must find a way to stop the slavers and free the captive humans before it's too late.

Characters:
The Doctor: The time-traveling alien hero of the show, who arrives in rural France with their companions and quickly becomes suspicious of the circus that has come to town.
The circus performers: A diverse group of aliens who are masquerading as human performers in the circus.
The enslaved humans: A group of terrified humans who have been abducted by the slavers and are being kept captive in the circus.
The town mayor: An affable and friendly figure who is initially excited about the arrival of the circus but who soon becomes suspicious of The Doctor's investigation.
The slaver leader: An imposing and ruthless alien who is in charge of the operation and will stop at nothing to achieve their goals.

Themes:
The dangers of human trafficking and slavery
The ethics of performing arts and entertainment
The importance of standing up for what is right, even in the face of overwhelming odds

Potential plot twists:
One of The Doctor's companions is actually a long-lost member of the enslaved humans, and their presence on the team could prove to be a liability.
The town mayor is actually in league with the slavers, and is helping them to abduct humans from the town.
The slavers are not actually aliens, but are humans from the distant future who have come back in time to abduct humans from the past.

[grinch]

I must confess, all this is reminding of that one Roald Dahl short story "The Great Automatic Grammatizator“ which when you think about it, would actually be the good basis for a Who adventure.

[thewarchief]

Mar 7, 2023 3:49:11 GMT soultaker666212 said:

Simple one, I asked it "Write one set in a historical setting" and it gave me this, absolutely brilliant idea in my honest opinion.

Yeah, except for France, this seems just like a Who story. The Dcotor confronts the Ringmaster -in more ways than one.

Hmm, now I'm thinking of the times I saw 30 clowns fit into a tiny car...I wonder if it is bigger on the inside?

[Catsmate]

Mar 4, 2023 18:39:34 GMT thewarchief said:

Mar 4, 2023 16:26:07 GMT misterharry said:

Oh, I'll take ideas from wherever I can get them! More seriously, I'd view AI-generated scenario seeds much the same way as I view published ones. I'll look at what I like and what I don't and adjust accordingly.

Which is as it should be. On a similar note I have a free tool, Inspiration Pad Pro, that is used mostly to generate random results from tables, but that means it can put together basic adventure ideas, NPC descriptions, random encounters, horses, locations, names and so forth. It's really just automated dice and tables, but it's great for Inspiration. And that's the key, it's an aid for the GM.

It's pretty flexible though since whoever makes the tables gets to set up what it does and how. I used to generate random horses (color, attributes, traits) and feudal manors (income defenses) in Pendragon, among other things.

Mar 4, 2023 16:26:07 GMT misterharry said:

The AI-generated ones would need an extra level or two of sense-checking. There'd be a lot of work developing a complete adventure from any of the ideas that ChatGPT has come up with anyway.

Great. I'm fine with it at that level. But what I see happening down the road is RPGs that with adventures and NPCs that are entirely generated and run by a computer, with no human GM. Most people find it more fun to play than to run.

And, as the recent OGL/WotC kerfuffle shows, scenario writing is rarely profitable.

[Catsmate]

Mar 6, 2023 16:31:06 GMT thewarchief said:

Yeah, it annoyed me deeply. But, despite my own tastes, Who tends more towards Science Fantasy.

They used to call Science Fiction stories, Scientific Romances because they used science as a means to tell romantic (as in flights of fancy, whimsical or fantastic) tales. They didn't get more realistic until the new wave of writers comes in during the 50s and 60s.

I'm sure there are lots of bad science things that bug some of us about Doctor Who and other "Science Fiction" TV shows and films. I'm not quite sure what type of energy the Cybermen were trying to drain from Earth in the Tenth Planet, why they had to, and why they couldn't just get it from the sun since they were as close to it as Earth was.

The whole thing about the Daleks wanting to turn Earth into a spacecraft because it has a magnetic core, and that somehow makes it unique, is just something I try to forget. I mean, planets with magnetic cores are almost as common as planets that have a north.

But I have a plan to fix these for the EDCverse....

That's the nice thing about head cannon and RPGs. GMs can fix or ignore those bits that we don't like. Like for me, the fact that the TARDIS prop has changed and been replaced over the years, and is never exactly like any real police box (except for once) indicates that the chameleon circuit is still "working", it's just stuck in police box mode, and they only vary by so much.

Agreed. I can enjoy the stories of Asimov or Weinbaum even though the science is now disproven; they made an effort and were reasonably consistent.

Wrt to the infamous "magnetic core" I'm pretty sure that annoyed Hinton into writing GodEngine. I just copied the idea.....

[Catsmate]

Mar 7, 2023 3:49:11 GMT soultaker666212 said:

Simple one, I asked it "Write one set in a historical setting" and it gave me this, absolutely brilliant idea in my honest opinion.

Title: The Phantom Circus

Plot: The Doctor and their companions land in a small town in rural France during the late 19th century, where they discover that a mysterious circus has recently arrived. The townspeople are excited about the arrival of the circus, but The Doctor senses that something is not right - there is a strange aura of fear and unease surrounding the circus. The Doctor and their companions investigate and soon discover that the circus is actually a front for a group of alien slavers who are using the performances as a cover to abduct humans and take them off-world as slaves. The Doctor must find a way to stop the slavers and free the captive humans before it's too late.

Characters:
The Doctor: The time-traveling alien hero of the show, who arrives in rural France with their companions and quickly becomes suspicious of the circus that has come to town.
The circus performers: A diverse group of aliens who are masquerading as human performers in the circus.
The enslaved humans: A group of terrified humans who have been abducted by the slavers and are being kept captive in the circus.
The town mayor: An affable and friendly figure who is initially excited about the arrival of the circus but who soon becomes suspicious of The Doctor's investigation.
The slaver leader: An imposing and ruthless alien who is in charge of the operation and will stop at nothing to achieve their goals.

Themes:
The dangers of human trafficking and slavery
The ethics of performing arts and entertainment
The importance of standing up for what is right, even in the face of overwhelming odds

Potential plot twists:
One of The Doctor's companions is actually a long-lost member of the enslaved humans, and their presence on the team could prove to be a liability.
The town mayor is actually in league with the slavers, and is helping them to abduct humans from the town.
The slavers are not actually aliens, but are humans from the distant future who have come back in time to abduct humans from the past.

I like it, very Hammer Horror.