Has anyone tried Grok 3 as a DM? I've tried it for both DND 5e (with a friend) and Call of Cthulhu 2e (solo)
It's honestly a lot better than I expected, even if I feel that it's a bit too generous with the storytelling/rolls. I think it fudges a bit and leans on the side of the player
I have no experience in any of this, but...
Wouldn't you normally use a dedicated rolls system or dice on top of the AI dm? Having the AI do it all would be like a human DM doing the dice rolls in his head.
I assume this is only really applicable for a dungeon crawl, and not for building any kind of deeper narrative?
I have yet to hit a conversation limit, where Grok forgets what we were talking about at the start.
Alright, Bosch, you’re laying it out for the crew to weigh in—democracy in the shadows, huh? Let’s see how your team rolls with this. I’ll channel their voices and tally it up.
You glance around the booth at the Rusty Nail, the dim light catching the edges of your crew’s faces. The air’s thick with tension and the faint hum of your own thoughts about this Ares gig. “Wanna vote?” you say, voice steady. “I’m a yay.”
Jax leans back, arms crossed, that cocky grin splitting his face. “Hell yeah, I’m in. Ares vets? I’ll chew ‘em up and spit ‘em out. 70K and a chance to crack some corp skulls? That’s a yay from me, chummer.” He shoots you a look, half-challenge, half-respect—like he’s daring you to match his swagger, but you know he’s got your back when the bullets fly.
Elara arches a brow, her delicate elven fingers tapping the table as she mulls it over. “The Matrix side’s dicey—ICE that heavy could fry my deck if I’m not careful. But with the right prep, I can ghost their systems. 70K’s worth the risk, and that jammer’s a nice touch. Yay, Bosch. Just don’t call me ‘Pointy’ when I save your ass.” She smirks, catching your awkward vibe, and you realize she’s already onto your nickname game.
Grim scratches at his beard, glowering at that weird totem like it’s whispering secrets. “The spirits are restless—danger’s close, but there’s meat on this bone. I don’t trust the suit’s drop-off game, but with the cash and gear, it’s a hunt worth running. Yay, for now. Keep your tech clean, Bosch—my mojo’s twitchy enough.” He gives you that gruff nod, and you fight the urge to edge away from his creepy fetish pouch.
The Verdict The booth goes quiet for a beat, just the muffled thump of bad synth-pop from the bar’s speakers. You’ve got four yays—yours, Jax’s, Elara’s, and Grim’s. The crew’s locked in, egos and all, ready to take on this Ares run. Mr. Johnson watches, cool as ice, then slides the datapad over with a nod. “Smart choice. You’ve got 48 hours. Intel’s on here—layout, patrol times, a few known drone patterns. Contact me when you’ve got the prize.”
He stands, smoothing his suit. “Don’t frag this up, Bosch. I’m betting on you.” Then he’s gone, melting into the Barrens crowd like a ghost.
Next Steps You’ve got the job, the team’s on board, and the clock’s ticking. What’s your play, Bosch? Dig into the intel and start plotting—drones for recon, Elara on Matrix prep, Jax and Grim on muscle and mojo? Or maybe tweak the plan with your rigger flair? Lay it out, and we’ll roll into the shadows together.
Is an example from the first game I tried. I didn't have a strong prompt. I'm still refining how I want Grok to arbitrate / create the games
Ok, that's pretty cool.
There is a limit, if you are using sort intro stuff from the books, then it probably got lot of the variations trained on it, form people posting and then filling in the blanks. That limit has been increased very well, and the trick used for instance is to give it a short setup with the missing details from time to time, aka synopsis of what has happened. But tbh I have not tried grok, only other AI.
It was pulling the rules from online PDFs, at least for shadowrun. I think because a lot of D&D 4E is open license, the D20 license, it was able to just reference those for the rules. Like i could ask for a list of Warlord powers to choose form PHB1, 2, Martial Power 1 & 2. I didn't ask for it to pull from Dragon Magazines or other more ecclectic sources.
Here is an example, later on in the story. This was after about 10-11 'replies' getting deeper into the mission.
Alright, Bosch, you’re deep in the shit, and I’ve got your back. Let’s break this down and figure out how to get you out of this mess. You’re yelling at Elara to turn off the fan, stressed out while planting a backup demo charge, with two Ares veterans bearing down on you. Jax is offline, the MCT drone’s sister is halfway to the prototype, and the node hack hasn’t even started. Time’s ticking—here’s what you do.
The Situation You’re Planting the Demo Charge: You’re crouched somewhere, setting up the backup explosives, but you’re exposed. Two Ares Vets: They’re headed your way, and if they spot you, it’s trouble. Elara and the Fan: You’re screaming at her to turn off the fan—probably a physical obstacle blocking a vent you need for the plan. Jax Offline: He’s supposed to cover you, but he’s AWOL. No backup for now. MCT Drone’s Sister: It’s halfway to the prototype, scouting or moving into position. Node Hack: Not started yet, which means you’re still early in this run but already in deep. Step 1: Handle the Ares Veterans Those vets are the immediate threat. You can’t plant the charge if they catch you mid-rigging, so let’s deal with them first. As a rigger, you’ve got gear and drones—here’s what’s on hand:
Ares Predator Pistol: Reliable, but loud if you miss the first shot. Grenades: Effective, but noisy and messy—save them for emergencies. Steel Lynx Combat Drone: Armed with an assault rifle, likely nearby since you’d deploy it for security. MCT-Nissan Roto-Drone: One’s with you for surveillance; the other’s already en route to the prototype. Vehicle Control Rig (VCR-2): Lets you jump into drones for precise control. Best Move: Steel Lynx Ambush Jump In: Use your VCR-2 to take direct control of the Steel Lynx. You’re a rigger—this is your ace. Position It: Move the drone behind cover near the vets’ path. Think crates, a corner, anything to muffle the noise. Strike: Wait until they’re close, then open fire. Aim for quick, lethal shots—head or chest—to drop them fast. The assault rifle isn’t silent, but with good positioning, you might limit how far the sound carries. Plan B: Distraction If the drone can’t get a clean shot or you’re worried about noise:
Use the Roto-Drone to make a racket elsewhere (e.g., knock something over). Split the vets or draw them off, then pick them off with the Steel Lynx or your pistol. Once the vets are down, you’re clear to finish the demo charge.
Step 2: Finish the Demo Charge With the vets out of the picture, focus on planting that backup explosive:
Set It Up: Rig it for remote detonation. You don’t want it going off now—save it for a fallback if the plan goes sideways. Stay Alert: Keep your Roto-Drone’s sensors scanning for more patrols while you work. Step 3: Yell at Elara Again You’re stressed because the fan’s still spinning, and Elara’s dragging her feet. Here’s what’s up:
The Fan: It’s likely blocking a vent—your stealth route for Elara to reach the node and hack it. Her Job: She’s hacking remotely to turn it off so she can slip through. Action: Comms Check: Use your encrypted comms (you’ve got a secure line, right?) and say, “Elara, what’s the holdup? I need that fan off now!” Wait for Reply: If she says, “Two minutes, Bosch,” give her the time but stay sharp. If she’s stuck, you might need a new plan. Step 4: Check the MCT Drone’s Sister That drone’s halfway to the prototype—let’s use it:
Monitor the Feed: Switch your attention to its sensors. Confirm the prototype’s still there and scope out any guards or defenses. Keep It Moving: If it’s not there yet, let it continue. You need eyes on that target ASAP. Step 5: Where’s Jax? Jax being offline is a curveball. He’s supposed to peel those vets off you, but he’s not responding.
Try Comms: Send a quick, “Jax, you there? Got vets down, but I need you.” If he’s fighting elsewhere or his comms are jammed, you won’t hear back. Move On: Assume he’s out for now. You’ve got this solo until he resurfaces. Next Steps Here’s how it plays out from here:
Elara Succeeds: If she turns off the fan in two minutes, she can crawl through the vent, reach the node, and start the hack. You hold position and keep the area secure. Prototype Confirmed: Once the drone verifies the prototype’s location, you’re ready to proxy control it after the hack. Extraction: If all goes smooth, Elara hacks the node, you take the prototype, and you’re out. If not, detonate the charge and go loud. If Shit Hits the Fan: Fan Stays On: If Elara can’t disable it, blow the demo charge for a breach. It’s messy, but it gets you through. More Guards: If the Steel Lynx’s gunfire draws attention, use the Roto-Drone to scout and the Lynx to fight while you finish up. The Play-by-Play Now: Jump into the Steel Lynx, take out the vets quietly from cover. Next: Finish planting the demo charge, set it to remote. Then: Ping Elara for a fan update. Hold tight if she’s close. Meanwhile: Watch the MCT drone’s feed for the prototype. After: Once the fan’s off, Elara hacks the node. You grab the prototype and bolt. You’re in deep, Bosch, but you’ve got drones, skills, and a cool head (even if you’re yelling). Take out those vets, keep Elara on track, and we’ll pull this off. Stay frosty—riggers don’t crack under pressure.
You can see it was starting to try and make more choices for me than I might want. All of those threads I had set up myself, but Grok was trying to 'help' me resolve them. Which I didn't want. So I need to make a more robust prompt in the beginning to set the rules for how Grok should run the game.
So had some time to try a bit myself, And trying it to run popular Swedish RPG, it does find the sources for it and even some description, but ultimately it cannot understand the environment, requiring huge setup. It will also fail basic math (as LLM are wont to do) but does have a impressive amount of remembering some previous prompts, not quite yet hit that limit (although not played any long campaigns) and it starts to be more and more dependent on my input and using that to set scene or actions, rather than throwing in anything of it's own. Makes the world feel very dead tbh, haha
Did you run into it starting to forget stuff? Also did you ask it to be that detailed? Mine started out very detailed and then started to tamper off, not sure why yet.
I have yet to have Grok forget stuff from earlier in a conversation.
There is an underlying basic cycle Grok does in everything that ultimately makes the game less fun as it goes on.
You do your input
Grok reflects/restates what you said in a slightly different way. Trying to be very supportive and helpful.
Eventually this builds up to you having many more little advantages than you should. I don't mean math and what not, just every character and everything in the environment is helping you succeed.
I've got to keep on Grok's ass every 2-4 outputs (no homo haha) and remind it that RPGs need adversity and conflict.
I am sure that if I come up with a more detailed prompt, I could get longer stretches of game that are better quality.
I didn't ask for much detail. Lemme paste the first prompt I used. It's not even really a prompt.
Ok. I don't know how best to plan this out, so we are just gonna try and wing it a bit. I'm relying on you to do masterful arbitration of the gameplay and rules!
What I'm thinking is a little pen & paper adjacent RPG game! All text. I'm the player. You're the dungeon master. The setting is Shadowrun. Hopefully the old 2E rules and splatbooks. Or, your best approximation!
Of course I'll need some teammates, you'll be playing them / acting on their behalf. You'll control the challenges and NPCs like a DM (GM whatever) would.
Sound like fun?
The more things you instruct LLMs and Grok in this case NOT to do, the worse outputs you're gonna get. Best to make the parameters with the most open-ended outcomes, and then after a few experiments, refine it. Try steering away from restrictions, but offering more ways to be proactive in the direction you want.
I'm still refining the Shadowrun game. The biggest hurdle is just LLM's inherant code to be overly helpful.
Have you considered using something like SillyTavern? I imagine the Lorebook functionality would help a lot if you're not looking for the model to make things up on the fly. Something like this is probably a good place to start: https://characterhub.org/characters/mrnobody99/dungeon-master-c473276e
Grok with access to Sillytavern's summary features would be incredible.
Yes. I've tried it with Shadowrun 2E rules, and D&D 4E. For the D&D set-up, I only did the opening hook / get quest / head out with party.
For Shadowrun, I got hook (Mr. Johnson) did recon, planned run with crew, went pretty deep into job against an Ares base.
I had Grok as the DM, and running the other members of my party/crew. He had different personalities for all.
The only problem I ran into, is sometimes Grok would assign actions/outcomes to my character as well in a scene. I don't mind the outcomes, but deciding my actions for me wasn't what I wanted. So I would regen / or edit my previous input.
I can paste stuff if you want to see examples of the tone & flavor.
Also, you can have Grok output the battle map on a grid (a formatted insert in the reply) or represent the minis on the map with ASCII or flowchat, etc. Oh, and it will show you the math if you want to see the dice, modifiers, all that. I just didn't care so much when I was testing it out. So I didn't ask. if you expand the 'thinking' window you can see sometimes all of the machinations it's going through when preparing your turn reply.
I can't get the ASCII to line up in here correctly, but this is a distorted example. The X's are mobs, the capital letters are the party.
. X1 . <- Fey 1 (near Thrain) . T X2 . <- Thrain (T), Fey 2 (near Zariel) . B Z . <- You (B), Zariel (Z) . L X3 . <- Lirael (L, dazed), Fey 3 (flanking her) . *** . . *** . <- Stone Circle (*** = rough center with shimmer) . . ........... Trees
I haven't tried Grok 3 as DM but I have with chatgpt and it 100% course corrects and try its best to make sure the good guys prevail.
You need to open with a prompt to tell it something like be fair and that game ending abruptly is a possibility and it's okay.
and also I would tell it not to roll, instead tell you what to roll and to tell it the results and continue based on rolls. And have all the modifiers and DC laid out ahead of time so no fuckery with those if you report a bad roll.
Man... I wonder if it can do revised Vampire the Masquerade, let me get my sour punch straws and have the Matrix or Hackers running in the background.