Tag Archives: RPGs

Andrew, Griffin, Photo

The State of AI Art

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AI art is controversial. Some would say the phrase is an oxymoron. Or it’s more like AI Art Theft. I follow these discussions with interest and think that there is a lot to be concerned about. With that said, I also have a MidJourney account that I’ve been using for the past six months to play with the technology. I mostly use it for role-playing game material, particularly for illustrations of the fictional characters that inhabit the milieu.

While preparing for a birthday game session for Griffin and some of his friends, I needed to whip up a bunch of modern-day characters for the adventure (wherein a mundane plane flight would go horribly awry). Here’s the cast, giving you a sense of what MidJourney can produce these days.

Carlos Quintana, helicopter tour pilot
Cindi Bankemper, physics teacher
Duke Remington, police detective
Greg Stamour, paramedic
Tesha Janusz,
circus coach
Whiskey Sour,
drag queen

Note that for each image, I gave a very simple prompt. Whiskey Sour’s prompt, for example, was “middle-aged drag queen.” I never specified an art style, so it’s interesting that four of them are photo-realistic while Cindi and Duke are stylized. (Ms. Bankemper’s prompt was “science teacher middle-aged red-head glasses.”)

In a comical turn, on my first attempt at Greg Stamour, I typed in this prompt, “hot surfer dude paramedic.” MidJourney always produces four possibilities for each prompt. You can then choose one, add variations, or modify your prompt. One of the first four pics for Greg was this one:

hot surfer dude paramedic

Note the three pairs of sunglasses! Apparently MidJourney’s algorithm associates copious sunglasses with hot surfer dudes. If you zoom in, you can also see that the logo on his shirt is nonsense squiggles. Text-like artifacts are a common issue with generative AI.

I don’t know how all the ethical considerations will shake out in the coming years, but from a tech-geek standpoint, it is fun technology to play with.

Andrew, Photo

Cabin Retreat

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In 2020, on the cusp of the pandemic, some of my gaming group joined me at the cabin for a wonderful retreat (pictured in this post). We’ve been wanting to repeat the trip ever since, but scheduling is difficult. This year, miraculously, we were able to make a second go of it in the midst of spring break.

This time we weren’t receiving apocalyptic text messages as the state shut down in the face of Covid, but it was a bit surreal arriving to the cabin in March with no snow and just a thin layer of ice on the lake. (It wasn’t nearly strong enough to walk on.) On our second day, however, temperatures dropped and we had a bit of snow.

It’s a wonderful thing to be able to get out into the woods to relax and hang out with friends. We played through J.C. Connors’ ice age horror adventure, Canyon of the Snow Cairns. This involved a mammoth hunt, mysterious disappearances, survival in a forbidding wilderness, cultists, and confrontations with things that man-was-not-meant-to-know. In other words: fun.

Griffin

Griffin’s RPG campaign

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Griffin just sent this message out to his friends and their families (parents are still involved for rides). It warms my heart.

Good day, everyone!

        I am excited to announce that next Sunday (26th), from 2 pm – 8 pm, I will be hosting another RPG session at my house (finally)! We will have dinner provided, as well as the game, characters, dice, and a trampoline. We will not have a lot of snacks, so if you want to bring some, please do (Ava, if you decide to come, some extra Wii and Switch remotes would be delightful!) My father, a very experienced DM, will be running the session, and we will have about equal parts gaming and other stuff. Please respond to this email so I know if you will make it!

       My address is ■■■■■, St Paul, MN ■■■■■, and you can contact either me or my parents for questions at:

[email addresses removed]

 Quick note: We have a new member! Everyone, please welcome Ellie to the campaign! Ellie, if you need help with a character or something, just contact me. 

I hope to see everyone here next Sunday!

-Griffin Roy (Dragonborn Wizard)

For the gamers in the audience, we’re playing the Dungeon Fantasy Roleplaying Game (Powered by GURPS), which has been my go-to game for the past few years. They created a wild array of characters:

Fred
Half-Elf Bard
Jack
Cat-Folk Thief
Maryx
Squid-Folk Martial Artist
The Mineor
Human Cleric
Maurice
Half-Ogre Barbarian
Mozell Bolick
Opossum-Folk Phantom-Thief
Red
Human Druid
Zorgar Lomikos
Dragon-Blooded Wizard

Note that the pictures of Maryx, Mozell Bolick, and Red were created with Midjourney, a generative artificial intelligence program that creates art based on written prompts. I’ve been experimenting with the service for RPG art like this. If you look carefully at Red, you can see some of the details that AI art programs struggle with. Her eyes are a bit wonky and her left hand appears to have three somewhat misshapen fingers.

Andrew, Griffin, Maggie, Oliver, Photo

Pumpkin Juice

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Our first face-to-face role-playing game of 2022 took place at Hogwarts. The kids took on the roles of second-year students and pursued the mysterious disappearance of a popular prefect. Besides drinking a great deal of pumpkin juice, the protagonists had to sneak into the restricted section of the library, avoid getting detention, complete a long herbology assignment, and discover the secret entrance to the warlock’s tunnel. The game culminated in a magical battle with an evil wizard.

Can they save Hogwarts?

Andrew, Photo

Return to an Old Hobby

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After a nearly 20-year hiatus, I bought myself some paints and set up a table in the basement for painting miniatures. For those not in the know, these are the little figurines that are often featured in tabletop role-playing games.

I got my first box of minis in sixth or seventh grade. They were made of lead back then and I painted with oils and turpentine. The hobby has come a long way since then. Minis are made of safe metals, plastic, or resin. A plethora of acrylic (water-based) paints are available now, and YouTube, of course, features endless hours of tutorials.

My first two minis are somewhat random. A camel that I started in 2001 but never finished. And a disgusting giant rat. (I’m rusty, so I wanted a model that would be tolerant of errors.)

Painting table, new magnifier lamp, and the giant rat before painting.
Finished rat.
Loaded camel. Still need to do a few touch-ups, finish the base, and remove from the craft stick.
Andrew, Photo

RPGs during COVID-19

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My hobby, as anyone looking at this blog likely knows, is playing roleplaying games like Dungeons and Dragons and GURPS. A game, however, usually involves a few hours of face-to-face time around a table with far less than six feet of separation between people.

Our last face-to-face game at the cabin on March 14 (on the cusp of Minnesota’s social distancing order).

After social distancing, most gaming has moved online. Last summer I tried using MapTool with some of my former players in California. It was ok, but required software installation and had some confusing elements. The lack of video chat made us all feel somewhat distant from each other.

After COVID struck, I decided to try Roll20, which is one of the most popular current platforms. A major advantage is that it is browser-based, so nobody has to install software or manage port forwarding. We found the built-in A/V to be buggy, so we switched to Zoom for video chat.

Here’s what it looked like at our most recent game:

Roll20 screenshot from our last session. Managing all of the graphical assets requires quite a bit of prep work, but it can create a fairly immersive visual experience.
We manage A/V through Zoom on a second window (or screen, for some).

We’ve all found it to be acceptable but not nearly as much fun as getting together in person.

Yesterday I had the opportunity to try another type of socially-distanced gaming. Some good friends of ours who live a few blocks away have been wanting to learn how to play a roleplaying game for some time. They asked me if I would be willing to run a family game for them, along with Griffin and Maggie. Just as we were discussing a date to get together, the social lockdown began. We had an initial video chat to discuss how to build characters, but it felt like running an actual game on Roll20 would be difficult. So we improvised. Griffin, Maggie, and I set up on the front porch of our neighbor’s house. Our friends sat in their living room, with more than six feet of separation. It worked, though the guy who mowed his lawn across the street might have the loudest lawnmower I’ve ever heard.

View of our first in-person but socially distanced game on May 16. I was GMing from the porch with Maggie and Griffin.

The game featured the following motley crew:

  • Alora — Gnome Bard (Isa)
  • HeathStar — Human Scout (Adam)
  • Iris — Elf Druid (Satya)
  • Melia — Faerie Dragon Wizard (Maggie)
  • Meow Meow — Cat-Folk Martial Artist (Megan)
  • Sir Yvor Gryffyn — Human Knight (Griffin)

I’m not sure how things will unfold in the coming months. The porch worked well enough that I think we’ll stick with that idea for the family game. It only makes sense, though, for two households. My main group consists of seven separate households, so I can’t think of a configuration that works in-person. We’ll probably stick with Roll20 until social distance rules are further relaxed.