GoblinKnife › AI game master

An AI game master that plays by the rules

A good game master does two jobs: tells the story, and keeps the game fair. In GoblinKnife, the AI does the first and a rules engine does the second.

The AI narrates. Code decides.

When you try something risky, the game master asks for a roll. The roll comes from the rules engine, not from the AI. The engine knows your character’s bonuses, the difficulty and the rules, and it posts the result on the table where you can see it.

Hit points, damage, spell slots, conditions and levels live in the engine too. The AI reads them; it can’t change them. A monster doesn’t survive because the story wanted it to, and your character doesn’t fall because the AI lost count.

It runs a written campaign

An AI that makes everything up as it goes tends to drift: a clue that leads nowhere, a villain who changes their mind for no reason, a door that was locked a minute ago. GoblinKnife’s game master runs a campaign written in full beforehand, like a published adventure, with every location, character, secret and encounter. It performs the campaign. It improvises the small things, like a guard’s face or a passing joke, and anything it invents is written down so it stays true. How campaigns work.

It keeps records

Long AI chats tend to lose track of what happened an hour ago. GoblinKnife doesn’t rely on the conversation. The game keeps records: the state of the world and of every character, what you’ve learned, who you’ve met, what was promised. After every turn it writes down what’s new, and the game master’s picture of the world is rebuilt from those records on every turn, so it doesn’t drift as the game goes on.

A fair table

• Every roll on the table. Rolls appear as cards showing the die, the bonus, the target and the result.
• Roll yourself, or let it roll. Tap to roll your own checks, or switch to automatic.
• Ask out of character. “Can I use my reaction here?” gets a rules answer, not a story.
• Your character is yours. The game master never decides what your character says, feels or chooses.
• A warning before you cross a line. Before you harm a friend or destroy something the story depends on, the game asks you to confirm.
• Rewind. Made a choice you regret? Go back to before any turn.

It plays in your language

The game master answers in the language you play in: English or Traditional Chinese.