D&D General DALL·E 3 does amazing D&D art

I sometimes like to take a page from The X-files and other shows that often had some chumps get killed in a TPK before Mulder and Scully show up to investigate. Mulder and Scully in this analogy being the PCs. I created some pregens for the players to play. I made some DALL-E 3 images of these pregens.

The evil sorcerer and his summoned demons who TPKed the pregens above. Designed to be an early yet possibly dicey first win for the PCs so they can get the attention of patrons who can give them more opportunities for adventure in the campaign proper.

My actual PCs, more or less. Aelin, Faye, Ajax and Kazar. Ajax and Kazar are close but not exact... especially because DALL-E 3 seems to refuse to believe I don't want a beard on every male character. Ajax looks like an old Tom Selleck from one of his western movies. But my son-in-law did describe him with a brimmed hat.

I designed a simple houserule, where the PCs could pick a contact, so they'd have a link to the setting right away. Here's a few of the ones that could choose from.

Shule, the goblin underworld guy. Rumors are that his pet rat is actually the informant, and that he's the one informing Shule, but others say that of course that's nonsense.

Brythe Aerneld, the sorceress who accidentally turned herself into a half daemon in a botched ritual, and now stays confined to a magical tower that seems to appear in various neighborhoods around the setting in an unusual way.

Anstal Tane, the friendly merchant who is concerned about rumors up north and is looking to outfit someone to investigate.

Drancent Hewe, the dapper academic from Lomar who is always curious about ancient history that maybe he should leave alone.

Sir Liamond Wreldane, officer of the Hill Country Rangers, who have a roving commission to protect the entire land. Wreldane is the head of the Shadow Division, who investigate supernatural threats. He's also always on the lookout for talented freelancers.

Fredegar de Vend, who's noble family self-destructed when his father was revealed to be a foul cultist. He survived the fall of his house, and now looks for help in his very personal fight against evil.

A difficulty with AI, it seems only able to handle a certain amount of variables at one time. It is difficult to obtain a precise image. After the resulting images finally does get a certain part of the prompt right, an other part of the prompt that was previously fine goes wrong.

Does anyone have sense of how many variables the AI can reliably handle? Or is there a way to lock-in a semisuccessful result, and modify it from there? (It might be viable to use a specific image as a starting point, but I am unfamiliar with the tools that do this.)


I noticed the problem when creating Norse images. There is so much misinformation about Norse content in popculture, that simply entering the term "viking" inevitably introduces bizarre errors − like weird fur leggings, arm bracers, and ginormous weightlifting belts − nevermind the horned helmets.

I find myself needing to reconstruct images from scratch, indirectly, focusing on each element separately. For example, to create a Norse dragon (dreki), it was necessary to avoid the word "dragon". Instead, I blended "european adder" with "leonine head" and "goat horns", with surprisingly good results that kinda did look a historical wood carving of a dreki.

But complex reconstructions with many variables to keep in place, it seems too difficult for the AI to keep track of all of the elements. It inevitably introduces nonsense (omissions and misunderstandings) even when earlier it had been getting this part of the prompt correct.

I see bleed after maybe even just 3 variables. I believe the paid version is better, with more control.

Some of the villains who are plotting; my definition of a plot. Gilbert du Vandes is the Grand Duke, as he calls himself, of Garenport and all Northumbria. It's his grand ambition to unite it with Southumbria, the Northwoodshire and even the western marches so that the Hill Country will become the Hill Kingdom, with him as the first king.

His wife, Josephine du Vandes is locked in the tower, allegedly for treason and witchcraft. Rumors are that it's more of a panic room than an imprisonment and that with her magic she can leave as she wills.

Some of the Duke's lieutenants: captain of the guard Lucien Russo who's secretly a vampire, Grigori Nicholas, a dark sorcerer, and the bounty hunters Blind Beckett and Germund de Bosque.

Marshal Hathawaye is the captain of the Duchess' Guard. The Duke has outlawed them, so they are nearby, turned to banditry. While maybe they mean well, they desperately need to be turned in a productive direction, or they're just a big problem.

Jareth Grym is a former serial killer from Barrowmere, presumed dead years ago. He's not, although he may be soon of old age unless he can unlock the secrets of turning himself into a lich. His agents have raided a caravan where they discovered that a known copy of Nameless Cults was being transported. Also missing is the daughter of one of Southumbria's landed gentry ("She's rich...) As it happens, that has nothing to do with Grym, one of the agents is just a creep and he had the creepy yet stupid idea that she'd fall for him if he took her.

So here's the agent, Cesan Dughlas and the D. I. D. Joan Wilmere.

Unfortunately, after being beaten back a generation ago at the battle of Rabb's Hill, the blackened and burned ruins of which being where Grym's agents took down the carriage, the forest has become overrun with thurses again. Gorthos is their chieftain and Morghox is their shaman. Any travel through the forest to rescue Joan or stop Grym, or for any other reason, will almost certainly run afoul of these hulking monsters.

Another bunch of villains who are plotting things that will almost certainly put them on a collision course with the PCs. Eigyr Gwynn is a swamp witch who's been causing all kinds of trouble in the Thursewood. She's also got some treasure that the PCs will likely want.

Alpon von Lechfeld is actually a patron of sorts, and a likely source of both information and side quests. His daughter Revecca is not meant to be a major character in this campaign, but she'll show up later, most likely. Inspired by the guy who's funeral is the event that kicks off the Carrion Crown adventure path. Of course, that'll happen in the next campaign...

The Erlking, on the other hand, is my idea of an elf in this setting. A fantasy version of the Predator who will stalk the PCs deep in the forest.

The pirates of the Darkling Sea are orcs; Captain Taurak who wields a sledgehammer and the cult leader Guarg Dreghu, who has inducted the worst of the pirates in the cult of Dagon. If the PCs are successful in blunting the pirates attacks, Dreghu may summon the Ketos, known to later fantasy movie fans as the Kraken.