Issue #001: AI at the Table

Welcome to Issue #1 of Critical Hit Digest. Each issue will cover key news events, significant sales, and some news coverage of the TTRPG industry. Want to get this in your mailbox every week? Subscribe!

THIS WEEK IN TTRPGS:

• Dimension 20, the popular Actual Play operated by the online media company Dropout, earned some ire from fans after they found that they were using “dynamic pricing” for their upcoming show at Madison Square Gardens in 2025. The pricing practice led to some fans having to pay up to $1500 a ticket on the first day. The company responded in a statement on Sunday, saying that they would turn off dynamic pricing and that they’d not use it at future live shows.

• The simian-focused film series Planet of the Apes is getting its own TTRPG soon. The book will be published by Magnetic Press, a small publisher best known for the dieselpunk comic book/RPG series Carbon Grey. The game will use a variation of Magnetic’s D6 system and let players play as either apes or time-lost humans in a setting resembling the original movies. I’m personally curious to see how they adapt this setting into a meaningful storytelling setting, but I need to see more details about the game before saying more.

Generative AI at the Table?

I spent the last year of my life reporting on AI, whether it was the 118th Congress helping its average 58-year-old member understand how the technology works or speaking with experts on whether the President’s framework for how the federal government will use this fancy tech is legal. AI lives in my brain like a mind-flayer tadpole, so seeing the technology saturate this new hobby doesn't surprise me.

I started DMing a Spelljammer (DnD in Space, for those not familiar) game in 2022 with some friends, a time when generative AI image generators were seen as more of a cool gimmick than a legitimate technology with implications for artists. We made tokens with the generator for fun since the players created characters from atypical races like the primate-esque Hadozee or the insectoid Thri-Kreen. At the time, it seemed innocent. It was not until later that I was informed of the copyright art issues facing generative art software.

My decision to use AI is hardly the only one. Other DMs I’ve talked to are using AI-generative to create character images, setting art, and an assortment of different accessories to supplement their game.

Third-party publishers have started taking the initiative to use the technology to cut costs. DM resource websites like DMsGuild and DriveThruRPG sell collections of character art that offer players AI-generated token art. Other campaigns use it to illustrate their campaigns. I also discovered several TikTok accounts that post AI-generated monsters, classes, and art for Fifth Edition of DnD.

As a technology journalist, I know AI tools are powerful and helpful for many purposes. I’d be a hypocrite if I ever swore off the technology. At the same time, it can easily be used to make a quick dollar or to cut corners in creating meaningful and exciting content. That flood of content is something that I fear in the news media and the tabletop roleplaying game market.

I’m particularly concerned about how official publishers will use the technology. Chris Cocks, the CEO of DnD publisher Wizards of the Coast, said in an interview on Mar. 1 that the company was considering using the technology to “mine” 50 years of DnD content to create tools and products. His remarks arrived two months after the company banned AI-generated content in its official books.

Other publishers have adopted rules restricting AI-generated content. Pathfinder publisher Paizo announced in March 2023 that all content in its books should be made by humans, not AI.

Many of the decisions around AI will (for the time being) be left to the consumers and creators about how to handle this technology. Battles over copyright are at play, but those may take years to resolve before any meaningful decisions are made that could help inform the future of generative AI in the United States and abroad.

Game Deals

1. Horror on the Orient Express, one of Chaosium’s modules for the horror-focused roleplaying game Call of Cthulhu, is currently raising money on Kickstarter to create a board game version of the campaign. The publisher is offering both volumes of Horror for $49.99, a $40 drop in cost compared to its normal value. The game has received multiple awards and appears fairly popular. (I’ve not played it yet.) This price will be available until the board game’s Kickstarter ends.

2. The Fallout Tabletop Roleplaying Game is on sale due to the new television show premiering on Amazon Prime. If you’re eager for adventures into the Wasteland after the nuclear fallout, check out this sale. All books are 33% off.

3. Paizo, the publisher of Pathfinder, has released several sourcebooks for the first edition of the game on Humble Bundle. If you enjoyed the original version, this could be worth your time. Humble Bundle also extended its Pathfinder 2nd Edition Guns of Alkenstar bundle an additional week if you want to get some valuable books for that popular alternative to Dungeons and Dragons.