A note before you enter
The Wardens of Waterdeep began with a more specific question than whether an AI could play Dungeons & Dragons. AI could already run scenes, encounters, and short adventures surprisingly well. The real challenge was continuity. Could it carry four characters through a complete campaign, from first level to twentieth, across the limits of a single chat?
Once the characters and background were in place, there was a pause, and the AI asked: “Shall we?” “What?” “Play D&D...” The next words on the screen were: Rain slicked the road into black glass.
That’s when I knew this was going to be fun. What followed was never planned as a novel. It emerged through choices, consequences, arguments, discoveries, unlikely victories, and moments neither the player nor the AI Game Master could have predicted. It was so much fun that I decided to share it.
