How to Create Scenarios in AI Dungeon

Summary

The livestream demonstrates how to create an AI Dungeon scenario by building and testing one live. Dan, a first-time scenario creator, develops a whimsical steampunk adventure about humans using hamster-shaped mech suits to fight evil automatons and find a missing legendary hero.

The example is intentionally improvised. Its central lesson is that scenario creation can start simply and be refined through play.

Main Ideas and Lessons

• Start with a playable premise, not a complete world. Establish who the player is, where they are, what they’re doing, and why. A short opening can be enough to get the story moving.
• Use the “principle of minimum difference.” Give the AI the information it needs to understand what makes the scenario unusual, but don’t explain what it can reasonably infer. For example, clarify that the player wears a human-sized hamster mech suit rather than assuming the AI will understand that from “suiting up as a hamster.”
• Treat creation as iterative. Start with a small setup, play it, notice what the AI misunderstands or makes interesting, and revise. You don’t need to plan every character, location, and piece of lore in advance.
• Balance guidance with player freedom. Background details and Story Cards can improve consistency and create depth, but they also use the AI’s context and can constrain the story. Include details that matter, and leave room for the AI and player to discover the rest.
• Expect the AI to take wording literally. Calling a character “Hamster-in-Chief,” for instance, may lead the AI to depict that character as an actual hamster. Make important relationships explicit.
• Use playtesting to reveal assumptions. In the example, the AI interpreted the mech as small because it was associated with hamsters, and it repeatedly introduced strawberries and smells. Such surprises can help identify what to clarify—or what unexpected behavior to keep.

Scenario Creation Workflow and Tools

1. Choose a starting point. Select a preset or begin with an empty scenario. An empty setup can be useful for an unusual premise or when you want more control over the opening.
2. Add a working title and image. These shape the scenario’s presentation and discovery, but do not, by themselves, guide how the AI writes the story.
3. Write the opening prompt. Establish the immediate situation and give the AI a clear starting scene. A few essential details may be sufficient.
4. Add Plot Essentials for core facts. This information is always included in the AI’s context, so use it for foundational details that should consistently shape the story, such as the central conflict, the player’s goal, or a defining feature of the world.
5. Use Story Cards for conditional details.
   • Story Cards can describe characters, locations, and other entities.
   • Set triggers so the relevant card is added to context when its trigger terms appear.
   • Triggers are exact matches, so short, likely-to-appear terms are generally more useful than long phrases.
   • Cards provide details when an entity comes up without keeping every detail in context all the time.
6. Choose whether to define or discover story elements. You can create cards for elements you already know, or use community-created “auto cards” scripts to detect entities and generate cards from what has happened in the story.
7. Set AI Instructions for the AI’s role and style. Unlike Plot Essentials, which establish facts about the world, AI Instructions guide how the AI should write and behave. They can specify voice, tone, length, and other preferences. Strong instructions can have strong effects, so test them.
8. Consider the Author’s Note for near-term guidance. It can reinforce a specific instruction, such as reminding the AI not to take actions on the player’s behalf.
9. Playtest and revise. Try the scenario with free models to see whether they understand the premise, then adjust unclear or misleading details. The team recommended checking models and polishing the scenario before publishing.
10. Review publishing settings when ready. Private scenarios are visible only to the creator; unlisted scenarios can be accessed by anyone with a direct link. The “ready to publish” estimate indicates how much of the available context the opening uses. The rating check is intended for more finished scenarios and has a limited number of uses per day.

Additional Points

• An adventure created by playing a scenario is separate from the original scenario. Changes made during an adventure do not automatically change the scenario; edit the scenario itself to change what future players receive.
• AI may write or act for the player because many language models are trained to continue stories for all characters. Repeating instructions in AI Instructions and the Author’s Note may help, but results vary by model and phrasing.
• A scenario’s complexity is a creative choice. Some players enjoy extensive lore and many cards; others prefer a brief setup and freedom to explore. More setup does not automatically make a scenario more enjoyable.

Speakers and Sources Featured

• Unnamed livestream host — Introduces the session, guides the discussion, and explains parts of the creation interface and context system.
• Dan — First-time scenario creator who builds and playtests the hamster-mech scenario.
• Michael (Wandering Star) — Experienced scenario creator who discusses Plot Essentials, Story Cards, concise setup, and iterative design.
• Tim (Van Van) — Experienced scenario creator who advises on starting with an empty scenario, defining essential details, and playtesting.
• Devon — Mentioned as a possible source of input, but not clearly identifiable as a substantive speaker in the subtitles.
• Community chat — Referenced as a source of questions and suggestions; individual participants are not identified.