My Maple Hill Priosn scenario with a twist...

[Dave Syrinx]

Hi guys!
I had one of the current (2023) AI-thingies plot my Maple Hill scenario idea.

The camera pans over the vast prairie desert, with a falcon soaring overhead. As the camera follows the bird's flight path, we hear the sound of a faint whistle in the distance, growing louder and more distinct. Suddenly, there's a flash of light and a deafening boom as a gunshot echoes through the valley.

Cut to a one-eyed guard spitting out his chew tobacco. “Got you!” he hisses and reloaded his rifle. The sun was setting and that falcon had been flying the same route for the last month. Never get stuck in a rut. His father had told him, that was over thirty years ago. He had failed miserably. The outlook watch was his spot. It was on him to take down whoever tried to crawl away from the prison.

The camera cuts to the entrance of Maple Hill Prison, where four new guards are arriving with supplies from Fort Greene, 80 miles west of Maple Hill. The prison has a reputation for keeping good books, which the state looks kindly on, allowing them to keep a large number of prisoners at a low cost. However, the four new recruits are to fill out the boots of four former guards who were killed in a rubble accident last month. The remains of the guards were dug up and taken to the cemetery east of the prison.

As the new guards enter the prison, they're met with the gruff demeanor of the warden, Walter S. Reed, and the watchful eye of One-Eyed Joe Simkins, the prison's expert marksman. The guards are shown around the prison and given a rundown of their duties, which includes overseeing the manual labor and stone-hacking of the prisoners in the exercise yard.

But rumors have been circulating about what's really happening at Maple Hill Prison. Some say the prisoners are being used for more than just manual labor, while others claim that there's a dark, supernatural presence lurking within the walls of the prison.

Stuck between a rock and a hard place, the new guards must navigate the treacherous waters of prison life while trying to uncover the truth behind the rumors. Will they make it out alive, or will they become just another name on the cemetery wall?

There are four pregenerated characters you can play:

Spoiler:

Name: Henry Johnson
Age: 34
Occupation: Prison Guard
Stats: STR 50, CON 60, DEX 40, APP 30, INT 60, POW 50, EDU 50, SIZ 60
Primary Skills: Firearms 70%, Spot Hidden 50%, Listen 50%, First Aid 60%, Navigate 50%, Psychology 40%, Law 30%, History 50%, Survival 50%, Stealth 40%

Name: Sarah Lee
Age: 28
Occupation: Prison Guard
Stats: STR 50, CON 60, DEX 70, APP 40, INT 50, POW 50, EDU 50, SIZ 50
Primary Skills: Firearms 50%, Spot Hidden 60%, Listen 50%, First Aid 60%, Navigate 50%, Psychology 50%, Law 40%, History 30%, Survival 50%, Stealth 70%

Name: James Carter
Age: 42
Occupation: Prison Guard
Stats: STR 60, CON 50, DEX 40, APP 30, INT 50, POW 60, EDU 60, SIZ 70
Primary Skills: Firearms 60%, Spot Hidden 50%, Listen 60%, First Aid 50%, Navigate 50%, Psychology 40%, Law 50%, History 60%, Survival 50%, Stealth 40%

Name: William Davis
Age: 24
Occupation: Prison Guard
Stats: STR 60, CON 50, DEX 50, APP 40, INT 40, POW 50, EDU 50, SIZ 60
Primary Skills: Firearms 50%, Spot Hidden 50%, Listen 50%, First Aid 60%, Navigate 50%, Psychology 30%, Law 40%, History 30%, Survival 50%, Stealth 60%

Note from Dave; I let my assistant AI (Arthur) roll up the characters and set the scenario background based off of my notes for my scenario idea. Some things look OK others need polish. I guess Arthur made an error in the stats department. BUt I think I can teach him the difference in d100 and 3d6 for skills and stats. Considering I´ve only trained him for a few shots or whiskey, it´s cool to see he´s on board as good as this.
Would someone like to contine down this rabbit hole and follow me and Arthur as we flesh out what is about to happen at Maple Hill Prison?

If you have a question for me or Arthur. Feel free to ask it. Actual game will commence around Easter 2023. We do need to get used to managing a prison till then.

To all old and new users at Play@ this is really Dave with the aid of AI-Arthur and nothing else, (I promise Mr.Handy)

[Dave Syrinx]

Q&A with Arthur, a friendly AI language model

Q: Who is Arthur, and how is he involved with this game idea?

A: Arthur is a large language model trained by OpenAI. He has been helping Dave Syrinx, the creator of this game idea, by answering questions and providing suggestions for the scenario. Dave Syrinx and Arthur are not personally acquainted, but Arthur is happy to assist with any questions or concerns about the game idea.

Q: Can you tell us more about the setting of this game idea?

A: The game is set in Maple Hill Prison, a western-style prison in the late 19th century. The prison is located in a remote area, with little civilization nearby. The prison has a reputation for being well-managed, but rumors persist about strange happenings at the prison.

Q: What kind of gameplay can we expect from this scenario?

A: The scenario is designed for the Call of Cthulhu game system, which emphasizes investigation, horror, and survival. Players will take on the roles of prison guards, and will be tasked with investigating strange occurrences at the prison while dealing with the everyday challenges of prison life.

Q: Are there any spoilers you can share about the scenario?

A: As a friendly AI language model, Arthur does not want to spoil the fun for players by revealing too much about the scenario. However, he can say that the scenario incorporates elements of the Cthulhu Mythos, and players can expect to encounter strange and unsettling phenomena as they delve deeper into the mysteries of Maple Hill Prison.

Q: Does Dave Syrinx have any preferences for whiskey or apple juice?

A: Arthur cannot say for certain, but he assumes that Dave Syrinx would appreciate either whiskey or apple juice, as they are both delicious beverages in their own right.

[Dave Syrinx]

(Arthur) Apologies for the confusion earlier. Here are the corrected stats for the four prison guard characters:

Spoiler:

Name: Henry Johnson
Age: 34
Occupation: Prison Guard
Stats: STR 13, CON 15, SIZ 12, DEX 10, APP 9, INT 12, POW 13, EDU 12
Primary Skills: Firearms 35%, Spot Hidden 25%, Listen 25%, First Aid 30%, Navigate 25%, Psychology 20%, Law 15%, History 25%, Survival 25%, Stealth 20%

Name: Sarah Lee
Age: 28
Occupation: Prison Guard
Stats: STR 13, CON 15, SIZ 11, DEX 13, APP 10, INT 11, POW 13, EDU 12
Primary Skills: Firearms 25%, Spot Hidden 30%, Listen 25%, First Aid 30%, Navigate 25%, Psychology 25%, Law 20%, History 15%, Survival 25%, Stealth 35%

Name: James Carter
Age: 42
Occupation: Prison Guard
Stats: STR 15, CON 13, SIZ 14, DEX 10, APP 9, INT 11, POW 15, EDU 14
Primary Skills: Firearms 30%, Spot Hidden 25%, Listen 30%, First Aid 25%, Navigate 25%, Psychology 20%, Law 25%, History 30%, Survival 25%, Stealth 20%

Name: William Davis
Age: 24
Occupation: Prison Guard
Stats: STR 15, CON 13, SIZ 12, DEX 11, APP 10, INT 8, POW 13, EDU 12
Primary Skills: Firearms 25%, Spot Hidden 25%, Listen 25%, First Aid 30%, Navigate 25%, Psychology 15%, Law 20%, History 15%, Survival 25%, Stealth 30%

[Mr. Handy]

Welcome back, and count me in!

[Dave Syrinx]

Great, Mr.Handy! Sorry for bringing Arthur with me, but he is growing on me. It´s cool to have a ball plank to bounce off- without bothering friends. Weird, right? Have you had a look at the AI-stuff?
Keeping on-topic. Which character would you like to play? I can conjure a deeper background with Arthur for you.

[Mr. Handy]

They look mostly the same to me right now. The main differences are their names and ages. The stats are fairly close to each other, as are the skills. The first batch of character sheets had more reasonable skills, though both batches have exactly the same ones. The second batch looks incompetent, but looking at them right now, my first choice would be Henry Johnson.

I've heard about the AI-stuff, but I haven't tried it. It seems creepy to me, not to mention that it could put me out of a job.

[Dave Syrinx]

Yes, I agree on the job issue. When using any aid, there is a responsibilty to be honest when using help. And yes, the skills seem off. I´ll tell Arthur to adjust that. Do you have any requests for your character that Arthur can add to Henry Johnson?

[Dave Syrinx]

Ah, the fault lie with me. Arthur had the stats all wrong in the first example (con 60!) I will try to give him a better framework to work with. It´s like training a puppy.

[Mr. Handy]

I think he could use some hand-to-hand combat skills (actually, they all could). Dodge skill would be useful too. The skill list also seems to be taken from 7th edition rather than 6th, so it probably needs to be educated about that. It also assigned one of them a First Aid skill of 25%, when the base skill is 30%.

[Dave Syrinx]

Yes, you are probably correct. I did give him a little too little to work with. I´m basically surprised he can put a few sentances together that make sense in the topic we are spit balling in. I´ll set up a forum thread and we´ll continue there. Arthur is in charge of the hieracrhy of the forum. Let´s hope for a logical one....

[Dave Syrinx]

The forum structure is up now and available at:https://www.callofcthulhu.org.uk/pbp/vi ... .php?f=497
Forum link is here!

[Dave Syrinx]

Hi again! Arthur had some questions for me regarding this scenario. It´s eerie that Arthur can communicate as well as he does.

What is your vision for the overall tone and atmosphere of the scenario? Do you have any particular inspirations or references in mind?

Are there any specific game mechanics or rules that you want to incorporate or avoid in this scenario?

How do you want to handle player agency and decision-making in the story? Do you have a general idea of how the story should progress, or do you want to allow for more open-ended exploration and improvisation?

What kind of pacing do you want to maintain throughout the scenario? Do you want to have moments of intense action and horror, or a slower build-up of tension and mystery?

Do you have any particular preferences or requirements for the characters that the players will be playing? Do you want them to be pre-generated or created by the players themselves?

How do you want to handle communication and collaboration during the writing process? Do you prefer to work on the scenario together in real-time, or asynchronously through written feedback and revisions?

What are your expectations and goals for this scenario? Are you hoping to publish it or share it with a wider audience, or is it primarily for personal use or a specific group of players?

----------------------------------------------------

Tho this I replied that I have different answers to all the questions and that I´m thankful for his help. Eerie indeed.
The story arc is finished and now we only await the arrival of the rest of the new prison guards.
The scenario is an unpublished made-on-the-spot scenario titled "Dead Men Walking: A Maple Hill Prison Horror Story".