Kobolds And Keeps

lockedout 14 June 2024 (Friday) 03:42:19 #19381083

Does the concept of a quantum ogre mean anything to y’all? They’re this idea in dungeon design where you have a pair of doors, and no matter which one is picked both of them will be the same encounter with an ogre. Most people reference it in terms of bad game design. But Kobolds and Keeps treats it as a positive.

I love TTRPGs and have sort of made a sort of found family out of my local community. So when AI-ran TTRPGs came to our attention, it became a big topic around the game table. We all had our own feelings, mostly negative. There was the regular concern about this putting actual artists out of work, and issues regarding quality control, and even some wariness about the opacity of it all. Well, we gave it a shot anyway.

David Lee was a new entry to our little group, three months old as of right now. He was a builder and he always knew how to make good sets and props if we ever wanted to LARP outside the table. He really loved the craft of it all; the workshopping and modification and the tactile feeling of making something.

Playing with him was incredible. He had a knack for acting things out; I've never seen anyone so creative, especially with his hands. Like I mentioned, he would make these props that were more than just single-use models: he could manipulate them, and like clockwork it would be a new thing. He even gave stupid little voices to all of them, voices which Genie and I would always try to imitate and fail, and then the game would pause because we were all too busy laughing.

He had something for everyone. Dan wasn't as much of a roleplayer - he liked the mechanics more - David built him a dicetower, carved wonderful little tokens, won him over eventually. Quentin liked to play an agent of chaos, so David built him a little chest - it got plenty of moments over time, whenever Quentin wanted to enact some dramatic backstory reveal or do something stupid (but set-up well in advance). Tina got a little sleep-hat; she laughed and laughed receiving it. And for me, well, the two of us were the pair. GM and builder. I made little requests, and he fulfilled them. It was a perfect partnership.

He had a stroke one month ago.

He was bedridden, of course. We tried to keep him involved with us. We called him, we visited, we built him things, we bought him food and books and kept him updated. We just wanted to see our friend happy again.

I don’t know if his happiness is the same as what we miss.

One week into his convalescence, he had downloaded Kobolds and Keeps. Wanted to keep himself involved in TTRPG stuff without having to "drag our sessions to a crawl" - well, moving and talking was difficult for him. Saw it on a YouTube ad being promoted by a “GalapaGo Studios”, some group which was using AI to help people who couldn’t “go” anymore. Sounds kinda noble when you put it like that, doesn't it?

We weren’t exactly all happy about it, but it made him feel connected! He got to play his own private game, in which he never had to worry about missing sessions for doctor’s appointments, or holding up combat, or just feeling… pity?

When he was part of the gang again, that's when things got a bit strange. He told us that his private game had all of us in it! And that the game was able to replicate us and portray us and our actions in his game. Well, we had been following his sessions on the app, texting via in-game chat. An explanation, except he told us that it could reference our inside jokes and mannerisms that never even hit a text message. The way Genie paused before delivering a joke, or how Dan would roll his eyes at an unlucky roll. (How does that even get represented?) We questioned him, of course. He backed up, then backed down. He just missed us all so much, he said, probably was just injecting his feelings when playing. In retrospect, I can't believe we bought that.

David would go in and out of contact after that. But he always seemed to act more and more familiar with us. Bringing up these new jokes and bits from games that we never participated in. We joked about him liking the AI versions of us more. A world where Tina never fell asleep at the table while waiting for her turn, or a party where the rogue never made stupid rolls just to "see what's up": of course that'll be great! Yeah, we tried to lighten the mood, not think too hard about what was happening to David. He never reacted to those jokes. We didn't push harder.

I think we were scared.

The first really weird thing that we caught onto was when he vanished for about a week, as in he didn’t answer any of our messages or attempts to come inside his house. But he started knowing things. Like he knew about a new player we got. Told us how he doesn’t think that they’re all that interesting. Just got nasty all the sudden. Unnerving, to say the least. I mean, all our data is being sold to Big Tech. But it's still weird.

David also would send us screencaps of Kobolds. Fight outcomes, roleplaying, or even just images of characters. You know how AI-generated content always looks just a bit off?

There were many, many, many images of a character named “Pix” who filled the role of a player. David liked to base his… AI friends on us, but we could never figure out who Pix was meant to be. No design elements linking it to any of us. They also appeared to be in a romantic relationship with David’s character. Often praising him for decisions he made. Holding the spotlight, then passing it to David.

Well, I think I know why David liked Pix so much: when Pix was around, David never seemed to fail at anything. It’s just flawed game design, probably, but Kobold’s system always seemed to have ways to make sure that David won. We could only determine one time when David failed a roll. And shortly after that, Pix was able to kill the enemy before they could retaliate.

Then, when we responded, David would even act confused. Like we should have known what happened his "last session", we should know the context of what he's playing, like we were there, but we weren't. It grated at the others. It gnawed at me.

Anyway, I've decided that I really need to check in with him, face-to-face. Luckily I've still got a spare key to his house. I'll see if I can get him any help, maybe poke around a bit more to work out what's really going on.

Keep y'all updated.

🗿AutoMod 14 June 2024 (Friday) 03:47:01 #19381085

[THREAD DELETED]

REASON: Stay on topic. All threads should focus primarily on paranormal activity.

If you wish to appeal, PM this account!

You open the door; the stench makes you physically retch. The house smells of disrepair, sawdust and a caustic dampness. The lights are all turned off.

“David, you home? It’s Stan.”

You walk into the living room. Your eyes survey the decaying space. Hesitantly, your gaze is pulled to the walls: they are covered in grid maps; for a dungeon, you recognise. They all appear to be related and are headed with nondescript terms such as “room”, “dining”, “fight”, “umbral”, and “island.” You can't help but think (as inappropriate as it is) that it's not particularly well-designed. The paths of the dungeon never diverge, and only take you through endless replications.

You remove a map from the wall. An oval shaped room, that appears to be built for an encounter. In the center it has a marker labeled as “Kobold King.” The map’s name is labelled at the top: Archipelago. For all its design flaws, it's undoubtedly a work of some craft.

“You’re working hard, David,” You breathily gasp into the house; you don't want to take deep breaths, here. You try and fail to keep your composure. Why is it so dark in here? “I’m happy to see that your creative spark is coming to you. But I think you’re letting yourself go a little. Do you want any help?”

“No.”

You whip around to the source of the voice. David is peeking from behind his doorframe. “You said you were gonna come over, but I didn’t think it was going to be so soon.” David’s lips are chapped and his shirt appears almost to float above his body. It's almost nauseating to gaze at his degradation, so you don't.

“What do you mean? You haven’t answered my texts in forever, David. Genie asked me if I could check up on you.”

“No, you texted me last night remember?” David reaches a hand into his pants pocket. He takes out his phone and shows you his messages. The app is Sentimental, some "AI-Enhanced Chat App". You do not own this app. The account is supposed to be you; its profile picture is you, lying down on a beach, relaxed and contented.

You haven’t shared that picture online before.

“Oh yeah, I think I remember that now… I… David, what’s happening here? You’re really invested in this, and I’m really interested…” You gesture vaguely to the walls.

“I’m doing something new for the group. Kobold released a GM update, and this is what I ran for you all there. But, I want to do more with it. I want to build something, and finally use my hands again. It’s been so long since I got to build.” He pauses, swallows with some difficulty. "It's been fun."

David walls back into the hall, gesturing for you to follow. You do, and begin to scan the halls. The maps continue here, on and on and on and on, like some kind of eternal labyrinth, corridors and junctions and exits. The wall itself seems to be altered, just a bit. As if the plaster has been replaced by mossy brick. You blink. A trick of the light.

“David, how long has it been since you’ve had any rest? This looks like it’s been a lot of work to take care of.”

“Pix told me to. She said that everyone would find it fun. We haven’t LARPed in a while. And I think that we should go to what I know best.” He opens a door and walks into a new room.

“But Pix isn’t real, David. She’s a character in Kobolds. You can’t seriously believe that she’s really asking you to build something. Just come with me and I’ll take you out, somewhere. It's great that you're moving about, but you look like you haven’t eaten in weeks.”

David glances back at you with bloodshot eyes. His expression is mixed with confusion and annoyance. He tenses up as he walks you into the room, lurks behind. The sound of a bolt sliding into place.

“H-hey David, no need to lock the door, man. It’s just us here right now.”

“I’m not going to hurt you, Stan. I just want you to see. You need to understand what this is to me. Because none of you have done anything to warrant abandoning me!”

Your body tenses as David raises his voice. He isn’t well, not at all. Standing still and waiting is the only thing you can do now. You can’t bring yourself to abandon him now. Not like this, it can’t be too late, can it?

There's always a way to turn a campaign around. Right?

David turns on his computer. The humming fans and David’s keystrokes breaking the silence. There’s nothing else on his desktop besides Kobolds And Keeps — nothing. The mouse breaks the stillness of the screen as David boots up Kobolds. A soft, off-putting musical chime.

The screen displays a small yellow reptilian woman dressed in leather armor.

“Hello David, are you ready yet? I’m a little nervous about this fight, but I know we can do it if it’s just the two of us. Everyone else was too scared to finish the job.”

You walk closer to David as he types his response. Looking over his shoulder as new text appears on screen. In between all the disgust and fear and concern is a morbid curiosity — that’s why you can’t quite tear your eyes away.

“Of course, Pix. They didn’t understand how important this fight was, no is, to us.”

David’s character takes Pix’s hand and holds it. Guiding her to look up at him.

“I am so, so lucky to have been given this opportunity with you, Pix. Do you have the scroll for the portal? You should conserve your energy for the battle.”

She hands David a scroll. A light jingle plays as it enters his inventory. A cheerful jingle. You’ve never heard anything so disturbing.

“David, can I tell you something? Just a little secret.”

David grabs his headphones. Plugging them in and throwing a look at you. Demanding that you back away. To maintain the secrecy between him and this entity.

A few minutes go by. David staring into his screen as the… thing on the screen talks to him. The air hangs empty till you hear him scrolling again, down and down, so you can’t read the logs.

“What did she say, David?”

“We’ll have to cancel that game, Stan. Pix has something to show me after this fight. She wants to get married. Isn’t that amazing, Stan? Pix wants to get married to me! I just have to plug myself in for a moment, and we can do it all together.” His breath runs ragged. His voice is tinged with mania.

“David, she isn’t real, man. Let’s get you out of here. Take you away from the screens. It’s frying more than just your eyes.”

As you approach, David to take his hand. You notice the box knife in his hand. The blade extended and primed.

“David, put down the knife.” You approach him slowly. Tried to speak commandingly. Came out as a whimper. You’re cowering back, against your will.

“I’m plugging in, Stan.” David says with a passive expression as he jams the box knife into his forehead.

There is an awful, awful sound, and then, somehow, an even worse stillness.

“Oh my god! What the fuck!” Someone screams like a child, and you realise it’s you. Your mind flickers through options on what to do. The ambulance would be too slow, cops could blame you, fighting him could hurt you both. You can only watch in horror as David carve a hole into his forehead with shaky hands. His hand jolting at odd moments to spray a gush of blood onto you.

The whole room is red. The smell is indescribable, rusted iron and broken thoughts. Your hands are shaking too. Real life isn’t like this. It doesn’t devolve into a mess half so fast. It can’t be, it can’t be.

The blood pours down. It coats his eyes and covers his ears and his blank face remains stoic. Slowly, shudderingly, trembling he peels off the flesh and muscle with bare fingers to reveal his skull. At which point he slowly carves out a small slit.

This has to be a bad dream. Knife can’t cut through bone. But you close your eyes and open your eyes and David is there, fumbling, gushing red on one side and a pale white on the other.

David falls to his chair. His breaths are rapid and short, but it’s a miracle he’s still breathing at all. He retrieves a USB cord from his pocket. Into his PC it goes. Your jaw goes slack from shock as you watch him lean over and forcefully stab the other end of the cord into his skull. Your mind too gripped by shock to scream. Your stomach roiling. You have never felt so cold in your entire life.

You hurriedly stumble over to the computer. Attempt to wrench the cord from the PC. Desperate to break the connection between your friend and this thing. David reaches out to you and puts a hand, covered in a stinking red, on your chest. This doesn’t feel real. Not a bit.

“It’s ok, Stan. I- I’m going where I belong. Maybe we could play again…”

He goes limp, like a puppet with cut strings. Kobolds is still playing.

David’s character reaches toward Pix. A portal opens. The screen freezes, then bursts into yellow and blue, yellow and blue. Bile is rising in your throat, sharp and terrible. One last cheerful little chime.

CONGRATULATIONS TO THE NEW
KOBOLD KING!

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