This is the 4th AI Artifact, a magic item based on an image generated by an AI from randomly generated words. In this case, those words are “disastrous”, “psychotic”, and “logical “. If you want to know what this is about, you can find the rules here.

The prompt used

After experimenting with the prompt last time, I put some more thought into this. In my mind, I want these items to be different, i.e. not all box-shaped. But I find it hard to specify what this difference should be. A magic item could be a weapon, or something utilitarian like a kitchen utensil. But asking the AI for a magic kitchen utensil feels like too big a subversion of the idea of randomness.

The best solution I could come up with is to replace “magic artifact” with “magic piece of equipment”. Let’s test some prompts:

And frankly, while there is some cool imagery there, I don’t like any of those proposals as a magic item in the style of fantasy role playing. So to get a more specific prompt, I decided to experiment with specific items – wand, ring and plate armor.

And while these are all cool designs and would work well for something to use in a campaign, none of them have the randomness that made the previous three AI artifacts fun (at least in my opinion). So I chose to go with another feature the AI Midjourney offers – rerolling. While I don’t know what exactly happens under the hood, this makes the AI generate another set of proposals. And it helped!

The Image – disastrous, psychotic, logical

And here’s the variation that I went for. It’s just too odd and, dare I say it, random, for me not to jump on this “item”. Doesn’t it just scream “fortune teller” to you?

I went with bottom left, and the reasons are surprisingly many. For starters, it has the coolest hat design. I also comes with the most interesting flame in hand. Having it hold something like bottom right would only complicate things, I think. And last but not least, it has the most interesting face between skull and bird.

So, the question becomes, what is disastrous, psychotic, and logical? Glad you asked.

The Fortuna Teller

Most people who encounter the Fortuna Teller think it to be an intricately crafted automaton, nothing more than a collection of gears, levers, and maybe a bit of illusion magic for effect. They will feel slightly odd for the fortune they have been told, but chalk it up to odd quirks in whatever mechanism is being used to generate the eerie voice.

Only later do they realize that there was more truth to the foretelling than random chance can explain. Some report seeing the Fortuna Teller in their dreams, mocking or encouraging them. Others have tried to meet it again, only to find that a very hard endeavor, as the thing appears to actively avoid them. And those who managed to speak to it a second time refuse to reveal what it said to them.

Shadows in the Water

It may look like the Fortuna Teller is a creature resting comfortably in a water basin, but that is not the case. The water is closed off, and the creature and the tank are one. They appear to be grown or fused together, but nobody ever got close enough to examine where one ends and the other begins. Most of it is covered by a flourishing cloak, anyway.

It is said that moving shadows can be seen inside the tank when the light is just right, but as soon as someone addresses the entity or comes within three meters of it, the head comes up and starts offering to tell their fortune – for a small price of a coin that it asks them to press to their forehead for a second.

Disastrous Origins

It is not known where this thing comes from, not what the actual thing looks like. Most of the appearance seems to hail from other people adding to the mechanism or thing that is at the core of the Fortune Teller, including the mask. Some claim it to be a fish-like entity, hence the water-filled body. Others theorize it is a mask, crafted from the skull of a minor deity, and the rest is just filler.

Whatever the case may be, the thing makes sure to be moved – or it moves on its own accord – to avoid closer scrutiny by fortune-seekers and researchers alike. There is talk about a disaster the befell the being’s home, but if that was the case, this catastrophe was complete enough to wipe out all hope of making a connection with what it left.

Random Fortune Telling

Here we go. The future is but a roll of the dice away. But then again, isn’t it always? This random table is meant to provide an “accurate” telling of the future as given by the Fortuna Teller. You will have to tweak some things to make it sound right, grammar wise, but I do believe that the result will work most of the times.

Anatomy of a Telling

Here’s what a foretelling from the Fortuna Teller will look like. It’ll be way less abstract (but still very weird) once you roll (or pick) from the tables.

You will [verb] the [thing] within the next [time frame]. [When], you must [something weird] to [affect] the [weird thing].

Roll on the tables in sequence and adjust grammar as necessary. If you want to go even deeper into it, you can roll three times on each d20 table and recombine the elements you roll up.

The Telling Tables

d6Verb
1encounter
2hear about
3witness
4miss
5see
6confront
d20Thing
01coronation of a newborn leader
02destruction of a peaceful town
03condemnation of a hospitable people
04publication of a faithful author
05fulfilment of an age-old contract
06completion of a tested construction
07loss of a treasured sage
08rise of a lauded general
09accusation of a controversial figurehead
10discussion of a contentious opinion
11reveal of a steadfast monument
12discovery of a hidden community
13appearance of a bright star
14dismissal of a radical theory
15promotion of a unusual mantra
16change of a ancient system
17alteration of a nutritious recipe
18annihilation of a beloved song
19exploration of a submerged ruin
20death of a trusted friend
d6Time frame
1fortnight
2week
3month
4halfweek
5halfmonth
6fist of days

d6When
1-2Before
3-4After
5-6During
d20Something Weird
01 collect the excrement of zebras
02dance the phases of the moon
03recite the incantations of passion
04contribute to the collection of ancient texts
05consume the innards of sacred vegetables
06prevent the gathering of wise ones
07distill the happiness of sea birds
08steal the bounty of warmongers
09organize the resistance of historians
10appease the mood of spirits
11celebrate the uniqueness of the cosmos
12experience the loneliness of nature
13expand the awareness of insects
14subvert the expectations of scholars
15assail the institutions of civility
16undermine the preservation of ideas
17derive the meaning of eternity
18modify the perception of existence
19understand the flow of time
20change the rules of chance
d10affect
01help
02prevent
03initiate
04escape
05influence
06start
07foster
08avoid
09usher in
10prepare for
d20Weird Event
01fall of a wild star
02ruin of an ancient house
03demise of beloved icons
04exploration of deeper meaning
05destruction of ancient monuments
06wounding of heartfelt pride
07end of eternal peace
08death of forlorn hope
09exodus of domesticated livestock
10loss of beloved pets
11perishing of irreplaceable books
12spread of obscene knowledge
13dissolution of obsolete technology
14perversion of cherished taste
15disintegration of putrid waste
16petrification of helpful relics
17disappearance of primordial titans
18speaking of excruciating truths
19subversion of intricate crafts
20inclusion of random events

Example Fortunes

Here are some randomly generated tellings. Feel free to use those, but keep in mind that they are but a fraction of a fraction of potential futures. If you must know, there are 442.368 trillions.

  • You will hear about the condemnation of a contentious mantra within the next halfweek. Before, you must recite the mood of ideas to prevent the death of putrid livestock.
  • You will see the dismissal of a bright people within the next month. After, you must distill the loneliness of insects to stop the petrification of deeper pride.
  • You will confront the rise of a faithful recipe within the next fist of days. Before, you must assail the resistance of sea birds to usher in the wounding of obscene crafts [weird thing].

Do you feel more disastrous already?

This one took a while to get right and I am starting to think that tweaking the prompt is not the solution. Maybe there is a prompt that can do what I want in my head, but this time, it was rerolling the first prompt that yielded a workable result.

Check out the other AI artifacts and the remaining inspiration I have for you. Also, if you could help me out by joining my Discord server and give me feedback on this (and all other) post(s)!

Thanks for stopping by, and remember to Be Inspired!