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:
magic piece of equipment that is disastrous, psychotic, logical, without background
magic piece of equipment that is disastrous, psychotic, logical
magic piece of equipment that is disastrous, psychotic, logical, in the style of a video game assetAnd 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
| d6 | Verb |
|---|---|
| 1 | encounter |
| 2 | hear about |
| 3 | witness |
| 4 | miss |
| 5 | see |
| 6 | confront |
| d20 | Thing |
|---|---|
| 01 | coronation of a newborn leader |
| 02 | destruction of a peaceful town |
| 03 | condemnation of a hospitable people |
| 04 | publication of a faithful author |
| 05 | fulfilment of an age-old contract |
| 06 | completion of a tested construction |
| 07 | loss of a treasured sage |
| 08 | rise of a lauded general |
| 09 | accusation of a controversial figurehead |
| 10 | discussion of a contentious opinion |
| 11 | reveal of a steadfast monument |
| 12 | discovery of a hidden community |
| 13 | appearance of a bright star |
| 14 | dismissal of a radical theory |
| 15 | promotion of a unusual mantra |
| 16 | change of a ancient system |
| 17 | alteration of a nutritious recipe |
| 18 | annihilation of a beloved song |
| 19 | exploration of a submerged ruin |
| 20 | death of a trusted friend |
| d6 | Time frame |
|---|---|
| 1 | fortnight |
| 2 | week |
| 3 | month |
| 4 | halfweek |
| 5 | halfmonth |
| 6 | fist of days |
| d6 | When |
|---|---|
| 1-2 | Before |
| 3-4 | After |
| 5-6 | During |
| d20 | Something Weird |
|---|---|
| 01 | collect the excrement of zebras |
| 02 | dance the phases of the moon |
| 03 | recite the incantations of passion |
| 04 | contribute to the collection of ancient texts |
| 05 | consume the innards of sacred vegetables |
| 06 | prevent the gathering of wise ones |
| 07 | distill the happiness of sea birds |
| 08 | steal the bounty of warmongers |
| 09 | organize the resistance of historians |
| 10 | appease the mood of spirits |
| 11 | celebrate the uniqueness of the cosmos |
| 12 | experience the loneliness of nature |
| 13 | expand the awareness of insects |
| 14 | subvert the expectations of scholars |
| 15 | assail the institutions of civility |
| 16 | undermine the preservation of ideas |
| 17 | derive the meaning of eternity |
| 18 | modify the perception of existence |
| 19 | understand the flow of time |
| 20 | change the rules of chance |
| d10 | affect |
|---|---|
| 01 | help |
| 02 | prevent |
| 03 | initiate |
| 04 | escape |
| 05 | influence |
| 06 | start |
| 07 | foster |
| 08 | avoid |
| 09 | usher in |
| 10 | prepare for |
| d20 | Weird Event |
|---|---|
| 01 | fall of a wild star |
| 02 | ruin of an ancient house |
| 03 | demise of beloved icons |
| 04 | exploration of deeper meaning |
| 05 | destruction of ancient monuments |
| 06 | wounding of heartfelt pride |
| 07 | end of eternal peace |
| 08 | death of forlorn hope |
| 09 | exodus of domesticated livestock |
| 10 | loss of beloved pets |
| 11 | perishing of irreplaceable books |
| 12 | spread of obscene knowledge |
| 13 | dissolution of obsolete technology |
| 14 | perversion of cherished taste |
| 15 | disintegration of putrid waste |
| 16 | petrification of helpful relics |
| 17 | disappearance of primordial titans |
| 18 | speaking of excruciating truths |
| 19 | subversion of intricate crafts |
| 20 | inclusion 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!
