Free AI RPG tools, shared by the people who build them
Built once. Shared with everyone.
The people building AI RPGs keep solving the same hard problems alone. This is where they stop. Free tools, schemas and techniques, given openly by the developers who made them, and credited to each of them by name.
We want this industry to succeed, and we want players to find games worth their time. We play every game before we review it, and we say what we found. A healthy industry needs honest coverage, and it also needs builders who do not have to solve every problem alone. So Arcanum gives time and a place to the people doing that work: we host this library, we keep it tidy, and we send readers to the people behind it.
What the contributors give
Every entry here was shared on purpose. These developers could have kept their methods to themselves. They chose to publish them so that the next team does not repeat the same mistakes, and so that players get better games sooner. Many of them build products that compete with each other. They are sharing anyway. That is why every entry carries a name.
// leaderboard
The people building it
Ranked by points. A contributor is a person or a team, exactly as credited on the entry. Thank you to everyone on this list.
Season 1 · 2026 Q4
1=
Short Hill Labs, LLC
Tabled · reviewed by Arcanum
First entry badgeFounding contributor badge
8POINTS
reviewed by Arcanum
Level with first
1=
Kayzak
Fable Forge · sponsor
First entry badgeFounding contributor badge
8POINTS
sponsor
Tied for first
3
Matt
Isentroth · pre-release
First entry badgeFounding contributor badge
6POINTS
2 behind first
4
A1Worldtable · reviewed by Arcanum
First entry badgeFounding contributor badge
4PTS
5
@bottledfoxVolta · pre-release
First entry badgeFounding contributor badge
3PTS
Tied points share a rank and are listed alphabetically. Rank never affects a review or score, and it cannot be bought. The board is built from the entries themselves.
1=
KayzakFable Forge · sponsor
First entry badgeFounding contributor badge
8PTS
1=
Short Hill Labs, LLCTabled · reviewed by Arcanum
First entry badgeFounding contributor badge
8PTS
3
MattIsentroth · pre-release
First entry badgeFounding contributor badge
6PTS
4
A1Worldtable · reviewed by Arcanum
First entry badgeFounding contributor badge
4PTS
5
@bottledfoxVolta · pre-release
First entry badgeFounding contributor badge
3PTS
The all-time board is a permanent record. It never resets. In this first season both boards match.
// how points work
Three rules. No tricks.
Simple enough to work out in your head, and built so that nobody can win by flooding the library.
+3
Every accepted entry
For each entry that is still listed and stands on its own.
+1
Kept alive
When an entry is marked maintained and updated in the last 180 days. A label alone earns nothing.
2
Counted per month
At most two entries count per contributor each month, so quality beats volume.
Try it: what would you score?
7Points this month
2 entries counted: 6 points, plus 1 for upkeep.
First entryYour first accepted entry.
MaintainerAn entry you updated three times.
Founding contributorAmong the first to share. A badge, not a head start.
Season winnerTop of a season. Kept for good.
The full rules
3 points for each accepted entry that is still listed and stands on its own.
+1 point for each entry marked maintained and updated in the last 180 days.
At most 2 entries count per contributor per month.
One piece of work split into several parts counts as one entry, unless each part is useful on its own.
A team or studio counts as one contributor.
Seasons. The board resets each calendar quarter, so newcomers can always compete. The all-time board is a permanent record. The top contributor of each season gets a permanent badge, a mention in our quarterly report and newsletter, and an offer of a free interview.
Every entry carries exactly one link to a contributor's site: the credit to their platform. The board has none, and source addresses are shown as plain text. Arcanum may link to its own pages where they add useful context.
The board is built automatically from the entries. Nobody edits it by hand, including us.
Rank never affects a review or a score, and it cannot be bought. Platforms we have reviewed, and platforms that currently pay Arcanum for a sponsored placement, are marked on their row.
// the library
Take what you need
Each entry says what problem it solves, how to use it, who made it, which game it came from, and what licence it carries.
A runbook for a small studio that runs an AI game master on a hosted platform: what to do the night its host is breached and cannot redeploy, and the order we moved the server, database and secrets in the next morning. A checklist with seven core lines, the twelve steps, the eleven things that bit us, and what it cost.
Note and repository text: CC BY 4.0 · Scripts: MIT when publishedExperimentalVersion 1.0Updated 2026-11-03Rights confirmedWritten with AI help, per the authorIncludes a checklist and runbook template
AI players can test a game for hours, but they fool you in quiet ways. This covers how to run them blind through the real game screen, which of their results to trust, and the traps we hit, each marked as fixed or still open. Includes a fourteen-point checklist.
CC BY 4.0MaintainedVersion 1.0Updated 2026-11-03Rights confirmedWritten with AI help, per the authorSponsor disclosed
Six things that failed when we rigged an image-to-3D character, in the order they failed, what we measured, and the 35-rule review script we built so the same mistakes fail a script instead of a person. Worked example on the stock KayKit Knight, plus a joint-placement cheat sheet.
Note: CC BY 4.0 · Script and schema: MIT · Knight: CC0ExperimentalVersion 1.0Updated 2026-11-01Rights confirmedIncludes a review script and schemaWritten with AI help, per the author
Narration takes seconds, and the wait lands on the moments that should feel instant, like walking through a door. This writes the likely next scenes in the background, shows them the moment the player clicks, and never shows a wrong one. Includes what failed first and how to measure what it costs.
CC BY 4.0MaintainedVersion 1.0Updated 2026-10-30Rights confirmedWritten with AI help, per the authorSponsor disclosed
AI players run long campaigns against your game, and a second model judges them on memory, puppeting, fairness, refused quests, consequences and repetition. Every verdict quotes the game's own text, and code checks the quotes. Includes what failed first and a working tool.
MIT (tool and note)MaintainedVersion 1.0Updated 2026-10-30Rights confirmedIncludes a working toolWritten with AI help, per the author
When a player turns down a quest, AI storytellers tend to keep it alive. This makes a refusal stick: the model gives the verdict in a fixed shape, and the server holds it from then on.
CC BY 4.0MaintainedVersion 1.0Updated 2026-10-31Rights confirmedIncludes codeWritten with AI help, per the author
Created by Short Hill Labs, LLC · Developer of Tabled
An AI game master that controls both the story and the dice can bend either one, and prompt rules do not reliably stop it. This takes the numbers away from the model: dice sealed before it runs, outcomes computed by the server, and a ladder for moving any rule from the prompt to the server.
CC BY 4.0 (note and specification)MaintainedVersion Note: Oct 2026 · Spec: manifest v8Updated 2026-10-31Rights confirmedIncludes the specificationWritten with AI help, per the author
Created by Short Hill Labs, LLC · Developer of Tabled
Four ways an NPC comes to know what they could not, a probe recipe anyone can run with a handful of model calls, and what worked and what failed first. Counted by reading replies, on one model.
CC BY 4.0ExperimentalVersion 1.0Updated 2026-10-30Rights confirmedMeasured on one modelIncludes a reusable probeWritten with AI help, per the author
You decide what to share, and you can keep your proprietary work private. A short write-up of a technique helps as much as code. Open to anyone who builds or runs an AI RPG.
Send a messageJoin the Arcanum Discord and send a direct message with a short description and your source address.
We check itWe read it, check the fields, and may ask for changes. We never edit your work.
You approve the pageWe build the entry and show it to you first. Nothing goes live without your yes.
You are on the boardYour name goes on the entry, and your points start counting.
Name or handle of each person, and the game they are linked to.
Source address
A public repository or document where the source lives. We show it as plain text.
Licence
CC0, MIT, Apache-2.0, CC BY 4.0, or another open licence you name.
Rights
Confirmation that you can share it.
Status
Maintained, or experimental.
// the ground rules
How the library works
Credit goes to the person who made it
Each entry names its creator or creators first, and the game they work on second. If several people made it, all are credited.
Creators keep ownership. Arcanum hosts your text on the entry page, unedited, under the licence you chose, and shows your source address as plain text.
Creators can update or remove their entry at any time.
Contributing does not affect reviews
Being in the library never changes a score, a ranking or a review. It does not buy coverage, and being absent does not cost any.
Listing is free. There is no paid tier, and a sponsorship cannot buy an entry or a rank. A sponsor can contribute like anyone else: the entry then says so.
If a developer with a rated game has contributed, their review says so, in the same disclosure line we use for any connection.
Inclusion means an entry meets the submission rules. It does not mean Arcanum has tested it or guarantees it.
Licences and legal notice
Every entry shows its licence, version, last-updated date and whether it is maintained or experimental.
Contributors confirm they have the right to share what they submit. If it was made for an employer or with a team, they need permission from them first.
Arcanum is not a law firm. Licence information on this page is a reference, not legal advice. Check the licence text yourself before relying on it.
Material with a missing or unclear licence is removed until it is fixed.
// from arcanum
Arcanum's own tools
Built by Rukka. Free, no account, everything runs in your browser and nothing is sent anywhere. These are the same pages as before, at the same addresses.
✎
Memory & ContextCampaign Memory ToolAround turn 50, AI campaigns lose the thread. Log your campaign state and generate a compression prompt for ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini; your data saves to a file on your own device.
⚙
Session SetupAI RPG Prompt BuilderPick model, genre, tone and campaign length and get a structured system prompt, ready to paste, in under a minute.
☺
Character CreationAI Character Card GeneratorRoll a complete character card with personality, scenario, opening message and example dialogue, formatted for Janitor AI, SillyTavern and other card-based platforms.
⚔
Tabletop & 5eAI D&D GeneratorAn NPC, a backstory, an encounter, a magic item or a quest hook: five generators for a 5e-style game, or for the detail an AI Dungeon Master needs to stay consistent.
◔
Memory & ContextContext Budget CalculatorSee how much room is left in a model's context window after your prompt, world file and memory, and roughly which turn you will hit the wall.
The AI RPG Prompt Builder is for the question before the first turn: how do I give the AI the instructions it needs to actually run a game? A well-structured system prompt defines genre, tone, agency rules, and memory continuity before the player types a single word. It is the difference between a session that holds together and one that quietly improvises its way off the rails by turn ten.
The comparison matrix is for the question before the campaign starts: which platform is actually worth your time? It pulls every reviewed client into one place so you can make that call without opening ten tabs, and points directly into the full write-up when you need the reasoning behind a rating.
The Campaign Memory Tool is for the question that arrives around session four: why does the AI keep losing the thread? Context windows fill. Models drift. Characters forget what happened ten scenes ago. The tool gives you a structured place to fight that: state logging, a compression prompt, a .arcanum file that saves to your device.
The strongest AI RPG platforms solve the memory problem from the inside, with state tracking built into the product itself. For homebrew campaigns running in any model, on any platform, these tools bring the same structural discipline without requiring you to change how you play. If you haven't read why AI campaigns fall apart at turn 50, that article is the technical foundation behind the memory tool.
