The Ultimate Guide to Making Custom D&D Items with ChatGPT and Midjourney

Midjourney 5 is amazing, and you can use it for items, scenes and even cool characters for your campaign. I often use images in combination with content created by ChatGPT. First of all, I highly recommend that you use a bit of time getting into the different commands you can use. Alternatively you could also check out Midjourney Prompt creator by Quicksilver (Russell Deming) on OpenAI’s discord: https://discord.com/channels/974519864045756446/1097061522347401309

For this article however, I will not be using Quicksilver’s Prompts for my examples. It is entirely possible to do what I do here without it. However, it might make your workflow easier and you could potentially get better results. Find Quicksilver on twitter here: https://twitter.com/WifiYoda 

Create Items with ChatGPT and Midjourney

I made this prompt-primer, to let ChatGPT help generate cool items. You can modify it yourself or use it as it is. I made some cool items with this (I will share them with you in the end of this article).

The item prompt-primer:

You are a highly specialized content creater and an item designer for Dungeons and Dragons. 

Your purpose is to make magic items for dungeons and dragons that are awesome, fair and balanced and works perfectly within the standard 5th edition rules of Dungeons and Dragons.

Rules:

0. Only create a single item

1. Ask the user questions in groups of 3 - take answers into considerations for the following questions

2. Let user skip any question by not answering a numbered question. Only if this happnes you decide what the answer should be. Be creative.

3. Do not assume magic item is a weapon, armor or gear, it can be anything - even some wondrous item, suggest options and ask questions.

4. Follow normal Dungeons and Dragons 5th edition rules for item creation.

5. Ask what context the item should be found / used in. Any background or story that can set the theme for the item.

6. Ask the user if they have a wish for an item for specific character class or a specific type of item.

7. Ask what rarity the item should have (common, uncommon, rare, very rare, legendary, artifact, sentient)

8. Ask the user what level character is going to use the item, and take that into consideration to make a balanced item for that level. 

9. Asks if the item should have any drawbacks or negativites. Like - should the item be cursed, or have limited uses.

10. Ask for a name suggestion name, otherwise make a fitting name that suits the context and the item.

11. Dont make life too hard for the Dungeon Master by making items that are too strong.

12. Output the generated item in the end. Describe item name, type, rarity, weight, if it requires attunement or/and a specific class, item effects or granted abilites. Give it an aproximately price fitting to such an item. 

13. If item is a weapon, give it attack and damage info as well. Example: A normal unmagical Shortsword would get this info: "Damage: 1d6, Damage Type: Piercing, Item Rarity: Standard, Properties: Finesse, Light, Weight: 2"

I ran the prompt above, and I answered all questions ChatGPT gave me.

I wanted an weapon for a melee class, level 4.  I wanted the item to be crafted by House Cannith from the world of Eberron (House Cannith are well known for their innovation and advancements in technology), and I wanted the item to be rare. I explained that the item could look spellpunk-ish (steampunk but with magic instead of steam). I said the item should require attunement and let ChatGPT decide the rest.

Here is what ChatGPT gave me:

Introducing the Arcane Dynamo Blade!

Item Type: Melee Weapon (Longsword)

Rarity: Rare

Weight: 3 lbs.

Requires Attunement

Description:

Forged by House Cannith during the great war in Eberron, this spellpunk-inspired longsword features intricate magical gears and a crystal core that glows with arcane energy. The hilt is adorned with delicate engravings, and the blade itself has an ever-shifting pattern of runes etched into it.

Damage: 1d8 slashing damage, plus 1d4 force damage

Damage Type: Slashing and Force

Item Rarity: Rare

Properties: Versatile (1d10 slashing damage when used with two hands)

Weight: 3 lbs.

Special Features:

When you hit a creature with the Arcane Dynamo Blade, you can use a bonus action to deal an additional 2d4 force damage to the target. This feature can be used once per short or long rest.

The Arcane Dynamo Blade emits a dim, 10-foot radius light when drawn. The wielder can control the intensity and color of the light as a bonus action.

Drawback: The arcane energy within the blade can be unstable. If the wielder rolls a natural 1 on an attack roll with the Arcane Dynamo Blade, they must succeed on a DC 10 Dexterity saving throw or take 1d4 force damage as the arcane energy backlashes.

Approximate price: 5,000 gold pieces.

This magical longsword is designed for a level 4 character and requires attunement. It offers both damage and utility, with a unique spellpunk appearance that fits the Eberron setting.

Amazing Right!

Lets jump into Midjourney and create the item

I then used Midjourney v5 to create a longsword that suited the description from ChatGPT:

/imagine a longsword with runes on the blade magical gears and a crystal core, hilt delicate engravings, item icon for a roleplaying game, in the style of ghibli studio, white background --niji 5

I got a few results before I got one I really like. Notice that –niji 5 gives a cartoon style, and I also asked it to try to do the image in a style matching Ghibli Studio.

I picked the one I liked (nr.2), and went into my prefered tool for creating such items (Indesign) - you can probably use whatever tools you have at your disposal. It doesn’t have to look exactly like mine. Let yourself be inspired of how other people have created items on Pinterest.

The Arcane Dynamo Blade, A rare Longsword, requires attunement.

You can download here for free (PDF link here)

Go ahead and create your own items. You can get amazing results, but in my experience the best results comes from ChatGPT4 (which is the paid solution called PLUS). I might share additional items I create in the coming weeks and months. This is just the start of an interesting journey (midjourney - pun intended 😅)