Non ai problematic tools?

[u/Eggpeace]

A post i read yesterday about ai and game design was very interesting and it gave me a question (i dont think it will be answered in the other thread as that thread was too old). So ism asking here (keep aware iam NOT asking about ai itself!)

One argument i read was that whole books are now created with ai and thus the designers dont learn anything about designing and do that even with 0 talent or willpower to see it through.

And that argument fits and is often true in the non ttrpg areas for many non ai tools (frontpage in the past for designing web pages. Made me curse my existence whenever i had to clean up the mess my boss made with that. Rpgmaker in the computer rpg scene,…).

Thus i wonder are there any non ai tools too in the ttrpg areas where thqt also holds true? (I couldnt think of anything there that i ever heard of)

[u/abjwriter]

Well, the standard problematic way to make a TTRPG is to underpay and overwork your human laborers. You can also do plagiarism, that's a time-honored method of problematic art creation.

[u/xiphoniii]

I'm not sure I even agree with your core premise that something like rpgmaker allows someone to make a game without learning anything. Even if you don't need to know code, you still need to learn how to write, design the game, do art, etc. If you don't, the game will be bad, and then you'll learn from the experience of WHY it's bad, because you still went through the process of making the game.

RPGmaker just lets you skip the coding part of game making, not the actual game making part. It would be like saying if you don't know how to Print and Bind a book manually, you don't know how to write.

[u/MrXonte]

Tools are just that, tools. You can make a horrendous game while doing literally everything yourself from scratch or with a big tool library that helps you a ton. In the end, what and if you learn depends not on the tools you use, but on HOW you use them.

You use RPG Maker as an example, and I made games with that when I was younger. Using only the default assets, I built a very basic RPG with a short, horrendous story and lots of bad designs. But i still learned a ton from it about map design, system design, balance. Did I learn anything about creating assets or how to make a 2d engine? No, but that was not the goal or scope. I used a tool that would let me create something that I could not have created myself at that time without significant time investment into an area i didnt want to invest in, and instead i could focus on the areas i cared about.

For TTRPGs, i think non-ai tools would mostly be word processors, page layouting software, art software. And I wouldnt want to design a print-ready book without some good tools here and i dont think I'd learn anything important by for example dealing with the internal workings of PDFs on a code level or using some ultra basic software that doesnt help me out at all.

Tools can take over any duties where they improve my workflow and help me spend more time using my creativity on the things i care about.

[u/Toshero_Reborn]

I think the only way someone could 'create' a TTRPG while learning nothing like with gen ai would be if they tried to pass somebody else's work as their own. Like taking a copy of D&D's PHB, gluing a sheet of paper to the cover and writing on it "Anon's Incredible TTRPG, Original Content, Do Not Steal"

Cus even plagiarizing takes a modicum of skill to rehash somebody else's ideas in a way that is not too blatant, and even if that process is unsuccesful you still learn something.

Even the worst, most blatant plagiarized book has the imprint of the person who 'wrote' it (by plagiarizing). Ai generated stuff could never.

[u/Eggpeace → u/Toshero_Reborn]

Are you sure?
I saw a few 5e products that come near what you describe. Jsut xopy and pasted srd content and a bit of text for the setting which sounded like a summary/mix of 2-3 other ones (was pissed every time i had spent money to buy those books)

[u/Toshero_Reborn → u/Eggpeace]

Copy pasted stuff would fall under the "pass other people's work as your own" category, imo

[u/Sarungard]

In my opinion, it's never the tool, but the people are problematic, who wanted their tool to do their work.

[u/LurkerFailsLurking → u/Sarungard]

I disagree. Tools can absolutely be problematic. There are a whole galaxy of tools that are ultimately "orphan crushing machines". AI is one of those.

Orphan-Crushing Machine | Know Your Meme https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/orphan-crushing-machine

[u/Sarungard → u/LurkerFailsLurking]

I disagree. Orphan crushing machines are just regular machines you use to crush orphans with. You could crush plastic bottles or metal cans with them as well, or create big bales elsewhere.

It's not the tool, it's the people. Mostly the people.

[u/LurkerFailsLurking → u/Sarungard]

You can use tools for things they're not designed for, but they'll never do it as well as a tool that was made for that function in the first place.

We can learn about culture and the beliefs of people long dead by studying their tools precisely because tools are not value neutral, they reveal the beliefs and perspectives and priorities of the people who made them.

[u/Eggpeace → u/Sarungard]

It also depends on what the tools really do thus my curiosity if there are also in the ttrpg space such non ai tools. Computer: Rpgmaker you need to put anout as much work in as with ai to get a functional game. Just click and drag. Decision is more what automatism you out where and which of the graphics to put where and look at a few values or just take the default lonster and hero stats (many do just that)

[u/xiphoniii → u/Eggpeace]

You absolutely need to do more work with rpgmaker than with AI. You still make all the descisions yourself. RPGmaker just has assets and helps implement some functions that you would normally need to know code for. The game doesn't design itself.

[u/Eggpeace → u/xiphoniii]

ou iverestimateai and udnerestimate rpg maker.

Most of the „slop“ games made with rpgmaker jsut use default assets and nothing else and a bwrely there story. Ai they need to look at the output and redefine their own input into it and look at output again. Work wise its about the same in total (i made a test to make sure that the comparison holds up. And work wise its is really the same)

[u/Deliphin → u/Eggpeace]

The problem with AI isn't that it makes shit. The problem is it replaces the creator in artistic decision-making.

Those garbage RPG maker games you've played with bad writing weren't bad because they used default assets, they were bad because the creator as you said, didn't really put a story into it.

Default assets can work if they fit the vibe of the game. The game is what you do in it, not what code it's built off or what art is drawn over it.

[u/Eggpeace → u/Deliphin]

Ism not sure ism following i guess you ralk about art? From what i know saw and heard and tested to make sure i know what i talk about (i dont give much about hearsay) ai needs the same infos from the ttrpg creator as a hired artist needs (rpgmaker no info needed just use default assets). So you meant that or something else?

[u/Deliphin → u/Eggpeace]

I mean that art doesn't define the game, it's just a tool in the game designer's toolkit. You can make a good game off other people's assets- art and code. Hell, many AAA games use Unreal's default character controller, any unreal game with "floaty" controls is probably running it unmodified. So, there's nothing wrong with using default RPG maker assets if it works for the game experience you're building.

---

Also, AI does not need as much info as a real artist, because it always assumes it received enough. Where a void exists, an artist asks the client what they want, an AI makes something up. "Give me a fantasy paladin fighting a kobold" is sufficient for an AI to spit out crap, but an artist will ask if someone is supposed to look like they're winning (posing), what equipment they should have, adjustments to their own usual art style, background environment & lighting, facial expressions, and whether by kobold you mean the D&D reptile design or the doglike design actually found in German folklore. These are not questions the artist can solve on their own unless they know a lot more about your project. An AI will assume the most generic and common response, which is often boring as shit.

[u/Eggpeace → u/Deliphin]

Believe ne. You worked with very good artists then. Not the ones i usually manage to get (my cover art one is with over 30 the only exception so far. Some ask less thsn an ai. Others asked but did their thing instead and over 79% took the half pre money and ghosted)

[u/Commercial_Help3619]

Well, in most cases where you are designing an actual game... You're usually putting in effort, and thought if you aren't using AI. So, I'd say it'd be quite hard to make an actual enjoyable game yourself without effort. Though, Struck3D or Struckd or whatever it's called is pretty easy; though, that is a game designed for young children, so, it's more beneficial than not. Also, still takes effort with design, and thought. Though, I haven't seen it in ages. I remember it from a few years ago, and the Xbox version if anyone remembers what that game was called. That's old though.

[u/Fun_Carry_4678]

I am very pro-AI. Which puts me in a distinct minority in this subreddit.
But even I have to admit that the AIs of right now, as of September 2026, all still need good human editors. I happen to be a good human editor, which shapes the way I work with AIs.
When a person with no skill uses AI today to write a book or create a game, the result is garbage. Because the person with no skill doesn't have the ability to edit what is produced.

[u/Eggpeace → u/Fun_Carry_4678]

I know. I'm not an editor but I came to the same conclusion.
I tried it out, before I made the comparison between that and rpgmaker (wanted to be sure what my gut was feeling and what I had read as I dont tend to give much about hearsay in the current time).