AI features overview

Goal: Understand AI generation, the Session Companion, and tone presets Requirements: An AI subscription (Companion or Power; beta testers have Power-level access)

What AI can do for your prep

Campaign Familiar’s AI helps you draft material faster - not to replace your creativity, but to give you raw material you can shape and refine. Use it to:

• Generate descriptions when you’re staring at a blank field
• Brainstorm ideas when you’re stuck
• Create NPCs, encounters, and locations when prep time is short
• Roleplay NPC dialogue when you need to know what a character would say

Step 1: check your subscription

AI features need an active AI subscription:

Beta testers have Power-level AI access. Each generation uses one of your monthly generations.

Step 2: generate content for a creation field

Here’s how to use AI to fill in a Creation’s details:

1. Open any Creation (an NPC, location, whatever)
2. Find the AI Generation panel (inside the AI Generation panel)
3. Pick a Generation Type from the dropdown - for an NPC, that’s NPC Details, Dialogue, or Connection
4. Optionally type a prompt: “gruff but secretly kind” or “paranoid about strangers”
5. Adjust the Creativity slider (0-100%, Conservative ↔ Creative)
6. Optionally choose a tone preset (Dark Fantasy, Heroic, Mysterious, etc.)
7. Click Generate
8. Review the suggestion cards:
   • Click Accept to apply one to the Creation
   • Click Dismiss to drop it (Save for Later or Delete)
   • Once you have a result, Regenerate with a Fresh or Variation mode

Each generation uses one of your monthly generations.

Example

Generation Type: NPC Details Prompt: “charming con artist who genuinely believes his own lies” Tone: Mysterious Output:

Aldric speaks with the easy confidence of someone who has never been caught - because in his mind, he hasn’t. Every tale he tells becomes true the moment he believes it, and he believes everything he says. He’ll swear on his mother’s grave about events that never happened, and shed real tears doing it. The unsettling part isn’t that he’s lying. It’s that he isn’t.

Step 3: use the Session Companion chat

The Session Companion is your AI chat for brainstorming and in-session help.

Open it:

• Click the Session Companion button (the Zap icon), or
• Press Ctrl+Shift+C (Windows/Linux) or Cmd+Shift+C (Mac)

Ask it anything (type your message and press Ctrl/Cmd + Enter to send):

• “What would Captain Vance say if accused of taking bribes?”
• “Give me three Campaign Markers involving the Thieves Guild”
• “Describe a tense standoff between the party and a cornered assassin”

Add context for better answers: You don’t hunt for an “attach” button - context is mostly automatic. As you type, the Companion watches for Creations you mention and, after a short pause, pops up a suggestion modal listing the relevant ones (NPCs, locations, sessions) with a relevance score. Pick the ones you want and they appear as context chips above the input. To add context the engine didn’t suggest, click the Add context chip. With the right Creations in context, “what would she say?” becomes far more useful - the engine knows who “she” is.

Save useful content: When the engine generates something you want to keep, click Save to Campaign. You can save it as a new Creation, add it to an existing Creation’s notes, or add it to session notes.

Each message you send uses one of your monthly generations.

Step 4: understand tone presets

Tone presets shape the style of AI output. Pick one that matches what you’re creating:

Match tone to your campaign - if you’re running gothic horror, Dark Fantasy or Gritty will serve you better than Heroic.

Match tone to the Creation - even in a heroic campaign, your villain might use Dark Fantasy while the mentor NPC uses Heroic.

Step 5: monitor your generations

Check how many AI generations you have left:

1. Look at the generations indicator in the app
2. The indicator is color-coded:
   • Green (0-74% used) - Normal usage
   • Yellow (75-89% used) - Approaching limit
   • Red (90-99% used) - Nearly exhausted
   • Blocked (100% used) - Wait for reset

Your generations reset at the start of each billing cycle - Companion gives you 100 per month, Power 300.

Tips for efficient AI usage

Generate descriptions first Use AI for the creative parts - personality, atmosphere, lore. Fill in mechanical details yourself.

Edit rather than regenerate A “good enough” result that you tweak is better than burning generations chasing perfection.

Use context Add the relevant Creations to the Session Companion (let it auto-suggest them, or use the Add context chip) so results reference your existing world, not generic fantasy.

Batch your generation Do your AI-heavy work in dedicated prep sessions rather than generating one field at a time.

Next steps

• Quick Prep - Generate complete scenes when time is short
• AI best practices - Write better prompts, get better results
• Session Companion - Full chat companion guide