GM Companion
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Setting up an AI model

AI is optional in GM Companion. Everything at the table works without it, listening included. Connect a model when you want the extras, and choose who runs it: a cloud service with your own key, or a free model on your own computer.

What AI adds

  • Improvise: lines in an NPC's voice, read-aloud descriptions and rumors.
  • Generate: a whole profile from one sentence. See Your campaign.
  • Import: NPCs and places from your PDFs and notes. See Importing.
  • Recaps and “Previously on”. See Sessions.
  • Write with AI for roll tables, and reading character sheets that aren't D&D Beyond or official ones.
  • Settling ties: when two NPCs could both be “the captain”, the AI picks from what was said just before.

Choose a model

Claude or OpenAI (cloud)

The best results, and fast on any computer. You need an API key from console.anthropic.com (Claude) or platform.openai.com (OpenAI). Use is billed by that company to your account with them, separately from GM Companion. A Claude.ai or ChatGPT subscription doesn't include API use.

Ollama or LM Studio (on your computer)

Free, and nothing leaves your computer. You install the program and download a model once. It needs a reasonably powerful computer, ideally with a graphics card, and smaller models give simpler answers and read long documents more slowly.

Any other OpenAI-compatible server

For llama.cpp, vLLM, OpenRouter and similar: give the server's address and, if it needs one, a key.

Connect it

  1. Open Options, then AI model
    The small dot on Options means no model is set up yet.
  2. Choose the provider
    For Claude or OpenAI, paste your API key. For Ollama, install it from ollama.com and download a model first (for example, ollama pull llama3.1 in a terminal). For LM Studio, load a model and start its local server.
  3. Pick the model
    After a test, the box lists the models the server has.
  4. Click Test connection
    It checks that the model answers properly.
  5. Click Save AI settings
    That's it: the AI features are now available.

What's sent to the AI

Only what each feature needs, straight from your computer to the provider you chose. It never goes through us.

  • Generate, import, roll tables and ties: your request or document, plus the names and one-line summaries of related entries. Not secrets, notes or details.
  • Improvise: the open entry's full profile (secret and session notes included) and its connections' names and summaries, plus the last few lines heard. That's what keeps the character consistent.
  • Recaps: the session's transcript and your entries' names, nicknames and summaries. Audio is never sent.