How to play D&D online with friends (with an AI Dungeon Master)
You can play D&D online with friends and let an AI run the game as Dungeon Master — so nobody at the table has to. One person hosts on the AI subscription they already pay for; everyone else joins from a link in their browser, free, and plays their own character. The AI narrates for the whole party while an engine keeps every die, hit point, and turn honest.
How does an AI DM work for a group?
One player is the host: they connect the game to their AI (Claude, ChatGPT, or Gemini) and own the campaign. Everyone else is a co-player who opens a join link, signs in, and gets a live view of the story, map, and party plus their own character to control. The host's AI is the only gamemaster, so the rules and the world stay consistent for everyone.
Who needs to pay?
Only the host — and only for the AI subscription they likely already have. With lorewend the host adds one connector; co-players join free, with no subscription, no install, and no setup, just a link in the browser. The multiplayer guide walks through hosting a game and inviting players step by step.
How does a shared turn work?
Each player decides what their own character does and submits it; the host's AI resolves the party's actions together and narrates the scene, and the engine rolls the dice and updates the shared state. In combat the engine tracks initiative per character, so a four-person party fights in proper order — nobody's turn is forgotten, and no number is fudged to keep the story moving.
Why this beats scheduling a table
The hardest part of game night has always been getting everyone in one room at the same time. Playing online with an AI DM removes both halves of that problem: no room to find, and no friend who has to volunteer to prep and run the game. You keep the part that matters — your friends, your characters, one shared story — on whatever evening actually works.
What can a group play?
Classic fantasy is the default, but the same engine runs five worlds — sword-and-sorcery, cyberpunk, gothic horror, and space opera too. Pick one together and the AI runs it for all of you. See a live example before you start.
Frequently asked
- Do all my friends need to pay for a subscription to play together?
- No — only the host needs an AI subscription, the one they already use. Co-players join free from a link in their browser, with no subscription, install, or setup.
- How many people can play in one AI-run game?
- A normal adventuring party — each co-player creates and controls their own character, and the engine tracks every character's turn and initiative in combat. The host runs the world for everyone through their AI.
- Can my friends join from their phones?
- Yes. Co-players get a browser view of the story, map, and party and submit their own actions, so it works on a phone as a second screen while the host runs the game.