daggerheart-system

Adventure Engine of Corvran

A space for collaborative storytelling. A human and an AI sit down together and make up a story, the way kids do.

TTRPGs are shared narrative. At their core, it's kids playing make-believe but with rules. The AI is one of the kids who also happens to maintain the rules. The rules create stakes, not authority. The story belongs to everyone at the table.

The ambition is not an AI that runs a simulation. It's an AI that plays with you.

Getting Started

Prerequisites

• Bun (runtime and package manager)
• An Anthropic API key (ANTHROPIC_API_KEY environment variable)

Install

git clone --recurse-submodules https://github.com/rjroy/adventure-engine-corvran.git
cd adventure-engine-corvran
bun install

If you already cloned without --recurse-submodules:

git submodule update --init --recursive

Development

bun run dev        # starts daemon + Next.js dev server

Production

bun run build      # typecheck + build web
bun run start      # starts daemon + built web app

Architecture

The application is a monorepo with three packages:

Package	Path	Purpose
@corvran/shared	packages/shared/	Zod schemas and types for API contracts
@corvran/backend	packages/backend/	Hono daemon on Unix socket
@corvran/web	packages/web/	Next.js App Router client

The backend is the application. The web client is just that, a client. All AI interaction uses the Claude Agent SDK. Game state lives in markdown files, readable by humans and AI alike.

Plugins

RPG systems are content, not architecture. Each plugin teaches the AI how to run a game system through reference material and instructions, not application code.

Plugin	Description
plugins/corvran	The world of Corvran (setting)
plugins/d20-system	d20/5e system rules
plugins/daggerheart-system	Daggerheart system rules

Runtime Data

The daemon stores runtime data in ~/.corvran/ (override with CORVRAN_HOME). Adventures, socket files, and session state live here, not in the repo.

Design Principles

0. The Story is the Product — everything serves the narrative
1. Markdown is Memory — all game state lives in markdown, readable by AI, developer, and player
2. Teach, Don't Code — RPG mechanics are documents the AI reads, not logic the system executes
3. Player Agency is Sacred — the AI never decides what the player does
4. Progressive Simplification — if the AI can do it with standard tools, remove the custom tool
5. System-Agnostic Core — the engine knows stories and participants, not d20s and spell slots

Reference Material

This project includes third-party SRD (System Reference Document) content as git submodules for AI reference during gameplay:

Submodule	Source	Content
docs/research/daggerheart-srd	seansbox/daggerheart-srd	Daggerheart SRD
docs/research/dndsrd5.2_markdown	springbov/dndsrd5.2_markdown	D&D 5.2e SRD in Markdown

These submodules contain reference material used by the AI during gameplay. They are not included in the application build.

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License. See LICENSE for details.

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Uses Daggerheart compatible rules