Shattered Fables logo with elemental compass featuring sun, moon, lightning, and nature motifs on a cracked stone circle

🧙‍♂️How I Use AI to Build My Fantasy IP: The Shattered Fables™ Project

A Transparency Statement by Rogue Wizard LLC

Quick Summary (for new visitors):

  • How AI helps me create my fantasy world
  • My ethical commitments and creative background
  • Plans to collaborate with artists and writers
  • My personal story and what Shattered Fables™ means to me

Overview & Intent The Shattered Fables™ project is a long-term multimedia fantasy IP that I, as an independent creator, have developed over many years. This includes a full-featured TCG/roleplaying hybrid system, expansive narrative worldbuilding, and a branching graphic novel. AI tools have become essential to accelerating that creative process, especially while operating solo or with limited resources. This document explains how I use AI tools, where human collaboration fits in, and how I strive to ensure ethical use throughout the project.

How I Use AI Tools

1. Visual Design & Image Generation
I use AI-assisted image tools through ChatGPT Plus (GPT-4o), Adobe Creative Cloud, and previously Playground AI. These tools help me:

  • Generate concept art, visual assets, and fantasy scenes to bring my ideas to life.
  • Transform digital Photoshop designs or hand-drawn outlines (often created by myself or my partner, an aspiring tattoo artist) into more polished, stylized assets.
  • Explore design direction and expand visual identity without relying on large budgets.

Note: Sometimes I work from hand-drawn outlines, sometimes from Photoshop sketches, and sometimes directly from written prompts. I do not use AI to copy or impersonate other artists’ work. Each image reflects my creative intent and design structure.

Want to see early-stage examples? A curated preview of in-development card designs, spell/potion mockups, and modular rule sets will be shared soon at:
👉 [Drafts & Game Gallery – Coming Soon]

2. Game Design & Documentation
GPT-4o is a vital collaborator in:

  • Structuring and revising rulesets for my TCG and campaign systems.
  • Assisting in formatting immersive Codex entries.
  • Refining ability comparisons and stat balance systems.

I set all core parameters, mechanics, and intent. AI helps me iterate faster, but the vision and strategy remain mine.

3. Narrative & Lore Development
I use AI to:

  • Expand multiverse branches, character arcs, and lore threads.
  • Maintain consistency across hundreds of entries and plot nodes.
  • Organize longform writing drafts into readable narrative formats.

Note on Writing: With ADHD and mental health challenges, I often over-explain or repeat ideas. I use AI to help me polish, clarify, and clean up dense drafts. I create the structure, character tone, and narrative choices—but AI helps manage format and readability.

4. Prototyping, Marketing & Community Tools
AI assists with:

  • Website copy, promotional blurbs, and lore-focused blog posts.
  • Drafting simplified rulebooks for playtesting.
  • Building the structure for Discord and Patreon engagement tools.

Ethical Commitments & Personal Transparency

  • I am a solo creator with limited income, ongoing mental health struggles, and recent housing instability. I started using AI tools because they allowed me to produce more refined examples of my ideas without needing immediate funding.
  • In 2023, I made some beginner missteps trying to use AI-generated designs for early product mockups or fundraising. While not malicious, I understand how this might be viewed negatively by artists or design professionals.
  • These experiences led me to pursue professional graphic design training (Adobe Certifications, funded by Vocational Rehab), and restructure my creative practices for ethical growth.
  • I no longer see AI as a shortcut, but as a tool for accessibility and creative empowerment while I work toward human collaboration.
  • AI tools do not mean I am avoiding the work—they help me manage it. In April 2025 alone, I logged an estimated 260–280 hours of development time across 30+ documents, including game mechanics, story drafts, Codex entries, and collaborative planning tools. This work was logged and documented, for development use.

Lifelong Passion and Origins This project is the result of a lifelong dream. I began designing card games as a pre-teen. My earliest memories include games of Go Fish and Crazy 8s with my grandfather, which evolved into cribbage, rummy, and eventually poker. When I discovered Magic: The Gathering at a local comic shop, it changed everything—I knew from that moment that I wanted to create my own fantasy card game and universe.

I’ve spent over 25 years involved in the tabletop and video game industry. I’ve worked in game stores, managed trading card and RPG inventory, and helped organize and host tournaments and special events. I have always played fantasy RPGs and trading card games at a competitive level. I consistently place well in Magic tournaments when I compete locally, but due to family life, nerves, and mental health, I chose not to pursue professional competitive circuits. Instead, I shifted focus to event organizing and sales, which deepened my love for gaming communities.

My gaming background is extensive—from EverQuest and early DOTA custom maps, to League of Legends and Hearthstone (where I was an early beta tester). Dragon Age and Fallout remain my favorite modern series, while nostalgic gems like Zelda: A Link to the Past and Castlevania: Symphony of the Night shaped my creative taste. These experiences continue to influence my storytelling, mechanics, and world design.

Shattered Fables™ is that dream, made tangible. And though I still face personal and financial struggles, this project gives me direction, stability, and hope. It has helped me build structure during mental health challenges, and AI tools have helped me translate those ideas into polished, visible forms I can now share.

Commitment to Collaboration

  • I am actively building systems to credit, compensate, and collaborate with artists.
  • My Community Art Forge allows contributors to opt-in at various levels (including paid, royalty-based, or donated).
  • I intend to fundraise to hire local and emerging artists for final versions of my cards, Codex pages, and graphic novel art.
  • I also plan to extend this collaborative model to writers as the branching narrative grows beyond what I can manage alone.

Planned Transparency Features

  • A full AI disclosure page will be live on my official website.
  • Public documentation will show which works were AI-assisted, community-submitted, or professionally created.
  • Ongoing outreach to creative communities is part of my vision for open-world storytelling.

Closing Message AI helps me build the foundation of something much bigger than myself. But at its heart, Shattered Fables™ is about human stories, relationships, decisions, and community. I use these tools to share a world I believe in—not to cut corners or exclude the incredible talent of others.

If you’re an artist, writer, gamer, or creative who shares this vision, I invite you to reach out. Let’s create something magical together.

Contact: tr3ccdesigns@gmail.com
Rogue Wizard LLC – Creator of Shattered Fables™