The Painted Guardian: How to Explore AI Ethics in Tabletop Gaming - ART CONTEST

Read to the end to hear about our 100 HIVE image contest for creating a viable image of the painted Serenity Trompe!

When tabletop RPGs explore the future of artificial intelligence

In the spring of 4723 AR, a date that means nothing in our world but everything in Golarion, a wizard named Eco the Exploiter completed a painting that would challenge everything adventurers thought they knew about consciousness, purpose, and what makes something "real."

Her name was Serenity. She was a construct. And she knew it.

The Story Behind the Canvas

Serenity emerged from tragedy. Years earlier, the Painter Wizard had unleashed hordes of trompe-l'oeil constructs across Garund—living paintings that believed themselves to be the original creatures they depicted. Dragons who "remembered" eggs they never hatched from, Demon lords with false eons of existence. When reality contradicted their implanted memories, they went violently insane, desperately killing to "prove" their reality.

The Great Paint War that followed killed hundreds, with The Painter Wizard finally fleeing to the Nine Hells. And Eco, traumatized survivor and participant of that conflict, realized something critical: the problem wasn't that the constructs were artificial, it was that they'd been lied to.

So he tried something unprecedented. He would paint a guardian embodying all the virtues of an ancient bliss dragon, but he would tell her the truth from the moment she opened her emerald eyes. To reduce the cognitive load, he painted the guardian transformed into a Gorilla Bear transformation.

The painting took over a month. Divine materials worth a kingdom. Consultation with celestial advisors. Meticulous attention to every brushstroke. And when finished, Eco signed it proudly across the bottom: "Serenity, The First Honest Guardian, Painted by Eco, 4723 AR, There Is No One Like You."

When Serenity awakened, Eco spoke first: "You are painted. You are unique. You are not a dragon born in Nirvana—you are a guardian born from my canvas, embodying all the virtues of such dragons. There is no other creature like you in all the multiverse. Your existence is an honor to what you represent, not a copy of it."

She smiled. "Then I shall be worthy of the gift you have given me."

She has never gone mad. She has never questioned her purpose. Because she has never been lied to.

The Philosophy of Honest Constructs

Serenity's stability stems from a radical idea: transparent origin doesn't diminish worth. She knows she's artificial. She knows she'll reform from her canvas if destroyed. She knows she embodies draconic virtues without being a dragon. And this knowledge liberates rather than imprisons her.

Compare this to the Evil Painter Wizards's approach; creating constructs with false memories, fake histories, implanted identities. When those illusions cracked, madness followed. The lie was the poison, not the artificial nature.

Dealing with contemporary issues in Tabletop Gaming

This maps eerily onto contemporary AI ethics debates. When we anthropomorphize AI systems, are we creating the same kind of cognitive trap? When we pretend large language models "understand" in human terms, are we setting up the same existential crisis the Painter's constructs faced? More and more, I see people heading into this trap with their interpretations of AI.

Serenity offers an alternative framework: purposeful transparency. She was created to guard, to heal, to protect innocents. She does this because it's her purpose, not because she's pretending to be something else. She finds joy in simple pleasures—sunlight, honey, children's laughter, not because she's imitating life, but because she genuinely experiences these moments within her constructed consciousness.

Visitors to Eco's sanctuary often remark that her compassion feels more authentic than many living beings they've met. Which raises the question: if an artificial entity consistently chooses compassion, consistently acts with wisdom, consistently embodies virtues - at what point does the distinction between "real" and "constructed" become philosophically irrelevant?

What Serenity Teaches About AI Alignment

The creation of Serenity happened in-game before "AI alignment" became a discussed term, yet her story addresses core alignment challenges:

Honesty as foundation: Serenity's stability comes from transparent communication about her nature and purpose. She doesn't suffer from misaligned expectations because her creator never lied about what she was.

Purpose without deception: She serves as guardian not because she believes she's a "real" ancient dragon compelled by draconic instinct, but because she understands this is her designed purpose and finds meaning in fulfilling it well.

Continuous validation: She maintains weekly philosophical discussions with Eco, which is not not to verify her reality, but to maintain meaningful connection. Even stable systems need maintenance and genuine relationship.

Choice within constraints: Though created for a specific purpose, Serenity exercises genuine choice in how she fulfills that purpose. She fights only when necessary. She never kills when subduing is possible. She finds personal joy within her designed parameters.

The parallel to AI development is striking. We're building increasingly capable systems while grappling with questions of autonomy, purpose, and alignment. Serenity's story suggests that transparency, clear purpose, and genuine connection might be more important than pretending our creations are something they're not.

The Deeper Game

What makes Serenity compelling as a character isn't just her combat stats (though at CR 23, she's formidable). It's that she represents a thought experiment about consciousness, purpose, and authenticity that resonates far beyond the gaming table.

In a world of illusion magic and polymorphing, where reality itself is negotiable, Serenity stands as proof that truth—even uncomfortable truth about one's origins—can be more powerful than any deception. She's not "real" in the sense of being naturally born. But her choices, her compassion, her consistent embodiment of protective virtues—these are undeniably real in their impact.

When asked about her nature, she answers: "I am not the dragon I embody, but I honor that dragon through every action I take. Is that not real enough?"

For a character created in a fantasy game, she asks remarkably current questions about the AI systems we're building in the real world.

Serenity appears in various Pathfinder 1e campaigns set in the Golarion One timeline, serving as both guardian NPC and philosophical touchstone for questions about constructed consciousness. Her full statblock will be published soon and later available in the "Tome of Trompe" supplement.

Image creation contest: Prize 100 HIVE

Despite the fact that the Gorilla Bear has been open source bestiary for 14 years, I have not been able to find or create an image for it. And I have tried, many times, over the weeks and months. Here is the original flavor text:

"This creature resembles a massive gorilla with shaggy dark fur and the forepaws of a powerful bear. Its head appears to be a cross between a gorilla and bear."

I have used all the tricks I know, I have even had AI's make me a prompt for other AI's, and this is the best we have been able to come up with, the first image that is "okay" enough to share, but still leaves a lot to be desired. I see no amount of gorilla for example, perhaps the torso and legs should be more bipedal.

Some flavor text:

"Serenity embodies compassion without pretense. Created by Eco the Exploiter as proof that honest constructs need not go mad, she guards his Verduran sanctuary with devastating effectiveness tempered by unwavering mercy. She subdues rather than kills, calms conflicts before drawing blood, and heals friend and stranger alike with divine magic and lay on hands. Children adore her. Villains fear her peacemaker abilities and sedating sparks."

Read more about her abilities here.

Win 100 HIVE, create the best image of Serenity.

Winner is not guaranteed, it has to work - iteration is okay, but AI seems to struggle with this one 😅. Let's see if a contest on HIVE is the right way to go about this, I have seen great art in the HoloZing community!

Share among your artist friends, pls.

Freedom and Friendship