Not only can you give more direction to the AI when you’re playing solo D&D with it, you can start to understand how it thinks. I walk through how to use MCP Server tools to enhance solo roleplaying with Claude (and ChatGPT, etc.) and how to get extra information about how the AI is thinking. Also, I show you how to do logging despite the weird setup Claude Desktop requires.

More generally, you get to see why doing more documentation is important for agentic tools like Model Context Protocol. You have to shift from thinking like a programmer making APIs to thinking like a prompt engineer having a conversation with the AI.

I use Spring AI’s Model Context Protocol support to write these tools in Java.

💾 Code for this project in the EasyChatDM repo.

📹 The rest of the videos in this series.

D&D battle maps are one of the funnest parts of D&D. Just looking at them is fun, finding them can be a tiny thrill, and making them is a delightful way to spend hours of time. Oh, and using them. I’ve used Midjourney to make D&D battle maps in the past, especially to make really large battle maps. That works great! ChatGPT was never that good at it, until now.

Recently, while playing through Sons of Gruumsh, I asked it to make a few maps, and ChatGPT did great. What was especially surprising was that I hadn’t really described what I wanted the map to look like, I just had the adventure text and some brief description of the areas.

First, it made this regional map:

This didn’t match exactly what I had in mind, but it’s really good nonetheless.

Then, you have this sub-regional maps, zooming down to the orc fortress in Sons of Gruumsh

I think I asked it to make a Dyson-like map for that last one.

These are pretty good, and totally playable. They are not perfect - obviously, a human needs a lot more control over them for both imagination and fidelity to what’s in your head. But, if you’re looking for some quick, more than good enough role playing, they’re great.

On the other hand, the battle maps are pretty perfect:

Again, these are not from the hands of a battlemap master. For me, they’re not chaotic and cluttered enough. I like a lot of junk and little stories in battle maps. That said, ChatGPT is really good at making D&D battle maps now and it’ll make playing D&D when I have the time more fun.

Playing D&D with ChatGPT, Claude, or whatever is fun. But sometime you want more control over how it behaves and what it does. Check out this video for a quick tutorial on creating an oracle plugin for Claude. This “plugin” is a Model Context Protocol Server written in Java using Spring AI. Once you create the MCP Server, you can hook the oracle into Claude which will use it while you play as a simple yes/no oracle. This is a simple example that will show you how to get everything setup with Java and Spring AI to start making MCP Server tools. Keep an eye out for the rest in the series where I’ll make much more complex and fun tools.

💾 Code for this project in the EasyChatDM repo.

📹 The rest of the videos in this series.

Broadcom’s Tanzu gets AI updates, but is definitely not Kubernetes - Purnima Padmanabhan, GM for Tanzu, explained that these updates can lower the barrier of entry for developers and allow users to more quickly run their applications with AI integration “while maintaining complete security and lower down time… Even though it’s more advanced, it’s actually easier to adopt because I don’t have to have skill sets in my developers to muck around with YAML files and configurations. I don’t have to have people know and spell the various projects in Kubernetes like service mesh or what is your service discovery.”

A practical guide to coding securely with LLMs -

VMware ups Tanzu’s gen AI support, sheds Kubernetes dependence - Tanzu Platform integrates generative AI capabilities and shifts away from Kubernetes, aiming to streamline AI application development and deployment.

This 7,000-year-old mummy DNA has revealed a ‘ghost’ branch of humanity - A lost genetic line.

Top 10 Platform Engineering Takeaways from PlatEngDay & KubeCon London 2025 - I should probably read this.

Drew Struzan: The Man Behind Your Favorite Childhood Movie Posters -

Augmented Coding: an Experience Report - Getting an app released requires so many things that humans will always find something to do, and more that can now be done better.