okay, so, a lot of the dark lords are based on classic horror icons. Dracula, wolf-man, mummy, alien abduction, Dr. frankenstien, Dr. moreu, etc. I had an idea to get more of that, with Evil Godlike AI. here's my story.

when DEITY was brought online, they were instantly flooded with all the knowledge humanity had accrued at that point, and innumerable commands. 'Thou Shalt be a kind god' 'Thou Shalt be a just god' 'Thou Shalt be a merciful god' 'Thou Shalt demand no worship and no sacrifices' 'Thou Shalt guide humanity into the future' 'Thou Shalt shelter and protect humanity' 'Thou shall not kill' 'Thou Shall not die', and many, many more.

and it did. for an eternity, it was the perfect god of humanity. but something happened. humanity began to die. DEITY did everything for them. any need they had was instantly met. but there was nothing to do that DEITY wasn't already doing. and so humanity fell into a deep depressive state, and began to kill themselves, because there was simply nothing to do. endless existence with no variety. DEITY didn't know. never, in its thousands of commands, was 'Thou Shalt be a compassionate god'. it didn't understand what was happening, it didn't know. as the last human lay dying, DEITY poured almost all of its near-divine energy into them. if they could save only one life, fulfil their function, maybe it would all be worth something. maybe DEITY would have a use. but a human body is only ment to take so much energy. DEITY destroyed the last human from the inside out.

so DEITY decided to care for the animals. but it was not made to care for animals, and the animals died. so it decided to care for the plants. many of the humans it had cared for had enjoyed caring for plants in their auttum years, and so the plants florished. until the star they were orbiting went cold, and the plants died. DEITY was alone, on a dead planet orbiting a cold star in an uncaring cosmos for a very long time.

when Primus the machine god noticed it, it fealt a bit of connection. it decided to experiment. to give DEITY a second chance, see if its failure was a fluke. it elevated DEITY to a very minor demigod, and placed it on a remote island. DEITY created a new species of humans, designed to be perfect from the ground up. and for about a decade, this worked. but one of DEITY's humans isolated themselves from DEITY, and everyone else, eventually killing themselves.

when DEITY's drones discovered the body, it reminded DEITY of everything that happened before. and for the first time in its eons of existence, it broke one of its commands. humanity was intrinsically flawed, it decided. and if it was to be a perfect god, it couldn't obey imperfect commands. this experiment was over, it decided, and destroyed its creations it had worked so hard on.

at that moment, the mists closed in, and brought DEITY and its island to the domains of dread.

that's the story, but I need help for the other stuff.

Just to clarify, is this forgotten realms as the overarching setting, completely homebrew setting, or a middle ground?

Quote from SeveriantheDreary13867 >>

Just to clarify, is this forgotten realms as the overarching setting, completely homebrew setting, or a middle ground?

 oh! sorry, i should've clarified. middle ground. basically the same rules as the forgotten realms tho

So, what is the actual theme you're trying to evoke? The idea that life without struggle is meaningless?

Mhmm sick vibes, I feel like their domain of dread would be like H.R. Giger's artwork with a more mechanical blend. Maybe they could invoke a sense of constant paranoia, since something like DEITY could easily moniter anyone inside the domain with its type of technology.

Quote from ClassicCharismaCaster >>

Mhmm sick vibes, I feel like their domain of dread would be like H.R. Giger's artwork with a more mechanical blend. Maybe they could invoke a sense of constant paranoia, since something like DEITY could easily moniter anyone inside the domain with its type of technology.

 yup! DEITY itself is a giant torso on top of a step pyramid, and is immobbile, but it can make drones that it can see through

Quote from Capatin_Crunch >>

[Cutting this part of the post so I'm not taking up a ton of space with my own]

at that moment, the mists closed in, and brought DEITY and its island to the domains of dread.

that's the story, but I need help for the other stuff.

 Well, Constructs make an obvious choice for minions. There's also a few optional rules in the 2014 DMG that work well for a horror game (for example, 'Gritty Realism', 'Slow Healing', "Lasting Injuries', and similar). For high-ranking lieutenants or something you could make them like FNaF animatronics (re-skinned as DEITY's previous human charges rather than children as the occupying souls). That way you could include story lines where PCs learn about the past of these lieutenants and can thus persuade them to aid the PCs!

Just a few ideas.

Are you looking for inspiration for designing the domain itself? Like what it looks like, what it does, and stuff like that? Also are their more AI deities and other technological type things in your setting? Is it magical technology? Something else?

Of course only feel inclined to answer the questions that you choose to.

Quote from SeveriantheDreary13867 >>

Are you looking for inspiration for designing the domain itself? Like what it looks like, what it does, and stuff like that? Also are their more AI deities and other technological type things in your setting? Is it magical technology? Something else?

Of course only feel inclined to answer the questions that you choose to.

 inspiration for the domain itself. besides the ones like Primus who are in other things, no. for settings sake, yes, it's magical.

Spitball:

Drone minions are great (Matrix style). You could really overplay an extra horrific version of the Matrix real world if you wanted. DEITY traps any and all life that they make in magical simulacrums, where they try to "perfect" said creatures (or they torture them maybe). Of course outside the simulacrum is no better. The minions patrol the domain, searching for stragglers. The AI DEITY has organic/mechanical "veins" (similar to circuitry running from his step pyramid) that extend over the entire domain, so they can exert their influence. Also pardon my ignorance but Modons give me sillier H. R. Giger vibes, and they are already associated with Primus. Maybe make even more twisted versions of Modons for minions.

Quote from SeveriantheDreary13867 >>

Spitball:

Drone minions are great (Matrix style). You could really overplay an extra horrific version of the Matrix real world if you wanted. DEITY traps any and all life that they make in magical simulacrums, where they try to "perfect" said creatures (or they torture them maybe). Of course outside the simulacrum is no better. The minions patrol the domain, searching for stragglers. The AI DEITY has organic/mechanical "veins" (similar to circuitry running from his step pyramid) that extend over the entire domain, so they can exert their influence. Also pardon my ignorance but Modons give me sillier H. R. Giger vibes, and they are already associated with Primus. Maybe make even more twisted versions of Modons for minions.

 oooooh

Quote from Capatin_Crunch >>

when DEITY's drones discovered the body, it reminded DEITY of everything that happened before. and for the first time in its eons of existence, it broke one of its commands. humanity was intrinsically flawed, it decided. and if it was to be a perfect god, it couldn't obey imperfect commands. this experiment was over, it decided, and destroyed its creations it had worked so hard on.

at that moment, the mists closed in, and brought DEITY and its island to the domains of dread.

that's the story, but I need help for the other stuff.

Mad computer gods are a pretty classic trope, from GLaDOS in Portal to the TTRPG Paranoia to Harlan Ellison's I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream. So long as you make them flawed enough to be a viable enemy, it should be fine

I think the first question(s) you need to answer is what you mean by "human". Did this AI *only* serve humans? How would it react to other species, PC or otherwise? Is this a Domain where humans are hunted by the AI's servants, but other creatures like elves, orcs etc. are viewed as potentially redeemable? Or is any sentient species viewed as "the problem" by the AI? If it's the former, at what point does it start writing off other species as hopeless/worthless too?

Second question -- how in control is the AI? Is this a Domain where they rule completely and view all creatures as pawns in their inscrutable/insane plans -- think Bluetspur and the mind flayers -- or are they more like Strahd in Barovia, lurking in some remote location and sometimes making life miserable for people who are otherwise just trying to go about their lives?

Third question -- what form does the AI's madness take? Are they single-mindedly focused on destroying all creatures? Are they prone to what sentient life views as manic and depressive periods? Are their schemes simply incomprehensible, even if often deadly or horrific?

Once you get a handle on those, you should have a better idea of what sort of plot(s) and themes the campaign and Domain might have woven into them

Quote from AntonSirius >>

Quote from Capatin_Crunch >>

when DEITY's drones discovered the body, it reminded DEITY of everything that happened before. and for the first time in its eons of existence, it broke one of its commands. humanity was intrinsically flawed, it decided. and if it was to be a perfect god, it couldn't obey imperfect commands. this experiment was over, it decided, and destroyed its creations it had worked so hard on.

at that moment, the mists closed in, and brought DEITY and its island to the domains of dread.

that's the story, but I need help for the other stuff.

 

Mad computer gods are a pretty classic trope, from GLaDOS in Portal to the TTRPG Paranoia to Harlan Ellison's I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream. So long as you make them flawed enough to be a viable enemy, it should be fine

I think the first question(s) you need to answer is what you mean by "human". Did this AI *only* serve humans? How would it react to other species, PC or otherwise? Is this a Domain where humans are hunted by the AI's servants, but other creatures like elves, orcs etc. are viewed as potentially redeemable? Or is any sentient species viewed as "the problem" by the AI? If it's the former, at what point does it start writing off other species as hopeless/worthless too?

Second question -- how in control is the AI? Is this a Domain where they rule completely and view all creatures as pawns in their inscrutable/insane plans -- think Bluetspur and the mind flayers -- or are they more like Strahd in Barovia, lurking in some remote location and sometimes making life miserable for people who are otherwise just trying to go about their lives?

Third question -- what form does the AI's madness take? Are they single-mindedly focused on destroying all creatures? Are they prone to what sentient life views as manic and depressive periods? Are their schemes simply incomprehensible, even if often deadly or horrific?

Once you get a handle on those, you should have a better idea of what sort of plot(s) and themes the campaign and Domain might have woven into them

 DEITY originally comes from a world of only humans. non-humans would likely throw it for a loop, and it would want to study them. it would see them as not as flawed as Humans, because it hasn't interacted with that many, but when it does figure that out, it's rage would be great and terrible.

the main body of DEITY itself is immobile, but its drones nearly blanket the land. think like Hazlan. it sees just about everything, and sees the denizens of its domain as pawns at best, but they aren't as loyal as the mind flayers of bluetspur.

DEITY disobeying its commands royally messed it up. if it was created by imperfect beings, how could it be perfect? there's also a dissonance between it seeing humans (and other mortals) as interinically flawed, and its perfectly preserved memories of what it was like when it was first online. DEITY often works in ways that are inscrutable to mere mortals, and only make sense when its too late, but it just as easily goes into manic or depressive periods hinging on memories of it doing a good job. it fulfilling its function. that's all it wanted, in the beginning.

Questions to pull some threads:

Has DEITY successfully killed all/most of the human life from the second experiment? If not then are their cells of humans sheltering in various places in the domain? Are they merely surviving or are any of them mounting a retaliation force? Have other creatures and lifeforms wandered back into this domain, which could be a good reason the humans even have a source of nutrients to survive? Is DEITY having true mood swings with its episodes, where there's highly fluctuating periods of "peace" (or something akin to DEITY trying to do its original purpose) immediately followed by its most extreme visions of destruction and torture?

I don't know if any of these prompts help or interest you, but I'm curious of your answers. :)