The Best Friends and Fables Alternatives in 2026: An Honest Roundup
If you've been playing on Friends and Fables and started searching for an alternative, you're in good company. Friends and Fables, built by the indie studio Side Quest Labs, has carved out a real audience as an AI tabletop RPG platform with an AI Game Master named Franz, deep worldbuilding tools, and multiplayer up to six players. But a lot of players hit the same set of walls: combat is off by default while the team rebuilds it, the retrieval based memory system can lose track of details over a long campaign, and premium narration and image models run on a credit economy that adds up. So they go looking.
The short version: in 2026, the best Friends and Fables alternatives are DungeonsDeep.ai (the best overall pick, a full virtual tabletop with reliable combat and persistent memory managed for you), AI Realm (good for chat first solo play with built in image generation), RoleForge (good for players who want a strict rules engine), and AI Dungeon (good for open ended AI storytelling without a 5e structure).
Last updated July 20, 2026.
What Friends and Fables Is
Friends and Fables (fables.gg) is a web based AI tabletop RPG platform built by Side Quest Labs, a small indie studio. Their about page positions it as "the world's first generative tabletop roleplaying game inspired by D&D 5e," where players run campaigns with an AI Game Master named Franz. You create or import a character, drop into a world you build or browse, and play solo or with friends while Franz narrates the story, tracks game state, and handles rolls. It leans on the SRD 5.1 under Creative Commons rather than licensed D&D content, so it is best described as 5e inspired, not official D&D.
Where Friends and Fables stands out is breadth. It bundles a lot into one product: worldbuilding tools for custom worlds, maps, locations, NPCs, monsters, items, spells, factions, lore, and quests; an image studio for scene art and portraits; text to speech narration on paid tiers; and multiplayer that ladders from three players on the Free plan up to six on Legend. If your idea of a great AI tabletop session is "build a setting, invite a few friends, and have an AI run it," that is exactly the space Friends and Fables is aiming at.
Why Players Look for a Friends and Fables Alternative
Before getting into the list, it's worth naming the reasons people search this in the first place. Across the platform's own documentation, third party reviews, and community threads, a few show up over and over.
- Combat is off by default right now. Friends and Fables' own Gamemaster Settings documentation states that combat encounters are currently off by default while the team revamps the combat system, though players can turn them back on. For a player who wants reliable turn based combat out of the box, that is a real consideration.
- Memory is retrieval based and can drift. Their Memories help article explains that memories are created automatically every five turns and then searched into a working context, with the caveat that not all memories are always included because of cost, speed, and performance tradeoffs. The DreamGen review of Friends and Fables reports memory issues in extended campaigns, especially on lower tiers.
- Custom instructions can't enforce mechanics. The platform's Custom Instructions documentation is clear that custom instructions affect narrative flavor and behavior but cannot impose mechanics, dice rolls, XP, item bonuses, or directly change game state lookups. The same DreamGen review documented one combat test where Franz treated a creature as both dead and alive and the session could not easily recover.
- The credit economy adds friction. Paid plans advertise unlimited standard turns, but premium narration models and premium image models consume credits. DreamGen's testing found combat drained credits two to three times faster than narrative play because turn based combat requires more serialized responses, and noted that in multiplayer only the host spends credits.
None of this makes Friends and Fables a bad product. It is one of the more full featured AI Game Master platforms out there. But if any of those points is the reason you started shopping, the four platforms below were each built around a different set of design choices. We documented one of those friction points ourselves during a session with Franz, when a skill check went sideways and the AI had to walk back its own dice handling.
Hands-On Testing Notes
We spent time on every platform in this roundup ourselves before writing about it. We are also longtime tabletop RPG players ourselves, with well over a decade at the table, so we know this space inside and out. We ran characters through chargen, played opening sessions, pushed each system into combat or narrative scenarios where we expected the wheels to wobble, and read every platform's own documentation alongside third party reviews and player threads. We also draw on feedback from DungeonsDeep.ai's closed beta testers, several of whom came over from other AI Game Master platforms and shared first hand comparisons. The notes below are written for Friends and Fables players deciding where to go next, not as a marketing exercise. Where a competitor does something well, we say so plainly.
The Best Friends and Fables Alternatives in 2026
1. DungeonsDeep.ai: The Best Overall Pick
DungeonsDeep.ai is a full virtual tabletop platform we built to give players the complete tabletop experience with an AI Game Master at the head of the table. Adventures written by humans. Run by Artificial Intelligence. The platform runs on the Dungeons Deep Ruleset, an original game system, compatible with fifth edition, with a separate rules engine handling the mechanics, a battle map and grid on screen, a persistent campaign system that keeps every choice on record session after session, and rich text to speech narration that gives the Game Master a real voice through every encounter.
What makes it the strongest Friends and Fables alternative is the design choice underneath. Friends and Fables packs many tabletop systems into one interface and runs combat and rules through the language model, with combat currently off by default while it is rebuilt. DungeonsDeep.ai is a rules engine running a game with a language model narrating it, on a real grid, with memory that lives at the platform level so the player doesn't have to maintain it. The split shows up most in three places: combat runs through code with combat on by default rather than improvisation, the campaign system holds the world for you without manual memory upkeep, and a full virtual tabletop replaces the chat window with a battle map, character tokens, fog of war, and a character sheet on screen.
"So I have tried Dungeons Deep, Friends and Fables, and MacerAI. DD is the one that impressed me the most. The other options just made me realize DD spoiled me."
DungeonsDeep.ai beta tester
"Love it! The map and the combat specifically are very well done, certainly the best among the other AI RPG and DM services I've tried."
DungeonsDeep.ai beta tester
"This game is delightful. The little things it remembers, the way it characterizes the dudes you make, it's all very charming."
DungeonsDeep.ai beta tester
Best for: players coming from Roll20, Foundry, or in person tactical play who
want an AI Game Master that actually runs a tabletop session.
Pricing: free during closed beta.
Strengths: full virtual tabletop with battle map and grid, dedicated rules engine
with combat on by default, persistent campaign memory at the platform level, human written
adventures, rich text to speech narration, model selection handled for you.
Tradeoff: currently in closed beta. Multiplayer and image generation are on the
roadmap, coming soon.
You can read the full DungeonsDeep.ai vs Friends and Fables comparison for the head to head breakdown, or sign up for the closed beta to try it.
2. AI Realm: Good for Chat First Solo Play with Image Generation
AI Realm (airealm.com) is a web based AI Game Master that runs adventures inspired by the D&D 5e SRD. Players create a character, drop into a generated world, and chat back and forth with an AI Game Master that narrates the story, runs combat in text, and rolls dice inline. It reports a community of more than 110,000 created campaigns, and image generation is built in, so the character creator hands you portraits, worlds, and scenes out of the box.
AI Realm is the closest peer to Friends and Fables in spirit, but the experience is more streamlined and more clearly oriented around solo play. Where Friends and Fables asks you to learn a broad, information dense interface that models many tabletop systems at once, AI Realm keeps the experience centered on a character portrait, a message box, and a dice tray. For a player who found Friends and Fables' interface heavy, that simplicity is the appeal. Built in image generation is also more front and center in the default AI Realm flow.
The honest tradeoffs run in the other direction. AI Realm relies on a player maintained Notes system: its own Player's Guide states that if something is not in your Notes, the AI will eventually forget it, and recommends periodic cleanup. Combat runs through the language model rather than a dedicated rules engine, and there is no real visual tabletop with a battle map and grid on screen. If worldbuilding depth and multiplayer up to six were the reasons you liked Friends and Fables, AI Realm is a step sideways, not an upgrade, on those specific axes.
Good for: solo players who want a simpler chat first interface with built in
image generation.
Pricing: free tier with a shared context limit, plus paid subscriptions for higher
limits and multiplayer.
Strengths: streamlined chat first interface, built in image generation, 5e SRD
inspired ruleset, large library of community campaigns.
Tradeoff: player maintained Notes for memory, combat runs through the language
model, no visual tabletop.
For the deeper look, see our AI Realm review and comparison and our roundup of the best AI Realm alternatives.
3. RoleForge: Good for Players Who Want a Strict Rules Engine
RoleForge (roleforge.ai) is built around a clear architectural principle: the AI narrates, and a separate rules engine handles mechanics. The product page states it directly with real dice mechanics, a deterministic rules engine the AI cannot override, and persistent worlds. That positioning targets one of the most cited complaints about LLM first tools, including the combat moments where Franz had to correct its own dice handling: the AI sometimes applies the wrong modifier, fudges the damage math, or skips a rule that should have triggered automatically.
This matters more than it sounds. Research on LLMs as dice rollers found that language models produce numbers that look random but deviate significantly from true randomness, which is why the strongest AI Game Master systems separate narration from mechanical resolution. When a chat first AI Game Master says "you rolled a 14," there is no underlying random number generator producing that 14. The model produced the number the same way it produces the rest of the prose, by pattern matching. RoleForge and DungeonsDeep.ai both wire in a real random number generator and a deterministic rules layer, so the dice are actually dice.
RoleForge also ships maps and a persistent world layer. The visual experience is more sparse than what DungeonsDeep.ai puts on screen during play, but it's a real step toward structured tabletop play. For a Friends and Fables player whose biggest objection was combat reliability while the system is rebuilt, the rules engine focus is the single sharpest fit.
Good for: rules focused players who want deterministic dice and combat math.
Pricing: free tier, paid plans available.
Strengths: rules engine for deterministic mechanics, real dice rolling, persistent
worlds, maps included.
Tradeoff: younger product, smaller content library and community than the older
platforms.
4. AI Dungeon: Good for Open Ended AI Storytelling
AI Dungeon (aidungeon.com) is the platform that put AI storytelling on the map. It launched in 2019 as the first mainstream AI text adventure, built by Latitude, and has gone through multiple model upgrades since then. Players type actions using Do, Say, and Story commands, and the AI generates narrative responses in real time. The platform supports multiplayer, image generation through a "See" command, custom scenarios from a community library, and a scripting system for power users.
AI Dungeon is the right alternative when the part you liked about Friends and Fables was the open narrative and the part you didn't need was the full 5e style scaffolding. AI Dungeon imposes no genre, no system, and no rules. You can run a fantasy quest, a sci fi thriller, a slice of life drama, or all three in the same session. No structured tabletop platform matches that flexibility.
The honest tradeoff: AI Dungeon doesn't run a tabletop RPG. There's no character sheet, no enforced dice mechanics, no rules engine, and no battle map. Memory works through a context window, and according to their own documentation the oldest story text is trimmed when context limits are exceeded. Memory Bank, Story Cards, and Plot Essentials exist to mitigate it, but community feedback consistently cites memory as the biggest pain point. If the 5e style structure and worldbuilding of Friends and Fables were what you valued, AI Dungeon is a step further away from that, not closer.
Good for: players who liked the storytelling more than the rules and want total
creative freedom across genres.
Pricing: free Wanderer tier; paid plans from $14.99 (Journey) to $99.99 (Ultimate)
per month per their memberships page.
Strengths: total creative freedom, years of iteration, model variety, built in
image generation on paid tiers, brand recognition.
Tradeoff: not a tabletop RPG. No rules engine, no battle map, no character
sheet.
For more, see our AI Dungeon review and our roundup of the best AI Dungeon alternatives.
How to Pick the Right Friends and Fables Alternative for You
The right alternative depends on what made you start searching in the first place.
- If combat being off by default drove you out: DungeonsDeep.ai or RoleForge. Both run combat through a dedicated rules engine, so to hit math, damage, and conditions resolve in code rather than improvisation.
- If the memory drift drove you out: DungeonsDeep.ai is the cleanest exit. Memory lives at the platform level, so there is no working context that may or may not include the detail you need, and no Notes file to maintain.
- If you wanted a real battle map: DungeonsDeep.ai is the only platform on this list with a full virtual tabletop on screen during play. Real grid, character tokens, fog of war, and a character sheet visible at a glance. RoleForge ships maps in a more sparse form.
- If the interface felt too heavy: AI Realm keeps the experience to a chat window, a portrait, and a dice tray, which many players find easier to settle into.
- If you came for open narrative more than the rules: AI Dungeon is a more honest fit than another 5e style platform for unconstrained interactive fiction.
- If multiplayer up to six was the main draw: this is the one place Friends and Fables still leads the pack today. Multiplayer is on the DungeonsDeep.ai roadmap and is coming soon, but if you need six players in a shared session right now, Friends and Fables is hard to beat on that single axis.
Pricing and Plans
Cost is one of the most common reasons Friends and Fables players start shopping, especially once premium models and combat start drawing on credits. Here's how the alternatives stack up at the time of writing.
- DungeonsDeep.ai: free during closed beta. Every feature mentioned in this post, the virtual tabletop, the rules engine, the campaign system, the AI Game Master, and the rich text to speech narration, is available to beta testers at no cost.
- AI Realm: free tier with a shared context cap, plus paid subscriptions that unlock higher limits, longer memory, and multiplayer features.
- RoleForge: free tier plus paid plans. The free tier exposes the rules engine and basic play; paid tiers unlock additional features and capacity.
- AI Dungeon: free Wanderer tier with strict usage limits. Paid plans ladder from $14.99 per month (Journey) up to $99.99 per month (Ultimate) per their memberships page.
For comparison, Friends and Fables runs a Free plan with a 25 turn per day limit and three player campaigns, then Starter at $19.95, Pro at $29.95, and Legend at $39.95 per month per their pricing page, laddering party size from four to six players and unlocking text to speech, more mentions per message, and bonus monthly credits. The paid plans advertise unlimited standard turns, but premium narration and image models still draw on credits.
Community Reviews and Reddit Mentions
When players post threads about trying a different AI Game Master, the same names keep coming up. Across r/AIRealm, r/ChatbotRefugees, r/ai_dungeon, and several Discord servers focused on AI Game Master tools, DungeonsDeep.ai, AI Realm, Friends and Fables, and AI Dungeon are the platforms players compare most often. RoleForge surfaces in newer threads when the discussion turns to dice integrity and rules engine accuracy.
The recurring themes in those threads line up with what we found in our own time on each platform. Players who came to Friends and Fables for the worldbuilding depth and multiplayer tend to stay for those features, but the ones who want reliable combat and hands off memory tend to look at DungeonsDeep.ai or RoleForge. Players who found the interface heavy tend to try AI Realm for the simpler chat first flow. Players who wanted open narrative more than 5e structure tend to land on AI Dungeon. None of the four alternatives is a strict superset of Friends and Fables, but each one solves a specific complaint better than Friends and Fables does today.
"The AI tone and speech is great, accuracy, flexibility, and fluidity of the AI responses is great, accurate game rule mechanics is great."
DungeonsDeep.ai beta tester
"This is easily the best AI DM site in existence and deserves way more attention!"
DungeonsDeep.ai beta tester
Side by Side: Friends and Fables vs the Alternatives
The at a glance comparison:
| Platform | Category | Memory | Rules | Tabletop |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Friends and Fables | AI RPG platform | Retrieval based | 5e inspired | Tokens and maps |
| DungeonsDeep.ai | Virtual tabletop | Platform managed | Rules engine | Full VTT |
| AI Realm | AI RPG platform | Player notes | 5e SRD | Chat first |
| RoleForge | AI RPG platform | Persistent | Rules engine | Maps |
| AI Dungeon | Text adventure | Context window | None | Text only |
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the best alternative to Friends and Fables for tabletop RPG play?
DungeonsDeep.ai is the strongest fit for players who want a real AI Game Master running a tabletop session. It's a full virtual tabletop with a battle map and grid, a dedicated rules engine with combat on by default, persistent campaign memory at the platform level, and human written adventures. AI Realm is the closest chat first peer, and RoleForge is the closest match if a strict rules engine is what you want most.
Is Friends and Fables free?
Friends and Fables has a Free plan with a 25 turn per day limit and three player campaigns, then paid plans at $19.95, $29.95, and $39.95 per month that ladder party size up to six and unlock text to speech and bonus credits per their pricing page. Paid plans advertise unlimited standard turns, but premium narration and image models still use credits. If you want a free alternative without a credit economy, DungeonsDeep.ai is currently free during its closed beta and includes the virtual tabletop, the rules engine, and the campaign memory system at no cost.
Is Friends and Fables good?
Friends and Fables is one of the more full featured AI Game Master platforms, with deep worldbuilding tools, an image studio, text to speech, and multiplayer up to six players. It works well for players who want to build their own settings and play with friends. The honest tradeoffs are that combat is off by default while the team rebuilds it, memory is retrieval based and can drift over long campaigns, and premium models draw on credits. Players who want reliable combat, hands off memory, and a full visual tabletop tend to prefer DungeonsDeep.ai.
Why is combat off by default in Friends and Fables?
Their own Gamemaster Settings documentation states that combat encounters are currently off by default while the team revamps the combat system, though players can turn them back on. If you want turn based combat handled reliably out of the box, DungeonsDeep.ai and RoleForge both run combat through a dedicated rules engine with combat on by default.
Does Friends and Fables have memory issues?
Friends and Fables uses a retrieval based memory system. Their Memories help article explains that memories are created every five turns and searched into a working context, and that not all memories are always included because of cost, speed, and performance tradeoffs. Third party reviews report memory drift in extended campaigns, especially on lower tiers. DungeonsDeep.ai takes a different approach, tracking campaign state at the platform level so the player does not maintain memory manually.
What is Craft from Friends and Fables?
Craft is a newer product Side Quest Labs announced in 2026 as a broader approach to AI RPGs, aimed at giving players more control over worlds, systems, files, maps, models, and rules. Their announcement says Friends and Fables is not being sunset and will remain the easy, unlimited 5e style experience, while Craft targets users who want deeper customization. If you are evaluating Friends and Fables today, Craft is worth watching but is a separate track.
Is there a free Friends and Fables alternative?
Yes. DungeonsDeep.ai is currently free during its closed beta, with no credit economy on the features described here. AI Realm, RoleForge, and AI Dungeon all have free tiers with paid upgrades as well.
Friends and Fables vs AI Realm: which is better?
Both are AI Game Master platforms with 5e inspired mechanics. Friends and Fables leans into multiplayer up to six, deep worldbuilding tools, and an image studio, with combat off by default while it is rebuilt. AI Realm is a more streamlined chat first solo experience with built in image generation and a player maintained Notes system. If you want worldbuilding and party play, Friends and Fables is the better fit. If you want a simpler solo interface, AI Realm is the better fit. If you want a real virtual tabletop and reliable combat, DungeonsDeep.ai is the stronger fit than either.
Friends and Fables vs AI Dungeon: which is better?
Friends and Fables is a structured 5e inspired AI tabletop RPG with character sheets, maps, and worldbuilding tools. AI Dungeon is an open ended AI text adventure with no genre or system constraints. If you want structured tabletop play, Friends and Fables is the better fit. If you want unconstrained interactive fiction across any genre, AI Dungeon is the better fit.
Is DungeonsDeep.ai a direct Friends and Fables alternative?
Yes, with a different design philosophy. Both are AI Game Master platforms for D&D and tabletop RPG play. Friends and Fables packs many tabletop systems into one interface and runs rules through the language model, with strong worldbuilding and multiplayer. DungeonsDeep.ai is built around a dedicated rules engine, a full virtual tabletop with a battle map and grid, and platform managed campaign memory, with human written adventures run by an AI Game Master. Multiplayer is on the DungeonsDeep.ai roadmap and is coming soon.
Which Friends and Fables alternative is best for long campaigns?
DungeonsDeep.ai is built for long campaigns. The campaign system tracks every choice, NPC relationship, item, and plot thread across sessions at the platform level, so the player doesn't have to maintain memory between sessions. You can read more about why AI Game Masters forget your campaign and how we built memory differently.
How much does Friends and Fables cost?
Friends and Fables has a Free plan with a 25 turn per day limit and three player campaigns. Paid plans run $19.95 per month (Starter), $29.95 (Pro), and $39.95 (Legend) per their pricing page, laddering party size up to six players and unlocking text to speech and bonus monthly credits. Standard turns are unlimited on paid plans, but premium narration and image models still draw on credits. If you want a free option without a credit economy, DungeonsDeep.ai is currently free during its closed beta.
Is Friends and Fables multiplayer?
Yes. Multiplayer is one of Friends and Fables' strongest features. Party size ladders from three players on the Free plan up to six on the Legend tier, with friends joining free under the host's subscription per their pricing page. If multiplayer up to six is the main thing you want today, Friends and Fables is hard to beat on that single axis. Multiplayer is on the DungeonsDeep.ai roadmap and is coming soon.
What is Franz in Friends and Fables?
Franz is the name of the AI Game Master in Friends and Fables. Franz narrates the story, tracks game state, handles rolls, and responds to what your character does, whether you are playing solo or with a group. Some players report that Franz can lose track of details over a long campaign because memory is retrieval based, and that combat is off by default while the team rebuilds the system.
Does Friends and Fables have a battle map?
Friends and Fables includes tokens and maps as part of its toolset, but it is not a full visual tabletop with a live battle map and grid at the center of play. If a real virtual tabletop with a grid, character tokens, fog of war, and a character sheet on screen matters to you, DungeonsDeep.ai is the platform in this roundup built around a full virtual tabletop during play.
Is Friends and Fables safe to use?
Friends and Fables is a standard web based platform with account creation and subscription tiers. For account and content safety, follow your usual habits: use a strong password, review the platform's content settings and terms of service before sharing personal stories, and treat generated text and images the way you would any AI generated content. The other platforms in this roundup follow similar norms.
Can any Friends and Fables alternative actually run real combat?
Yes. DungeonsDeep.ai runs combat through a dedicated rules engine with combat on by default, handling to hit calculation, damage resolution, critical logic, and condition tracking in code while the AI Game Master narrates the result. RoleForge also ships a strict rules engine with deterministic dice. This is a common reason players leave Friends and Fables, where combat is currently off by default while the team rebuilds the system.
Which Friends and Fables alternative is best for solo play?
For solo tabletop RPG play with a full virtual tabletop and a Game Master that holds the campaign together for you, DungeonsDeep.ai is the strongest fit. Friends and Fables supports solo play too, but leans into multiplayer up to six and deep worldbuilding. AI Realm is a good solo pick if you want a simpler chat first interface, and AI Dungeon is the honest choice for solo open ended storytelling without a 5e structure.
How do I try DungeonsDeep.ai?
Head to dungeonsdeep.ai and register for the closed beta. It's free, and you'll get access to the AI Game Master, the rules engine, the battle map, and the campaign system.
Start Adventuring
If Friends and Fables stopped being the right fit because you wanted reliable combat, hands off memory, and a full virtual tabletop on screen, that's the experience we built DungeonsDeep.ai for. Sign up for the closed beta and try a campaign that's built to keep going. If you're weighing your options more broadly, our roundup of the best AI Game Master tools compared in 2026 covers the whole field, and our guide to the best AI Game Masters for solo RPG players is the place to start if you mostly play alone.
If you'd rather hang out with the community first, find us on Discord or the DungeonsDeepAI subreddit. We're real players too, and we're always happy to talk shop.
This work includes material from the System Reference Document 5.2 (“SRD 5.2”) by Wizards of the Coast LLC, available at https://www.dndbeyond.com/srd. The SRD 5.2 is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, available at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode.