Questions
For anyone coming from the tabletop or from AI roleplay — what The Churn is, and what it isn’t.
Is The Churn like D&D with an AI game master?
In the way that matters, yes: you say what your character tries, in plain words, and an AI game master decides what happens — weighing who you are, what you carry, who's around, and how the world works, the way a good DM would. The differences: there are no dice and no stats, the world is shared with other players and keeps moving on a clock, and the AI is an honest, indifferent referee rather than a storyteller trying to make you the hero.
Do I need to know D&D or any tabletop rules?
No. There are no rules to learn, no character sheet math, and no turn order to manage. If you can describe what you want to try — “talk my way onto the night shift,” “follow the broker's runner” — you can play.
Are there dice rolls or character stats?
No. Nothing is decided by luck. The AI judges each order on its merits: a careful, plausible plan for someone like your character tends to work; a reckless or impossible one fails. Your health, money and skills are tracked in words (“cracked ribs,” “two marks,” “can patch a hull seal”), not numbers.
Can my character die?
Yes, permanently. Bad choices in dangerous places can get you wounded, captured, enslaved or killed, and there is no save to reload. Walking away from a character also ends them — one life at a time.
How is it different from AI Dungeon or other AI roleplay?
Most AI storytellers say “yes, and” to whatever you type. The Churn doesn't: you can't win by asking. Your character is an ordinary nobody, gains are earned step by step, and the consequences of what you do persist. And instead of a private chat, you're in one shared world — other players are real people in the same holds, and the world turns for everyone at the same time.
Can I play with friends?
Yes. Invite a friend with your link and they start as your ally, beginning their character near yours. You'll share the same places, can meet in the fiction, and can choose to show each other your orders — or show a decoy instead.
How long does a session take? How often do I play?
The world turns every four hours on the clock (10pm, 2am, 6am, 10am, 2pm and 6pm Eastern). Each turn you set one order, and you can queue the next one too — so a couple of minutes a few times a day is plenty. Nothing waits for you: if you set no order, your character keeps their head down.
Can I play a wizard, a hero, or a starship captain?
You begin as an ordinary person with a problem — a debt, a bad job, a name you're running from. You can rise: earn a berth, a crew's trust, a ship, maybe one day a fleet. But it's a ladder, every rung is earned in the fiction, and the higher you climb the bigger a target you are.
Can I play as an alien?
Yes. Besides humans, voidborn and graft-born, you can play the xenos Vessh or Kethari — and the world treats you accordingly: lower wages, more suspicion, and for the Vessh, inquisitors who hunt their gift.
Is it free?
Yes, to start. You get 500 signal; each turn costs 20 and setting an order pays 10 back, and achievements and invites earn more. Patron of the Churn ($8/month) lets your character act every turn without spending signal.
What kind of content is in it?
It's grimdark science fiction: violence, debt, slavery and death are part of the world. Sexual content and sexual violence never are — the game refuses them outright.
Do I need to download anything?
No. It runs in your browser, on desktop or phone.
More: How it works · The world · Glossary