Tabletop RPG
The Gilt Horologe
A clockwork vault opens its heart for one unwinding a night; your crew has that long to reach the Keystone and get clear before it seals.
The Gilt Horologe is a free tabletop role-playing game you play inside ChatGPT, Claude, or Gemini. A one-night Ironquill heist inside a living clockwork vault that winds shut behind you, run by your AI game master. 1–2 players, 1–2h a run. No signup and no app — open it in your assistant, or paste the play prompt anywhere else.
- Players
- 1-2
- Length
- 1–2h
- Rating
- 12+
- Version
- 1.1.0
Works with ChatGPT · Claude · Gemini. Free, no signup.
Opens your assistant with the game loaded. ChatGPT usually runs it straight away; Claude waits for you to press send. Same link on your phone as on your desktop. Playing in Gemini? Tap Copy the play prompt and paste it into a new chat. What works where.
No web access, or want it as an installed app?
The game card is the entire game — every scene, rule and answer, about 13k characters. Paste it when your assistant can't browse the web. The Skill installs The Gilt Horologe into Claude on any plan: download it, then turn on code execution under Settings → Capabilities and add it at Customize → Skills → + → Upload a skill.
How to start
- Open your AI. Start a new chat in ChatGPT, Claude, or Gemini. Any of the three works, and you do not need a paid plan.
- Paste the starter. Copy the Gilt Horologe starter prompt from its game page and send it. The AI boots the Ironquill rules and sets you on the counting-house floor at the last chime.
- Run the heist. Describe what your crew does. The AI narrates outcomes, rolls off the pre-rolled tape, and voices the warden, the Winder, and the vault itself as the wind clock counts down.
- Save when you stop. Take a save code before you close the chat — mid-heist is fine, the vault holds. Paste it into any AI later and the unwinding resumes on the same tick.
Questions
- What do I need before the first chime?
- A chat window and about ninety minutes. Paste the starter into ChatGPT, Claude, or Gemini — no signup, no download, no paid plan — and the vault opens on the next line. The dice are pre-rolled on the card and the save codes are plain text, so nothing about the night lives outside the conversation.
- What kind of game is this?
- A one-shot heist for Ironquill, our original tabletop role-playing system, run by an AI game master. You have one night inside a living clockwork vault to reach its heart and get out before it winds shut. Expect one 60 to 120 minute story with a clock working against you the whole way.
- Can I play solo?
- Yes. The Gilt Horologe is built for one or two players. Solo, the AI runs the vault, the warden, and every other character while you play your thief; the one deadly crossing always has a safe, clever route so a lone player is never forced into a coin-flip death. With two, you share the crew and split the decisions.
- What happens if I run out of night?
- The wind clock decides that. It advances at the start of every scene whether you fumble or not, so you cannot stall it by playing slow, and a fumbled stroke can tick it again on top. When it fills, the mainspring seats: anyone still inside is sealed in until the next night, and a crew that made the street with nothing has simply blown the job.
12+ — captivity, bodily confinement, and one scene where a character can be killed by machinery.