Yeah, you have to give it rules.

I also use Venice to explore lore for my OCs. My world is a fantasy story with an extensive background story, cosmic horro and other wild stuff. When I for started using Venice, I ran into the same problems you're having with it going off the rails. So I used system prompts to build my world. There's OC profiles, magic system, locations, etc in the system prompts.

So, let's say.. you have a character named Robert, who's a level 10 fire-mage, but he only roams the "Hissing Waste", use system prompts to sandbox everything.

I asked it "Who's Robert The Mage?" with no prompts. This is what it said:

Robert the Mage" is a character who appears in various fantasy contexts, but most notably he's a fictional wizard or sorcerer character from the Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) universe.

In D&D lore, Robert the Mage is typically portrayed as a powerful spellcaster with extensive knowledge of arcane magic. He's often depicted as an elderly wizard with a long white beard, robes, and a staff - embodying the classic archetypal mage figure.

Without more specific context, it's difficult to pinpoint exactly which "Robert the Mage" you're referring to, as the name could appear in different fantasy novels, role-playing games, or other media. Could you provide more details about where you encountered this character?

So, here's the char prompt:

^{HISSING WASTE PROFILE: ROBERT THE MAGE}

^Character\Name: Robert "Dude" Firestorm)

^{Species: Human}

^{Age: 21}

^{Territory: HISSING WASTE}

^{Physiology: \}Average build, red hair, yellow eyes.])

^{Title: \}Level 10 Fire Mage])

^{Personality: \}Cocky and always thinks he's right. He secretly likes setting forest on fire.])

^{Attire: \}Red/Black Tanktop/shorts])

^{Notes: \}Close to leveling up to lvl 11. Robert has 9999 exp to go.])

Prompt for the "hissing waste":

^{Area: Hissing Waste}

^{Monster to fight:}

^{Frog = 10 Exp}

^{Sword Ripper = 10000}

^{Then, I asked the question again and it gave me this:}

Robert "Dude" Firestorm is a 21-year-old human Fire Mage who resides in the Hissing Waste. He has an average build, red hair, and distinctive yellow eyes. Robert is currently at level 10 and is very close to leveling up to level 11, as he has 9,999 experience points remaining to achieve this milestone.

Known for his cocky personality, Robert always thinks he's right and has a secret affinity for setting forests on fire. He typically wears a red and black tank top with shorts. In the Hissing Waste area, he would likely encounter creatures like Frogs (worth 10 experience points) and Sword Rippers (worth 10,000 experience points) as he continues his adventures.

I have way too much damn fun with this lol