Feature Request: Dedicated Roleplay / Interactive Storytelling Mode with Project-Level Memory
I would like to suggest a dedicated Roleplay / Interactive Storytelling Mode for ChatGPT, ideally available as a feature for Pro users.
I know ChatGPT is not primarily designed as a roleplaying platform. However, Projects, long context, memory, and increasingly capable models already make ChatGPT very useful for long-form interactive storytelling. The main limitation is that the tools are not currently designed around the needs of this type of interaction.
I am not asking for a separate roleplaying app. I am suggesting a specialized mode within ChatGPT that would make existing capabilities work much better for interactive fiction.
1. Explicit character control
A roleplay setup should allow the user to define exactly which characters they control and which characters ChatGPT controls.
For example:
- User controls Character A.
- ChatGPT controls Characters B, C, and D.
- ChatGPT must not write Character A’s dialogue, thoughts, decisions, or actions unless explicitly instructed to do so.
This would solve a common problem in interactive roleplay where the model accidentally takes control of the user’s character.
2. Persistent narrative canon
Projects should have a structured “Canon” or “Story State” that can contain:
- Character profiles
- Personalities
- Relationships
- Worldbuilding
- Important events
- Rules of the setting
- Character goals
- Secrets
- Information known by each character
- Important changes that occurred during the story
The important distinction is that this should not behave like ordinary chat history. It should function as persistent narrative information that the model can reliably consult.
3. Continuity across chats within a Project
This is particularly important.
Long-running roleplays often become too large for a single conversation. Users therefore need to start new chats while continuing the same story.
Ideally, all chats inside the same Project should be able to access the Project’s established canon and relevant narrative state automatically, without requiring users to manually attach or copy previous conversations.
This would also benefit long-form writing, worldbuilding, D&D campaigns, collaborative fiction, and other creative projects.
4. User-controlled narrative rules
The user should be able to define persistent rules such as:
- Do not control the user’s character.
- Do not change established character personalities without an in-story reason.
- Maintain established relationships and previous events.
- Do not automatically resolve conflicts.
- Preserve character flaws and contradictions.
- Keep certain characters morally ambiguous rather than making them unnecessarily agreeable.
- Maintain a specific narrative style or pacing.
These rules should have higher priority than temporary assumptions made during a conversation.
5. Structured relationship and character state
A useful roleplay system should remember not only that two characters know each other, but how their relationship currently stands.
For example:
«Character A distrusts Character B because of an event that happened earlier.»
Later in the story, the model should be able to use that information naturally without requiring the user to repeat it.
The same could apply to attraction, resentment, loyalty, fear, alliances, secrets, injuries, promises, and other evolving states.
6. Automatic continuity summaries
At the end of a major scene or conversation, ChatGPT could generate a structured summary containing:
- Important events
- New facts
- Changes in relationships
- Character development
- New secrets
- Decisions that became canon
- Unresolved conflicts
The user could then approve or edit these before they become part of the Project’s permanent story state.
This would greatly reduce continuity errors in long-running stories.
7. Why this would be useful beyond roleplay
Although the proposed feature is aimed at interactive storytelling, the same system could support:
- Long-form fiction
- Worldbuilding
- D&D and tabletop campaigns
- Interactive fiction
- Character development
- Collaborative writing
- Story simulations
- Script development
- Educational simulations
This would make it a broader creative tool rather than a niche “roleplay mode.”
Suggested implementation
A possible interface could simply add a Roleplay / Storytelling Mode when creating a Project.
The user could then configure:
Characters
Who the user controls and who ChatGPT controls.
Canon
Facts and events that should remain consistent.
Rules
Persistent instructions for how the roleplay should behave.
Relationships
Important relationships and their current state.
Story State
Recent events, unresolved conflicts, goals, and other temporary information.
This would preserve the flexibility of normal ChatGPT while providing a much more reliable structure for long-running interactive narratives.
I believe this would be a particularly valuable addition to Projects and a strong use case for higher-tier plans such as Pro, where users are already more likely to work on large, long-running projects.