Characters and dialogue
Learning paths through this topic
Stop a friendship label from flipping back and forth
One gift makes someone a friend and one rude remark makes them wary again, over and over, until the label means nothing. Here is the rule for when a relationship changes name, and why the way in and the way out must not be the same line.
Refund a hero's skill choices without removing what the story gave
A player wants to rebuild their character, but some skills came from a plot event and others stand on top of those. Refunding everything breaks the story, and refunding too little cheats the player. Here is the rule that gives back exactly what can be given back.
Keep romance options from contradicting each other
A player can flirt with two companions, propose to a third, and wake up engaged to everyone. Here is a small set of stages and rules for each romance, what happens to the one left behind, and a replay that shows the state after any list of actions.
Let news about the player spread from villager to villager
After the player does something notable, the baker should know by the next day and the farmer two villages away only after a week. Here is a way to work out who knows what on which day, and how accurate the story still is when it arrives.
Make a shopkeeper's prices follow friendship without letting players profit
A friendlier shopkeeper should charge less and pay more, but at some point a player can buy an item and sell it right back for a gain, or items cost nothing at all. Here is how to shape both prices and check them for every standing.
Combine several buffs on one stat in an order players can predict
A blessing, a potion, a cursed ring and a campfire meal all touch the same number, and the result depends on the order they happen to be applied. Here is a fixed order that always gives the same answer, and a rule that stops one source from counting twice.
Work out how a character treats you from their group loyalties
You joined the guild, the guild is at war with the harbour, and the harbour sailor you meet has never heard of you. How should he act? Here is a layered rule that settles it the same way every time and flags characters whose loyalties pull both ways.
Turn a character's stat into a bonus that is fair below the middle
Stat 11 gives a bonus and stat 9 gives nothing, so weak characters look exactly as good as average ones. This happens with the most common way of dividing by two. Here is the right rounding, plus a level-based bonus that grows in steps.
Add or remove a fighter mid-battle without skipping or repeating a turn
A reinforcement arrives, a hero falls, and suddenly the same person acts twice, or someone loses their turn. The list of who goes when is easy to build and easy to break once it changes during play. Here is how to keep the pointer on the right person.
Generate villager names that do not repeat and never spell something rude
A town of fifty people needs fifty names, and putting syllables together at random gives two identical neighbours and, now and then, an awkward word. Here is a generator that remembers what it has handed out, avoids a blocked list, and still finishes when the pool runs dry.
Decide who delivers a line when its character is dead or away
Companion banter written for a healer fails the moment the healer died in chapter two. Here is how to give every line a chain of stand-ins, and how to find the lines that nobody in some party could ever say before a player does.
Give a large reward that jumps a hero over several levels at once
After a huge story reward the hero rises by one level and keeps a bar that is far past full, or the extra is thrown away at the top level. Here is how to hand out the reward so every level is earned, the remainder carries over, and the top is handled.