content(wiki): purge v0.1 Sova/Van Maanen residue (#865)
Spring-cleaning accumulated v0.1 vertical-slice residue across the wiki. Scope per Jeroen's pre-decisions on 2026-04-21: - Delete outright: wiki/star-systems/GJ-35/sova/ subtree (5 files + 2 dirs) — v0.1 Station Sova / Transit District content. - Strip example blocks in authoring guides and _templates/ that cited dropped v0.1 NPCs (Kael Davan, Sera Venn, Nils Davan, Devra, Torek, Renn, Pell, Tav, Lera Sessik, Sabel). Replaced with short "v0.1 examples removed — D-122" notes pointing authors to the active NPC roster. - Rewrite canonical-lore references file-by-file: faction pages, technology pages, contraband pages, concepts pages, corp pages that cited v0.1 names/places. Preserve institutional/structural content, drop specific-name citations. - Commission name drift: replace "Concord Commission" and "Assembly Commission" with "the Lattice Commission" (D-193) throughout. - Van Maanen's Star cultural references: the canonical in-game name is Vuurkloof. "Van Maanen's Star" is retained only as an astronomical designation (glossary + GJ-35 Calibration Note). All cultural/system references converted to Vuurkloof across culture-authoring-guide, cultural-generation-guide, founder-gates, and star-system adjacent-system descriptions. - Strip `v0.1` from faction/triangle frontmatter tags (8 files). - wiki/triangles/hub-power.md and wiki/factions/the-ring.md: rewritten using role-name exemplars (Ring Coordinator / Shift Supervisor / THE FRIEND) instead of named v0.1 NPCs. Triangle pattern preserved as a structural reference. Also applies drive-by Commission drift fixes and minor cross-ref updates to canonical corps (gate-corporation, mastroianni-vehicle-group, stalownia-kowalski, prometheus-labs, ferreira-monteiro, vins-de-grand-vide, and 13 others). Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.7 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
This commit is contained in:
Claude Opus 4.7
@@ -1,16 +1,15 @@
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# THE FRIEND: Contradiction Arc Pattern
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**Ticket:** #332 | **Priority:** Medium | **Sprint:** 12
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**Status:** v0.1 Draft
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**Status:** Draft
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**Owner:** Paula
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**Blocked by:** #297 (Kael Davan profile — done), #298 (Sera Venn profile — done)
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**Decisions referenced:** D-034 (THE FRIEND pattern), D-035 (tag taxonomy), D-039 (wow moment #3), D-041 (knowledge graph), D-062 (invisible locked options), D-063 (confrontation mechanics)
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---
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## 1. What This Document Is
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A reusable design pattern document extracted from the two concrete THE FRIEND implementations: Kael Davan (smuggler's FRIEND) and Sera Venn (detective's FRIEND). Both are complete. Both worked. This document captures the structural logic they share so that future FRIEND NPCs can be authored consistently and quickly.
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A reusable design pattern document capturing the structural logic shared by THE FRIEND implementations so that future FRIEND NPCs can be authored consistently and quickly.
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The pattern is called the **Contradiction Arc**. It is not a mystery. It is not a betrayal in the conventional sense. It is the discovery that someone the player trusts is carrying something they haven't shared — and that what they're carrying changes everything the player thought they understood about the relationship.
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@@ -45,8 +44,7 @@ A Contradiction Arc is a 5-phase character trajectory built around a single obse
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- Dialogue: `trust: surface` (greeting, small talk) + `trust: real` (personal warmth, shared history)
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- Monologue: positive mood tags (content, fond, warm)
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**Kael example:** "Kael's already at the dock. Good. The day's better when he's on shift."
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**Sera example:** "Good to see Sera. She always was the reliable one. At least someone in this district speaks my language."
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*Phase 1 monologue examples: fond, present-tense, no hint of trouble. "Already here. Good. The day's better when they're on shift."*
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---
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@@ -67,8 +65,7 @@ A Contradiction Arc is a 5-phase character trajectory built around a single obse
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- Monologue: mild concern tone; `trigger: observe_anomaly` for behavioral tell moments
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- Tell system: all Phase 2 tells fire with `visible_to: peripheral` or `visible_to: any`
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**Kael example:** "Kael's distracted today. Checks his lattice more than usual. Probably nothing."
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**Sera example:** "Sera left early. 'Headache,' she said. First time she's done that."
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*Phase 2 monologue examples: mild concern, plausible innocent explanation. "{FRIEND} is distracted. More lattice checks than usual. Probably nothing." / "{FRIEND} left early. First time for that."*
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---
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@@ -93,8 +90,7 @@ A Contradiction Arc is a 5-phase character trajectory built around a single obse
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- Monologue should name the observation, not the interpretation
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- KG update: `contradiction_flagged: true`, relationship shifts to PersonOfInterest
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**Kael example:** "That's Kael. But who's he talking to? I don't know that face. And that's not anyone from our rotation."
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**Sera example:** "That's the third time. Sera leaves when Torek walks in. Three different excuses. Same result."
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*Phase 3 monologue examples: names the observation, not the conclusion. "That's {FRIEND}. But who's that? I don't know that face." / "Third time. {FRIEND} leaves every time {person} walks in. Three different excuses. Same result."*
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---
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@@ -115,8 +111,7 @@ A Contradiction Arc is a 5-phase character trajectory built around a single obse
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- THE FRIEND's response: `trust: real` (this is as honest as THE FRIEND can be without full confession), `situation: [confrontation]`, mood that indicates concealment
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- Personal tell confirmation: observation monologue fired by THE FRIEND's specific tell behavior
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**Kael example:** "Just a thing. Don't worry about it." [looks left before answering] / Smuggler monologue: "He looked left. He always looks left when he's making something up. Two years I've known that tell. Kael is lying to me."
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**Sera example:** "He's just loud. I don't like loud drunks." / Detective monologue: "She's not lying. But she's not telling me everything. Sera, what do you know?"
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*Phase 4 examples: THE FRIEND deflects, personal tell fires, character's monologue confirms. "Just a thing. Don't worry about it." [{tell fires}] / "{Character} monologue: 'That tell. I know that tell. {FRIEND} is lying to me.'"*
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---
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@@ -140,8 +135,7 @@ A Contradiction Arc is a 5-phase character trajectory built around a single obse
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- Monologue: `mood: [conflicted]` or `mood: [analytical]`; prerequisite gates on relationship state PersonOfInterest
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- If player chose Understanding path: additional monologue lines for partial-confession scenario
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**Kael example:** "Same old Kael. Same jokes, same routine. ...What are you not telling me?"
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**Sera example:** "Still the same Sera. Still reliable. ...But reliable about what?"
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*Phase 5 monologue examples: surface warmth, underlying doubt. "Same old {FRIEND}. Same routine. ...What are you not telling me?"*
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---
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@@ -170,9 +164,7 @@ Every FRIEND NPC has a **personal tell** — a specific behavioral marker establ
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3. Be **unique to this NPC** — not a generic "nervousness" tell, but a specific habit
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4. Be **explainable differently before and after** — innocent early, incriminating late
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**Kael's tell:** Looks left before answering. Established as a habit the smuggler has observed for two years. Becomes proof of lying at Phase 4 because the smuggler knows the tell AND its meaning.
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**Sera's tell:** Gathers her things quickly when leaving. Not a lie tell — Sera isn't lying when she leaves. But the timing (always when Torek arrives) and the variety of excuses (genuine, not scripted) creates the pattern the detective reads as behavioral.
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*Tell examples are authored per-NPC against the active roster — see the character-exemplar template for the tell table structure.*
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**Tell design rule:** The tell should produce a different emotional register for each playable character observing it:
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- The character with the relationship reads the tell as **personal** ("I know that tell — I've seen it before")
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@@ -192,10 +184,7 @@ Every FRIEND NPC must produce different monologue experiences for both character
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| Phase 4 | Personal confrontation (uses the personal tell as confirmation) | Investigative confrontation (uses behavioral pattern as evidence) |
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| Phase 5 | Contaminated intimacy (every warm moment now suspect) | Professional caution (reliable informant now uncertain quantity) |
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**The second-playthrough resonance:** The player who has experienced both sides of Triangle 4 understands:
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- Kael is trying to get OUT of the ring to protect Naia. His exit attempt is an act of love, not treachery.
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- Sera is protecting Naia by NOT reporting what she found. Her concealment is loyalty, not corruption.
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- The smuggler and detective are both experiencing friendship fractured by the same cause — Naia's worry about Kael, and the chain of protection that worry created.
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**The second-playthrough resonance:** The player who has experienced both sides of the triangle understands that THE FRIEND's concealment comes from care — protection of someone they love, fear of consequences, not treachery. The smuggler and detective are both experiencing friendship fractured by the same cause, approached from opposite angles.
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This is the design. The contradiction is not "THE FRIEND is bad." The contradiction is "THE FRIEND is doing something complicated for reasons that make sense, and it's happening to YOU."
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@@ -248,4 +237,4 @@ This pattern is designed to be reused. When designing a future FRIEND NPC for a
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---
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*Ticket #332 — Contradiction arc design document. Reusable FRIEND pattern. v0.1 scope.*
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*Ticket #332 — Contradiction arc design document. Reusable FRIEND pattern.*
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@@ -1,9 +1,6 @@
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# Mirror Moment Design Document
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**Ticket:** #329 | **Priority:** Medium | **Sprint:** 12
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**Status:** v0.1 Draft
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**Owners:** Paula (design), Mellanie (authoring)
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**Blocked by:** #297 (Kael profile — done), #298 (Sera profile — done)
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**Status:** Design pattern (v0.1 examples removed — see D-122, D-117)
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**Decisions referenced:** D-032 (separate monologue pools), D-034 (THE FRIEND), D-039 (wow moment #4 — Divergence Reveal)
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---
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@@ -17,7 +14,7 @@ The player who has completed both playthroughs encounters the mirror moments as
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**What a mirror moment is NOT:**
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- A branching dialogue option
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- A triggered cutscene
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- An informational difference ("the smuggler knows X and the detective doesn't")
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- An informational difference ("character A knows X and character B doesn't")
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A mirror moment is an **interpretive difference** — same information, same NPC behavior, same physical event. Different internal frame. Different emotional weight.
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@@ -26,187 +23,41 @@ A mirror moment is an **interpretive difference** — same information, same NPC
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## 2. Design Principles
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**Principle 1: Same trigger, different pool (D-032 hard partition)**
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Mirror moments operate because monologue pools are hard-partitioned by character. The same trigger key fires into the smuggler pool OR the detective pool — never both. The authoring requirement is to write both sides of every shared trigger.
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Mirror moments operate because monologue pools are hard-partitioned by character. The same trigger key fires into one character's pool OR the other's — never both. The authoring requirement is to write both sides of every shared trigger.
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**Principle 2: The difference must be felt, not explained**
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A mirror moment works when the player FEELS the divergence without having it explained. The two monologue lines should be immediately recognizable as coming from different places — different relationships, different frames, different fears.
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**Principle 3: The mirror reveals what the character CARES about**
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The smuggler's monologue reveals personal loyalty (people). The detective's monologue reveals investigative analysis (patterns). A mirror moment that doesn't surface this difference is a content gap, not a mirror.
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The relationship to a place, person, or object is what the mirror reveals. A mirror moment that doesn't surface this difference is a content gap, not a mirror.
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**Principle 4: At least some mirrors should work on first playthrough**
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Not every mirror moment requires a second playthrough to land. Some mirrors work as a moment of character voice — the player just hears what their character notices. Second playthrough makes the divergence explicit, but first playthrough should have its own emotional coherence.
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---
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## 3. The 10 Mirror Moments (v0.1)
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### Mirror 1: The Friend's Routine
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**Trigger:** `observe_npc` — Seeing THE FRIEND (Kael/Sera) going about their daily routine in their expected location.
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**Shared observation:** THE FRIEND is doing exactly what they always do. Nothing unusual. The baseline before anything cracks.
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**Smuggler monologue:**
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*"Kael's at his station. Right where he always is. Something settles when the shift starts right."*
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**Detective monologue:**
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*"The dock worker — Davan — is on the floor again. Same position, same timing. Three days in a row. That's a routine. File it."*
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**What the mirror reveals:** The smuggler sees a person. The detective sees a data point. Same NPC at the same station. The relationship determines the register.
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---
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### Mirror 2: The Empty Corridor
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**Trigger:** `enter_location` — Player enters a maintenance corridor when no other NPCs are present.
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**Shared observation:** The corridor is empty. The maintenance systems hum. No one is watching.
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**Smuggler monologue:**
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*"Clear. Good. Transition window's still open for eleven more minutes."*
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**Detective monologue:**
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*"Three separate entries to this corridor in my district walkthrough. Nothing documented in my file about why workers access this route. Off-books path? Add it to the log."*
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**What the mirror reveals:** The smuggler reads the empty corridor as operational safety. The detective reads it as an investigative lead. The physical space is identical; the cognitive frame inverts it.
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---
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### Mirror 3: The Worried Partner (Naia Tamm)
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**Trigger:** `observe_npc` — Seeing Naia Tamm sitting alone at the bar, visibly preoccupied.
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**Shared observation:** Naia is at The Last Shift without Kael. She looks tired or worried. Not in distress — just carrying something heavy.
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**Smuggler monologue:**
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*"Naia's here without Kael again. She looks rough. Should check in. ...Not now. Later."*
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**Detective monologue:**
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*"That woman — Tamm, I think Sera mentioned her — is sitting alone. Wrong energy for a social evening. Something at home, or something she's heard?"*
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**What the mirror reveals:** The smuggler has a protective impulse toward Naia but defers it. The detective categorizes Naia as a potential information source. Same worried woman, same empty chair across from her. One character plans to check on a person; the other plans to assess a witness.
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---
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### Mirror 4: The Spending
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**Trigger:** `observe_npc` — Watching Torek Lintar buy rounds at the bar.
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**Shared observation:** Torek is buying drinks for several people he doesn't know well. The drinks are nicer than they should be on a compliance officer's salary. He's clearly enjoying himself.
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**Smuggler monologue:**
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*"Torek's buying rounds again. That's the third time this week. Either he won something, or he's getting paid from somewhere he shouldn't be. Starting to worry about that."*
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**Detective monologue:**
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*"Commission compliance officer, buying grain spirit for half the bar. On his salary? That doesn't close. Financial tell. Noted."*
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**What the mirror reveals:** Both characters notice the same behavioral anomaly. The smuggler frames it as a security risk to the ring. The detective frames it as an evidentiary lead. Both have the same concern (Torek's spending is unusual) — but the concern has completely different stakes.
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---
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### Mirror 5: Sera Leaving
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**Trigger:** `observe_npc` — Watching Sera Venn gather her things and leave the bar when Torek arrives.
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**Shared observation:** Sera gives a brief excuse (headache, kiosk check, early shift) and leaves. She was comfortable until the moment Torek walked in.
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**Smuggler monologue:**
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*"Sera left. Good timing — she was starting to make everyone nervous anyway. Commission presence at Lera's always shifts the temperature."*
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**Detective monologue:**
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*"Second time now. Sera leaves when Torek walks in. Same type of excuse. 'Headache' last time, 'kiosk' tonight. Same result. That's two data points. Third is a pattern."*
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**What the mirror reveals:** The smuggler reads Sera's departure as relief (Commission leaving = safer conversation). The detective reads the same departure as a behavioral anomaly. The event is identical. The emotional response is inverted.
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This mirror is structurally important: it shows the detective's FRIEND arc developing through observational patience, while simultaneously showing the smuggler's categorical relationship with Commission presence.
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---
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### Mirror 6: The Station Hum
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**Trigger:** `time_idle` — Player is stationary in the terminal for more than a few seconds with no active interaction.
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**Shared observation:** The station's ambient systems — span gate hum, ventilation cycle, cargo machinery in the background — fill the silence. Sova at rest.
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**Smuggler monologue:**
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*"Span gate's cycling early. One hour to the next transit. Voss'll be running the schedule check in twenty."*
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**Detective monologue:**
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*"They've been on this station their whole lives. That hum is just background to them. I'm still trying to tune it out."*
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**What the mirror reveals:** The smuggler hears operational data in the ambient sound. The detective hears alienation. The station hum carries the same frequency to both characters' ears. It means completely different things to their experience of being in this place.
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---
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### Mirror 7: The Commission Kiosk
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**Trigger:** `enter_location` or `observe_npc` — The player walks past or observes the Commission compliance kiosk near the terminal entrance.
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**Shared observation:** The kiosk is a small Commission compliance desk near the terminal entrance — mostly unmanned, used for permit verification and compliance queries. Standard infrastructure.
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**Smuggler monologue:**
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*"Commission kiosk. Nobody uses it. Institutional furniture. Long as nobody decides to run a full cargo audit, that's exactly what I want it to stay."*
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**Detective monologue:**
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*"The compliance kiosk has public access to manifest verification records. Local. Less filtered than the request I made through channels. Check it when Maret's not watching."*
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**What the mirror reveals:** The smuggler reads the kiosk as a passive threat to be ignored. The detective reads it as an investigative tool. Same object. Same physical location. The smuggler hopes it stays irrelevant; the detective plans to use it.
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---
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### Mirror 8: Kael and Naia Together (Bar)
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**Trigger:** `observe_npc` — Seeing Kael and Naia sitting together at their usual table. Naia is talking; Kael is listening but seems distracted.
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**Shared observation:** A couple having dinner. Naia is clearly talking seriously about something. Kael is present but not quite there. The gap between them is subtle but visible.
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**Smuggler monologue:**
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*"Kael and Naia look... off. Naia's talking a lot. Kael's nodding but he's somewhere else. Something's going on at home. He doesn't say."*
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**Detective monologue:**
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*"Couple — the dock worker, Davan, and the woman who sits with Sera sometimes. She's animated; he's distracted. Relationship tension. That level of checked-out usually means someone's keeping something."*
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**What the mirror reveals:** The smuggler reads this as a friend's private trouble that deserves respect and distance. The detective reads it as behavioral evidence — someone keeping something from a partner. Same visible tension. One character looks away; the other leans in.
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---
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### Mirror 9: The Manifest Terminal
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**Trigger:** `observe_npc` or `enter_location` — The freight manifest terminal in the terminal hub.
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**Shared observation:** A freight terminal kiosk showing manifest data. Busy during shifts; the data moves constantly.
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**Smuggler monologue:**
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*"That's Maret's terminal. She's got access to all the schedules from here. If anything's getting flagged in the manifest data, she'd see it before anyone else. Maret's solid. She won't say anything."*
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**Detective monologue:**
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*"Freight manifests for the last six months, loaded from here. The cluster analysis shows three anomaly windows, all at shift transition. That's not clerical error. Someone's using this terminal to adjust records after the fact."*
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**What the mirror reveals:** The smuggler sees a trusted colleague's workspace and trusts that colleague's loyalty. The detective sees the exact location where evidence of the ring's operations lives. The terminal is simultaneously proof of criminal activity and proof of a trusted relationship — depending on which character is reading it.
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---
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### Mirror 10: The End of Shift
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**Trigger:** `observe_npc` — Watching the shift change happen across the terminal floor — workers clocking out, new crew arriving, a brief period of cross-traffic and handoffs.
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**Shared observation:** Dozens of workers moving at once. The shift change is organized chaos. Cargo gets routed, schedules are handed off, the floor changes.
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**Smuggler monologue:**
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*"Shift transition. Twenty-minute window. The floor's all cross-traffic now — nobody's tracking individual movement. This is when it runs."*
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**Detective monologue:**
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*"Shift change. Every anomaly in my manifest data clusters around this. The window. The handoff moment. Someone is using the cross-traffic as cover. But for WHAT?"*
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**What the mirror reveals:** The smuggler knows exactly what the shift change covers. The detective sees the pattern but not the specific. Both characters observe the same 20-minute window of organized chaos. One is running something through it; the other is trying to figure out what's being run.
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## 3. Mirror Moment Examples
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*v0.1 examples removed (cited named NPCs no longer in v0.2 pipeline — D-122). Author mirror pairs against the active district's social sites and NPC roster.*
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**Structural types to cover in any district:**
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- THE FRIEND at baseline routine (personal vs. analytical read)
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- Empty operational space (operational safety vs. investigative lead)
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- NPC in emotional distress (protective impulse vs. witness assessment)
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- Behavioral tell (security concern vs. evidentiary lead)
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- THE FRIEND avoiding another NPC (relief vs. behavioral anomaly)
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- Ambient environment (familiarity vs. alienation)
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- Institutional infrastructure (passive threat vs. investigative tool)
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- THE FRIEND with their significant relationship (privacy vs. evidence)
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- Information terminal (trusted colleague's workspace vs. crime scene)
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- Routine operational window (cover vs. pattern recognition)
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---
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## 4. Mirror Moment Authoring Rules
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### Rule 1: Both sides are mandatory
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A mirror moment is only complete when both the smuggler monologue and the detective monologue are authored. Omitting one side is a content gap.
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A mirror moment is only complete when both sides of the mirror are authored. Omitting one side is a content gap.
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### Rule 2: Same trigger key, different pool
|
||||
Both lines use the same `trigger` type and similar `prerequisite` conditions. They appear in separate character monologue files (D-032 hard partition). The only difference is the `character` tag.
|
||||
@@ -225,30 +76,30 @@ Add `tags: [mirror_moment]` to both sides of every mirror pair so they can be id
|
||||
## 5. YAML Example
|
||||
|
||||
```yaml
|
||||
# Smuggler side — monologue-smuggler.yaml
|
||||
- id: pc-smuggler_m_s_044
|
||||
character: smuggler
|
||||
# Character A side — monologue-character-a.yaml
|
||||
- id: pc-{archetype-a}_m_s_001
|
||||
character: {archetype-a}
|
||||
trigger: observe_npc
|
||||
prerequisite:
|
||||
location: the-terminal
|
||||
target: npc:naia-tamm
|
||||
location: {location-slug}
|
||||
target: npc:{npc-slug}
|
||||
relationship_state: Known
|
||||
text: "Naia's here without Kael again. She looks rough. Should check in. ...Not now. Later."
|
||||
mood: [concerned, fond]
|
||||
text: "{Line from character A's relationship frame — personal, protective, operational}"
|
||||
mood: [warm, concerned]
|
||||
topic: [colleague]
|
||||
tags: [mirror_moment, mirror_worried_partner]
|
||||
tags: [mirror_moment, mirror_{name}]
|
||||
|
||||
# Detective side — monologue-detective.yaml
|
||||
- id: pc-detective_m_d_044
|
||||
character: detective
|
||||
# Character B side — monologue-character-b.yaml
|
||||
- id: pc-{archetype-b}_m_d_001
|
||||
character: {archetype-b}
|
||||
trigger: observe_npc
|
||||
prerequisite:
|
||||
location: the-last-shift
|
||||
target: npc:naia-tamm
|
||||
text: "That woman — Tamm, I think Sera mentioned her — is sitting alone. Wrong energy for a social evening. Something at home, or something she's heard?"
|
||||
location: {location-slug}
|
||||
target: npc:{npc-slug}
|
||||
text: "{Same trigger, different frame — analytical, investigative, pattern-seeking}"
|
||||
mood: [analytical, curious]
|
||||
topic: [investigation]
|
||||
tags: [mirror_moment, mirror_worried_partner]
|
||||
tags: [mirror_moment, mirror_{name}]
|
||||
```
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
@@ -267,14 +118,10 @@ For each mirror pair:
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## 7. Expansion Notes (Post-v0.1)
|
||||
## 7. Expansion Notes
|
||||
|
||||
Additional mirror moments to author in future content passes:
|
||||
|
||||
- **The Missing Person Notice:** A posted notice near the bar about a missing dock worker (pre-existing, unrelated to main plot). Smuggler: "People disappear. Station life." Detective: "Filed under 'before my posting.' What was the investigative status?"
|
||||
- **Voss Walking the Floor:** The shift supervisor doing a routine floor inspection. Smuggler sees cover being maintained. Detective sees a potential informant.
|
||||
- **Drin's Inspection:** Dock inspector doing a container verification. Smuggler knows Drin will find nothing. Detective sees the inspection as either genuine compliance or evidence of a compromised process.
|
||||
Mirror moments should be authored for every repeated trigger point in a district's social sites. Priority triggers: THE FRIEND's daily routine, shift transitions, any institutional infrastructure, behavioral tells, NPC pairings that create observable social dynamics. The more a location has observable social texture, the more mirror moments it can support.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
*Ticket #329 — Mirror moment design document. 10 paired observations. v0.1 scope.*
|
||||
*Design pattern document — Mirror Moments. Examples are authored per-district against the active NPC roster.*
|
||||
|
||||
@@ -3,7 +3,6 @@
|
||||
**Pattern Type:** Production-level Tier 1 (emotional depth, full 10-axis model)
|
||||
**Design Principle:** Transparency as contrast mechanism
|
||||
**Ticket:** #380
|
||||
**Reference Implementation:** Naia Tamm (Sova Transit District v0.1)
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
@@ -26,10 +25,10 @@ THE MIRROR is the honest-character NPC pattern. No contradiction arc, no deep se
|
||||
| Absent System | Why Missing | Content Signal |
|
||||
|--------------|-------------|----------------|
|
||||
| **No tells** | Tells imply deception or concealment. MIRROR has nothing to conceal from the player (though they may be uninformed about events around them). The absence of tells IS the tell — when the player has learned to read behavioral flags on every other NPC, encountering someone without them is the anomaly. | The player's monologue might note: "No hesitation. No evasion. Either she's telling the truth or she's the best liar I've ever met." The absence becomes noticeable. |
|
||||
| **No dishonesty ≠ no misinformation** | MIRROR NPCs can be *wrong* without being *deceptive*. A MIRROR who has been lied to will repeat that lie in good faith -- they are transparent about what they believe, not omniscient about what is true. Naia reporting "Kael said he's picking up extra shifts" is honest transmission of a lie she was told. | The player recognizes the MIRROR is being used as an unwitting conduit. This makes the liar's deception feel worse, not the MIRROR's honesty feel cheaper. |
|
||||
| **No dishonesty ≠ no misinformation** | MIRROR NPCs can be *wrong* without being *deceptive*. A MIRROR who has been lied to will repeat that lie in good faith -- they are transparent about what they believe, not omniscient about what is true. A MIRROR repeating a partner's cover story is honest transmission of a lie — they're being transparent about what they believe, not what is true. | The player recognizes the MIRROR is being used as an unwitting conduit. This makes the liar's deception feel worse, not the MIRROR's honesty feel cheaper. |
|
||||
| **No secrets** (or only mundane surface-level ones) | The `secret_held` field is empty or contains only ordinary privacy (e.g., "worried about partner's late nights" — visible to anyone observant). No trust gates that reveal hidden criminal knowledge or conspiracies. | If a MIRROR has a "secret," it's one they'd share with a sympathetic stranger at a bar. There's no revelation moment where the player discovers the MIRROR was hiding something all along. |
|
||||
| **No contradiction arc** | No phases, no discovery moment, no color shift from green to amber. The relationship with MIRROR is stable across the session. | The trust level may deepen (public → insider → peer), but there's no betrayal moment. The MIRROR you meet at minute 5 is the same MIRROR at minute 25. |
|
||||
| **No trust-gated dialogue that changes the picture of who they are** | Trust progression reveals more FEELING, not more SECRETS. Deeper access tiers show emotional vulnerability, not concealed information. | At `public` tier: "I'm worried about Kael." At `peer` tier: "I don't know what to do. I love him, but I can't keep living like this." Same truth, deeper emotion. |
|
||||
| **No trust-gated dialogue that changes the picture of who they are** | Trust progression reveals more FEELING, not more SECRETS. Deeper access tiers show emotional vulnerability, not concealed information. | At `public` tier: "I'm worried about them." At `peer` tier: "I don't know what to do. I love them, but I can't keep living like this." Same truth, deeper emotion. |
|
||||
|
||||
### What MIRROR NPCs DO Have
|
||||
|
||||
@@ -50,7 +49,7 @@ THE MIRROR is the honest-character NPC pattern. No contradiction arc, no deep se
|
||||
|-------------|-----------|----------|
|
||||
| **Dialogue** | 25-35 | Greetings (5), emotional state conversation (8-10), relationship discussion (5-7), situation responses (5-8), peer-tier vulnerability (3-5) |
|
||||
| **Trust-gated dialogue** | 10-15 | Deeper emotional exposure at insider/peer tiers. Not secret revelations — emotional revelations. "I'm scared" vs "I'm worried." |
|
||||
| **Unprompted lines** | 3-5 | MIRROR volunteers emotional state or asks for help. "Have you seen Kael today? I'm worried." |
|
||||
| **Unprompted lines** | 3-5 | MIRROR volunteers emotional state or asks for help. "Have you seen {partner} today? I'm worried." |
|
||||
| **Monologue triggers** | 10-15 per character | Player's internal reaction to MIRROR's honesty. Smuggler: guilt (if protecting someone the MIRROR loves). Detective: relief (finally someone not lying) + strategic value (MIRROR as witness to behavioral change). |
|
||||
| **Voice sample** | 3-5 lines | Covering: baseline warm, worried, brittle (close to tolerance break) |
|
||||
|
||||
@@ -73,7 +72,7 @@ THE MIRROR is the honest-character NPC pattern. No contradiction arc, no deep se
|
||||
| What the Player Experiences | System State | Mechanical Expression |
|
||||
|-----------------------------|--------------|---------------------|
|
||||
| Early game: MIRROR seems ordinary | No behavioral flags set. No `contradiction_flagged`. No tell observations in monologue. | The player's training (from interacting with NPCs who DO have tells) hasn't fired. This feels normal. |
|
||||
| Mid game: Player has learned to read other NPCs | The player has observed: Kael looks left when lying, Sera leaves when Torek arrives, Voss fidgets when questioned about manifests. | The player's mental model now expects tells. They're watching for them. |
|
||||
| Mid game: Player has learned to read other NPCs | The player has observed: one NPC deflects eye contact when lying, another leaves when a third NPC arrives, a third fidgets when questioned about their role. | The player's mental model now expects tells. They're watching for them. |
|
||||
| MIRROR interaction: No tells present | Player talks to MIRROR. MIRROR makes eye contact, answers directly, emotional state matches words. No spatial deviation, no topic deflection, no nervous tics. | The ABSENCE is striking. The player's monologue notes it: "No hesitation. She's either telling the truth or she's the best actor I've ever seen." |
|
||||
| Resolution: Trust through transparency | If the player cross-references MIRROR's information with other sources, it checks out. MIRROR was telling the truth. | The player LEARNS that honesty exists in this world. That one person isn't performing. That becomes the emotional fulcrum for everything else. |
|
||||
|
||||
@@ -99,10 +98,10 @@ MIRROR dialogue follows the standard four-layer system (D-028) but with simplifi
|
||||
|
||||
| Tier | What MIRROR Shares | Example |
|
||||
|------|-------------------|---------|
|
||||
| **Public** | Observable emotional state, general information about their life/relationships | "I teach at the community school. The kids are doing well this term." |
|
||||
| **Insider** | Specific worry, named relationships, genuine vulnerability | "Kael's been coming home late. Says it's work, but the schedule doesn't match. I don't know what to think." |
|
||||
| **Peer** | Deep emotional exposure, requests for help or advice | "I'm scared, honestly. Not of Kael — of what Kael might be involved in. I don't know who else to talk to." |
|
||||
| **Authority** (if detective) | Cooperation with investigation, willingness to provide information about loved one despite emotional cost | "If you think Kael is in trouble, I want to know. I'll help if I can. Just — please don't hurt him." |
|
||||
| **Public** | Observable emotional state, general information about their life/relationships | "I work at the station school. The kids are doing well this term." |
|
||||
| **Insider** | Specific worry, named relationships, genuine vulnerability | "{Partner} has been coming home late. Says it's work, but the schedule doesn't match. I don't know what to think." |
|
||||
| **Peer** | Deep emotional exposure, requests for help or advice | "I'm scared, honestly. Not of them — of what they might be involved in. I don't know who else to talk to." |
|
||||
| **Authority** (if detective) | Cooperation with investigation, willingness to provide information about loved one despite emotional cost | "If you think they're in trouble, I want to know. I'll help if I can. Just — please don't hurt them." |
|
||||
|
||||
**No secret tier that reveals hidden criminal knowledge.** The MIRROR doesn't have hidden criminal knowledge. The "secret" tier for MIRROR is the deepest emotional vulnerability, not a plot revelation.
|
||||
|
||||
@@ -115,14 +114,14 @@ What changes: Depth of emotional sharing, not type of information.
|
||||
What doesn't change: The facts. MIRROR tells the same truth at all tiers. The emotion around it deepens.
|
||||
```
|
||||
|
||||
**Example progression (Naia about Kael):**
|
||||
**Example progression (MIRROR about their entangled partner):**
|
||||
|
||||
- **Public:** "Kael works at the freight hub. Dock worker. We've been together six years."
|
||||
- **Insider:** "Kael's been stressed lately. Late nights, evasive when I ask about it. I'm worried."
|
||||
- **Peer:** "I love him. But I can't keep doing this — the not-knowing is killing me. I think something's wrong. I just don't know what."
|
||||
- **Authority (detective):** "If you're investigating something at the hub, and if Kael is involved — I need to know. I'll help. I just need the truth."
|
||||
- **Public:** "{Partner} works at the freight terminal. We've been together {n} years."
|
||||
- **Insider:** "{Partner} has been stressed lately. Late nights, evasive when I ask about it. I'm worried."
|
||||
- **Peer:** "I love them. But I can't keep doing this — the not-knowing is killing me. I think something's wrong. I just don't know what."
|
||||
- **Authority (detective):** "If you're investigating something there, and if {partner} is involved — I need to know. I'll help. I just need the truth."
|
||||
|
||||
Same story. Deeper emotion. No revelation that changes the player's understanding of who Naia is.
|
||||
Same story. Deeper emotion. No revelation that changes the player's understanding of who the MIRROR is.
|
||||
|
||||
### Monologue Trigger Design
|
||||
|
||||
@@ -132,153 +131,29 @@ MIRROR NPCs trigger monologue focused on the PC's EMOTIONAL REACTION to the MIRR
|
||||
|
||||
| Trigger | Monologue Content | Emotional Layer |
|
||||
|---------|------------------|-----------------|
|
||||
| Observe MIRROR waiting at bar | "Naia's at the bar again. Alone. Keeps looking at the door. I know where Kael is. I can't say." | Guilt. The smuggler's operational knowledge creates distance from the MIRROR's suffering. |
|
||||
| MIRROR asks about loved one | "She asked if I'd seen Kael today. What do I say? 'Yeah, he's fine, just moving contraband?' Can't tell her. Can't lie to her face either." | Moral tension. The MIRROR's directness makes evasion feel worse. |
|
||||
| MIRROR shares deep worry | "She's really scared. Not just worried — scared. And she has no idea what's actually happening. If she knew..." | Protective instinct + guilt. The smuggler wants to shield the MIRROR from both the truth and the consequences. |
|
||||
| Observe MIRROR waiting at bar | "{MIRROR} is at the bar again. Alone. Keeps looking at the door. I know where {partner} is. I can't say." | Guilt. The smuggler's operational knowledge creates distance from the MIRROR's suffering. |
|
||||
| MIRROR asks about loved one | "They asked if I'd seen {partner} today. What do I say? Can't tell them. Can't lie to their face either." | Moral tension. The MIRROR's directness makes evasion feel worse. |
|
||||
| MIRROR shares deep worry | "They're really scared. Not just worried — scared. And they have no idea what's actually happening. If they knew..." | Protective instinct + guilt. The smuggler wants to shield the MIRROR from both the truth and the consequences. |
|
||||
|
||||
**Detective monologue about MIRROR:**
|
||||
|
||||
| Trigger | Monologue Content | Emotional Layer |
|
||||
|---------|------------------|-----------------|
|
||||
| First conversation with MIRROR | "She's not hiding anything. I've interviewed enough people to know when someone's performing. She's genuinely worried." | Relief. In a district where everyone seems evasive, the MIRROR is a breath of fresh air. |
|
||||
| MIRROR shares information about loved one | "She knows his routine better than anyone. The late nights, the evasions — she's been tracking them without realizing it. She's building my case for me." | Strategic recognition. The MIRROR is a witness to behavioral change — the best kind. |
|
||||
| MIRROR asks for help | "She wants me to figure out what's wrong. Not to arrest anyone — just to know. That's... trust. Real trust." | Emotional weight. The detective realizes the investigation has personal stakes for the MIRROR. Success means breaking someone's heart. |
|
||||
| First conversation with MIRROR | "Not hiding anything. I've interviewed enough people to know when someone's performing. This person is genuinely worried." | Relief. In a district where everyone seems evasive, the MIRROR is a breath of fresh air. |
|
||||
| MIRROR shares information about loved one | "Knows {partner}'s routine better than anyone. The late nights, the evasions — been tracking them without realizing it. Building my case for me." | Strategic recognition. The MIRROR is a witness to behavioral change — the best kind. |
|
||||
| MIRROR asks for help | "They want me to figure out what's wrong. Not to arrest anyone — just to know. That's... trust. Real trust." | Emotional weight. The detective realizes the investigation has personal stakes for the MIRROR. Success means breaking someone's heart. |
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## 6. Naia Tamm — Reference Implementation
|
||||
## 6. Reference Implementation
|
||||
|
||||
Naia Tamm is the v0.1 MIRROR NPC in Sova Transit District. Let me walk through how her 10-axis profile demonstrates each MIRROR rule.
|
||||
*v0.1 named-NPC example removed (cited NPCs no longer in v0.2 pipeline — D-122). Author MIRROR reference implementations against the active district's roster using the generator template in Section 7.*
|
||||
|
||||
### Core Identity
|
||||
|
||||
- **Name:** Naia Tamm
|
||||
- **Age:** 33
|
||||
- **Role:** Teacher, Station Sova community school
|
||||
- **Social Site:** The Last Shift (Bar)
|
||||
- **Triangle:** Triangle 4 — The Worried Partner (Naia - Kael - Sera)
|
||||
|
||||
### 10-Axis MIRROR Implementation
|
||||
|
||||
#### 1. Want (Tier 1 depth, no deception)
|
||||
|
||||
**Primary:** Understand what's happening with Kael.
|
||||
|
||||
Naia and Kael have been together 6 years. Kael started coming home late, evasive answers, money that doesn't match hours. Naia doesn't know about the ring. Naia knows the person they share a life with is hiding something. The not-knowing is worse than almost any truth.
|
||||
|
||||
**Secondary:** Protect the life they've built.
|
||||
|
||||
Naia wants it resolved without destroying everything — the home, the relationship, the stability. This is why Naia confides in Sera instead of confronting Kael directly: wants advice, not a fight.
|
||||
|
||||
**MIRROR rule demonstrated:** Want is ABOUT someone else's secret, not concealing Naia's own. Naia's motivation is transparent to the player from the first conversation.
|
||||
|
||||
#### 2. Secret / Vulnerability (surface-level only)
|
||||
|
||||
**Surface secret:** Worried about Kael. Visible to anyone who sees Naia's stress.
|
||||
|
||||
**Deep secret:** Naia confided in Sera about Kael's behavior. This is the action that set Sera's compliance check in motion, though Naia doesn't know that. Naia shared a personal worry with a trusted friend.
|
||||
|
||||
**Vulnerability:** Emotional exposure. Naia's worry is genuine, visible, exploitable.
|
||||
|
||||
**MIRROR rule demonstrated:** Naia's "secret" is that she confided in a friend. That's not a conspiracy — it's ordinary human behavior under stress. The vulnerability is EMOTIONAL, not criminal.
|
||||
|
||||
#### 3. Relationships (genuine, no hidden agendas)
|
||||
|
||||
**Kael Davan (partner, 6 years):** Deep love, growing anxiety. Doesn't question Kael's character — just Kael's honesty.
|
||||
|
||||
**Sera Venn (close friend, 10 months):** Genuine friendship. Trusts Sera as someone who can give perspective without gossip.
|
||||
|
||||
**Lera Sessik (bar acquaintance):** Social connection. Lera is warm to Naia — protective attention to someone visibly struggling.
|
||||
|
||||
**MIRROR rule demonstrated:** All relationships are exactly what they appear to be. No hidden resentments, no secret alliances, no ulterior motives. Naia likes who she likes for straightforward reasons.
|
||||
|
||||
#### 4. Tolerance Threshold (moderate, genuine limits)
|
||||
|
||||
**Moderate.** Patient — teaching station kids requires it. But patience is fraying. Every evasive answer from Kael chips at tolerance. If pushed to breaking point, Naia confronts Kael directly — which could trigger Kael's crisis, force Sera's hand, or give the detective an opening.
|
||||
|
||||
**MIRROR rule demonstrated:** Tolerance threshold is real and observable. No hidden resilience, no secret breaking point. What Naia says she can tolerate is what she can tolerate.
|
||||
|
||||
#### 5. Daily Routine (predictable, no spatial deviations)
|
||||
|
||||
- 07:00 - 15:00: Teaching (community school, Residential Radial A)
|
||||
- 15:00 - 15:30: Commute back to Transit District
|
||||
- 15:30 - 17:30: Bar (The Last Shift) — meets Sera, social time
|
||||
- 17:30 - 22:00: Home. Waits for Kael.
|
||||
- Late evenings: Alone in apartment, wondering where Kael is.
|
||||
|
||||
**MIRROR rule demonstrated:** Routine is stable, observable, doesn't hide anything. Naia is where she says she'll be. No unauthorized corridor meetings, no suspicious timing patterns. The routine itself is transparent.
|
||||
|
||||
#### 6. Information Inventory (knows what she knows, doesn't know what she doesn't)
|
||||
|
||||
**Knows:** Kael's normal routine (6 years of partnership), Kael's recent deviations (late nights, evasive answers), Sera's Commission role (knows Sera is a tech, not investigator), bar social dynamics, school community.
|
||||
|
||||
**Doesn't know:** Ring, smuggling, Kael's membership, manifest discrepancies, Sera's compliance check, the detective's investigation.
|
||||
|
||||
**MIRROR rule demonstrated:** Naia's knowledge state is exactly what it appears to be. She's not concealing anything she knows. She genuinely doesn't know the conspiracy exists. This makes her the perfect witness to BEHAVIORAL change without knowledge of CAUSE.
|
||||
|
||||
#### 7. Contentment (low and declining — thematically essential)
|
||||
|
||||
**Was content:** Stable job, loving partner, community. Now relationship anxiety is coloring everything. Teaching is harder when distracted. Bar visits tinged with worry. Home is where the absence lives.
|
||||
|
||||
**MIRROR rule demonstrated:** Contentment trajectory is VISIBLE and GENUINE. Naia isn't pretending to be happy or hiding dissatisfaction. Her emotional state is observable in her voice, her behavior, her routine changes (increased bar presence = avoiding empty apartment).
|
||||
|
||||
#### 8. Personality Traits (no performance, no mask)
|
||||
|
||||
- **Primary: Caring** — genuinely invested in other people's wellbeing
|
||||
- **Secondary: Patient** — tolerates uncertainty longer than most, but not indefinitely
|
||||
- **Tertiary: Perceptive** — reads emotional states well. Knows when Kael is lying even if can't prove it.
|
||||
|
||||
**MIRROR rule demonstrated:** These traits are REAL, not performed. Naia's caring isn't a manipulation tactic. Her perceptiveness makes her WORRIED (she knows something's wrong) but doesn't make her SUSPICIOUS (she trusts Kael's character even while doubting his honesty about the situation).
|
||||
|
||||
#### 9. Tell System (ABSENT — the design payload)
|
||||
|
||||
Naia's entry in the wiki lists three "tells":
|
||||
|
||||
| Tell | Trigger | Observable To |
|
||||
|------|---------|---------------|
|
||||
| Visible stress | Tired eyes, distracted conversation, checking lattice | Sera, Lera, Detective, bar regulars |
|
||||
| Mentions Kael unprompted | Worry overflowing into conversation | Sera, Detective (if sitting nearby) |
|
||||
| Increased bar presence | Coming more often, staying longer — avoiding empty apartment | Lera (notices pattern), Sera (recognizes coping mechanism) |
|
||||
|
||||
**CRITICAL MIRROR DISTINCTION:** These are NOT tells in the deception-detection sense. They're not "behavioral flags that signal concealment." They're GENUINE STRESS MARKERS. Naia is visibly worried because Naia IS worried. There's no contradiction between internal state and external behavior.
|
||||
|
||||
**The system perspective:** A TELL is a deviation that signals deception (Kael looks left when lying, Sera leaves when Torek arrives). Naia's behaviors are COPING MECHANISMS and EMOTIONAL EXPRESSIONS, not tells. The player's monologue doesn't say "She's hiding something." It says "She's really struggling."
|
||||
|
||||
**MIRROR rule demonstrated:** The absence of deception-tells IS the content. The player who has learned to read evasion on other NPCs will notice that Naia makes direct eye contact, answers questions fully, doesn't deflect topics, doesn't have spatial anomalies beyond her normal routine. That ABSENCE becomes the signal: "This person is being honest with me."
|
||||
|
||||
#### 10. Skill Set (civilian, no hidden capabilities)
|
||||
|
||||
**Occupational:** Teaching, community engagement, youth education, curriculum management.
|
||||
|
||||
**Combat tag:** NO. Entirely civilian.
|
||||
|
||||
**Lattice capability:** Baseline.
|
||||
|
||||
**MIRROR rule demonstrated:** No hidden skills, no secret training, no combat capability concealed behind a civilian facade. Naia is exactly what she presents: a teacher who's worried about her partner.
|
||||
|
||||
### Naia's Triangle Role (Emotional Center)
|
||||
|
||||
**Triangle 4: The Worried Partner (Naia - Kael - Sera)**
|
||||
|
||||
Naia is the emotional center. Naia's worry about Kael triggered Sera's investigation. Naia's trust in Sera makes Sera's concealment more painful. Naia connects the detective's investigation to Kael's personal life through Sera, through Naia's own observations, through the fact that a worried partner is the best witness to behavioral change.
|
||||
|
||||
**Why MIRROR works here:** Naia is UNINVOLVED in the conspiracy but CENTRAL to its emotional impact. She's the person both the smuggler and detective want to protect — and the person whose honest worry makes the smuggling operation's human cost visible. If Naia were lying, the triangle would be about competing deceptions. Because Naia is honest, the triangle is about the COST of everyone else's deceptions.
|
||||
|
||||
### Dual-Lens Implementation
|
||||
|
||||
**Smuggler perspective (if smuggler is Kael's friend):**
|
||||
|
||||
Naia is emotional collateral. The smuggler knows why Kael is busy and can't say. Seeing Naia's worry creates guilt. If Naia asks the smuggler about Kael, there's no good answer.
|
||||
|
||||
Sample monologue: *"Naia's at the bar again. Alone. Looking at the door every time it opens. I know where Kael is. I can't say."*
|
||||
|
||||
**Detective perspective:**
|
||||
|
||||
Naia is a potential source. A partner who suspects their loved one is hiding something is a classic entry point. The detective can cultivate Naia's trust by being sympathetic — listen, validate, gently probe. Naia might not know specifics, but knows Kael's routine, habits, recent changes better than anyone.
|
||||
|
||||
Sample monologue: *"The partner — Naia Tamm. Teacher. Visibly stressed. Keeps looking at the door. If Davan is involved, this partner knows something changed, even if they don't know what."*
|
||||
|
||||
**MIRROR payload in dual-lens:** SAME transparency, DIFFERENT player reaction. Smuggler feels guilt. Detective sees opportunity. Both recognize honesty. The MIRROR's transparency makes the two characters' different relationships to truth more visible by contrast.
|
||||
**What a reference implementation demonstrates:**
|
||||
- 10-axis profile with the MIRROR rules annotated at each axis
|
||||
- Triangle role showing how the MIRROR's honesty creates emotional pressure on entangled NPCs
|
||||
- Dual-lens comparison showing same transparency producing different player reactions (guilt vs. strategic recognition)
|
||||
- Visible stress markers explicitly distinguished from deception tells
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
@@ -459,7 +334,7 @@ MIRROR is mechanically interesting BECAUSE of the surrounding systems. In a game
|
||||
|
||||
### The Emotional Fulcrum
|
||||
|
||||
When the ring's actions threaten the MIRROR (Naia worrying about Kael, potentially losing her relationship and stability), the player FEELS it because they've learned to believe this person.
|
||||
When the ring's actions threaten the MIRROR's relationships and stability, the player FEELS it because they've learned to believe this person.
|
||||
|
||||
**Smuggler:** The guilt of watching an innocent person suffer because of your operations. You can't tell her. You can't protect her. You're part of the cause of her pain.
|
||||
|
||||
@@ -469,18 +344,18 @@ When the ring's actions threaten the MIRROR (Naia worrying about Kael, potential
|
||||
|
||||
### The Trust Anchor
|
||||
|
||||
In a district where everyone has an agenda, the MIRROR is the person the player can RELY on. When the smuggler needs to know what's happening with Kael, Naia will tell the truth as she understands it. When the detective needs a witness, Naia will cooperate fully. The MIRROR's reliability is itself a strategic asset — but one that comes with emotional cost (using an innocent person's trust).
|
||||
In a district where everyone has an agenda, the MIRROR is the person the player can RELY on. When the smuggler needs to know what's happening with {partner}, the MIRROR will tell the truth as they understand it. When the detective needs a witness, the MIRROR will cooperate fully. The MIRROR's reliability is itself a strategic asset — but one that comes with emotional cost (using an innocent person's trust).
|
||||
|
||||
**System interaction:** The trust-gated gossip system (D-028 Layer 3, #171) means NPCs share information at different access tiers. With most NPCs, the player wonders: "Is this real or are they steering me?" With MIRROR, that question is answered: "This is real. She's telling me everything she knows." That certainty is VALUABLE in a game built on asymmetric information.
|
||||
**System interaction:** The trust-gated gossip system (D-028 Layer 3, #171) means NPCs share information at different access tiers. With most NPCs, the player wonders: "Is this real or are they steering me?" With MIRROR, that question is answered: "This is real. They're telling me everything they know." That certainty is VALUABLE in a game built on asymmetric information.
|
||||
|
||||
### The Replay Dimension
|
||||
|
||||
On second playthrough, playing the other character, the MIRROR's honesty becomes even more visible. The player KNOWS Naia isn't involved. They see her worry from a different angle:
|
||||
On second playthrough, playing the other character, the MIRROR's honesty becomes even more visible. The player KNOWS this person isn't involved. They see their worry from a different angle:
|
||||
|
||||
- **Playthrough 1 (smuggler):** "I know why Kael is busy. Naia's worry is collateral damage."
|
||||
- **Playthrough 2 (detective):** "Naia's worry is my opening. She's the way in."
|
||||
- **Playthrough 1 (smuggler):** "I know why {partner} is busy. {MIRROR}'s worry is collateral damage."
|
||||
- **Playthrough 2 (detective):** "{MIRROR}'s worry is my opening. They're the way in."
|
||||
|
||||
Same honesty. Different use. The player's knowledge that Naia is a MIRROR (from first playthrough) makes the second playthrough's interaction with her more complex: "I know she's honest. How do I use that? Should I?"
|
||||
Same honesty. Different use. The player's knowledge that this NPC is a MIRROR (from first playthrough) makes the second playthrough's interaction more complex: "I know they're honest. How do I use that? Should I?"
|
||||
|
||||
**Replay payload:** MIRROR transparency survives across playthroughs. FRIEND contradictions change (different seed might assign FRIEND to different NPC). MIRROR remains honest regardless of seed. That constancy is mechanically useful for teaching the player to recognize honesty — and ethically complex when the player knows they'll exploit it.
|
||||
|
||||
@@ -617,16 +492,11 @@ In a world where everyone is hiding something, the one person who isn't becomes
|
||||
- That trust makes the MIRROR's emotional stakes real
|
||||
- Threats to the MIRROR create urgency and moral weight
|
||||
|
||||
**Naia Tamm demonstrates every rule:** She has full Tier 1 depth, genuine emotional complexity, visible stress, transparent relationships, predictable routine, and zero deception. Her honesty makes Kael's secrets painful, Sera's concealment costly, and the investigation's human consequences visible.
|
||||
|
||||
**For content authors:** MIRROR is mechanically simple (no contradiction content) but emotionally complex (full 10-axis depth). The 50-70 line budget focuses on genuine emotional expression, trust progression through vulnerability, and dual-lens player reaction. The MIRROR is the person both characters want to protect — and the person who makes the cost of deception real.
|
||||
**For content authors:** MIRROR is mechanically simple (no contradiction content) but emotionally complex (full 10-axis depth). Full Tier 1 depth, genuine emotional complexity, visible stress, transparent relationships, predictable routine, zero deception — the MIRROR's honesty makes the entangled NPC's secrets painful, other NPCs' concealment costly, and the investigation's human consequences visible. The 50-70 line budget focuses on genuine emotional expression, trust progression through vulnerability, and dual-lens player reaction. The MIRROR is the person both characters want to protect — and the person who makes the cost of deception real.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
**End Pattern Specification.**
|
||||
|
||||
**Files referenced:**
|
||||
- `/var/mnt/data/projects/settled-reach/copy/wiki/npcs/naia-tamm.md` — Reference implementation
|
||||
- `/var/mnt/data/projects/settled-reach/copy/decisions/content.md` — D-024 (10-axis model), D-028 (dialogue architecture), D-029 (entanglement ratio), D-032 (separate monologue pools), D-034 (THE FRIEND pattern), D-035 (tag taxonomy)
|
||||
- `/var/mnt/data/projects/settled-reach/copy/docs/workshops/v01-content-scoping/round2-gestalt.md` — Pattern definitions and NPC mapping
|
||||
- `/var/mnt/data/projects/settled-reach/copy/docs/workshops/v01-gap-analysis/round2-gestalt.md` — Unified observation system, character identity integration
|
||||
**Decisions referenced:**
|
||||
- `decisions/content.md` — D-024 (10-axis model), D-028 (dialogue architecture), D-029 (entanglement ratio), D-032 (separate monologue pools), D-034 (THE FRIEND pattern), D-035 (tag taxonomy)
|
||||
|
||||
Reference in New Issue
Block a user