From d5ecd9cba8104c5d48e75be7e2eb3e45bf7ee1f2 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Jeroen Schweitzer Date: Wed, 25 Feb 2026 11:55:21 +0100 Subject: [PATCH] docs(workshops): add character creation & game setup workshop brief Resolves Q-011 (character selection). Covers: creation model (fixed/ generated/custom), seed boundary table, gate activation, quest seeding, game condition toggles. Reference games: DF, RimWorld, Sims, Disco Elysium, Obra Dinn, Pentiment. 5 rounds, 6 participants. Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.6 --- .../workshop-brief.md | 375 ++++++++++++++++++ 1 file changed, 375 insertions(+) create mode 100644 docs/workshops/character-creation-game-setup/workshop-brief.md diff --git a/docs/workshops/character-creation-game-setup/workshop-brief.md b/docs/workshops/character-creation-game-setup/workshop-brief.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..fc00f8116 --- /dev/null +++ b/docs/workshops/character-creation-game-setup/workshop-brief.md @@ -0,0 +1,375 @@ +# Workshop: Character Creation & Game Setup + +**Date:** 2026-02-25 +**Facilitator:** Team Leader (Jeroen) +**Participants:** Nigel (replayability), Paula (narrative), Gestalt (systems), Miri (worldbuilding), Tyre (architecture), Qatux (documenter) +**Status:** Not started + +--- + +## Purpose + +Define what the character creation / new game screen actually does. This +is the most fundamental unresolved design question in the project: what +does the player choose, what does the seed control, and what does that +combination produce? + +This workshop resolves **Q-011** (character selection and playable +characters) and establishes the boundary between player agency, character +archetype, and world seed. Everything downstream — quest generation, gate +activation, difficulty, replayability — flows from getting this table right. + +## Context + +### What's decided + +- **D-005:** Single character per playthrough. Character choice determines + starting location, starting knowledge, available levers, personal goals. + "Same conspiracy, different character, completely different game." +- **D-027:** v0.1 vertical slice ships with 2 characters: smuggler and + detective. Inverted perspectives on the same world. +- **D-023:** Three-tier content model. Tier 1 (authored drama) drawn from + a pool at game start. Tier 2 (templated). Tier 3 (procedural filler). +- **D-029:** Population entanglement ratio 30/50/20, varies per seed. +- **D-010:** Deterministic simulation. Same seed + same content = identical + world state. +- **D-039:** Wow moment 4 is the Divergence Reveal — same room, different + character, different everything. This is THE replayability payoff. +- **D-041:** Knowledge graph is per-entity. Characters start with different + knowledge. +- **D-032:** Separate monologue pools per character. +- **Seed config schema** (ticket #394): Records seed value, character + selection, pool draws, template assignments, starting knowledge. + +### What's open + +- **Q-011:** Character selection and playable characters — not yet discussed. + Which characters? How different are starting positions? Canon or original? +- **Q-010:** Storyteller AI design — pacing rules, structural vs dramatic + randomness. Adjacent to this workshop but NOT in scope to fully resolve. + +### What's NOT in scope + +- Full character roster beyond v0.1 (two characters first, prove it works) +- Endgame quest design (no endgame exists yet — note toggles, defer design) +- Storyteller pacing algorithm (Q-010 is a separate workshop) +- Character naming edge cases (namespace collisions with NPCs — note, defer) +- Full quest system architecture (scope to: what quest SHAPES are seeded at + creation, not the full quest pipeline) + +### Design guardrail + +Character selection determines your starting **information position** and +**social graph**, not your capabilities. Characters have different verbs +available, not different success probabilities for the same verbs. The +smuggler doesn't get "+5% to cargo inspection" — the smuggler gets "Slip +Manifest" as a verb the detective never sees. This is D-005's intent and +D-028's access tier system in practice. Do not drift toward stat sheets. + +## Key Questions + +### Q1: What does character selection actually select? + +Three possible models — the workshop must pick one (or a hybrid): + +**A. Fixed archetype roster.** Player picks "smuggler" or "detective" from a +list. Each is a fully pre-authored starting position. Knowledge from +playthrough 1 fully transfers — you know exactly where the smuggler starts. + +**B. Archetype + generated instance.** Player picks "smuggler" but YOUR +smuggler is procedurally placed in the social web. Different starting +coworkers, different shift schedule, different corridor assignment. Knowledge +partially transfers — you know smuggler life, but not this smuggler's life. + +**B2. Archetype + curated instance.** Player picks "smuggler," sees 2-3 +procedurally generated social configurations, and picks one. RimWorld's +colonist reroll mechanic — curation from a generated pool rather than full +specification. Middle path between A and B. + +**C. Fully custom.** Player picks background axes (profession, social +tier, faction affinity). No pre-authored archetype. Maximum variation, +maximum authoring cost. + +For each model: what are the replayability implications? What's the +authoring cost? What does this mean for the Divergence Reveal (D-039)? + +Also consider: does the player configure starting knowledge weights, or +is starting knowledge fully determined by archetype? (DF's embark skill +point system lets players shape starting capability within constraints.) + +### Q2: The seed boundary — what varies by what? + +Produce a canonical three-column table: + +| Determined by world seed | Determined by character choice | Player-configured | +|--------------------------|-------------------------------|-------------------| +| ? | ? | ? | + +Examples to place: NPC relationships, which NPCs are compromised, +starting location, starting knowledge graph state, access tiers, +gate activation timing, conspiracy shape, population entanglement +ratio, THE FRIEND identity, starting inventory... + +Include a fourth implicit column: **what information exists in the world +but is inaccessible to this character?** Not locked behind a mechanic — +just absent from their information space entirely. The gap between what +the world contains and what the character can see IS the replayability. +(See: Obra Dinn in Reference Games.) + +This table IS the workshop's primary deliverable. Get it right and every +downstream system knows its inputs. + +### Q3: How does gate activation relate to character choice? + +The contamination/conspiracy discovery trigger — the moment the game shifts +from daily life to investigation. Two sub-questions: + +**A.** Does character choice change WHEN you discover contamination, or only +HOW you experience it? (Detective flags cargo anomalies early via lattice +analysis. Smuggler witnesses something directly. Same world-state, different +discovery paths.) + +Consider Pentiment's model: the murder happens near you, not TO you. You're +pulled in by proximity and relationship, not by being the assigned +investigator. Is gate activation something that happens to the world (and +the character stumbles into it), or something the character triggers through +their specific access? + +**B.** Are discovery paths authored per character (detective always discovers +via X) or emergent (character knowledge graph + storyteller pacing = different +discovery window per playthrough)? What's the minimum authored content needed +per character to make gate activation feel character-specific? + +Explicit RimWorld check: is contamination timing a player-configurable +"storyteller" choice, fixed per character, or emergent from play? Don't +collapse pacing control into archetype selection. + +### Q4: Quest seeding — templates vs randomization + +The user's directive: "the quest system should offer relevant randomized +quests based on creation instead of going fully scripted." Scope this to: + +- What quest SHAPES (not specific quests) are determined at character + creation? (e.g., smuggler gets logistics-flavored side quests, detective + gets investigation-flavored ones) +- How do Tier 2 templates (D-023) interact with character choice? Does the + smuggler's template pool differ from the detective's? +- What is authored (main quest templates, scripted quality) vs generated + (side content, character-relevant variations)? +- How many quest templates are needed per character for v0.1 to feel varied? +- Does the character have visible long-term goals the game tracks? Does the + smuggler TELL you what they want (goals screen) or do wants emerge from + play? (The Sims' wants/aspirations system as reference.) + +### Q5: Game conditions and toggles + +The user wants players to be able to configure their experience. But some +toggles destroy the game's core tension. Define: + +- **What CAN be toggled:** Challenge intensity, optional content modules, + timer pressure, specific life-sim subsystems +- **What CANNOT be toggled:** Core conspiracy simulation, investigator + faction presence, information asymmetry. These exist whether the player + sees them or not. +- **Starting location selection:** Is this a player choice or determined + by archetype? If player choice, what does it mean for authored content? +- **Enable/disable endgame quests:** Note for future design. What's the + minimum we need to decide NOW vs what can wait until endgame exists? + +### Q6: The playthrough 2 test + +Concrete synthesis test. Nigel presents the following scenario to the room: + +> You've played the smuggler on seed X. You now know: Kael is trying to +> exit the ring. Sera Venn is protecting Naia. The detective flagged your +> manifest on Day 2. The contamination hit during the evening shift at +> The Last Shift. You pick the detective on the SAME seed. Minute 1: you +> arrive at the Commission office. Minute 5: your first assignment. +> Minute 10: you walk into The Terminal where you spent 30 hours as the +> smuggler. + +Against the combined design from Rounds 1-4, each participant answers: + +1. What does the detective see in The Terminal that the smuggler never saw? +2. What does the detective's monologue say about Kael — whom the smuggler + considered a friend? +3. Does the contamination trigger differently, or at the same moment via + a different path? +4. Name one thing the player LEARNED in playthrough 1 that changes how + they PLAY playthrough 2 — not metagaming, but genuine new understanding. + +If participants can't answer these concretely, the design has a gap. +Find it and fix it before the workshop closes. + +## Reference Games + +### Dwarf Fortress — the fossil record + +World generation creates centuries of invisible history. The player never +reads a history log — they excavate its consequences. A collapsed +civilization left ruins. A grudge between two species shapes who attacks +your fort. The history is SUBSTRATE, not content. + +The lesson for us: the world seed should produce CONSTRAINTS and RESIDUES +that make the current situation feel inevitable. How long has this smuggling +ring been operating? What's its history of near-discovery? Which institutional +figures already have kompromat on them? The player never sees this directly +but feels its weight on every NPC relationship state they encounter. + +Also relevant: the embark skill point system — players shape starting +capability within constraints rather than receiving a fixed loadout. Consider +for Q1: does the player configure starting knowledge within their archetype? + +### RimWorld — the separation principle + +Storyteller selection (Cassandra/Phoebe/Randy) controls pacing, not content. +Scenario defines starting resources and constraints. Colonist generation is +partially random, partially player-curated (reroll, choose skills). + +**Key lesson 1:** The storyteller and starting conditions are SEPARATE +choices. Our gate activation / contamination pacing (Q3) maps to storyteller +selection. Our character archetype maps to scenario. Don't collapse them. + +**Key lesson 2:** Player CURATION from a procedurally generated set is +different from player SPECIFICATION of a custom set. RimWorld's colonist +reroll is a point-buy system hidden behind a reroll interface. For us: +model B2 — see 2-3 generated social configurations for "your smuggler" and +pick one. This is a viable middle path that deserves to be on the table. + +### The Sims — verbs, not stats + +Traits in The Sims are PERMISSION SYSTEMS for social interactions, not stat +modifiers. The Outgoing Sim doesn't get +20% to social checks — they get +access to DIFFERENT VERBS. They can autonomously initiate conversations the +Introvert Sim cannot. This is exactly our access tier system (D-028 Layer 1). + +**Key lesson 1:** Character creation changes which verbs you have, not how +well you perform shared verbs. The smuggler gets "Slip Manifest." The +detective gets "Pull Records." Neither is better — they're different +information-gathering tools for the same world. + +**Key lesson 2:** Neighborhood placement as replayability driver. The lot +you choose positions you relative to neighbor NPCs, which determines which +relationships bootstrap organically through proximity. Early relationships +form through proximity, not player initiative. The smuggler starts embedded +in The Terminal — relationships with ring members bootstrap before the +player does anything. The detective starts at the Commission — different +organic relationships form. THIS is the structural driver that makes the +same seed play differently. + +### Disco Elysium — observation filters, not capabilities + +D-005 already cites Disco Elysium as a design reference. The Thought +Cabinet is a permission system for new dialogue options and monologue lines. +Building a character in DE doesn't give you stats — it gives you access to +different OBSERVATIONS of the same world. Intellect doesn't make you +smarter — it makes your character say different things to themselves when +they see the same evidence. + +**Key lesson:** Character build determines what your character NOTICES, not +what they can DO. This is D-032 (separate monologue pools) and D-041 +(per-entity knowledge graph) in one reference. If participants are thinking +about Q1 models without DE on the table, they'll drift toward stat-system +thinking. DE keeps them on the observation-filter track. + +### Return of the Obra Dinn — information gap as presence + +Obra Dinn demonstrates that information asymmetry can be the ENTIRE game. +You piece together events from fragments. The information gap feels like +presence, not absence — you FEEL the weight of what you can't see yet. + +**Key lesson for Q2:** The seed boundary table needs to account for what +exists in the world but is invisible to this character. Not locked behind a +mechanic — just absent from their information space. Character A's world +contains things that are simply not in Character B's world. That gap is +the pull that drives playthrough 2. + +### Pentiment — gate activation by proximity + +Pentiment commits to a single-character perspective. The gate activation +question it answers: "what triggers the player from daily life into +investigation?" A murder happens near you, not TO you. You're pulled in +by proximity and relationship, not by institutional assignment. The player +character is NOT the assigned detective — they're a witness with skills. + +**Key lesson for Q3:** Same discovery timing, but character-dependent tools +for responding to it. The contamination doesn't care who you are — it +happens. But your character's position determines whether you see it as +threat, opportunity, or puzzle. + +### The common thread + +In all six games, the setup screen generates ASYMMETRIC STARTING CONDITIONS. +The same world, entered from different positions, produces different +information access, different social proximity, and different verb +availability. The asymmetry IS the replayability. Our character creation +should produce a starting POSITION in an information landscape — not a +stat block, not a story, not a difficulty setting. + +## Participants and Roles + +| Agent | Role | Why they're here | +|-------|------|-----------------| +| Nigel | Replayability lead | Structural randomness, seed design, "what happens on playthrough 10?" | +| Paula | Narrative lead | Starting NPC relationships, character-specific story hooks, social web implications | +| Gestalt | Systems lead | How character choice propagates through mechanics (KG, dialogue tiers, movement, perception) | +| Miri | Worldbuilding | Which archetypes fit the Krenn System, canon constraints, lore accuracy | +| Tyre | Architecture | Implementation cost reality check. "That's 4 new ECS components — is it worth it?" | +| Qatux | Documenter | Track decisions, cross-references, dissent. Maintain running reference list. | + +## Round Structure + +### Round 1 — The Lens Question (Nigel leads) + +Single question: what does character selection actually select? (Q1) + +Nigel opens with a replayability scoring of each model (A/B/B2/C) — 3 +bullet points per model on the replayability axis. This is a BASELINE, not +a verdict. Participants then argue from their domain against that baseline. +This converges faster than open advocacy. + +Target: agree on the model by end of round. + +### Round 2 — The Seed Boundary (Gestalt leads) + +Given the model from Round 1: draw the exact line between world seed, +character choice, and player customization. Produce the three-column +table (Q2). Each participant fills in their domain's rows. + +### Round 3a — Gate Activation (Paula leads) + +How does contamination trigger work per character? (Q3) +This flows directly from Round 1's model decision. Paula leads because +gate activation is fundamentally a narrative question — when does the +story shift? + +### Round 3b — Quest Seeding (Nigel leads, Tyre has implementation floor) + +How do quest templates interact with character choice? (Q4) +Nigel leads because quest variation is the replayability engine. Tyre gets +explicit authority to reject quest template proposals that require new +architecture — every template decision has an implementation cost that +spirals without active checking. + +### Round 4 — Conditions, Toggles & Synthesis (all) + +Game conditions and what's toggleable (Q5). Then run the concrete +playthrough 2 test (Q6). Nigel presents the scenario. Each participant +must answer the four concrete questions. If they can't, the design has +a gap — find it and fix it before closing. + +## Required Reading for Participants + +- `decisions/scope.md` — D-005, D-013, D-027, D-029, D-053 +- `decisions/content.md` — D-023, D-028, D-032, D-034 +- `decisions/architecture.md` — D-041 (knowledge graph) +- `decisions/questions.md` — Q-010, Q-011 + +## Expected Outputs + +- **D-record:** Character creation model (resolves Q-011) +- **D-record:** Seed boundary table (what varies by seed vs character vs player) +- **D-record:** Gate activation trigger design +- **D-record or Q:** Quest seeding model (may produce a Q if full design deferred) +- **D-record:** Game condition toggles (what's configurable, what isn't) +- Ticket updates for Sprint 19+ backlog as needed