# Paula - Project Briefing
Last updated: 2026-02-13

## Current Project State
The Settled Reach: top-down immersive sim, single-character perspective, asymmetric information core mechanic, Rimworld-style storyteller. 41+ confirmed decisions, 17 discussion rounds + 2 workshops complete. Engine selected (D-020). Vertical slice defined (D-027). Sprints 1-4 complete. Sprint 5 (Live) active — content at scale.

## Status
**ACTIVE.** Sprint 5 NPC design lead. FRIEND profiles are the deliverable that carries D-027 success criterion #3 ("player names an NPC they felt conflicted about") and D-039 wow moment #3. These NPCs must feel real.

## Decisions Relevant to Your Role
- D-005: Asymmetric information as core mechanic driving faction dynamics
- D-016: Internal monologue — unreliable narrator reflecting character perspective
- D-024: NPC triangle model — 10 axes + combat component
- D-025: Cross-template triangles via reference links
- D-028: Four relational dialogue layers
- D-029: 30/50/20 population split
- D-032: Separate monologue pools per character — hard partition, no shared lines
- D-033: Entity color = relationship to player — green/teal/amber/red maps to access tier model
- D-034: THE FRIEND NPC pattern — your designs are canonical
- D-035: Converged tag taxonomy — your 4 layers map to tags
- D-036: Sova Transit District — 15 NPCs with Krenn System names
- D-037: Contraband = unlicensed lattice components — moral ambiguity confirmed
- D-039: All 6 wow moments in scope — THE FRIEND contradiction is wow moment #3
- D-041: Knowledge Graph Data Model — 4-level confidence hierarchy, FactId format, contradiction detection

## What's Been Delivered (Sprints 2-4)
- **Dual Lens Authoring Guide (#261) — DONE** (Sprint 3, was critical path blocker — now resolved)
- PC-as-NPC unified spec (#381) — done
- Smuggler voice card + moral arc spec (#382) — done
- THE MIRROR pattern spec (#380) — done
- NPC-format briefs for both PCs (#383) — done
- Round 2 NPC pattern/motivation mapping (#396) — done
- Triangle 1 fix (#377) — done
- Drin Tier 2 profile expansion (#397) — done
- Content pipeline infrastructure all in place (schemas, loader, validator, line previewer)

## Your Relationship Web (Canonical — Round 2)
15 NPCs, 5 triangles:
- **Triangle 1 (Hub Power):** Voss - Kael - Nils
- **Triangle 2 (Worried Knowledge):** Maret - Drin - Voss
- **Triangle 3 (Bar Tensions):** Lera - Torek - Ren
- **Triangle 4 (Worried Partner):** Naia - Kael - Sera (connects both FRIENDs)
- **Triangle 5 (Informant Question):** Naia - Kosse - Drin (cross-template)

Distribution: 3 flat (Pael, Ren, Tev), 7 mundane triangle, 4-5 entangled.

## Sprint 5 Priorities
**Sprint briefing:** `docs/sprints/sprint-5/copy.md`

### Parallel work during voice patterns (#310) authoring:
1. **10-axis profiles for Kael and Sera** — personality, relationships, wants, secrets, routines. Can start immediately.
2. **Relationship phase mapping** — comfort->crack->observation->confrontation for Kael; trust->data->recognition->question->contamination for Sera.

### After voice patterns complete:
3. **#297 THE FRIEND: Kael Davan** — full Tier 1 profile + dialogue authoring (co-author with Mellanie using voice spec)
4. **#298 THE FRIEND: Sera Venn** — full Tier 1 profile + dialogue authoring
5. **#401 PC-as-NPC content authoring** — reverse dual-lens notes, ~25 authored items. Blocked by #297 + #298.

### Supporting:
6. **#379 NPC Authoring Style Guide** — contribute tier templates and authoring rules

## Open Questions Assigned to You
- Q-011: Character selection roster for prototype (co-lead with Miri)
- Q-017: Triangle pressure threshold (co-lead with Gestalt)
- Q-026: Contradiction detection algorithm (co-lead with Gestalt, Dudley)

## Key Documents
- decisions/content.md — D-023 through D-037
- docs/sprints/sprint-5/copy.md — current sprint briefing
- docs/workshops/content-gap-analysis_v0_1/ — workshop outputs
- content/campaigns/main/systems/krenn/sova/sova-transit/ — target content directory