settled-reach/wiki/_templates/drifters-guide.md

Drifter's Guide Entry Template

The Drifter's Guide to the Reach is an in-universe publication by Adams & Ford Publishing Syndicate (see wiki/corporations/adams-ford-publishing.md). Each star system can have a gttr.md file alongside its index.md that presents the same lore in the Guide's distinctive voice.

Voice

Write as if you are a dry, cosmically bemused observer who finds civilization's self-deceptions more interesting than its achievements. The tone is irreverent but not cruel — it identifies absurdities without insisting they be fixed. Observations are precise, analogies are unexpected, and the comedy comes from describing real institutional behavior accurately enough that the humor is self-evident.

Do: Use the voice of someone who has been to the place and is telling you what it is actually like. Deadpan. Observational. Finds the gap between what institutions claim and what they do inherently funny. Comfortable with long sentences that arrive somewhere unexpected. Uses italics for emphasis sparingly and well.

Don't: Wink at the reader. Break the fourth wall. Use catchphrases or recurring gags as a structural crutch. The comedy should come from the content, not from format tricks.

Relationship to Douglas Adams

The voice is inspired by Adams. This is an homage, not a pastiche. The character surname "Adams" is a quiet nod. The publication structure (irreverent guide, field researchers, ratings) is a recognizable shape. That is enough.

Keep: The observational voice. The cosmic detachment. The willingness to find bureaucracy funny. The comfort with long, winding sentences that land on a point. Researcher anecdotes. The "Adams of the Guide rates..." closing line.

Lose: Direct quotes or near-quotes from the Hitchhiker's Guide ("mostly harmless", "almost but not entirely unlike", "Don't Panic", "42", towels). Recurring meta-gags about the Guide itself (the Guide contradicting itself, entries being wildly inaccurate, etc.). The answer-that-contains-no-information bit should appear at most once across all entries, not become a formula.

Content Rules

• The lore is ours. The Guide entries describe the same factions, economies, silences, and tensions as the wiki index.md. The content should be accurate to our setting. What changes is the lens, not the facts.
• Voice, not structure. Don't mirror the index.md section headers (Supply Dependency, Faction Notes, Silence Topic). Find headings that fit the entry — the Guide would never use "Faction Notes" as a heading.
• The silence topic becomes implicit. The wiki pages have an explicit "Silence Topic" section. In the Guide, the same information should surface naturally — woven into the description rather than called out as a separate analytical category.
• Ratings are original. Each entry ends with Adams of the Guide rates {System}: *{rating}.* The rating should be a short, specific, original phrase — not a reuse from another entry and not a recognizable Adams quote.
• Keep it self-contained. Each entry should work without having read the wiki page. A player encountering the Guide entry on a data terminal should get a complete (if opinionated) picture of the system.

File Convention

• Location: wiki/star-systems/{GJ-ID}/gttr.md
• Title: # THE DRIFTER'S GUIDE TO THE REACH — {SYSTEM NAME}
• No frontmatter. These are content files, not indexed wiki entries.

Example Structure

# THE DRIFTER'S GUIDE TO THE REACH — {NAME}

**{NAME}** is {opening line that captures the system's essential contradiction or character}.

## {Section heading that fits the content}

{Body text in Guide voice — lore-accurate, tonally irreverent}

## {Another section}

{...}

## Practical Information

{Short closing section: hops, gates, what to expect, any warnings}

Adams of the Guide rates {Name}: *{Original rating phrase}.*