settled-reach/docs/sprints/sprint-14/copy.md

# Sprint 14: Live — Copy Tasks

**Goal:** Bring NPCs to life — mood, trust, routine execution, and NPC-to-NPC conversation drive the first emergent social observables; the simulation produces a world that breathes independently of the player.

**Branch:** `copy`
**Agents:** Mellanie (author), Paula (narrative designer), Gestalt (systems designer)

## Carry-over from Sprint 13

None. All Sprint 13 copy tickets done (#368 knowledge vocabulary).

## New Tickets

| # | Title | Blocked by |
|---|-------|------------|
| #253 | Monologue content architecture | — |
| #120 | Monologue line pool system | — |
| #121 | Character voice variation | — |
| #168 | Tagged line pool structure | #240 done |
| #328 | Access tier shift design document | #261 done |
| #536 | NPC-to-NPC overheard dialogue line pool | — |

Use `db/connectors/ticket show <id>` for full details.

## Key Decisions

- `decisions/content.md` — D-028 (dialogue architecture — four relational layers; #168 implements Layer 1-2 tag structure), D-032 (separate monologue pools per character — hard partition, no shared lines), D-034 (THE FRIEND — Kael Davan / Sera Venn, all monologue content must be coherent with their arcs), D-035 (converged tag taxonomy — 6 structural + 3 selection + 3 monologue-specific tags), D-036 (Sova Transit District setting — Krenn naming conventions, "functional warmth" tone), D-037 (contraband — unlicensed lattice components, moral ambiguity), D-062 (invisible locked dialogue options — new trust tier content appears silently), D-063 (confrontation mechanics — internal voice, italic first-person options), D-064 (walk-away consequences — KG records incompleteness)
- `decisions/perception.md` — D-016 (internal monologue — four functions: perception bridge, atmosphere, diegetic tutorial, unreliable narrator), D-018 (three-range sound model — NPC-to-NPC conversations are Voice events the player overhears)
- D-078 (overheard NPC conversation — lines must survive partial occlusion; front-load key information, short declarative sentences, avoid pronoun-first openers)

## Notes

- **#253 — Monologue content architecture:** Define the authoring contract for all future monologue content. This is a **design document**, not a content file. Output: `docs/design/monologue-content-architecture.md`. Required sections:
  - Identity-driven interpretation frame: what each character "cares about, fears, is responsible for" — the interpretive lens that makes the same observation produce different monologue per character. Smuggler: exposure, protection of ring, Kael's loyalty. Detective: institutional duty, personal cost, Sera Venn's reliability.
  - Category definitions: perception (translating non-visual senses), atmosphere (environment, mood), tutorial (diegetic hints), observation (NPC-specific). Add a fifth if needed.
  - Trigger → category mapping: which triggers (from D-035: `enter_location`, `observe_npc`, `hear_sound`, `observe_anomaly`, `post_conversation`, `discover_evidence`, `witness_interaction`, `time_idle`, `return_visit`) map to which categories. Not 1:1 — one trigger can source multiple categories.
  - Volume target: how many lines per trigger type per character for v0.1. Per D-032, all volumes are per-character.
  - `prerequisite` map design: what game state conditions gate a line. Examples: `kael_interaction_count >= 1`, `knows_kael_has_secret = true`, `location = maintenance_corridor`. These must be expressible in the KG (D-041 FactIds).
  - Mellanie authors, Paula reviews for narrative coherence with THE FRIEND arc (D-034), Gestalt validates prerequisite map is implementable from KG state.

- **#120 — Monologue line pool system:** Produce the first monologue line pool YAML files. Output: `content/` directory (follow existing content structure — see `server/src/content/mod.rs` and `server/src/content/loader.rs` for load path conventions). File structure per D-032: `monologue-smuggler.yaml`, `monologue-detective.yaml`, with subdirectory per location (`terminal/`, `bar/`, `corridor/`). Required tags per line per D-035 (monologue-specific additions): `character`, `trigger`, `prerequisite` (null if unconditional). All 6 structural tags required: `id`, `text`, `role`, `access`, `trust`, `situation`. For monologue, `role` = `player_character`, `access` = `[public]`, `trust` = `surface` (monologue is the player character's internal voice — no access/trust gating applies; tags must still be present for schema compliance).
  - Minimum deliverable for Sprint 14: `enter_location` (2-3 lines per location per character) and `time_idle` (2-3 lines per location per character). Eight locations minimum (hub, bar, corridor × 2 characters = 6; add 2 more for the maintenance corridors or gauntlet-equivalent spaces).
  - Line quality bar: these are the first lines the game speaks. Every line must pass Mellanie's voice test. Per D-034 THE FRIEND guidance: "no generation expansion" for THE FRIEND content specifically — apply same standard to monologue that will surface during THE FRIEND arc (Kael/Sera scenes).

- **#121 — Character voice variation:** Write the trait modifier system for monologue voice. This is a **companion authoring guide** to #253, not a separate system. Output: `docs/design/monologue-voice-guide.md`. Required:
  - Smuggler vs detective base voice registers (tone, vocabulary, sentence structure).
  - How `PersonalityTraits` (D-024 — `Cautious`, `Bold`, `Honest`, `Deceptive`, `Compassionate`, `Ruthless`, `Curious`, `Incurious`, `Social`, `Reclusive`) modify monologue delivery. Not per-trait scripts — a transformation guide: "a Cautious character says X instead of Y" with 2-3 example rewrites.
  - Background-dependent phrasing: Guardian background vs Senator background vs Worker background produce different idioms, references, assumptions. At minimum: two examples per background per character.
  - Mood influence (feeds into #323 server-side): how the 8+1 moods (D-035 amendment: `neutral`, `anxious`, `frustrated`, `content`, `suspicious`, `warm`, `hostile`, `focused`) colour monologue delivery. Not separate line pools — the same line can be delivered more tersely when the character is Anxious, more expansively when Content.
  - Paula writes the narrative framing, Mellanie writes the example lines, Gestalt validates mood → delivery mappings are mechanically coherent.

- **#168 — Tagged line pool structure:** Implement the converged D-035 YAML schema as a formal JSON Schema or YAML schema document and update the line previewer CLI. Output: `content/_schema/dialogue-line.schema.json` (or `.yaml`) with all 6 structural + 3 selection + 2 authoring-only tags. Monologue additions (`character`, `trigger`, `prerequisite`) as a separate schema extension or `$ref`. The schema is what the content cross-reference validation (CI ticket #464, done) runs against. Update the line previewer CLI (Sprint 5 `#326`, already done) to validate against the new schema on load. Gestalt leads schema design. Mellanie validates against authoring workflow. The 14 v0.1 situations and 9 v0.1 topics from D-035 must be enumerated in the schema as allowed values.
  - Note: `server/src/content/line_pool.rs` already implements the Rust-side `IndexedDialogueLine` type — schema must stay in sync. Cross-reference `server/src/content/line_pool.rs` to confirm enum variants match D-035 enumeration.

- **#328 — Access tier shift design document:** A design document authored by Paula and Mellanie (no code). Output: `docs/design/access-tier-shifts.md`. Required per ticket:
  - Per social site, 2-3 most likely tier transitions per character with specific triggers.
  - Smuggler at The Terminal (hub): `insider → hostile` when cover blown; `insider → peer` after routine trust-building.
  - Smuggler at The Last Shift (bar): `public → insider` after Kael introduction; `insider → hostile` if contraband conversation overheard.
  - Detective at The Terminal: `authority → peer` after collaboration event; `authority → hostile` if confrontation fails.
  - Detective at The Last Shift: `public → insider` via Sera Venn; `authority → peer` after buying rounds.
  - For each transition: what observable event triggers it, which KG facts are required (`FactId` references from #368 knowledge vocabulary), and whether it is reversible.
  - This document feeds #169 (Layer 1 access tier filtering, deferred to S15) as its design input.

- **#536 — NPC-to-NPC overheard dialogue line pool:** Write the line pool for NPC-to-NPC conversations that the player can overhear, per D-078. Lines must work at both full clarity (heard normally) and under heavy occlusion (many words dropped). The stochastic word-drop renderer operates per-word — lines must be authored so that partial information is still meaningful and interesting, not just broken.
  - **Occlusion-resilient authoring rules:** (1) Front-load key information — the most important word should be in the first third of the sentence. (2) Short declarative sentences — one idea per line turn. (3) No pronoun-first openers (`"She told me..."` → `"Kael told me..."`) — the first word is statistically the most likely to drop; pronouns without antecedent are unresolvable. (4) Each exchange turn must be self-contained — a player who hears only one side of the exchange should still get a complete thought.
  - **Volume and tagging:** Minimum 40 exchange pairs (speaker A line + speaker B response = 1 pair). Cover three registers: social (idle chat, personal news), work (shift logistics, job gripes), gossip (third-party knowledge payload — something the player could use). Tag each pair with: `relationship_type` (colleague, friend, hostile, romantic), `topic`, and `knowledge_payload` (a brief description of what the player can infer from hearing this exchange clearly — or partially).
  - **Format:** Use the D-035 YAML schema (see #168 for schema file). These are NPC-sourced lines, not player-character lines — `role` = `npc`, `access` and `trust` tags apply normally. Monologue-specific tags (`character`, `trigger`, `prerequisite`) are not used for this pool; replace with `relationship_type` and `knowledge_payload` as custom extensions, or confirm schema handling with Gestalt before writing.
  - **Placement:** Output to `content/npc-conversations/overheard.yaml` (new directory, establish convention).
  - Mellanie writes lines, Paula validates narrative coherence (Kael/Sera-adjacent exchanges must honour D-034 THE FRIEND arc), Gestalt validates knowledge_payload tags are achievable from KG state.
  - Delivery: `content/npc-conversations/overheard.yaml`, minimum 40 exchange pairs, all tagged, all passing the occlusion-resilience checklist. No dependency on server #247 — content is authored ahead of the system that will select and emit it.

## Dependency Chain

```
#253 (monologue architecture) → #120 (line pool files) → #121 (voice guide)
#168 (tagged line pool schema) → parallel with #253 track
#328 (access tier shifts) → parallel, standalone design doc
#536 (NPC-to-NPC overheard line pool) → parallel, standalone, feeds server #247
```

#253 must be started first — it defines the authoring contract that #120 writes to and #121 extends. #120 and #121 can overlap once #253 is drafted (Paula/Mellanie can start voice guide while Mellanie writes lines). #168 and #328 are fully independent and can proceed in parallel with the monologue track. #536 is also fully independent — no blockers, can proceed in parallel with all other copy work.

## PR Workflow

When ready to submit, create a PR with `tea` CLI. All flags are required to avoid TTY prompts (see CLAUDE.md "Gitea access" section):

```bash
tea pr create --repo jpmschweitzer/settled-reach --login schweitz --title "docs(content): description" --description "body" --base main --head copy
```