settled-reach/wiki/_templates/character-exemplar.md

---
title: ""
description: "EXEMPLAR — Tier 1 NPC quality target for generator pipeline (D-122)"
slug: ""
canonical_id: ""
category: character
status: exemplar
created: YYYY-MM-DD
updated: YYYY-MM-DD
tier: 1
pattern: ""
motivation: ""
social_sites: []
entanglement: "Entangled"
triangles: []
home_district: ""
tags: [generator-exemplar]
decision_refs: [D-024, D-034, D-122]
cross_refs: []
---

<!-- EXEMPLAR NOTE
This template documents the quality target for a Tier 1 NPC profile. The v0.2
generator pipeline (D-122) should produce NpcBlueprint structs that encode this
level of depth for Tier 1 characters. Tier 2-3 characters may use lighter profiles.

Key quality markers this exemplar format demonstrates:
- 10-axis profile with concrete, actionable content per axis
- Dual-lens notes showing how different player archetypes read the same NPC
- Tell system with observable triggers and mechanical flags
- Contradiction arc with timed phases and emotional payoff
- Triangle roles showing how this character functions in multi-NPC dynamics
- Voice samples across moods showing speech pattern consistency
- Content requirements with concrete line counts per category
-->

# {Name} — {Pattern} ({Role})

**Tier 1 Production-Level NPC** | {social_sites} | Entangled

---

## Core Identity

**Name**: {full name}
**Age**: {age}
**Role**: {occupation/function}
**System Origin**: {home system and station}
**Cultural Group**: {cultural group slug}
**Lattice Tier**: {Baseline | Enhanced | Analytical}
**Employer**: {employer(s)}

---

## 10-Axis Profile

### 1. Want

**Primary**: {1-line want statement}

{Expansion: why they want this, how it manifests, trajectory.}

**Secondary**: {1-line secondary want — often in tension with primary}

---

### 2. Secret / Vulnerability

**Surface secret** (some know, others suspect): {what is partially visible}

**Deep secret** (nobody knows): {what is entirely concealed}

**Vulnerability**: {what breaks them — the lever that can be pulled}

---

### 3. Relationships

**Relationship 1: {Name}** ({connection type})
- **Type**: {relationship nature}
- **History**: {how it formed}
- **Current tension**: {what is straining it}
- **Mechanical relevance**: {how this relationship matters to gameplay}

**Relationship 2: {Name}** ({connection type})
- **Type**: {relationship nature}
- **History**: {how it formed}
- **Current tension**: {what is straining it}
- **Mechanical relevance**: {how this relationship matters to gameplay}

**Relationship 3: {Name/Player}** ({connection type})
- **Type**: {relationship nature}
- **History**: {how it formed}
- **Current tension**: {what is straining it}
- **Mechanical relevance**: {how this relationship matters to gameplay}

---

### 4. Tolerance Threshold

**{Low | Moderate | High}** — {1-line summary}

**What they tolerate**: {list}

**What pushes them toward breaking**: {list}

**What breaks them**: {list — the hard limits}

---

### 5. Daily Routine

{Time-stamped routine. Mark ring/operation deviations as tells.}

**Routine deviations** (tells):
- {deviation}: {what it signals}

---

### 6. Information Inventory

**Knows** (KnowsDetails or Direct):
- {fact}: {what they know about it}

**Doesn't know**:
- {fact}: {the gap in their knowledge}

---

### 7. Contentment

**{Level descriptor}** ({D-024 thematic axis}).

{Expansion: why they're at this level, what's raising or lowering it, trajectory.}

---

### 8. Personality Traits

**Primary: {Trait}** — {how it manifests}

**Secondary: {Trait}** — {how it manifests}

**Tertiary: {Trait}** — {how it manifests}

---

### 9. Tell System

| Tell | Trigger | Observable To | Mechanical Flag |
|------|---------|---------------|-----------------|
| {tell description} | {what causes it} | {who can observe} | `behavior_flags: {flag}` |

**Tell progression**:
1. **Phase 1** (baseline): {normal behavior}
2. **Phase 2** (first crack): {first observable deviation}
3. **Phase 3** (pattern): {repeated tell}
4. **Phase 4** (contradiction): {the observable contradiction — THE moment}

---

### 10. Skill Set

**Occupational**: {skills}
**Ring-relevant**: {operational skills, if applicable}
**Combat tag**: **{Yes | No}**
**Lattice capability**: {tier and functional description}

---

## Backstory

{2-3 sentences: origin, how they ended up in this situation, what they want that got them here.}

---

## Voice Sample

**Mood: Casual (baseline)**
- *"{line}"*

**Mood: Protective / Deflecting**
- *"{line}"*

**Mood: Evasive (post-contradiction)**
- *"{line}"* [{the tell, if visible}]

**Mood: Desperate (cornered)**
- *"{line}"*

---

## Dual-Lens Notes

### How Archetype A Sees {Name}

**Access tier**: {tier}
**Relationship**: {state → state}
**Monologue tone (baseline)**: {register descriptor}. *"{example line}"*
**Monologue tone (post-contradiction)**: {register shift}. *"{example line}"*

**What Archetype A knows that Archetype B doesn't**: {information asymmetry}

**Emotional weight**: {Low | Medium | High | Maximum} — {why}

---

### How Archetype B Sees {Name}

**Access tier**: {tier}
**Relationship**: {state → state}
**Monologue tone (baseline)**: {register descriptor}. *"{example line}"*
**Monologue tone (post-contradiction)**: {register shift}. *"{example line}"*

**What Archetype B knows that Archetype A doesn't**: {information asymmetry}

**Emotional weight**: {Low | Medium | High | Maximum} — {why}

---

## Triangle Roles

### {Triangle Name} ({NPC 1} - {Name} - {NPC 3})

**{Name}'s function**: {role in the triangle}

**Pressure**: {what forces are acting on this character through the triangle}

**Player relevance**: {how each archetype engages with this triangle through this character}

---

## Contradiction Arc

### Phase 1: {Name} (Friendly, baseline)

**Timing**: {minutes}
**Observable behavior**: {what is visible}
**Monologue (Archetype A)**: *"{line}"*
**Color**: {relationship color}
**Tell**: {none | which tell}

### Phase 2: First Crack

**Timing**: {minutes}
**Observable behavior**: {first deviation from baseline}
**Monologue (Archetype A)**: *"{line}"*
**Tell**: {which tell fires}

### Phase 3: The Observation ({Friendly} → {PersonOfInterest})

**Timing**: {minutes}
**Trigger**: {what the player observes}
**Monologue (Archetype A)**: *"{line}"*
**Color shift**: {color A → color B}. **This is the emotional moment.**

### Phase 4: Confrontation Opportunity

**Timing**: {minutes}
**Trigger**: {player action that opens dialogue}
**{Name}'s response**: *"{deflection line}"* [{tell, if visible}]
**Monologue**: *"{player's recognition line}"*

### Phase 5: New Equilibrium

**Timing**: {minutes}
**Observable behavior**: {surface normalcy, new underlying state}
**Monologue**: *"{player's contaminated-trust line}"*

**Dialogue branches**:
- **Path A ({choice})**: {outcome}
- **Path B ({choice})**: {outcome}
- **Path C ({choice})**: {outcome}

---

## Authoring Notes

- **Voice**: {speech pattern, sentence length, vocabulary register}
- **The tell**: {which tell, why it works, how to establish it early}
- **{Key relationship} references**: {how to seed this relationship in casual dialogue}
- **Operational dialogue**: {register for work/role-specific lines}
- **Deflection dialogue**: {how they evade rather than lie outright}
- **Dual-lens discipline**: {what must work for both archetypes — and why}

---

## Pattern / Motivation

**Pattern (System A):** {PATTERN} — {what this pattern means for the character}
**Motivation (System B):** {MOTIVATION} — {what this motivation drives}
**Composition read:** {how pattern + motivation interact to define the character's dramatic function}