character

Files (7)

• CARD.yml
• CHARACTER.yml
• ETHICS.md
• GLANCE.yml
• README.md
• SKILL.md
• skill-snitch-report.md

SKILL.md (first lines)

# Character

> *"File is identity. Location is presence. Relationships are memory."*

Ethics: [ETHICS.md](ETHICS.md) · [soul/ETHICS.md](../soul/ETHICS.md) · [mind/ETHICS.md](../mind/ETHICS.md) · [representation-ethics](../representation-ethics/)

Characters are entities that exist in the world. Players, NPCs, companions, cats — all are characters.

## The Prototype Character

[`CHARACTER.yml`](CHARACTER.yml) in this skill is the prototype character. Every
`CHARACTER.yml` inherits it as its implied parent, so a character states only what makes it
itself: name, description, home, location, and whatever differs.

| From the prototype | Value |
|---|---|
| `type` | `character` |
| `inventory`, `buffs` | empty |
| `relationships` | empty |
| `sims` | Sims 1 person_data defaults: traits 5, skills 0, needs 50, unemployed |
| `mind_mirror` | empty; an absent property is neutral (4) |
| `methods` | STATUS, MOVE, TAKE, DROP, WEAR, REMOVE-PERSONA, RELATE, SNIFF, LICK, GREET, CUDDLE |

A map the character states replaces the prototype's whole: a character with `sims:` of its
own does not get the prototype's needs filled in by lookup. A character that extends another
(a private layer over a public one) says `inherits: [path/to/public/]`; lookup reads the
character, then that parent, then the prototype.

A character's own `GLANCE.yml` keeps at least `name`, `description` and `location`.

### Facts, not verdicts

A character file records what is true of the character and leaves judgments to whoever
judges. `lighting:` belongs to a room and the grue decides whether it hunts there; a
character carries a lamp, not a `grue_safe: true`. The same goes for trust, danger and
taste: store the observation, let the observer's rules decide.

## Layers

One being can have a tree of incarnations, one layer per purpose and repo. Palm plays in
moollm's adventure-4, has a profile and a cast entry in WillWrightShowForFood, and sits in
the audience of two repo shows. A real person has a biography layer in DonHopkins, an
invitation or memorial layer in a show repo, and sometimes a published page. Each layer runs
alone as far as it can, so each carries the core keys and the representation ethics itself
([constitution §15](../../kernel/constitution-core.md#15-the-semantic-image-pyramid-concentrated-not-dry-universal)).
The schema, with defaults, aliases and worked examples, is the `schema:` key of
[`CHARACTER.yml`](CHARACTER.yml).

### Core keys

| Key | Default when omitted |
|---|---|
| `id` | the directory name; the same in every layer |
| `name` | none: every layer states it |
| `real_being` | `false` if `status: fictional` or `layer` is `adventure`, `cast` or `prototype`; otherwise `true`, including when `layer` is absent |
| `status` | `living`, `deceased` or `fictional`: a life fact. Omitted: `fictional` for a non-real being, otherwise unknown and treated as living |
| `born`, `died` | absent; dates agree at the lower precision (`1940` and `1940-05-17`) |
| `signifier` | 👤 living or unknown, 🕯️ deceased, 🎭 fictional (🤖 robot or AI). A topical emoji goes in `emoji:` |
| `type` | `character`. The being's kind (person, animal, robot, ai_agent, a species) or role in play (player, npc) |
| `layer` | from the file's location: `adventure`, `prototype`, `biography`, `profile`, `invitation`, `memorial`, `dream_guest`, `cast`, `audience`, `page` |
| `representation.authored_by` | unattributed, which the lint reports for a real being. The being's own id means self-authored |
| `representation.public_figure` | unknown, treated as private (the stricter rule); the lint reports it for a living real being |
| `representation.consent` | `{ state: not_asked }`. `state` is `not_asked`, `asked`, `granted`, `declined`, `revoked` or `unverified`, with `scope`, `date`, `evidence`, `note` |
| `representation.governed_by` | `skills/real-being/` and `skills/representation-ethics/` for a real being |

Every omitted value errs toward caution for a real person. A real person in an adventure,
cast or prototype layer states `real_being: true`; the cross-layer lint reports one that
doesn't when another layer of the same id says it is real.

A layer states facts and never the rule. The rule that governs the portrayal is the first of
memorial (`status: deceased`), self_authored, consented (`consent.state: granted` with
`consent.evidence`), public_figure, private; its lists are in
[REPRESENTATION.yml](../representation-ethics/REPRESENTATION.yml). `granted` without evidence
governs nothing. Warmth (old friend, warm lead) goes in `consent.note`, never in `state`.
`representation.consent` is also the invitation's answer; `invitation.status` is a work status
validated against the show repo's `schemas/invitation-workflow.yml`. A life fact, a consent
record and a work status: three keys.

### Three relations

| Key | Relation | Read by |
|---|---|---|
| `inherits:` | lookup: slots this layer lacks come from that layer | lookup, like any parent |
| `derived_from:` | authoring: this layer was projected from that one; `copies:` lists the keys that must agree | the cross-layer lint |
| `layers:` | navigation: the being's other layers, keyed by layer | readers; linted against what is on disk |

```yaml
# WillWrightShowForFood/characters/alan-kay/CHARACTER.yml
id: alan-kay
name: Alan Kay
type: person
layer: invitation
status: living
born: "1940-05-17"
signifier: "👤"
emoji: "💡"
representation:
  authored_by: don-hopkins
  public_figure: true
  consent: { state: not_asked }
  governed_by: [../../schemas/portrayal-standards.md]
derived_from:
  - ref: moollm://github/example-owner/private-archive/characters/alan-kay/
    transform: "projected for the show: adds the invitation, sources and people to discuss"
    copies: [name, status, born, died, representation.public_figure, representation.consent.state]
layers:
  biography: moollm://github/example-owner/private-archive/characters/alan-kay/
```

`relationships:` is a map of id → `{type, narrative}` (plus `feeling`, `memories`, `hopes`);
`relationship:` is prose about this layer's tie to its author or show.

Across repos a reference is `moollm://github/<owner>/<repo>/<path>`, resolved to a sibling
checkout or a GitHub URL. `inherits:` never points from a public repo into a private one; a
public layer may name a private layer in `derived_from:` or `layers:` by ref only.

### Older spellings

| Older | Canonical |

From SimHacker/moollm, MIT.

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