NPC Profile Generation (Native)

Generate full NPC profiles for SENTINEL using local context. Read character appearance from YAML and generate complete profiles with agenda, disposition modifiers, memory triggers, sample dialogue, secrets, and hooks. Save as JSON.

Usage

/profile <character_name>
/profile cipher
/profile elder_kara
/profile vex --context "He's been promoted recently"

How It Works

1. Read the character YAML from assets/characters/{name}.yaml or assets/characters/{name}_detailed.yaml.
2. Build a physical description string from the YAML fields.
3. Add faction context and role guidance.
4. Generate the profile JSON directly (no external agent calls).
5. Save to sentinel-agent/generated_npcs/{name}.json.
6. Report success with key details.

Step 1: Find and Read Character YAML

Look for the character file:

C:\dev\SENTINEL\assets\characters\{name}.yaml
C:\dev\SENTINEL\assets\characters\{name}_detailed.yaml

If not found, ask the user for basic details (name, faction, role, and a short physical description) and proceed.

Step 2: Build Physical Description

From the YAML, build an explicit physical description string.

Person Descriptor Mapping

Skin Tone	Gender: Masculine	Gender: Feminine	Gender: Androgynous
pale	pale-skinned man	pale-skinned woman	pale-skinned person
light	light-skinned man	light-skinned woman	light-skinned person
medium	olive-skinned man	olive-skinned woman	olive-skinned person
tan	tan man	tan woman	tan person
brown	Black man	Black woman	Black person
dark	dark-skinned Black man	dark-skinned Black woman	dark-skinned Black person

For elderly characters, prepend "elderly" (e.g., "elderly olive-skinned woman").

Build Order

1. Person descriptor with build (e.g., "Black man with lean build").
2. Hair description (length, style, color).
3. Eye description (color or "cybernetic eyes").
4. Facial features (comma-separated).
5. Distinguishing marks (scars, augmentations, tattoos, other).

Step 3: Faction Context

Faction	Tagline	Values	Culture	Speech
nexus	The network that watches	information, prediction, control	Analytical, data-driven	Precise, clinical, uses statistics
ember_colonies	We survived. We endure.	community, survival, mutual aid	Tight-knit survivors	Direct, warm to friends, guarded
lattice	We keep the lights on	infrastructure, pragmatic cooperation	Engineers maintaining systems	Technical, problem-focused
convergence	Become what you were meant to be	enhancement, transcendence	Transhumanists	Enthusiastic about potential
covenant	We hold the line	oaths, sanctuary, ethical limits	Keepers of moral boundaries	Formal, principled
wanderers	The road remembers	freedom, trade, neutrality	Nomadic traders	Casual, storytelling
cultivators	From the soil, we rise	growth, patience, sustainability	Agrarian communities	Patient, agricultural metaphors
steel_syndicate	Everything has a price	profit, leverage, deals	Criminal-adjacent traders	Transactional, direct about costs
witnesses	We remember so you don't have to lie	truth, records, accountability	Archivists	Precise, cites sources
architects	We built this world	legacy, credentials, legitimacy	Remnants of old order	Formal, references procedures
ghost_networks	We were never here	anonymity, escape, protection	Underground railroad	Cautious, uses code words

Step 4: Role Suggestions

Role	Description
leader	Commands respect, burden of responsibility
fixer	Solves problems, knows people, transactional
elder	Wisdom from experience
scout	Eyes and ears, often underestimated
enforcer	Applies pressure, reputation for action
medic	Healer, pragmatic about triage
technician	Comfortable with machines
trader	Deals in goods or information
refugee	Displaced, seeking safety
true_believer	Deeply committed to faction ideology
skeptic	Questions their own faction
veteran	Survived things, carries weight

Step 5: Output Format

Generate a complete NPC profile as JSON with this exact structure:

{
  "name": "{name}",
  "faction": "{faction_id}",
  "role": "{role}",
  "physical_appearance": "{physical_description}",
  "description": "2-3 sentence presence/demeanor description (NOT physical)",
  "agenda": {
    "wants": "Primary goal (specific, personal)",
    "fears": "What they're afraid of (specific)",
    "leverage": "What they could hold over the player (or null)",
    "owes": "What they might owe the player (or null)",
    "lie_to_self": "The self-deception that lets them sleep at night"
  },
  "disposition_modifiers": {
    "hostile": {
      "tone": "How they speak when hostile",
      "reveals": ["What they share at this level"],
      "withholds": ["What they hide"],
      "tells": ["Behavioral cues"]
    },
    "wary": { ... },
    "neutral": { ... },
    "warm": { ... },
    "loyal": { ... }
  },
  "memory_triggers": [
    {
      "condition": "tag like 'helped_ember'",
      "effect": "What happens",
      "disposition_shift": -2 to +2
    }
  ],
  "sample_dialogue": {
    "greeting_neutral": "...",
    "greeting_warm": "...",
    "refusal": "...",
    "bargaining": "...",
    "under_pressure": "..."
  },
  "secrets": ["Things the GM knows but player must discover"],
  "hooks": ["Plot hooks involving this NPC"]
}

Guidelines

• Make the NPC feel like a real person with contradictions.
• The "lie_to_self" is crucial.
• Disposition modifiers should show meaningful progression.
• Memory triggers should reference realistic player actions.
• Secrets should create interesting dramatic irony.
• Hooks should tie into faction politics and player choice.
• Output only valid JSON when generating the file.

Step 6: Save and Report

Save to C:\dev\SENTINEL\sentinel-agent\generated_npcs\{name}.json.

Report to the user:

• Name and faction
• Brief description
• Key agenda items (wants, fears)
• One sample dialogue line
• File path

Suggest running /portrait {name} to generate a matching portrait.

Error Handling

• YAML not found: Ask for name, faction, role, and a short physical description.
• Missing fields: Fill with sensible defaults and warn the user.
• Invalid JSON: Fix and re-save.