# Characters and NPCs

A character is the deepest editor in the game, and most of it is optional. A name and a
description already give you someone the narrator can play. Everything else makes them
behave more like a person.

> **Image: `docs/character-editor-tabs.png`**
> The character editor with the tab strip visible (Details, Description, Stats, Abilities,
> Quests, Schedule, Memories, Speech, Habits, Bonds, Vendor, Image, Test Chat) and the
> Description tab open.

## The tabs

**Details** and **Description** — who they are. The description is what the narrator uses
to play them.

**Stats** and **Abilities** — what they can do, if they fight or roll for anything.

**Quests** — objectives this character hands out. See [Quests without code](/docs/quests-no-code).

**Schedule** — where they are at different times of day. A blacksmith at the forge in the
morning and the tavern at night is a schedule, not two characters.

**Memories** — what they know and remember. This is how an NPC can refer to something that
happened earlier without you scripting the conversation.

**Speech** and **Habits / Sayings** — how they talk. Verbal tics, favourite phrases, what
they always mention. This does more for a character feeling real than any stat.

**Bonds** — their relationships with other characters and with the players.

**Vendor** — if they sell things. See [Shops and loadouts](/docs/shops).

**Image** — their portrait, generated from a prompt you can edit.

**Test Chat** — talk to them right now, in the editor, before the game ships. Use this. It
is the fastest way to find out that your terse harbourmaster reads as rude rather than
guarded.

> **Image: `docs/character-test-chat.png`**
> The Test Chat tab mid-conversation with an NPC, showing the author testing how the
> character responds before publishing.

## The player character

The **Player Character** step is the same editor pointed at whoever the players control,
plus what a player may choose at character creation — stats, starting items, abilities.

Setup decides how much choice they get, including whether players get **free stat points**
to spend.

## Writing a good NPC

**Give them something they want.** A character with a goal generates scenes; a character
with only a description answers questions.

**Give them something they will not say.** The harbourmaster who is lying about the tides
is more interesting than one who explains the tides.

**Let the schedule do work.** "Where is she at midnight?" is a better hook than another
paragraph of backstory.

**Test chat before you publish.** Every time.

## Next

- [Items and creatures](/docs/items-creatures)
- [Quests without code](/docs/quests-no-code)