Character Creation - flukeatzerocool/holonovel GitHub Wiki

Character Creation

Tutorial. For players. You need a ruleset server running and a Novel active. By the end, you'll have a complete character with stats, equipment, personality, and voice.

Creating a character

The builder reads every stat, save, derived field, skill, and proficiency the ruleset defines and walks you through creation. Two modes:

Step-by-step

Answer prompts for each step — stats, race, class, background, name. You set the pace. The AI asks questions. You answer them.

"Create a character."

Then follow the prompts. The AI asks about your ability scores, race, class, background, and name. Each answer narrows the options until your character is complete.

Quick creation

Provide everything in one call and skip the prompts:

"Create a character. Half-elf rogue named Kael. Urchin background. Standard array stats. Focus on Dexterity and Charisma."

Both modes produce a complete character with all ruleset-defined statistics and starting equipment. If the ruleset supports stat methods — roll 4d6 drop lowest, standard array, point buy — choose your method during creation.

Source: spec §5.4 (REQ-104 — dual-mode creation).

Character sheet

"Show me my character sheet." "Show Kael's sheet as ASCII."

The sheet is built from the ruleset — every stat, save, skill, feature, and derived field the rulebook defines, rendered in the ruleset's own format and order. D&D gets six abilities and proficiency bonus; whatever system you play gets whatever stats it defines.

Two formats: Markdown (readable tables) and ASCII (compact, fits in narrow windows).

The sheet is always live — every condition, wound, and level-up updates it in place.

Source: spec §5.1 (REQ-004a — ruleset baseline format, REQ-060 — comprehensive output).

Roster

Characters are stored in the roster — a permanent store that survives every campaign and rebuild. Characters created in one Novel are available in every future Novel.

"Import Kael from the roster." "Import my fighter. And my wizard. Bring the whole party."

The roster stores baseline values — the character as built. Novel-specific changes (conditions, damage, level-ups) stay with the Novel. Importing a character creates a Novel copy — the roster baseline is unaffected.

Source: spec §5.6.

Personality and voice

Personality, background, goals, and voice examples control how the AI portrays your character. Enter them once — the AI remembers every time it speaks for you.

"Describe Kael: a cynical street kid who trusts no one but would die for the crew. Speaks in short, sharp sentences. Hates authority." "Set Kael's goals: buy a ship. Leave the city forever. Never go hungry again."

Voice examples

Give the AI dialogue snippets that model your character's voice:

"Give Kael these voice examples." "Context: threatened. 'You got three seconds to rethink your choices.'" "Context: faced with magic. 'That's... not natural. Stay back.'"

Voice examples include a context (what situation the character is in) and the actual dialogue. The AI uses these to maintain consistent voice across scenes. You can also provide voice feedback during play — correct a line the AI got wrong, and your correction is remembered.

Source: spec §5.8 (REQ-077 — personality fields, REQ-344 — voice feedback).