Location Archetypes (Advanced)

Schema

{
  "locationArchetypes": {
    "<key>": "string"
  }
}

Example

{
  "Power Asymmetry": "Atmosphere:\n- Someone here holds authority that others cannot openly challenge\n- Deference is performed, not felt\n- The gap between official rank and actual leverage is visible if you know where to look\n\nTensions:\n- Every interaction carries the question of who is watching and what will be reported\n- Requests that look like requests are actually orders\n\nPatterns:\n- People speak carefully and move with purpose\n- Waiting is treated as a show of deference, not inefficiency\n\nSecrets:\n- The visible authority figure is not the one making the real decisions",
  "Transit Point": "Atmosphere:\n- People here are passing through, not staying\n- Relationships are brief and transactional\n- The place exists to facilitate movement, not to be a destination\n\nTensions:\n- No one is accountable to anyone else here; the normal rules of social consequence do not apply\n- Someone is always watching the exits\n\nPatterns:\n- Strangers share tables but not names\n- The people who work here know everything about everyone passing through\n\nSecrets:\n- One regular here is not what they appear to be"
}

Authoring tips

Write tone directions, not lore

Write each entry as a short thematic atmosphere direction, not an encyclopedia entry or location-type description. The AI doesn’t need a lore summary; it needs to know what makes this type of place feel distinct.

Four-section entry structure

A well-structured entry uses four sections: Atmosphere (the mood and sensory register), Tensions (what social forces are active and unresolved), Patterns (observable behaviors that repeat in this type of place), and Secrets (one thing true here that isn’t visible). Not every section needs the same length — Atmosphere typically gets 3 bullets, the others 1-2 each. The four-section structure gives the AI distinct material for description, NPC behavior, and hidden content simultaneously.

Use thematic keys, not location types

Keys should be thematic labels (“Power Asymmetry”, “Sanctuary”, “Uneasy Alliance”) not location-type labels (“Capital City”, “Forest”, “Dungeon”). Since one archetype is randomly applied to any location, thematic labels produce useful flavor regardless of what kind of place is being generated. (visualTags are used for image caching, not archetype targeting.)

Do not leave empty

⚠️

Warning: Leaving this section empty causes a hard engine crash when generateLocationDetails fires (which happens for locations with detailType: "basic" when the player first visits them). Worlds where every location has detailType: "detailed" and pre-authored basicInfo will not invoke this code path, but defining at least one entry is recommended as defence-in-depth against later content additions.

📋

Note: To override or fully ignore the engine-selected archetype inside generateLocationDetails , see Behavior suppression and archetype override in the Advanced AI Techniques appendix.