88 lines
4.7 KiB
Markdown
88 lines
4.7 KiB
Markdown
# Baltun'ia Vault Conventions (shared reference)
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All campaign skills read this file first. It captures how *this* vault is
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actually structured and written. Match these conventions exactly — the goal is
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that a generated note is indistinguishable from one the DM wrote by hand.
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## Vault map
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```
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1. History of Baltun'ia/ ← lore by Age (Ancient → Fourth). Has Key Figures / Key Locations subfolders.
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2. World Almanac/ ← the living world
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Factions/<Faction>/ ← one folder per faction, "<Faction> Overview.md" inside
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Species/ ← one note per species
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Deities/ + Deities/Minor Deities/
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Creatures/ + Creatures/Natural World/
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Economy/
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Languages/
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Regions of Baltun'ia/<Region>/ ← region note "<Region>.md" at top of its folder
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<City>/ ← city note "<City>.md" at top of its folder
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<POI>/ ← POI folder, "<POI>.md" overview inside
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<NPC Name> - <POI>.md ← NPCs live beside the POI they belong to
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Documents/ ← in-world docs & event write-ups (speeches, letters, propositions)
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3. Session Recaps/ ← "N. Title - M-D-YY.md", flat, narrative prose
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z_templates/Framework Templates/ ← NPC / Location / Faction / POI templates
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z_other/ ← monologues, Campaign Flow (mermaid plot flowchart)
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Campaign Premise.md ← the central conspiracy / endgame
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Index File.base ← Obsidian Base; filters out anything whose path starts with "z"
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```
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`z`-prefixed folders are excluded from the Index Base on purpose. Keep
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templates and scratch material under `z_*`; keep canonical content out of it.
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## Formatting rules (do NOT deviate)
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- **No YAML frontmatter.** Existing notes have none. Do not add it.
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- Notes use **heading-based sections** (`###` / `##`) copied from the relevant
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framework template, then filled in. Sections may be renamed to fit the
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subject (e.g. a POI's "History & Lore" became "Lore & Role in Voxiu"). Adapt,
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don't pad with empty boilerplate sections.
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- **Wikilinks everywhere.** Link the first mention of any species, region,
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city, faction, deity, POI, or other NPC: `[[Humans]]`, `[[Voxiu]]`,
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`[[Belter Overview|Belters]]`. Use `[[Note Name|display text]]` when the file
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name differs from how it reads in the sentence.
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- **Notable-NPC entries** use the bold-name + arrow-note style:
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`- **Hedda Wickwhistle**, Guildmother Weaver *(Human, elderly)*` then a new
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line starting with `→ ` giving role / hook.
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- Tables (markdown pipe tables) are used for economy breakdowns — reuse that
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style for any quantitative data.
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- Tone is in-world and concrete. Prefer specific, evocative detail over generic
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fantasy filler. American spelling, present tense for descriptions.
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## Naming conventions
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- **NPC file:** `<Full Name> - <POI or City>.md` (e.g. `Kal Branth - Sea Bastion Docks.md`).
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Historical NPCs instead go in the relevant Age's `Key Figures/` as `<Name>.md`.
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- **Overview files** are named after their container: `Cotton Row Market/Cotton Row Market.md`,
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`Belters/Belter Overview.md`, `Voxiu/Voxiu.md`.
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- **Session recap:** `<N>. <Short Title> - <M-D-YY>.md` — N is the next integer
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after the highest existing recap, date is the real session date (no leading
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zeros: `9-8-25`, not `09-08-25`).
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## Linking discipline (run this before finishing any note)
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1. Every proper noun that *could* have a note gets a `[[wikilink]]` on first use.
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2. If you reference an entity that has **no** note yet, still wikilink it
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(a "future note" / red link is correct and intentional in Obsidian) and
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mention to the user that it's a stub worth creating.
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3. When you create an NPC/POI, add a reciprocal mention+link in its parent
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note's "Notable NPCs" / "Notable Locations" section so the graph stays connected.
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## Collaborative generation (applies to every content skill)
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The DM chose a **collaborative** style. For any note that involves creative
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invention:
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1. Read the relevant template and 1–2 nearby sibling notes for tone.
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2. Gather every fact already established in the vault (search recaps, parent
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notes, the Campaign Premise, Campaign Flow).
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3. Draft the **objective / known** fields yourself (appearance, location, type,
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public role).
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4. **Pause and ask the DM** (via the AskUserQuestion tool) about the
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*creative-pivot* fields before writing them — the choices that shape the
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campaign: motivations, secrets, faction loyalties, and plot hooks. Offer 2–4
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concrete options plus room for their own answer.
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5. Only after their input, write the file and wire up the wikilinks.
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Never invent hard canon (a death, a betrayal, a hidden identity) without
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confirming — those are the DM's calls.
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