NPC Types

{
  "npcTypes": {
    "<key>": {
      "name": "string",
      "vulnerabilities": [
        "string"
      ],
      "resistances": [
        "string"
      ],
      "immunities": [
        "string"
      ],
      "description": "string",
      "successBonus": "number"
    }
  }
}

{
  "npcTypes": {
    "Hedge Knight": {
      "name": "Hedge Knight",
      "vulnerabilities": [],
      "resistances": [],
      "immunities": [],
      "description": "Landless swords for hire, holding to a code they interpret loosely. No damage modifiers; standard combat, social, and effect rules apply. Respond to coin, reputation, and a fair fight, and will disengage from one they are losing."
    },
    "Bandit": {
      "name": "Bandit",
      "vulnerabilities": [],
      "resistances": [],
      "immunities": [],
      "successBonus": -10,
      "description": "Robbers working the roads and the edges of settlements. No special damage profile. Fully subject to social pressure: can be talked down, bribed, or scared off. Break and run once the odds turn."
    },
    "Risen Dead": {
      "name": "Risen Dead",
      "vulnerabilities": [
        "fire",
        "light"
      ],
      "resistances": [
        "slashing",
        "bludgeoning",
        "piercing"
      ],
      "immunities": [
        "poisoning",
        "dark"
      ],
      "description": "Mindless undead - skeletons, zombies, revenants without will. Take extra damage from fire and holy light, shrug off physical blows, and are unharmed by poison or dark magic. Immune to fear and social pressure; cannot be reasoned with or bargained with."
    },
    "Stone Golem": {
      "name": "Stone Golem",
      "vulnerabilities": [
        "lightning"
      ],
      "resistances": [
        "slashing",
        "bludgeoning",
        "piercing"
      ],
      "immunities": [
        "poisoning",
        "psychic"
      ],
      "description": "Animated guardians of stone or metal. Conductive cores take extra lightning damage, dense bodies resist physical attacks, and they are unaffected by poison or psychic effects. Follow their last instruction literally; cannot be persuaded or intimidated."
    }
  }
}

#Behaviour

#When to create a type

Create an NPC type only when:

• Multiple NPCs share the same damage profile (vulnerabilities / resistances / immunities), or
• The type represents a species, creature category, or profession that more than one NPC will inhabit

No baseline type is required. A world where every NPC is a unique individual (no shared damage profiles) is fine with zero npcTypes entries and type: "" on every NPC. The section is optional.

#Damage multipliers

#Damage type inheritance

An NPC with type: "goblin" looks up npcTypes.goblin and inherits its damage arrays -- every NPC of that type takes on the type's vulnerabilities, resistances, and immunities. The NPC's own vulnerabilities, resistances, and immunities are merged with the type's as a union. An NPC with type: "" uses only its own arrays, which suits a one-off creature with a unique profile.

Static modifiers stack with matching buffs: a resistance plus a resistance buff is 0.25x, a vulnerability plus a vulnerability buff is 2x.

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Common mistake: Values in vulnerabilities, resistances, and immunities must match strings verbatim from combatSettings.damageTypes. Approximate matches do not work -- "poison" is not valid if "poisoning" is in the list; "frost" is not valid if only "ice" is defined. Always copy the exact strings from your damageTypes list. Entries that don't match carry no damage modifier and are reported as invalid references.

For guidance on populating vulnerabilities/resistances/immunities see Authoring Guide > NPC Types.

#Authoring tips

#NPC Types - Vulnerabilities, Resistances, Immunities

The vulnerabilities, resistances, and immunities arrays on npcTypes are matched by the engine against a single vocabulary: the damage type strings listed in combatSettings.damageTypes. They are damage multipliers and nothing else.

The matching is literal, not semantic. A value like "blade combat" will not match anything unless that exact string is a defined damage type. Populate these arrays only with values that exist in your combatSettings.damageTypes, or the entries have no mechanical effect (and are reported as invalid references).

These arrays do not govern social or skill outcomes. To make a type immune to fear, resistant to persuasion, or hard to deceive, write it into the relevant NPCs' basicInfo or personality, which the narrator reads. Do not put skill names like persuasion or intimidation in the damage arrays; they are not damage types.

Your damage type vocabulary is a world-design choice that varies by genre. A high-fantasy set will differ from a modern or sci-fi one. Define combatSettings.damageTypes for your scenario first, then design type profiles around it.

Example: a fantasy damage profile (illustrative -- one workable configuration among many; uses the default damage types):

A modern or slice-of-life world where combat is rare may leave these arrays empty entirely. A combat-heavy sci-fi world would define damage types like kinetic, plasma, or emp in combatSettings.damageTypes and build profiles from those. The pattern is the same; the damage vocabulary changes with the genre.