Personality and Motivations
Every NPC has a set of fields that define who they are — how they look, how they speak, what drives them, and what they're hiding. These fields shape every conversation the NPC has. The more detail you provide, the more distinct and consistent the character.
All fields are editable from the Atlas NPCs tab. Click any NPC to open the full editor.
Identity & Role
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Name | The NPC's name. |
| System Role | A genre-specific role (shopkeeper, guard, noble, scholar, etc.) that gives the AI a baseline for the character's behavior. |
| Occupation | What they do — more specific than the system role. "Retired mason who sketches ruin architecture by lantern light" is better than "craftsman." |
Appearance
| Field | Max | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Appearance | 1,500 chars | Physical description: gender, height, build, skin, facial features, hair, the way they move, their scent. This shapes how the NPC describes themselves and how other characters perceive them. Don't include clothing here. |
| Default Outfit | 250 chars | What they typically wear. Kept separate from Appearance so the AI can reference clothing changes naturally. |
| Image Prompt | 1,000 chars | A separate prompt used for portrait generation. Describes how the NPC should look in their portrait image. |
Communication & Behavior
| Field | Max | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Communication | 500 chars | How the NPC talks: voice texture, speech delivery, vocabulary, lingo, honesty style. This replaces the old Voice field with a richer format. A gruff dwarf who speaks in clipped sentences and never says more than necessary is very different from a courtier who wraps every truth in flattery. |
| Behavior | 1,500 chars | Body language and physical tells. How they stand, what they do with their hands, nervous habits, confident gestures. |
Motivations
These fields drive the NPC's decisions and reactions across all conversations.
| Field | Max | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Confidence | — | Low, Medium, or High. Affects how assertively the NPC speaks and acts. |
| Goal | 500 chars | What they want. Drives their decisions — they'll steer conversations toward this. |
| Fear | 500 chars | What they dread. Triggers defensive reactions when topics get close. |
| Secret | 500 chars | What they're hiding. They'll deflect, lie, or change the subject when pressed. |
These are generated automatically when an NPC is created, but you can edit them anytime. The AI weaves them into conversations naturally — an NPC won't announce "my secret is..." but their behavior will reflect it.
Background
| Field | Max | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Brief History | 1,500 chars | A compact timeline of key life events. Generated by AI during NPC creation and editable afterward. Focuses on the beats that explain who the NPC is now — formative moments, turning points, defining losses or achievements. |
Additional
These fields are collapsed by default and expand when you add content. Use them to round out important NPCs.
| Field | Max | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Education | 500 chars | Schooling, training, apprenticeships. |
| Religion | 500 chars | Faith and spiritual practice. |
| Daily Rhythms | 1,000 chars | Morning routine, workday, evening habits. Gives the AI texture for time-of-day conversations. |
Relationships
Each NPC can have named relationships with other characters. Each relationship has three fields:
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Name | The other character's name. |
| Relation | The relationship type (mother, rival, employer, old friend, etc.). |
| Dynamic | Optional (max 150 chars). How they interact — the texture of the relationship. "Owes him a debt he'll never repay" is more useful than just "friend." |
Click + Add to create a new relationship row.
Relationships shape dialogue — an NPC will speak differently about their mother than their rival, and if both NPCs are in the same building, their dynamic influences the scene.
Personality (Legacy)
If an NPC was created before the July 2026 character update, you may see a Personality field with a Legacy badge. This field stored temperament and traits. New NPCs don't have it — those details are now better captured across Communication, Behavior, Motivations, and Background.
The field remains editable on existing NPCs that have content in it. It will continue to work, but new NPCs should use the current field set.