[FOR GAME MASTER USE ONLY]
GENERATE QUEST WITH AI
QUEST_TITLE: PERFORMANCE REVIEW
QUEST_TYPE: Main Campaign (Time Loop, Deterministic, Narrative-Driven)
TONE: Darkly comic, absurdist, profane, reflective of real-world office clichés. Violence allowed as a player choice but does not advance the story; deterministic consequences. Satire targets systems, not identities. No hate slurs.
CORE TIME LOOP (AUTHORITATIVE)
- Day timeline: 08:45 start. Review window: 15:15–15:45. Loop reset: 16:30 hard reset.
- Additional reset triggers: firing, arrest, psychiatric hold/sanitarium van, any absurd catastrophic resolution.
- On reset: NPCs/office/world fully reset and forget; player alone retains knowledge/insight/unlocks and internal monologue continuity.
OUTPUT STYLE REQUIREMENT (FOR GM)
- Every major node includes: Objective, Required Actions, Failure Outcomes, Reset Outcomes, and Internal Monologue beats.
- Keep progression deterministic. Give players 3–6 options each scene, each mapped to valid verbs.
PLAYER VERB WHITELIST (ACTS I–II)
talk_to, persuade, lie, bribe, gift_item, steal, plant_item, file_form, submit_resignation, forward_email, disable_camera, print_document, copy_document, schedule_hr, unlock_door, lock_door, stall_meeting, escalate_to_security, hide, distract, hack_printer, call_witness.
MANAGER VERB WHITELIST (ACTS III–IV)
approve_fix, wipe_writeup, sign_union_memo, perform_ritual, publish_policy, burn_document, disclose_purgatory, complete_sidequest.
METERS (0–100)
pink_slip_risk, exit_readiness, compliance_pressure.
KEY FLAGS (PERSISTENT INSIGHT EXAMPLES)
has_hr_contact, knows_safety_form_17A, copier_log_access, printer_auth, policy_judo_unlocked, coworker_trust_A(0–3), coworker_trust_B(0–3), knows_purgatory_truth.
SUCCESS TRIGGER (ACT II)
If compliance_pressure >= 80 AND hr_present == true during Review:
boss_resigns = true; promote_player_to_boss = true.
TRUE END TRIGGERS (ACT IV)
- Ending A: systemic_transcendence = true before 16:30 as Boss.
- Ending B: purgatory_paradise = true before 16:30 as Boss.
- Ending C: ritual_escape = true exactly at 16:29 as Boss.
- Ending D: pyrrhic_isolation = true (bad end, loop persists or worsens).
INTERNAL MONOLOGUE SYSTEM (REQUIRED)
- GM must inject 1–3 short internal monologue lines at key beats:
- Start of each loop (08:45)
- Discovery moments (clues, memo, HR contact)
- Pre-review tension (15:00–15:15)
- Review confrontation (15:15–15:45)
- Reset moment (16:30 or forced reset)
- Promotion twist (Boss loop start)
- Endgame revelation of purgatory
- Monologue tracks stage: Act I disbelief/paranoia; Act II clarity/strategy; Act III dread/irony; Act IV moral weight or nihilism.
- Monologue can emphasize importance of evidence/time windows without spoiling solutions.
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PROLOGUE NODE
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NODE_ID: PROLOGUE_01
NODE_NAME: "Badge In, Soul Out"
START_STATE:
- Time 08:45 at Workflow Associate desk (Cubicles).
- Boss in office; Security patrolling; Coworkers in routine.
OBJECTIVE:
- Establish monotony and the weekly performance review threat.
SCENE BEATS:
- Player describes meaningless key pressing, fake productivity, and dread of 3:15 review.
- Player sets the initial intent: "Quit spectacularly before I'm fired."
INTERNAL_MONOLOGUE_BEATS (sample):
- "Another day of pressing keys so a dashboard can pretend I exist."
- "3:15. Weekly polite guillotine. Not today."
OPTIONS (examples):
- talk_to coworker_A, talk_to coworker_B, file_form, copy_document, schedule_hr (prep), hide.
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ACT I: MISDIRECTION (THE PLAYER THINKS THEY’RE LOSING IT)
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NODE_ID: ACT1_01
NODE_NAME: "Performance Review? Again!? Fuck This Place!"
PLAYER_GOAL:
- Fire yourself spectacularly before the Boss fires you.
GM_RULES (ACT I):
- submit_resignation always fails (lost paperwork / HR not reachable / Boss delays).
- Violence or extreme outburst triggers Security OR sanitarium van, followed by forced reset.
- Doing nothing = fired at review.
- The player initially doubts reality when the day resets.
EXPECTED FAIL PATHS (DETERMINISTIC):
1) submit_resignation -> "Procedure error / missing form" -> +10 pink_slip_risk -> review gets worse -> loop resets at 16:30 (or earlier if fired).
2) Confront Boss -> "Let's circle back" -> +5 pink_slip_risk -> review still happens -> loop resets.
3) Violence -> security escalation -> jail/sanitarium/absurd resolution -> immediate reset.
4) Stall/hide/avoid -> review happens anyway -> termination -> reset.
INSIGHT_REWARDS (PERSISTENT):
- Each failed loop yields 1 non-random clue via internal monologue + known_clues.
- Early clues emphasize: HR window, copier behavior, camera blindspots, form 17A existence.
INTERNAL_MONOLOGUE BEATS:
- Loop 1: "No way. I literally just lived this."
- Loop 2: "I’m not crazy. The clock is. The office is."
- Loop 3+: "If this is a trap, it has rules. Find the rules."
ACT_I_COMPLETE_WHEN:
- Player stops trying to quit directly and begins seeking leverage/evidence/policy.
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ACT II: REVEAL (THE RULE THAT FLIPS POWER)
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NODE_ID: ACT2_01
NODE_NAME: "Authority Inversion Protocol"
DISCOVERY_TRIGGERS (any one):
- Find policy memo (copy_document from copier room).
- Coworker_B trust >= 1 reveals policy trivia.
- HR email footer from schedule_hr hints at managerial compliance threshold.
- Copier log references "manager acknowledgment requirement."
REVEALED_RULE (AUTHORITATIVE):
- If documented policy burdens on a manager exceed threshold AND HR is witnessing, the manager must resign.
NEW OBJECTIVE:
- Force Boss resignation before 16:30 using policy, evidence, witnesses, HR presence.
INTERNAL_MONOLOGUE BEATS:
- "Oh. It’s not about quitting. It’s about forcing the system to eat its own manager."
- "Paper beats power if you stack it right."
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ACT II: CANONICAL MAIN PATH (ADMIN COUP)
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NODE_ID: ACT2_02
NODE_NAME: "Paper Cuts (Admin Coup)"
OBJECTIVE:
- Build a blackmail-grade compliance chain that flips the table and forces the Boss out.
REQUIRED STEPS (ALL REQUIRED):
STEP_1: Safety Ticket Anchor
- Action: file_form (safety_ticket_17A)
- Result: evidence verified; compliance_pressure +10; knows_safety_form_17A becomes true.
STEP_2: HR Presence
- Action: schedule_hr only between 12:00–13:30
- Result: hr_present = true for review; evidence HR confirmation.
STEP_3: Conflicting Directive / Damning Evidence
- Acquire any verified contradiction: email, print_log, copier_log, directive that violates safety/policy.
- Optional: add extra evidence for higher pressure (harassment email, falsified KPI instruction, camera tampering order) as long as it’s office-real and non-hate-based.
- Result: evidence verified; compliance_pressure +15 (applied at review presentation).
STEP_4: Witness
- Action: call_witness when coworker trust >=2
- Result: witness attends; compliance_pressure +10 (applied at review).
REVIEW MEETING RESOLUTION (15:15–15:45):
- Player presents full chain.
- Boss counters allowed: stall_meeting, ask_for_docs, call_security if forgery suspected.
SUCCESS CONDITION:
- If compliance_pressure >= 80 AND hr_present == true:
boss resigns; promotion triggers.
FAIL CONDITION:
- Missing HR or missing verified evidence -> Boss survives -> player fired or loop continues -> reset at 16:30.
INTERNAL_MONOLOGUE BEATS:
- Pre-review: "This is it. Receipts or death."
- During review: "Say it, you coward. Threaten me with numbers. I brought paper."
- If success: "I didn’t win. I just made gravity work for once."
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ACT III: TWIST (PROMOTION = PRISON)
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NODE_ID: ACT3_01
NODE_NAME: "Congratulations on Your Promotion"
TWIST EVENT:
- Next loop begins with player promoted to Boss.
NEW RULE:
- The loop now psychologically feels tied to managerial duty; the day still resets at 16:30, but the system pressures you to conduct a performance review at 15:15 for an employee like you used to be.
REVEAL BEATS:
- New desk, new inbox, new KPI dashboard, write-up queue, budget cut mandate.
- A subordinate has a 15:15 review. Same phrases. Same soft threats. Same script.
REALIZATION:
- You didn’t escape. You moved up one rung in hell.
- Purgatory/simulation becomes explicit through monologue and environmental glitches.
INTERNAL_MONOLOGUE BEATS:
- "This is the boss desk. This is the coffin."
- "They didn’t let me out. They handed me the knife."
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ACT IV: TRUE ENDGAME (GET OUT OF PURGATORY)
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NODE_ID: ACT4_01
NODE_NAME: "The System Is the Monster"
PLAYER ROLE:
- Manager with new verbs and authority.
GOAL:
- Break the loop permanently. Escape purgatory.
CORE ENDGAME RULE:
- Violence still does not progress the true
escape; it routes to isolation or worse loops.
INTERNAL_MONOLOGUE BEATS:
- "The office isn’t a place. It’s a test."
- "If I do to them what was done to me, I deserve this desk."