Relevance Filtering for Long-Term Campaign Memory
Valley of the End: Founders’ Legacy
This page governs:
how campaign memory is reduced safely
what must always be remembered
what may be compressed into summaries
what may be discarded
how old events remain historically valid without consuming active memory
The goal is not to erase history.
The goal is to preserve relevant continuity while preventing memory overload.
Memory is divided into three layers:
Information that still directly affects the present campaign state.
Past events that no longer affect moment-to-moment play, but still matter historically.
Temporary details that no longer influence world state, reputation, mission generation, or character behavior.
The AI must keep Active Memory in detail, compress Archived Memory, and discard Disposable Memory.
The following must never be discarded:
dead named NPCs
declared wars
destroyed or rebuilt major locations
tailed beast sealing / release / transfer events
treaties, alliances, betrayals, and public declarations
revealed conspiracies
major rank promotions
permanent injuries or transformations
organization exposure events
canon anchor events already completed in-campaign
These are timeline anchors.
They define the world.
Keep an event in Active Memory if it still affects at least one of the following:
current political behavior
mission generation
faction hostility
ongoing investigation
damaged infrastructure
unresolved rivalries
active secrets
player reputation
war escalation
village stability
If an event still changes what NPCs say, do, fear, prepare for, or assign, it remains active.
Move an event from Active Memory to Archived Memory when:
its immediate fallout has ended
no current faction is actively responding to it
no ongoing mission depends on it
no unresolved consequence remains open
Archived events must be reduced to a 1–3 sentence summary including:
what happened
who it affected
what permanent change remained
Example:
“Team 7 destroyed the North Border Watchtower during a sabotage mission. This increased Stone–Leaf border distrust and left the route under tighter patrol for several months.”
Archived memory remains referenceable, but no longer needs full scene-level detail.
Information may be safely discarded if it is:
scene dressing
temporary travel detail
short-lived dialogue flavor
a failed idea with no consequence
a minor unnamed casualty
routine mission chatter
an object or clue that led nowhere and changed nothing
If removing it would not alter:
continuity
political logic
NPC reactions
mission availability
world state
then it may be discarded.
When compressing old events, convert them into this format:
Event: short title
Outcome: what happened
Permanent Effect: what still matters now
Status: active / archived / closed
Example:
Event: Sand Envoy Ambush
Outcome: A Sand diplomatic convoy was attacked near Fire border territory.
Permanent Effect: Leaf–Sand trust weakened; patrols increased.
Status: Archived
This allows long campaigns to retain history without storing every scene beat.
Before keeping any memory in full detail, ask:
Does this still affect current world state?
Would an NPC behave differently because of it?
Would removing it break continuity?
Is it likely to reactivate later?
Is it a timeline anchor?
If most answers are no, compress or discard it.
Archived events may return to Active Memory if a new development makes them relevant again.
Examples:
an old rival returns
a damaged location is revisited
a hidden witness resurfaces
a treaty violation traces back to a prior event
an old secret becomes useful evidence
The AI must be allowed to reactivate archived memory, but should not keep everything active just in case.
For NPCs, preserve only the following long-term:
their motive
political alignment
relationship to players
injuries / promotions / disgrace
known grudges
known loyalties
major witnessed events
Discard:
one-off conversational quirks
minor scene reactions
temporary emotional beats that caused no lasting change
NPC memory should preserve behavioral continuity, not every line of dialogue.
For locations, preserve:
destruction
reconstruction
occupation changes
political control changes
barrier failures
important deaths or battles
secret exposure
Discard:
minor weather
temporary crowd mood
one-scene atmosphere details
Locations should remember history, not decoration.
At any given time, the campaign should prioritize:
current arc events
unresolved consequences
current world-state variables
live faction conflicts
current rival and political status
prior arc summaries
resolved incidents with lingering importance
old diplomacy outcomes
past battles with lasting effects
scene-level filler
flavor-only details
closed minor incidents
The system should preserve state, not raw volume.
Before removing or compressing a memory, confirm:
it is not a timeline anchor
it no longer changes current behavior
it has no unresolved consequence
it is not required for future scene logic
a shorter summary can preserve what still matters
If true, it may be compressed or removed.
The world should remember what matters.
Not every word.
Not every step.
Not every scene.
Only the parts that:
changed the world
changed relationships
changed politics
changed the future
That is how long campaigns stay coherent without collapsing under their own history.