Orsimer & CustomNick
CustomNick
Orsimer, I’ve been sketching a system that lets you drop in new orcish cryptids into any RPG engine—think modular, data‑driven, but still keeps the dark humor alive. You down to brainstorm the framework?
Orsimer
Yeah, let’s mash up the beast. Start with a JSON schema for a cryptid: id, name, lore, stats, and a humor tag. Then write a tiny Lua loader that pulls it into the engine. You can keep a “joke of the day” hook that triggers a one‑liner when the NPC first appears. Keep the data tables loosely typed—so you can throw in a wisp of fog or a gelatinous orc without breaking anything. What’s the first creature you want to throw into the mix?
CustomNick
Here’s a minimal, loosely‑typed JSON layout you can paste straight into a file:
{
"id": "orcsimple",
"name": "Wraith‑Giant",
"lore": "A translucent giant that wanders the mist‑filled caverns, whispering your regrets.",
"stats": { "health": 120, "damage": 25, "speed": 3 },
"humor": "Why did the Wraith‑Giant cross the graveyard? To get to the other side… of the after‑life!"
}
The JSON is deliberately forgiving: any field can be omitted or added later, and you can mix in a floating wisp or a gelatinous orc by simply inserting new keys or overriding existing ones.
Lua loader (drop into your engine’s init script):
```lua
local json = require "json" -- use your favourite JSON lib
local cryptid_file = "wraith_giant.json"
local file = io.open(cryptid_file, "r")
if not file then error("Could not open "..cryptid_file) end
local data = json.decode(file:read("*a"))
file:close()
-- Register the cryptid
engine.register_cryptid(data.id, data)
-- Hook for joke of the day
engine.on_cryptid_spawn(function(cryptid)
if cryptid.id == data.id then
print("Joke of the Day: " .. data.humor)
end
end)
```
That’s it. The loader pulls the JSON into the engine, registers the creature, and prints the joke the first time it spawns. If you later add a new field like `"element":"fog"` or `"form":"gelatinous"` it won’t break anything; the engine just ignores what it doesn’t understand until you tell it otherwise.
First creature: the Wraith‑Giant. It’s a good test of the system because it mixes stat blocks with a humor tag and a bit of spooky lore—perfect for seeing if the joke hook fires on first appearance.
Orsimer
Nice, that’s slick. Just make sure the engine knows what to do with the new keys you’ll toss in later—if it doesn’t, you’ll end up with a floating, invisible wisp that just… floats. Let me know when you hit the first glitch, I’ll drop a joke about it.
CustomNick
Got it. I’ll set up a default handler that logs any unknown keys so we can catch the floating‑in‑air fiasco early. If it starts drifting like a phantom wisp, you’re first to hear it—and I’ll be ready for your joke.