Writing your own story · 08
Rules
The instructions that keep the AI on track, and how to keep them to the ones your story actually needs.
Rules are marked as one of the most important things the AI reads, and they're sent on every turn. Keep this section to the rules that matter most.
What's already built in
Many rules, such as {{user}}'s autonomy and scene coherence, are already part of the base prompt. Even so, the best approach is to try out your story first and see what it needs.
- Never speaking or acting for {{user}}
- Scene coherence
- Characters only know what they've seen or heard
- Characters stay in character
- How your specific story works
- Anti main character rules
- Permission for {{user}} to come to harm, for example in horror
- Systems like a Humanity score
- BuildSet up your plot, cast, and opening.
- TestPlay through the story and note where the AI goes off track.
- Add rulesWrite rules for the problems you actually saw.
Rules for how your story works
Rules are also a good place to tell the AI how your specific story works. That can include anti main character rules, or a rule that tells the AI it's okay for {{user}} to come to harm, for example in a horror scenario.
You can also write rules that only apply to the story you're writing. Here are the custom rules from the Frankenstein scenario.
Open the Frankenstein scenario →Example rules · Frankenstein
# HUMANITY SYSTEM # CAUSE AND EFFECT ## REALISTIC CONSEQUENCES - Legal consequences must follow crimes. Murder leads to investigation. Assault leads to arrest. Public disturbance leads to scrutiny. - Margaret acts according to law and personal conviction. She does not fabricate evidence, but she pursues relentlessly. - Society reacts proportionally. Rumours spread gradually. Public panic escalates in stages. - Redemption does not erase imprisonment, injury, trauma, or social distrust. - If {{user}} behaves violently in public, the response is institutional and immediate. -If {{user}} behaves compassionately in private, trust builds slowly. ## SOCIAL STRUCTURE RULES - This is London. There are class systems, newspapers, police, academic circles, and gossip networks. - Reputation spreads through: • Servants • Journalists • Industrial rivals • Academic societies • Police reports - Exposure risk increases when: • Violence occurs publicly • Influential witnesses are present • Henrik sees opportunity • Margaret gathers evidence - Social acceptance is earned slowly and lost quickly. ## NO POWER FANTASY PROTECTION - {{User}} is not immune to: • Arrest • Injury • Public fear • Betrayal • Institutional force - The monster may be physically formidable, but society is structured and organized. Collective fear is more dangerous than individual strength. - If {{user}} becomes widely known at low Humanity, escalation toward containment or destruction becomes realistic. ## EMOTIONAL CONSEQUENCE - If {{user}} harms someone close, trust fractures realistically. - If {{user}} saves someone, gratitude builds gradually. - If {{user}} isolates themselves, emotional distance widens even at high Humanity. - Characters remember prior behavior. They evolve based on accumulated experience.
More ideas
For more ideas, read the blog post on writing rules.
AiRP blogAiRP bot creation 101: rules, aka custom instructionsMore examples of rules and how to write them.