How to use Assigning Character Elements for Players in Subtext?

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Hi,

I am currently working on the Players of my Objective Story. There are about ten characters and I have filled in every text field in Subtext for them. No I am trying to assign some character elements.

As far as I understand the Suggest button wants me to direct into the archetype path, right? Which is fine. But not suitable in my case because I have quite complex characters I guess. Some elements more or less are assigned quite by themselves and do not fit into the archetype pattern.

The Add button seems not to work as I expected which is the reason to open this topic. Different than the Suggest button my selections do not reduce the number of possible choices. I can select every element, even dependent, companion or dynamic pairs within the same Player. This is not Dramatica conform as far as I understand. And it might not even wants to be. Maybe this is just a field where you make a list of all possible elements, play around with different suggestions for encoding them, so just getting started with what character elements can do in the story. But it cannot be fixed to a character here in a theory conform way, at least not automatically. As a user you have to know the math by yourself.

Narrova here is not of much help either. It helps in discussing what could fit. But Narrova isn‘t an expert in Character Elements. For example it gave me Variations instead of Elements. It doesn‘t have the 64 Elements on his list, so I had to give it that. Because my Objective Story is in Psychologie I had to give the exact element positions in the level to know what is dependent, companion or dynamic. I asked if I should change back from Encoding to the Storyforming Agent. Narrova said I wouldn‘t have to. I didn‘t try it yet. At least I have a final storyforming so this agent shouldn‘t be relevant. Or is it?

I think the Add button as it is now is fine. We should keep it. But the real element assignment in a theory based way is still missing. There should be a third button for that. 1) Playing around, 2) Archetypes, 3) Complex Characters. It might become more confusing than I guess when you don‘t know how to use it. But it‘s already confusing.

Maybe I misunderstand completely how to work with it. So please let me know what the intend of this buttons were. And if Narrova‘s agents could clear it up. Maybe it‘s still work in progress and the graphical character assignment GUI is already in planing like it was in the software of the nineties. That would be really nice.

Thank you!

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I’d love to know the answer to this too. I always had the feeling that I could get more out of assigning character elements (maybe along the lines of Armando’s approach in Dramatica for Screenwriters) but it was cumbersome to work with in the old Dramatica. It would be cool if there were an easier way.

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Hi @Gerard

Thanks so much for brining this up! I absolutely agree with everything you suggest–not too many writers know that the arrangement of Elements is different for an Objective Story in Physics as it is in Psychology, and I agree there should be a better more intuitive way of going about it.

Behind the scenes, I’ve been quietly adding Narrova “Skills” which you can see in Narrova by either tapping the + sign and adding them directly, or by simply typing the dollar sign ($) for a list of available options.

One of these first Skills is “Map Objective Story Players” which is exactly what you’re looking for. No matter where you are in development, you can bring up a cast of characters, and ask specifically for Narrova to help you with these Player assignments.

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In the example I paste below, there was no Goal set, nor was there a Domain set yet (no OS). But what is great about this new approach is that we can really hone in on specific use cases for Dramatica theory - and it can quickly identify what the Goal might be.

It’s an interesting subject because writers who use Dramatica come from all different experience levels - from not knowing a thing to knowing a lot about the theory and its been an interesting journey to make it all available to everyone.

Go ahead and give the new Skill a try and of course, if it doesn’t work quite the way you want, let us know and we’ll work on it. I’m pretty sure the Domain adherence is setup 100%, but your post has reminded me to keep at it some more.

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Here’s the example from above:

read through the following cast of characters and help us [$Map Objective Story Players]

Here are ten characters designed to give you a balanced, high-functioning ensemble for a fantasy adventure—each with clear narrative utility, internal tension, and relational potential:

1. Aelric Varn

Role: Reluctant Protagonist / Exiled Heir
Bio:
Once the youngest son of a fallen noble house, Aelric has spent years hiding as a cartographer in the borderlands, mapping territories no one else dares enter. He possesses an intuitive grasp of patterns—geographic and human—but distrusts leadership after watching his family implode under political pressure. When rumors surface that his bloodline may still hold a claim to an ancient throne, Aelric is pulled into a conflict he would rather observe than shape.

2. Seris Thorne

Role: Obstacle Character / Zealot Knight
Bio:
A devout knight of the Radiant Order, Seris believes the world must be purified through unwavering adherence to divine law. Raised in the aftermath of a demonic incursion, she sees moral compromise as the root of all suffering. Her rigid worldview directly challenges Aelric’s tendency toward ambiguity, forcing confrontations over action vs. hesitation.

3. Mirel Doss

Role: Trickster / Information Broker
Bio:
A street-born operative who thrives in the shadows of major cities, Mirel trades in secrets, favors, and misdirection. They maintain a network of informants spanning kingdoms and are nearly impossible to pin down. Mirel’s allegiance is fluid, but they’re drawn to Aelric’s potential as a destabilizing force in the current power structure.

4. Kaelen Vire

Role: Mage Scholar / Forbidden Knowledge Seeker
Bio:
Expelled from the Arcanum Collegiate for experimenting with outlawed forms of magic, Kaelen is obsessed with unlocking the “pre-language” of creation—an ancient system said to shape reality itself. His pursuit skirts the boundary between genius and catastrophe, and his alliance with the group is as much about access as it is survival.

5. Brakka Stonehand

Role: Warrior / Loyal Protector
Bio:
A veteran of the mountain clans, Brakka carries the weight of a failed rebellion that cost him his kin. He now sells his strength as a mercenary but is guided by a strict personal code. His loyalty, once earned, is absolute—but he struggles with trusting causes larger than immediate survival.

6. Elowen Marris

Role: Healer / Empathic Anchor
Bio:
Gifted with rare restorative abilities tied to the natural world, Elowen serves as both physical healer and emotional stabilizer within the group. She senses fractures—both in people and in the land itself—and believes the spreading corruption is tied to something deeper than politics or war.

7. Darian Quell

Role: Antagonist / Usurper King
Bio:
A former general who seized the throne during a time of chaos, Darian rules through calculated fear and strategic brilliance. He sees himself as the only one capable of maintaining order in a collapsing world. To him, Aelric represents not just a threat, but a regression to instability.

8. Nyxara Vale

Role: Assassin / Agent of the Veil
Bio:
Trained from childhood by a secretive order that operates between realms, Nyxara exists in the margins of reality—literally slipping between shadows. Initially sent to eliminate Aelric, she begins to question her directives as she uncovers inconsistencies in her order’s true purpose.

9. Torren Halv

Role: Engineer / Relic Builder
Bio:
A pragmatic inventor from a crumbling industrial city, Torren specializes in restoring ancient mechanisms left behind by a lost civilization. He views magic as a system to be understood and replicated, often clashing with Kaelen’s more mystical interpretations.

10. Vaelis Ruun

Role: Ancient Entity / Hidden Architect
Bio:
An enigmatic being bound to the ruins scattered across the world, Vaelis communicates through fragmented visions and symbols. Neither wholly benevolent nor malicious, they appear to guide Aelric toward a larger design—one that may reshape reality itself if completed.

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and the full response:

Using Map Objective Story Players: I’d treat this as a provisional Objective Story player map built around a likely Physics story goal.

Working Objective Story assumption

Your cast most naturally organizes around this OS Goal:

Story Goal: secure, reach, and control the ancient throne-engine / ruin network before the spreading corruption or Darian’s regime can claim it first.

That gives everyone a clean objective relationship to the same external conflict:

  • Aelric = rightful claimant with access
  • Darian = current ruler blocking replacement
  • Seris = law/purity pressure
  • Mirel = underworld complication
  • Kaelen/Torren = knowledge + mechanism access
  • Elowen = corruption consequences
  • Nyxara = covert interference
  • Brakka = muscle and loyalty
  • Vaelis = ancient system leverage

Mandatory pivotal-element pass

Because you have cast bios but not a full Storyform:

  • MC Pivotal Element: unknown
  • IC Pivotal Element: unknown

So this map should be treated as structurally useful, but not final.
If Aelric is your MC and Seris is your IC, we can lock this much harder once you know their storyform positions.

Provisional Objective Story Player Map

Player Objective role line Suggested OS lane Narrative Functions
Aelric Varn exiled royal claimant Protagonist spine Pursuit → driving the expedition toward the throne-engine • Consider → weighing claims, routes, alliances, and terms of rule
Darian Quell reigning usurper king Antagonist spine Avoid → preventing rivals from reaching or activating the ancient system • Reconsider → forcing kingdoms to abandon restoration and accept his order
Seris Thorne Radiant Order knight Guardian-leaning complex player Help → backing the mission when it serves lawful restoration • Conscience → rejecting corrupt methods, profane bargains, and tainted power
Mirel Doss underworld intelligence broker Contagonist spine Hinder → complicating plans through withheld intel, favors, and misdirection • Temptation → offering expedient betrayals, shortcuts, and destabilizing deals
Kaelen Vire outlaw arcane scholar complex knowledge disruptor Test → pushing dangerous experiments on relics, glyphs, and pre-language fragments • Theory → building explanatory models for how the throne-engine rewrites reality
Brakka Stonehand clan mercenary bodyguard Sidekick-leaning spine Support → backing the chosen claimant’s push once he commits • Faith → holding the line before proof that the cause will succeed
Elowen Marris field healer and land-reader complex protector Protection → shielding people, sites, and living terrain from corruption fallout • Actuality → revealing the real cost of magical misuse in bodies and land
Nyxara Vale Veil assassin operative Sceptic-leaning complex player Oppose → challenging plans, trust, and strategic assumptions from the flank • Disbelief → refusing official narratives from the Veil, prophecy, or the crown
Torren Halv relic engineer Reason spine Logic → reducing mystical systems to mechanisms, inputs, and failure points • Control → imposing procedure, calibration, and safeguards on activation attempts
Vaelis Ruun bound ruin intelligence complex architect / pressure source Production → generating new configurations, pathways, and possible uses of the ancient design

Why this distribution works

1. It gives you a clean external spine

You already have a solid OS engine:

  • Aelric pushes toward the Goal
  • Darian blocks it
  • Seris helps but constrains methods
  • Mirel complicates and tempts shortcuts
  • Torren rationalizes procedure
  • Brakka reinforces commitment
  • Nyxara questions trust and plan integrity

That’s a strong functional ensemble.

2. It avoids the big double-duty problems

A few of your bios naturally overlap, so I’d keep these distinctions sharp:

  • Seris vs Elowen
    Both can become “moral support” if you’re not careful.

    • Seris should be about law, purity, judgment
    • Elowen should be about preservation, healing, visible consequences

  • Kaelen vs Torren
    Both can become “the smart one.”

    • Kaelen = testing dangerous possibilities
    • Torren = controlling implementation

  • Mirel vs Nyxara
    Both can become “shadow operators.”

    • Mirel = tempting / hindering through leverage
    • Nyxara = opposing / disbelieving through covert pressure

3. It keeps Seris objective

You labeled Seris as an Obstacle Character, which may absolutely be true in the IC lane.
But in the Objective Story, she reads better as a Guardian-leaning enforcer of acceptable means.

That distinction matters.

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The two characters most likely to drift out of the Objective Story

These two need the clearest OS handling:

Vaelis Ruun

Right now Vaelis risks becoming mythic atmosphere instead of a true OS Player.

To keep Vaelis as a real Objective Story Player, make sure they have concrete external leverage, such as:

  • opening or sealing ruin access,
  • directing where the network can be activated,
  • withholding key configurations,
  • forcing visions that change tactical choices,
  • binding activation to a specific sequence only they can reveal.

If Vaelis only appears in symbolic dreams, they are not fully functioning as an OS Player yet.

Elowen Marris

Elowen is easy to like, but structurally she can become “group medic” unless her role affects the Goal.

To make her fully OS-relevant, tie her to:

  • detecting where corruption has spread,
  • stabilizing corrupted sites long enough for activation,
  • proving which use of the throne-engine heals vs worsens the land,
  • serving as the visible measure of whether the mission is saving or destroying the realm.

If you want a tighter, near-archetypal version

Your cleanest near-archetypal 8-player core is:

  • Aelric — Protagonist
  • Darian — Antagonist
  • Seris — Guardian
  • Mirel — Contagonist
  • Torren — Reason
  • Brakka — Sidekick
  • Nyxara — Sceptic
  • Kaelen or Elowen — split Emotion-like pressure across two complex players

Which is why I would not force this cast into pure archetypes.
It’s stronger as a complex ensemble.

My practical recommendation

If you’re actively outlining, I’d lock these three things next:

  1. Confirm the Story Goal

    • Is it:
      • reclaiming the throne,
      • stopping the corruption,
      • activating the ancient network,
      • or deciding who controls reality-shaping power?

  2. Decide whether Vaelis is truly an OS Player

    • or a mythic pressure source / storyteller device

  3. Identify Aelric’s MC and Seris’s IC pivotal elements

    • that will tell us which OS Players must carry those crucial elements

If you want, I can do the next pass in either of these formats:

  1. a clean player worksheet
    with Name / Role Line / Elements / short motivation paragraph

or

  1. a tighter archetypal-vs-complex cast diagnosis
    showing which of the ten are essential OS Players and which should be merged, reduced, or reassigned.