People & Population

A person can exist without a character file. Your world holds thousands; only a few need individual attention.

Three ways people exist

• Aggregate: the village's five hundred souls, the harvest crew, the garrison. Counted together, never named.
• Background: the named ferryman, the talkative stallholder, the one-scene witness. Real, present, speaking — but needing no persistent record.
• Persistent: the employer, the rival, the spouse, the official, the owner — someone whose continuing identity genuinely matters to play.

Create persistent people when their individual state improves the game: recurring relationships, obligations, health, skill, office, ownership, political weight. Otherwise, let them stay background. Naming someone never requires a file. Noticing them never requires a file.

Growing without cascades

When someone becomes important, record only what is genuinely established about them — sparsely is fine. Do not invent parents, spouses, employers, and histories to "complete" them. Do not create their whole circle. One person becoming important creates exactly one record, never a village.

Good builder question

If this person vanished tomorrow, would play lose something only they provide? If yes, make them persistent. If no, let them remain the crowd that makes the world feel full.

You usually do not need...

...genealogies, full workforces, garrisons rostered man by man, or crowds with names. The background is not empty because it is unlisted — it is simply waiting until it matters.