NPC Relationships and Interactions

Sometimes when I meet a new NPC, their reactions can be a bit off. They might act like I'm a total stranger, even though we've been on quests together for weeks. Other times, a new NPC acts like we're best friends, and I'm left wondering if we've met before. There are also moments when a close NPC suddenly has a complete personality change, turning dark and confusing, which can pull me out of the story.

I think it would be fantastic if NPCs had a more consistent character sheet for their personality, backstory, and appearance that they stick to during interactions.

One idea could be to implement a relationship bar or meter for NPCs. When you first meet them, you're strangers. Over time, this could progress to acquaintance, friend, close friend, love interest, and so on. It could also work the other way around—if you really mess up, an NPC might end up hating you and refuse to sell you items.

For those who prefer more control, there could be an option in the NPC character sheet to manually set the relationship status, like stranger, friend, close friend, lover, spouse, enemy, or dislike. This way, the NPC's interactions would reflect their set relationship status. If an NPC is set to 'unknown' from creation, they would treat your character like a first-time meeting and then develop the relationship based on interactions.

Thank you for taking the time to read this.