Report rules can be a good point at which to add local color: while Inform provides default descriptions of character behavior, these are rather generic and can stand to be customized.
For instance, if we wanted to liven up our previous Clark Kent example:
Report Clark Kent going a direction (called the way):
say "[one of]With a particularly weak excuse[or]Muttering[at random] about [random excuse subject], Clark heads [way]." instead.
To say random excuse subject:
choose a random row in the Table of Lame Excuses; say "[reply entry]".
Table of Lame Excuses
reply
"needing a paper-clip"
"wanting an English-Tuvalu dictionary"
"walking a neighbor's dog"
"hearing air-raid sirens"
"having drunk too much coffee"
"thinking he smells smoke"
"wondering where Lois got to"
"needing to speak to Jimmy"
"noticing the Good Year blimp"
It's good to be careful, as the library report rules have been designed and tested to describe every contingency (going through doors, going in vehicles, etc.): so when replacing a report rule, we should try to consider all the possible variations of the action that we might want to describe.
However, in this case, our scenario is so simple that there are no doors, vehicles, or pushable objects, so we're safe in giving Clark a very simple reporting scheme.
One of the nice things about before rules for actions is that they allow us to express some planning for characters other than the player: we've already seen how this works, a bit. But we could also use before rules to write plans for an abstract story-driving entity, rather than for other individual characters. This story-driver could be in charge of all the non-player characters, as well as spontaneous or natural changes in the environment, shaping the narrative around the player's behavior.
The following example is a very simple one, but the same concept could be worked out in a great deal more complexity, with all sorts of alternative procedures available to our story-manager:
"Fate Steps In"
Fate is a woman. After deciding the scope of the player: place Fate in scope. The description of Fate is "Not smiling." Instead of doing something other than examining to fate: say "As if."
Every turn: try fate tripping.
Tripping is an action applying to nothing.
Carry out someone tripping:
if something dangerous (called the trap) is in the location:
say "Lise chooses this moment to lick her fingers -- it's not gross, it's natural, you decide -- stand up, and head for the door. Unfortunately, her path crosses directly over [the trap]. There is a vaudevillesque moment where you try to warn or catch her; the next moment she's on the floor, looking shocked and also in quite a lot of pain. 'I'm not sure,' she says to you steadily but with unfocused gaze, 'but I think I might have broken my tailbone.'";
end the story saying "Well, she's paying attention to you now".
Before someone tripping when the location does not contain a dangerous thing: try the person asked making a mess instead.
Making a mess is an action applying to nothing.
Carry out someone making a mess:
let calamitous object be a random visible supporter which supports at least three things;
if calamitous object is a supporter:
say "[The calamitous object] tips over, spilling [the list of things on calamitous object] all over the place.";
move the calamitous object to the location;
now every thing on the calamitous object is in the location.
Definition: a thing is dangerous if it is not the carton and it is not the table and it is not a person.
Before someone making a mess when a safe supporter (called target) is visible:
if Lise carries something, try Lise putting a random thing carried by Lise on the target instead.
Instead of someone making a mess when the tray is on the table:
say "Just at that moment, a large blond man-thing in a red jacket walks more or less through you, and you come into violent contact with the table, knocking [the list of the things on the table] onto the floor.";
now every thing on the table is in the location;
now every thing on the tray is in the location instead.
Definition: a supporter is safe if the number of things on it is less than two.
McQuerry Dining Hall is a room.
The table is scenery in the dining hall. The table is a supporter.
Lise Fitzwallace is a woman in the Dining Hall. "Lise is at the nearest table, not apparently paying any attention to you." The description of Lise is "A capella singer, women's rugby champion, general object of attention from all genders. Unlikely to notice you unless fate smiles broadly." Lise carries a fork, a napkin, an empty glass, and a plate of half-eaten eggplant parmesan.
Report Lise putting something on something:
say "Lise, still deep in thought, absently puts [the noun] on [the second noun]." instead.
The carrying capacity of the player is 2. The carton of chocolate milk is in the Hall. "There's a carton of milk beside you, which you set down for a moment -- but you do want it."
Instead of taking something when the player carries the tray:
say "You've got both hands full with this tray."
The player carries the tray. On the tray is some macaroni and some overdone chicken. The macaroni and the chicken are edible. The tray is portable.
Test me with "get milk / put tray on table / get milk".
Test again with "drop tray".
