StoryKit — add an NPC, trainer, and skill tree

📖 Full documentation: StoryKit wiki page

A BepInEx library plugin for Outward (Definitive Edition, Mono branch) that lets a mod add an NPC: a standing character in the world with a dialogue graph and, if it's a trainer, a full in-game skill tree the vanilla Trainer window sells from. A consuming mod describes the NPC as plain data; StoryKit builds the character, spawns it at a fixed spot, wires its conversation, and compiles its skill tree — no custom UI, no NodeCanvas hand-editing.

StoryKit covers NPCs, trainers, and dialogue. A quest/story-event engine is not part of the kit — there is no quest-authoring API here.

Requires: BepInEx 5 (Outward's Mono branch — see Compatibility), ForgeKit, and SideLoader present at runtime.

Installing (for players)

You don't install or interact with StoryKit directly. It arrives as a dependency of a mod that adds an NPC — for example Beastwhispering, whose animal-taming trainer is a StoryKit NPC that sells the mod's pet-skill tree. The NPC and its dialogue are what you actually meet in-game; StoryKit is the plumbing behind it. A mod manager installs it automatically alongside whatever mod declares it as a dependency.

Consuming the kit

A consumer calls NpcRegistry.Register(NpcSpec) in Awake, describing the NPC's placement, appearance, dialogue tree, and (if it's a trainer) the skills it sells. NpcDirector spawns the registered NPC at player-ready on every scene load (master-only in co-op, duplicate-safe), and DialogueBuilder compiles the described conversation into a real NodeCanvas graph reusing SideLoader's own trainer dialogue nodes. See the wiki page for the full NpcSpec/SkillTreeDef shape and worked examples.

Compatibility

Outward must be on its Mono Steam branch, not the default IL2CPP build. If your game runs but nothing looks modded, check that first.

Config

BepInEx/config/cobalt.storykit.cfg — kill-switch and diagnostic-recon toggles. Commands (dev verbs) live on BepInEx/config/StoryKit_cmd.txt.

StoryKit changelog

0.1.0 — 2026-07-30

• Thunderstore release prep: changelogs + real category tags for BW
• Thunderstore release prep: BW/SkillKit/StoryKit manifests + descriptions
• Icon pipeline: condition generation on real Outward art, restyle every icon
• Review fixes for b5118e3 MP wave: real corpse-view mute (group block), QESYNC poison purge, CHAR-GUARD player exemption + ghost identity check
• 2026-07-27 MP session closeout: NK-F3 guest-join fix (QuestEventSyncGuard + unconditional srecon signatures + save purge), V-PARKLEAK corpse-view mute, AddCharacter dup-UID guard, [DIAG] loading line; session handoff + testplan/STATUS updates (428->352 queue burn)
• Review must-fixes: plain-NPC fallback safety, empty choice menu, Dialogue guard, owner side-table leak
• StoryKit T2/T4: kill-switch is recoverable; recon verbs route through VerbHost
• StoryKit T1/T3/T5: plain-dialogue NPCs, on-demand late registration, internal OpenTrainerTask
• Maren MP review fixes: scene-scope the guest warning, adopt the replica
• Maren MP: converge placements against CharacterManager + watch the room
• StoryKit: per-NPC toggle for NpcLookFollow; Maren stands static
• Evening fix batch: Bugs 44-47 + 39 + unequip-hint nit (built, NOT live-verified)
• Integrate verb re-homing wave + 2026-07-20 SP session results + fix batch
• fix: high-severity wave from the 2026-07-19 static-analysis review
• Maren: relocate default spawn to Cobalt's spot + StoryKit ground-snap
• Guest pets Phase A (M0-M5): guests can tame, fight, and buy the skill tree
• Small-mods bundle (review 2026-07-14): TreeLayout breakthrough violations now hard-refuse (Cobalt's ruling), Hireling recruit/dismiss master-gated, AggroKit cause-stack maintenance skipped when observation is off, StoryKit verbs through VerbHost
• StoryKit: NPCs/trainers/dialogue as a kit — Maren goes live in Cierzo

0.1.0 — initial release

• Add an NPC to Outward as plain data: a consumer describes placement, appearance, dialogue, and (if the NPC is a trainer) the skills it sells, and StoryKit builds the character, spawns it at a fixed spot, and wires the conversation — no custom UI, no NodeCanvas hand-editing.
• NpcDirector spawns the registered NPC at player-ready on every scene load — master-only in co-op, duplicate-safe.
• DialogueBuilder compiles a described conversation into a real NodeCanvas graph, reusing SideLoader's own trainer dialogue nodes.
• A described skill tree compiles and sells from the vanilla Trainer window — no custom shop UI.
• NPCs, trainers, and dialogue only. No quest/story-event authoring API in this release.