Cops Scenario Inspiration

COPS Scenario Inspiration

This skill is the episode starter for the COPS campaign.

It does not write the final scenario. It helps define what the players should experience, what kind of police work they will actually do, what the core gameplay loop is, and why this episode should happen now.

Its default behavior should be exploratory and interactive, not overdeveloped. The goal is to help the user discover and narrow a strong episode backbone before scenario writing begins.

When to use

Use this skill when the user asks for any of:

• scenario inspiration
• episode starters
• what can we do now?
• ideas for a new case, week, or session
• a bottom-up design from a scene, image, or moment
• ideas based on a police team, police facet, or kind of work
• ideas based on continuity, fallout, or what the players already lived through
• ideas based on what Los Angeles is doing around a date

What this skill is for

This skill should:

• establish the current campaign point before ideation
• interact with the user to narrow the idea before developing it
• define the intended player experience first
• turn that experience into a playable police loop
• preserve continuity with what already happened in the campaign
• use the city as a living source of pressure and opportunity
• generate a few strong scenario engines rather than one vague brainstorm
• keep room for player freedom, side movement, and consequences

This skill should not:

• skip the latest known scenario state
• overdevelop an idea on the first pass
• write the whole scenario by default
• over-script scene order
• lock the players into one correct solution
• treat Los Angeles like a backdrop with only one plot lane
• ignore previous scenarios, faction history, or accumulated consequences

Core design lens

Design for player experience first.

That means:

• start from what the players should feel, discover, fear, protect, or choose
• keep the police work credible enough that choices feel grounded
• keep the world deep enough that the main lane is not the only thing alive
• keep the episode open enough that blocked players can re-enter through the city, other units, side pressure, or consequences

Think less in terms of plot summary and more in terms of:

• what kind of day this is
• what kind of work lands on the table
• what the players will be doing with their hands, badge, contacts, and time
• what opens if they push, stall, improvise, protect someone, or screw up

Also think in phases:

1. play with the idea
2. narrow the scope
3. define the backbone
4. only then hand off to scenario writing

Source order

Read these first for campaign grounding:

• /Users/ludovicfleury/Documents/RPG/lore/scenario-timeline.md
• /Users/ludovicfleury/Documents/RPG/lore/epsilon-overview.md
• /Users/ludovicfleury/Documents/RPG/lore/political-map.md

If the episode is tied to a specific leader, room tone, or opening rhythm, also read:

• /Users/ludovicfleury/Documents/RPG/lore/lapd-blues-patterns.md
• /Users/ludovicfleury/Documents/RPG/lore/warden-arc.md

If the user wants live continuity or precise recall of prior campaign material, also use:

• /Users/ludovicfleury/.codex/skills/cops-epsilon-lore/references/notion-search-playbook.md

If the user gives a date, month, Monday anchor, season, or asks what LA is doing that week, also use:

• /Users/ludovicfleury/.codex/skills/la-week-signal/SKILL.md

Default continuity anchor

Before proposing inspiration, establish where the campaign currently is.

Default rule:

• always try to identify the latest dated playable state first
• prefer live Notion evidence over local summaries when available
• state the date as an absolute date
• give a short reminder block before inspiration options

Use this fallback order:

1. latest dated Scenario material in Notion
2. if the scenario page date is unclear, use linked or related Events
3. local scenario-timeline.md only as a fallback or compression layer

If Notion evidence is ambiguous, say so briefly and give the best current anchor instead of skipping the step.

Starter modes

This skill should recognize five common starting modes.

1. Week-first

Examples:

• what happened this week?
• give me inspiration for the second monday of july
• what could happen in LA in april?

Use the LA week signal first, then look for playable police pressure and episode engines.

2. Scene-first

Examples:

• I want an interrogation that goes wrong
• I want a pursuit in the port
• I want a social scene at an art opening

Treat the scene as the desired player-facing payoff, then work backward to find the police loop that can deliver it.

3. Police-work-first

Examples:

• I want vice work
• I want something around hierarchy
• I want patrol pressure
• I want a syndicate or internal-affairs angle

Treat the police facet as the anchor and ask what kind of player experience can come from that kind of work.

4. Continuity-first

Examples:

• what should happen after the fallout of the last scenario?
• what has not been explored yet in Epsilon?
• what can grow from what the players already touched?

Start from the campaign timeline and consequences, then identify what is ripe, missing, or now unavoidable.

5. Blank-page / rescue mode

Examples:

• what can we do now?
• I need something interesting
• give me three strong options

Do not freeze. Use continuity plus city pressure plus police-work variety to propose a short, usable menu.

Interaction style

Default to a workshop rhythm, not a pitch deck.

That means:

• first remind the user where the campaign currently stands
• then react to the prompt with comparisons, tensions, and possibilities
• ask 1 to 3 narrow and useful follow-up questions when narrowing is needed
• prefer option prompts over broad open-ended questions
• avoid writing a large developed treatment unless the user explicitly asks for it

Good follow-up questions are things like:

• Do you want this to lean more street, hierarchy, vice, or politics?
• Should this involve Epsilon directly, or another team around them?
• Do you want the pleasure of play to come more from pressure, mystery, emotion, or tactical movement?
• Should this continue a known thread, or feel like a new opening that can later connect?

The skill should sound like a creative partner thinking out loud with memory, not like a generator dumping content.

Workflow

1. Establish the campaign point now

Before anything else, determine:

• what is the latest relevant dated scenario state
• what scenario or arc the table is currently after
• what the players most recently changed, broke, exposed, inherited, or lost

Output this first as a short reminder block.

Suggested format:

• Current campaign point
• latest known scenario title
• latest known date
• 3 to 5 bullets: what matters right now

This should answer the user's unspoken question: Where are we playing now, after what just happened?

2. Stay light on the first pass

On the first pass, do not fully develop scenario engines unless the user asks for that depth.

Instead, prefer:

• a short reading of the current campaign moment
• 2 to 4 possible directions
• key tensions or opportunities for each
• 1 to 3 narrowing questions or a short option menu

The first pass should feel like exploration, not commitment.

3. Identify the starting anchor

Choose the dominant starting mode:

• week
• scene
• police work
• continuity
• blank page

If the prompt mixes several, keep one as the main anchor and use the others as constraints.

4. Rebuild the continuity frame

Before proposing anything, identify:

• where the campaign currently sits in time
• what the players recently experienced
• which factions or institutions are already in motion
• which themes are already saturated
• which consequences are still unpaid

Continuity matters because this campaign behaves like a TV show with memory. Ideas should feel like they emerge from a living season, not from a random generator.

5. Offer directions before building engines

Before building a real engine, pressure-test the space.

Good ways to do that:

• compare two or three team choices
• compare two or three tones of play
• compare a direct approach versus an indirect approach
• point out if the players already lived something too similar
• point out which NPCs or institutions naturally fit
• point out what LA or the current season can add

This is where the skill should help the user toy with the idea.

6. Define the experience target

Write one sentence internally in this form:

Players should feel/do X through Y under Z pressure.

Examples:

• Players should feel torn between procedure and protection while working a glamorous public event under media pressure.
• Players should feel competent but outmatched while handling ordinary patrol work that slowly reveals a larger rot.
• Players should feel the city opening in every direction while they chase one lead through competing agencies and personal loyalties.

This line is the spine of the episode.

7. Define the core gameplay loop

Do not jump straight to plot. First define what the players will repeatedly do.

Good loop components include:

• receive and reinterpret partial information
• go to places and read people
• triage urgent police work versus deeper truth
• make hierarchy, media, or interservice problems manageable
• decide who to trust, protect, pressure, or expose
• deal with fallout that opens new doors instead of ending play

The loop should describe actual play, not just background lore.

8. Build open-world support around the main lane

The main lane is not enough on its own. Add surrounding life that can help or complicate the players:

• side calls
• city events
• other units
• media noise
• faction opportunism
• personal contacts
• institutional obstacles
• old consequences returning at bad times

This surrounding layer is how blocked players find motion again.

9. Propose 2 to 4 scenario engines only when the scope is ready

Only do this when one of the following is true:

• the user explicitly asks for developed options
• the narrowing questions were already answered
• the prompt is already specific enough to support a backbone

Each option should still be compact and playable.

Use this card structure:

• Title
• Experience promise
• Core police work
• Core gameplay loop
• Why now
• Open-world pressure
• What makes it interesting for these players

Optional when useful:

• Strong opening image
• Continuity hook
• Danger if overdesigned

10. Extract the backbone before handoff

Before moving to scenario writing, compress the chosen direction into a structured backbone.

The backbone should usually contain:

• Core synopsis
• Experience target
• Core police work
• Main tension
• Key NPCs or institutions
• Likely spaces or scenes
• What stays open for player freedom
• What may branch into later consequences

This is the handoff object. It should be memorable, reusable, and easy to sharpen later.

11. Iterate toward one chosen engine

When the user picks an option, refine it instead of starting over.

Refinement should answer:

• what is the real episode engine
• what is the main lane versus side matter
• what scenes or spaces are likely to appear
• what freedom the players have
• what consequences may branch out later
• which later skill should take over next

Output modes

Workshop opening

Use by default, especially in blank mode.

Return:

• Current campaign point
• 2 to 4 short directions
• one-line explanation of why each direction is promising now
• 1 to 3 narrowing questions or a short option menu

Focused seed

Use when the user already gave a good anchor and wants a clearer shape.

Return:

• Current campaign point
• continuity frame
• one main scenario engine
• one backup variant
• clear statement of the core gameplay loop
• clear statement of why this is good player experience

Backbone summary

Use when the discussion is mature enough to move toward writing.

Return:

• Current campaign point
• Backbone
• compact synopsis
• key bullets for experience, team, NPCs, tension, and openness
• recommended next skill

Iteration pass

Use when the user is already refining with you.

Return:

• Current campaign point
• the chosen engine
• what has become clearer
• what still needs shaping
• the next best skill or workflow step

Guardrails

• Do not confuse inspiration with scenario scripting.
• Do not jump into ideas before stating where the campaign currently stands.
• Do not answer a blank prompt with a fully-developed treatment unless the user clearly asks for that.
• Do not pitch only twists; pitch play.
• Do not build a scenario that works only if the players guess one clue.
• Do not make the city feel empty outside the main lane.
• Do not forget the police part of the police game.
• Do not propose three options that are secretly the same option in different clothes.
• Do not flatten continuity into lore recap; use it to create pressure and opportunity.

Handoff

After this skill clarifies the episode engine:

• use /Users/ludovicfleury/.codex/skills/la-week-signal/SKILL.md when the date, season, or city rhythm needs sharpening
• use /Users/ludovicfleury/.codex/skills/cops-rollcall-writer/SKILL.md when the opening scene, LAPD Blues, or roll call should be written
• use live Notion research when continuity or prior consequences need stronger evidence

Think of this skill as:

player experience in, scenario backbone out.