How to use OOC to steer an AI roleplay

The basic shape

OOC means "out of character". Write your normal turn, then add the note:

*I fold the map and pocket it.* "We leave at dawn." (OOC: skip to the next morning on the road, please.)

Short, polite and specific works best. One instruction per message. If the reply ignores it, try Another version before rephrasing.

Phrases for common situations

• Time skip: (OOC: skip ahead three days to when we reach the capital.)
• Slow down: (OOC: let's take this scene slowly; no big confessions yet.)
• Speed up: (OOC: let's wrap this conversation and move to the heist.)
• Tone shift: (OOC: make the next scenes darker and more tense.)
• New character: (OOC: introduce a rival detective who wants the same case.)
• Twist: (OOC: something goes wrong here that neither of us expected.)
• Length: (OOC: shorter replies for a while, one or two paragraphs.)
• Your actions: (OOC: please don't describe what I do or say; leave my reactions to me.)

Steer inside the story first

OOC is the blunt tool. Often you can do the same thing in character and keep the spell intact:

• Instead of a time skip note: *By the time the sun comes up, we're twenty miles from the city.*
• Instead of asking for a new character: *A knock at the door. Three short raps, then silence.*
• Instead of asking for tension: *I notice the guard's hand hasn't left his sword.*

You are allowed to narrate the world in your own turns. Characters will usually build on what you add, and the Narrator and Grimm are built around exactly that kind of shared control.

When OOC is the right tool

Use a note when the in-story version would be awkward or unclear: changing the overall tone, asking for a different reply length, telling the character to stop writing your actions, or setting a limit on what you want in the story. Those are instructions about the story, not events in it.

If the character starts answering in OOC too, or drops the scene to chat, reply fully in character on your next turn. The model follows the most recent pattern.

Make it stick

An OOC note affects the next few replies, then fades as the story moves on. For something that should hold for the whole story, such as "keep this a slow burn", add it as a line in Story memory (⋯ menu) so it stays in view. If one reply ignores your note, edit that reply rather than repeating the note; see keeping characters in character for why that works.

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