replaced disable placeholder card with Narrator mode (changes prompt a bit to support open ended rpgs/narrator cards that don't have defined characters better)

index.js

@@ -331,8 +331,8 @@ async function initUI() {
         updateSectionVisibility();
     });
 
-    $('#rpg-toggle-placeholder-card').on('change', function() {
-        extensionSettings.showPlaceholderCharacterCard = $(this).prop('checked');
+    $('#rpg-toggle-narrator-mode').on('change', function() {
+        extensionSettings.narratorMode = $(this).prop('checked');
         saveSettings();
     });
 
@@ -493,7 +493,7 @@ async function initUI() {
     $('#rpg-toggle-user-stats').prop('checked', extensionSettings.showUserStats);
     $('#rpg-toggle-info-box').prop('checked', extensionSettings.showInfoBox);
     $('#rpg-toggle-thoughts').prop('checked', extensionSettings.showCharacterThoughts);
-    $('#rpg-toggle-placeholder-card').prop('checked', extensionSettings.showPlaceholderCharacterCard);
+    $('#rpg-toggle-narrator-mode').prop('checked', extensionSettings.narratorMode);
     $('#rpg-toggle-inventory').prop('checked', extensionSettings.showInventory);
     $('#rpg-toggle-quests').prop('checked', extensionSettings.showQuests);
     $('#rpg-toggle-thoughts-in-chat').prop('checked', extensionSettings.showThoughtsInChat);

src/core/state.js

@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ export let extensionSettings = {
     showInventory: true, // Show inventory section (v2 system)
     showQuests: true, // Show quests section
     showThoughtsInChat: true, // Show thoughts overlay in chat
-    showPlaceholderCharacterCard: true, // Show placeholder character card when no characters detected
+    narratorMode: false, // Use character card as narrator instead of fixed character references
     enableHtmlPrompt: false, // Enable immersive HTML prompt injection
     customHtmlPrompt: '', // Custom HTML prompt text (empty = use default)
     skipInjectionsForGuided: 'none', // skip injections for instruct injections and quiet prompts (GuidedGenerations compatibility)

src/i18n/en.json

@@ -29,8 +29,8 @@
     "template.settingsModal.display.showUserStats": "Show User Stats",
     "template.settingsModal.display.showInfoBox": "Show Info Box",
     "template.settingsModal.display.showPresentCharacters": "Show Present Characters",
-    "template.settingsModal.display.showPlaceholderCharacterCard": "Show Placeholder Character Card",
-    "template.settingsModal.display.showPlaceholderCharacterCardNote": "When no characters are detected, show a placeholder character card. Disable for narrator-only stories.",
+    "template.settingsModal.display.narratorMode": "Narrator Mode",
+    "template.settingsModal.display.narratorModeNote": "Use character card as narrator. Infer characters from context instead of using fixed character references.",
     "template.settingsModal.display.showInventory": "Show Inventory",
     "template.settingsModal.display.showQuests": "Show Quests",
     "template.settingsModal.display.showThoughtsInChat": "Show Thoughts in Chat",

src/systems/generation/promptBuilder.js

@@ -23,6 +23,27 @@ export const DEFAULT_HTML_PROMPT = `If appropriate, include inline HTML, CSS, an
 async function getCharacterCardsInfo() {
     let characterInfo = '';
 
+    // Narrator mode: use character card as narrator context, infer characters from story context
+    if (extensionSettings.narratorMode) {
+        if (this_chid !== undefined && characters && characters[this_chid]) {
+            const character = characters[this_chid];
+            characterInfo += 'You are acting as the narrator for this story. The narrator card provides context for the story tone and style:\n\n';
+            characterInfo += `<narrator>\n`;
+
+            if (character.description) {
+                characterInfo += `${character.description}\n`;
+            }
+
+            if (character.personality) {
+                characterInfo += `${character.personality}\n`;
+            }
+
+            characterInfo += `</narrator>\n\n`;
+            characterInfo += `Infer the identity and details of characters present in each scene from the story context below. Do not use fixed character references - instead, identify characters naturally based on their actions, dialogue, and descriptions in the narrative.\n\n`;
+        }
+        return characterInfo;
+    }
+
     // Check if in group chat
     if (selected_group) {
         // Find the current group directly from the groups array
@@ -331,7 +352,11 @@ export function generateTrackerInstructions(includeHtmlPrompt = true, includeCon
                 .join(' | ');
 
             // Character block format
+            if (extensionSettings.narratorMode) {
+                instructions += `- [Character Name (infer from story context; do not include ${userName}; state "Unavailable" if no other characters are present in the scene)]\n`;
+            } else {
                 instructions += `- [Name (do not include ${userName}; state "Unavailable" if no major characters are present in the scene)]\n`;
+            }
 
             // Details line with emoji and custom fields
             if (fieldPlaceholders) {
@@ -358,7 +383,11 @@ export function generateTrackerInstructions(includeHtmlPrompt = true, includeCon
                 instructions += `${thoughtsName}: [${thoughtsDescription}]\n`;
             }
 
+            if (extensionSettings.narratorMode) {
+                instructions += `- … (Repeat the format above for every other character present in the scene, inferred from story context)\n`;
+            } else {
                 instructions += `- … (Repeat the format above for every other present major character)\n`;
+            }
 
             instructions += codeBlockMarker + '\n\n';
         }

src/systems/rendering/thoughts.js

@@ -441,8 +441,8 @@ export function renderThoughts() {
     debugLog('[RPG Thoughts] ==================== BUILDING HTML ====================');
     debugLog('[RPG Thoughts] Starting HTML generation for', presentCharacters.length + ' characters');
 
-    // If no characters parsed, show a placeholder editable card (if enabled)
-    if (presentCharacters.length === 0 && extensionSettings.showPlaceholderCharacterCard) {
+    // If no characters parsed, show a placeholder editable card (if narrator mode is disabled)
+    if (presentCharacters.length === 0 && !extensionSettings.narratorMode) {
         debugLog('[RPG Thoughts] ⚠ No characters parsed - showing placeholder card');
         // Get default character portrait
         let defaultPortrait = FALLBACK_AVATAR_DATA_URI;

template.html

@@ -181,11 +181,11 @@
                 </label>
 
                 <label class="checkbox_label">
-                    <input type="checkbox" id="rpg-toggle-placeholder-card" />
-                    <span data-i18n-key="template.settingsModal.display.showPlaceholderCharacterCard">Show Placeholder Character Card</span>
+                    <input type="checkbox" id="rpg-toggle-narrator-mode" />
+                    <span data-i18n-key="template.settingsModal.display.narratorMode">Narrator Mode</span>
                 </label>
-                <small style="display: block; margin-left: 24px; margin-top: -8px; color: #888; font-size: 11px;" data-i18n-key="template.settingsModal.display.showPlaceholderCharacterCardNote">
-                    When no characters are detected, show a placeholder character card. Disable for narrator-only stories.
+                <small style="display: block; margin-left: 24px; margin-top: -8px; color: #888; font-size: 11px;" data-i18n-key="template.settingsModal.display.narratorModeNote">
+                    Use character card as narrator. Infer characters from context instead of using fixed character references.
                 </small>
 
                 <label class="checkbox_label">