🧭 The Emotional Compass

Forget lawful-good. A character isn't a slot on a grid — they're a feeling, a pressure point, and a lie they tell themselves. The compass gives you all three, ready for any system.

Three Parts to a Character

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Core Emotion

Their baseline — the lens they meet the world through. One of the eight on the wheel.

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The Shadow

The opposite that surfaces under pressure. Every emotion sits across the wheel from the one it becomes when pushed.

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Core Deception

The lie they tell themselves to bridge the two — a blind spot that drives conflict and, eventually, growth.

Spin the Compass

Roll a complete emotional profile — Core Emotion, Shadow, and a fitting Core Deception.

The Eight Cores & Their Shadows

Each core sits beside its Shadow — the opposite it becomes under pressure — so you can compare them at a glance. Intensity runs mild › core › intense.

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Blends — Where Two Emotions Meet

Emotions rarely arrive alone. Where two sit side by side on the wheel, they combine into the feelings that fill the gaps — a character is seldom just one note.

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Eight Worked Examples click to expand ▾

One for each Core Emotion — the baseline, the Shadow it turns to under pressure, and a Core Deception that bridges them. New to the idea? Start here, then try the spin.

Joy under pressure → Sadness

“Nothing really bothers me.”

Truth: Terrified that if they ever stop smiling, they will fall apart completely.

Trust under pressure → Disgust

“I fight for justice and nothing more.”

Truth: They crave the thrill of the fight, and need a villain to feel alive.

Fear under pressure → Anger

“I’m a lone wolf — I need no one.”

Truth: Terrified of being abandoned again, so they leave first.

Surprise under pressure → Anticipation

“I just go with the flow.”

Truth: Afraid to want anything, in case it is taken from them.

Sadness under pressure → Joy

“I’m fine — don’t worry about me.”

Truth: Desperate for someone to notice that they are not.

Disgust under pressure → Trust

“People always disappoint, so I expect nothing.”

Truth: They want, just once, to be proven wrong.

Anger under pressure → Fear

“I answer to no one.”

Truth: Sure that if they ever yield, they will be crushed.

Anticipation under pressure → Surprise

“If I plan for everything, nothing can hurt me.”

Truth: They cannot bear to not be in control.

Building the Core Deception

The deception is the engine. It's the gap between who a character believes they are and what they actually feel — a blind spot the story can press on until it cracks. Four steps:

  1. 1

    Place them on the wheel

    Pick the Core Emotion they lead with, and note its Shadow across the wheel.

    e.g. Take a character whose Core Emotion is Fear. Across the wheel, its Shadow is Anger.

  2. 2

    Craft the lie

    Write the deception that bridges the two — the story they tell themselves that hides the Shadow.

    e.g. Their deception: “I’m a lone wolf — I need no one.” It buries the truth that they’re terrified of being abandoned.

  3. 3

    Follow it into their choices

    Decide how the lie bends their decisions, who it pushes away, what it makes them defend.

    e.g. So they refuse help, leave before they can be left, and turn cold — or pick a fight — the moment someone gets too close.

  4. 4

    Plant the cracks

    Seed campaign moments that press on the lie — the path to a reckoning, and to growth.

    e.g. Give them an ally who simply won’t leave, and a moment where the only way through is to admit, aloud, that they need them.

✨ Reveal the Truth — AI assist

Give the character's Core Emotion and the story they tell themselves. The assistant names the buried truth and suggests ways to bring it forward in play.

Built on the framework from our blog, Unveiling the Depths, and Plutchik's Wheel of Emotions.