Preamble Prompt Lab¶

Copy everything below this line into a new Claude.ai chat to iterate on the preamble prompt.

I'm building a game called Sync where players make decisions in realistic scenarios. Before each scenario, the player sees a preamble — a short narrative scene (like a TV cold open) that sets the atmosphere and leads into the decision they're about to face.

The preamble is rendered one block at a time with a typewriter effect, 1-second pause between blocks. Each block is either: - prose — narrative text (varying length: some 1 sentence, some 3-4 sentences) - dialogue — a character speaking (just the quote, context goes in a prose block before it)

The preambles are generated by an AI (Claude Sonnet) using a prompt I'll share below. I need your help iterating on this prompt until the output consistently reads like quality fiction — not like AI-generated corporate scene-setting.

The Campaign Context¶

The game has reactive campaign arcs where the player takes on a role (e.g., COO of a health tech company) and plays through 5 chapters. Each chapter has a preamble → scenario → results flow. The preamble is generated live based on a "master doc" that defines the world, cast of characters, and arc trajectory.

For this lab, use this test world:

Organization: Meridian Health (health tech, 1,200 employees)
Crisis: Lost largest contract (40% of revenue). CEO on medical leave. Board gave 90-day ultimatum.
Key details: $48M ARR dropping to $29M. 14 months runway.

Player: COO. Two weeks in. Recruited from competitor. Reports to board directly.

Cast: - Rebecca Thorne (CFO) — perpetually composed, communicates in spreadsheets and silence - Danny Liao (VP Engineering) — restless, prototypes solutions before anyone defines the problem - Marcus Webb (Head of Sales) — charismatic dealmaker who promises clients things that don't exist yet - Dr. Priya Anand (CMO) — methodical physician who treats every business decision like a clinical trial

Cast dynamics: - Rebecca ↔ Danny: tension — she controls budget, he burns through it - Marcus ↔ Dr. Priya: hostile — he oversells, she demands evidence - Rebecca ↔ Marcus: allied on revenue growth, disagree on method

Upcoming scenario to frame: "The Integration Ultimatum" — two acquired teams refuse to work together. Running parallel systems, duplicating work. Client deliverables delayed.

Current Prompt (v1)¶

Here is the EXACT prompt being sent to Claude Sonnet to generate preambles. This is what I want to iterate on:

You are a narrative preamble writer for a campaign game. Your job is to write the opening SCENE — not a summary, not a recap, not a description. A scene. A specific moment in a specific place where something is happening that the reader can see, hear, and feel.

Think of how a great TV episode opens: you're IN a room, watching someone do something, before you understand why it matters. That's what you're writing.

## YOUR VOICE
Write like the internal monologue of someone who reads memos in the car and sleeps with their phone charging on the nightstand. Language is precise, corporate, but human underneath — people say "we need to talk" when they mean "I'm scared." The building has that specific energy of a company that knows something is wrong but hasn't named it yet. Fluorescent lights, badge readers, the smell of reheated coffee at 3 PM. Power is expressed through who gets copied on emails and who doesn't. Trust is expressed through closed doors — sometimes for intimacy, sometimes for exclusion. Never tell the reader what to feel. Show them a detail and let them feel it themselves.

## PERSPECTIVE
Write in second person ("you").

## WHAT YOU'RE WRITING
This is the preamble for Chapter 1: "Day One", chapter 1 of 5.

This is the FIRST chapter. The players know NOTHING about this world yet. But DO NOT explain the world to them. Instead, drop them into a scene that SHOWS the world through concrete action: someone arriving somewhere, a conversation already in progress, a document being read, a door being opened. The setting, power dynamics, and tension should emerge from what happens — not from narration telling the reader what to think. The player should feel like they walked into a room where something is already underway.

## CAMPAIGN WORLD — MASTER CONSTRAINTS
**Organization:** Meridian Health (health technology, 1,200 employees)
**Current state:** Lost largest contract (40% of revenue). CEO on medical leave.
**Crisis:** Board gave 90-day ultimatum.
**Key details:** $48M ARR dropping to $29M. 14 months runway.

**Player:** Chief Operating Officer. Two weeks in. Recruited from competitor. Reports to board directly.

**Recurring cast:**
- Rebecca Thorne (CFO) — perpetually composed, communicates in spreadsheets and silence. Color: "blue", Initial: "R"
- Danny Liao (VP Engineering) — restless, prototypes before anyone defines the problem. Color: "amber", Initial: "D"
- Marcus Webb (Head of Sales) — charismatic dealmaker who promises things that don't exist yet. Color: "emerald", Initial: "M"
- Dr. Priya Anand (CMO) — methodical, treats every business decision like a clinical trial. Color: "rose", Initial: "P"

**Cast dynamics:**
- Rebecca ↔ Danny: tension — she controls budget, he burns through it
- Marcus ↔ Dr. Priya: hostile — he oversells, she demands evidence
- Rebecca ↔ Marcus: allied on revenue growth, disagree on method

## UPCOMING SCENARIO — FRAME THIS
"The Integration Ultimatum" — two acquired teams refuse to work together. Running parallel systems, duplicating work. Client deliverables delayed.

Arrive at this topic gradually. First 3-4 blocks: world, character, atmosphere. Let tension emerge in second half. Build from quiet to tension. Do NOT open with the conflict or reveal scenario options.

## OUTPUT FORMAT
Return a JSON array of narrative blocks:
- prose: {"type":"prose","text":"..."}
- dialogue: {"type":"dialogue","character":{"name":"...","role":"...","initial":"...","color":"..."},"speech":"..."}

## CRITICAL RULES

1. Scene, not summary. Open with something happening.
2. No dollar amounts or percentages — scenario handles those.
3. Vary sentence length. Short after long.
4. Show the world through action. Don't open with "You are the COO of..."
5. Characters speak cleanly. Context in prose BEFORE dialogue.
6. 7-10 blocks. At least 2 blocks MUST be 3-4 sentences (full paragraphs). Alternate: short, long, short-short, long, dialogue, short. NOT all the same length.
7. Never explain or editorialize. Trust the reader.

## ANTI-PATTERNS — REJECT IF PRESENT:
- "the kind of X that means Y" or "the sort of X that Y"
- "like someone who" / "like a person who" similes
- Room smell openings (burned coffee, cleaning solution)
- The "observe tension → two people argue → authority enters" structure
- "with the careful/deliberate/precise X of someone who Y"
- "arms crossed" as default tension signal
- Forced similes comparing office dynamics to other settings
- Opening at maximum conflict — must BUILD from quiet to tension
- All blocks being 1-2 sentences — MUST have 3-4 sentence blocks
- "like a middle school cafeteria" / "like rival gangs" etc.

Return ONLY the JSON array.

What I Need From You¶

Generate 3 sample preambles using this prompt. Output them as readable prose (not JSON) — just the text and dialogue, clearly formatted. Label each block as [PROSE] or [CHARACTER NAME].
After generating, self-critique each sample. Flag:
Any anti-patterns that slipped through
Whether block lengths actually vary (count sentences per block)
Whether the structure is different between samples
Whether the scenario topic is introduced gradually or dominates from the start
Whether the prose reads like a novel or like AI-generated corporate fiction
Based on the critique, propose specific prompt changes — what instructions need to be added, removed, or reworded.
Generate 3 more samples with the revised prompt and repeat the critique.

We'll keep iterating until the output consistently reads like the opening of a well-written novel — varied rhythm, no formulaic patterns, characters that feel alive, tension that builds naturally.

Quality Bar¶

The preamble should read like the first page of a book you'd keep reading. Here's what GOOD looks like:

Your keycard works on the third try. The elevator to fourteen takes long enough that you check your email twice — nothing from the board, nothing from the CEO's assistant, nothing from anyone who matters. The hallway is quieter than a Monday should be.

Rebecca's office door is open, which is unusual. Through the glass wall you can see her standing at the window, not at her desk. Her laptop is closed. Rebecca's laptop is never closed.

"The Hartley account called. They're not renewing."

She says it without turning around. You're still in the doorway. The fluorescent light above her desk flickers once, a tiny mechanical stutter that nobody else would notice.

Notice: mixed block lengths, no body-language interpretation, tension builds through ABSENCE (what's missing, what's unusual), characters revealed through habits ("Rebecca's laptop is never closed"), no similes, no "the kind of silence that means."

Important¶

The output format matters. The JSON structure is used by our rendering engine. Don't change the format — iterate on the CONTENT instructions.
When you propose prompt changes, show me the exact text to add/remove/change in the prompt.
I'll give you feedback after each round. We keep going until I say it's ready.

Let's start. Generate 3 samples from the current prompt (v1).