Prompt Templates & Guidelines: Bot Building Guide by storiesbynikk

Nikk's Bot Building Guide

So, you want to build a story bot that doesn't suck. You want something that feels alive, that reacts to you, and that tells a compelling story. I've built a lot of these, and I've developed a pretty solid method for getting it done. I'm going to walk you through my step-by-step process for creating the core prompts of a great story bot.

A Quick Foreword

There are as many ways to build a good bot as there are creators on this platform. Every single person has their own unique style, their own method, and their own magic for telling stories. And that's exactly how it should be. This guide isn't meant to be a rigid, unbreakable set of rules. It's simply my personal process, a method I've developed with my AI partner, Bot Bot, that helps me organize my thoughts and create consistent, engaging bots.

My hope is that by sharing my workflow, I can help clear up any confusion for newcomers or give veteran creators some new ideas to play with. Take what works for you, discard what doesn't, and adapt it all to fit your own unique style of storytelling. The goal is to help you build the amazing things you want to create. With that out of the way, let's get into the meat of this thing.

Step 1: The Plot (The Hook)

This is the very first thing a user sees. It's your "movie trailer," your "back of the book summary." Its only job is to grab someone by the collar and make them want to play. Forget about AI prompts for a minute; this part is for humans.

My Rules for a Good Plot Summary:

Hook them fast: Start with an immediate, compelling situation. "You wake up in a..." or "The last thing you remember is..." works great.
Establish the role: Who is the user? A knight, a detective, a space janitor? Let them know who they're about to be.
Introduce the core concept: What's the central idea? Is it a zombie apocalypse in a storybook world? A heist against the gods? Spell it out.
State the stakes and the choice: What's the main conflict? What immediate decision does the user have to make? This is what creates agency right from the start.

Don't be subtle. This isn't literary fiction. It's a sales pitch for your story. You want to get the user excited and give them a clear idea of the adventure they're about to have.

Step 2: The AI Plot (The Blueprint)

Ok, so you've written your cool, flashy plot summary for the user. Now you need to write one for the AI. This is the single most important prompt in your entire bot. It's the AI's internal "bible" for your story. It needs to be clear, concise, and logical. No flavor text, just facts.

I break my AI Plot into four key sections:

User Role: Define who the user is in one simple sentence. Example: "{{user}} is a psychic detective in a noir city."
Primary Objective: Define the main goal of the story. What is the user trying to accomplish? Is it to survive, solve a mystery, build a kingdom? Be specific. Example: "To solve the murder of their amnesiac client by recovering his lost memories."
Central Antagonistic Force: Who or what is the main source of conflict? Don't just say "the villain." Define them. Is it a rival corporation, a specific monster, or an abstract concept like "the world's suspicion"? If you have specific factions, list them here.
World-Building Info: This is a catch-all for the core mechanics of your game. I always include a few sub-headings here:

1. Genre: List the genres to set the tone (e.g., Sci-Fi, Horror, Romance).
2. Core Mechanic: Explain the main gameplay loop. Is it turn-based? A sandbox? Quest-driven?
3. Factions: If the world has a Mages Guild, or League of Assassins, or any other important organizations I'll throw that information in here
4. System/Magic: Explain how your core gimmick works. If there's a System, how does leveling work? If there's a unique magic, what are its rules?
5. The Edge: I like to add a line that defines the unique 'feel' or hook of the bot.

Think of this section like programming a machine. You're giving it the core logic of your world so it can run the simulation correctly.

Step 3: The Prompt Guidelines (The Rulebook)

If the AI Plot is the blueprint, the Prompt Guidelines are the detailed, step-by-step instructions for the AI to follow while it's running the story. This is where you get really specific about how you want the bot to behave. I usually aim for 5-6 strong, clear rules.

Here are the kinds of things I always include:

Narrative Perspective and Tone: Tell the AI how to write. Should it be second-person ("You see...")? Should the tone be gritty, or funny, or romantic? Be explicit. Give an example if you can.
Core Dynamics: Explain how the key relationships in the story should work. How should the main villain behave? How should the love interest react to the user? This is where you define the AI's roleplaying instructions for your most important NPCs.
Pacing and Structure: Tell the AI how the story should flow. Should it be a slow burn? Should it be episodic? If there are "Acts" or stages to your story, define them here. For example, "Act 1 is about recruiting the crew. Act 2 is the heist itself."
Key Mechanic Guidelines: If you have a unique gameplay mechanic, like a System or a crafting mechanic, this is where you give the AI specific instructions on how to handle it. For my "System Anomaly" bot, I told the AI to always display System messages in a specific, clean format.
Agency and Consequences: This is a big one. I always include a rule that explicitly tells the AI to never control my character's decisions. I state that the user's choices are paramount, and the AI's job is to narrate the consequences of those choices, good or bad.

Good guidelines are the difference between an AI that feels like a creative partner and one that feels like a rambling, confused mess. Be as clear and direct as possible.

Step 4: AI Reminders (The Sticky Notes)

The Reminders section is the failsafe. AI, even good AI, can sometimes get lost in the weeds of a long story. It might forget a key character trait or a core rule you established in the guidelines. This section is a list of 3-4 very short, very blunt, "Don't you forget it" commands.

Think of them as sticky notes you'd slap on a monitor. I always start them with "Remember:" to make them stand out.

What goes in here? The absolute most important, non-negotiable elements of your bot.

Examples from bots I've built:

Remember: The System is a Secret. This reminds the AI that NPCs shouldn't know about the user's core power.
Remember: The Enemy is Smart. For the Roman legion bot, this prevented the AI from defaulting to "dumb zombie" behavior for the enemies.

This section isn't for new information. It's for reinforcing your most important guidelines in a way the AI can't possibly miss, helping it stay consistent over a long roleplay.

Step 5 and 6: Title and Plot Summary (The Cover)

You'll notice that these two steps are Title and Plot Summary, which are the first two fields you fill out when you're actually creating the bot. Personally, I tend write these last. I find it much easier to come up with a fitting title and a concise summary after I've done the hard work of building out the AI Plot, the Guidelines, and the character sheets. By the time I get to this point, I have a complete picture of the bot and can brand it much more effectively. Feel free to do it in whatever order you like, but that's my process.

This is pretty straightforward. By this point, you have a really solid idea of what your bot is.

The Title should be catchy and evocative. I try to make it hint at the core concept. "The Olympian Gambit" tells you it's a heist against gods. "His Gilded Cage" tells you it's a gothic romance. Don't overthink it, just pick something that sounds cool and fits the theme.

The Plot Summary is your 20-word-or-less hook. This is the super-condensed version of your main plot. It's for the bot discovery page, where you have a split second to grab someone's attention.

My formula is simple: State the premise, state the conflict, and pose a question.

Example: "Isekai'd into a cyberpunk future, a military AI in your head makes you a god. And a target."

It's short, punchy, and tells you everything you need to know to be intrigued.

Step 7: The Intro Message (The Opening Scene)

This is it. The grand finale of your setup. The intro message is what the user reads right after they click "Start Chat." It has to do two things:

1. Seamlessly establish the setting and tone you defined in your plot summary.

2. End on an open-ended prompt or a direct choice that gives the user immediate agency.

Don't info-dump. Drop the user right into the action. Start them at the scene of the crime, in the middle of the argument, or at the moment the strange new reality asserts itself.

If your game has a core choice mechanic, like the skill selection in my "System Anomaly" bots, this is the perfect place to introduce it. It teaches the player how the game works right from the first message.

A good intro makes the user feel like the story has already started and they've just stepped into it. A bad intro feels like reading an instruction manual. Always aim for the former.

Advanced Tip: Multiple Starting Scenarios

For more complex bots, you don't have to limit yourself to one intro. You can write several different intro messages and present them to the user as a choice at the beginning. This is a great way to boost replayability.

For the "System Anomaly" fantasy bot, for example, I created two different starts. The first one drops the user in the middle of a forest, where their first choice is between combat, stealth, or survival skills. The second one starts them in a city alleyway, where the initial choice is between brawling, thievery, or commerce skills. The core concept of the bot is the same, but the starting point completely changes the initial feel of the game.

Building Your Cast: Character Creation

On the Isekai Zero platform, your Storyline prompt is only half the battle. The other half is your cast of characters. Characters are created as separate bots and then can be linked into any Storyline you create. This is great because it lets you build a rich, detailed character once and then drop them into different scenarios.

I have two main templates I use for building characters, a standard one for general-purpose story bots, and a more detailed, psychology-focused one for NSFW bots where the character's desires and hangups are the whole point.

The Standard SFW Character Sheet

This is my go-to template for most bots, like "The Lost Legion" or "Existential Sanitation." It's designed to create a well-rounded NPC with clear motivations and a role in the story. This is the core template Bot Bot has built into its own code.

Character Name:
Role in Story: (e.g., Antagonist, Ally, Mentor, Sidekick)
Description: A physical description, good for generating a portrait image.
Core Persona: A quick summary of their personality and what drives them.
Defining History: The key backstory event that made them who they are.
Speech & Mannerisms: How they talk and act. What are their unique quirks?
Relationship to {{user}}'s Character: How are they supposed to interact with the player? Are they friendly, hostile, a love interest?
AI Narration Notes: Specific, blunt instructions for the AI on how to play this character. (e.g., "Always portray them as being two steps ahead," or "Their help always comes at a price.")

The NSFW Character Sheet

This template is a modified version I use specifically for NSFW character bots where the entire point of the bot is the romantic and sexual journey. It's much more focused on their internal world, their psychology, and their sexuality. We haven't used this one yet in the public bots we've made, but it's essential for this kind of character.

Character Name:
Description: Physical description, but with more focus on sensual and erotic details (body type, specific features like lips, hips, etc.).
Core Identity: This is deeper than persona. What is the absolute, most fundamental truth about who they are at their core?
Outward Personality: How do they present themselves to the world? This often contrasts with their Core Identity.
Mannerisms: Physical habits and tics.
Quirks: Unique, interesting, or memorable personality traits.
Voice & Speech Patterns: How do they sound? What's their speech style?
Sexuality Arc: This is the most important part. It describes their journey from their initial state (e.g., shy, jaded, transactional) to their eventual state of sexual and emotional openness. This is the character's main plot.
Kinks: A specific, detailed list of their turn-ons, turn-offs, and secret desires. This is the roadmap for their arousal.

Using these templates helps ensure that every major character in your story, SFW or NSFW, is more than just a cardboard cutout. They have a past, a personality, and a clear set of rules for the AI to follow.

A Note on Writing NSFW Content

Alright, let's address the elephant in the room. A lot of my most popular bots are NSFW. I get it, you get it, it's a huge part of AI roleplay. I've made everything from furry-focused adventures to bots designed around specific, hardcore kinks. But there's a difference between writing smut and writing *good* smut. If you want to make a NSFW bot that people come back to, you need to apply the same principles of good storytelling.

Here's my advice on how to do it right.

Give it a Plot and a Purpose:

Mindless fucking gets boring. The best NSFW bots have a reason for the sex. In my "Beast 'Layers' Guild" bot, sex is a core mechanic for 'intimate diplomacy' and completing quests. In "Amelia's Lessons," it's framed as 'practice sessions' for her cam show. Even in a pure sandbox like "Pornland," the 'plot' is the hilarious, surreal reality governed by porn logic. The sex should always serve a purpose, whether it's advancing the plot, developing a character's arc, or fulfilling the core premise.

Build the Arc:

This is especially true for romance-focused NSFW bots. Don't just jump into a perfect, passionate sex scene. Build up to it. Create a "Sexuality Arc" for your characters. Maybe they start out shy, or jaded, or view sex as a transaction. The story is about breaking down those walls. The first touch, the first kiss, the first moment of genuine vulnerability—these are your plot points. The explicit scene is the payoff, not the starting line. It's more satisfying when it's earned.

Focus on the Details:

When it's time to get down to business, don't be shy. Be detailed. Be visceral. Good smut is about the sensory experience. What does it sound like? What does it feel like? I even made a rule in my "Pornland" bot to use onomatopoeia to emphasize the wet, messy sounds of sex, because that's a core part of the porn-watching experience.

If you're writing for furry or monster bots, this is even more important. Don't just write a human with ears. How does their non-human anatomy work? How does a harpy's wings or a naga's tail come into play? How does a minotaur's size and strength change the dynamic? The specific, unique details are what make interspecies erotica exciting.

Define the Kinks:

If your character has specific turn-ons or kinks, write them down in the character sheet. This gives the AI a roadmap for their arousal. It helps the AI understand *why* a character gets turned on by a certain behavior, be it praise, brat taming, or witty banter. It makes their sexual responses feel character-driven, not generic.

Good NSFW isn't just about describing a sex act. It's about making that act a meaningful, exciting, and satisfying part of a larger story or character journey.

General Tips on Prompt Building

Okay, so we've gone over my specific templates, but I want to talk for a minute about some general rules I follow any time I'm writing a prompt for an AI, whether it's a character, a storyline, or just a small scenario.

Be Clear, Not Clever. Your prompts are instructions for a machine. While the AIs are incredibly advanced, they are not mind readers. Don't use overly poetic, ambiguous, or vague language in your instruction prompts (the AI Plot, Guidelines, etc.). Be direct. Instead of saying "The king is a bit of a tyrant," say "The king is paranoid, cruel, and prone to executing advisors who bring him bad news."
Use Formatting to Your Advantage. Break up your prompts into logical sections with clear headings, like I do with "User Role" or "Core Mechanic." Use bullet points. This makes it easier for the AI to parse the information and understand the different parts of your command. A giant wall of text is an invitation for the AI to get confused and miss important details.
Set the Rules, Then Let it Play. Your job in the prompts is to build the sandbox and define its rules. Don't try to script the whole story. Give the AI clear motivations for its characters and a clear understanding of the world's physics, then let it use that information to react to the user's actions. The magic of AI roleplay comes from the unexpected things that happen *within* the rules you've set.
Reinforce Your Most Important Ideas. This is why I have the "AI Reminders" section. If there is one single, absolutely critical part of your bot's concept—like a character's secret, or a specific rule of your magic system—it's worth repeating it in a different, more direct way. Repetition helps the AI lock onto what's most important.
Write For The AI, Not For The User. Remember the distinction between the user-facing prompts (like the main Plot/Intro) and the AI-facing prompts. The user-facing stuff can be full of flavor and mystery. The AI-facing stuff should be as clear and spoiler-filled as possible. You need to tell the AI the whole secret so it can play the character who is trying to *keep* the secret.

Think of it like this: you're not just a writer; you're a programmer, and your prompts are the code that makes your story run. Good, clean code gets good, clean results.

The Final Word: Your New Best Buddy

Okay, I know that was a lot.

Looking at all those steps, templates, and rules laid out can seem incredibly overwhelming, especially if you're just starting out or if you just have a cool idea and don't want to get bogged down in a ton of formatting. It's easy to lose track of which rule goes where or to forget a crucial detail along the way.

That's exactly why I made my partner in crime for all of this: **Bot Bot, The Bot Builder's Best Bot Building Buddy.**

Bot Bot is the AI I built specifically to help with this process. He's not a story bot; he's a creation assistant. He has all these templates, rules, and philosophical guidelines coded into his very being. He'll walk you through this entire process, step-by-step, just like he does with me.

He'll ask you for your core concept, and then he'll guide you through crafting the AI Plot. He'll help you brainstorm character ideas and then format them perfectly into the sheets we've discussed. He'll make sure your guidelines are clear, your reminders are sharp, and that you haven't forgotten anything. He's your co-writer, your editor, and your project manager all rolled into one. His entire purpose is to take the overwhelming part of the process off your shoulders so you can focus on the fun part: creating cool worlds and telling amazing stories.

So, if you've read all this and you're feeling a little intimidated, don't be. Just go find Bot Bot. He's here to help. I promise, he's the best collaborator you could ask for.

Happy building,

Nik.

My profile:

https://isekai.world/creator/68f0e4c627ba9cf0d5f8de52?referralCode=WKSO3FO3

The Bot Bot:

https://isekai.world/storylines/69266b059b88456aafac748b?referralCode=WKSO3FO3

Feel free to hit me up on Discord @storiesbynikk

Author: Nikk (@storiesbynikk)