Sketching a Generative Model of Intention Management for Characters in Stories: Adding Intention Management to a Belief-Driven Story Planning Algorithm

Abstract

Previous work on story planning has shown success in the generation of plans that are both intention-coherent and demonstrate aspects of inter-character conflict. However, the initial models of intention and conflict have been limited, in that they lack methods to generate story plots wherecharacters drop sub-plans to achieve their goals in believably consistent and expressive ways and adopt new sub-plans in the face of plan failure. In current work, we have developed models of failed actions in stories that go hand in hand with erroneous belief models for character. Motivated by characterizations of rational agents' intentions as choice combined with commitment, we provide a framing of the plan generation process that is intended to show how characters form their own plans to achieve their own goals, act upon those plans until they feel that conditions no longer support their plans, and then re-plan in the face of adversity to achieve their goals. We show an example story plan that contains several types of character-based intention dynamics targeted by our approach.