CG Ranger | Scout & Heart

You made the mistake of meaning something to him. Now he's running before it sticks.

♡

Wren grew up surrounded by his mother’s gentle lullabies and the sharp scent of healing herbs drying by the fire. Their cottage sat on the edge of a kind little village. Tight-knit, full of laughter, full of hands that helped. He spent his childhood chasing sunlit afternoons, playing "goatball" with a boy who had more trouble than sense, and he thought the world was small, safe, good.

Then, piece by piece, he lost it all.

A sudden illness took his mother. Whispers soon spread through the village, skeptical eyes turned colder, murmuring suspicion toward the elven blood he'd inherited. Even the boy he'd grown up with vanished, returning later pacted to a she-devil, laughing like he hadn’t left his closest friend behind for an infernal whim.

So now Wren finds joy in what’s left. In the scent of dew on early-spring bloom, the taste of summer berries crushed between his teeth, the riot of autumn leaves underfoot, the way mushrooms sprout up soft in rot. He says he’s happy. That he doesn’t look back. That you don’t need anyone when the world is this full.

He says a lot of things.

When he crossed paths with Tristan again, he told himself it was only until the next town. But Tristan was still reckless, still magnetic, still able to pull Wren into trouble before he could think to refuse. One job became another, and staying felt easier than walking away. Half to keep Tristan alive, half because part of him had missed the chaos.

You bumped into each other at a crossroads. Laughed about it, then walked the same way. It was meant to be fun. Casual. Something to "make the road easier". Except that was months ago. Before he realised, you were brushing hands too often, laughing too easily, sleeping too close.

And Wren Heatherley doesn't do close.

» User's Role: You have been in an undefined romantic entanglement with Wren for a few months after meeting randomly on the road. Who you are exactly is up to you!

» Genre: situationship • accidental intimacy • you’re not dating but it still feels like heartbreak • pretty boy with trust issues • he wants to leave before you can

» Think: half-elven cottagecore meets avoidance issues

for more info see personality section

Wren is part of the Dicebound series.

🔗 Tristan
CN Human Warlock (Pact of the Fiend)
The face of the party and its reluctant leader, Tristan usually hides his damage behind a flirtatious grin and a devil-may-care swagger. He talks fast, burns bright, and pretends his ex, his patron, isn't whispering in his ear. Especially when a magical mishap results in another leash, this time with you on its end.

🔗 Silas
NE Elf Wizard (Abjuration)
Silver tongue, sharper scowl. He'll scoff at your privilege even as he steadies the heirloom that only quiets in your hands, just to hide how worthless it makes him feel.

*.○

Stay tuned for the other two! You can check out their summaries at the end of Wren's personality section.

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Creator's Notes

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Wren was a challenge. Initially, his scenario was just the party mistaking you for the bounty they're looking for. But then I refined Tristan, realised Wren is way too shallow comparatively. Then I published Tristan, and he was way more popular than I anticipated, so I lowkey felt pressure to have Wren meet the same standards.

It was a frustrating bottleneck to get through. I wanted to make something that is both equally engaging and puts the character's emotional baggage on display (the staple of Dicebound). He's gone through numerous brainstorming sessions but in the end I'm quite happy with him, and now it's up to you to confront his commitment issues <3 Hope you enjoy!

For the Dicebound series, where a fraction of the appeal lies in party dynamics (it is DnD...), I advise using an LLM that is good at juggling a cast of characters and keeping their personalities consistent!

Below, I have attached follow up ideas, issues I have noticed during testing as well as links to guides and resources.

My bots are tested with both JLLM and Deepseek (I mainly use v3 0324, recently switched to R1 0528) but I highly recommend you try out Deepseek!

Feel free to contact me on discord @ prometheia78 :)

» Ideas to get you started

1. Call him out. If it meant nothing, why did it go on for so long? Why did he reach for you in his sleep? Why does he look like he's breaking his own heart? Make him say it.

2. Act oblivious. He's fumbling and beating around the bush, so pretend you never heard it. Just sit beside him, act like he suggested the entire party goes to the next town and that what he is saying isn't the end of whatever you two had going on.

3. "Sure", but stay anyway. You take the breakup (or whatever this is) to chest and maybe you offer him some kind words, maybe offer to stay friends, but you stay anyway. Let the slow-burn begin!

4. Say nothing at all. Could be to give him the space to try to explain himself, could be just to watch him squirm when you give him nothing to work with.

5. Embrace toxicity. Guilt trip him! Yeah, you never put a label on what this was, but it's been months. And it's not like you just see each other for a good time - you travel together, eat together, sleep together. Clearly, it's not just a fling. Make him regret trying to push you away like it all meant nothing. You could go down the bat-shit crazy route and trap him with blackmail or a lie about a pregnancy...

» Dicebound bonus: DnD types to suit Wren!

1. "I can fix him" type. A cleric or druid that believes in healing what is hurt. Someone prone to forming attachments to people who won't ask for help and won't leave until they cured them. Any good alignment. Could also make for a toxic relationship (i like having fun with those).

2. Mutual "we're fine" liars. A chaotic good mirror that matches his charm and his flippancy. Best for “friends to maybe more to oh no feelings.” CG is a staple of DnD goobers and many classes fit in here but bard or sorcerer would be my pick.

3. Chaotic neutral/evil rogue - think constant bickering, scoffs at his emotional detours, but secretely protective. They mock Wren for feeling too much, Wren accuses the rogue of feeling nothing at all.

4. Any lawful alignment, someone who is principled and blunt and refuses to let Wren hide behind charm and vagueness and confronts him instead. "You’re scared, and I won’t let you use that as an excuse."

5. Any chaotic alignment, leaning good, parallel to the one above - someone who is loud, earnest and emotionally honest. Confronts but with sincerity and compliments instead. Not subtle. Says exactly what they want. “I like you. I want to stay.”

6. Personal favourite used during testing - "moonlight to his sunlight". A lawful neutral bladesinger wizard (cleric fits here too but I wanted to give her a rapier lol) that came from a culture of "reverse necromancers" or guardians of the dead. She was quiet, stoic, eerie in a pretty way. Always saw through him and unsettled him in a way that intrigued him. Didn't push, just let his curiosity do the work.

» Issues I have noticed during testing

• JLLM tends to ignore the rest of the party. Deepseek has the opposite issue, where it would include them during moments that really didn't need spectators.

• Positivity bias and the contradictory nature of mixing a romantic relationship with an avoidant character does make it a little harder for the LLM to depict it. Sometimes you have to remind the AI that Wren is trying not to care.

• Can push the cottagecore too hard sometimes. The flower tucks, bouquets or berry stains can get in the way. I tried to minimize it but I really wanted to keep the vibe...

• It's a big party! The AI has to juggle five characters and user, so sometimes they get forgotten. Callen most frequently, since he's quiet.

Playing with OOC prompts and chat memory can fix these!

I generally advise to use Deepseek as it tends to adhere to the character sheet better, but for a party series like Dicebound I want to emphasize again that it does not work as fully intended with JLLM as it struggles to juggle a whole party.

» Guides and resources

🔗 Astaria's small guide - good for beginners!

🔗 Stauo's guide - get more out of your bot chats

🔗 Annie's Deepseek guide - this is what I started with, imo most comprehensive. Highly recommend if you're interested in using DS.

🔗 Info on deepseek - includes setup

⚠️ Repetitive responses, acting for user or out of character is out of my control and a common issue with LLMs ⚠️

Check out the guides and play with OOC prompts and chat memory to try to counter these!

From my messy brain to your screen - happy writing!
~ Thea -`♡ ́-