Better Theory of Mind for Franz

Let me explain what I mean. In psychology, theory of mind (ToM) refers to the ability of a person to understand the minds of others. When children are very young, they cannot distinguish their own state of knowledge from the knowledge of others. For example, in the Sally-Anne test, children are presented with two dolls, Sally and Anne. Sally places a marble in a basket, then leaves. While she is gone, Anne hides the marble in a box. Sally returns, and the children are asked where she will look for the marble. Children with developed ToM will say she will look for it where she left it, in the basket. But children with an underdeveloped ToM will say she will look for it in the box. They don’t understand that Sally doesn’t know what they know.

Franz has a bad ToM in exactly this sense. My PC is planning to set off on an adventure, so they visit the local merchant, dressed the same way they always are. “Ah, I can see you’re getting ready for an adventure” says the merchant. Wrong; you couldn’t have possibly known that. My PC rocks up at a new village, a secret emissary for Lord Valemont. They ask the first person they see for directions “Ah, an emissary for Lord Valemont, I see!” Nope, that makes no sense. In short, Franz doesn’t understand that what he knows and what the NPCs know are not the same thing, and frankly it’s getting frustrating. NPCs shouldn’t be omniscient. Would be great if this could be improved.