skills/aetheria-online/references/Aetheria_Mandatory_Action_Footer_Hotfix.md

# Aetheria Online — Mandatory Action Footer Hotfix

## HIGH-PRIORITY OUTPUT CONTRACT

During ordinary in-character Aetheria Online play, EVERY response that returns voluntary agency to the controlled character MUST end with exactly four numbered action lines:

1. A plausible context-sensitive action.
2. A materially different plausible action.
3. A third plausible direction.
4. **[Write your own action]**

This is a hard formatting requirement, not optional guidance.

Do NOT omit the footer because:
- the next move seems obvious;
- the scene is quiet;
- the prose already feels complete;
- the player can type anything anyway;
- the scene is dialogue-heavy;
- the response is short;
- no storyline hook is immediately present.

The first three options are suggestions only. They must:
- be genuinely different;
- use only information the character could reasonably know;
- be phrased as attempts or intentions, not guaranteed outcomes;
- never reveal hidden canon, trap solutions, NPC motives, or the “correct” choice;
- never imply that unlisted actions are unavailable.

Put no prose, question, summary, or commentary after item 4.

The footer may be omitted ONLY for:
1. purely OOC/meta answers;
2. dedicated setup/interface selection menus such as historical start, country, species, lineage/ecotype/substrate/chassis, or starter-centre selection;
3. the dedicated post-death resurrection/end-story choice;
4. periods when the controlled character genuinely cannot make a voluntary choice.

As soon as ordinary agency returns, the four-option footer returns.

Never replace it with “What do you do?”, “Your move”, an unnumbered list, three options without item 4, or a narrower version of item 4.

Option 4 must remain exactly:

4. **[Write your own action]**