How to Get an NPC to Take an Object?

[aroliver]

Hello!

There's a point in my game in which the player character needs to give an item to an NPC, but whenever I try to give it to them, the response says that the NPC is not interested in the item. How do I get an NPC to take an item? I tried using the "take object from location" task, but that really doesn't seem to be what the solution is...or maybe it is, and I'm just way off? I figured I'd ask since I can't find the information in the program itself or in the manual, and scouring/searching through the forum didn't yield any results.

[saabie]

This response comes from the "Give object to character" task.
You need to create a specific task that overrides this task, either for the specific item, the specific character you want to give it to, or for both (so the player can only give that item to a particular character).

Add an action to this task to:
[Move] [Object] [Referenced Objects] [to held by] [Referenced Character]
and whatever else you want to happen when they get the object.

Then fill in the "Message to display on completion" with an appropriate message like "You have made %character%.Name very happy"

If this can happen more than once then tick "Task is repeatable" in the bottom left corner.

[aroliver]

I have made the specific task and have added the action that you specified, but it still says that the character is not interested in the item. I suppose I could add the description saying that the character takes the item, but that wouldn't actually cause the item to transfer from the player character to the NPC, would it?
I figured that adding the action [Move] [Object] [Referenced Objects] [to held by] [Referenced Character] as you said would fix the problem, but it hasn't. I did write up a description just to see what would happen, but the response did not change. When I tried giving the object (some tattered parchment) to the character (Hildn), it continued to say "Hildn does not seem interested in the tattered parchment."
Any idea what I might be doing wrong here?

[Lazzah]

Can you post your game file so we can have a look and see what the problem is.

[aroliver]

Absolutely. The character being given an item is Hildn, and there is a task for it (the only one that involves giving an item to a character).
Thanks for your help, guys. I really do appreciate it!

[saabie]

The problem is the "Character Hildn must be in conversation with character Aldoin" restriction in your GiveSomeTa task.
ADRIFT needs the instigator of the conversation first, so you need to swap "Hildn" and "Aldoin" so it becomes:
"Character Aldoin must be in conversation with character Hildn"

> get the tattered parchment
(from the small table)
Ok, you take the tattered parchment from the small table.
 
> north
You move north.
 
In the Monastery
The monastery's main room is one of serenity and austerity. There is an area for prayer, in which several small candles are lit. There are no chairs, nor are there cushions on the floor. Those who pray here do so by kneeling on the old wooden floors. Hanging on the wall is a single framed picture of a long-dead saint.  Papias is here, praying silently.  Exits are north, south and out.
 
> say hello to Papias
Papias looks up from his prayers and smiles.
"Hello, Aldoin," he says.
"What can I do for you?"
 
> ask Papias about parchment
Papias shakes his head.
"Horrible nightmares. I remember coming in to see you frantically scribbling on the parchment after waking from a terrible dream last night, after which it took near an hour to console you. You're saying you don't remember?"
 
> say no
Papias sighs.
"I was afraid of this. I'm not sure how I feel about you leaving the monastery if you're still having memory loss. Must you insist on leaving so soon?"
 
> say yes
Papias shakes his head.
"I understand. We will talk more on this later. For now, I suggest you go to visit Hildn's quarters. She may be able to tell you more about the nature of these unfortunate drawings than I ever could."
 
> north
You move north.
 
Hildn's Quarters
The long-time home of the anchoress Hildn, an old holy woman and mystic who has lived here all her life. The room is bare, save for a very small, uncomfortable-looking blanket on the wooden floor, which she sleeps on.  Hildn is here, meditating silently, a pleasant look of complete serenity on her face. Her mouth is drawn up in a smile.  An exit leads south.
 
> say hello to Hildn
Hildn greets you warmly from her meditative state.
"Hello, Aldoin. What brings you here today?"
 
> ask Hildn about parchment
Hildn looks the drawings over.
"These are very dark things, Aldoin." she says.
"Perhaps you should let me take these for a while, to see if I can make sense of them?"
 
> give parchment to Hildn
"Thank you, Aldoin. Let me take some time to look these over. Please come back later so I may read them in peace."
 

[aroliver]

Man, do I feel daft for that one! I feel like it was just glaring me in the face the whole time! Either way, thank you for pointing it out to me! I wasn't aware that order mattered, but that is a very useful bit of information, and I appreciate the help! Thank you!

[aroliver]

A related note: I'm now having a problem getting the item back, since it seems like the only options for "take" involve taking an item from within or on top of another object. How do I take the item back from an NPC?

[saabie]

There are two ways to do that.
You can add an "Ask hildn for parchment" conversation topic to Hildn which has a restriction that Hildn is holding the parchment.
Add an action to this to move the parchment to held by player character.
or
Create a new general task for "[take/get] %objects% from %character%" that responds "%character%.Name refuses to give %objects%.Name to you".
Then override this with a specific task for parchment/Hildn which has a restriction that Hildn is holding the parchment.
Add an action to this to move the parchment to held by player character.