Demeanor Tiers

Demeanor Tiers are a hidden set of psychological mechanics for Freaks where, much like normal Humans, there are different levels of how much that Freak likes or dislikes a person. This changes their general behaviour towards them.

The notable difference between Demeanor mechanics in Freaks compared to humans is that Freaks tend to generally be more predictable in their behavior, and thus, they can be documented.

Mechanics
Each tier can be gained by performing any action in the same or higher tier, although progress can be rapidly lost by performing any action in a negative tier.

For example, performing a Tier -1 (Awkward) while in Tier 3 (Love) will, depending on how severe it is, gradually bring down the Freak's demeanour towards Tier -1 upon repeatedly performing a Tier -1 action. In addition, performing a Tier 3 (Love) action will, depending on how well done it is, gradually bring the Freak's demeanour towards Tier 3.

This mechanic is known the most to The ChessMaster, who knows the ins and outs of how most of the Freaks work at a subconscious level.

Different Freaks can have different Tiers. For example, since Katie does not operate on a romantic level, her Tier 3's demeanour is Devotion instead of Love.

Critical relationship actions (CRA)
Within positive Tiers (+1 and above), critical relationship actions (generally indicated by an * asterix), are required to advance to the next tier.

Within negative Tiers (-1 and below), CRAs will cause an instant demotion to that tier if the action is not corrected.

Relationship Action Negation
It is possible to "negate" relationship actions by doing some kind of opposing action afterwards.

For example, if Squiggles will instantly begin to begrudge someone who uses blackmail on her, this can be partially negated by withdrawing the blackmail and apologizing. Some actions can be completely negated.

This also applies to positive actions - for example, sharing a secret with Dianna that she later finds out to be false will cause the action to be negated.

Demeanor pollution
Whenever an action or trait within the negative tiers is done, Freaks will generally not forget it, but at most, they can forgive it.

Actions from the negative tiers cumulatively begin to restrict the highest accessible tier for that person. For example, doing too many actions in Dianna's "vengeful" tier will result in Dianna becoming permanently vengeful to the person in question.

The only way to reverse demeanor pollution is to either correct the actions, be forgiven, or if possible have enough time pass that the character in question forgets.