Topic Infos

topicInfos replacements modify individual NPC-spoken lines at runtime — replacing the subtitle text, the voice file, or both.

A Topic Info is a single NPC dialogue entry that can contain one or more sequential response lines (each one a separate spoken sentence). DDR lets you override these responses without touching the original plugin.

YAML Shape

topicInfos:
  - id: 0x2ABB7|Skyrim.esm
    priority: 100
    responses:
      - keep: true
      - subtitle: "A new subtitle for response 2"
        path: "$voices/[VOICE_TYPE]/myline.fuz"
    voices:
      - MaleNord
      - FemaleNord
    conditions:
      - GetIsReference Player == 0 AND
    random: false
    cut: true

Fields

id

• Type: form identifier
• Required: yes
• Description: Topic Info form to override.

responses

• Type: list
• Required: yes (must contain at least one item)
• Description: List of response replacements. The first entry applies to the first spoken line, the second to the second, and so on.

Each response item supports:

• keep (bool, default false): if true, this response line is left unchanged.
• subtitle (string, default empty): the new subtitle text for this response.
• sub (string): shorthand alias for subtitle.
• path (string, default empty): path to a replacement voice file (.fuz).

priority

• Type: integer
• Default: 0
• Description: higher values win over lower values.

voices

• Type: list of voice type editor IDs
• Default: empty (applies to all voice types)
• Description: restricts this replacement to actors using one of the listed voice types.

Values must be voice type editor IDs (e.g. MaleNord, FemaleEvenToned), not form ID strings.

conditions

• Type: list of condition strings
• Default: empty
• Description: additional runtime checks that must pass.

See Conditions.

random

• Type: bool
• Default: false
• Description: if true, this replacement enters a random pool with other equally-prioritised random entries for the same Topic Info, and one is picked at runtime. If false, this replacement is applied immediately when it matches.

cut

• Type: bool
• Default: true

• Description: if your replacement has fewer response entries than the original, controls whether extra original responses are removed.

• true: extra original responses are cut.
• false: extra original responses are kept.

Voice Path Variables

If path starts with $, DDR expands placeholders in each path segment:

• [VOICE_TYPE]
• [TOPIC_MOD_FILE]
• [TOPIC_INFO_MOD_FILE]
• [VOICE_MOD_FILE]

Example:

path: "$my_pack/[VOICE_TYPE]/[TOPIC_INFO_MOD_FILE]/line_01.fuz"

If path does not start with $, it is used as-is.

Selection Behavior

When DDR finds multiple entries targeting the same Topic Info:

1. All valid entries (conditions met, voice type matched) are considered.
2. The entry with the highest priority wins.
3. If the winning entry has random: false, it is applied immediately.
4. If there are multiple winning entries all marked random: true at the same priority, one is chosen at random.

Examples

Replace a subtitle only

Change the subtitle text on a single-response NPC line, for all voice types:

topicInfos:
  - id: 0x1234|MyMod.esp
    responses:
      - subtitle: "Greetings, traveler. What brings you here?"

---

Replace only the second response, leave the first untouched

When a Topic Info has multiple sequential lines, use keep: true to skip the ones you don’t need to change:

topicInfos:
  - id: 0x5678|MyMod.esp
    responses:
      - keep: true
      - subtitle: "Actually, I changed my mind."

---

Swap a voice file using voice-type variables

Use a $-prefixed path with [VOICE_TYPE] so DDR picks the right voice folder automatically:

topicInfos:
  - id: 0xABCD|MyMod.esp
    responses:
      - subtitle: "I have seen things you would not believe."
        path: "$MyVoicePack/[VOICE_TYPE]/MyMod.esp/0xABCD_00.fuz"

---

Restrict to specific voice types

Only apply when the speaker uses one of the listed voice types:

topicInfos:
  - id: 0x2ABB7|Skyrim.esm
    voices:
      - MaleNord
      - MaleEvenToned
    responses:
      - subtitle: "Nord-only subtitle override."

---

Random pool — one of several alternatives chosen at runtime

Create multiple entries at the same priority with random: true to let DDR pick one each time the line plays:

topicInfos:
  - id: 0x9999|MyMod.esp
    priority: 10
    random: true
    responses:
      - subtitle: "Variant A."

  - id: 0x9999|MyMod.esp
    priority: 10
    random: true
    responses:
      - subtitle: "Variant B."

  - id: 0x9999|MyMod.esp
    priority: 10
    random: true
    responses:
      - subtitle: "Variant C."

---

Conditional override (higher priority when condition passes, fallback otherwise)

Apply a special subtitle only when the player is not detected, fall back to a generic one otherwise:

topicInfos:
  - id: 0x1111|MyMod.esp
    priority: 100
    conditions:
      - GetDetected Player == 0 AND
    responses:
      - subtitle: "Ah, how dare you sneak up on me!?"

  - id: 0x1111|MyMod.esp
    priority: 0
    responses:
      - subtitle: "Greetings stranger."