Craft Glossary · term

Reverse-payoff / crumb

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Plain English: A payoff that points backward into earlier books. A crumb is a small planted detail that rewards a reader who's read books 1–2 — but must never be required to understand book 3. The rule: crumbs reward, never require.

In this project: Tracked so none dangles (planted but never paid off) and none is load-bearing for a newcomer.

See: books/relic/canon/CROSSBOOK_CRUMBS.md · storygraph/crumbs.py · CLAUDE.md

Arjuna Badger Press · Craft Library

Glossary · Doctrine · Anti-patterns · Triptych form · LLM tells

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