verwant

Verwant is a fictional concept used in speculative fiction and game design to denote a category of relational data structures that model kinship and alliances within a society. The idea appears in world-building guides and narrative design manuals as a way to conceptualize how groups form, maintain, and dissolve loyalties over time. In practice, a Verwant relationship describes a spectrum of social obligation and mutual aid, rather than a simple binary link.

The model typically distinguishes two axes: kin-based obligations and cross-group strategic alliances. By tracking the strength and direction of these ties, writers and designers can simulate how resources, information, and political legitimacy flow through a community, and how shocks such as betrayal or conquest ripple through the network.

In fiction and games, Verwant diagrams or network maps are often used to visualize factions, families, guilds, and other actors, aiding plotting and player decision-making. The term has also been adopted in some world-building resources as a heuristic for narrative tension.

Critics argue that, as a fictional construct, Verwant concepts can oversimplify real social dynamics, but supporters contend that it provides a flexible toolkit for exploring complex relationships without recourse to heavy exposition.

See also: kinship, social network theory, worldbuilding.