Audience: Beginner (no HTML/CSS/JS experience needed)

What this shows

How to pick a random line of text from a list each time a passage is shown, using the Underscore.js library that Snowman already includes.

How it works

• window.setup is just a plain object used to store your own custom data and helper values so they don’t clash with anything else. It’s a common, informal convention in Twine/Snowman stories, not a special Snowman API.
• window.setup.flavorTexts is an array (list) of strings.
• _.sample(array) — from the Underscore.js library that’s built into Snowman — returns one random item from that array. It’s available as _ anywhere inside <% %> / <%= %> template tags.
• Because <%= _.sample(...) %> runs every time the Start passage is shown, clicking “Listen again” (which just links back to Start) re-rolls the random text.

Using this in your own story

1. Make a list of possible strings: window.setup.myLines = ["A", "B", "C"];
2. Show a random one with <%= _.sample(window.setup.myLines) %>.
3. Combine with _.random(min, max) if you want random numbers instead (see the dicerolling example in the main cookbook).

Full source

:: StoryData
{
	"ifid":"66B5222B-5ED9-4148-8672-E793A6F90A61"
}

:: StoryTitle
Random Flavor Text in Snowman

:: UserScript[script]
window.setup = window.setup || {};
window.setup.flavorTexts = [
	"The wind howls through the trees.",
	"A distant bell tolls somewhere in the village.",
	"You hear footsteps behind you, but no one is there."
];

:: Start
<%= _.sample(window.setup.flavorTexts) %>

[[Listen again->Start]]

Download the .twee file

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