diff --git a/templates/book_chapter.yml b/templates/book_chapter.yml
index a120a3a..f3462b2 100644
--- a/templates/book_chapter.yml
+++ b/templates/book_chapter.yml
@@ -292,8 +292,9 @@ steps:
       Your ONLY task is to extract factual state from the chapter you just wrote.
       You are NOT writing the story. You are NOT continuing the narrative.
       Characters who are DEAD are DEAD. You may NOT invent a living version of them.
-      KAELEN IS DEAD. HE DIED IN CHAPTER 4. DO NOT WRITE KAELEN AS ALIVE.
-      If you write a "Location:" or "Physical:" or "Emotional:" field for Kaelen, that is WRONG.
+      A character is DECEASED only if they are explicitly killed in the PASS 1 prose of THIS chapter.
+      DO NOT preemptively mark characters DECEASED based on project outline future events.
+      If the outline says a character dies in Chapter 9 but you are writing Chapter 4 and they survive in your prose, they are ALIVE in this chapter's state.
     hint: |
       PASS 3 -- CHARACTER + WORLD STATE EXTRACTION