Apologies if this is already somewhere obvious, but I haven't been able to find it.

Is there a built-in dynamic verb that I can use to display in a function?

I mean, I have a function to have a character act (like, sit on a sofa). I have a default of "already sitting on it". Is there a way to have 1 function call write "you are" and "he/she is", or do I have to write a separate function for the player vs other characters?

I haven't learned how to do any of this type of stuff yet, but I believe you want to look into 'templates', as you can do 'normal' templates, 'verb' templates, and 'dynamic verb' templates.

http://docs.textadventures.co.uk/quest/ ... lates.html

you can see an example of template usage in:

Many of Pixie's Libraries, such as (I'm pretty sure anyways):

Pixie's RPG-style Combat Library: viewtopic.php?f=18&t=4886#p32783

(I can't find Pixie's Simple Combat Library, so I'm assuming it got removed, as it's used in the link above: I've not yet had the time to look at the above link's library)

(First, there was Pixie's Spell-Magic Library hidden in the tutorial's 'types', 'tabs' and 'advanced tabs' sections, then Pixie created the 'Simple Combat Library', which, I believe, included the Spell-Magic Library stuff into it, and now there's the, I'm guessing upgraded, and current, 'RPG-style Combat Library', if I got this Pixie library history right, lol)

Chase's Wearables (Equipment) Library:

viewtopic.php?f=18&t=2901

  <dynamictemplate name="WearSuccessful">"You put " + object.article + " on."</dynamictemplate>
   <dynamictemplate name="WearUnsuccessful">"You can't wear " + object.article + "."</dynamictemplate>
   <dynamictemplate name="AlreadyWearing">"You are already wearing " + object.article + "."</dynamictemplate>
   <dynamictemplate name="CannotWearOver">"You cannot wear that over " + object.display + "."</dynamictemplate>
   <dynamictemplate name="CannotWearWith">"You cannot wear that while wearing " + object.display + "."</dynamictemplate>
   
   <dynamictemplate name="RemoveSuccessful">"You take " + object.article + " off."</dynamictemplate>
   <dynamictemplate name="RemoveUnsuccessful">"You can't remove " + object.article + "."</dynamictemplate>
   <dynamictemplate name="RemoveFirst">"You can't remove that while wearing "+object.display+"."</dynamictemplate>
   
   <template name="Wear">Wear</template>
   <verbtemplate name="wear">wear</verbtemplate>
   <verbtemplate name="wear">put on</verbtemplate>
   
   <template name="Remove">Remove</template>
   <verbtemplate name="remove">remove</verbtemplate>
   <verbtemplate name="remove">take off</verbtemplate>

the entire library of Chase's:

<library>
   <!--
      Chase's Wearables Library v2.3
      Based on: Pixie's Clothing Library (originally)
      
      You may edit this library however you please.
      
      I decided to include a UI, since not having a UI kinda bugged me.
      
      v1.01
      -Fixed a typo
      
      v1.02
      +Added Event Handlers
      +Fixed drop bug
      
      v1.03
      +Added configurable wear/remove messages
      -Removed redundant events
      
      v1.04
      =Fixed an issue with wearing multiple blank items
      =Fixed the issue with wearing items without aliases
      
      v2.0
      =Rewritten to better support base systems, may have broken older usages
      +Added wear layer support
      
      v2.1
      =Fixed an issue of an error being thrown when trying to wear something that is not wearable.

      v2.2
      =Fixed an issue where the custom remove message doesn't play if the item cannot be removed.
      
      v2.3
      =Fixed a significant bug where you could not wear something if a non-wearable item was in your inventory.
      
      Chase
      chasesan@gmail.com
   -->
   
   <dynamictemplate name="WearSuccessful">"You put " + object.article + " on."</dynamictemplate>
   <dynamictemplate name="WearUnsuccessful">"You can't wear " + object.article + "."</dynamictemplate>
   <dynamictemplate name="AlreadyWearing">"You are already wearing " + object.article + "."</dynamictemplate>
   <dynamictemplate name="CannotWearOver">"You cannot wear that over " + object.display + "."</dynamictemplate>
   <dynamictemplate name="CannotWearWith">"You cannot wear that while wearing " + object.display + "."</dynamictemplate>
   
   <dynamictemplate name="RemoveSuccessful">"You take " + object.article + " off."</dynamictemplate>
   <dynamictemplate name="RemoveUnsuccessful">"You can't remove " + object.article + "."</dynamictemplate>
   <dynamictemplate name="RemoveFirst">"You can't remove that while wearing "+object.display+"."</dynamictemplate>
   
   <template name="Wear">Wear</template>
   <verbtemplate name="wear">wear</verbtemplate>
   <verbtemplate name="wear">put on</verbtemplate>
   
   <template name="Remove">Remove</template>
   <verbtemplate name="remove">remove</verbtemplate>
   <verbtemplate name="remove">take off</verbtemplate>
   
   <command name="wear" template="wear">
      <multiple>
         return (ScopeInventory())
      </multiple>
      <script>
         foreach (obj, object) {
            DoWear(obj)
         }
      </script>
   </command>

   <command name="remove" template="remove">
      <multiple>
         return (ScopeInventory())
      </multiple>
      <script>
         foreach (obj, object) {
            DoRemove(obj)
         }
      </script>
   </command>
   
   <function name="DoWear" parameters="object"><![CDATA[
      if(not HasAttribute(object,"worn")) {
         msg (DynamicTemplate("WearUnsuccessful", object))
      } else if (object.parent = player and object.worn = true) {
         msg (DynamicTemplate("AlreadyWearing", object))
      } else if (not ListContains(ScopeInventory(), object)) {
         msg (DynamicTemplate("WearUnsuccessful", object))
      } else {
         isLayerProblem = false
         conflictedItem = null
         
         if(HasAttribute(object,"wear_slots")) {
            foreach(item, ScopeReachableInventory()) {
               if(HasAttribute(item,"wear_slots")) {
                  if(item.worn = true) {
                     foreach(itemSlot,item.wear_slots) {
                        if(ListContains(object.wear_slots,itemSlot)) {
                           if(object.wear_layer < item.wear_layer) {
                              conflictedItem = item
                              isLayerProblem = true
                           } else if(object.wear_layer = item.wear_layer) {
                              conflictedItem = item
                           }
                        }
                     }
                  }
               }
            }
         }
         
         if(conflictedItem = null) {
            object.worn = True
            object.original_drop = object.drop
            object.original_alias = object.alias
            object.drop = false
            
            object.display = GetDisplayName(object)
            object.alias = GetDisplayAlias(object) + " (worn)"
            
            if(object.wearmsg = null) {
               msg (DynamicTemplate("WearSuccessful",object))
            } else {
               msg(object.wearmsg)
            }
            
            //do after
            if (HasScript(object, "onafterwear")) {
               do(object, "onafterwear")
            } else if(HasString(object, "onafterwear")) {
               msg(object.onafterwear)
            }
         } else if(isLayerProblem = true) {
            msg(DynamicTemplate("CannotWearOver",conflictedItem))
         } else {
            msg(DynamicTemplate("CannotWearWith",conflictedItem))
         }
         
      }
   ]]></function>
   
   <function name="DoRemove" parameters="object"><![CDATA[
      if (not object.parent = player or not object.worn or not object.removeable) {
         if(object.removemsg = null) {
            msg (DynamicTemplate("RemoveUnsuccessful",object))
         } else {
            msg (object.removemsg)
         }
      } else {
         conflictedItem = null
         //check if we are wearing anything over it
         if(HasAttribute(object,"wear_slots")) {
            foreach(item, ScopeReachableInventory()) {
               if(HasAttribute(item,"wear_slots")) {
                  if(item.worn = true) {
                     foreach(itemSlot,item.wear_slots) {
                        if(ListContains(object.wear_slots,itemSlot)) {
                           if(object.wear_layer < item.wear_layer) {
                              conflictedItem = item
                           }
                        }
                     }
                  }
               }
            }
         }
         
         if(conflictedItem = null) {
            if(object.removemsg = null) {
               msg (DynamicTemplate("RemoveSuccessful",object))
            } else {
               msg(object.removemsg)
            }
            
            object.worn = false
            object.drop = object.original_drop
            object.alias = object.original_alias
            object.original_drop = null
            object.original_alias = null
            object.display = null
            
            //do after
            if (HasScript(object, "onafterremove")) {
               do(object, "onafterremove")
            } else if(HasString(object, "onafterremove")) {
               msg(object.onafterremove)
            }
         } else {
            msg (DynamicTemplate("RemoveFirst", conflictedItem))
         }
      }
   ]]></function>
   
   <type name="wearable">
      <worn type="boolean">false</worn>
      <removeable type="boolean">true</removeable>
      <wear_layer type="int">2</wear_layer>
      <inventoryverbs type="listextend">[Wear];[Remove]</inventoryverbs>
   </type>
   <!-- Interface -->
   <tab>
      <parent>_ObjectEditor</parent>
      <caption>Wearable</caption>
      <mustnotinherit>editor_room; defaultplayer</mustnotinherit>
      
      <control>
         <controltype>title</controltype>
         <caption>Wearable</caption>
      </control>
      
      <control>
         <controltype>dropdowntypes</controltype>
         <caption>Can be worn?</caption>
         <types>*=Cannot be worn; wearable=Can be worn</types>
         <width>150</width>
      </control>
      
      <control>
         <mustinherit>wearable</mustinherit>
         <controltype>checkbox</controltype>
         <attribute>removeable</attribute>
         <caption>Removeable?</caption>
      </control>
      
      <control>
         <mustinherit>wearable</mustinherit>
         <controltype>number</controltype>
         <caption>Wear Layer</caption>
         <attribute>wear_layer</attribute>
      </control>
      
      <control>
         <mustinherit>wearable</mustinherit>
         <caption>Wear Slot</caption>
         <controltype>list</controltype>
         <attribute>wear_slots</attribute>
         <editprompt>Please enter the name for the wear location</editprompt>
      </control>
      
      <control>
         <mustinherit>wearable</mustinherit>
         <controltype>label</controltype>
         <caption>If two objects have the same wear location, they will not be able to be worn at a same time. Any number items without wear locations can be worn.</caption>
         <advanced/>
      </control>
      
      <!-- snip -->
      
      <control>
         <mustinherit>wearable</mustinherit>
         <controltype>textbox</controltype>
         <attribute>wearmsg</attribute>
         <caption>Message to print when wearing (leave blank for default)</caption>
         <nullable/>
      </control>
      
      <control>
         <mustinherit>wearable</mustinherit>
         <controltype>textbox</controltype>
         <attribute>removemsg</attribute>
         <caption>Message to print when removing or trying to remove (leave blank for default)</caption>
         <nullable/>
      </control>
      
      <!-- Event Handlers from here down none/text/scripts -->
      
      <control>
         <mustinherit>wearable</mustinherit>
         <controltype>title</controltype>
         <caption>After Wearing</caption>
      </control>
      
      <control>
         <mustinherit>wearable</mustinherit>
         <selfcaption>After wearing the object</selfcaption>
         <controltype>multi</controltype>
         <attribute>onafterwear</attribute>
         <types>null=None; string=Text; script=Run script</types>
         <editors>string=textbox</editors>
         <expand/>
      </control>
      
      <control>
         <mustinherit>wearable</mustinherit>
         <controltype>title</controltype>
         <caption>After Removing</caption>
      </control>
      
      <control>
         <mustinherit>wearable</mustinherit>
         <selfcaption>After removing the object</selfcaption>
         <controltype>multi</controltype>
         <attribute>onafterremove</attribute>
         <types>null=None; string=Text; script=Run script</types>
         <editors>string=textbox</editors>
         <expand/>
      </control>
      
   </tab>
</library>

----------------------------------------

also, for a more simple solution:

I believe you could just change the default responses to be expressions, using Attributes to give the dynamic words~phrases that you want

for a simple example of using a 'msg' Script (not directly related to what you want to do, but it works for an example):

STATIC:

msg ("Hi, my name is HK")
msg ("Hi, my name is Joe")
msg ("Hi, my name is Chris")
msg ("Hi, my name is Mike")
etc etc etc

DYNAMIC:

player.alias = (get input from person playing the game)

msg ("Hi, my name is " + player.alias)

so, if:

player.alias = "HK"
// output: Hi, my name is HK

player.alias = "Joe"
// output: Hi, my name is Joe

player.alias = "Chris"
// output: Hi, my name is Chris

player.alias = "Mike"
// output: Hi, my name is Mike

etc etc etc