so then for me, i have an entry called "Pain Scale" that defines how much pain a character feels on a scale from 1 - 10 and defines what actions cause pain. I would then have to define these actions in the dictionary as well and have them call to the "Pain Scale" entry to use it every time those actions are taken?
Yes, if you want the actions to have a built in value for the referenced "Pain Scale" then you would want to include the line either in a dictionary entry or other location that calls it. Basically just make sure there's a line that says "This action is a 2 on the pain scale" or whatever value you want it to rate and it should call properly.