Foundations

Most of a world's quality comes from a few fields. Get these right before you add systems.

What players see

Basics → World Info is the public page.

• Name and title card are required to publish.
• Description is the storefront copy. It needs at least 50 characters. Write who the player can be, what the setting is, and what kind of story this is. You can use markdown here, including callouts. Worlds with the description-image beta can place up to two Extra Images in the description. Browse cards strip those images.
• Tags help discovery. A solo-character tag also changes publish rules: the journey objective becomes optional.
• Content rating must match the world. Adult worlds stay hidden from players who have not enabled mature content.

Author notes and changelog are for you and returning players. They are not the AI's instructions.

Instructions the engine follows

Story → Instructions is the standing brief.

General instructions are always in the prompt. Use them for the premise, tone, who the player is, what the world will and will not do, and how scenes should feel. Be specific. "Keep it cozy" is weaker than "conflicts resolve through conversation, not combat, and the taxi never explains itself."

Named instruction blocks sit under that. Each block has a name and a body. Use them to split rules you might swap later (a combat chapter, a romance chapter, a late-game reveal). Story beats can replace a named block mid-journey. Story Arcs also own a named block. Do not delete those from this list. Open the arc instead.

On an SFW world, NSFW instructions are extra guidance used only for players who have mature content on. Leave them empty if the world should stay tasteful for everyone.

Narration length is Brief (short, dialogue-forward) or Standard (the default). Stay on Standard unless you are writing a chat-style 1-to-1.

Advanced instruction fields

Advanced → Advanced Instructions holds fields most worlds can leave blank.

• Writing style: prose, vocabulary, sentence shape, how much description.
• Narration instructions: formatting the narrator must keep, such as a timestamp header or a dialogue layout.
• Memory instructions: what to keep in the running memory notes as older turns leave the prompt. Use this when the world has lasting debts, secrets, or recurring people. Leave it blank for a simple story.
• Player-facing objective override: different text on the objective card than the AI-facing objective.

How a journey opens

Story → Journey Start is turn 0, before the AI writes.

• Introduction is required. This is the authored opening the player reads first. You can use markdown, text effects (if enabled), and ::scene[label] Extra Images.
• Journey objective guides pacing and direction. It is required to publish except on solo-character worlds, where you can leave it empty for open-ended roleplay. When it is empty, the AI is not given an objective at all. When it is set, you can hide the card from the player and keep it as AI-only guidance.
• First action suggestion is the one-click opening offered before the first turn. Players can take it or write their own.

Preview the markdown in place, or use Preview journey start to see the real play surface (background, intro, objective card, suggested first turn).

Prefer a short opening that puts the player in the scene over a lore dump. If the premise has a counterpart, opening face to face in shared space usually plays better than a briefing.

World settings

Gameplay → World Settings are choices the player makes before the journey starts (difficulty, starting allegiance, a content toggle of your own). Each option can inject instructions into the prompt. You can also write the chosen value into a tracker so story beats can read it.

Give every option a short instruction, even when the label seems obvious. The engine only sees what you write.

How it can end

Story → Endings is optional. You can enable a victory condition, a defeat condition, and extra good or bad ends. Each one needs a condition the AI can judge, plus the text shown when it fires. If you leave endings off, journeys simply continue until the player stops.

Ready to publish?

The editor checklist matches the publish gate:

• Name and title card
• Description (50+ characters)
• Introduction and first action
• Journey objective, unless the world is tagged solo-character
• At least one player character, each with a name, description, and physical description
• No blank named rows in lists you left behind

You can only have one published version at a time. New work goes into a draft until you switch it live.

See also How do I create a world? and the World Content Policy.