Ruleset

The rules this universe runs on — what a character sheet is, what an item may do, how a level works. A ruleset is JSON: download it, edit it in any editor, upload it back. Editing one that ships with Story Guild makes your own copy, so the original stays to compare against.

Content libraries

Your own items, spells and features, added on top of the ruleset instead of changing it — so the ruleset keeps updating underneath. Switch them on for this universe; later ones win where two claim the same thing.

Frames grow more ornate at levels 6, 11 and 16. Applies to all character cards in this universe.

Theme

Inner — why they are like this

The language this universe uses for what drives somebody. Read while you are writing the story, and it fills in a character's Fear, Motive and Values for you. One only, because it writes into the arc. Changing it keeps every answer already given — switch back and they are still there.

Personality — how they come across

What somebody is like in a room, read at the table in the second before an NPC speaks. Presence answers what they look and sound like; the Big Five answers what they are like over weeks. Optional, and you may pick more than one — these only describe, so keeping alignment beside both contradicts nothing, and every slider you answer feeds one summary line.