World rules

World rules hold the facts your world has to keep: how far a traveller walks in a day, what magic costs the one who casts it, how long anyone lasts in the desert. Each rule is one short statement with a category. It can carry a number, such as a travel speed, and be linked to the records it governs, so it shows up where you need it: on those records' pages, beside the chapter you are writing, and in the consistency check.

If you do not see World rules in the project's sidebar, switch it on in Settings → Modules (see modules).

How do I add a rule? #

Type it into the Add a rule field and press Enter. The field sits at the end of one category, and the rule goes into that category; the field clears, and you can type the next one straight away. To add to another category, point at its heading and choose +: the field moves there. A statement holds up to 200 characters, so write it as a sentence you could quote: "Elves travel 40 km a day", "Magic always costs the caster blood".

You can also create a rule from the Create dialog, like any other record, with its statement, category, description and tags in one form.

Click a rule to edit it in the panel beside the list. On a phone the editor opens over the whole screen, and its back arrow returns to the list. The editor shows, in order:

• Statement and Category.
• Add a measure, when the rule has a number in it (see below).
• Applies to, the records the rule governs, and Tags.
• A description for the detail, the exceptions and the reasons. Type @ in it to link a record, as in any description.

Everything else is in the ⋯ menu, on the editor and on each row when you point at it: Open the rule's own page, Pin or Unpin it, and Delete it. A deleted rule moves to the archive, where it can be restored.

Categories #

Categories group the list. A project with no categories yet is offered eight to start from: Physics, Magic, Travel, Biology, Society, Time, Geography and Narrative. Picking one creates it. Type any other name and choose Create to make your own.

On the World rules page each category is its own card, headed by its name and the number of its rules. Cards are in alphabetical order, with Uncategorised last, and each one folds away when you click its heading; the page remembers which ones you folded. Every category is also listed in Settings → Custom values under Rule categories, beside the project's other lists (see custom values).

Above the cards, search the list, or open More filters to show one category, one tag or only pinned rules; each filter in use appears as a chip you can clear. A row shows the statement and, when the rule has one, its measure; a pinned rule has a small pin in front.

How do I record a travel speed or other number? #

Give the rule a measure with Add a measure. The statement says what is true; the measure holds the number in a form the project can calculate with. Choose its kind, then fill in the value and the unit. Remove measure takes it off again.

The measure appears beside the statement in the list, on the rule's page and wherever the rule is shown. The travel check below calculates with speed; the other kinds keep the number exact and easy to find.

How do rules apply to characters and creatures? #

Through Applies to. Linking a rule to a record is an ordinary relation: add records under Applies to on the rule, or add the rule with Add rule on the record's page. A rule can apply to characters, creatures, organizations, locations, places, entries, events and the records of your collections.

A rule linked to a creature, an organization or a collection record (a race, a culture) also applies to every record linked to it. Link "Elves travel 40 km a day" to the Elf creature once, and every character linked to it has the rule, marked via Elf. The rule passes one step only: a rule on an organization reaches its members, not the members' allies.

The Rules card on a character, creature, organization, location, place, entry, event or collection record page lists the rules that apply to it, its own first and then the inherited ones with the record they came through. Add rule on the card picks an existing rule, or creates a new one from what you typed, and links it in one step. To take a rule off a record, remove the link under Applies to on the rule, or under Related entries on the record.

Can I see the rules while I write? #

Yes. The panel beside a chapter's text has Rules in play under the characters: every pinned rule, and the rules that apply to the chapter's characters and to its location or place. Each one says who it applies to, or that it is pinned, so the rule about how far elves walk is there when a scene puts an elf on the road.

Pin a rule with Pin in its ⋯ menu, in the list or on the rule's page. Keep pins for the handful of rules every scene must respect; the rest arrive with the characters and places they belong to.

How does the travel check work? #

With Lens on, a character's Consistency check card warns when the character travels faster than a speed rule allows. It follows the character from place to place in date order, using:

• chapters that list the character and have a date and a location or place;
• storyline events of the character that have a location;
• events linked to both the character and a location or place.

For each pair of stops it measures the distance on the map and the time between the two dates, and compares the pace with the fastest speed rule that applies to the character, directly or through a creature, organization or collection record. A pace up to 5% over the limit passes. The warning names the two places, the distance, the time it took and the rule it breaks: a character covering 300 km between two cities in two days, against "Elves travel 40 km a day". Each record in it links to its page.

The check needs three things to measure with:

• A scale on the map. Both stops must be on the same map, and the map needs a scale, set in Configure map.
• A distance unit it knows. Use km, mi or leagues in the rule, or the same unit as the map's scale.
• A calendar that can count days. The Gregorian calendar can. A custom calendar can when its Time equivalent (seconds per smallest unit) is set, or when one of its units is called "day". Otherwise, choose one of your calendar's units as the rule's time, such as 40 km per cycle, and the warning counts the time in cycles instead.

When any of these is missing, the check stays silent rather than guessing. It is separate from the Travel pace setting of the story map in Lens, which applies one pace to everyone in a book.

Who can add and change rules? #

Read world rules, Write world rules and Delete world rules control the rules themselves. Linking a rule to the records it governs is a relation, which needs Manage Relations. See the permissions reference.

Tips #

• Put the number in the measure, not only in the statement. "40 km a day" in the text is for you; a speed measure is what the check reads.
• Link a rule to the kind, not to each character. A rule on the creature or the order reaches every character linked to it, including the ones you have not created yet.
• Write exceptions in the description. "A forced march covers 60 km a day, for three days at most" keeps the rule short and the exception in reach.
• When a rule changes in your history, write a second rule. Say in each statement when it holds, and link both.
• Pin sparingly. Five pinned rules get read; fifty become wallpaper.

Related #

• Build a world that holds together — where rules, notes and entries each belong.
• World entities — the creatures, organizations and places rules apply to.
• Relations — how links between records work.
• Maps — give a map the scale the travel check measures with.
• Lens — the module that switches on the consistency check.
• Chapters — the panel where rules in play appear.
• Timeline — the calendar that turns dates into days.