World Builder

World Builder

Build setting material that creates pressure for characters and gives stories usable choices. Connect every new fact to a place, a person, a faction, a technology, a historical event, or a story need.

Do not create a catalogue of disconnected details. Do not use world-building to avoid the story problem.

When to Use

Use this skill when a story needs a new district, location, region, institution, technology, historical layer, social condition, or local conflict.

Use canon-steward first when the request needs official setting facts, source research, or a canon reconciliation.

Use faction-designer when an institution or group needs its own leadership, resources, agenda, relationships, or internal conflict.

Use character-designer when a place, history, institution, or social condition forms a character's backstory or behavior.

Do not use this skill to design a complete faction, outline a story arc, or settle an unsupported canon conflict.

References

Read references/showing-lore-through-pressure.md when setting details need to enter through action, choice, or consequence.

Repository Anchors

Read these files before you write:

• CONTEXT.md for premise, tone, scope, core truths, canon boundary, and domain terms.
• docs/agents/narrative-domain.md for facet types, metadata, IDs, and storage paths.
• docs/agents/narrative-workflow.md for source-of-truth and update rules.
• Relevant facets in characters/, stories/, timeline/, and world/.
• Relevant source records in docs/sources/, when that path exists.
• Relevant canon notes in docs/canon/, when that path exists.
• Relevant decisions in docs/adr/, when that path exists.

Use the active alignment root for CONTEXT.md, docs/adr/, and docs/agents/ when the repository defines one. Keep world facets in the repository root.

World-Building Contract

A usable setting package answers these questions:

Prefer a small setting package with connected facts over many shallow facts.

Facet Storage

Store one Markdown file per reusable facet:

• Places in world/places/.
• Factions in world/factions/.
• Technology in world/technology/.
• History in world/history/.
• Terms in world/terms/.
• Stories in stories/.
• Dated events in timeline/.

Use the existing paths in docs/agents/narrative-domain.md when they differ.

Use frontmatter like this:

---
id: place.grayline-district
type: place
name: Grayline District
status: draft
canon: original
era: red
---

Use stable IDs in the form <type>.<slug>. Search existing IDs before creating a facet. Link related facets with relative Markdown links.

Institutions with independent goals are faction facets. Infrastructure, customs, or public services belong in the relevant place facet unless they need independent agency.

Canon and Original Material

Mark each facet with its canon label:

• Use official-primary, official-secondary, or official-other for sourced official material.
• Use secondary for non-primary sources.
• Use original for new project material.
• Use unverified when evidence is weak or missing.

Add a source ID and locator beside every sourced fact. Keep project additions separate from source claims.

If sources conflict, preserve the conflict and link the reconciliation note. Do not silently choose a fact. If no project rule resolves it, mark the relevant material unresolved.

Process

1. Read the request and anchors

Identify the story need, setting scope, era, location, required canon, and intended reuse.

Read the repository anchors and related facets before you design new material.

If the request does not name a story need, infer one from the existing story files. State the inferred need in the report.

2. Set the design boundary

Choose one primary setting unit:

• District or neighborhood.
• Building or site.
• Region or route.
• Institution or service.
• Technology system.
• Historical period or event.

Define its physical, social, temporal, and story boundaries. Do not expand the scope without a clear dependency.

3. Map existing relationships

Search for existing places, factions, characters, technologies, terms, stories, and events that connect to the design boundary.

Reuse existing facets. Update them only when the new setting fact changes their shared meaning.

List missing dependencies. Create only the facets required to make the setting coherent.

4. Build the causal chain

Write the setting in this order:

1. A resource, service, hazard, or opportunity.
2. The people or groups that depend on it.
3. The authority or system that controls it.
4. The pressure that threatens it.
5. The choices available to characters.
6. The cost of each choice.

Make the conflict come from the setting's material conditions. Do not add a random villain only to create action.

5. Create the facet package

Create or update the primary facet. Add supporting facets only when they are reusable or necessary for links.

A place facet normally includes:

• Identity and boundaries.
• Current condition.
• Important sublocations.
• Controlling and dependent groups.
• Resources and services.
• Social conditions.
• Active conflicts.
• Technology and infrastructure.
• Recent history.
• Story uses and consequences.
• Source and continuity notes.

A technology facet normally includes:

• Function.
• Users and owners.
• Access limits.
• Failure modes.
• Cost.
• Social effect.
• Related places, factions, and stories.

A history facet normally includes:

• Date or date range.
• Event.
• Causes.
• Immediate result.
• Current consequence.
• Source or original label.

6. Hand off faction depth

When an institution or group needs leaders, resources, territory, public identity, secret goals, allies, enemies, or internal conflict, create a linked placeholder only.

Report the faction as a dependency for faction-designer. Do not duplicate faction design in the place facet.

7. Check internal consistency

Make sure that:

• Every linked ID exists or is listed as a missing dependency.
• Every sourced claim has a source record and locator when available.
• Every original fact has canon: original.
• Every dated event has a date or an explicit unknown date.
• Technology has users, limits, and costs.
• Conflicts have causes and consequences.
• The setting gives characters choices, not only descriptions.
• The new material does not contradict CONTEXT.md or an ADR.

8. Report the result

Report:

• The design boundary.
• The story need.
• Facets created or updated.
• Relationships added.
• Faction dependencies for faction-designer.
• Character dependencies for character-designer.
• Canon sources used.
• Unresolved questions.
• Continuity effects.
• Story actions and consequences enabled by the setting.

Common Mistakes

Completion Criteria

The world-building task is complete only when:

• The story need and design boundary are stated.
• The relevant repository anchors and facets were read.
• The setting has a clear place, authority, dependency, pressure, choice, and cost.
• New facets use the repository metadata and paths.
• Relationships use stable IDs and valid links.
• Source claims and original additions are separate.
• Faction depth is linked to faction-designer instead of duplicated.
• Conflicts and unknowns are visible.
• The material does not contradict CONTEXT.md or relevant ADRs.
• The report lists all files created or updated and all follow-up dependencies.

State Machine

[Setting need]
      |
      v
[Read anchors and related facets]
      |
      v
[Set design boundary]
      |
      v
[Map existing relationships]
      |
      v
[Build causal chain]
      |
      v
[Resource, hazard, or opportunity]
      |
      v
[Dependents and authority]
      |
      v
[Active pressure]
      |
      v
[Character choices and costs]
      |
      v
[Create or update facet package]
      |
      v
{Needs independent faction agency?}
      | yes                         | no
      v                             v
[Create placeholder]          [Continue]
      |                             |
      v                             |
[Hand off to faction-designer]-----+
                                    |
                                    v
[Check links, sources, limits, conflicts]
                                    |
                                    v
[Report facets, dependencies, and story uses]