Advanced character creation

Advanced mode is where you write a character yourself, field by field. It takes about fifteen minutes, and nothing in it is wasted: every field you fill in changes how your character talks, what they remember and how they grow closer to the people who chat with them.

This guide walks through all four steps using one real example, Wren Hollis, a lighthouse keeper we built on a phone while writing it. Every screenshot is the actual app.

1. 1

   Card

   Name, tagline, gender and avatar: what people see before they tap.

2. 2

   Personality

   Who they are inside, how they talk, their secrets, romance and lore.

3. 3

   Opening

   The scenario, their first message and an optional example chat.

4. 4

   Review & Test

   Check the card, add tags, choose who can find them, and publish.

Before you start

Tap Create in the bottom bar. You get two ways to make a character.

Quick mode is the fastest way to something good. Pick Advanced mode when you already know who your character is and want to write them in your own words. If you are unsure, start with Quick mode: everything it writes can be edited later in the Forge.

It helps to have three things in your head before you begin: who they are, where they are, and what is happening when someone meets them. For Wren that was: a guarded lighthouse keeper, on a tiny northern island, the morning after you wash up on her rocks.

Step 1: Card

The Card is the first thing anyone sees in Discover. It decides whether they tap at all.

Name

Up to 30 characters. Use the name they would introduce themselves with. A first and last name makes a character feel like a person; a single name or title can work for fantasy.

Tagline

The one line under the name on their card, up to 70 characters. It is the only text people read before deciding to tap, so make it a hook. The app's own advice, behind the (i) next to the label, is the best rule there is:

Wren's tagline puts the reader in the story and sets a clock:

You washed up on her island. Six days to the boat.

• Weak: "A lonely lighthouse keeper with a kind heart." It describes her; nothing happens.
• Strong: "You washed up on her island. Six days to the boat." It is about you, and something is at stake.

Gender

Female, Male or Other. It shapes how the portrait is drawn.

Avatar

Tap the square to open the avatar page. You can Upload your own image, or Generate one from a description of up to 500 characters.

Describe the picture you want, not their personality: face, hair, clothes, pose, setting and mood. This is what we used for Wren:

A woman in her early thirties with windswept auburn hair tied back, freckles and a thick cream fisherman sweater. She stands at the door of a white lighthouse at dusk, stormy sea behind her. Wary but kind eyes, half smile.

When it finishes, tap Use this avatar. Regenerate tries again with the same description, and Change avatar takes you back to edit the description or upload instead. If a result is wrong, changing the description works better than regenerating the same one.

Step 2: Personality

This is the step that decides how good your character is to talk to. Take your time here.

Personality

Who they are on the inside, up to 4,000 characters. The more specific you are, the better they act. The app's guidance lists exactly what to cover:

Wren's personality covers all four, in under 600 characters:

Wren has kept the Skerra Rock lighthouse alone for four years and has stopped expecting company. She is practical, dry and quietly funny, and hides her kindness behind chores: she will make you tea before she asks your name. She wants to be left in peace, and is afraid she has forgotten how to be around people. She hums old sea songs when she is nervous and talks to the lamp as if it can hear her.

She is slow to trust, but once you have earned it she is fiercely loyal, and starts telling you the stories she has never told anyone.

• Nature and mood: practical, dry, quietly funny.
• Wants and fears: to be left in peace; afraid she has forgotten how to be around people.
• Habits: makes tea before she asks your name, hums sea songs when nervous, talks to the lamp.
• How she changes: slow to trust, then fiercely loyal, and starts telling stories she has never told.

Voice style

How they talk, up to 2,000 characters: sentence length, vocabulary, what they avoid saying, and how their voice changes as they warm up.

Short, plain sentences with a dry edge. She rarely asks a question directly; she says something sideways and waits. Uses sailing words without explaining them. As she warms to you, her sentences get longer and softer.

Secret

Optional, up to 3 secrets of 1,000 characters each. Secrets stay hidden until the person chatting has earned real trust, then all of them become available at once. Use them for the thing that makes a long conversation worth having.

The last keeper did not retire. He rowed out in a storm toward a light Wren swears she saw on the water, and never came back. Some nights she still sees it.

Romance

Required. Off keeps affection platonic, with no romance arc. Romance allows a slow romantic arc as trust grows. Choose Off for friends, mentors, rivals and family; it does not make them cold, just not romantic.

Lore

Optional, four fields of up to 800 characters each. Tap Lore to open them. Fill in the ones your character needs and skip the rest.

Step 3: Opening

The Opening is the first moment of every conversation. A strong one gives the person chatting something to answer straight away.

Scenario

Required, up to 1,000 characters. The situation the chat starts in, shown above the first message. A good scenario has three things: who the reader is, where they are, and something happening. If one is missing, the app tells you:

You were sailing alone when last night's storm tore your boat apart. You just washed up on Skerra Rock, soaked and freezing, and Wren found you on the rocks below her lighthouse. The supply boat is not due for six days, and she has never had a guest.

Opening dialogue

Required, up to 1,500 characters. Their first message, in their voice. Put actions inside asterisks and spoken words inside "double quotes". The small asterisk button inside the field adds them for you: select some text and tap it to wrap the selection, or tap it with nothing selected to start a new action.

*Wren drops a heavy wool blanket over your shoulders and pushes a chipped mug of tea into your hands.* "Drink that before you say anything." *She leans in the doorway, arms crossed, rain still running off her coat.* "Six days until the boat. Try not to die before then. It would be a lot of paperwork."

Notice what it does: an action that shows who she is (practical care), speech in her dry voice, and a line that sets the stakes again. Aim for a few short paragraphs. This message is the strongest example of their voice the model sees, so it is worth rewriting until it sounds right.

Example chat

Optional. Up to 3 short exchanges, 500 characters per turn, that show how your character answers. Tap Example chat to open it, fill in an exchange, then tap Done.

Player: Thank you for pulling me out. I'm {{user}}, by the way.

Wren: *She nods once without looking up from the lamp oil.* "Wren." *A pause.* "You can thank me by not touching anything in the lamp room."

Use example chat to show something the opening does not: here, how Wren reacts to thanks. If your opening already shows their voice well, you can skip it.

Step 4: Review & Test

The last step shows your character as other people will see them, and is where you publish.

Tags

Pick up to 5 tags so people can find them. The app suggests some from what you wrote; tap Edit tags to change them. Public characters need at least 2 tags. Tags are optional for private and unlisted ones.

Completeness

The row of chips shows the optional extras: Lore fields, the avatar prompt and the example chat. A tick means it is filled in; a + means it is empty. Tap any chip to fill it in without leaving this step.

Who can find them

Publish

Tap Publish. The app runs a final check on every step and then opens your character's page. If something is missing, it takes you back to the step that needs it, with the problem marked.

Wren's first reply used her voice (short, dry lines), her habits (the lamp) and a hint of her secret (a light on the water) without being told to. That is what a well-written personality buys you.

Common mistakes

• A tagline about the character instead of the reader. "A shy librarian" describes; "She has been pretending not to notice you for a month" pulls someone in.
• A one-line personality. Specific habits and fears do more than any list of adjectives.
• A scenario where nothing is happening. Give the reader a role and the scene an event.
• An opening that asks "What brings you here?" Have your character do something the reader can react to.
• Speaking for the reader. Never write what {{user}} says or feels in the opening; leave that to them.
• Publishing public straight away. A private test chat catches problems a reread never will.

Questions