Entering Build Mode
Series: world-building · Part 1
You have played. You have walked the rooms, talked to the locals, examined the lanterns. Now you want to make something of your own.
Building in the archipelago happens inside the same session as playing. You do not open a separate editor or log into an admin panel. You switch modes — and the prompt changes to tell you where you are.
Switching to build mode
> /build
Mode: build
chart>The prompt changes from > to chart>. You are now drafting. Every command you type in this mode creates, edits, or destroys entities in your realm. Players in affected rooms see your changes live — the world updates around them as you work.
To return to play mode:
chart> /play
Mode: play
>You can switch freely. Build a room, switch to play, walk into it, see how it feels, switch back, adjust.
The modes
| Mode | Prompt | Purpose | Requires |
|---|---|---|---|
| Play | > | Experience the world as a traveler | Nothing |
| Build | chart> | Create and edit rooms, items, NPCs, details | :write capability |
| Script | rig> | Author behaviour rules and scripts | :author_scripts capability |
| Admin | watch> | Realm operations, federation, mood | :realm_admin capability |
Each mode has its own command set. Commands from one mode do not work in another. The prompt always tells you which mode you are in.
What you can do in build mode
The core builder commands:
| Command | What it does |
|---|---|
create room <id> | Create a new room |
create item <id> | Create a new item |
create npc <id> | Create a new NPC |
describe <target> | Set or change a description |
edit <target> <property> | Edit a specific property |
destroy <target> | Remove an entity (with confirmation) |
link <room> <direction> <target-room> | Create an exit between rooms |
unlink <room> <direction> | Remove an exit |
undo | Revert your last change |
Every builder action is recorded as an event with a unique transaction ID. Undo reverts the most recent transaction — all effects from that command, atomically.
Live broadcast
When you edit a room that players are standing in, they see the change immediately. If you update a room’s description, everyone in that room sees the new description on their next look. If you add an NPC, it appears. If you remove an exit, it vanishes.
This is intentional. The world is alive while you build it. You are not editing a draft — you are reshaping a place that people may be standing in. Build with awareness.
Conversational authoring
The builder offers assisted drafting. When you create something, the system may offer a draft:
chart> create room market-square
Draft ready:
A broad cobbled square ringed by merchant stalls. Canvas awnings
snap in the wind. The smell of spices and fresh bread mingles
with salt air from the harbor to the south.
3 details: awnings, stalls, cobblestones
2 exits: south → harbor, north → gate
[a]ccept [e]dit [r]egenerate [t]weak- Accept — use the draft as-is
- Edit — open the description for manual editing
- Regenerate — discard and try again from scratch
- Tweak — tell the system what to change (“make it darker”, “add rain”)
The system never applies a draft without your explicit acceptance.
Undo
Every builder command can be undone:
chart> undo
Reverted: "Created room:your-realm/market-square" (tx #a7f3)Undo applies the inverse of each effect in the transaction. If you created a room with three details and two exits, undo removes all of it in one step.
The undo stack is per-session. Disconnect and reconnect, and the stack is gone — but the events remain in the event store. Nothing is truly lost; it is just no longer one keystroke away.
The next guides cover creating rooms, adding details, linking exits, and placing NPCs. Each is a single skill, practiced in isolation, then combined into a living place.