Creator worldbuilding and canon

Worlds and world settings

A Mystrix Studio world owns shared setting material used by its stories. Required safety profile,

content rating, blocked topics, representative images, and encounter policy must be valid before

the world can support publication. A draft world remains private to its owner.

Story collaboration does not transfer World ownership. A Story collaborator with the relevant

permission may edit that Story's characters, locations, rules, and other Story canon, but receives

no access to the original creator's other Worlds. Story-owned records stay in the original

creator's storage scope, are attributed to the acting creator, and are fenced if the Story's

access revision changes before a write commits.

Independent characters and Story cast

Create and develop an owned character in Characters without creating a Story. The library

holds the character's identity, traits, fixed commitments, voice notes, and artwork. A Story

attaches that asset and freezes its narrative identity while allowing an explicitly authored

Story context: role, biography, goals, secrets, relationships, possessions, and voice configuration.

Story collaboration permits those context edits; it does not grant permission to change the

source owner's identity or artwork. External use also requires its accepted reuse grant, and a

borrowed character's Story context can be authored or edited only when the accepted terms allow

Story context adaptation.

Declare evolvable traits in the library. Bind their conditions to real events or milestones

in the receiving Story. The Story cannot replace declared trait names or fixed commitments.

Detach removes the cast attachment, preserving the library character and its images.

Attach a library character once per Story. A repeated attachment returns a conflict

instead of creating another actor; edit the existing attachment's Story context.

In the Story cast editor, open Story character tools to suggest a context field, preview

the voice, test a pressure situation, compare two cast members, or check a proposed trait

against the character's evolution policy. These previews use the receiving Story and leave

saved canon unchanged. The editor also shows the approved presentation and required credit.

World facts and rules

World facts are structured canon for every story in the world. Write one clear claim per fact and

resolve contradictions before publishing instead of expecting narration to choose between them.

World and location rules describe constraints that should hold during playback. For a detailed

location rule, use severity to distinguish a hard constraint from softer guidance, choose how it is

enforced, and state a consequence when breaking the rule should have an observable result. Guides

can explain the setting to creators, but do not replace structured facts, rules, or validation.

World encounters

The world encounter switch is the master permission for cross-story encounters in that world. If

it is off, a story, guest, or character setting cannot independently enable an encounter. If it is

on, all later consent checks still apply: the participating stories and characters must also be

eligible. Changing the master switch updates the draft configuration; published encounter profiles

are rebuilt through the normal validation and publication workflow.

Character goals, fears, and secrets

Give each goal a specific objective, a priority, and a timeframe. Library goals guide the

independent Character Lab. Receiving-Story goals become runtime canon through Story publication;

saving a library profile does not change an existing Story's frozen narrative. Fears are pressures or situations the character tries

to avoid; make them concrete enough to influence a scene without using them to override a reader's

choice. Secrets are authored canon that can be revealed later. Keep each secret distinct and do not

treat putting it in the character record as permission to reveal it before the story earns that

moment.

Character species and body plan

Set both species and body plan before saving a new character or attaching character artwork.

Species names the exact kind of subject; body plan describes its real anatomy, stance, limbs or

appendages, and locomotion. For a mouse, owl, spider, or other non-human character, write those

traits explicitly instead of relying on appearance notes alone. Studio preserves these values as

canon so reviewers and readers can distinguish the intended subject. Use approved artwork

from Studio's asset library for portraits and animation frames.

Character relationships

A library relationship references another existing character asset in your own library.

Attachment binds those relationships

to exact cast members in the receiving Story; a Story relationship cannot target another Story's cast. Use

the relationship type for its basic role, intensity for hostile-to-close strength, labels for

facets such as trust or resentment, and notes for context. A secret relationship remains hidden

from the reader until the story reveals it; it is not hidden from Mystrix Studio or validation.

Detaching a cast member requires first removing active branch and timeline references, and Studio

also removes relationships to that cast member from the remaining draft cast. Archive a library

character while its publications, media, or usage obligations remain. Before deleting a

relationship target, remove the other library characters' references to it. An immutable

published reusable profile cannot be rewritten to remove its reference; archive its target

instead. If another Character mutation is in progress, wait for it to finish and retry.

An interrupted mutation can require support to recover; repeatedly sending new commands

does not release its retained guard.

Character boundaries

Boundaries are explicit constraints on what a character should do or permit. Prefer a short,

testable statement over a vague preference, and choose the editor's severity and scope to match the

intended strength and situation. Boundaries guide character behavior but cannot waive content

safety, ownership, consent, or publication checks.

Character voice

Voice notes keep a character recognizable across generated dialogue. Start with speech style and

emotional baseline, then use vocabulary, pacing, catchphrases, words to avoid, and hard “do not

say” constraints only where they describe this character consistently. Preview samples are a

draft check, not saved story dialogue or proof that every later line will pass canon and safety

validation.

Character chat animation

In a character's Assets tab, enable chat animation and choose managed images for its

states. Arrange frames, set their durations and define the branches that fit the

character. Branches can use the reply's emotion, intensity and intent, the reader's

relationship, and the previous resting pose. Put specific branches first and keep an

unconditional default last. A worried character can remain worried after replying.

Use the preview controls to try different contexts and inspect the selected path.

Save the character, then use Publish character to approve the selected presentation for

Reader chat. This does not publish Story narrative. Saving draft images or animation leaves

the approved presentation selected until an explicit character publication. External grants

retain the accepted immutable presentation rather than following later owner changes.

Disabling animation restores the still portrait after character publication. Readers

can also disable motion; animation failures do not prevent reading or sending text.

Location map

The story location map positions owned draft locations and records their connections. Use it to

make travel and adjacency understandable, but do not use a visual connection to contradict a

location rule or the authored timeline. Map changes stay in the draft until the next validated

publication, while an already published location snapshot remains fixed.

Location sensory palette

The sensory palette records what a scene at the location can sound, smell, look, and feel like,

including soundscape, light, texture, smell, and air quality. Choose a few distinctive, compatible

cues rather than filling every field with conflicting detail. Sensory guidance enriches

description; it does not change story state, location rules, or the reader's decisions.