Worlds, cast and places

Worlds#

A world is a complete, separate play: its own story, its own characters, its own places and its own games. You can have as many worlds as you like; they don't know about each other.

  • Make a new world: click empty space in the left column, or right-click a world, and choose New world…. It comes with an empty cast and a first game, and opens its Story for writing.
  • Name it, sign it, add notes: click the world's name (or right-click it and choose Edit world). See World details.
  • Fold or unfold a world: click the small arrow in front of its name.
  • Change the order: drag a world up or down.
  • Delete a world: right-click it and choose Delete world…. This deletes its cast and all its games, and can't be undone.
  • Save a world as a file, or load one: right-click it and choose Export legacy…; use Import world above the worlds to load one. See Import and export.

World details#

Click a world's name to open its details in the middle of the window:

  • Name: the world's (and the story's) title, at the top.
  • By: the author's name — yours, or whoever wrote the world. The script you get with Download shows it under the title (By …).
  • Background: free notes about the world for you and other authors: where the idea came from, plans, credits, anything worth knowing. It may stay empty.

The background is not part of the play: it's never sent to the model, and it's not in the downloaded script. Both the author and the background travel with the world when you export it (see Import and export).

Everything is saved as you type. Back to game returns to the stage.

The Story#

The Story describes the setting: the place and time, the situation, what's at stake, the tone and style. It's what every character knows about the world. A few sentences are enough to start; you can add more at any time.

Click Story to edit it; the text is saved as you type. Back to game returns to the stage.

The cast#

Under Cast you find:

  • Character A to F: the characters the model plays. You can describe up to six, but at most three are on stage at the same time.
  • User: who you are in the play.
  • Audience: who's watching. Their remarks can reach the characters, but only as voices from beyond the fourth wall.

Click any of them to write their description. To give a character a name, double-click it, or use the name field at the top of the editor. Renaming never breaks a game: Roller keeps track of characters by their letter, so old turns follow the new name.

Who is on stage#

The checkbox after each character says whether they are on stage. Only characters on stage take part in a turn.

  • Bring a character on: tick their box. If three are already on stage, take one off first.
  • Let a character leave: untick their box.

The change takes effect with your next turn, and the characters notice who leaves and who arrives. The stage only shows the characters who were there in each turn.

Places#

Places are where scenes can happen: a kitchen, a bus, a forest clearing. Each place can have a description, which the characters get when the scene moves there.

  • Add a place: click + next to Places.
  • Describe it: right-click it and choose Edit.
  • Rename it: double-click it, or right-click and choose Rename….
  • Move the scene there: click the place, so its round button is filled.
  • No particular place: right-click the active place and choose Nowhere in particular.

The move happens with your next turn. Next to Events in your turn you can see where it will play; an arrow (→ ⌂ Kitchen) means the scene moves there with this turn. On the stage, a small ⌂ line marks each move.

Changing the place also starts a new scene in the script you get with Download (see Download): the script's scenes are numbered, and each begins with the new place and its description as a stage direction. Moving back to an earlier place starts another new scene, too.

Games#

Every world can have several games: separate playthroughs with the same cast. They're listed under Games; the number shows how many turns each one has.

  • Play a game: click it.
  • Start a new game: click + next to Games.
  • Change the order: drag a game up or down.

Right-click a game for more:

  • Rename…
  • Edit backstory: see Backstory.
  • Fork: makes a copy with all its turns, right below. Use it to try a different direction without losing the original.
  • Reset…: deletes all its turns and unsent text, but keeps the backstory.
  • Delete…: removes the game for good.

Backstory#

Every game can have a backstory: what happened before this game started. It adds to the world's Story, just for this game. It may stay empty.

  • Click the small arrow in front of a game to show its backstory, then click it to edit.
  • Or right-click the game and choose Edit backstory.

When a game has a backstory, the stage shows a small ≡ Backstory note under the title. Summarize writes a backstory for you; see Continue a long game.

The Protocol and the Patcher#

At the top of the left column are two texts shared by all worlds:

  • Protocol: the rules of the play for the model, and the form its answers must take.
  • Patcher: the instructions for the Patch button.

Both come with a good built-in version, and you don't need to change them to play. If you do edit them, Preview shows exactly what the model will read, and Restore default (also on right-click) brings back the built-in version.

The small buttons above the text insert placeholders such as {{STORY}} or {{CAST}}, which Roller replaces with the current world's story and characters.