Chronica was built to run tabletop campaigns. But a campaign is really a world: people, places, groups, and a history of things that happened. A novel needs all of those things too. So does a world you are building just for the joy of it.

If you write fiction, or you keep a setting that has outgrown your notebook, Chronica can hold it. You do not need players, and you do not need to roll a single die. Here is how the tools you already know work for writers and worldbuilders.

Your cast in one place

Use the NPC Codex for your characters. Each character gets a profile with images, a description, and notes. Put each group of characters in its own folder, for example "Main Cast", "The Royal Court", or "Book Two".

Some profile fields are named for tabletop games, like Race and Class. With Profile Templates you can rename those fields. "Class" can become "Occupation", and "Race" can become "Species" or "Homeland". Your characters then read like characters from your story, not from a rulebook.

Family trees

Royal lines, old families, and secret heirs are hard to keep track of. Open the NPC Codex and click Family Trees to draw them. Add your characters to the tree, then connect them as parents, children, and partners. You can also add people who do not have a profile yet, like a great-grandmother who is only a name in your notes.

A person on one tree can link to another tree. For example, a bride from a rival house can link to her own family's tree. Each character's profile shows which trees they appear on. And like everything else, a tree or a single person on it can be marked secret.

Places, maps, and regions

Write up cities, taverns, ruins, and royal halls in Places. Upload your maps to World & Region Maps, and use Domains & Regions for kingdoms, provinces, and borders. When a reader asks "how far is it from the capital to the coast?", you will have the answer.

Families, factions, and guilds

Kinships are for any group of people: a noble house, a thieves' guild, a church, a rebel army. Add members, track reputation, and keep notes on what each group wants.

Keep your timeline straight

Timelines are hard. With the Campaign Calendar, you can build your world's own calendar. Name your months and weekdays, add seasons, and add as many moons as your sky needs.

Then record what happens with Developments. Each development is an event on a date: a coronation, a battle, a birth, a betrayal. They show on the calendar, so you can see your whole history in order. This makes it easier to catch mistakes, like a character who is in two cities on the same day.

Link everything together

When you write in a description or a note, type @ and start typing a name. You can link to characters, places, quests, kinships, and entities. Later, open any profile to see every page that mentions it. This is very useful when you need to find every scene where a minor character appeared.

Plot threads and story notes

The Quest Log works well for plot threads and story arcs. Link the characters and places involved, and give each one a status so you can see which threads are still open. Use Adventure Notes for chapter notes, drafts of scenes, or ideas you do not want to lose.

Share your world, keep your secrets

Do you work with a co-writer, an editor, or beta readers? Invite them to your campaign. Anything you mark as secret stays hidden from them. You can share the world without giving away the twist in chapter twenty.

How to start

1. Create a new campaign and name it after your book or your world.
2. Consider setting up your calendar first. Many other tools use its dates.
3. Add your main characters, then your most important places.
4. Use @-links as you write, and the connections will build over time.

Some tools, like Places and Entities, are part of the paid tiers. You can see what each tier includes on our pricing page.

We would love to hear how you use Chronica for your own stories. If you are writing a novel or building a world here, come tell us about it on our Discord server. We also post our newest updates there first.

Happy writing! :)