# The editor

The editor is a rail of steps on the left, the current step in the middle, and the
[Prompt panel](/docs/prompt-panel) on the right. The rail is an order, not a wizard — you
can jump to any step at any time and come back.

dddd> The `/create` editor with the three regions labelled: the step rail (left), the step body
> (centre), and the Prompt panel (right).

## The steps

**Setup** — the game's name, its setting and tone, and the toggles that decide which of
the other steps you even see. Start here; some of the rail is hidden until you turn things
on.

**Factions** — the groups that want incompatible things. Worth doing early: characters
and locations both hang off them.

**Locations** — where the game happens. Each one carries its own description, its
connections to other locations, and optionally its own ambient sound.

**Items** — what can be carried, worn, eaten or used. An item can have a rule attached
(see [Hooks](/docs/hooks) — `onItemUse`).

**Abilities** — what characters can *do* beyond a plain attack. Only shown when abilities are
enabled in Setup.

**Effects** — statuses that land on someone and then wear off: poisoned, blessed, on fire.

**Plugins** — your own systems. Fields, hooks, dials and events bundled into something you
can switch off or share. See [Plugins](/docs/plugins).

**Creatures** — the things that fight you. Only shown when combat is enabled in Setup.

**Characters** — the NPCs, and the player character. This is where bonds, personality and
knowledge live.

**Loadouts** — what a player starts with. Hidden entirely when Setup says players choose
neither items nor abilities.

**Story** — the opening situation and the arc you want the game to move along.

**Map** — the spatial layout of your locations, if the game shows one.

**Sounds** — narration sound effects and location ambience. Always available.

**Encyclopedia** — long-form lore the narrator can look things up in. Only shown when the
encyclopedia is enabled in Setup; with it off, lore written here would never be retrieved.

**Finalize** — validation and publish.

## Steps disappear, and that is deliberate

If **Creatures** or **Abilities** vanish from the rail, you did not lose them: a toggle in
**Setup** turned that system off, and the editor hides steps whose data nothing would read.

| Step | Shown when |
|---|---|
| Abilities | abilities are enabled |
| Creatures | combat is enabled |
| Loadouts | players choose starting items *or* abilities |
| Encyclopedia | the encyclopedia is enabled |

Turn the toggle back on in Setup and the step comes back with your data intact.

> **Image: `docs/setup-toggles.png`**
> The Setup step's advanced toggles — combat, abilities, encyclopedia, item selection —
> with the step rail visible alongside so the relationship is legible.

## Two ways to edit everything

Every step accepts both. You can fill the form yourself, or ask the Prompt panel and let
it fill the form for you. There is no mode switch and no penalty either way — the panel
writes the same fields you would have typed.

The practical split most authors land on: prompt the **content** (places, people, things),
hand-write the **systems** (rules, numbers, plugins). The AI is good at inventing a
harbourmaster and bad at deciding how fast a fever should climb.

## Next

- [The Prompt panel](/docs/prompt-panel) — plans, undo, and what to ask for
- [Plugins](/docs/plugins) — building a system of your own