FoundryInk Academy Academy / Making your work
Making your work

Build your Codex

A long story needs a memory. The Codex is your series' story-world reference, its cast, its locations, and its timeline, all in one place. As you publish pages, Muse keeps it linked and current, so continuity stops being a spreadsheet. Here's how to build one.

Read time about 6 min

1Cast your characters

On a project's Codex tab, the Characters list holds an entry per character: a name, a role (protagonist, antagonist, supporting, minor), a description, aliases, free-form notes on voice and motivation, and reference art (set one as the avatar, or pull it from a page). Muse keeps a live appearance count as it recognizes them on your pages, and you can merge duplicates by dragging one onto another.

The Codex tab's Characters list: each card shows the role and page count, with Add character above.
The Codex tab's Characters list: each card shows the role and page count, with Add character above.See the full screen
Editing a character: Name, Role, Aliases, Description and private notes.
Editing a character: Name, Role, Aliases, Description and private notes.See the full screen
There's even a Chat with character: Muse answers in that character's voice, grounded in the entry, to help you find a voice or test a line. It never writes your script.
Pro note
Fill in voice and motivation notes early. Future chapters, and future collaborators, will read them to stay in character.

2Map places and time

The Locations list works just like characters: a name, description, aliases, notes on mood and geography, reference art, and an auto-tracked appearance count. The Timeline tab lays out your story's backbone as ordered beats, who and where each one involves, that you can add, edit, and drag to reorder. Together they're the backbone the whole cast hangs off.

A location, Vaark defence ship, with its description and reference art.
A location, Vaark defence ship, with its description and reference art.See the full screen
The Timeline: ordered beats, each tagged with the characters and locations it involves.
The Timeline: ordered beats, each tagged with the characters and locations it involves.See the full screen
Pro note
The timeline is a lifesaver for a time-hopping story. One reorderable backbone beats a dozen scattered notes.

3It keeps itself current

As pages are processed, Muse recognizes your cast and locations, links each appearance back to its Codex entry, and updates the counts, and each page gets a Cast tab showing who's in it. You can set per-project Muse rules (naming conventions, tone to keep) to steer it, and export the whole Codex to Markdown or PDF, raw or as a polished story document.

A page's Cast tab: the characters and locations on this page, and tags you can add by hand.
A page's Cast tab: the characters and locations on this page, and tags you can add by hand.See the full screen
The Codex Export menu: Raw data as Markdown (.md) or PDF (.pdf).
The Codex Export menu: Raw data as Markdown (.md) or PDF (.pdf).See the full screen
The Codex appears once your studio has Muse enabled. Studios with FoundryInk IP import can even pre-fill it from existing material, which you review before anything saves.
Pro note
You stay the author, always. Muse just remembers who showed up where, so you don't have to.

Start your bible

One reference for your world. Links into the app. Saved on this device.

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Quick questions

On a project's Codex tab. It appears once your studio has Muse enabled, since Muse is what recognizes your cast on pages and keeps the appearance counts current.

Never. Muse organizes and recognizes: it links appearances, tracks counts, and can chat in a character's voice to help you, but you make every creative decision.

Studios with FoundryInk IP import can pre-fill the Codex from existing material through a review step, so nothing is saved until you approve it.

Yes. Export to Markdown or PDF, either a raw dump or a polished, narrative story codex that Muse reorganizes for you.

Your world stays consistent

Cast, places, and timeline, one reference for a long story. Next, a look at Muse, the assistant behind it.

Meet Muse, your studio assistant →