The Play Screen

The Play screen is where the story happens. Top to bottom:

  • ‹ — back to Home.
  • Campaign name — centered.
  • − ◴ N + — the chaos pill. ◴ shows the current chaos factor (1–9); − and + nudge it. In control? Lower it. Overwhelmed? Raise it. See Oracles & Chaos.

Mode switcher

Assistant / Game Master / Auto — switches who drives, mid-campaign, anytime. In Autonomous mode a Review dial appears beside it: pause Each turn or Each scene.

Scene bar

  • ‹ › — step to the previous/next scene.
  • Scene N: title ▾ — tap to open the scene list and jump anywhere.
  • Past scenes are read-only: the input is replaced by a notice with a Return to current scene link. Browsing never disturbs the story.

Phase chip (Assistant mode)

A one-line compass showing where you are in the scene loop. Tap to expand:

  • The loop — ✦ Setup → ◇ Frame → ◆ Play → ↻ Transition. Tap a phase to jump; the current one is highlighted.
  • Suggestion chips — phase-aware next steps (when guidance shows them); tap one to act on it.
  • Guidance — switch Unguided / Soft / Guided on the fly.
  • Voice — switch Player-led / Collaborative authorship on the fly.

The transcript

The scene’s running record. Each entry type has its own look:

  • Your actions — right-aligned bubbles.
  • Assistant replies — left-aligned, with small badges when it used tools (oracle rolls, bookkeeping).
  • Oracle rolls — centered, bordered, showing the question, table, and dice.
  • Story prose — italic with an accent border: the journaled narrative.
  • System notes — small centered captions (scene markers, chaos shifts).

While the AI responds, its text streams live into the transcript.

Threads, Cast, and Read

The tab bar above the input:

  • Threads (N) — open story goals. The count shows open threads; tap to peek.
  • Cast (N) — characters, as Name — description.
  • Read ↗ — opens the full reading view.

Proposal cards (Assistant mode)

The assistant never edits your world directly — it proposes. Cards appear above the input: New thread:, New character:, or Close thread:, each with ✓ (accept) and ✕ (dismiss). You are always the editor of record.

Transition panel (Assistant mode)

  • ⤳ Wrap & start new scene — asks the assistant to close out the scene: it scribes a closing beat and proposes any thread/cast updates it noticed.
  • Confirm the updates, then Begin Scene N → opens the next scene (Cancel backs out and keeps playing the current one).

Oracle bar (Assistant mode)

🎲 Fate (opens the odds picker) · 🔤 Meaning · ⚡ Event — see Oracles & Chaos.

The composer (Assistant mode)

“What do you do?” — the text box grows when focused, Enter sends (Shift+Enter for a new line), and ➤ sends too. It collapses back to one line after you send.

The prompt panel (Game Master & Autonomous modes)

Replaces the composer when the GM is waiting on you:

  • A short summary card (during Session 0 confirmations).
  • The GM’s question, with choice buttons for its suggestions.
  • “…or describe your own” — a free-text answer with Send.
  • 🎲 Let the oracle decide — hand the choice to the dice.

Between your answers, the panel shows “The GM is narrating…” or “The GM is preparing the scene…”.

Out-of-credits banner

If your balance runs out, a ⚠ banner appears above the input: your story is safe, but new turns are paused until you top up. See Credits.