Eldran is not a single document. It is a web of records — characters, locations, factions, quests, pressures, secrets — that point at one another and stay honest through a few hard rules. If you cloned this world to build on it, this book is your map of the machine. It explains the layers, the conventions, and what makes a new entry fit instead of merely exist.
The five layers
Everything in the project belongs to one of five layers, and the layers nest.
- Foundations. The shared truth everything else leans on: the @Missing file (what attributes, resources, and advancement mean), the mechanic packages that grant starting power, the @Missing file (how time is counted), and the three living state records — the @Missing file, the @Missing file, and the @Missing file.
- Content. The nouns of the world: characters, species, classes, spells, items, locations, factions, vehicles. These are the records players read and the GM references.
- Story. The verbs: quests (hooks), missions (active contracts), encounters (fights and set-pieces).
- Living systems. The world's metabolism: pressures that escalate when ignored, secrets that hide until earned, relationship profiles, public reputation, legacy, memories, and consequences.
- The GM layer. The instruction library — always-loaded operating doctrine plus a searchable guide library — that tells the Game Master how to run all of the above.
The four rules that keep it working
One truth, one home. Every fact lives in exactly one file. A faction's goals live in the faction record; a character's bond to that faction is a reference on the character, not a copy of the faction. When something changes, it changes once, and everything pointing at it sees the change. If you find yourself pasting the same paragraph into three files, you are building debt, not content.
Derived values are computed, not stored. Effective attributes, power ratings, route counts, mission progress — these are computed from source fields by the file types themselves. Never write them into a record. Change the inputs (the base attribute, the package state, the objective), and the derived value corrects itself.
State files stay current. The clock, the World Pulse, and the World State are living documents. The clock advances when time passes; the Pulse tracks the active scene; World State records only what changes the world beyond a scene. A frozen clock or a stale Pulse is the fastest way to break the world's credibility.
Follow the home. Keep characters in their established grouping and locations in their region tree. Eldran campaign Missions live under Missions/Campaigns/Eldran, grouped by their primary arc; builder demonstrations stay in Missions/Examples. Status is record data, not a reason to move a campaign chapter. Use the campaign directory and references to find shared records; avoid copies for a second arc.
What "done" means
A record is finished when it can stand alone for a stranger: a name, a summary, the fields its type cares about, and its references resolved to files that exist. Use only the review and lifecycle fields supported by that type. Preserve resolved outcomes and identities; archive through the existing lifecycle when appropriate. Do not move a finished campaign chapter merely because its status changed.
The rest of this book walks each layer in the order you will touch it: foundations first, then content, then story, then living systems, then how to extend the engine itself without breaking it.