Place a location inside its physical parent
Use the nearest established place that physically contains the new location. A useful chain is world, continent or major region, country, city, district, street or approach, building, and floor or room. Omit levels that add nothing: a cave can belong directly to wilderness. A room with its own identity belongs inside its building or established floor. Preserve distinct places that share a name and check their actual record references.
Political authority, institutional affiliation and travel connections are separate relationships. A vassal country can belong physically to its continent while describing the overlord in governance. An off-campus library can belong to its city district while retaining academy access rules. Link connected places without implying that every link is an entrance or a containing parent.
Research before placing anything
Read the current location, its containing places, access rules, relevant people, travel routes and the player's purpose. Check the actual background artwork and current map data. Use established street names and entrances. If the source supplies no street name, use a plain approach description grounded in the place. Do not invent surveyed boundaries, street alignments, floors or door coordinates to complete a hierarchy.
For local shopping or errands, start with accessible places in the current settlement. Research another city when it is mentioned, connected to a lead or selected as a destination. Finding a record does not move the scene. Apply the same distinction to campaigns, quests and missions: authored objectives describe possibilities and background; the game's accepted objectives, terms and completed progress remain authoritative.
Make each link useful and honest
A map element’s link draws or opens the intended existing record. An exit defines a way through a door, stair, gate or other actual route; a location drawn elsewhere on a map is not automatically an entrance. Use native linked-location relations for containment and ways without a map position, keeping physical containment consistent with parentLocation. Preserve actual access restrictions, journey time and valid marker positions.
Use the content linkedLocations cards for reference navigation; they do not create native containment or a way. Native linked locations can establish parts and routes without invented coordinates. Store each native pair once and verify both endpoints. For routes between sibling places, use same_place with their shared physical parent in the in field; separate describes places in different containers. For example, two towns inside one country can share a road while retaining that country as their parent. Preserve each endpoint’s parent before linking and verify that both containment and the route remain saved. Parent-map inheritance supplies display context, not an invented floor plan or route. Keep existing room identities and visible feature annotations; public labels must not expose hidden entrances or private facts.
Preserve the map's evidence
A scenic illustration, perspective cutaway or historic view needs a clear explanation of what it represents. Annotate visible features only. Keep artwork, character tokens, access restrictions and valid tactical calibration intact. Match the canvas aspect ratio to the artwork and use consistent units. Derive approximate scales from supported dimensions or recognizable furnishings, label estimates as AU estimates, and prefer recorded distances and travel times. A scale bar cannot turn a perspective illustration into a surveyed plan. Related cropped maps must remain consistent with their source.
Link terrain without creating another place
Use the optional Terrain references on a Location for the reusable ground or feature profiles actually present there. Keep their extent, local condition and exceptions in that Location's existing movement, feature and hazard descriptions. A broad forest can contain a maintained path; an indoor floor does not inherit outdoor snow. Consult only the relevant profiles when their conditions matter. Locations and Travel owns the shared ruling.
Terrain records are definitions, not destinations or physical parents. Keep map areas, entrances and routes linked to the actual place. Use an annotation for a small visible surface feature; its outline establishes no solid barrier, automatic collision or undisclosed hazard. Preserve the existing artwork, links, marker positions and calibration. Unknown extents need no invented polygon.
Permanent snow cover belongs to the established place and persists regardless of season or Clear weather. Distinguish ground cover from snowfall, temporary storms and local cleared paths. The Holy Land of the Sword and Sword Sanctum have year-round snow; the Forest of Hail keeps its persistent AU snow. Do not extend those local facts to the whole Northern Territories. Record actual lasting route changes on the responsible Location; board positions and elapsed time remain native.
Save and verify
This project uses Harness 2. Active GM instructions are in project settings; archived instruction files do not control it. Keep the existing location research and travel instruction aligned with these conventions rather than adding competing copies. Preserve stable location identities when renaming or reorganizing records. Read the current record and native map again before saving, preserve concurrent changes, and read the saved data back. Check every target and test representative navigation in the interface. Distinguish saved structure and observed navigation from predictions about future GM behavior.
Make places useful in ordinary play
Give a venue practical uses grounded in its existing facilities and people. Use the shared Location Type rules for ordinary guild visits, workshop work, accommodation and domestic life; put distinctive activities in the Location’s features and scene suggestions in gmUse. Describe what can be done, with whom and under the actual terms. A useful room needs no new subsystem or separate record for every fixture.
Preserve established services, privacy, appointments and queues without inventing a new obstacle for routine use. Included benefits receive no duplicate charge. Keep activities voluntary and possible hooks conditional. New activities establish no current attendance, stocked materials, accepted work, proficiency or future player participation. Existing Everyday pacing guidance handles their use; add no competing trigger.