Character Background

generateCharacterBackground

The aiInstructions task that generates the player character's backstory and appearance during character creation.

In the editor

"Runs during character creation to write each player character’s background and portrait appearance prompt. Rewrite Prompt to change the output’s structure or length, or add instructions for setting-specific tone and details; this does not affect NPCs."

Editor location: Files → AI → Character Background
Editor type: Edit in Studio + View JSON
API endpoint: /sections/generateCharacterBackground.json/sections/generateCharacterBackground.md
Size limits: Each string leaf under a task (aiInstructions.<task>.<key>) — 5,000

Schema

json

{
  "aiInstructions": {
    "generateCharacterBackground": {
      "<key>": "string"
    }
  }
}

Example

json

{
  "aiInstructions": {
    "generateCharacterBackground": {
      "prompt": "Write a character profile in two sections.\n\nBackground (6–8 sentences): Who they are now, where they're from, what shaped them, how they gained their abilities. End with forward momentum.\n\nAppearance (3 sentences): Height and build, coloration, one distinctive permanent feature. No clothing, gear, or interpretive language ('wise-looking', 'mysterious').",
      "custom": "## Tone\nHeroic optimism. Frame hardship as a source of strength. These are characters at the start of their story, not the end of it."
    }
  }
}

Fields

prompt

The full background generation prompt. Three states:

State	Effect
Omit `prompt`	Use the engine default
Set to your custom string	Replace the default wholesale
Set to `""` (an empty string)	Blank the default without replacing it

custom

Appended AFTER prompt as additional guidance. Does not replace the default, regardless of what prompt contains.

What it does

This task generates the player character's backstory and appearance during character creation. The default prompt writes a profile in two parts: a background covering where the character comes from, what shaped them, what they are becoming and what they want or lack, including any appearance detail that should matter in play; and a model-agnostic portrait prompt of up to 5,000 characters used only to generate the character image. It draws on the world foundation, at most one element of world lore, the character foundation with trait descriptions as the strongest clue, and any creative direction the player gave, treated as player intent.

Character Background

#Schema

#Example

#Fields

#prompt