# Make and use a character sheet

> **Review scope:** Linked public documentation checked October 30, 2026. Examples are proposed checks, not recorded OD results; use your account's current controls.

> **November 1 source check:** The linked character-field guide was re-read and still displays July 27, 2026 as its modification date. Its field-purpose guidance remains consistent with this lesson; this check did not test native field precedence or import behavior.

You will create one reference sheet that keeps a character's facts organized, then move each part into the appropriate OD field.

A **character sheet** is a worksheet you maintain. It is not a special OD command, and it does not become a native import simply because it is written in a box or saved as JSON. **Canon** means the facts you have established as true for this story.

## Before you begin

Have a character concept or the practice character from [Create your first character](02_Create_Your_First_Character.md). Open a text editor or document beside OD.

## Step by step

1. **Name the record.** Use “Mira character sheet” so you can identify it later. If you keep versions, add a date or revision number.
2. **Write the stable facts.** Record age, role, appearance, motives, capabilities, and established relationships. Leave unknown facts blank rather than filling them with guesses.
3. **Write behavior as decisions.** “Checks uncertain claims against a source” gives you something to observe. “Perfect personality” does not.
4. **Separate current conditions.** Clothing, location, present companions, and immediate tasks belong in a current-scene section.
5. **Record knowledge carefully.** Note what the character learned and how. Another character's private experience is not automatically shared knowledge.
6. **Use the example below as a worksheet.** Copy it to your local document, not into one OD field.

```text
Name: Mira
Age: 30, adult woman
Role: Town archivist
Appearance: Warm brown skin; brown eyes; black shoulder-length braids;
lean build.
Motive: Help visitors find useful records without falsifying the archive.
Traits: Patient, precise, curious.
Written speech style: Clear sentences; occasional dry humor.
Capability: Catalog research and local records.
Limitation: Does not know every answer or the traveler's private thoughts.
Relationships: Rowan is a courier she recognizes from work.
Knowledge: Knows the archive catalog; has not seen Rowan's latest parcel.

Current scene: North desk, late afternoon.
Current clothing: Navy jacket.
Immediate problem: A map is missing from its usual shelf.
Open choice: The traveler has not chosen what to investigate.
```

7. **Map the sheet into the site.** Use the destinations below rather than pasting the complete worksheet everywhere.
8. **Save your local revision.** After an intentional character change, update the canonical sheet and any affected fields together.

## Where each part goes

| Sheet content | Destination |
| --- | --- |
| Stable visible features | Custom Physical Details and available Face Details |
| Motives, traits, written speech style, capabilities | Additional Personality Details |
| Initial situation and user role | Scenario |
| First message | Greeting |
| Relevant world rules or supporting cast | Extra Details |
| Facts learned during this chat | A suitable memory record |
| Outfit, pose, lighting for one image | That image's scene prompt |

The [character-writing guide](https://guide.ourdream.ai/characters/story-and-personality) describes the narrative fields; the worksheet is a practical way to prepare their content.

Written speech style describes wording and tone. The audio **Voice** selector controls how spoken output sounds; see [Voices and calls](21_Voices_and_Calls.md).

## Optional drafting prompt

If you use a writing assistant, give it your facts and ask:

```text
Organize the following facts into separate Appearance, APD, Scenario,
Greeting, and ED blocks. Preserve the supplied age, role, appearance,
relationships, and boundaries. Leave unknown facts unspecified.
Do not add gameplay statistics or a new romance premise.
Facts: [replace this line with your character facts]
```

Read its draft before copying the individual blocks into OD.

## Optional: make motives and knowledge easier to inspect

Use a short **character spine** when a trait list does not explain the person's choices. A spine connects a motive, a constraint or tension, and a plausible response. It is an optional authoring worksheet; every character does not need a wound, hidden fear, false belief, or relationship arc. See the [character-spine module](../modules/character-spine.html).

Add only useful lines to your **local sheet**:

```text
Current goal: [replace with the character's current objective]
Important value or motive: [replace with an established or deliberately authored trait]
Constraint or tension: [replace, or omit]
Established fact and source: [replace with what is known and how]
Character belief or suspicion: [replace, or state unspecified]
Unknown: [replace with what has not been established]
```

A belief can be mistaken without changing the world fact. A reported address is not automatically a verified destination. A creator's explicit correction is different from an in-character claim or lie; establishing a world fact also does not make every NPC know it. Keep the worksheet local, then put motives and written voice in APD, the starting situation in Scenario, and learned facts in the maintained scene or memory record.

Choose one conflict-free behavior base. Add a small module only for a specific need, reconcile its wording with existing text, and remove unused scaffolding. A larger sheet is not evidence of better model behavior.

## Turn a broad trait into usable wording

This original **local drafting exercise** practices the [writing guide's](https://guide.ourdream.ai/characters/story-and-personality) advice to describe behavior. Replace `Mira is realistic and smart` with a choice the reader can inspect:

```text
When a visitor gives an unverified address, Mira checks the available
register before confirming it. If the register is unavailable, she says
which part remains uncertain and offers a way to check it.
```

The subject is Mira; the situation is an unverified address; the response is checking or naming the gap. Put the resulting personality line in **APD**, rather than copying the worksheet into every field. A record of an address already checked belongs with the accepted scene facts. Try a different uncertain claim in chat and inspect the reply. This is a proposed exercise, not a demonstrated enforcement rule. The [OD prompt lab](../modules/ourdream-prompt-lab.html) provides more practice with wording and placement.

## Check your result

You should be able to answer “Where is this fact maintained?” for each important detail. A name or record ID helps you find your local sheet; it does not make the AI retrieve an absent file. Reopen the saved editor and compare one appearance fact, one motive, and the opening premise with the worksheet. A missing or truncated field is a save/import problem to resolve before judging the next reply.

## If something goes wrong

- **Two versions disagree:** choose the intended current fact and remove the stale copy.
- **The sheet becomes very long:** move historical notes to a separate archive and retain the facts needed for the next scene.
- **Every new picture repeats the same outfit:** move that outfit out of permanent appearance unless it is deliberately permanent.

**Next:** [CPD and Face Details](04_CPD_and_Face_Details.md) or [personality and roleplay engines](08_Personality_and_Roleplay_Engines.md).

[Back to the tutorial index](README.md)