Campaigns

Restructuring the Codex

We are currently moving articles around and changing the general structure of the Codex. Please come back later if you get lost!
 
The campaign manager on World Anvil includes a digital storyteller screen (as well as other campaign preparation tools) and a character manager, which includes character sheets, profiles, and even a social media network for your characters in World Anvil. This guide is a quick explanation of the layout of this entire side of World Anvil to get you started! For more information on a specific feature, take a look at its specific guide.  

Accessing the Campaign Manager

From the World Anvil Dashboard (click the World Anvil logo at the top left), you can access both your campaigns and your characters. Simply activate whichever you want to access to go to the campaign or character manager.  

A quick look to...

Characters

Characters can be used in RPGs, but they don't necessarily have to be! Their profiles are completely system-agnostic and they can even be used to bring to life the characters from a novel or any other work of fiction. Characters can post to the global stream, update their journal, upload pictures or art, and be part of a world.   Check out the Guide to Character Creation for more information-  

Campaigns

If you click on a campaign it will be selected as your active one, which means that any settings that you change will affect that campaign. You can see the currently active campaign on top of the sidebar (click on it to quickly switch between campaigns or access different parts of its settings).   The process of creating a campaign is explained in the Guide to campaign creation.   You can also check out the Guide to Sheets for information on how to create and use statblocks.

Navigation

 

FAQ

Is it free?
Yes! There are some features limited to Guild members. However, most of the functionality is free for all.
Gamemaster Workflow Guide
Generic article | Jun 28, 2024

This Guide is to help you, a GM of any RPG system, use World Anvil to its maximum potential.

 
Player Workflow Guide
Generic article | Jun 28, 2024

A suggested workflow to using World Anvil as a roleplayer for campaigns or character development.

This Codex was started by Ademal and has grown to a rotating cast of contributors and editors.

If you see something incorrect, or have any questions, please comment on the related article and we'll respond posthaste!

If there's an article you would like to see written, say so here.
Article template
Generic article
World
World Anvil Codex
Category
Campaigns
Author
Ondo
Publication Date
3 Apr, 2020
Creation Date
16 May, 2019
Last Update Date
29 Oct, 2023
Visibility
Public
Views
19925
Favorites
24
Comments
11

Comments

Please Login in order to comment!
Journeyman Arklaw
May 23, 2019 00:18 by Arklaw

Can you add information on how to access Heroes please?

Forgemaster Ondo
May 23, 2019 19:24

Hi! I wrote for the Guild release, when Heroes and the main World Anvil site were still separate things. That's no longer the case, so this character will soon be merged with the Getting started guide. As for your question, it really depends on which feature of "Heroes" you want to access. Basically, go to your World Anvil global dashboard (https://www.worldanvil.com/dashboard/) and use the left sidebar to navigate between the different parts of the site. New features introduced with this update can be found in Characters and Campaigns.

[they/them] Creator of Black Light, a science-fantasy universe.
Journeyman Arklaw
May 23, 2019 20:55 by Arklaw

Understood. Thanks for the clarification.

Sage Tiirikka
May 25, 2019 15:25 by Tiirikka

Hi! Just making a quick check!   New Heroes interface looks awesome, good work! But I was wondering; well, I started here just short while ago, and I've just ran one game and one test run with old system. My players don't have accounts at this points, but it has gone fine - but can I expect any setbacks if they decide NOT to make heroes accounts? Can I still manage the games and all other features here as normal and drag player characters around in npc list or something? The Heroes doesn't recognise my players as protagonists anymore, as there is no users behind them yet, and I try to just make sure I can use all the features I can in our game next Saturday to take notes and find articles and such without a hassle if there is no players connected to my game. ^^

Can I have a cookie? | Come and snoop around Melyria
Forgemaster Ondo
May 25, 2019 16:33

Hi Tiirikka! So, with the new system, all PCs are required to have a player account behind them, so if you could have your players create the account and then a character, that would be the best option.   The workaround is creating all the characters yourself. Then, copy the invite link and access it once for each PC (make sure you activate the PCs, one by one). As a Master Worldsmith (thanks for the support!), the character limit should be enough for the whole party (unless it's a big one!), but of course, you will have less space for your own characters (NPCs don't count and are unlimited).   So yeah, there's a workaround but the best option is to have the players create the characters themselves.

[they/them] Creator of Black Light, a science-fantasy universe.
Sage Tiirikka
May 25, 2019 19:05 by Tiirikka

Alright! Thank you so much! x3

Can I have a cookie? | Come and snoop around Melyria
fumate
Jun 3, 2019 09:32 by Candra Kirana

Hi, can I ask something? Can we import characters from worldbuilding to heroes?

Forgemaster Ondo
Jun 3, 2019 11:52

Hi! That's not a feature right now, but maybe it will be in the future. PCs (and so characters with social profiles) can't have an article in the world. However, if you're a GM and create an NPC for the campaign, it will have an article (but not a social profile on Heroes).

[they/them] Creator of Black Light, a science-fantasy universe.
VendibleLotus
Jun 22, 2019 23:02

Hey there, I was wondering how you would go about deleting a Hero?

Forgemaster Ondo
Jun 23, 2019 11:29

Go to the character profile -> Edit button -> red Delete Character button at the bottom of the page.

[they/them] Creator of Black Light, a science-fantasy universe.
smclarty1
Aug 8, 2019 20:39

How do you change the name of your world? It says that you can use a placeholder name and update it later, now I can't find where to do so.

Epicurus
Aug 10, 2019 15:13 by Frank Mutsaers

Go to the dashboard, you see the menu of your world, it starts with things like Summary, Articles, Categories, the last one is Configuration. That's the one you need. Click on it and you are at the page where you can change the name of your world (and change the Description/Introduction, Genre, RPG System. You can also chance your cover image. Good luck.

JPaternoster
Jan 29, 2020 04:07 by Joseph Paternoster

Hi! I was just wondering if it were possible to send messages from one NPC/Hero to another, I'm DMing a game at the moment and I though that would be a great way to track dialogue between characters!

Forgemaster Ondo
Jan 29, 2020 14:42

I think so, but they are private (even for the DM), so I don't think it would really be useful to you. To do so, one of the players has to access the other player's character profile and click the "message" button.

[they/them] Creator of Black Light, a science-fantasy universe.
JonoInAction
Sep 7, 2020 23:20

Can someone please inform me of the character limit in the Hero journal entries? I keep getting 404'd and can't find the limit number. thank you in advance. (the link from the codex to get to this page has a spelling mistake FYI)

JonoInAction
Sep 7, 2020 23:20

"Connect Hereo Characters to World"

Forgemaster Ondo
Sep 8, 2020 10:14

I don't think there's a character limit in journal entries! How many characters does it have? Also, make sure the entry doesn't have characters such as emojis, the editor doesn't like those.

[they/them] Creator of Black Light, a science-fantasy universe.
Master RoguesNtheHouse
Jan 5, 2021 06:45

Hello, could you tell me how to add to the History tab on my RPG characters profile page? When I click "Edit", I get a personal history section under the Mentality tab, which is under the Extended Profile tab. When I fill this out and then click "Go to Character Profile, " all of that info ends up under the About tab, not the History tab.   Thank you,   Ryan

Forgemaster Ondo
Jan 5, 2021 11:00

Hi! The History tab is populated automatically from the character's posts when you use the "achievement / life event" post type.   Hope this helps!

[they/them] Creator of Black Light, a science-fantasy universe.
Master RoguesNtheHouse
Jan 6, 2021 04:45

Ahh, I see. Thank you very much!

bennettm74
Jan 18, 2022 03:42 by The Legend

I'm confused and concerned about PC visibility. When I encouraged all of my players to create their character profiles, character sheet blocks, and associate their character sheet blocks to their profiles, I operated under the presumption that only the sensible people (i.e., myself the GM and the specific player themself) would be able to see the very private details of their character sheet. I run campaigns in which PCs need to have their privacy from other PCs and let their traits and aspects unfold through the story... What we've discovered however is that now every player can see the details of every other player's profile and character sheet - which totally ruins the immersion for us as a party. I've had to take my game off of WA. I cannot find any combination of privacy settings that correct for this over-sharing... Any guidance?

Forgemaster Ondo
Jan 18, 2022 10:42

Hi! When you have an active character, click the "Settings" option in the left sidebar. It will expand into four options, one of which is "Privacy". From there, you can toggle the visibility of the character profile and its sheet.   Let me know if you have any other questions!

[they/them] Creator of Black Light, a science-fantasy universe.
Master lesesnee
Feb 27, 2022 00:09

I'm the designer of a page and one of my player's can't access their character anymore that's on my world. How do I delete their character/ get them to NOT show up on the world page anymore?

Forgemaster Ondo
Feb 28, 2022 08:37

Hi! You can delete a character by editing its profile and using the button in the "delete character" panel in the bottom right. If you just want to hide characters from your homepage, go to the world settings and uncheck the "Display List of Characters related to your campaigns on the World's homepage" checkbox.

[they/them] Creator of Black Light, a science-fantasy universe.
Master ssturla01
Apr 28, 2022 15:19

Hi, My search bar doesnt work, it keeps loading when I write in it. And if I press Enter it just take me back to the Heroes Home page.

Forgemaster Ondo
Apr 29, 2022 08:59

Hi! Can you be a bit more specific? Which search bar and what do you mean when you say it keeps loading? Thanks!

[they/them] Creator of Black Light, a science-fantasy universe.

Find your way!

Resources

WHO WE ARE

LEGAL

Get the news

Our Shop

Development

EVENTS

REACHING OUT

A BIG THANK YOU

To all our Our Patrons for their unwavering love and support.

For the amazing images. His Titanship Christopher Dravus of Ironrise Games, Our Revered Deity Basic Dragon / Rin & His Majesty Caeora