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Items

Items are the significant objects in your story — weapons, clues, documents, artefacts, keys, and anything else that plays a role in the plot. Track them here so the AI knows what they are, where they came from, and whether they still need to be resolved.

Creating an Item

Click "New Item" in the sidebar. Give it a name and select a type from the dropdown.

Item Types

Types help you categorise and the AI understand the function of an object:

  • Clue — a piece of information that advances the mystery
  • Weapon — something used to cause harm or defend
  • Document — letters, contracts, maps, diaries
  • Key — something that unlocks access (literal or metaphorical)
  • Artifact — objects of significance, often ancient or magical
  • Red Herring — deliberately misleading objects or clues
  • MacGuffin — the object everyone's chasing, regardless of what it actually is
  • Evidence — proof of something that happened
  • Token / Symbol — objects with symbolic meaning (a locket, a ring, a coin)
  • Other — anything else; enter a custom type name

Item Fields

  • Name — the item's name as referred to in the story
  • Type — from the list above, or a custom type
  • Created Date — the in-story date or era the item was made (free text, e.g. "Third Age" or "1887")
  • Description — what the item looks like, its physical characteristics
  • Provenance — origin, who created it, how it came to exist, its chain of ownership
  • Significance — why it matters to the story, its symbolic or narrative meaning

Plot Resolution

This is where items become a powerful plotting tool. Enable "Requires resolution" to mark an item as a plot device that needs to be addressed before the story ends.

When resolution tracking is on, two additional fields appear:

  • Introduced in — the scene where this item first appears. If you don't set this, the app defaults to the first scene that references the item.
  • Resolved in — the scene where the item is consumed, explained, destroyed, or otherwise dealt with. Leave this blank while the item is still open.

Unresolved items appear in scene context sidebars as a reminder — so you don't forget about the loaded gun you introduced in chapter 3. Once you set a "Resolved in" scene, the item's badge changes from "Unresolved" (amber) to "Resolved" (green), and it stops appearing as a reminder.

Items are automatically grouped in the sidebar: "Plot Items" (those with resolution tracking) appear at the top, with ordinary "Items" below.

Good candidates for resolution tracking:

  • Chekhov's gun — any weapon, tool, or object introduced early that must fire later
  • Clues in a mystery that need to be connected or explained
  • Keys (literal or metaphorical) that unlock something later in the story
  • MacGuffins that drive the plot until they're obtained or destroyed
  • Red herrings — mark them as resolved when the misdirection is revealed
  • Consumable items — a potion that can only be used once, a single-use spell scroll

Timeline Knowledge

Like characters and locations, items can have knowledge entries tied to timeline events. Use these to track how an item's state changes: when it's found, stolen, broken, repaired, or changes hands. The AI uses this to understand the item's condition at any point in the story.

Tips for Making Items Work Well With the AI

  • Mark plot-critical items with "Requires resolution." This gives you a built-in continuity checklist and helps the AI understand which objects are still in play.
  • Use provenance for chain of ownership. If a dagger has passed through three characters' hands, describe that journey. The AI can then answer questions like "Who had the dagger at the time of the murder?"
  • Add timeline knowledge when items change hands or state. "Stolen by Marcus at the ball" at one event, "Recovered from the river" at another. The AI can reason about possession over time.
  • Red herrings benefit from the significance field. Explain why the item is misleading — the AI won't accidentally treat it as a real clue when helping you write.
  • Don't forget small but important items. A letter, a key, a train ticket — if it matters to the plot, track it. The AI can remind you about it when you're writing relevant scenes.