Entity Types and World Building

FictionMaker.ai’s flexible entity type system lets you build worlds exactly the way you envision them. This guide shows how to leverage entity types for effective world building.

The Power of Custom Entity Types

Unlike rigid tools that force you into predefined categories, FictionMaker.ai lets you define entity types that match your creative vision. Building a fantasy realm? Create entity types for Kingdoms, Magic Systems, and Deities. Designing a sci-fi universe? Define Planets, Space Stations, and Alien Species. Creating a historical drama? Set up Eras, Social Classes, and Historical Events.

The entity type system adapts to your project, not the other way around.

Structuring Your World

Example: Fantasy World Structure

A classic fantasy world might use this hierarchy:

World: The top-level container for your universe
- Continent: Major landmasses with distinct climates and cultures
  - Kingdom/Nation: Political entities with governments and borders
    - Province/Region: Administrative divisions or geographic areas
      - City/Town: Population centers of various sizes
        
        District: Neighborhoods, quarters, or wards
        
        Building/Location: Specific places like taverns, temples, shops

Each level contains children of the next, creating natural navigation. Click into a Kingdom to see its Provinces; click into a Province to see its Cities.

Supporting Entity Types:

Faction: Political parties, guilds, secret societies, religious orders
Religion: Deities, beliefs, practices, clergy structure
Culture: Customs, traditions, values, art, music
Language: Vocabulary, grammar, scripts, regional dialects
Magic System: Rules, sources, costs, limitations, practitioners
Historical Event: Wars, discoveries, natural disasters, founding dates
Species/Race: Physical traits, cultures, abilities, homelands

Example: Sci-Fi Universe Structure

A space opera setting might organize differently:

Galaxy: The broadest scope, possibly multiple galaxies
- Sector: Large regions of space
  - Star System: Individual solar systems
    - Planet: Habitable worlds with their own geography
      - Region: Continents or zones on a planet
        
        Settlement: Cities, outposts, colonies
    - Station: Space stations, orbital habitats, asteroid bases
      - Deck/Section: Areas within a station

Supporting Entity Types:

Species: Alien races with biology, culture, technology
Corporation: Mega-corps, their industries, influence, leadership
Government: Political entities spanning planets or systems
Technology: FTL drives, weapons, cybernetics, AI
Ship Class: Vessel types with specs, uses, manufacturers
Individual Ship: Named vessels with history and crew
Historical Era: Ages of exploration, wars, golden ages

Example: Modern Thriller Structure

Contemporary settings need different organization:

Country: National boundaries
- State/Region: Administrative divisions
  - City: Urban centers
    - Neighborhood: Districts with character
      - Building: Offices, apartments, landmarks

Supporting Entity Types:

Organization: Companies, agencies, criminal groups
Operation: Missions, heists, investigations
Evidence: Clues, documents, physical items
Timeline: Chronological events in the plot
Alias: Cover identities for characters

Defining Entity Type Fields

Each entity type tracks whatever information matters for your project. Here’s how to think about fields for different categories:

Geographic Entity Types

For locations at any scale, consider fields for:

Core Information

Name (with aliases or historical names)
Type/classification
Description (atmosphere, sensory details)
Population (if applicable)
Size/area

Physical Characteristics

Climate and weather patterns
Terrain and geography
Natural resources
Flora and fauna
Natural hazards

Political/Social

Government type and current leaders
Laws and customs
Economy and trade
Relations with neighbors
Military strength

Historical

Founding date and founders
Major historical events
Former names or rulers
Ruins or ancient sites

Narrative

Significance to the story
Scenes that occur here
Characters associated with this place
Secrets or hidden features

Cultural Entity Types

For cultures, factions, religions, or other social groups:

Identity

Name and any titles or epithets
Symbols, colors, mottos
Core beliefs or values
Founding principles or origin story

Structure

Leadership and hierarchy
Ranks and positions
Membership requirements
Internal divisions or sects

Practices

Rituals and ceremonies
Holidays and observances
Taboos and prohibitions
Daily customs

External Relations

Allies and enemies
Trade relationships
Historical conflicts
Current tensions

Territory and Influence

Headquarters or holy sites
Geographic spread
Political influence
Economic power

Conceptual Entity Types

For magic systems, technologies, or abstract concepts:

Definition

Name and classification
Brief description
Detailed explanation

Mechanics

How it works (rules)
Requirements to use
Costs or consequences
Limitations and restrictions

Variations

Types or schools
Specializations
Rare or forbidden forms

Context

Who can use it
How it’s learned
Cultural attitudes toward it
Historical development

Narrative Role

How it affects the plot
Key scenes involving it
Characters who excel at it

Building Hierarchies

Hierarchies keep your world organized and enable powerful features:

Benefits of Hierarchies

Organization: Find anything quickly by drilling down through logical levels.

Inheritance: Child entities can inherit properties from parents. A City in a tropical Kingdom might automatically inherit “tropical” climate unless overridden.

Context: When generating content for a City, the AI knows about its parent Kingdom, neighboring Cities, and the broader Continent.

Navigation: Move naturally through your world. From a tavern, go up to its City, over to another District, down to a different building.

Bulk Operations: Apply changes to a parent and optionally cascade to children.

Setting Up Hierarchies

When defining entity types:

Go to the entity type settings
Find “Parent Types” or “Can Be Child Of”
Select which entity types can be parents
Optionally set a default parent type
Configure inheritance rules for specific fields

When creating entities:

Create parent entities first (or create them on the fly)
When creating a child, select its parent
The child appears nested under the parent in navigation
Access the parent quickly from the child’s header

Hierarchy Design Tips

Don’t over-nest: 4-6 levels is usually plenty. Too many levels creates friction.

Skip levels when appropriate: Not every City needs Districts. Small towns might contain Buildings directly.

Use multiple hierarchies: Characters might have a separate hierarchy (Organization > Department > Team) from locations.

Allow flexibility: Some entities might not fit neatly. A wandering merchant doesn’t need a fixed location parent.

Relationships Between Entities

Beyond parent-child hierarchies, entities connect through relationships. Relationships are horizontal connections that don’t imply containment.

Relationship Types

Define relationship types that make sense for your world:

Political

“Capital of” / “Has capital”
“Allied with” / “At war with”
“Vassal of” / “Overlord of”
“Trading partner”

Geographic

“Borders”
“Connected by” (road, river, portal)
“Visible from”
“Destroyed version of” / “Built on ruins of”

Character Connections

“Rules” / “Ruled by”
“Founded by”
“Birthplace of”
“Haunted by”

Narrative

“Scene of battle”
“Where X was discovered”
“Mentioned in prophecy”

Creating Relationships

Open either entity involved
Navigate to the Relationships section
Click “Add Relationship”
Select the relationship type
Search for and select the target entity
Add optional notes about this specific relationship
Save

The relationship appears on both entities (if bidirectional).

Relationship Best Practices

Be specific: “Enemy of” is less useful than “Betrayed by” or “Competing for the throne with.”

Add context: Use relationship notes to explain why these entities are connected.

Review periodically: As your world evolves, relationships change. Update or remove outdated connections.

Let the AI help: The AI can suggest relationships you might have missed based on content in your entities.

Rendering and Export

Each entity type can define how its entities appear in different contexts:

UI Display

Configure how entities appear in the app:

Which fields appear in list views
What shows in preview cards
How detail pages are organized
Custom icons or colors for the entity type

Export Format

Configure how entities render in exported documents:

Section headings and structure
Which fields to include
Formatting for different field types
Images and media handling
Page breaks and layout

Print Layout

Configure for physical printing:

Paper size and orientation
Margins and columns
Font choices
Headers and footers
Index and table of contents

Custom Templates

Create multiple templates for different purposes:

A “Player Handout” template for RPG locations (hides secret information)
A “Writer’s Reference” template with all details
A “Presentation” template for pitching to publishers
A “Wiki Export” template for online publication

Templates vs. Custom

Using Templates

Templates provide pre-configured entity types for common use cases:

Novel Writing

Characters with literary-focused fields
Locations, Scenes, Chapters
Items, Factions, Timeline Events

RPG Campaign

NPCs with stat blocks
Locations with encounter info
Quests, Items, Factions
Loot tables, Random encounters

Game Design

Cards with game mechanics
Boards, Rules, Components
Playtest notes, Balance tracking

Worldbuilding Encyclopedia

Deep lore-focused fields
Languages, Cultures, Histories
Species, Magic systems, Technologies

Templates get you building in minutes instead of hours of setup.

Adapting Templates

Most projects benefit from starting with a template and customizing:

Choose the closest template to your needs
Review the entity types it provides
Delete any you won’t use
Add new entity types for your specific needs
Modify fields on existing types
Adjust relationship types
Customize display and export settings

Starting Fresh

For truly unique projects, build from scratch:

List all the “things” in your world
Group related things into entity types
For each type, list the information you want to track
Identify hierarchies (what contains what)
Identify relationships (what connects to what)
Create entity types one by one
Test with a few entities, refine, repeat

AI-Assisted World Building

The AI understands your entity types and their relationships. It becomes more helpful as your project grows.

Generate Content

Ask the AI to create descriptions, histories, or details for any entity. It will:

Match the tone and style of your existing content
Reference other entities appropriately
Follow the rules of your world (magic systems, technology levels, etc.)
Maintain consistency with established facts

Suggest Connections

The AI can identify potential relationships:

“This character’s backstory mentions the northern mountains. Should they be connected to the Frostpeak Range?”
“These two factions have opposing goals. Should they have a rivalry relationship?”

Fill Gaps

Ask the AI to find underdeveloped areas:

Locations mentioned but not created
Characters referenced but not detailed
Time periods with few events
Factions without clear leadership

Consistency Checking

The AI can review your world for contradictions:

Timeline conflicts
Geographic impossibilities
Character knowledge errors
Magic system violations

Visual Content

Generate images for your world:

Location art based on descriptions
Maps of regions or cities
Symbols and flags for factions
Creature and species designs

Best Practices

Start with core types: Define the essentials first. You can always add more entity types later.
Think about relationships early: Plan how entity types will connect before creating lots of entities.
Use hierarchies wisely: Not everything needs deep nesting. Flat structures are fine for simple projects.
Let your world evolve: Add new entity types as you discover new needs. Remove unused ones.
Leverage templates: Don’t reinvent common patterns. Adapt templates to save time.
Document your conventions: Note your naming conventions, timeline system, or other standards.
Use the AI iteratively: Generate content, review it, refine your prompts, regenerate if needed.
Export regularly: Keep backups of your work in exported formats.

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