This skill should be used when the user asks to "create a location", "add a location", "magic system", "political system", "build the world", "add culture", "world history", "technology system", "religion", "economy", or wants to develop any aspect of a story's world and setting.

Worldbuilding Overview Create and manage world elements for a story project. Locations, systems (magic, politics, technology, etc.), factions, and artifacts are stored as markdown files in the worldbuilding/ directory with YAML frontmatter. All elements cross reference characters and other story elements. Prerequisites A story project must already exist (created via the story init skill). Verify by checking for story.md in the project root. Creating a Location 1. Read story.md for genre, era, and tone context 2. Read worldbuilding/ index.md for existing locations and systems 3. Ask for the location's name and type (city, fortress, wilderness, etc.) 4. Build the location through conversation, covering: Physical description and atmosphere History relevant to the story Culture and customs of inhabitants Notable features characters will interact with Current state at story's timeline 5. Write the file using references/location template.md 6. Save to worldbuilding/locations/{name kebab}.md 7. Update worldbuilding/ index.md locations table 8. If notable characters are listed, verify those character files exist and add this location's kebab case identifier to each character file's locations frontmatter list 9. When CLI access is available, run story reindex . , story links . , and story validate . Creating a System 1. Read story.md for genre and themes context 2. Read worldbuilding/ index.md for existing systems 3. Identify the system type and consult references/world element types.md for the relevant prompts 4. Build the system through conversation, addressing the key questions for that type 5. Write the file using references/system template.md 6. Save to worldbuilding/systems/{name kebab}.md 7. Update worldbuilding/ index.md systems table 8. Cross reference with characters who interact with the system (e.g., magic users for a magic system) 9. When CLI access is available, run story reindex . , story links . , and story validate . Creating A Faction Use story add faction "{Faction Name}" type "{family guild government military religion company community criminal other}" when the CLI is available. Otherwise create worldbuilding/factions/{name kebab}.md with frontmatter fields name , type , status , members , locations , and tags . Cover: Purpose and ideology Power base, resources, and territory Important members Conflicts and pressure points Creating An Artifact Use story add artifact "{Artifact Name}" type "{object weapon document technology relic symbol resource other}" when the CLI is available. Otherwise create worldbuilding/artifacts/{name kebab}.md with frontmatter fields name , type , status , owner , location , and tags . Cover: Description and recognition details Function, constraints, and costs History and prior owners Current owner/location state Updating World Elements 1. Read the existing file 2. Make the requested changes 3. If cross references changed, update the linked files 4. Update worldbuilding/ index.md if name, type, or status changed 5. When CLI access is available, run story reindex . , story links . , and story validate . Cross Referencing Locations reference characters via notable characters in frontmatter Characters reference locations via locations in frontmatter Factions reference character members and locations Artifacts reference an owner character or faction and a current location Systems reference practitioners via character tags When a location is used in a chapter, the chapter's frontmatter locations field links back Keep the worldbuilding/ index.md world overview section current as elements are added CLI Maintenance Use the Story CLI when it is available. If story is not installed but the story maintenance skill is present, use node ../story maintenance/scripts/story.js with the same arguments, resolving the path relative to this skill folder. If no CLI is available, perform the registry and backlink checks manually. Reference Files references/location template.md Template for location files references/system template.md Template for system files references/faction template.md Template for faction files references/artifact template.md Template for artifact/object files references/world element types.md Detailed prompts for each system type (magic, political, technology, religion, economic, military, social)