Universes are all where creators store the information and assets that help games come alive. In universes, creators can organize their lore and custom rules, create items and handouts to give players, and create scenes to help breathe life into games. Universes give gamemasters and creators the tools to organize content and prepare effortlessly so when game night comes around, running the story comes easy!

In This Article

Universes are collections of many different tools creators and gamemaster can make to aid in running games using various TTRPG systems. Below are a sample of some universe objects and how they can be used.

When used together, these different types of tools within universes can help gamemasters string together a story. A gamemaster can create a scene representing a small village. They can create an article for the village to organize information about different points of interest and the story that will unfold. They can create several NPCs of the townsfolk as well as some monsters that may be hidden in plain sight. Finally, a handout can represent a tavern quest board adventurers can pull for work.

Universes and their tools can be used for a variety of needs independently, but when they are created with each other in mind, they create an immersive and easy tabletop experience that helps players stay focused on the part of the game that matters post: the story.

Creating a universe can be done within minutes. To begin, navigate to the Content Universes icon in the navigation bar. From there, click on the 'Created' tab and then the white 'Create Universe' button in the upper right area of the screen. Once clicked, the following modal will be presented.

Within this modal, the following fields can be filled.

The 'Theme' tab can also be accessed to alter the look and feel of the newly universe and any game experiences tied to it. More information on these themes can be found in our Universe Themes article.

Once complete, selecting the white submission button will create the universe. At this time, a screen like this will be presented.

This screen helps navigate all around different parts of the universe. Universe modules (more on these below) can be selected directly in the center of the screen. Below them are tabs for each type of object that can be created in the universe (more on these below). Depending on which object tab is selected, a white creation or import button will display in the upper right corner. Finally, to navigate backwards through a universe, click the path in the upper left.

Modules are used to separate content within a universe. They have several different ways they can be used.

No matter the reason, modules can be used to help organize notes and assets related to games. To edit an existing module (including the initial one created when the universe is created) the module thumbnail can be hovered by a cursor to expose its overflow menu. Creating a new module can be done by selecting the + icon next to any existing modules in the universe. When either of these actions are taken, a new module creation modal will appear.

The following fields can be filled in within this tab.

Once all of the previous information is filled in, the credits tab can then be filled with additional information related to crediting the assets within the module.

The Credits field can be used to honor those who put work into the module while the License field can be used to add legal information related to the assets of the module. Both of these sections are large and accept markdown formatting.

Once all of the previous information has been filled, the sharing tab enables sharing permissions of the module with other Alchemy accounts.

In the Share field, type in the username of an Alchemy account and add them to the universe. This is done on a per-module basis; so each module would need to be shared with someone in this way in order to grant them access to the entire universe. Once an account has been invited, they can be granted different permissions based on how much access they should have to the module.

Universe objects are all of the different types of content that can be added to a universe. Below is an explanation of each type of universe object along with links to provide additional information for each.

Articles can be used to customize different types of notes and lore for running games. They are made for long-form content and do accept markdown formatting to help organize the content within them.

Below are several examples on how gamemasters can use articles.

For more information on Articles, click here.

NPCs are any creature in a TTRPG game that is not a player. Whether it be friendly allies or monstrous creatures, each can be created, provided statistics, and given abilities as a NPC object within a universe.

For more information on NPCs, click here.

Premades are premade player characters for TTRPGs. When a universe with premades is toggled in a game, those premades will be available for players to pick from when they are creating their character for the game.

For more information on Premades, click here to see information about creating characters in Alchemy.

Handouts are a tool gamemasters can use to present different types of information to the players. When a handout is bestowed to players, they can be continually referenced in their handouts tab in game.

Below are several examples of how gamemasters can use handouts.

For more information on Handouts, click here.

Items are given to individual players to represent objects their characters may find in a game. They can be completely narratively driven, or may augment some of the character's abilities.

For more information on Items, click here.

Scenes are what makes Alchemy immersive. Gamemasters can use scenes to play music and show imagery in games. Scenes are helpful to bring players into the immersion of the story being told as they are the main visuals presented while outside of an encounter in a game.

For more information on Scenes, click here.

Assets are able to be uploaded to a universe to provide the files anyone can use to create scenes or other universe objects.

For more information on Assets, click here.

Spells are a universe object specific for Fifth Edition that assist to facilitate the spellcasting component of the system.

For more information on Spells, click here.