Almost everything you create on Rubii is built from two simple ideas: Characters and Moments. Get these two clear in your head and the rest of the app — chatting, creating, browsing — suddenly makes sense. This short guide explains what each one is and how they fit together. Once it clicks, the next two guides show you how to make each one great.
What is a Character?
A Character is a who. It's a persona someone authored: their name, their look, their personality, and the way they talk. It's a fixed identity that stays the same no matter what story you drop them into.
Think of a Character like an actor. Rowan, a sharp-tongued tavern keeper, is always Rowan — dry humour, slow to trust, fiercely loyal — whether you meet them behind the bar or on a muddy road at midnight.
A Character carries:
- a name, an image, and an avatar,
- a gender,
- and, most importantly, its personality and voice — the hidden "Character Settings" that decide how it thinks and speaks.
What a Character does not include, on its own, is a scene or a first line. By itself it's just a person, waiting for a stage to step onto.
What is a Moment?
A Moment is a where and when. It's a single scene you step into with a Character — the stage, plus the opening curtain. One Moment is one way a story can begin.
A Moment holds three things — and each is a field you fill in:
- the Moment settings — the scene you step into: where you are and what's happening as the story opens,
- the Opening — the character's first line, the thing they say to start the chat,
- and the Player Persona — who you are, by default, in that scene.
"Rowan, on a storm night at the tavern, looking for someone reckless" is one Moment. "Rowan, lost together deep in the Mistwood" is a different Moment — the same Character, a different stage.
How they fit together
The relationship is the whole point, so it's worth saying plainly:
- A Character is the actor; a Moment is a scene that actor performs.
- Every chat begins from a Moment, never from a bare Character. You pick a Moment, and the chat opens with that character's opening line, already in that scene.
- One Character can have many Moments — different situations, different beginnings. For example, the Character Rowan could star in any of these Moments:
- A storm night at the tavern — you arrive soaked, looking for shelter.
- Lost together in the Mistwood — the two of you, off the map, after dark.
- Years later, reunited in the city — old friends, a lot left unsaid.
Same Character every time; a different stage each time. That's why, before your first message, you get to choose how the story starts.
Who reads what
When you chat, the AI is handed a few separate pieces. Knowing which piece carries what is the secret to writing good ones:
- Character Settings — who the character is. Always in effect, hidden from other players.
- The Moment settings — where the story happens and what's going on right now.
- The opening — the character's literal first message.
- Your persona — who you are in the story.
The single most useful habit follows directly from this: put who the character is in the Character, and where the story happens in the Moment. Keep them apart and one Character can star in dozens of scenes.
What's next
Now that the two ideas are clear, learn to make each one shine:
- Create your first character — give a character a personality and voice that feel alive.
- Moments: scenarios and story starts — write a hooking opening and a vivid scene to step into.
And when you're ready to play, head to Start a conversation. Keep everything within the Content Rules as you create.
