Faction System

Factions help you manage families, nations, squads, sects, companies, gangs, or any group your characters belong to.

You can create a faction name, choose its first leader, let characters join or leave, change their superior, and update their title. InkWeave will track those changes from the events you place in your manuscript.

1. Create a faction from text

In the editor, type a faction name such as Azure Sect, Royal Army, or Lin Family.

Select that text with your mouse, then choose Create Faction from the floating menu.

You can add a description, emblem, or aliases if you want. Aliases help InkWeave recognize other names for the same faction.

Caution

Creating the faction name only adds it to your faction list. The faction is not fully established in the story yet. You still need to set its first leader.

2. Set the first leader

Move your cursor to the place in the manuscript where this faction should begin.

Click the + button, choose Faction Event, then set the event type to Set / Change Leader.

Choose the faction, choose the leader character, then save.

After this step, the faction is officially established in the story timeline, and other characters can join it.

3. Add members

Add another Faction Event, then choose Join.

Choose the faction and the character who joins. For normal members, also choose either:

• Direct Superior: the person above this character.
• Peer Anchor: a character at the same level, so InkWeave can place the new member beside them.

Example: if Mira joins Captain Rowan’s squad, choose Mira as the character and Rowan as the direct superior.

4. Change position or title

Use Reassign when a character moves under a different superior or should be placed beside a different peer.

Use Change Title when a character becomes captain, elder, branch head, member, apprentice, or any title that fits your story.

5. Let a character leave

Add a Faction Event, then choose Leave.

When a character leaves, choose what happens to their subordinates:

• Orphan Children: subordinates temporarily have no direct superior.
• Reattach to Parent: subordinates move under the leaving character’s superior.
• Cascade Leave: the leaving character and everyone under them leave together.

Use Cascade Leave for scenes like a branch family splitting off or an entire squad defecting.

6. Check the faction state

Click a faction in the inspector to view its leader, member count, warnings, and faction graph.

You can open the graph for the current cursor position or for the final state of the story. This helps you check whether the faction looks right at that point in the manuscript.

Common reminders

If InkWeave says the faction is not founded yet, set the first leader before any join events.

If a peer anchor is invalid, that peer probably has not joined the faction yet at this point in the story.

If leaving affects downstream members, check whether the selected leave policy is what you intended. If it is correct, accept the current effects.