Local-first · No account · Always free

Your world, your files.
Forever yours.

Worldbuilding for writers and GMs. Characters, maps, lore, timelines — all stored as plain Markdown files on your machine. No account. No cloud.

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Characters Locations Timelines Interactive Maps Lore & Factions Plain Markdown No Cloud Creatures & Races Relationship Webs Wiki Export Characters Locations Timelines Interactive Maps Lore & Factions Plain Markdown No Cloud Creatures & Races Relationship Webs Wiki Export

The app, in action

Characters — The Shattered Realms

Elowen Ashveil — Detail

Timeline — Age of Sundering

Entity types

.md

Plain Markdown files

Accounts required

Free

Always, forever

Features

Everything your world needs.

From sprawling character networks to interactive maps — every tool runs locally, in files you own outright.

Plain Markdown files

Everything saves as .md files in a folder you choose. No vendor lock-in, ever.

Obsidian compatible

Open your worlds folder directly in Obsidian, VS Code, or any Markdown editor — it's just files on disk.

Characters & Lore

Rich wiki pages for characters, factions, creatures, and races — with relationship webs linking them together.

Interactive Maps

Upload a map image and drop pins linked to your locations. Build a navigable atlas of your world.

Timelines

Visualize your world's history on a scrollable timeline. Custom epochs, events, and eras.

No account needed

No sign-up. No email. No subscription. Download, open, and start building — free forever.

Characters · Elowen Ashveil

Elowen Ashveil

Protagonist

Age

Race

Half-Elven

Origin

Ashveil Keep

Faction

The Dawnwatch

Biography

Relationships

Caius Morn

Seraphel

Thalos Ryn

Timeline · The Shattered Realms

Year 412 — Age of Sundering

The First Fracture

The Ashveil Accord collapses. Three kingdoms splinter into seven factions.

Year 445 — Age of Silence

The Mage Purge

Caius Morn orders all unlicensed arcane practice outlawed across the northern reaches.

Year 471 — Present

The Dawnwatch Forms

Elowen Ashveil unites the scattered remnants of the old order.

Add event…

How it works

Up and running in minutes.

Native macOS app or self-hosted in your browser — pick whatever fits your workflow.

Choose your version

Download the macOS app for the cleanest experience, or self-host in the browser if you prefer full control.

Install

Open the DMG and drag to Applications — or run npm install && npm run dev in the repo folder.

III

Start building

Create a world, name it, and start adding characters, locations, and lore. Files save instantly.

Get Realm Lore

Two ways to run it.

Pick the version that fits how you work. Both are free, open-source, and store your data as plain Markdown files.

macOS App

Native Mac App

A dedicated desktop app with auto-updates, native macOS menus, and no terminal required. Just download, install, and open.

Apple Silicon (arm64) Intel (x64)

Download for macOS

Free · macOS 12+ · Auto-updates built in

Self-hosted

Run in Your Browser

Clone the repo, run a local dev server, and open Realm Lore in any browser. Works on macOS, Windows, and Linux.

Clone or download from GitHub

Run npm install in the project folder

Start with npm run dev — opens at localhost:5180

View on GitHub

Requires Node.js 18+ · macOS, Windows, Linux

Free and open source

Realm Lore is MIT licensed. Read the code, fork it, contribute — it's yours. All worlds data is plain Markdown so you can always move to another tool.

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FAQ

Common questions.

Yes. Realm Lore is MIT licensed and free to download, use, and modify indefinitely. There's no paid tier, no trial period, and no features locked behind a paywall. Ever.

Everything is saved as plain .md files in a folder on your own machine. Nothing is sent to any server. You can open, edit, back up, or move your files with any tool you like.

Completely. The native macOS app requires no internet connection at all. The self-hosted version runs a local server on your machine — same story, no cloud required.

Yes. Because everything is plain Markdown, you can open your worlds folder directly in Obsidian, VS Code, or any text editor. Realm Lore and other tools coexist on the same files without conflict.