Terminology
Understanding the terms used in Skald
Skald uses specific terms to describe different parts of your interactive narrative. This glossary will help you understand these concepts.
Core Concepts
Project
A container for your entire interactive narrative work. Projects hold all your conversations, characters, tags, variables, and lore. See projects.
Conversation
One complete dialogue flow in your project. Think of it as one script or one story arc. You can create multiple conversations within a single project. See conversations.
Character
A person or entity who speaks in your dialogue. See characters.
Tag
A label you can attach to dialogue nodes. Tags help categorise and filter nodes in the graph editor. See tags.
Variable
A piece of data that your narrative can store and use to make decisions. Variables let you track game state, player choices, and other important information. See variables.
Expression
A formula or condition that evaluates to true or false. Expressions are used in conditional branches to determine which path your story should take next. See expressions.
Node Types
Start Node
The beginning of a conversation. Each conversation typically has one or more start nodes (but only one default). See start node.
Dialogue Node
A node where a character speaks. You can assign a character to speak, write their dialogue text, and attach tags. See dialogue node.
Player Choice Node
A branching point where the player makes a decision. Each choice has:
- Text: What the player sees and clicks.
- Precondition (optional): An expression that must be true for this choice to appear.
See player choice node.
Conditional Node
A branching point that evaluates expressions to determine which path to take. There is always a default branch that is available even if no other conditions are met. See conditional node.
Assignment Node
A node that executes an expression to assign or modify a variable's value. See assignment node.
End Node
Where a conversation concludes. There can be multiple end nodes in a conversation. See end node.
Note Node
An authoring note for yourself or team members. These don't affect gameplay but help with documentation and collaboration. See note node.
Group Node
A visual container for organising multiple nodes into a logical section or chapter. See group node.
Connections
The line representing the flow from one node to another. Sometimes also referred to as "edges". In Skald, you can draw connections between any valid source and target handles.
Default Connection
A regular connection from a source node to a target node with no special conditions.
Source Handle
An output point on a node where connections can originate. Most nodes only have a single one, but each Player Choice or Conditional Node may have multiple source handles (one per choice or condition). If there is no flow from the Source Handle, it will be highlighted as red.
Target Handle
An input point on a node where connections can be attached. This is where the narrative flow continues. There can only be one target handle per node. If there is no flow to the Target Handle, it will be highlighted as red.
Special Terms
Text
The main content of any node. This can be dialogue, choices, or notes. Skald supports rich text formatting for expressive writing, but only where appropriate (Dialogue Nodes, Player Choices, Lore descriptions, etc.). See rich text language.
Expression Editor
A specialised editor for writing and editing expressions. It provides syntax highlighting, error checking, and autocomplete to help you write correct conditions and assignments. Works with the variables defined per project. See expressions.
Rich Text Editor
An advanced text editor for writing dialogue and other text content. Supports normal formatting like bold, italics, colours, and more. Also supports mentioning Characters and Lore items. See rich text language.
Inspector
The properties panel that appears when a node is selected. Each supported node type has its own inspector with the relevant fields and controls. End nodes and note nodes do not use the inspector. See inspector.