What is SwiftPrep and what can it do?

SwiftPrep is a desktop application designed for tabletop RPG game masters who want to spend less time on tedious prep work and more time creating memorable stories. This guide introduces the core concepts and shows you where to find everything.

The Main Interface

SwiftPrep organizes your workspace into four main areas.

Sidebar (Left)

Your navigation hub:

• Campaign selector - Switch between campaigns
• Entity sections - NPCs, Locations, Items, and more
• Session Plans - Your prep and session history
• Super Swift - Quick AI generators
• Graph - Visual relationship map
• Settings - App configuration

Content Area (Center)

Where you work:

• Entity lists when browsing
• Entity details when editing
• Session plan workspace
• Graph visualization

Header (Top)

Quick access:

• Search - Find anything across your campaign
• Session Companion - AI chat (Companion/Power tiers)
• Notifications - AI suggestions and alerts
• Account - Your subscription and settings

Detail Panel (Right)

Additional information when open:

• Related entities
• Suggestions
• Quick actions

Core Concepts

Campaigns

Everything in SwiftPrep lives inside a campaign. A campaign is a complete container for one game:

• All your entities (NPCs, locations, items, and more)
• Session plans and history
• Relationships between everything
• AI-generated suggestions

Create separate campaigns for separate games. You can run multiple campaigns and switch between them.

Entities

Entities are the building blocks - the people, places, and things in your world:

Each entity type has specialized fields. NPCs have personality and stats. Locations have atmosphere and sensory details. Use what helps, skip what doesn't.

Relationships

Relationships connect entities:

• NPCs know other NPCs
• NPCs work at locations
• Items are owned by characters
• Plot hooks involve factions

Relationships create a web of connections that makes your world feel alive. The Graph view visualizes these connections.

Tags

Tags organize your entities with custom labels:

• Story arc tags: "arc-1", "strahd-plot"
• Role tags: "villain", "ally", "shopkeeper"
• Location tags: "neverwinter", "underdark"
• Status tags: "needs-prep", "player-favorite"

Use whatever system works for you. Tags make filtering easy.

Visibility

Control what's for your eyes only versus what you could share:

• DM Only (default) - Only you see this
• Player Visible - Content you could share with players

Player Visible content can be exported as handouts or shared if you use a connected display.

Key Workflows

Creating Content

Method 1: Manual creation

1. Navigate to entity type (NPCs, Locations, and others)
2. Click "Create"
3. Fill in fields
4. Save

Method 2: AI generation

1. Open Super Swift
2. Choose a generator
3. Configure and generate
4. Promote to library (or use as ephemeral)

Method 3: Import

1. Go to Settings then Import
2. Select source (Fantasy Grounds or other)
3. Follow import wizard
4. Review and adjust imported content

Session Preparation

1. Create a session plan
2. Add objectives and key scenes
3. Link relevant entities (NPCs, locations, encounters)
4. Generate any missing content with AI
5. Review linked content before the session

Emergency Prep (Super Swift)

When you're short on time:

1. Open Super Swift
2. Generate what you need:
   • Location (30 seconds)
   • NPCs (30 seconds each)
   • Encounter (30 seconds)
   • Plot hook (30 seconds)
3. Use immediately or promote to library

A complete scene in under 5 minutes.

Finding Content

Search - Press Ctrl+K (or Cmd+K on Mac) to search everything

Filter by type - Browse entity sections in the sidebar

Filter by tag - Click any tag to see all entities with that tag

Graph exploration - Use the visual map to find connected content

AI Features

SwiftPrep's AI helps you create content, never replaces your creativity.

Super Swift Generators

Eight generators for rapid content creation:

• NPC NOW! (characters with or without combat stats)
• Quick Encounter (combat or social challenges)
• Location Generator (places with atmosphere)
• Plot Hook (story starters)
• Treasure/Loot (items with properties)
• Random Event (unexpected occurrences)
• Session Outline (complete session packages)
• Dialogue Starter (NPC conversation openers)

Generated content is ephemeral by default - use it immediately or promote what's worth keeping.

Field-by-Field Generation

Generate content for any text field:

1. Click the sparkle button next to a field
2. Provide optional guidance
3. Select tone and creativity
4. Generate and review

Session Companion (Companion/Power)

AI chat for brainstorming and in-session help:

• Develop NPC personalities
• Work through plot problems
• Get dialogue and descriptions on demand
• Attach entities for context-aware responses

Background Suggestions (Companion/Power)

The AI analyzes your campaign and suggests:

• Potential relationships you might have missed
• Forgotten entities that haven't appeared recently
• Unresolved plot threads

Subscription Tiers

Data and Privacy

Local Storage

Your campaign data lives on your computer:

• /Users/[you]/Library/Application Support/SwiftPrep/ (macOS)
• %APPDATA%\SwiftPrep\ (Windows)
• ~/.config/SwiftPrep/ (Linux)

Your campaigns never leave your machine unless you explicitly export them.

AI Processing

When you use AI features:

• Your prompt is sent to our servers
• The AI generates a response
• Content is returned to your app
• We don't store your campaign data

We process AI requests but don't keep your content.

Backups

SwiftPrep stores data locally. Back up your data directory regularly, or use export for manual backups.

Keyboard Shortcuts

Related Articles

• How do I install SwiftPrep?
• How do I create my first campaign in SwiftPrep?
• What keyboard shortcuts are available in SwiftPrep?
• What are the subscription tiers and their features?