How do I create my first campaign in SwiftPrep?

This guide walks you through creating your first campaign, adding an NPC, and understanding how entities connect to build your world.

Create a New Campaign

1. Open SwiftPrep
2. Click Create Campaign on the home screen
3. Enter a name (like "Curse of Strahd" or "The Sunken Isles")
4. Optionally select a game system:
   • D&D 5th Edition
   • Pathfinder 2nd Edition
   • Other (custom)
5. Click Create

You are now in your campaign dashboard.

Explore the Dashboard

The campaign dashboard shows you:

• Recent activity - Entities you have recently viewed or edited
• Upcoming sessions - Any scheduled session plans
• Entity counts - How many NPCs, locations, and other content you have created

The sidebar on the left is your main navigation:

• NPCs, Locations, Items, Encounters
• Factions, Plot Hooks, Session Plans
• Player Characters
• Graph (visual relationship map)
• Import and Export

Create Your First NPC

Add a character to your world:

1. Click NPCs in the sidebar
2. Click Create NPC
3. Enter a name - try "Mira Thornwood"
4. Add a role - "Tavern Owner"
5. Add a description - "A sharp-eyed halfling who has heard every secret in town and forgotten none of them"
6. Click Save

Congratulations - you have created your first entity. This NPC now exists in your campaign and can be linked to locations, factions, plot hooks, and other characters.

Understand the 8 Entity Types

SwiftPrep organizes your campaign into 8 types of content:

Each entity type has specialized fields. NPCs have personality and combat stats. Locations have sensory details (sights, sounds, smells). Items have rarity and magical properties. Fill in what is useful and ignore the rest.

Connect Entities with Relationships

Your world comes alive when things are connected. Link your NPC to a location:

1. Open Mira Thornwood (click her name in the NPC list)
2. Scroll to the Relationships section
3. Click Add Relationship
4. Search for and select "The Rusty Anchor Tavern" (you need to create this location first, or pick any location you have)
5. Choose relationship type: works at
6. Click Save

Now when you view the tavern, you will see Mira works there. When you view Mira, you will see where she works. These connections help you remember who knows whom, where NPCs can be found, and how your world fits together.

[!TIP] The Graph view in the sidebar shows all your entities and relationships visually - useful for seeing the big picture of your world.

Tips for Getting Started

Start small Create what you need for your next session first. You can always add more later.

Use tags Organize entities with tags like "villain", "ally", "arc-1", or "neverwinter". Tags make filtering easy when your campaign grows.

Link as you go Add relationships when creating entities rather than trying to connect everything later.

Import existing content If you are migrating from Fantasy Grounds, use the import feature to bring your existing campaign with you.

Related Articles

• How do I use AI features to generate content?
• How do I import my content from Fantasy Grounds?
• What are entities and how do they work in SwiftPrep?
• How do I define relationships between entities?