Build a Node's Checks

A Node is one lesson with one learning objective. You teach it with Checks, one playable step each, and close it with an Engagement quiz. This page covers the Checks. The rest of the tree is in Create a Campaign → Path → Node.

Beats, Reports and the Finale

Every Check is one of three kinds, and the builder groups them into Beats:

Kind	What students do	Where it sits
Investigation	Take something in (a narrative, media, a chart or reveals), then solve a fill-in-the-blank clue from it	First in a Beat
Report	Weigh a disagreement between characters and take a side. The answer is the side taken	Closes a Beat
Reflection	Answer a question in their own words. There is no wrong answer and no side to take	The node’s Finale, last

A Beat is exactly one Investigation and the Report that closes it. Students never see the word Beat: they meet the Checks one at a time on the node’s Scene list. How many Beats a node holds, and whether it has a Finale, is up to you. The limit is the node’s size: a node holds at most 12 checks, and a Beat is two of them.

What the node looks like in the builder

Open a node and its Checks section lists Beat 1, Beat 2 and so on, then the Finale. Each Check row is titled the way a student sees it, with the check’s name in front (“History Check: The Dust Bowl”), shows who speaks it, and carries a Required switch that saves the moment you flip it. A Beat’s ⋮ menu moves, extends and deletes the Beat as a whole.

Capture pendingA node's Checks section in the builder listing Beat 1, Beat 2 and the Finale, each check row with its speaker and Required switch1440 × 900 · 16:10

Add a Beat

1. Choose Add beat

   In the Checks section tap + and choose Add beat. Or open an existing Beat’s menu and choose Add a beat after this one.

2. Write the Investigation

   The New beat: Investigation sheet opens with both of its parts already in place, because an Investigation needs a focus and a clue.

   • Title. Give the Check a title. Students see it with the check’s name in front, so leave the name off.
   • Focus — what students take in. Pick a format: a History Check (Narrative, the text students read), a Performance Check (Media: a link, or an uploaded image or video, with an optional caption and, for a YouTube link, optional start and end seconds), an Insight Check (Chart), or a Sleight of Hand Check (Reveal: items tapped open in order).
   • Clue — an Investigation Check (Fill in the blank) that students solve with what they just took in, with an optional Hint. Every blank must be right.
   • Lines and Required, below.

   Capture pendingThe New beat: Investigation sheet showing the Title, the Focus slot with its format choices, and the Clue slot1440 × 900 · 16:10

3. Write the Report

   Saving the Investigation opens the New beat: Report sheet. A Report is a disagreement and the answer that takes a side.

   • The disagreement — “What the crew cannot agree on, and who holds each position.” Write The question that is asked before the crew makes their cases, and pick What kind of disagreement it is: A trade-off, Claim against claim, One is a tempting mistake or Two workable methods. The kind sets how the result card frames the tally, and whether a position carries a correction.
   • Two or three positions. Each is held by a different character: a companion, or the path’s guardian. Give each its label (The position), what it rests on (What it uses) and which of the node’s Investigations it argues from (Draws on).
   • The answer. Choose how students take a side: a Charisma Check (Choose: tap one position) or a Perception Check (Scale: a slider between exactly two positions, on an even number of points).
   • An optional Focus, like the Investigation’s.

   Capture pendingThe New beat: Report sheet showing the disagreement with its question, kind and positions, and the answer format1440 × 900 · 16:10

4. Save

   The Beat is written as one unit. If you dismiss either sheet, nothing is added.

Add a Finale

A Finale closes the whole node with a Reflection. Choose Add finale from the + menu. It is available once the node has at least one Beat and no Finale yet. The Add Finale sheet asks for a written reflection question and takes an optional focus. With nothing but its question, students see it as a Wisdom Check.

Lines, Required and the speaker

Every Check sheet has the same lower half:

• Lines. What the crew says, in two groups. Opening is said before the check, and its first line is the check’s hook. Closing is said once the check is done, before moving on. Each line has a speaker, its words, and a Mood (Neutral, Happy, Worried, Curious or Determined) for the speaker’s face. Add, remove and drag to reorder within a group, and Play these lines to see them play as a student will.
• Required. On by default: “Students must finish this check before the Engagement opens.”

Rearrange and delete

Use a Beat’s ⋮ menu (Beat actions): Move up, Move down, Add a beat after this one and Delete beat. The Finale always stays last, and its menu offers Remove finale.

Deleting is never final straight away. A deleted Beat’s Investigation and Report go to Trash together with what students answered there, and you can restore them for 30 days; so can a removed Finale. See Trash, restore points and undoing a delete.