Domains & Sources of Conflict
The Domains view in the Storyform Builder is where you identify the four sources of conflict that anchor every Throughline. Think of it as the Builder’s "home" screen: once you establish where conflict comes from, the rest of the Storyform snaps into place and the Builder can infer everything that remains.
IMPORTANT
Domains are not just labels. Choosing, locking, or clearing a Domain repositions the Throughline inside the Dramatica model and instantly recalculates every possible Storyform that still fits your choices. The Builder reflects that realignment immediately so you can sense where energy is building up.
Reading the live counts
Each selector displays a live count of Storyforms that remain valid if you commit to that choice. When you pick an option and the Builder shows Remaining: 256 / Inferred: 12, you now know two things:
- Only 256 Storyforms satisfy the locks you have already made.
- Twelve of the visible Storypoints are now inferred—meaning there is only one valid value that keeps the Storyform intact. The Builder fills those in for you so you can focus on the undecided items.
If a choice drives the remaining count to 1, you have fully defined the Storyform. You are free to keep exploring—clear or unlock any slot to reopen the space of possibilities—but that live count keeps you oriented the entire time.
Moving forward or backward with confidence
Every interaction in the Domains view is reversible:
- Use Undo / Redo to step through your structural decisions.
- Toggle Lock on any picker to freeze the value while you experiment elsewhere.
- Clear a picker to reopen its options; the remaining count immediately reflects the larger search space.
This workflow makes it safe to chase inspiration. You can see exactly how many Storyforms you ruled out or welcomed back in with each step, so even bold experiments stay grounded.
Finding the source of conflict
Work top-down or bottom-up—the Builder supports both:
- Start with the four Domains to nail the broad Source of Conflict for each Throughline.
- Drop into Concerns and Benchmarks to clarify what each perspective is worried about or measuring.
- Explore Issues, Catalysts, Inhibitors, Unique Abilities, and Critical Flaws to define the engine of growth.
- Finish with Problems, Solutions, Symptoms, and Responses to articulate the elemental push and pull.
Every decision tightens the space of valid Storyforms. Tooltips and quick definitions help you vet each term, and the search bar inside every picker lets you jump to exactly what you need.
Example Storyforms
The Examples panel shows canon Storyforms that share the same structural fingerprints you are creating. Use it to:
- Validate whether the tone or scope feels right (“Stories like Arrival and Inside Out sit inside this neighborhood”).
- Compare how different authors illustrated the same structural choice.
- Capture inspiration for your own Storybeats without reinventing the wheel.
Examples update any time a selection changes—whether you made it yourself or the Builder inferred it—so you can always see what company you are keeping.
Throughline orientation
The Domains grid keeps each Throughline in a consistent quadrant and mirrors that layout in the Signpost view. Watch for these cues as you work:
- OS Throughline: upper-right for Physics, lower-left for Psychology, upper-left for Universe, lower-right for Mind.
- MC, IC, and RS Throughlines rotate accordingly so each Domain is represented exactly once.
Visual alignment helps you evaluate balance at a glance. If every Throughline clusters around internal states, consider testing an external Domain to restore contrast.
Next steps
Once you are comfortable with the Domain view, jump to the Signposts & Temporal Flow guide. It shows how the same choices you made here ripple outward into Initial Narrative Functions, Dramatic Circuits, Abstractions, Storybeats, and ultimately the Audience Experience.