Why I Made Chronicler

It all started with a folder full of Word documents and a level of neuro-divergent hyperfocus that only a D&D player can truly understand.

Some of you may know me as the dev behind Chronicler, others as Michael, and if you're in the Discord community, then you might even know me as 1da43ca91130... :P

But really, I'm just a guy who fell in love with worldbuilding and wasn't happy with the tools out there. And I was tired of seeing all these expensive subscriptions! So yeh, I built something for myself :)

I started worldbuilding while I was at university, and I didn't have a budget. I had a notebook, a laptop, and a growing pile of badass NPCs. I loved the simple hierarchy of folders, knowing exactly where my files lived on my computer. But as my world grew, I hit a wall. Navigating between dozens of separate documents was a nightmare.

Sometimes a document belonged in two places at once. I needed connections.

The Wiki Trap

I ended up building a MediaWiki site. Suddenly, I had [[wikilinks]]! I had beautiful infoboxes! It felt like a real encyclopedia. But then the anxiety set in.

My world was out there on the web, out of my control. I worried about platform stability, privacy, and the sheer annoyance of being unable to edit my lore without an internet connection. A wiki is also "flat" - without my familiar folders, I started to lose track of my own work!

The Best of Both Worlds

I built Chronicler to solve these dilemmas. I wanted a tool that combined the "Structure of Files" with the "Power of a Wiki," while keeping everything offline, private, and in my hands.

Transparent & Future-Proof

I know that relying on a tool from a solo developer requires trust. You are pouring your life's work into this, and you need to know it's safe. That is why I made Chronicler source-available.

• Transparency: You (or anyone) can audit the code on GitHub to verify that your privacy is respected and that the app does exactly what it claims.
• Longevity: If anything ever happens to me or the project, the source code is out there. The community can pick it up and carry the torch. Your tool will never disappear.

The "Pro" Philosophy

I’m now working on Chronicler full-time. To make this sustainable, I offer optional "Pro" features like Interactive Maps and Timelines.

I designed these as "nice-to-haves" for when you're ready to level up your game. Purchasing Pro isn't just about getting cool tools, it's what allows me to keep the Core version free for the students and hobbyists who were exactly like me.