Microdrama Series Bible Template
By Character App Team · · 11 min read
A microdrama series Bible is the compact source of truth behind every episode. This template settles the World, recurring Cast, relationships, locations, props, open loops, arc, and continuity rules.
The short answer: write the facts future episodes must not contradict
A microdrama series Bible is a compact record of the characters, rules, promises, and visual facts every episode inherits. It is not a season script or a pile of lore. It should answer a production question in seconds.
Keep settled facts separate from possibilities. “Maya saw Adrian at the funeral” becomes Bible truth after the audience sees the photograph. “Adrian may be her brother” stays an open theory until confirmed.
- World: premise, tone, rules, time, and source of pressure
- Cast: recognizable identity, desire, fear, leverage, and relationships
- Places and props: recurring visual anchors an audience remembers
- Episode engine: the conflict that produces hooks and reversals
- Canon and open loops: what is settled, hidden, and known by whom
Copyable World and series block
Start with the smallest statement that can support many episodes. If the premise needs a page of explanation, the opening hook will struggle to make it visible.
- SERIES TITLE: [short working title]
- ONE-LINE PREMISE: [lead + urgent problem + cost of failure]
- WORLD: [place, time, social rules, visual Look, recurring pressure]
- FORMAT: [9:16, target episode length, intended episode count]
- AUDIENCE PROMISE: [the emotional experience repeated each episode]
- EPISODE ENGINE: [the repeatable source of hooks, turns, cliffhangers]
- ENDGAME: [the final choice or truth the season moves toward]
- DO NOT BREAK: [three rules that would make the series feel false]
Copyable Cast card
Create one card for every recurring person. Visual description belongs beside story function because recognition and motivation must survive together.
- NAME / ROLE: [who they are in the story]
- VISIBLE IDENTITY: [hair, face, body, wardrobe silhouette, signature detail]
- APPROVED REFERENCE: [the image used to guide identity]
- PUBLIC WANT: [what they say they want] — PRIVATE NEED: [what changes them]
- SECRET: [the fact they protect] — KNOWS IT: [names]
- LEVERAGE: [what they can take, reveal, or offer]
- RELATIONSHIPS: [person → feeling → unresolved debt]
- VOICE: [sentence length, favorite tactic, phrase they would never use]
- CONTINUITY RULES: [facts, marks, props, rights, and consent limits]
Copyable places, props, and open-loop tables
A prop is useful when its state changes with the plot. A place is useful when the audience understands its power immediately. Record both so a later Scene does not reset the evidence.
- PLACE: [name] — VISUAL ANCHORS: [three details] — POWER: [who controls it]
- PROP: [name] — OWNER: [person] — CURRENT STATE: [sealed / broken / missing]
- OPEN LOOP: [question the audience is waiting to resolve]
- OPENED IN: [episode / Scene] — LAST TOUCHED: [episode / Scene]
- WHO KNOWS: [Cast list] — FALSE BELIEF: [what another person thinks]
- PLANNED PAYOFF: [episode range or “unsettled”]
Map the season as pressure, not plot summary
A useful arc map tracks how leverage changes hands. Write one sentence per movement, then let individual episodes earn it through hooks, turns, and cliffhangers.
- Movement 1 — Disruption: the lead loses safety or status
- Movement 2 — False alliance: the apparent helper gains access
- Movement 3 — Costly proof: evidence arrives but damages the lead
- Movement 4 — Reversal: the weakest person gains leverage
- Movement 5 — Exposure: the private conflict becomes public
- Movement 6 — Choice: the lead sacrifices desire, identity, or revenge
Worked mini-Bible: The Red File
Premise: on the night she inherits her father’s company, Maya catches Adrian carrying a sealed red file that connects him to the funeral she was forbidden to attend. The World is a family-owned security firm where access records are more valuable than money. Each episode promises one new piece of evidence and one changed relationship.
Maya is direct, observant, and publicly inexperienced; her teal coat and gold hoops make her readable in every Scene. Adrian is controlled, protective, and compromised; his charcoal suit, silver watch, and refusal to answer personal questions recur.
- Settled Canon: Adrian attended the funeral and carried the red file
- Open loop: who removed the photograph before Maya opened the envelope?
- False belief: Maya thinks Adrian sold company records to a rival
- Hidden leverage: Adrian has the elevator access log from the night her father died
- Season pressure: every answer makes Maya less certain whom to trust
Keep the Bible alive without rewriting history
Update the Bible after an episode is approved, not while every draft is changing. Add settled facts, close or move open loops, and record the current state of props and relationships. Never erase an old fact to make a new Scene convenient.
In Character App, the World and Bible provide context for the Cast and Story, while each Scene still needs human review. References and prior frames can reduce visual drift, but they cannot guarantee identical faces, wardrobe, props, or staging.