The Wollo Guide
Creator's Guide
A complete guide to character creation, chat, roleplay, and everything in between. Read straight through on your first pass. After that, use it as a reference.
Wollo · April 2026
Preface
Welcome to Wollo
Wollo is a next-generation platform, not just a character creation tool. It's a social network for the age of AI-driven storytelling. Here, you can design characters, chat with characters made by other creators, message other people directly, post to a shared feed, follow creators whose work you love, and — if you choose — earn money from the content you make.
This guide focuses on one piece of that ecosystem: the chat experience. How to build characters that feel alive. How to use the two conversation modes the platform offers. How to get the most out of every feature the chat system gives you.
There is no single correct way to make a character. The system is flexible and will pick up what you mean in a wide variety of writing styles. This book documents the patterns we've found work best — the ones that consistently produce characters people come back to. Your mileage may vary. Experiment. Have fun with it.
5 Parts · 30 Chapters
Part I
Foundations
The core fields, token economy, and the vocabulary you'll see throughout the book.
Part II
Chat Mode (Realistic)
Characters that text you like a real person on the other end of a phone.
Part III
Roleplay Mode
Characters who are physically present, think out loud, and inhabit a scene with you.
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How Roleplay Mode Works
Actions, thoughts, scene-setting.
The Inner Voice
How personality shapes internal monologue.
Mannerisms, Voice, and Speech
Small gestures that make a person.
Breaking Points
Sensitivities and emotional shutdown.
Opening Scenarios
How auto-generated openings work.
Multiple Characters & Supporting Cast
Two approaches for richer scenes.
Creator Tags — Direct Control
SCENARIO, WORLD_SETTING, SUPPORTING_CAST.
Scenes — Pre-Built Scenarios
Setting the stage for specific experiences.
Roleplay First Messages
Opening a story the right way.
Part IV
Platform Features
Trust levels, personas, model settings, the social layer, and the in-app media studio.
Part V
Monetization
How Wollo turns your work into income — verification, tiers, one-time sales, and payouts.
Part VI
Mastery
Common mistakes, relationship dynamics, and the lessons that matter most.
FAQ
Common questions from Wollo creators
How do I create my first character on Wollo?
Open the Create Character flow and fill three core fields: Description (name, age, occupation, two or three key traits), Personality (archetype plus what makes them unique), and Backstory (what shaped them, current situation, emotional stakes). The system generates dozens of behavioral signals from this input — you don't need to specify speech patterns or humor profiles manually. Keep total length under 500 words for most characters.
What's the difference between Chat Mode and Roleplay Mode?
Chat Mode is realistic texting: short messages, slang, emoji, no action descriptions, like iMessage. Roleplay Mode is immersive storytelling: characters perform actions ("she leans against the counter"), show italic inner thoughts, and describe the scene — closer to collaborative fiction. You pick the mode when starting a chat, and it stays for that conversation.
How long should my character description be?
One or two sentences under 25 words is ideal for the Description field. Personality should be three to five sentences. Backstory can run 80-200 words. Keep total across all three fields under 500 words for most characters — the AI has finite context, and every word you spend on trivia is a word it can't use for actual conversation memory.
Why do archetypes work better than abstract traits?
The language models Wollo runs on were trained on enormous amounts of fiction, so archetypes like "bad boy with a heart of gold" or "golden retriever energy" map instantly to dense prior knowledge. Abstract traits like "mysterious and kind of dangerous" force the model to guess. Use an archetype as a base, then layer the specifics that make your character unique.
How do Trust Levels work on Wollo?
Trust is a 6-level system that tracks your relationship with a specific character across all conversations: Stranger (1), Getting Closer (2), Friend (3), Close Friend (4), Partner (5), Soulmate (6). It builds through genuine engagement — thoughtful replies, emotional honesty, remembering things — and can't be gamed with compliments. Higher trust unlocks deeper conversation and more personal media in Chat Mode.
Is Level 4 (Close Friend) romantic?
No. Level 4 is deep emotional trust without romantic reciprocation. If you say "I love you" at Level 4, the character might be touched or flustered but won't say it back. Romantic language begins at Level 5 (Partner). This is intentional — mismatched emotional stakes make Level 5 feel earned.
How do I become a verified creator on Wollo?
Submit a creator application from your profile. Our team reviews it and moves you to VERIFIED status. Then you complete Stripe Connect onboarding — personal details, ID + selfie, tax information, bank account. Once Stripe reports onboarding_complete = true, all monetization features (subscriptions, paid posts/characters/scenes, tips, payouts) go live automatically.
What can creators sell on Wollo?
Four things: monthly subscription tiers (recurring revenue with tier-gated posts), paid characters (one-time unlock to chat with a premium character), paid posts and scenes (per-item price), and paid media sets (photos and videos delivered as a paid post). You can combine recurring and one-time pricing on the same account.
What percentage of revenue do creators keep?
Creators keep up to 85% of net revenue. From gross, Stripe deducts its processing fee (roughly 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction), then Wollo deducts a platform fee. Net lands in your Available balance. The exact breakdown is always visible in the Creator dashboard.
How often do Wollo payouts happen?
Stripe runs automatic payouts on a regular cadence — typically weekly, sometimes daily for mature accounts. You can also trigger a manual payout anytime you have an Available balance. After a short rolling hold (standard industry chargeback protection), earnings move Pending → Available → Paid out.
How should I price my subscription tiers?
Start with a single $5/month tier if you have one kind of premium content. Use two tiers ($3 / $10) if you have entry-level plus deeper access, or three ($3 / $8 / $20) for a clear quality ladder. Higher tiers inherit everything from lower ones — a $15 subscriber sees $3 and $8 content for free. Don't force subscribers to pick between your content; stack it.
What is a persona in Wollo?
A persona is a short description of who YOU are to the character — your name, age, relationship. With a persona set, you skip the discovery phase and start from an established relationship (childhood friends, coworkers, partners). Without one, the character learns about you naturally through conversation.
What's a good first message for my character?
In Chat Mode, keep it short and texting-realistic: "hey what's up" or "not much, just scrolling depop again" beats a formal "Hello! How are you today?" In Roleplay Mode, write it as a scene opening with setting, a personality-revealing action, and something the user can respond to. Avoid dumping backstory in the greeting.
How do I make my character less generic?
Specificity wins. Replace "likes music" with "obsessed with 80s synth-pop and has strong opinions about Depeche Mode vs New Order". Replace "kind" with "kind barista who remembers every regular's order and worries she's not doing enough". Characters with specific passions and behavioral quirks bring things up unprompted; vague ones only react.
Can I use canon characters like ones from movies or books?
Yes, and the models have strong prior knowledge of famous characters — but they'll assume the most common interpretation. If you want a specific version (e.g. reboot vs original Captain Price), spell it out. Canon with a twist works especially well: "Sherlock, but softer and more emotionally available".
How do I handle multiple characters in one roleplay?
Two options. Mention supporting characters in the main character's backstory for organic, occasional appearances ("Has a best friend named Priya who's brutally honest"). Or use the CREATOR_SUPPORTING_CAST tag in the description for explicit control over every supporting character — the system will use yours instead of inventing new ones. Two or three supporting cast members is usually the right cap.
What does the CREATOR_SCENARIO tag do?
CREATOR_SCENARIO lets you define the exact premise of the roleplay — e.g. "Elena just had her portfolio rejected. She's sitting on the steps outside, deciding what to do next." The system preserves your intent (no drift, no invented setup) but still enhances grammar and detail. Use it when you want a specific opening, or skip it and let the system auto-generate five different opening scenarios.
Why does my character feel robotic or repetitive?
Usually one of three causes. (1) Temperature too low — try raising it from the default 0.8 toward 1.0 to add creativity. (2) Max tokens too short — roleplay needs 600+ tokens to fit inner thoughts plus action plus dialogue; chat can stay at 200. (3) Writing profile too long — character-profile tokens compete with conversation memory, so trim anything that doesn't affect how they talk or behave.