# MC Mode vs Author Mode | Lunafic Source: https://lunafic.ai/docs/two-ways-to-direct | Published: 2026-08-26T04:00:16.358Z | Updated: 2026-10-09T03:41:34.951Z | Author: Lunafic Team | Tags: Private world > MC Mode: you speak as your character, the AI plays everyone else. Author Mode: you direct, only the writing lands. When to use which. Every story has two seats. You can sit inside it as your character, or above it as the author. In a Playable World you always sit inside, as the role you picked. In your own Private world you can take either seat, and you can also choose which character you are. ## MC Mode, you are in the scene MC stands for main character. In MC Mode you roleplay as your character and the AI plays the world and everyone else. It never writes your character's dialogue, thoughts or actions. - You write your side. **Your lines land on the page as your character, with their name and portrait, in your voice.** - The AI plays everyone else. **Each character answers in their own speech style and language.** - The AI hands the turn back. **It writes what the other characters do and what your character can see and hear, then it stops where your character has to act, speak or decide.** - You see the scene from inside. **If your character only knows someone as the man in the mask, that is all the AI knows about him too.** The right panel shows who you are under Playing as, with the line MC mode, you speak as them. The reply line asks things like What do you do next. MC Mode is the default for every new story. ## Freewrite, playing as yourself If you play without a character, the story calls it Freewrite, and you speak as yourself. The AI still plays everyone else and still never writes your side. You can add your own hero later on the same path, open Edit your MC in the right panel and fill in Your character. ## Play as any character in your world In your own Private world you are not limited to a new hero. You can step into any character that already lives in your Wiki. This is made for world builders playing inside the world they built. - Where. **Open the right panel and press Who you play under Playing as. The picker asks Who are you in this world, and under Or play as an existing character it lists the characters of your world, with a search box when there are more than four.** - What happens. **You play that character and write what they say and do. The AI plays everyone else, and uses that character's Wiki sheet for your side of the scene.** - Changing later. **Who you play opens the same picker again, so you can step into another character or switch to Author Mode. The story you already wrote stays as it is.** - A world with one character. **If your world has only one character, the picker asks you to create someone new, because in MC Mode the AI needs someone else to play.** - Edit your MC. **In your own world, Edit your MC changes the character's name, background, traits and portrait, and the change is saved to that character's Wiki entry too.** In a Playable World someone else built, you pick one of the roles the author made instead, at the start of the story. ## Author Mode, you are above the scene In Author Mode you direct what happens, and the AI writes the scene, including your character. Author Mode is for your own Private world, it is not available in a Playable World. - You direct. **She hesitates at the door. Three days pass. The AI turns it into written scenes.** - Your direction stays off the page. **It is an instruction for the AI and never appears in the story as a message. Only the writing does.** - The AI writes every character. **Including your own, and it writes what you directed without jumping ahead or wrapping the scene up on its own.** - You know everything. **The author sees all of the story, including secrets your character does not know.** The reply line asks you to direct the story, like Ren draws his sword. ## How to switch In your own Private world, open the right panel and press Who you play under Playing as, then choose Switch to Author mode at the bottom of the picker. A short explanation, How Author Mode works, appears, and you choose Keep Author Mode or Use MC Mode. To go back to MC Mode later, open Who you play again and pick a character. ## When to use which Most people stay in MC Mode and switch to Author Mode for time skips, scene changes, or a moment your character should not narrate. Both modes share the same world, chapters and memory. > > Stuck in a slow scene? Switch to Author Mode, direct two lines of change like the lights go out and someone takes her hand, then switch back and play the fallout in MC Mode. ## For world builders, the default mode Every character in your Wiki has a Speaking and writing setting with a Default writing mode, Roleplay or Directing. Roleplay means the player plays their own character and the AI plays everyone else. Directing means the player gives directions and the AI writes the scene. New stories with that character start in the mode you chose. --- Read this on Lunafic: https://lunafic.ai/docs/two-ways-to-direct More from Lunafic: https://lunafic.ai/docs What is Lunafic: https://lunafic.ai/ai-roleplay AI characters you build stories with over long memories. You play as your character, the AI plays everyone else, and stories stay private by default.