Setting Wheel

Spin where and when a story happens, with one line on what the setting changes for the characters.

Setting Wheel

On the wheel

Click the button or the wheel, or press Space or Enter. Press again to skip.Tap the button or the wheel. Tap again to skip.

Sample result

Belt mine

On an asteroid mining station pay comes by the ton and help is months away, so the crew fixes everything itself.

More options

The wheel shows a new part of the list on every spin.

The wheel shows 24 of 96 story settings. Every spin picks from all 96.

Results

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How it works

The setting wheel holds 96 places and times for a story in four groups: everyday places, historical, fantasy and science fiction. Spin, and the card says what the setting changes for the characters.

Read the full guide

Four kinds of setting

Everyday places are rooms and streets a reader already knows, such as a stairwell or a lunchroom. Historical settings are real places and times, from the Roman baths to a launch room in the Space Race. Fantasy and Science fiction are invented, and none names a book, show or game world.

Setting first, then the cast

Starting from nothing? Spin on All, then ask of each character: who is at home here, and who is out of place? The answer to the second question is usually where the story starts.

Tips

On Elimination, spin three settings and send one story through all three.
A mismatch is a prompt too: put a fantasy cast in the locker room at halftime.

Questions and answers

What is the setting of a story?

Where and when it happens: the place, the time and the conditions the characters live under. A setting earns its place when it changes what they can do. A stuck elevator and a generation ship both trap people, in very different ways.

Can I spin only fantasy or only science fiction settings?

Yes. Open the Show only menu under the wheel and choose Fantasy or Science fiction. Each group has 24 settings, so all of them fit on the wheel at once and every spin stays inside the group.

Are the historical settings real?

Yes. All 24 are real places or times, such as the Greek agora, an Edo post town and Great Zimbabwe. The fact on each card was checked on 1 October 2026 against its English Wikipedia article. The rest of the line is a story idea.

Can I add settings from my own world?

Yes. Open My list and type one setting per line, up to 100 lines. The list stays in this browser, and after a spin the share link opens the same wheel for a co-writer.

All 96 story settings

Everyday places 24

Attic Nothing in a grandparent's attic has been touched in years, and every box belonged to someone.
Backstage Everyone whispers in the dark while the real show runs a few steps away.
Bus route On the school bus the same seats are taken every morning, so one new rider upsets the whole order.
Bus shelter In a downpour, strangers share a roof the size of a table until the bus comes.
Camp cabin Summer camp: no parents and a lights-out time, so the cabin makes its own rules.
Daily train The same commuters ride together daily and never learn each other's names.
Elevator Stuck between floors: two or three people in one small box with no way out until help comes.
Garden plots In a community garden each plot has an owner, and every owner has opinions about the other plots.
Kitchen rush A restaurant kitchen at dinner time: heat, noise and orders, and nobody has time to explain anything twice.
Learner's car A learner, an instructor with a second brake pedal, and nowhere to hide a mistake.
Locker room At halftime the coach gets a few minutes to turn the players around before they go back out.

Show all 96 story settings (85 more)

Everyday places, continued

Long drive On a road trip: a few seats, one radio and long hours with nowhere else to go.
Lunchroom Where a student sits says who they are, until somebody sits somewhere new.
Mini-mart At closing time the lights are going off and the door locks soon, so every choice is rushed.
Moving day Every box that gets opened is a memory, and half of them start arguments.
Night diner It never closes, so characters who should never meet end up sharing a counter.
Pet shelter Visitors arrive wanting one kind of pet and leave attached to another.
Project fair In the school gym, months of work get judged in an afternoon, and every table is a rival.
Radio studio Late at night one voice goes out to a town of listeners it never sees.
Roof deck The one place in the apartment building where nobody can overhear.
Skate park Skill is public here: everyone watches every fall and every landed trick.
Sleepy town In a small town everybody knows everybody, so no secret lasts the week.
Snowed in Nobody can leave the house, so whatever was being avoided finally gets said.
Stairwell Neighbors who never speak pass on these apartment stairs daily and hear everything through the walls.

Historical 24

Angkor The capital of the Khmer Empire, a city of temples, libraries and moats, so water and stone shape every route across it.
Belle Époque A time of optimism, peace and new inventions in France before 1914, so the characters expect the future to be better.
Caravanserai An inn for travelers, merchants and caravans on trade routes such as the Silk Road, so goods, news and strangers arrive together.
Chang'an Chang'an was the Tang capital and at times the largest city in the world, so a newcomer is one face in a very big crowd.
Cotton mill Cotton mills, first on fast rivers and later on steam, were the factories of the Industrial Revolution, so the whole town keeps the mill's hours.
Edo post town Post stations on the routes of Edo-period Japan were where travelers rested, so strangers share one street for a night.
Gold camp News of gold brought people to California from across the country and abroad, so everyone in camp is a newcomer with the same plan.
Great library The Library of Alexandria was one of the largest libraries of the ancient world, part of a house of research dedicated to the Muses, so the cast are scholars.
Great Zimbabwe A stone-built city that was the capital of a kingdom in southern Africa, where the walls mark who is inside and who is not.
Greek agora The agora was the gathering place at the center of a Greek city's business and politics, so every quarrel has an audience.
Heian court The Heian period was the high point of Japan's imperial court, noted for poetry and literature, so a well-made verse can lift a character or sink one.
Inca relay Chasqui messengers of the Inca Empire passed messages on at relay stations along the roads, so every scene is a handover against the clock.
Launch room In the Space Race the United States and the Soviet Union competed to lead in spaceflight, so every launch is also a move against a rival.
Longship A long, slender ship of the Viking Age, rowed and built for speed, with a large crew aboard and no room to avoid anyone.
Ocean canoe Polynesian navigators crossed thousands of kilometers of open Pacific in double-hulled canoes, so the whole crew depends on the wayfinder.
Olympia Greek city-states sent athletes to compete at the sanctuary of Olympia, so rivals from many cities share one field.
Painted cave Prehistoric people painted the walls and ceilings of caves, so a story here has a painter, a wall and no written word.
Playhouse The English stage in the time of Shakespeare and Marlowe, so the cast are players and playwrights with a crowd to please.
Roman baths Roman baths were places to meet and read as well as wash, so news and rivals share one warm room.
Scribe school An eduba trained young scribes in ancient Mesopotamia, so the cast are students learning to write on tablets.
Scriptorium A room where medieval scribes copied and decorated manuscripts by hand, so one book is a long shared job.
Tall ship In the Age of Sail, when sailing ships carried the world's trade, a crew was shut in together for the crossing and the wind set the schedule.
Tenochtitlan The Aztec capital was built on an island in a lake, so the water decides who comes and who goes.
Tomb village The craftsmen who built the royal tombs of the Valley of the Kings lived together in one ancient Egyptian village, so every neighbor is in the same trade.

Fantasy 24

Blank library Every book here is one nobody has written yet, including a volume about the characters.
Clock palace Doors, guards and fountains run on gears, and everything stops when the spring runs down.
Cloud harbor Sky ships tie up to towers, and a crate dropped overboard lands in another country.
Dragon's toll A dragon owns the only pass and charges for it, so every traveler becomes a negotiator.
Dream fair It opens only to sleepers, and anything bought there is gone by morning.
Giant's back The town rides on a walking giant, so maps go out of date and everyone lives ready to hold on.
Giant's table Everything in the giant's kitchen is far too big, so crossing the table is an expedition.
Knights' hill Under the hill the knights sleep until the kingdom needs them, and one has woken early.
Lake court The court meets under the lake, and a visitor stays only as long as the breathing charm holds.
Magic ration Each household in town gets a few spells a season, so every spell starts a family argument.
Map's edge Past this lighthouse the map is blank, so captains ask the keeper what is out there.
Menagerie The crown collects impossible beasts, and their keepers know more than the court does.
Miners' hold Deep in the mountain there is no sky and no seasons: time is counted in shifts and news comes down by rope.
Monster inn The guests are the creatures stories warn about, and a human has just asked for a room.
Moving paths The forest paths rearrange at dusk, so nobody arrives where they set out for.
Rising island The island rises from the sea, stays a short while and sinks, so every visit has a deadline.
Spell shop The shop turns up wherever it is needed, so its customers never chose to come in.
Straw hands The scarecrows of this village do the farm work at night and want something in return.
Tree city Everyone lives up among rope bridges, and how high a door hangs shows the rank behind it.
Truce games Rival kingdoms camp side by side under truce flags for as long as the tournament lasts.
Winter court Winter never ends and nothing grows here, so every meal is a debt to a warmer kingdom.
Wish office Somebody has to read every wish dropped into the well and decide which to grant.
Wisp marsh Small lights lead travelers off the path, and now and then to exactly what they need.
Worlds meet Where the worlds meet, each road leads to a different one, and the signposts are in dispute.

Science fiction 24

Android shop Machines are built here to pass for people, and one has started asking questions.
Ark ship A generation ship: nobody aboard saw the launch and nobody will see the landing, so duty is inherited.
Belt mine On an asteroid mining station pay comes by the ton and help is months away, so the crew fixes everything itself.
Cargo hold A starship's hold: crates, dim light and no cameras, where a stowaway hides and secrets are traded.
Closing world A virtual world switches off at midnight, so players say goodbye to places about to stop existing.
Dusk colony One side of the planet is always day and the other always night; the town sits on the line.
Farside base On the far side of the Moon, Earth never rises, so radio silence is the normal state.
First contact At the embassy neither side shares a word yet, so every gesture counts as a statement.
Flooded city Streets are water, old ground floors are reefs, and neighbors visit by boat.
Ice moon At the research base a thick shell of ice lies over an ocean nobody has seen, and the drill is nearly through.
Mars dome Air and food are grown under glass, so one cracked pane is everybody's problem.
Memory bank People store memories here and sometimes withdraw the wrong one.
Orbit lift A space elevator: a slow ride from the ground to orbit in one cabin, with no stops and no way off.
Orbit school A handful of students on a space station, no weather, and a window with the whole planet in it.
Our relics In a far-future museum, guides explain our everyday objects and get most of them wrong.
Rain office Rain is scheduled, and the staff take the complaints.
Repair dock Ships reach the orbital dock broken, so stranded crews trade stories while the mechanics decide the bill.
Robot hotel The staff never sleep and never forget a guest.
Scrap planet Everything anyone threw away lands here, and somebody makes a living from it.
Seabed city The ocean presses on every wall, and the surface is a place most people have only heard about.
Sleeper ship One crew member has woken years before the rest and has the ship to themselves.
Solar town In the desert, power is free at noon and precious at night, so the town lives by the sun's clock.
Teleport hub Nobody travels any more, they only arrive, so lost luggage can mean lost anything.
Time lounge Time travelers from different years share a bench and must not tell each other the news.

Every spin is random, and every entry on the wheel has the same chance unless you remove one or write one in twice. Results are for games, practice and planning. This site has no betting content and makes no predictions about real matches.

More notes about this page

The lists and facts on this page were checked on the date shown against the source named with them: a governing body's own published list for teams and divisions, a standard reference source for everything else. The list of items on this page names the source used. If something has changed since, please tell us through the contact page.

Names and lists typed into this tool stay in your browser and are never sent to us. If you make a share link, the names travel inside that link, so send it only to people who should see them.

Setting Wheel

On the wheel

Results

Tally

Numbers on the wheel

How it works

Four kinds of setting

Setting first, then the cast

Questions and answers

All 96 story settings

Everyday places 24

Everyday places, continued

Historical 24

Fantasy 24

Science fiction 24