# Your first conversation > Pick a character, send a message, and learn the controls you will use every day. Source: https://reverie.im/en/docs/getting-started/first-chat Language: en A Reverie conversation is a chat with one character, or with up to five at once. This page walks through starting one and names the controls around the message box, so the rest of the chatting section makes sense. ## Start a conversation \[#start-a-conversation] ### Open a character \[#open-a-character] From Home, **Recommended for you** and **New & noteworthy** are the two rails of suggestions; **Continue** holds chats you already have. The **Characters** page is the full catalogue. Tap any card to open the character's profile, then **Start chat**. ### Choose an opening \[#choose-an-opening] A character opens with a greeting when its creator wrote one. Where there are several, the profile shows **Your story starts here** and lets you pick; inside a new chat you can take another with **Try another opening**, or write the first line yourself with **I'll start instead**. Some characters also carry **Preset Scenarios** — a different situation to start in, each with its own opening. See [Scenarios](https://reverie.im/en/docs/chatting/scenarios). ### Set up the chat before you type \[#set-up-the-chat-before-you-type] A few things can only be chosen while the chat is still empty. Above the message box you get a **My persona** chip and an **Instant Chat Mode** toggle (short texting-style replies instead of narrated roleplay). The header's **Group Chat** button, which adds up to four more characters, is also available only before your first message — and not at all in a chat started from a scenario or a moment. ### Send your message \[#send-your-message] **Enter** sends, **Shift + Enter** starts a new line. Messages are capped at 5,000 characters when you are signed in, 1,000 as a guest. ## Around the message box \[#around-the-message-box] | Control | What it does | | --------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | Paperclip | Attaches images, when the selected model can read them | | **Guide reply** | Switches from **Myself** to a character or the **Narrator**. What you type becomes direction for the next reply and is not sent as your message — see [Guide reply](https://reverie.im/en/docs/chatting/guide-reply) | | Model button | Shows the current model and its credit multiplier; tap to compare and switch | | Microphone | Push to talk: hold to record, release to send | | Sparkle | **Generate First Message** — asks the character to open, on new chats only | | Wand | Fetches reply suggestions on demand, including when automatic suggestions are off or paused | | `/` | Opens the slash-command menu: length, pacing, point of view, or your own wording, for one reply only. Up to three per message | | `@` | In a group chat, hands the next turn to a specific character | ## What you can do with a message \[#what-you-can-do-with-a-message] Hover a message on desktop, or tap it on a touch screen, and a toolbar appears at its top right. **Copy**, **Regenerate** (last message only; press and hold to pick a different model for the retry), the speaker button (press and hold for voice settings) and **Snapshot** sit in the toolbar. **More** holds **Quote**, **Continue**, **Custom snapshot**, **Fork from here**, **Edit**, **Delete** and the thumbs up/down buttons. Regenerating keeps the previous reply as a variant — the `‹ 1/2 ›` arrows switch between them, so nothing is lost. > **Editing your own message deletes every message after it** and regenerates > the reply. **Delete** does the same: it removes that message and everything > that follows. Neither can be undone. Editing one of the character's messages > is safe — the text changes in place and nothing is regenerated. To try a different direction without destroying the current one, use **Fork from here** on one of the character's replies instead. See [Forking](https://reverie.im/en/docs/chatting/forking). ## The side panel \[#the-side-panel] The panel toggle in the header opens the tabs **Info**, **Gallery**, **Scenarios**, **Similar**, **Memory**, **Plugins** and **Settings**, plus **Bond** in a one-on-one chat when you're signed in and the character's creator has bonds on — your [bond](https://reverie.im/en/docs/chatting/bonds) with that character. **Settings** is where the model, response length, narration style, voice, chat appearance, import and export, and conversation setup all live. [The side panel](https://reverie.im/en/docs/chatting/side-panel) covers each one. ## What a turn costs \[#what-a-turn-costs] A reply costs the turn's total tokens — the whole prompt as well as the reply — multiplied by the model's credit multiplier, which is printed on the model button. The one free model, Llama 3.1 8B, is 0× and limited to 15 messages per 3 hours. [Credits](https://reverie.im/en/docs/billing/credits) has the details. ## Related \[#related] **[Slash commands](https://reverie.im/en/docs/chatting/slash-commands)** One-turn control over length, pacing and point of view. **[Personas](https://reverie.im/en/docs/chatting/personas)** Decide who you are in the conversation. **[Memory](https://reverie.im/en/docs/chatting/memory)** What a character keeps, and how to correct it. **[Group chats](https://reverie.im/en/docs/chatting/group-chats)** Up to five characters in one scene. **[Troubleshooting](https://reverie.im/en/docs/chatting/troubleshooting)** Empty replies, repetition and other common problems.