>>189322
I'll only introduce you to the basics. You can figure out almost everything else through reddit and google. But if you have questions during the installation process you can ask them before this thread autosages

Start here:

https://docs.sillytavern.app/installation/

It will require a bit of tech know-how. Just follow this guide until you get it running.

That's the easy part. Next is getting an AI model. You can run it yourself if you have the power, or, you can use a API that lets you use any model (pay per use). Openrouter is good:
https://openrouter.ai/

So then you'll set up an openrouter account, top up with money, and get yourself an API key, and then plug it in to sillytavern.

Once you connected your first AI, you'll move onto prompting and character creation. I would recommend going with a preset.
https://github.com/SpicyMarinara/SillyTavern-Settings/tree/main/Marinara's%20Essentials/Preset

This one is great, it lets you customize exactly how they will reply (first person vs third person, length, etc, narration style, etc)

But then, the fun part. Creating a character. Sillytavern lets you make characters, you can define their personalities and such. Making your own character is one of the funnest parts, but you need to know how a character card is structured. Take a look here to see some examples: https://chub.ai/

After that, you just chat with them. As for the model - its personal choice. Its a matter of intense debate, but I like deepseek v4 - its cheap and good. You may notice some AI-isms slipping through, it may not be perfect at first (or ever). You'll have to get used to it, but you can beat it out of them if you try hard enough.

And thats basically it