Combat

Open Combat in the campaign sidebar. The turn order is on the left and the battle map is on the right (on a narrow window, the map goes below the turn order).

For the DM

Encounters

The DM can prepare as many encounters as they like: type a name and click New encounter, then switch between them with the Encounter list. Players see nothing of an encounter until the DM clicks Run for the players. Only one encounter runs at a time, so running one stops the others. Stop running takes it away from the players again, and Delete encounter asks for confirmation before deleting it.

Combatants

Under Add combatants:

• Add the party adds every player’s active character, with the HP and AC from their sheet.
• Search monsters looks through the compendium sources enabled for the campaign. Add fills in HP and AC from the stat block, and numbers copies (“Goblin 2”).
• Quick add takes a name, HP and AC for anything else.

On each row, type a damage or healing amount and click Damage or Heal. Temporary HP is used up first. Edit opens conditions (pick from the list or type your own, with an optional number of rounds), concentration, max HP, AC, Hidden from players, and removal. Click a condition to remove it.

Initiative and turns

Type an initiative value or click the die next to it. The roll goes through the dice log with the creature’s bonus: Dexterity and initiative bonuses from the sheet for characters, the stat block’s initiative for monsters. Roll monster initiative rolls every combatant that isn’t a character and has no initiative yet, as a roll to the DM. The list sorts itself by initiative.

Start combat begins round 1 with the first combatant. Next turn and Previous turn move through the order, and Reset rounds goes back to before the fight. A condition with a number of rounds counts down at the end of its creature’s turn and disappears at zero. The current turn is marked with ▶ and “their turn”, not just a colour.

Playing a combatant

Click a combatant’s name in the turn order to open its panel on the right, or tick Follow turn to have the panel switch to whoever’s turn it is. While the panel is open, clicking a linked token on the map switches to that combatant.

• Monster: its HP and AC, a button per attack (+N To hit, then the damage dice), save DCs (with “half on a success” when the text says so), and the full stat block below. After a natural 20, Roll critical damage doubles the dice. Monster rolls are to the DM by default; untick the box to show them to the table.
• Character: the character’s play sheet: saves, skills, attacks, spells and slots. You can already edit every sheet.
• Custom combatant: HP, AC and a box to type any roll.

Targets and damage

When you cast a spell or attack, pick the Targets first (any combatant in the running encounter). Only your side is rolled: an attack roll for each target, then Roll damage on the result (or Roll critical damage after a natural 20), or the damage once for a spell with a saving throw, with the DC in the label. Targets roll their own saves.

The DM sees Apply… on every damage or healing roll, in the result card and in the dice log. The roll’s targets are already ticked; choose Full, Half or Double per combatant (for a save, resistance or vulnerability), then Apply N damage or Heal N. Nothing is applied until the DM clicks. Damage to a character goes to its sheet, and the turn order always shows a character’s HP from the sheet.

Turn economy

Each row shows Action, Bonus action and Reaction (✓ when used) and the feet moved against the creature’s speed. They reset at the start of the creature’s turn, so a reaction stays spent until then. Moving the token of the creature whose turn it is adds the distance automatically (5 ft per square, diagonals too); use −5 and +5 to correct it. Players mark their own character, the DM marks anyone, and casting or attacking from the sheet marks the matching action by the spell’s casting time.

What players see

The campaign rule chosen in Settings decides how much of the turn order players get:

• Exact: everything except hidden combatants, including monster HP and AC.
• Vague: monsters show Healthy, Bloodied, Near death or Down instead of HP and AC. Characters still show their HP.
• Hidden: players get the map but no turn order.

The server applies this rule before sending anything, so the hidden values never reach the players’ apps.

The map

• Wall, Zone and Hazard, plus the Terrain and Object lists: pick one, then click a cell to place it. The tool stays on until you pick Select.
  • Terrain: difficult terrain, water, half, three-quarters or total cover, lightly or heavily obscured. Each has its own pattern and its name written on it.
  • Hazard: a striped zone with a warning sign. Write its effect in the note, for example DC 13 Dex, 2d6 fire: the DC shows as a chip and the dice become roll buttons. Hide it and it becomes a trap only you see.
  • Objects: doors (closed, open or locked, with Open the door / Close the door in the editor), chests, levers, statues and light sources.
• Area template: pick circle, cone, line or cube and click the origin cell. Set the size in feet and turn cones and lines with ⟲ and ⟳ (15° at a time). The covered cells light up and the panel lists the tokens inside. A cell counts when its centre is in the area.
• Place a token for… lists the combatants without a token. Pick one and click a cell. A character’s token gets its player’s colour and belongs to that player.
• Select a shape to change its label, width, height or colour, hide it from the players, or remove it. Drag any shape to move it.
• Width and Height set the grid size, up to 200 by 200 cells.
• Lock the map for players stops players from moving their tokens. Show moves while dragging lets everyone see a token move as it’s dragged, not only when it’s let go.

Hidden shapes look faded with a dashed outline for the DM. Players never receive them.

Every shape can carry a note that players can read when they click it.

Preview as a player

In View as, pick a player to see the combat page exactly as the server sends it to them: only the running encounter, no hidden shapes or combatants, monster health according to the campaign rule. The preview is read-only and needs a connection. Pick Myself (DM) to go back.

For players

Once the DM runs an encounter, you see its turn order, if the campaign shows it, and its map. Your own token has a thick outline. Drag it to move it: by default the others see it when you let go, or as you drag if the DM turned on live moves. You can type or roll the initiative of your own character, and click your character’s name to open your sheet next to the map.

Click any shape to read its name and note, and roll the dice in a hazard’s note. To aim a spell, pick a shape in Area template, click the cell it starts from, then set its size and direction. You can move, change and remove your own templates (up to 10) while the map isn’t locked. Everything else is the DM’s.

Your token shows your character’s initials, so you can find it without relying on colour. Use + and − to zoom the map.