This is an alpha. This is an alpha. The campaign-record pages are the most settled. The Encounter page is a work in progress, and playing together over the network has not been vetted, so do not rely on either for a session that matters. Download a backup before anything important.
About
Loremaster's Compass keeps the whole of a tabletop campaign in one place: your party, the NPCs and factions they meet, a calendar with moons, tides and weather, quests and storylines, a catalogue of creatures, and a map-and-initiative page for running fights. Everything is stored on your own computer. There is no account and nothing is uploaded.
Requirements
Windows. The installer is the supported way to run it.
No account or sign-in. You choose a profile name the first time you open it.
D&D Beyond and Roll20 are optional. The app works on its own; the Compass Bridge connector adds the live links.
Nothing from published books is included. The catalogues are written from scratch.
Get started
Download the installer from the Download page and run it.
Open Loremaster's Compass from the Start menu. It opens in its own window.
Pick a profile name. A passphrase is optional and is a convenience gate, not real security.
Read the Before you begin notice and accept it to continue.
In the sidebar, click + Add Campaign, name it, and press Create Campaign.
Add your players' characters on the Characters page and the people they will meet on the NPCs page.
Open the Data page and click Download full backup, so you have a copy from day one.
Features
Campaigns and worlds Stable
Each campaign has its own date, party and notes. A world sets the calendar and reference library, and several campaigns can share one.
NPCs, organizations and places Stable
One roster for the people, factions and places your party meets, with loyalty or standing, favors owed, and tied-together relationships.
Characters Stable
Your players' characters with roster, notes and the details you need at the table.
Calendar with moons, tides and weather Stable
A dated calendar that tracks the moons and tides and weather, and files events onto the day they happened.
Records and chronology Stable
Everyone and everything in the campaign in one searchable list, plus a record of events tied to the people they touched.
Quests and storyline Stable
Quest cards with deadlines and updates, and a nested set of plot threads with a session log.
Relations map and hierarchy Alpha
A web of who knows whom and a tree of who answers to whom, drawn from the ties you record.
Creature catalogue and forge Alpha
A reference index of creatures, with generated variants and a forge for building your own statblocks.
Field guide and generators Stable
Hunting, foraging, prospecting and fishing catalogues, and a hub of rollers for names, inns, finds and more.
Encounter page Alpha
An initiative tracker with hit points and conditions beside a gridded battle map with tokens, walls, light and fog.
Playing together at a table Experimental
Host the map to your players' own devices with a join code, so they can move their own tokens and see their own sheets.
D&D Beyond character import Alpha
Bring a character in from a sheet PDF or a D&D Beyond link, with a review window so nothing changes unseen.
Backups and data Alpha
Download a full backup, restore from one, and fall back on a daily automatic snapshot. Install extra content modules, and change the theme and layout.
How to
Start a campaign
In the sidebar, click + Add Campaign.
Name it. That is the only required field.
Pick a World, or press + New World to start one.
Set the starting date if you know it. You can move it later from the Calendar.
Press Create Campaign. It becomes the active campaign and opens on the Dashboard.
Add an NPC and tie them to someone
Open the NPCs page and click + Add NPC.
Enter a name, and check the Record type to choose between a person, an organization or a place.
Set a Loyalty score if you want an attitude worked out, then click Save.
Open the new card. On the Relationships tab pick someone, click Add, and choose what they are to each other.
Use the search box on the NPCs page to find them again.
Run a fight on the Encounter page
Open the Encounter page and click + New Encounter.
Click + Add the party, then add creatures with the Creature picker.
Give everyone an initiative number, or click Roll missing initiative.
Click Begin combat.
Type damage or healing into a row and press its button, drag tokens on the map, and click End turn to pass play on.
Click End encounter when it is over. Creatures that fought are logged to their Creature Dossier.
Bring in a D&D Beyond character
Open the Character Import page and pick the campaign under Add characters to.
Click Upload PDF(s) and drop the sheet PDF, or paste a public D&D Beyond character link and click Fetch & import sheet.
In the review window choose whose copy wins and tick the fields you want.
Click Commit Import.
Back up and restore
Open the Data page and click Download full backup. Keep the file somewhere that is not only on this computer.
To restore, click Restore full backup, choose the backup file and confirm.
Download a backup of the current state first if you might want it, because a restore does not save a safety copy.
Every page, explained
The same guides you get inside the app, from the ? beside each page title. Each is marked Stable, Alpha or Experimental.
At the table
Encounter Alpha
Guide updated in v0.9.358
Heads up. This page is a work in progress. You are welcome to test it, but multiplayer has not been vetted and the page itself has unrefined features.
The Encounter page is your at-the-table combat and map surface: an initiative tracker with hit points and conditions on one side, a gridded battle map with tokens, walls, light and fog on the other. Reach for it when a fight starts, or when you want to run exploration on a map. It can also host the map to your players' own devices.
The lay of the page
Setup bar (before combat)
Across the top until you press Begin combat. + Add the party puts every Active character of the campaign in the order. Arena and Test bed build a ready-made map with both sides standing at their gates (each replaces whatever is on the current level). The Creature picker with a count box and Add draws from this campaign's Creature Dossiers and Creature Catalogue; Ad-hoc combatant takes a name and optional HP. On the right sit Play together, Table, the undock buttons for the map and the tracker, Roll missing initiative, Begin combat, and Discard.
Round bar (during combat)
Replaces the setup bar once combat begins. It shows the Round number, a NOW chip with the name, hit points, conditions and movement of whoever is up (click it to bring the map to them), the AI mode and Auto-play toggles, Back and Next turn, and End encounter.
Initiative list
The column on the right of the map, one row per combatant. A row shows initiative (a number box before combat, plain text during it), a coloured dot for their side, the name, a hit point bar, a damage/heal box with a damage button and a heal button, and any conditions as chips you click to remove. The dice button opens the rollable statblock. The three-dot button opens the row's drawer. During combat the row of whoever is up gets a gold edge, an End turn button, and a feet-moved-of-budget readout.
Row drawer (the three dots)
The occasional controls, always in the same place: spell slot dots for first and second level, a + condition picker, a side picker (auto, Ally, Neutral, Enemy), an AI role picker (default, DM-run, Brute, Skirmisher, Lurker, Caster, Bulwark, Artillery, Support, Controller), Ready (during combat), the token link button, a toggle for defeated, and a remove button.
Action queue
Sits under the initiative list. Three tabs: Play is the fight as it lands, outcomes rather than arithmetic, and connected players see it too. Story is an optional recorder (Record and Stop) that can write the fight up with Generate narrative. Beat holds the pending items of an exploration beat.
The map and its toolbar
A scrollable grid with tokens for every combatant. The toolbar groups tools under named menus: Add (map elements, areas, shapes, structures, rooms by size, AoE templates, elevation, populate with creatures, arena, scene generator), Map (place a map image, detect the grid, find walls and doors), Walls (wall, door, window, secret door, railing, erase), Props (place a light or a prop), then the level arrows, zoom, and Measure, then View, Options and Saved. The Options menu holds toggles such as free placement, auto-join, cave look, light glow, fog of war, grid and follow. Saved holds the DM view / Player view switch, Maps (save and load) and Undo. A layout picker at the right end switches the toolbar between menus, rail and ribbon, and the small arrow buttons fold panels away to give the map more room.
The token menu
Click a token (without dragging) and a ring of buttons opens around it. Basics: Attack, Dodge, Disengage, Dash, Hide, Init, End turn on their own turn, and Pilot. Abilities: the statblock's own attacks and powers, plus All. Spells, Items and Nearby (doors, bodies and loose items within reach) appear when they apply. Narrate sets the action for the story queue. More holds fly and swim switches, the sight and fog views, AI role, Properties and reach, Place, Duplicate, layer, Classic panel and Delete.
Table mode and Play together
Table makes the map fill the window with the panels floating over it, with Build, Run, Theater and Solo views in a top strip (Build returns to the bench). Play together opens a dialog to host this table over the internet or join someone else's by code. While hosting it shows the table code, a Copy join text button, how many players are connected, and the New code and Stop hosting buttons.
How it goes
Open the Encounter page and click + New Encounter. (If an encounter is already running it opens straight to the map and tracker.)
Fill the order. Click + Add the party, pick a creature and a count and click Add, or type a name and HP under Ad-hoc combatant and click Add. Arena or Test bed will set up a whole map and both sides for you instead.
Set up the map. The toolbar's Map menu places a map image, the Add menu draws rooms and areas, and the Walls menu lays walls, doors and windows. A blank map shows a Start here panel with the usual order of work.
Give everyone initiative: type a number in each row's Init box, or click Roll missing initiative to roll a d20 for each empty one.
Click Begin combat. It sorts the order by initiative and starts Round 1 with the first combatant up.
Run the round. Type an amount in a row's box and press the damage or heal button, add conditions from the row drawer, drag tokens on the map, then click End turn on the active row (or press T) to pass to the next combatant. Back and Next turn on the round bar step through the order by hand.
Click End encounter and confirm. Creatures that fought are logged to their Creature Dossier with the number defeated and the rounds fought, and the tracker is cleared.
Gestures and keys
Click a token
Opens the token menu ring around it. A drag does not open it.
Drag a token
Moves it one square at a time. Walls and closed doors stop it. In combat the distance is spent from that combatant's movement budget, shown as feet moved of budget; it turns red when over, and a player at a joined table is moved back if they ask for more than they have left.
Right-click while dragging a token
Drops a waypoint where the token is, so the measured route bends around a corner instead of counting a straight line. Right-click again for more bends.
Double-click a token
Opens its rollable statblock and flashes its tracker row for a few seconds. On a token that is on another level it takes you to that level instead.
Double-click a tracker row
Brings the map to that combatant's token (also available by clicking the NOW chip for whoever is up).
Press T
Ends the active turn while combat is running, as long as you are not typing in a box and no dialog is open.
Pilot a token, then use the keys
Choose Pilot in the Basics ring, then the arrow keys or W A S D step the token through walls and doors the same way a drag does. E, Space or Enter works the nearest door or searches a body within reach, R and F climb or descend a step, and Esc lets go.
Mouse wheel over the map
Zooms around the cursor. The wheel never scrolls the page while it is over the map.
Middle-mouse drag
Pans the map. On a touch screen one finger drags your own token (or pans if you touch empty map) and two fingers pinch to zoom.
Shift-drag on empty map
Draws a selection box (when no tool is active) around everything inside it. Shift-click adds or removes single items. Drag any selected item to move the whole group, and press Delete to remove them.
Ctrl and wheel with an item selected
Rotates the selected map element in 15 degree steps.
Hold Alt while dragging
Reverses the Free placement option for that one drag: off-grid placement snaps to a quarter square, and on-grid snaps to whole squares.
Click, or drag, with a wall tool
With a tool picked from the Walls menu, click a square border to place it, or drag along the borders to trace a whole run in one go. Ctrl+Z undoes the whole run.
Click a placed door or window
Opens or closes it (a locked door tells you it is locked). A quick second click, a double-click, opens its properties to rename, lock or change it. Drag a door along its wall to move it. A doorway cut into a traced wall behaves the same, and Alt-click, Shift-click or right-click opens its properties.
Double-click a map element
Opens its properties. A stair or ladder linked to another level takes the view there instead. With the Polygonal area tool, double-click closes the shape; on a selected shape, drag a corner point to reshape it and double-click one to delete it.
Delete, Ctrl+Z, Ctrl+C and Ctrl+V on the map
Delete removes the selected item (Delete also clears a map image you are adjusting). Ctrl+Z undoes the last stage change. Ctrl+C copies the selected item and Ctrl+V pastes a copy.
Questions
Why does a warning box appear when I open this page?
The Encounter page is the newest and least finished page, so it tells you so when you open it, once per session. Tick Don't show this again until the next update, then Got it, take me in, and it stays away until the next version. The small Alpha chip in the page header reopens it any time.
Why did my token stop, or refuse to move?
Drags and key steps follow the same collision rules: walls, closed or locked doors and blocked edges stop a token, and a ramp or stair can only be stepped onto from its open end. A token on another level will not move until you switch to that level, and a layer you have locked cannot be touched. As DM you can still drag past a movement budget, the readout just turns red; a player at the table is refused and moved back.
Why does a creature show a dash where its hit points should be?
Creatures added with the Creature picker (and from the Arena builder) come in without hit points, and the row has no field to type a maximum, so the bar shows a dash. A creature added from its own record's card reads an HP number from its statblock. The Ad-hoc combatant boxes take an HP when you add them.
Why will Begin combat not start?
It needs at least one combatant, and every combatant needs an initiative. If you see a message about initiative, fill in the empty Init boxes or click Roll missing initiative first.
Why do the monsters not take their turns by themselves?
Automatic turns only exist during combat. AI mode plays every combatant that is not a PC and is not set to DM-run, and Auto-play passes the turn for you; with AI mode off only combatants you gave a specific archetype (Brute, Caster and so on) play themselves. A press runs at most one full round, and nothing runs once fewer than two combatants are standing. The Act button on the active row runs one AI turn by hand.
Can my players see everything I do?
A joined player sees the map as a Player view: DM-only elements and tokens you have hidden are not drawn for them. They see the order, conditions and hit points for the party, never monsters' hit points. Only their own character and anything they summoned answers to their mouse. Players join from the first screen with Join someone's table, the code from your Play together dialog, and the name you know them by; you are asked once which character each one is, or to mark them a spectator.
One screen that reads out where the active campaign stands: the in-world date, the moon, tide and weather, what is coming up, and the threads you are running. Open it when you sit down to prep or at the start of a session.
The lay of the page
Party advancement
The bar across the top reads Session X of Y at PL n. + Log Session records a played session, Session history lists them, Edit Progress changes the numbers, and Advance to PL n appears once enough sessions are logged. The small arrow beside the title folds the panel down to one line.
Party supplies
Only shown when supply tracking for the campaign is Basic or Survival. Rations, water, fuel and feed have - and + buttons, Edit opens the Supplies window, and the In the field / Off the road button decides whether supplies are used up as days pass.
Summary
Seven count cards: Player Characters, NPCs, Organizations, Locations, Open Plot Threads, Active Projects and Current Season. Each card is a button that opens the matching page. NPCs, Organizations and Locations open the NPCs page already filtered to that type.
Today
The campaign's in-world date, then a Session n - Level n button (click it to edit), Start Session or End Session, the session history button, the moon phase, the tide and the weather. Below them are Open Calendar, Adjust Date and Roll weather.
Upcoming
The next 30 in-world days: your events, holidays, and the start of special events and alignments. Click a row to open that day.
Recent Events
The last 10 events on or before the current date, newest first. Click one to edit it. Calendar leads to the Calendar page.
Pinned Threads and Open Threads
Pinned Threads shows up to four pinned storyline threads. Open Threads shows up to four of the others. Click a thread to open it; Full list / Add / Edit goes to the Storyline page.
How it goes
Open the Dashboard from the sidebar and read the Today panel: the date, moon, tide and weather for the active campaign.
Press Start Session when play begins. The button becomes End Session while a session is running, and ending it opens a recap window pre-filled with the events logged since you started.
As the party travels or rests, press Adjust Date in the Today panel to move the in-world date. The moon, the tide and the Upcoming list follow it.
Press Roll weather to open the weather roller for today's date.
Glance at Upcoming for anything due in the next 30 days, and click a row to open that day.
After the session, press + Log Session in the advancement panel. When the bar is full, Advance to PL n appears.
Gestures and keys
Drag a panel's grip
Summary, Today, Upcoming, Recent Events, Pinned Threads and Open Threads each have a small six-dot grip in the title row. Drag it onto another panel to put the panel in that spot. The order is remembered.
Drag a panel's bottom-right corner
Upcoming, Recent Events, Pinned Threads and Open Threads can be resized by their bottom-right corner. The size is remembered.
Questions
Why is there no Party supplies panel?
The panel is hidden while supply tracking for the campaign is Off. The Supplies window has a Tracking list where you can switch it to Basic or Survival.
Why is my event missing from Recent Events?
Recent Events lists only events dated on or before the current in-world date, and only the latest 10. An event with Show on the calendar and dashboard turned off is left out, and so is one in a different era. A future event shows under Upcoming once it is within 30 days.
Open Plot Threads says 3 but I have closed some. Why?
The card counts every storyline thread in the campaign, nested ones included. Threads have no open or closed state, so nothing is ever subtracted.
I dragged a panel and nothing moved.
Drag by the grip in the panel's title row, and drop onto a different panel; dropping a panel on itself does nothing. The advancement and supplies panels above the grid are not part of the arrangement. Data & Layout has a Dashboard order list with Move up and Move down buttons as another way to reorder.
The whole toolbox of rollers in one place: quests, taverns, NPCs, finds, foraging, creatures and more, plus any random tables you build yourself. Reach for it when you want something invented fast, or want to make a table of your own.
The lay of the page
Filter box
The box labelled Filter the toolbox narrows the cards as you type and says how many tools match. The text stays in the box when the page redraws.
At the table
Things for mid-session: Quest generator, Inn & Tavern menu, NPC generator and, when the world is Korentil or has a homebrew module switched on, Regional encounters.
Downtime & travel
Hunting, Prospecting, Herb foraging and Fishing (rolls against the Field Guide shelves), Food & water foraging, and Scrolls & NPC Services.
Building the world
Creature harvesting, World folklore A-Z, Creature generator and Homebrew modules, plus the Abyssite corruption and Worldeater trackers once those modules are on for the world.
Yours
Custom generators you have made, each a card with its icon, description and entry count. An edit button on the card opens its editor. With none yet, the section shows how to start.
How it goes
Find the tool you want, by scanning the three groups or typing in the filter box, and click its card.
Each card opens that tool's own dialog (for instance the Quest generator opens into the quest editor, and the Hunting card opens the find roller on the hunting shelf). Use it there and close it to come back.
To make a table of your own, press + Add a Generator. Give it a name and an icon, then add entries one by one with + Add entry, or paste a list with 'Paste a list - one entry per line'.
For each entry choose a rarity tier or a flat '% chance'. Rarity tiers are gated by the check total; % entries are always in the pot. Tick 'Proficiency bonus is part of this roll' only if the table should use one. Press Save.
To roll a custom table, click its card, enter the ability and misc bonuses, choose normal, advantage or disadvantage, and press Roll. The dialog shows the arithmetic, the result, and the odds of every entry at that total.
Use Send to the table on a result to post it into the VTT chat through the bridge, or copy it when the bridge is off.
Gestures and keys
Tab to a card, then press Enter or Space
Opens that tool, the same as clicking the card.
Questions
Why is Regional encounters, Abyssite or Worldeater missing?
They only appear for a world that is Korentil or has the matching homebrew module switched on. Use the Homebrew modules card to add or remove them.
Why did my custom generator return 'Nothing in reach at that total'?
Every entry sits in a rarity tier above what the check total can unlock. Raise the bonuses, or add a Common entry or a % chance entry, which are always eligible.
Does 'No repeats until the list is used up' survive a restart?
No. It and the recall list of this session's rolls are kept only while the app is open. Clear on the recall list forgets them sooner.
Why do the Hunting and Prospecting cards open a roll dialog instead of a page?
They are shortcuts to the same roller the Field Guide uses, set to that shelf. The Field Guide page is where you browse and edit the shelf itself.
Can I get a deleted generator back?
Yes. Delete in the editor moves it to the Trash, recoverable for 30 days from Data & Layout.
The month view of your world's own calendar: every day shows its moon, tide, weather and whatever happened on it. Use it to log events against a date, move the campaign's current date, and see what the days around the party hold.
The lay of the page
Month bar
The left and right arrows step one month. In the middle are the month, the year with its era, the calendar's name and the season. The Current date button jumps back to the campaign's date.
Calendar and date controls
A menu to switch the calendar your world uses, then Today, -1 Day, +1 Day and Adjust Date. Default calendar appears only when the world has been switched away from its default. Undo move appears right after you drag an event to another day.
Tools and filters
Weather Roller opens the roller for the campaign's current date. Special Events lists the world's recurring events and lets you add one. Holidays: On/Off hides or shows holiday marks. Region appears only on the Krynn (Ansalon) calendar. Showing: ... appears only when the world has more than one campaign, and switches between this campaign and the whole world.
Legend
A colour key for each campaign shown, and a key for Spring, Normal and Neap tides.
Day cells
Each cell has the day number, the moon, a tide strip, a weather strip, an entry count line (n here and n all) and a short list of that day's entries. The campaign's current date is outlined in gold. Click anywhere on a cell to open that day.
Entry rows
Rows are marked by kind: ! for an event, a star-like mark for a chronicle, a diamond for a beat, an open diamond for an arc, H for a holiday, and the orrery or the event's own icon for alignments and special events. Click an entry row to open it for editing.
Day window
Opens when you click a day. It shows that day's holiday or alignment, the campaign's events and its NPC and PC chronology, with + Add entry, + Storyline thread and + NPC/PC entry. If other campaigns have notes on that date, a button reveals them.
How it goes
Open the Calendar page. Use the arrow buttons to change month, or press Current date to come back to the campaign's date.
Click a day to open its window and see everything recorded on it.
In the day window press + Add entry, type what happened (use #(Name) to link an NPC) and press Add event.
To move the campaign's own date, press -1 Day or +1 Day, or Adjust Date for bigger jumps and an exact date.
Click a day's tide strip to open its tide window, or its weather strip to open the weather roller for that day.
Press Special Events and then + Add special event for a festival, comet or other event that comes round again.
Gestures and keys
Drag an event row to another day
Pick up an event row and drop it on another day cell to move the event there. A message confirms the move. If that day already has an event with the same text, the event stays where it was.
Ctrl+Z on the calendar
Puts back the event you just dragged. It works only when you are not typing in a field and no window is open, and only for the latest move. The Undo move button does the same thing.
Questions
Why will my entry not drag?
Only event rows can be dragged. Holiday, alignment and special-event rows cannot, and neither can chronicle, beat or arc rows. If an event row still will not move, open it and change its date in the editor instead.
What does 2 here and 5 all mean?
The count line on a day. Here is the number of entries for the active campaign on that day. All is the number across every campaign in the same world.
I switched the calendar and my dates look wrong. Why?
Switching the calendar affects every campaign in the world. When events exist, the app asks first: they keep their stored day numbers, but those numbers now land on different dates under the new calendar unless you remap them.
Where are the Region and Showing buttons?
Region shows only when the world uses the Krynn (Ansalon) calendar. Showing shows only when the world has more than one campaign. On a single-campaign world with another calendar, neither appears.
Why do I not see my other campaign's events?
The calendar shows the active campaign only until you press the Showing button to include the whole world. A day's window also offers a button to reveal other campaigns' notes for that date.
The party's player characters: sheets, portraits, hit points and how many sessions until the next level. Reach for it to open a sheet, roll for someone, or log a session.
The lay of the page
Party advancement
The panel across the top: 'Session x of y at PL n', a progress bar, and buttons + Log Session, Session history and Edit Progress. Click the 'Party advancement' title to collapse it to a single line. When enough sessions are logged an Advance to PL button appears.
Toolbar
Search (name, player, class, background, notes), a sort picker (name, level, player or status), Graveyard, Import History, Import Character(s) and + Add Character. In the desktop app you also get Refresh party and a 'Sheet changes' picker.
Character cards
Portrait, name and a status badge, species and class, 'Played by', then AC, HP and Speed when known, condition chips and a two-line note. Along the bottom: Journal, Projects, Roll and Contacts, each with a count where it applies.
Retinue strip
If anyone answers to a character, a strip of their faces appears at the foot of the card. Click one to open that record.
Character sheet
Click a card to open the sheet. The top holds name, class and level, player, AC, Initiative, Speed, HP, Temp, HP Max and proficiency, with abilities, saves and skills beneath. Tabs below: Attacks, Features, Spells, Inventory, Notes, Standing, Details, Changes and Import.
Graveyard
A character whose Status is Dead leaves this list and appears under the Graveyard button instead.
How it goes
Click + Add Character. If the sheet already exists on D&D Beyond, use Upload PDF or D&D Beyond link in the card at the top of the dialog, or the Import Character(s) button on the page, instead of typing it in.
Fill in the Name, Class & Level and Player, then the combat strip (AC, Initiative, Speed, HP, Temp, HP Max) and the abilities.
Use the tabs to add Attacks, Features, Spells and Inventory rows (+ Add Attack and its siblings), then click Save.
After a session, click + Log Session in the advancement panel, set the played date and an optional note, and save it.
When the progress bar fills, click Advance to PL to move the party up a level.
During play, click Roll on a card to roll that character's checks, saves, skills and attacks.
Gestures and keys
Tab to a card, press Enter or Space
Opens the sheet, same as a click.
Drag a tag from the Tag Bullpen onto a card
Adds that #tag to the character without opening the sheet. Works while the Tag Bullpen drawer is open.
Questions
Why did my character disappear from the list?
Its Status was set to Dead (Details tab). Dead characters move to the Graveyard button at the top. Active, Backup and Retired characters stay on this page.
Why do I not see Refresh party or Sheet changes?
Both are drawn only in the desktop app. They use the DM Screen connector in your browser to re-read D&D Beyond sheets.
What does the Contacts count mean?
How many NPCs are tied to that character: named on a record, in the chain of command, or sharing a story note or event with them. Click it for the list; 'See them in the roster' opens the NPCs page filtered to those people.
Why is Advance to PL not showing?
It appears only once the sessions logged at this level reach the number required. Use + Log Session after each game, or Edit Progress to correct the counts by hand.
Where do I say who a character answers to?
On the sheet's Standing tab, which holds the allegiance rows. The result shows on the Hierarchy & Rank page.
The roster of everyone the party might meet: people, factions and places. Reach for it to find a record by anything you half remember, to see where someone stands with the party, or to set a character up before the session.
The lay of the page
Type chips
All, NPCs, Organizations and Locations, each with a count. The chip you pick filters the list, and the add button follows it (+ Add NPC, + Add Organization or + Add Location).
Search box
Type words in any order. Initials work, so gr finds Gundren Rockseeker. Scoped terms such as species:elf or knows:tarrin narrow it further; the ? button beside the box lists them all. The count beside it reads 'x of y'.
Filters
Opens a panel: Attitude buttons, a Loyalty range (Min and Max), Species, Role and a Has open threads tick. The button shows how many filters are on, and Clear filters resets them. The Species and Role pickers only appear once some record has a value.
Sort and Group
Sort by name, loyalty, most recent chronology or favor. Group by attitude, species or role to put headings in the list. Both choices are remembered.
Cards
Each card shows the portrait, name, a badge (attitude for a person, rank tier for an organization, renown tier for a location), species, age and role, a two-line note, and Loyalty or Favor lines when they are set. Buttons: Journal, Edit, and To initiative (people only). A small crossed-swords button appears when a statblock is on file.
Dated notes
A Dated notes button appears only when some note mentions a date. It offers to turn those notes into calendar events.
Record window
Click a card to open its record window. A person has tabs Description, Backstory & events, Relationships, Standing and Statblock; an organization has Charter, Ranks & members, Relations, History & events and Allegiances; a location has The place, Who is here, Relations, History & events and Standing.
How it goes
Pick a type chip if you want an organization or a place, then click + Add NPC (the label changes with the chip). Enter a Name.
Check Record type under the name. It decides what the next fields mean: Species and Role become Reach and Kind of body for an organization.
Set Loyalty (-20 to 20) in the standing section. The attitude is worked out from it and shown beside the box; leave it blank and the card reads Unrated. Click Save.
Click the new card to open its record window. On the Relationships tab pick someone under 'Add a relationship...', click Add, then choose what they are in the tie dropdown.
On the Standing tab click + Log favor to track what the party owes them or they owe the party (organizations and locations log Influence and Reputation instead).
Back on the list, type into the search box, or open Filters, to find them again, for example knows:tarrin for everyone tied to Tarrin.
Gestures and keys
Tab to a card, press Enter or Space
Opens the record window, same as a click. Cards are focusable and respond to the keyboard.
Drag a tag from the Tag Bullpen onto a card
Adds that #tag to the record without opening it. Works while the Tag Bullpen drawer is open.
Questions
Why does attitude:hostile find nothing?
Attitude words come from the Loyalty score: Paragon, Loyal, Faithful, Dependable, Cooperative, Reluctant, Unreliable, Disloyal and Enemy. 'Hostile' is not one of them. The search tip uses attitude:enemy, and that is the word to try.
Why does a card say Unrated?
Loyalty is blank, so there is nothing to calculate an attitude from. Organizations show their rank tier and locations their renown tier instead, and read Unrated until those scores are set.
Why can I not find Species or Role in the Filters panel?
Those pickers list only values that exist on records under the current type chip. With no species or role filled in, they are not drawn.
Why is there no To initiative button on an organization?
It appears only on people. Organizations and locations do not go into the initiative tracker.
I deleted an NPC by mistake. Can I get it back?
Yes. Delete in the editor moves the record to the Trash for 30 days (Data & Layout > Trash), and an Undo toast appears straight away.
Everyone and everything in the active campaign in one place, and the timeline of what happened to them. Records describe what exists, so they have no date; events describe what happened, so they do. Reach for this page when you want to find something or add something new.
The lay of the page
Header buttons
Add a Record creates something undated: a person, place, group, creature, project and so on. Record an event writes down something that happened, and files it onto the calendar and onto every record it touched.
Type chips
All, Player characters, NPCs, Organizations, Locations, Creatures, Projects and Loot, each with a count. After a divider, Chronology switches from the roster to the timeline. With Creatures chosen, two extra buttons appear: Open the dossier view and Creature Catalogue.
Search box
On a roster it matches a record's name, its summary and its tags. On Chronology it matches an entry's title, its text, its date and the names of the records it touched. The list updates as you type.
Record cards
One card per record, sorted A to Z: an icon, the name, the type, and two lines of summary. The number badge is how many entries touch that record. Click a card to open that record's own editor.
Chronology
Entries grouped by year and then by day, each with its kind and small buttons for the records it touched. A button above the list switches between Newest first and Oldest first. Entries with no date sit at the end under Undated. Click an entry to open it.
How it goes
Pick a type chip, for example NPCs, to narrow the roster. The number on each chip is how many records of that type the campaign has.
Type in the search box to narrow further, or delete the text to widen it again.
Click a card to open that record in its editor.
To add something that exists, press Add a Record and choose what it is: NPC, Organization, Location, Bastion, Player character, Creature, Project, Party Loot, Hunting find, Prospecting find, Herbalism find, or Rule or lore.
To log something that happened, press Record an event. Write what happened, search under Touches these records to link who or what it involved, set the date, and press Save.
Press the Chronology chip to read everything that has happened in the campaign in order.
Gestures and keys
Tab to a card, then Enter or Space
Record cards and chronology entries can be reached with the Tab key. Enter or Space on a focused card opens it, the same as a click.
Questions
Why can I not find a record I know I made?
The roster shows one type at a time for the active campaign only. Pick the All chip, clear the search box, and check that the right campaign is selected in the sidebar.
What is the number on a card?
How many entries touch that record: events, journal entries and so on that link to it. A card with no number has nothing linked to it yet.
I chose Rule or lore in Add a Record and no form opened. Why?
That choice takes you to the Reference Library page, where house rules, calendars and coinage live, instead of opening a form.
Why does Chronology show entries I never wrote here?
It is a read-only view of the campaign's dated entries from everywhere: calendar events, journal entries, storyline beats and project logs. To change one, click it and edit it in its own window.
Is a record the same thing as an event?
No. A record is undated and describes what exists. An event is dated and says what happened, and can touch any number of records.
Every job, hook and promise as its own card: who asked, what it pays, what it secretly costs to miss, and what has happened since. Use it to keep the party's open obligations in front of you, and to put a deadline on one when you want pressure at the table.
The lay of the page
Search and sort
The search box matches anywhere on a quest: its name, who gave it, the reward, the details, the consequences and every update logged against it. The sort list offers Status (the board), Deadline (soonest first), Name (A-Z), Recently updated and Who asked.
Quest Board and + New Quest
Quest Board opens a window that draws every quest as a box around a circle, with lines between quests you have tied together. + New Quest opens the quest editor.
Status groups
Sorted by Status, the page groups quests under Rumored, Active, Completed and Failed, each with a count. Any other sort shows one flat list without groups.
Quest cards
Each card has the name (click it to edit), a status badge, who it is from, a deadline badge, the date it was last updated, and an edit button. Below are the reward with a star for any bonus, the details, an If they fail line, and the quests it is tied to.
Updates log
At the foot of each card, the updates you have logged for that quest, each with a small remove button, and a box labelled What happened? with a + Update button.
How it goes
Press + New Quest and fill in Quest Name, Quest Giver, Status, Reward, Bonus Reward, Details, and what happens if they fail.
To put a clock on it, tick This quest has a deadline and pick the day it fails. The card then counts days left, due today, or days overdue, in the campaign's own calendar.
Under Tied to, tick any other quests this one connects to, then press Save.
While you play, type into What happened? on the quest's card and press Enter, or press + Update, to log it.
When the situation changes, click the quest's name, change Status to Active, Completed or Failed, and press Save.
Press Quest Board to see how the quests connect. Press Tie two quests, click one quest, then another, to add or remove a link between them.
Gestures and keys
Enter in the What happened? box
Pressing Enter in the update box on a card logs the update, the same as the + Update button.
Questions
I changed a quest's status and nothing appeared on the calendar. Why?
The calendar mark is added only when a quest moves to Active, Completed or Failed from a different status, and only while the box beginning Log accepting, completing, or failing this quest is ticked in the editor. Moving to Rumored, or saving without changing the status, adds nothing. The mark goes on the campaign's current date.
Why does a deadline say overdue when I have not played that day?
The count is from the campaign's current in-world date to the deadline, so it moves whenever you move the date. A quest marked Completed shows met the deadline instead.
The dates on updates look wrong for my world.
The upd. date on a card and the date beside each update are real-world dates from when you pressed the button. They are not in-world dates. Only the deadline uses the campaign's calendar.
How do I remove a tie between two quests?
Untick the quest under Tied to in the quest editor. Or on the Quest Board, press Tie two quests and click the two quests that are already tied; clicking a tied pair removes the link.
Where is the quest generator?
On the Generators page, as Quest generator. Its Open as a quest button fills the quest editor with the result as Rumored. Nothing is saved until you press Save.
The campaign's plot threads as a tree: hooks, contacts and open questions, with threads nested inside threads and the events that belong to them filed underneath. Use it to keep hold of what is still in play and to arrange it the way you think about it.
The lay of the page
Search and focus
The search box filters threads by title, body and #tags, with a Clear search button and a count of how many threads match. The drop-down beside it picks one thread and shows only that thread, fully expanded; Show the whole storyline brings the rest back.
Toolbar
The ? button opens a worked example for arranging the storyline. The sort button switches between My order (the order you dragged things into) and Newest first (by the most recent event in each branch). Expand all and Collapse all open or close every branch. + New Thread adds a thread.
Thread cards
Each card shows a grip, a fold arrow with the number of things inside it, a Pinned - prefix if it is pinned, the title, a date, the first part of its text, and its #tag chips. Click a card to edit the thread. + Add nested sub-event starts a new thread nested under it.
Event cards
Cards with a gold edge are calendar events that have been filed under a thread (as part of its storyline) or marked as caused by another event. They sit inside their thread, show their date, and open the event editor when clicked.
How it goes
Press + New Thread, give it a title, and write the details. Use #tags in the text to link records.
Open Date, nesting & pinning to set an in-world date, choose Nest under to make it a child of another thread, or tick Pin to dashboard.
Press Save. Or press + Nested thread (Ctrl+Enter) to save and straight away start another thread nested under it.
To add a child to a thread you already have, press + Add nested sub-event on its card.
Drag cards to rearrange them. Drop on a card's top edge to go above it, its bottom edge to go below it, or its middle to nest inside it.
Pick a thread in the drop-down to look at just that branch, and use Newest first to see which branch has moved most recently.
Gestures and keys
Drag a card
Drag a thread or event card by any part of it, or by its grip. The line that shows while you drag says what you will get: a line above, a line below, or a box around the card you would nest into. To un-nest a card, drop it on the bottom edge of its parent.
Drop an event on a thread
Dropping an event card on a thread files it under that thread, wherever on the thread you drop it. Dropping it on the middle of another event makes it a consequence of that event; on the top or bottom edge it sits level with it.
Drag a tag from the Tag Bullpen
The Tags button at the top of the app opens the Tag Bullpen. Dragging a tag from it onto a thread card applies that tag to the thread.
Tab to a card, then Enter or Space
Thread and event cards can be reached with the Tab key, and Enter or Space opens the focused card, the same as a click.
Questions
I dragged a card and it did not move. Why?
The move is saved either way, and a message says why it does not show. If the list is on Newest first, that order overrides yours until you switch back to My order. Pinned threads also always sit above the rest, so a card dropped across a pinned thread stays above or below it.
Why can I not nest a thread there?
A thread cannot be put inside its own branch. The app shows a message and leaves it where it was.
Why does a thread show a date I never typed?
A thread with no date of its own shows the span of the events filed under it, worked out from those events. It disappears if you give the thread a date or take the events out.
My event is not in the Storyline. Why?
Only events filed under a thread, or marked as caused by another event, appear here. In the event's editor, the Storyline, cause and kind section has Part of which storyline? and Caused by.
What happens to threads inside one I delete?
The deleted thread goes to the Trash and can be recovered for 30 days. The threads that were nested inside it move up one level.
The party's shared pile of coin, gems and items, held here until someone claims it. Reach for it after a fight to roll what the bodies or the camp held, and when the players sort out who keeps what.
The lay of the page
Search and count
Search by name, category, notes, source or who holds it. The count reads 'x of y items' and adds a running gold total when any values are set.
Sort
Name, Value, Category or Claimed by.
Toolbar buttons
Roll treasure, Forge an item and + New Loot.
Unclaimed - the party pool
The first group, with an item count and a gold total. Everything nobody has claimed yet lives here.
Claimed by a character
Further groups, one per character who holds something. A last group, 'Claimed by a PC no longer in the roster', collects items held by a dead or deleted character.
Loot cards
Name and quantity, category, rarity and an Unidentified flag, the value, 'From:' source, a two-line note, tags and a Claimed by picker. Click the name or the pencil to edit.
Roll treasure dialog
Three tiers (Individual, Outpost, Lair), a challenge rating, and toggles for what the place might hold: SRD gear, Magic items, Hunting, Prospecting and Herbalism.
How it goes
Click + New Loot. Enter a Name, a Quantity, a Category (Coin, Gem / Art Object, Mundane Item, Magic Item, Harvested Material or Other) and a Value such as 50 gp.
Choosing Magic Item reveals Rarity and an Identified tick. Add a Source if you want to remember where it came from, then click Save.
Or click Roll treasure, pick a tier, enter the Challenge rating (for Individual, how many fell at which CR), and click the roll button. Use the cross on a line to drop it from the parcel, then Add to party loot.
When the players decide, use the Claimed by picker on a card to give the item to a character. Choose '- unclaimed (party pool) -' to put it back.
To loot a particular NPC, open their record and use Personal loot or Lair loot. The result goes straight into Party Loot.
Gestures and keys
Drag a tag from the Tag Bullpen onto a card
Adds that #tag to the item without opening it. Works while the Tag Bullpen drawer is open.
Questions
Why does the gold total look wrong?
Value is free text. The totals read the first number in it and treat it as gold whatever the unit, so '50 sp' counts as 50 and 'priceless' counts as 0.
Why can I not set a Rarity?
Rarity and Identified only show when the Category is Magic Item.
Why did my rolled magic item arrive Unidentified?
Magic items from the treasure roller come in unidentified, unless an NPC was carrying them. Open the item and tick Identified when the party works it out.
Why is an item under 'Claimed by a PC no longer in the roster'?
The character who holds it is dead or has been deleted. Pick a living character, or the party pool, in its Claimed by picker.
Do my forged items turn up in hoards?
Yes. Items made with Forge an item join the pool the treasure roller draws on when the Magic items toggle is on.
Why did loot from a hunt or a forage show up as Other?
Older versions filed hunting, prospecting and herbalism finds under a category the list did not have, so they showed as Other. They now go under Harvested Material. Items filed earlier still read Other until you open one and pick Harvested Material.
Things with a clock: crafting, research, a stronghold, a scheme. Each project has a target, an optional DC, an owner and a log. Reach for it between sessions to see what everyone is working on and to roll a turn of downtime.
The lay of the page
Owner chips
All, Party, PCs and NPCs, each with a count. Party means a project nobody in particular owns.
Search and sort
Search by name, notes or owner. The sort picker offers Most recent, Name, Owner, Status and % complete.
Toolbar buttons
Crafting calculator, Downtime turn and + New Project.
Project cards
Name and a status badge, the owner (or 'The whole party'), the DC and 'current / target' in your unit, a progress bar, a two-line note and tags. The foot has a log button (+ Log progress, or + Log a check for success-counting projects) and an entry count. Completed and abandoned projects sit below under their own heading.
Project window
Click a card. Tabs: Progress, Notes, Owner & cost and Log. The window stays open after Save, so you can keep working in it. The footer of a saved project carries Delete, New Story Thread and Copy.
Party projects
Not on this page: the Projects button on a character card opens a list of every character, busy or idle, with their projects.
How it goes
Click + New Project and give it a Project name.
On the Progress tab choose a Tracking style (Progress needed, or Successes needed), set a Target and a Unit such as gp or hours, and add a DC if downtime should roll it. Save the project.
On the Owner & cost tab pick Whose project it is (a PC, an NPC, or the whole party) and note any cost. Save again.
Record work by clicking + Log progress on the card: enter the Amount, an optional Note and Date, and click Save entry. A message tells you when the target is reached.
Between sessions click Downtime turn, enter each worker's modifier, and click Roll the turn. Every Active project with a DC rolls once.
When a project is finished, set its Status to Completed on the Progress tab and Save. It then moves to the Completed & abandoned group.
Gestures and keys
Tab to a card, press Enter or Space
Opens the project window, same as a click.
Drag a tag from the Tag Bullpen onto a card
Adds that #tag to the project without opening it. Works while the Tag Bullpen drawer is open.
Questions
Why does the Downtime turn say no projects are ready?
It only rolls projects that are Active and have a DC filled in. Give the project a DC on its Progress tab.
What does a Downtime turn actually do?
Each eligible project rolls a d20 plus the modifier you entered. Meeting the DC adds 1 progress, a natural 20 adds 2, and a miss is logged as 0. The rolls go to the dice tray, and to Roll20 if the bridge is on.
Does the Crafting calculator know my rules?
No. It carries no rules of its own. You enter what the item is worth, the progress per day and so on from your books or from a Downtime entry in the Reference Library. The rule links are bookmarks you can edit.
Why is there a 'Manual adjustment' line in the log?
Typing a new number into Current progress and saving does not overwrite anything. It adds the difference to the log as a Manual adjustment entry, so the log stays the record.
The target is reached but the project still shows Active. Why?
Nothing completes a project automatically. The card says 'Target reached!' and you set the Status to Completed yourself.
A web of everyone who has history with everyone: player characters, NPCs, organizations and places. Reach for it to see who is tied to whom, and who the campaign keeps putting in the same room.
The lay of the page
Kind chips
PCs, NPCs, Organizations and Locations, each with a coloured dot. Click one to hide or show that kind of record.
Show unlinked
By default a record with no connections is left off the map. This button brings those circles back.
Find ties in my notes
Reads the notes you have already written for names of other records and proposes a tie for each pair. Opens a review dialog; nothing is saved until you press a button.
Circles
One per record, sized by how connected it is, with its name underneath. Click a circle to open the record: a PC opens its sheet, anything else opens its record window.
Grey lines
Shared appearances. Two records are joined when they are tagged in the same storyline thread, calendar event, journal entry, project or encounter log. More shared records make a thicker line.
Coloured lines with a word on them
Ties you stated, such as 'sibling of' or 'leads'. They are coloured by kind of bond (blood, oath, craft, stance, bond) and carry an arrowhead when the tie has a direction.
Counter
At the right of the toolbar: how many records are drawn and how many shared-appearance connections. It also tells you when only the 80 most connected records are shown.
How it goes
Open Relations Map. If it is empty, #tag the same names across threads, events and journal entries and the grey web fills in.
Use the kind chips and Show unlinked to decide what is drawn.
To state a tie by hand, open an NPC from the NPCs page, go to its Relationships tab, pick someone under 'Add a relationship...', click Add, then choose what they are in the dropdown beside the name.
Or click Find ties in my notes. Each row names two records and shows the sentence it came from. Check the dropdown ('what are they?'), then click Record it.
Click a circle to open that record. Hover a line or a circle for details.
Gestures and keys
Hover a line or a circle
A tooltip names the record and its connection count, or lists the threads and events behind a grey line, or reads 'A - tie - B' with any note for a coloured one.
Questions
Can I drag circles around, or draw a line from one circle to another?
No. The layout is worked out fresh every time the page draws, and circles do not move. Ties are stated on an NPC's Relationships tab or through Find ties in my notes.
I clicked Not one but the pair came back. Why?
Not one only hides that row inside the dialog. It is not stored, so the next time you open Find ties in my notes the same pair is proposed again.
Why is a record missing from the map?
Either its kind chip is switched off, or it has no connections and Show unlinked is off. With more than 80 records only the 80 most connected are drawn.
Why does the connection count seem too low?
The count at the top right is the grey shared-appearance lines only. Stated ties are drawn on the map but are not counted there.
Why is there no arrow on some ties?
Only ties with a direction get an arrowhead. Mutual ones, such as sibling of, married to, kin of, ally of, rival of and enemy of, are plain lines.
The tree of who answers to whom: an order of knights, a council of mages, a noble's household. Reach for it to see the chain of command or the ranks inside one organization.
The lay of the page
Two tabs
Chain of command and By organization switch between the two readings. The Relations map button jumps to the other page, the web of who has history with whom.
Chain of command
Cards for the party and their people, then for NPCs who answer to nobody but have people under them. Each name is a row, indented under whoever it answers to. This tab follows personal ties only, the ones with no organization named.
By organization
One card per record whose type is Organization / Faction, with a member count. The members are laid out as a tree, those with nobody above them inside that body at the top, ordered by the organization's rank list, each with a rank badge.
Rows
A portrait or icon, the name, a PC badge for player characters, the role they hold (Lieutenant, Steward, Pet and so on) and their own role or title. Click a row to open the record.
The outranks-them-elsewhere badge
Marks two people who outrank each other in different organizations. Hover it for the explanation.
Answering to someone outside this body
A heading inside an organization card for members whose named superior does not belong to that organization.
How it goes
Make the organization first: + Add NPC on the NPCs page, set Record type to Organization / Faction, and list its ranks in Ranks in this organization, highest first, one per line. Save.
Open a person with Edit and fold open Allegiance - who they answer to, and where they stand.
In the row choose Which body, then Reports to - a person, As their... and Rank (a pick-list when the organization has ranks). Use + Another allegiance for each further body, then Save.
Do the same for a player character on the Standing tab of the character sheet.
Open Hierarchy & Rank and choose By organization to see the ladder, or Chain of command for personal ties such as a squire, a pet or a familiar.
Questions
I set who someone reports to inside an organization. Why is it not under Chain of command?
Chain of command shows only personal ties, rows where Which body is left as 'a personal tie, no organization'. Ties inside an organization appear on that organization's card under By organization.
I got a message that something was refused. What happened?
Inside one organization nobody can be their own superior, so a circle is refused and that row is saved without its 'reports to' person. Two rows for the same body are also refused. Everything else you entered is kept.
Can two people each outrank the other?
Yes, as long as it is in different organizations. The app does not refuse it; it marks the pair with the outranks-them-elsewhere badge so you can see it.
Where do pets, familiars and mounts go?
On a row with no organization, under As their..., where Pet, Familiar and Mount are listed. At most one such personal row per record.
Why is By organization empty?
Only records whose type is Organization / Faction get a card. The page tells you so and offers + Add Organization.
The campaign's shelf of creatures: look one up, open its rollable statblock at the table, forge or generate an original one, and drop it into a fight. Reach for it when you need a monster in front of you or want to stock the world with new ones.
The lay of the page
Top bar (stays put as you scroll)
A search box, a Sort menu, four stackable lineage chips (Homebrew, SRD, D&D Beyond, 3rd party), then the tools: Dossiers, the statblock-face toggle, Seed index, Re-forge untouched, Sync D&D Beyond (desktop app only), Generator, Forge missing and + Add creature.
Count and layers row
How many creatures are showing, three layer switches (Subtype, Ecology, Biome icons) that change how the tree is folded and what the cards show, and Expand all / Collapse all.
The tree
Creatures are grouped by type (Aberration, Beast and so on), then by subtype, then by ecology. Click a heading to fold or unfold it. With more than 60 creatures showing, the type headings start folded.
Creature cards
Name (coloured by rarity), favoured-terrain icons, a CR badge, the lineage and ecology line, a two-line preview of the notes, and 'Fought by' when a party member has fought it. Each card has Edit, To campaign dossier and Add to encounter buttons.
Statblock panel (click a card)
Opens the creature's statblock first, ready to roll. Its footer holds Edit, Reforge, Add to encounter, To dossier, Personal loot, Lair loot and Gear & loot to dossier.
Edit Creature dialog
Tabs for Details, Statblock, SRD mapping, and (once the creature is saved) Roll20, plus an Encounters tab when fights have been logged against it.
How it goes
Type in the search box to narrow the catalogue (partial names work), or click a lineage chip to show only that source. Chips stack: click two to see both.
Click a creature's card to open its statblock. Click anything gold in the block to roll it; results land in the dice tray.
No statblock yet? The panel offers 'Forge one from CR', which writes an original CR-scaled block onto the record. To do it for every creature at once, press Forge missing in the top bar.
To add your own, press + Add creature, fill in the name, type, CR and notes, and press Save. On the Statblock tab, Forge writes an original block (press again for a different one) and Edit flips to the raw text.
To invent a new monster, press Generator, enter a name, a CR and where it lives, press Generate, and then Add to Creature Catalogue when you like the result. Nothing is saved until you add it.
To use a creature in play, press Add to encounter on its card to drop it into the current encounter (a new one is started if none is running), or To campaign dossier to keep a copy you can log fights and grudges against.
Gestures and keys
Tab to a card, then press Enter or Space
Opens the statblock panel, the same as clicking the card.
Click a group heading
Folds or unfolds that group. Searching unfolds everything so matches are never hidden.
Questions
Why is there no Sync D&D Beyond button?
It only appears in the desktop app. It also needs the DM Screen connector running in a browser where you are signed in to D&D Beyond. It works through creatures that cite official books and have no local statblock, up to 40 per run; run it again for the next batch.
Why did Forge missing or Re-forge untouched seem to do nothing?
Forge missing only fills creatures that have a CR but no statblock, and says so when there is none to fill. Re-forge untouched only regenerates blocks it can prove the machine wrote; anything you edited is left alone, and you are told how many were kept.
Why does a creature show no terrain icons and sit under 'Unplaced'?
Ecology and terrain come from the built-in encounter index, matched by name. A creature whose name is not in that index has none, but it still works everywhere else.
What does the Homebrew statblocks / SRD statblocks button do?
It switches every creature record between its original homebrew block and the word-for-word SRD block. A few monsters that sit outside the SRD, such as the beholder, are never reproduced; they link to D&D Beyond instead.
Is deleting a creature permanent?
No. Delete in the Edit dialog moves it to the Trash, recoverable for 30 days. Creatures belong to one campaign each; the Edit dialog has a field to move one to another campaign.
The world's catalogue of what can be found: what came off a kill, what is in the ground, what grows there and what swims in the water. Browse a shelf, roll a find against it, or add and edit entries of your own.
The lay of the page
Shelf tabs
Hunting, Prospecting, Herbalism and Fishing. Each is a separate shelf, and the note beside them reminds you the catalogue belongs to the world, so every campaign in that world shares it.
Search, count and Sort
A search box with a Clear button and a live 'N of M entries' count, remembered separately for each shelf, and an Order menu: Rarity (the shelf), Name, Value, Easiest to find first, Where it is found.
Tool buttons
A roll button named for the shelf (for example 'Hunting roll'), then Creature harvesting, Forage food, Abyssite, Worldeater, Encounters and Supplies, a difficulty-scale button, Restock catalogue, Reconcile and + Add entry.
Entry cards
Grouped by rarity (or in one list when you sort another way). Each card shows the name, rarity badge, where it is found, the Find DC, yield, value, notes, the book it cites, and a taste-and-use line on the shelves that have one.
Entry detail (click a card)
Opens the full entry: what it is, preparation, and on the Fishing shelf the water and typical size. The footer has Edit this entry.
How it goes
Pick a shelf with its tab, then search or sort to find what you want. Typing filters instantly and the count updates.
Click a card to read the whole entry. Press Edit this entry to change it, or + Add entry to write a new one (name, rarity, where it is found, check DC, yield, value, notes, preparation).
To find out what a character turned up, press the roll button for the shelf. Roll the d20 there or type the check total, and set the area richness. The result is always something this world's catalogue actually holds.
From the roll dialog you can press Record this find, To a location, Save as a site (Hunting, Prospecting and Fishing), or Send to the table.
If the catalogue feels too easy or too hard for your party, press the scale-icon button and choose a tier of play. It shifts every DC on that shelf at once and does not change the entries.
After an update, press Restock catalogue to add any entries your world is missing; press Reconcile to see, change by change, where shipped entries have drifted from the catalogue.
Gestures and keys
Tab to a card, then press Enter or Space
Opens the entry detail, the same as clicking the card.
Questions
Does Restock catalogue overwrite my entries?
No. It adds entries the world lacks and fills in fields that are empty on entries you already have. Anything you typed is kept.
Why did pressing Abyssite or Worldeater ask me to add a module?
Those two trackers are optional homebrew modules. If this world has not switched the module on, the button offers to take you to Homebrew modules instead of opening the tracker.
Why does an entry show on the shelf but never come up in rolls?
The shelf lists everything in the catalogue. Rolls skip books you have not ticked as owned once 'Don't show results from books I don't own' is on, on the Sources page. Entries with no source are always eligible.
Why can't I change the source on some entries?
Entries that shipped with the app cite a book they do not contain. The citation is sealed with a lock icon, so it cannot be edited or removed; Restock catalogue brings it back if you delete the entry.
Why does a stat block I typed need a source?
An entry with your own stats on file cannot be saved without naming the book they came from. Those stats stay on your machine.
The world's own rulebook: calendar eras, history, calendar profiles, coinage, tide and weather tables, house rules and downtime activities, all editable. Reach for it to look up a downtime rule mid-session or to tune how your world keeps time and weather.
The lay of the page
World banner
Names the world and warns that edits here change every campaign in it, with a Manage worlds button.
Search and add row
A search box (it filters the downtime activities only), a Clear search button and a count, then Import from another world and + Add library entry.
Dating, history, calendars, coinage
Calendar Dating System, Historical Ages & Anchors (with + Add and Clear History), Calendar Profiles and Coinage. Click a row to edit it.
Tides and weather
Tide Calculation Models, Weather Climate Tables and Weather Biomes, each with its own add button; click an entry to edit it.
House Rules
Your table's rules as short titled entries. Click one to edit its text.
Downtime activities
Cards grouped by category. Each has a Details button (the DC table, time, cost, and what success and failure do) and an Edit button; some carry calculators or a special roll button.
How it goes
Scroll to the section you want, or type in the search box to find a downtime activity by any word in it.
On a downtime card, press Details to see its DC table, time, cost, and what happens on success and failure. Press Edit to change any of it.
To add something, press + Add library entry and pick a kind (Historical period, Calendar profile, Calendar era, Coin type, Tide model, Weather climate, Weather biome, House rule or Downtime activity), or use the + button in that section's heading.
Click any existing row in the other sections to open its editor, change the fields and press Save. Delete is in the same dialog.
To reuse homebrew you wrote for another world, press Import from another world, tick the items, and press Import selected. They are copied; the other world is untouched.
Check the (RAW) or (Homebrew) tag after each name to see whether an entry came with the app or is yours.
Questions
Why does searching not find my coinage, house rules or eras?
The search box only filters the downtime activity cards at the bottom. The count beside it says 'activities' for that reason; the other sections are always shown in full.
Will editing here change my other campaigns?
Yes, if they are in the same world. The banner at the top says how many campaigns share this library. Worlds are managed on the Worlds page.
Does Clear History ask first, and can I undo it?
It asks first. It removes every Historical Ages & Anchors entry for this world, and campaign dates and calendar events are not touched. The confirmation does not mention the Trash, so treat it as permanent.
Why does Import from another world say there is nothing to import?
It only lists homebrew items that live in a different world from the active one. If no other world has any, you get 'No homebrew in any other world to import'.
What do (RAW) and (Homebrew) after a name mean?
Entries you add or that came from your own work are tagged (Homebrew); everything else is tagged (RAW). The list is sorted by name, with homebrew first when a name appears twice.
A world holds the setting that campaigns share: its calendar and its reference library. Come here to build a custom world, to start a ready-made setting with its calendar and a few NPCs, or to change a world's name, colour and calendar.
The lay of the page
Setting buttons (top row)
One button per ready-made setting, from Curse of Strahd to Dragonlords. Most create a campaign straight away; the exceptions are listed in the steps below.
+ Add World
Opens the New World wizard for a world of your own.
World card
Colour dot, name, the calendar it uses, and how many campaigns are in it (with their names).
Edit and Delete
Top right of each card. Edit changes the name, calendar profile and colour. Delete asks for confirmation and takes the world's campaigns with it.
Homebrew modules
Opens a switchboard for three optional corruption mechanics written for Korentil: Abyssite Incursion, Worldeater Horde and Maw Spawn. A badge on the button shows how many are on.
Reference Library and + Campaign in this world
Reference Library jumps to the Reference page for the world's first campaign. + Campaign in this world opens Add Campaign with that world already chosen.
How it goes
To start a published setting, click its button in the top row (for example Greyhawk or Forgotten Realms). The app adds the setting's world if you do not have it, adds a campaign in it with a handful of NPCs, sets the starting date, makes it the active campaign and shows a message.
Dragonlance first asks you to choose a starting region. Strixhaven, Spelljammer, Planescape and Dragonlords first show a 'No Official Calendar' notice explaining what the starter does instead; click Continue to go on or Cancel to back out.
To build your own world, click + Add World and step through the wizard (Next, Back, then Create World). Choosing 'Use an existing calendar' is the short path; 'Build a custom calendar' adds steps for days of the week, months, moon, tides and seasons.
Once the world exists, click + Campaign in this world on its card to start a campaign in it.
To rename a world, recolour it or change its calendar, click Edit on its card and Save.
To use the Korentil corruption mechanics in a world, click Homebrew modules on its card and toggle each one On or Off, then Done.
Questions
I clicked a setting button twice and now have two campaigns. Why?
Each click makes a new campaign. If an id is already taken the new one is named with '(2)', '(3)' and so on. The world itself is only added once. Delete the extra campaign from the Campaigns page.
Why did changing a world's calendar in Edit seem to do nothing?
The calendar change is only carried out when the world has at least one campaign. With no campaign in the world, Edit still saves the name and colour but the calendar selection is not applied. Add a campaign first, then edit the calendar.
What happens to my dates when I change a world's calendar?
If the world's campaigns have calendar events or dated journal entries, a 'Change Calendar?' window warns that they keep their stored day numbers, which will fall on different dates under the new calendar. The window offers Cancel, Switch without remapping, or Remap dates.
What does deleting a world delete?
The world, its reference library, and every campaign in it with everything those campaigns hold. There is no undo, so back up first from Data & Layout. If it was your last world, a blank one is created.
Are Homebrew modules the same as Content modules on the Data & Layout page?
No. Homebrew modules here are three specific optional mechanics (Abyssite Incursion, Worldeater Horde, Maw Spawn) switched on per world. Content modules on the Data & Layout page are importable JSON packs such as adventures. In a Korentil world the three mechanics show as native and are always on.
Every campaign you run lives here as a card. Use it to start a new campaign, edit one's details and in-game date, switch to a different one, or delete one you are finished with.
The lay of the page
Search and sort bar
Appears once you have more than one campaign. Search matches the name, world, tagline, region, schedule, status and notes; the sort menu offers Name (A-Z), Recently started, World and Most people in it.
+ Add Campaign
Top right. Opens the Add Campaign window.
Campaign card
A colour dot, the name, the status line, the tagline, region / schedule, the first sentence of the notes, any #tags, and counts of PCs and NPCs in that campaign.
Edit all properties
Top right of each card. Opens the Edit window for that campaign: name, tagline, status, region, schedule, D&D Beyond link, notes, custom properties, current date, default climate and colour.
Date button
The gold date with 'edit date' beside it on each card. It opens the same Edit window as Edit all properties.
Switch to ... and Delete
Bottom of each card. Switch makes that campaign the active one and takes you to the Dashboard. Delete asks for confirmation first.
How it goes
Click + Add Campaign.
Type a Campaign name (required) and, if you like, a One-line tagline.
Pick the World the campaign belongs to. If the world you want does not exist yet, + New World closes this window and opens the new-world wizard, then brings you back here with that world selected.
Set the Starting campaign date (Year, Era, Month, Day) and a Color. Open Details if you want to fill in status, region, schedule, a D&D Beyond campaign link and notes now.
Click Create Campaign. The new campaign becomes the active one and you land on the Dashboard.
Later, use Edit all properties on its card to change any of it, including the current date, then Save all changes.
Questions
Why does it say a campaign with that name already exists?
The campaign's internal id is made from its name (letters and numbers, with dashes). Two names that reduce to the same id, for example 'The Lost Mine' and 'the lost-mine', collide, and Create Campaign refuses the second. Add a distinguishing word.
Where did the search box and sort menu go?
They only show when you have two or more campaigns.
What does Delete remove, and can I undo it?
Delete removes the campaign and what belongs to it: its characters, NPCs, storyline threads, projects, bestiary and creature-journal entries, quests, loot, maps, inn menus, location items, calendar events, weather and tide records, supplies, import history, and any trash entries for its records. Homebrew items tied to that campaign go too; items not tied to a campaign stay. Chronology entries shared with people in other campaigns stay with them. There is no undo and nothing goes to the Trash, so download a backup from Data & Layout first if in doubt.
What happens if I delete my only campaign?
The app creates a blank campaign called 'My Campaign' in the same world so there is always one to work in.
Does 'Switch to' change anything in the other campaign?
No. It only changes which campaign the rest of the app is showing.
Bring a D&D Beyond character into a campaign, either from the sheet's PDF or from its link. Every import ends in a review window where you decide which fields to take, so nothing changes unseen.
The lay of the page
Add characters to
A menu of your campaigns at the top. The character you import lands in the campaign chosen here. The choice is remembered.
Upload PDF card
Explains how to export the sheet from D&D Beyond (Character Sheet, Export/Print, PDF) and holds the Upload PDF(s) button, which opens the Import Character window.
D&D Beyond link card
A box for the character's link. On the desktop app it also has an optional field for the sheet owner's username and two buttons, Fetch & import sheet and Just attach the link. In a browser the only button is Add character from link.
Already in (campaign)
Appears when the chosen campaign has characters. Each row shows the name, a Move to... menu, and either an Open link button or 'No link on file'.
How it goes
Pick the campaign in the Add characters to menu.
For a PDF: click Upload PDF(s), then drop one or more PDF sheets on the dashed box or click it to browse. Each file appears in the Batch Queue; click Review on the one you want to import.
For a link on the desktop app: paste the character's D&D Beyond link into the box and click Fetch & import sheet. If it reads, the same review window opens.
In the review window, choose Whose copy wins (D&D Beyond or Compass), tick or untick the fields you want, and click Commit Import. For a new character the Name row has to be ticked.
If you only want the link kept for now, click Just attach the link. A new-character form opens with the link and campaign filled in; add the name and details and save.
To shift someone to another campaign, use Move to... on their row under 'Already in', then confirm Move them.
Gestures and keys
Drop PDFs on the dashed box
In the Import Character window opened by Upload PDF(s), drag one or more PDF files onto the dashed box instead of clicking it. The border turns gold while you hover; a whole batch can be dropped at once.
Questions
It says 'Paste a valid D&D Beyond character link first'. What is a valid link?
A link that contains dndbeyond.com/characters/ followed by the character's number, or dndbeyond.com/profile/name/characters/ and the number. A link to a profile page or a campaign page is not accepted.
Why can't it read my character from the link?
On the desktop app the first attempt asks D&D Beyond anonymously, so it can only read public characters; a private or campaign-only sheet is refused even if you can see it yourself. If you left the username box empty, the app then asks the DM Screen connector, which reads from your signed-in Chrome. That needs Chrome open with the connector enabled and a DM Screen tab open, and it waits up to 45 seconds before reporting that the bridge did not answer. The alternative is Upload PDF.
What is the sheet owner's username for?
Only as a fallback. If the public data cannot be read and you typed a username, the app tries to fetch the sheet PDF the owner exported on D&D Beyond, which has to be named after their profile name exactly. If you leave it blank, the public data is read directly.
Will importing the same character again create a duplicate?
No. The review window matches an existing character by D&D Beyond ID, or failing that by name (it asks you to confirm it is the same person), and says 'this will update, not duplicate'. If the sheet carries no character ID, the review has an optional D&D Beyond link box so later imports can match exactly.
Which copy wins when I re-import?
You choose per review. D&D Beyond ticks every changed field, including ones you edited by hand. Compass ticks only confident updates that do not conflict with your edits. Your notes, portrait, current hit points and conditions are not on the list and do not move.
A reference shelf for the things a party buys for the road: mounts and tack, vehicles, and tools. Reach for it when someone asks what a warhorse or a keelboat costs, or how much a saddle weighs.
The lay of the page
Shelf tabs
Mounts & Tack, Vehicles and Tools, with a note beside them that costs and speeds come from the SRD and entries from other books point at those books.
Search and Sort
A search box with a Clear button and an 'N entries' count, remembered separately for each shelf, and a Sort menu: Category (the shelf), Name, Cost (cheapest first) or Cost (dearest first).
Entry cards
Grouped by category (Mount and Tack, Waterborne, Land and Air, Artisan's tools, Kit, Gaming set, Instrument). Each card shows the name, the cost, the speed, load or weight line, a note, and the book it comes from when it has one.
How it goes
Pick a shelf with its tab: Mounts & Tack, Vehicles or Tools.
Type in the search box to match anywhere on an entry: name, category, cost, stat line, notes or book.
Use the Sort menu to see the cheapest or dearest things first. Entries with no price of their own, such as barding or anything from a closed book, always sort last.
Read the card for the price and the speed, load or weight. Where an entry cites another book, press its book chip to open the publisher's page.
To stop closed-book entries appearing here, tick 'Don't show results from books I don't own' on the Sources page and mark the books you own.
Questions
Can I add or edit equipment here?
Not on this page. It is a read-only reference: the cards have no Edit or Add buttons.
Why are some entries missing a price and a stat line?
Those come from books that are not open content, such as the Monster Manual or Eberron. The app gives them a name, a sentence of its own and a link to the book, but not the numbers.
Why did a shelf entry vanish?
If 'Don't show results from books I don't own' is on in the Sources page, entries from books you have not ticked are hidden here. Untick it, or tick the book, to bring them back.
Where is the party's food and water tracked?
Not on this page. Party supplies are set from the Supplies button on the Field Guide page, and once tracking is on they appear as a panel on the Dashboard.
Lists every published book that the Field Guide and Equipment entries cite, with a link to buy each. Tick the books you own, and the app can stop offering you entries whose details live in books you do not have.
The lay of the page
Header
Says the app cites these books and does not contain them.
Ownership card
A checkbox, 'Don't show results from books I don't own', with Tick all and Clear all buttons and a count of how many books are marked as owned.
Publisher groups
Books grouped under their publisher, each group with a count. Books are listed A to Z by title within a group.
Book card
A checkbox to say you own it, the title, how many catalogue entries point at it (and 'Open Game Content' for OGL books), and a Buy it link.
Footer
Publisher trademark notice, the SRD 5.1 attribution under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0, and a 'Read the full notice' link.
How it goes
Open Sources and look through the book cards.
Tick the checkbox on each book you own, or click Tick all and untick the few you do not.
Turn on Don't show results from books I don't own if you want your rolls and lists to skip the rest.
Use Buy it on a book card to open where it can be bought.
Come back any time; ticks are saved as you click, with no Save button.
Questions
I ticked books and nothing changed. Why?
Ticking only records what you own. Entries are hidden only while 'Don't show results from books I don't own' is switched on. A book you leave unticked then drops out of the Field Guide harvest, prospect and forage rolls, the Equipment page lists, and treasure that draws on field finds. A harvest subtype disappears from the choices only when every entry under it comes from a book you have not ticked.
Do entries with no book get hidden?
No. Entries that cite no source are original to the app and are always eligible.
Why is a card faded?
A faded card is a book not marked as owned.
Does it change anything in my records?
No. It filters what the generators and lists offer; it does not edit or delete any entries.
Why does the page say 'No sourced entries yet'?
The list is built from the entries themselves. If no Field Guide or Equipment entry cites a book, there is nothing to list.
Where you protect your campaign (backups, restore, trash), install content modules, and tune how the app looks and is laid out. Visit it before a big edit or a new install, and any time you want a copy of your data.
The lay of the page
Top cards
Three small cards: Getting started guide (reopens the first-run guide), View shortcuts (keyboard shortcuts), and Choose... under 'Your toolbar' (pick tools to pin to a small bar in the corner of the window).
Data safety
Download full backup, Characters CSV, NPCs CSV and Restore full backup; the list of automatic backups; the Trash; storage details (storage mode, database size, app version and schema); Check for updates; and Report a problem.
Content modules
Import module and Create module buttons, plus a row for each installed module with Copy JSON and, for imported ones, Edit and Remove.
Workspace layout
Sidebar width slider, Theme (Dark or Light), Card columns, 'Menu opens when you point at it', and Density (Comfortable or Compact).
Dashboard order
The dashboard's blocks in order, each with Move up and Move down. The block's name is a button that jumps to the page it belongs to.
Profiles on this device
Each profile with Rename and Delete, and a Switch / add a profile button.
How it goes
To back up, click Download full backup. It downloads one file named loremasters-compass-backup- followed by today's date, ending .json. Keep it somewhere that is not only on this computer.
To restore, click Restore full backup, choose a backup .json file, then confirm Restore backup in the window that appears.
To go back to an automatic snapshot, find it under Automatic backups, click its Restore button and confirm.
To install a module, click Import module, choose a .json file or paste the JSON, and click Import. To write one in the app, click Create module.
To change the look, use Workspace layout: set the Theme, Density, Card columns and Sidebar width. Changes apply as soon as you make them.
To reorder the dashboard, use Move up and Move down in Dashboard order.
Questions
How do I back up my campaign?
Click Download full backup on this page. The file holds your campaigns, characters, NPCs, storyline, calendar events, weather and tides, worlds and their reference libraries, portraits, quests, loot, maps, bestiary, trash, imported modules and module play state, and your saved interface settings. The Characters CSV and NPCs CSV buttons are not backups: they save a spreadsheet of one list each, and there is no button here to import them back.
How do I restore a backup, and what does it replace?
Click Restore full backup, pick the .json file and confirm. It replaces the current data with the file's contents, store by store; anything the file does not carry goes back to its empty default. The app does not save a safety copy first, so download a backup of the current state before you restore if you might want it. If the file is not a Loremaster's Compass backup you get 'This is not a valid Loremaster's Compass backup.', and a backup made by a newer version of the app is refused until you update.
What are the automatic backups?
Once per day, when the app launches, it saves a snapshot, but only once the campaign has content in it. The last 10 are kept, each listed with its date, time and size and a Restore button. The day is counted in UTC, so an evening session may count as the next date. Snapshots live in the app's own storage next to your campaign, so they do not replace a backup file kept elsewhere. Restoring one asks you to confirm and then goes through the same restore step as a backup file.
I deleted something. Can I get it back?
For most records, yes: the Trash on this page keeps deleted records for 30 days, with Restore and Delete forever on each row and Empty trash for the lot. It lists the 20 newest, keeps at most 100 items, and is cleared of anything older than 30 days when the app starts. Deleting a whole campaign or world does not go through the Trash.
Why do some screens still look dark after I pick the Light theme?
The Light theme is new, and a few screens still use fixed colours that do not change with it. Switch back to Dark (default) in Workspace layout if one is hard to read.
For the bigger forms, each with a filled-in example.
Adding a field guide entry
One entry is one thing the party can find: a herb, a gem, a piece of a carcass, a fish. Only the name is required β everything else sharpens what the roll tells you when it turns up.
How it goes
Name it, and set how common it is. Rarity is what decides how often the roll offers it at all.
Set the DC if you want it harder or easier than its rarity implies. Leave it blank and the rarity decides.
Say where it grows or is found, and what a successful harvest yields.
Fold open πΏ Flavour and everyday use if you want to write how it is prepared and what it tastes like β or press π² and take a rolled one.
A filled-in example
Name
Emberheart bloom
Rarity
Uncommon
Origin
Volcanic scree, above the tree line
Find DC
15
Yield
1d4 blossoms
Value
12 gp each
Typical preparation
Dried in a single layer, out of the sun.
Eaten raw
Grassy, then floral, then nothing.
Prepared
Turns faintly bitter and much more interesting.
Questions
Which fields actually matter?
Name and rarity. Rarity drives how often it turns up and roughly what it is worth; everything else is texture the card shows when it does.
Do I have to write the flavour lines?
No β that is why they are folded away. Anything you leave blank is rolled from the name, the same answer every time, and marked βrolledβ on the card so you can tell yours apart.
Why does the gem shelf have no flavour fields?
A diamond does not taste of anything. Prospecting entries skip that whole section.
Will my herbs show up in the tavern menus?
Yes β the Inn & Tavern generator seasons its dishes from this shelf, and hovering the herb on the menu shows what it lends the pot and the DC to go and find some.
Can I search by taste?
Yes. The rolled and written flavour text is searchable, so βbitterβ or βsmokyβ finds things nobody typed those words into.
Adding a player character
Characters are the party β the players' own heroes, kept apart from the NPC cast. Each is a full sheet: abilities and saves, skills, weapons, features, spells, inventory and coin. Only a name is required to start, and you can either type a sheet in or import one from D&D Beyond.
How it goes
Open the π‘οΈ Characters page and press Add character.
Give the character a name β the only required field. Add the player, class and level while you are there if you like.
Fill the sheet as far as you want: set the six ability scores and the modifiers work themselves out; tick save and skill proficiencies; add weapons, features, spells, inventory and money.
Save. The character joins the party under the active campaign.
Already have a D&D Beyond sheet? Skip the typing β use Character Import to bring it in from a PDF, then edit it here.
A filled-in example
Name
Bryn Alderleaf
Player
Sam
Class
Ranger
Level
3
Abilities
DEX 16, WIS 14 β modifiers auto-fill
Also on the sheet
saves, skills, weapons, spells, inventory, coin
Questions
What is the difference between a Character and an NPC?
Characters are the players' heroes β the party. NPCs are everyone else the party meets. Keeping them apart is what lets the app treat the party as the party: their Charisma sets the default loyalty of allies you recruit, for one.
Do I have to fill in the whole sheet?
No β only a name. Add a bare character now and flesh it out later, or not at all; a name and a class is plenty to run someone at the table.
Do the modifiers and save bonuses work themselves out?
Yes β the ability modifier follows the score as you type it, and a save or skill you tick as proficient picks up your proficiency bonus. Skill bonuses stay editable if you need to nudge one.
Can I import a character instead of typing one?
Yes. The Character Import page reads a D&D Beyond sheet exported as a PDF β spells, inventory, stats and features come across as structured data, and a printed or flattened PDF still imports as text. No sign-in and no account access, ever; a private sheet simply can't be fetched, so use the PDF for those.
Where do the characters live?
On the π‘οΈ Characters page, filed under the active campaign β so each campaign keeps its own party.
Adding an NPC
The NPCs page is your cast β but it holds more than people. One form makes a person, an organization or a place, and the Record type at the top decides which; every field below it relabels to match. Only a name is ever required, and everything else is folded away until you want it, so a quick walk-on stays quick.
How it goes
Open the π NPCs page and press Add NPC.
Name them. That is the only required field β save now and fill the rest in whenever you like.
Set the Record type β Person, Organization or Location. It changes what the fields beneath it mean, so choose it first.
Open as many of the folds as you want: species and role, Allegiance (who they answer to), Standing (how they sit with the party), roleplay notes, even an optional statblock.
Save. They join the roster under the active campaign, and you can reopen them any time to add more.
A filled-in example
Name
Maervin Cask
Record type
Person (NPC)
Species
Human
Role
Harbourmaster of the Reedwater docks
Loyalty (β20 to 20)
6
Motivation
Keep the river trade flowing, and his brother out of gaol
Signature quote
βTide waits for coin least of all.β
Questions
Do I really only need a name?
Yes. A name saves the record; species, role, standing, appearance, a statblock β all of it is optional and can come later. The form folds the deeper parts away so a fast NPC stays fast.
Why can this make an Organization or a Location?
Because a campaign's factions and places want the same things its people do: notes, a standing with the party, who answers to whom, a chronology. Rather than three separate editors, the Record type reshapes this one β so the NPCs page is really the roster of everyone and everything the party deals with.
What are loyalty and attitude?
For a person you set a loyalty from β20 to 20, and the attitude is worked out from it. Tick Ally or Follower and, if loyalty is blank, it starts at half the party's highest Charisma. Organizations track Rank instead, and places track Renown.
Do I have to give them a statblock?
No β it is an optional fold. When you do want one, you can drop in an SRD creature's block as-is, forge an original from the same engine the monsters use, or paste your own.
Can I roll one instead of writing it?
Yes. The NPC generator builds a whole person β name, look, manner, a quote β that you can open into this same form and then edit. Useful for the face behind a bar you did not plan for.
Where do they go, and are they shared between campaigns?
Onto the π NPCs page, filed under whichever campaign is active when you make them. Switch campaigns and the roster switches too, so each story keeps its own cast.
Arranging the storyline
Threads nest inside threads, and events file under them. The whole board is arranged by dragging β and the drop target has three zones, which is what lets one gesture do up, down, indent and outdent.
How it goes
Drag an entry by the card itself β anywhere on it, not just the β Ώ handle.
Drop on the TOP edge of another card to sit above it, at its level.
Drop in the MIDDLE to nest inside it.
Drop on the BOTTOM edge to sit below it, at its level.
To un-nest something, drop it on the bottom edge of its own parent.
A filled-in example
Move it up
top edge of the card you want to be above
Move it down
bottom edge of the card you want to be below
Indent (nest)
middle of the card it should belong to
Outdent (un-nest)
bottom edge of its own parent
Questions
I dragged something and it did not move β why?
Two reasons, and the app says which in a toast. Either the list is sorted π Newest first, which overrides your arrangement until you switch it off, or you dropped across a pinned thread, and pinned threads always sit above the rest.
What does π Newest first sort by?
The newest event anywhere in each branch, including events under threads nested several levels down. Threads with nothing dated in them sink to the bottom.
Does sorting lose the order I arranged?
No. It is a view β your order is kept untouched underneath and comes straight back when you press β My order.
Can I nest a thread inside its own branch?
No, and it will tell you rather than quietly making a loop.
Custom species
A species here is a name, a size, a speed, one ability it leans on, and up to three features. It joins the pool the NPC generator draws from, and appears in its Species list marked β¦.
How it goes
Name it. Anything you would say at the table β Ashborn, Deepkin, Salt-Elf.
Set size and speed. Medium and 30 ft. is the human default and a fine place to start.
Pick what it leans on, or leave it at β none β.
Write up to three features: a short name, and one line saying what it does.
Save. It is there for every later roll, and you can edit or remove it from the chips at the bottom of this form.
A filled-in example
Species name
Ashborn
Size
Medium
Speed (ft.)
30
Leans on
CON
Questions
It will not save β why not?
Two reasons, and it says which. A species needs a name; and you cannot reuse a built-in name like Elf or Dwarf, because the built-in would shadow yours and your features would never show. Pick something else.
One of my features vanished when I saved.
A feature row needs a NAME. A row with only a description is dropped on save β put a word in the left-hand box and it will keep.
Where does it show up afterwards?
In the NPC generator's Species list, marked β¦, alongside the built-in dozen. It is also in the pool when you leave Species on β roll one β.
Do I have to write features?
No. A name, a size and a speed is a valid species. The feature rows can all stay empty.
What does βLeans onβ do right now?
It is recorded on the species and shown when you edit it, and the built-in species carry it too β but nothing reads it yet, so it does not currently change a forged stat block. Treat it as a note to yourself until it is wired up.
Same for size, speed and features?
Yes β today the generator uses the species NAME. The rest is kept on the species record for your own reference and for when the forge starts reading it.
Will making one change NPCs I already rolled?
No. Records keep whatever they were saved with.
How do I get rid of one?
The chips at the bottom of this form have β to edit and Γ to remove. Removing a species does not touch NPCs made with it.
Following Roll20's turn order
For a group that plays on Roll20, the turn order lives there. Switch this on and, whenever Roll20's turn moves, the Compass tracker moves its own turn to the combatant with the same name β so the fires, the readied actions and the play-by-play keep up without you keeping two lists in step.
How it goes
Load the DM Screen connector in Chrome (step 1 to 3 above) and open your Roll20 game with the turn tracker showing.
On the Compass, add the fight to the tracker with the same names Roll20 uses β Goblin 2 here is Goblin 2 there β and begin combat.
Tick Follow the table's turn. The line under it says what last arrived from Roll20 and whether it was applied.
Advance the turn in Roll20 as usual. One step forward goes through the tracker's normal end-of-turn; a bigger jump moves the marker without the AI acting for the turns in between.
A filled-in example
Roll20 says
Goblin 2 β applied
Roll20 says
Pryze β applied
Roll20 says
Bandit Captain β not applied (no combatant named Bandit Captain)
Switch
on, from the bridge setup
Questions
Why did the tracker not move?
The line under the switch says why: the switch is off, initiative is not running on the Compass, nothing has arrived from Roll20 yet, or the name matches no combatant. Names must match β rename the combatant or the Roll20 token.
Does the Compass change anything in Roll20?
No. This lane only reads the turn tracker on the Roll20 page; nothing is clicked, typed or written there.
What if Roll20 skips ahead several turns?
The marker jumps straight to the named combatant. Only a single step goes through the normal end-of-turn path, so the AI never takes turns Roll20 skipped.
Can players see this?
At a hosted table the tracker's turn is broadcast to seats as always; players see whose turn it is, not where the change came from.
Handing something to a player
A handout is a titled piece of text, with a face if the record has one, sent from your table to one seat or to everyone: the letter in the chest, the innkeeper the party just met, the ally who walked in. Players keep what you send for the rest of the session.
How it goes
Host a table (Play together) and wait for at least one player to be seated.
In the Players at the table panel, press π on a seat for one player, or π Handout to everyone.
Pick a record to prefill the form β an NPC, a party member, a creature dossier β or leave it blank and write.
Trim the text. What is on the form is exactly what leaves; nothing else from the record goes with it.
Untick the face if you would rather keep it back. Press Send.
A filled-in example
Title
Mira Vell
Text
innkeeper β grey braid, a burn scar on one hand
Face
the record's active portrait
To
everyone at the table (3)
Questions
Does a handout include my notes?
No. A draft from a record offers the name, the role, the appearance and the face. Your notes and any statblock never leave your app, and you see the whole form before it goes.
Can players read it later?
For the rest of the session: the π Handouts button on their action bar lists everything you sent. It is not saved on their device beyond that.
A player was not connected when I sent it.
They did not get it. The toast tells you how many players received it; send again once they are back at the table.
Why did the player not see the face?
Either the record has no active portrait, the face was unticked on the form, or the image is too large to travel (the cap is about 900 KB). Set a smaller portrait on the record and send again.
Inn & Tavern menus
Rolls a house: what it looks like, what is cooking, what a bed costs, and what the room is muttering about tonight.
How it goes
Name it, or leave the box empty and a name comes with every menu. The π² beside the box fills one in to keep and edit.
Set the quality of the house β that drives the prices, the food and how the place is described.
Tick every biome that fits. The board draws on all of them.
Set the board. Press again for a different one; the name you typed stays.
A filled-in example
Name of the house
The Drowned Rat
Quality
Modest
Biome
Mountain Β· Swamp Β· Jungle
What that gives you
cave-mushroom fry, python steaks and spiced cavy on one menu
Questions
Why tick more than one biome?
Because places are more than one thing. The game on the board comes from every biome ticked, so a lakeside inn under a mountain in jungle serves all three.
What are the underlined words in the dishes?
Herbs from your own herbalism shelf. Hover one for what it is, what it lends the pot, what it tastes like raw, and the DC to go and pick some.
Nothing is underlined β why?
Your herbalism shelf is empty, so the kitchen fell back to a small built-in rack. Add herbs in the Field Guide and they start appearing on menus.
Are the room prices haggle-able?
They are not jittered like the food is β a room has a rate. Haggling is yours to adjudicate.
Can I keep one?
Save menu, at the bottom. Saved menus re-render exactly as they were saved, and pick up anything you have since written about the herbs in them.
Keeping your work safe
Everything you type lives only on this computer β there is no account and no server, and nothing about your campaign leaves the machine on its own. That privacy makes the backups yours to keep, so the app gives you three safety nets: an automatic daily snapshot, backup files you download, and a trash that holds deletions for a while.
How it goes
Find them on the Data & Layout page, in the Data safety card.
Download full backup writes one file with everything in it β keep it wherever you already protect your files. Do this before anything drastic.
Restore full backup reads such a file back. It REPLACES the current tracker, so download a fresh backup first; an older backup is upgraded to the current version as it loads.
Automatic backups save a snapshot once a day when you open the app, keeping the last several β a safety net, not a substitute for your own files.
Deleted something by mistake? Trash keeps it for 30 days, with Restore to bring it back.
A filled-in example
Automatic daily snapshot
kept for you across the last several launches
Download full backup
a single file you save and control
Trash
deleted records recoverable for 30 days
Also here
Characters CSV and NPCs CSV exports
Questions
Where is my campaign stored, and should I move it?
The Data page names the folder. Older installs keep it under Documents, which on most Windows 11 machines is synced by OneDrive β and a sync client can hold, rewrite or roll back files while the app is writing them. New installs use the app's own local data folder, which nothing syncs. If the Data page shows a Move button, one click copies every profile there, checks the copy file by file, then switches; the old folder is renamed, never deleted, so you can throw it away yourself once you are happy.
What is in a full backup?
Everything the tracker holds β every campaign, all your records, characters, the calendar, notes and settings β in a single file. Restoring it brings the whole thing back on any machine running the app.
Does any of this go online?
No. Your database sits on this computer only, and a backup goes only to the file you save. The one exception is the optional Check for updates button, which reads a public version file and sends nothing about you or your campaign.
Why did Restore replace my recent work?
It replaces the current local tracker with the backup's contents, so anything since your last backup is overwritten β the app warns you and suggests downloading first. A backup from an older version is migrated up as it loads.
How often should I download one?
Whenever you would mind losing what you just did β after a big prep session, before importing or restoring, before an update. The daily snapshot covers the gaps, but a file you control is the real safety net.
The app warned me about storage β what does that mean?
In the browser-storage fallback there is a size ceiling, and a large campaign can approach it. Download a backup when you see the warning; a downloaded file is never subject to that limit.
Preparing a fight ahead of the session
A saved map is the place. Tick the fight when you save it and the map also carries who is standing in it: the combatants on the tracker, their tokens, the round and whose turn it is. Load it at the table and the whole fight is back, ready to begin.
How it goes
Build the scene on the stage β generate it, draw it, or load a saved map β and add the combatants to the tracker: the party, the creatures, their tokens where they start.
Open πΎ Saved and tick β Save the fight too. Name the map and press Save.
At the table, open πΎ Saved: a prepared map shows β with its combatant count. Press β Load fight.
The map and its fight replace what is on the stage and the tracker; the confirm says so before anything moves.
Map only loads the place and leaves the current fight's tokens where they are, exactly like a plain saved map.
A filled-in example
Map
the ruined chapel Β· 32Γ24
Fight
6 combatants (4 PCs) β the party at the door, two ghouls behind the altar
Round Β· turn
0 Β· the first combatant
Loads with
β Load fight; Map only for just the chapel
Questions
Can I prepare more than one fight for the same map?
Yes β save the map as many times as you like with different fights and names: the chapel with ghouls, the chapel with the cultists. Each is its own entry in Saved.
Why did the combatants not come back with the map?
Either the map was saved without the fight ticked, or you pressed Map only. A prepared map shows β and a count next to its name; a plain one does not.
Does loading a fight lose the fight I am in?
The tracker's combatants are replaced β that is the point of loading a prepared fight β and the confirm tells you before it happens. Undo on the tracker steps it back.
Do hit points and conditions travel?
Yes, exactly as they were when you saved. Prepare a fight fresh and it loads fresh; save one mid-way and it loads mid-way.
Records and events
There are two ways to write something down, and the app keeps them apart on purpose. A record is an undated noun β a person, place, faction, creature or project that exists. An event is something that happened: you write what it was and tag what it touched, and it files itself onto the calendar and onto every record it involves. The rule of thumb: if you would give it a date, it is an event; if it simply is, it is a record.
How it goes
Add a Record (top bar) for a thing that exists. It opens the right editor for the type you pick β NPC, organization, location, creature, project, a find, and so on.
Record an event (the β button) for a thing that happened. Write what happened under βWhat happened,β and tag the people, places and threads it touched.
Date the event and it lands on the calendar and the dashboard; or tick βNo dateβ to keep it as a standing note.
Every record you tag shows the event on its own page β you never file it in a single place.
Optionally file it under a storyline, or say what caused it, to build the cause-and-effect tree.
A filled-in example
What happened
The Salt Guild burned the Reedwater tollhouse
Details
Who saw it, and what it will cost the party
Touches these records
Maervin Cask Β· The Salt Guild Β· Reedwater Delta
Where it shows up
the calendar, and each of those three records
Questions
When is it a record, and when is it an event?
A record is a noun that exists β a person, a place, a faction. An event is something that happened. If you would give it a date, it is an event; if it just is, it is a record. The Add-a-Record window says as much, and steers you to the event editor if what you have is a happening.
Do I have to put an event on a date?
No. Tick βNo date β file it as a standing noteβ for something with no fixed day. Dated events appear on the calendar and dashboard; an undated one simply sits on the records it touches.
Why does one event show up on several pages at once?
Because an event lives on the records it touches, not in a single folder. Tag the people, places and threads it involves and it appears on each of them β and on the calendar, if you dated it. You never have to choose one home for it.
What does βCaused byβ do?
It links an event to the one that caused it, building a cause-and-effect tree you can follow later. The β+ Caused by thisβ button records what you have and immediately starts a child event hanging off it.
How is this different from the Storyline?
The Storyline is where threads and events are arranged and nested into the shape of your plot. This is just how you capture one in the first place β write it here, arrange it there.
Starting a campaign
A campaign is the top of everything. The active campaign is what every page shows β its NPCs, its characters, its calendar and weather, its quests and loot. So the first thing a fresh profile needs is one campaign to hang the rest on. Only the name is required; everything else has a sensible default you can change later.
How it goes
Open + Add Campaign in the sidebar, under Active Campaign.
Name it. That is the only required field β the tagline, region and notes can all wait.
Pick a World, or press + New World to start one. The World sets the calendar and the reference library; the sample world it ships with is a fine place to begin.
Set the starting date if you know it β year, era, month and day. Leave the defaults and you can move the date any time from the Calendar.
Press Create Campaign. It becomes the active campaign and opens on the Dashboard, ready for people, dates and notes.
A filled-in example
Campaign name
The Salt Road
One-line tagline
A caravan season on the edge of the marsh
World
the sample world it ships with
Status
Active
Region / primary location
The Reedwater Delta
Starting year
762
Questions
What is the difference between a World and a campaign?
A World is the setting β its calendar, its months and eras, its reference library. A campaign is one story you run inside a World, with its own date, party and notes. Several campaigns can share one World, so you build the World once and reuse it.
Do I have to set the date now?
No. Every World has a default starting date, and you can move the campaign's date whenever you like from the Calendar. Set it now only if you already know when your story opens.
Where do my NPCs and player characters go?
Once the campaign exists: NPCs live on the π NPCs page (Add NPC), and your players' characters on the π‘οΈ Characters page (Add character). Both belong to the active campaign, so switching campaigns switches the cast with it.
How do I keep from losing my work?
It is all stored on this computer and nowhere else. The app quietly saves a dated snapshot once a day when you open it, and the Data page has Download full backup to write a file wherever you keep your own backups. Do that before anything drastic.
Can I have more than one campaign?
Yes β add as many as you like; each keeps its own date, party and notes. The Active Campaign strip in the sidebar switches between them, and every page follows whichever one is active.
Can I change the name, colour or date afterwards?
Yes. Open the campaign again from the Campaigns page and the name, the colour that tags it, the notes and the current date all move freely.
The date, and letting time pass
Every campaign keeps its own date, shown in the pill at the top right along with the day's moon and tide. Moving that date is how time passes in your world β and time is not free: advancing days spends the party's rations and water, so the calendar and the supply track are tied together.
How it goes
The date pill sits at the top right β it reads the campaign, the date, the moon and the tide. Click it to adjust.
Nudge time with the buttons β a day, a tenday, or a month, forward or back β or type an exact year, month, day and era and press Set Date.
Moon phase and tide are worked out from the date, so they change on their own as you move it.
Record an event from the top bar and it files itself onto the calendar on its date; the Calendar page then shows the month with everything dated on it.
The months, the length of a week and the eras come from the campaign's calendar profile β change or build one in the Reference Library.
A filled-in example
Quick nudges
β30, a tenday, a day β forward or back
Set an exact date
year, month, day and era
Shown with the date
the day's moon phase and tide
Tied to advancing
the party's rations and water are spent as days pass
Questions
Why did moving the date forward use up rations?
Because time passing is real here: advancing days spends the party's food and water from the supply track, and if they run short the app tells you. Moving the date back does not refund them, so nudge by a single day when you want the fine grain.
What decides the months and the length of a week?
The campaign's calendar profile β Korentil's ten-day tenday by default, or Gregorian, Toril, Oerth and others. Pick or edit the profile in the Reference Library, and the date window counts in that calendar.
Where do the moon and the tide come from?
Both are worked out from the day itself, so they move as the date does. The tide's heights come from an editable tide model in the Reference Library, and the weather rolls against the day's season too.
Does every event have to sit on the calendar?
An event you record is dated and files onto the calendar by default β that is what lets the Dashboard show what just happened. Something with no date belongs on a record's chronology instead, and the app steers you to the right one.
Does each campaign keep its own date?
Yes. The date, and the whole calendar around it, belongs to the active campaign; switch campaigns and the date in the pill switches with it.
The painted map
The sketch has two looks. Parchment is the hand-inked drawing. Painted map fills the same geometry with real textures β cave floor, flagstones, grass, sand, boards β sets the surround as rock or dark stone, and draws every feature with a top-down tile: the stairs, the cave mouth, the brazier, the altar. Pick it once in the Sketch dialog and generated scenes use it from then on.
How it goes
Open the map's background menu (πΌ) and choose Sketch this map, or generate a scene β the generator sketches for you.
Set Look to Painted map. Title, seed, labels and furnishing work the same in both looks.
Paint the sketch. Regions whose name says a surface β dry sand, the street, a cottage, the bailey β get that ground laid over the base floor; any other room keeps the base.
To swap one tile for your own picture, load it under Art overrides in the same dialog; your override wins over the bundled tile in both looks.
A filled-in example
the dunes
sand over the dirt base
the surf
water texture, smoothed outline
cottage
boards, with its bed and hearth tiles
driftwood
the driftwood tile on the sand
Questions
Why does a room keep the plain floor when I named it?
Only a name that clearly says a surface is honoured β sand, mud, snow, gravel, boards, grass, moss, flagstones, cave floor, dirt. A guardroom says nothing about its floor, so it keeps the base. Rename the region, or leave it: features and furniture draw the same either way.
Why is Painted map greyed out?
This build has no tiles bundled (data/sketch-art.js is missing). Parchment still works in full.
Do the textures repeat?
Every texture is laid as itself and its three mirror images, so the seams meet. On a big map you will see the rhythm; a different seed does not change it, but the rock surround repeats on a longer span than the floor.
Does the player view get the painted look?
Yes β the sketch is the map's background, so the table sees exactly what you painted, with the region tints turned down to a whisper.
Can I mix looks on one map?
No; a level has one look. Paint it again with the other look to switch, nothing on the map itself changes.
The quest generator
Every quest generator writes quests set in nobody's world, which is why their output always needs rewriting. This one takes your proper nouns first, your own records second, and something generic only as a last resort.
How it goes
Fill in as much of Your world as you can be bothered with β comma-separated lists. It is kept per campaign, so this is a one-off.
Leave anything blank and it falls back to your bestiary and your NPC list before it invents anything.
Set the party tier, and a shape if you want a particular kind of job.
Roll. Then βOpen as a questβ puts every field into the quest editor, already written.
Keep the seed if you want that exact quest back later.
A filled-in example
Nearby landmarks
the Weeping Stones, Gallows Oak
Villages & hamlets
Marrowfen, Little Cadding
Towns
Ashford, Greyholt
Factions & powers
the Salt Guild, House Verrin
Points of interest
the drowned mill, Hollowdeep mine
Rewards this party actually wants
a river barge, a writ of passage
Questions
Do I have to fill all ten in?
No. Blank boxes fall back to your own bestiary and NPC records, and then to something generic. Filling them in simply makes the quests more obviously yours.
Where does the quest giver's name come from?
Rolled from the same name tables the NPC generator uses, seeded by the quest β so the same seed gives the same person.
What is the seed for?
Getting a quest back. The same seed with the same world lists gives the identical quest, on any machine. Leave it blank and a fresh one is rolled and shown, so you can keep the one you liked.
Does rolling save anything?
No. Nothing is written until you press Open as a quest and then save it in the editor. Your world lists are kept, though β those save as you type.
Why does it open as Rumored?
Because the party has not accepted it yet. Rumored is the only status that does not put a mark on the calendar.
The twist does not fit the hook I got.
Roll again β the twists are drawn from a shared pool so any of them can meet any shape, and most combinations land. βAnother of this shapeβ keeps the kind of job and changes everything else.
Known limits
Playing together over the network has not been vetted. Treat it as a try-it feature, not something to run a real session on.
The Encounter page is unrefined and changes between versions. Creatures added with the Creature picker arrive without hit points, so the tracker shows a dash until you track their damage another way.
It is a Windows desktop app. There is no phone or tablet version, and campaigns do not sync between your devices on their own. Use a backup file to move one.
Private or campaign-only D&D Beyond characters cannot be read from a link by the app alone. That needs the Compass Bridge connector with Chrome open and signed in.
A restore replaces your current data and does not keep a safety copy, so download a backup before you restore.
Deleting a campaign or a world does not send its contents to the Trash.
Questions
Is my campaign uploaded anywhere?
No. Everything lives on your own computer and there is no account. The update check only asks whether a newer version exists and sends nothing about you or your campaign. If you start a table, the map and what your players need to see are shared with the people you give the code to.
Do I need the DM Screen or the connector?
No. The Compass works on its own. The DM Screen and the Compass Bridge connector are separate tools that link it to D&D Beyond and Roll20 when you want live play.
Does it include rules text or content from the books?
No. It is unofficial and ships with nothing from published books. Where an entry points at something published, it gives the name and a link, not the text.
How do I move my campaign to another computer?
Click Download full backup on the Data page, copy the file across, install the app there, and use Restore full backup. Backups are the way to move or protect a campaign.
Why does the Encounter page show a warning when I open it?
Because it is the newest and least finished page. It tells you once per session, and you can tick Don't show this again until the next update. The Alpha chip beside the page title reopens it.
How do I know whether a guide has changed?
A gold dot appears on a guide's ? button, in the Help & guides index, and as a count in the sidebar when the wording of a guide changed since you last opened it. Opening the guide clears the dot and shows what changed.
How do I update, and will I lose my data?
Use Check for updates at the top of the app. Installing a newer or older build leaves your campaign data alone, because it lives in your profile, not in the installer. Download a backup first anyway.
Privacy
Your campaign data stays in your own profile on your own computer. The only thing the app asks the internet for by itself is whether a newer version exists, and that request carries nothing about you or your campaign.
Feedback
The alpha is open and what breaks is the point. Tell us what happened, what you expected, and which tool.