In this article we will explain the Realm VTT User Interface and highlight important aspects for new users.
New Campaign
The following image shows what a brand new campaign will look like. For explanations of each part of the interface, see the corresponding number below. We will go into more detail about the various aspects of the interface in other articles.
1 - Modules
Clicking on Modules from the Nav Bar will open the list of Modules that you can import in the Campaign. We will go into more detail here in another article. Modules allow you to import content you own from the Marketplace to your campaign.
From the Modules menu you can also export your own modules if you wish to share data you created in this campaign with one of your other campaigns. Users who become Contributors or Publishers can also publish their modules here to the Marketplace.
By default every new user automatically gets granted ownership of the free Module for the 5e SRD Content. As of the writing of this article, the 2024 SRD is not released yet, and only contains the Effects needed to run 2024 5e D&D. It will be updated at a later date. When creating a new 5e Campaign, it is advised to import this module. When we update it, you can import it again to add all the content to your campaign.
Content imported from a Module does not count towards your Asset Storage limit on your account - only Images and Sounds that you upload will.
2 - Characters
The Characters link will open the listing of all Characters in your campaign and allow you to create a new one. Characters render the Character Sheet record type for the chosen ruleset of your campaign. If you chose D&D 5e, it will be the 5e Character Sheet that we designed for Realm VTT. If you chose Realm VTT Basic, it will be a generic Character Sheet that has flexibility for entering your own Attribute and Dice Rolls to match the game you are playing.
From the Characters menu you can also rename, delete, or copy Characters. To Assign a Character to another Player in the Campaign, right click on an entry and click Assign Owner. In the modal that appears, select the Player you wish to assign.
We will be adding more Rulesets in the future, but for now, you should create a campaign with Realm VTT Basic if you wish to play a game we do not support yet.
3 - Compendium
From the Compendium menu you can select all the various different Record Types for your chosen ruleset, which will open a new window to list, search, filter, open, create, copy, or rename a record of that type.
By default, all Campaigns have the following Record Types
Characters (this window is opened using the separate Characters link)
Drag a Character to a Scene to add their Token to the Scene
Images
From the Images window you can add new Images that can be shared with your players, included animated WEBM images. Any of these can also be right-clicked to turn into a Scene.
Images can also be dragged to a Scene to turn them into a Tile that appears within the Scene.
Sounds
From the Sounds window you can add new Sounds. Once a Sound is added, it can be played globally to all players in the game from the Sounds Tab of the Left Drawer.
Sounds can also be dragged to a Scene to create a Sound that is played as the players draw near. Sounds on the Scene can be editing using the Scene Edit Controls (more on this in another article) to either delete, move, or edit a sound’s radius (the falloff distance of the sound) and volume.
Journals
For creating notes about your Campaign, or shareable Rulebooks for your players.
Journals can be dragged to a Scene to create a link to it from the Scene that only the GM sees.
Tables
The Tables window allows you to create and edit Rollable Tables. These records allow you to roll on a random table and have the result shown in the Chat (which can be set to show on to the GM.)
Tables can have many rows or columns. Tables can also refer to other records. Click and drag and record to a result row in order to provide a link to that result in the Chat. This is useful for creating a Table of Random Encounters, for example.
If a Table has a link to another Table in a result row, it will roll on that Table as well, if it lands on that result, allowing for nested tables.
Effects
For applying temporary changes to a Token (more on this in future article).
Effects an be dragged to a Token on a Scene, or to the Effects Tab of a Character or NPC sheet.
Effects can also be applied to a Token by right-clicking a Token and using the Effects Menu on the right of the Token Menu, if the Effect has the “Token Menu” option checked.
Encounters
The Encounters window allows the GM to create an Encounter. An Encounter is a collection of NPCs. Simply drag an NPC to the encounter, and set how many of that type you’d like in the Encounter.
Click the Add to Combat tracker when you are ready to begin an encounter and all the NPCs within will be added with their given amounts to the Combat Tracker. From the Combat Tracker you can drag tokens to a Scene.
The amount can also be a dice string such as “1d8 + 1” - Realm VTT will automatically roll this amount to determine how many of those NPCs to add to the Combat Tracker when clicking the Add button.
The amount can also reference the amount of PCs in the Party using “$PC” in the amount string. This is replaced with the amount of PCs that were added to the Party Sheet.
NPCs
This window is similar to Characters but meant for the GM to add or create NPCs
Drag an NPC record to a Scene to add their Token to the Scene.
Others
Additionally, other Record Types will appear here depending on what the Ruleset Defines.
For example, in 5e D&D this is where you will find:
Classes, Subclasses, Species, Feats, Backgrounds, Spells, Abilities, and Items
Record List Windows
A Record List window as shown above allows you to interact with records. Use the Filters to search for a Record by Name, Category, or additional Filters defined by the Ruleset. In the example above for NPCs, there is an additional “Size” filtter
The list of Records allows you to right click on one to Rename it, Copy it, Categorize it, or Delete it.
Most Record Types allow for Categorization which is useful to give it a subtitle and a filter on the left. Categories are generally used to determine where a Record came from, for example “PHB” or “Book of Monsters”
The Share Button on the right is available for most record types. Clicking this button shares the record with Players and will make it pop up on their Screen. Once a Record is Shared, Players can always access it from the Compendium again.
Clicking on a Record in the list will open the window for that Record.
All records can be dragged by clicking and dragging the Icon next to their name.
Any Record can be dragged to the Hot Bar at the bottom of the play area
Most Records can be dragged to a Scene. Some records, as described above, have different behaviors when dragged to a Scene
Ruleset defined records, such as Items, create tokens on the scene for the record, so that they can be placed on a Map for Player interaction.
4 - Views
From the View Menu we can get to three import Views for running games in Realm VTT. We will write additional guides on these views in other articles.
Combat Tracker
The Combat Tracker is important for running encounters in your games. Players and GMs an open it here or by pressing “C” (when the VTT Play Area is focused). Some values and buttons on the Combat Tracker will be hidden to Players.
The Combat Tracker has the ability to keep track of who’s turn it is, roll Initiative for tokens, move between turns and Rounds, and track the Rounds.
The Combat Tracker calls many functions that can be defined by a ruleset for automation purposes.
Using the Next Turn buttons on the Combat Tracker will also adjust and expire and effects on the Tokens in the campaign that are measured in Rounds or Turns (but NOT Minutes, Hours, or Days.)
Party Sheet
The Party Sheet is primarily for the GM to track Player’s in the Party, but also allows other Players to get a brief overview of their group.
The Party sheet can also be opened by pressing “P” when the VTT Play Area is focused.
From the Party sheet you can also drag Items (if enabled by the Ruleset you are using) to an Inventory tab.
If the current ruleset enabled the Awards tab of the Party Sheet, the GM can use this tab to award Experience or Currency to the Players. Some rulesets such as 5e D&D also automatically output the total XP of an encounter to the Chat, with a button to award it, when the GM presses “End Encounter” on thee Combat Tracker.
Calendar
The Calendar allows GMs to track the internal time and date of the Game.
This is meant to track what time it is within the Game (not real life!)
Using the buttons to adjust the time in the Calendar will also adjust an expire any effects on Tokens in the campaign that are measured in either Minutes, Hours, or Days.
Currently the Calendar allows for three different types, Gregorian, and two common calendar types from D&D.
If you’d like to add a new Calendar type, please request it on our Discord!
Eventually, we will provide the ability for GMs to create their own types for their games.
5 - Dice Tray
From the Dice Tray you can click on which dice you’d like to Roll, and then select whether it is a private roll shown only to the GM, and roll the Dice.
The Number field allows you to add a positive or negative modifier to the roll.
The ADV and DIS fields are for adding Advantage or Disadvantage to a roll, generally used if rolling a D20 in 5e D&D. The labels for these buttons are defined by the ruleset.
6 - Chat Entry
The Chat Entry allows you to enter a message to the other Players in the game. The message is shown to everyone.
The Chat is also rendered using a modified Markdown Renderer, with limited support for various different aspects of Markdown. You can do the following additional types of text:
Color:
[color=green]Green Text[/color]
Tags
[tag name here|tooltip for the tag here]
Icon
:icon-name-here:Icons are Tabler Icons - and should match to a name there
GM Only
[gm]Hidden Message Shown Only to the GM[/gm]
Macros
Create a Macro button to execute ruleset code such as the following
```Roll_D20
api.roll('d20');
```
7 - Hot Bar
The Hot Bar allows Players an easy way to store links to any Record in the game and open it at any time. Any Record in Ream VTT can be click and dragged here in order to open it again from the Hot Bar.
You can also Click and Drag buttons to the Hot Bar, such as Buttons roll Initiative, or an Attack. Keep in mind that when doing this, it stores the state of the Macro at the time of the Drag. So, if you level up later and your Character Sheet changes how a Roll is made, you may need to update such Macros stored on your Hot Bar.
The Hot Bar is also stored locally on your Machine. So if you switch to a new Laptop or Desktop Computer and log in, you will need to set up your Hot Slots again. They are also specific to the Campaign you are in.
8 - Chat Tab
From this Button you can toggle the Chat Tab of the Left Drawer.
The entire Left Drawer can be closed or opened using the Hamburger Menu/X Button left of the “View” menu on the Nav Bar. It can also be closed using the Chevron button on the Left Drawer, to the right of the Tabs.
9 - Scenes Tab
From this Button you can toggle the Scenes Tab of the Left Drawer.
We will go more into Scene management in later articles. This Tab allows you to create or delete Scenes, toggle one as Active to Players, Toggle the Shared State, and add “Levels” to a Scene (which are primarily used for the Teleport feature of a Scene.)
10 - Sounds Tab
From this Button you can toggle the Sounds Tab of the Left Drawer.
Here you will see a listing of all the Sounds in the Campaign and can toggle them globally on to all Players.
Players and GMs can also control their own individual sound volume for the campaign. The volume controls are:
Tracks
The volume of all active Tracks playing. You can also adjust them each on their own if they are playing.
Ambience
The overall volume of all active sounds that are playing within the Scene itself, if any were dragged to the Scene.
Scene Volume
The volume of the sound played from an Animated Scene, if the WEBM used for the Scene contained an audio track.
11 - Users Tab
From this Button you can toggle the Users Tab of the Left Drawer. This will show a listing of all Players in the Campaign along with their Display Colors (which will map to the color of their cursor and templates that they place in the Scene.)
From the tab the GM can also remove Players from the Campaign, generate a new Invite Code for a campaign (if needed), or open a Modal explaining how to Invite Players to the Campaign.
To Kick a player from a Campaign, right click their entry in the list and click Remove Player. You may then want to re-generate the Invite Code to prevent them from joining again.
Note to Players and GMS:
Once a Player has been removed this way from a Campaign, they may want to delete any Portraits or Tokens they uploaded to regain space on their accouint.
This can be done from the “Recalculate Storage” button on the Settings dialog, which will delete portraits and tokens that they no longer have access to.
If a Player does this, those portraits and tokens will render as broken images in that GM’s campaign, and they will need to set their own.
12 - Play area
Here is where the Active Scene will be rendered once one is Active.
Realm VTT keeps track of whether or not the Play Area is focused, such as when you click off of it go to the Chat Menu or some other Window. Certain functions, such as hotkeys for the VTT Area, require focus, so you might have to click here once first in order for those functions to work.
13 - User Menu
This is where you can get to the Settings Dialog, go back to all Campaigns, or Log Out.