Narrating

Opening a table

• On the home screen press the Free Story plaque. The table screen opens with the narrator scenario.
• Give your table a name. Players see it in the invite link and the table list.
• Send the invite code or link to your players. Six players can sit at the table. You do not pick a hero, you sit at the head of the table.
• Start the game once there is at least one player or bot at the table. To practise first, the Try with bots button in the lobby adds three bots. The narrator panel opens.
• If your players cannot meet at the same time, switch on Play by post in the lobby and choose the time to write (24, 48 or 72 hours). When your scene is written, press Pass the turn to the players. Once everyone has written or time runs out, the turn comes back to you with an email.

Your first session with a template

The first tab of the panel is Templates. Each template is a short adventure in three scenes. People, quests, suggested checks, an encounter and notes for you are all ready inside.

• Pick a template and press Load people and quests. The notes go into the hidden log that only you can see.
• Open the first scene. Players see the scene text and the people in it.
• Ask the players what they do. They write in the declaration box and you answer by speaking as your characters.
• When a check is needed, send the template’s suggestion to the Check tool and call for it. Players roll their own dice.
• As the story moves on, open the second and third scenes. In the last scene send the suggested encounter to the Battle tool and start the fight.

The narrator panel

The table log runs in the middle with the writing box below it. The writing box has three modes: Narrate (everyone sees it), Speak as (in the voice of a character you choose) and Note (only you see it). The party is on the left and the tools are on the right.

• Templates: ready adventures.
• Scene: open a new scene or return to an earlier one. Opening a scene closes pending checks and open options.
• Scene sound: while setting up a scene you can pick an ambient sound (wind, hearth, sea, night) and up to three sounds that play once when it opens. If you pick none, the place has its own sound.
• Sound: play a bell, a door, thunder or a wolf howl to the whole table at once. With preview only you hear it first. Every sound leaves a caption in the log.
• Cards: send a choice card to one player or everyone. Each player chooses for their own hero and the choices show up in the panel. A secret card goes only to its recipient.
• Handouts: send a letter, map, notice, riddle or journal. Players open it and read it again from the side panel. Every template comes with a ready handout.
• Library: save the descriptions, lines and scenes you use often. Narrate them with one click or move them into the writing box. The library belongs to your account.
• Check: ask one hero, the group or everyone for a skill, ability or saving throw. Players do not see a hidden check.
• Dice: roll any dice, for example 2d6+3. You can roll in secret.
• Choice: offer the players options to vote on. You close the result.
• People: innkeepers, guards, villains. Change their attitude from hostile to loyal, call them into a scene or send them away.
• Quests: define a quest, reveal it, complete it or mark it failed.
• Rewards: give experience, gold and items.
• Battle: pick an arena and monsters, start the fight. During battle you can summon monsters, run the monsters yourself or end the fight with narration.
• Session: grant a short or long rest, end the session.

Writing a good scene

A good scene is short. Three sentences are often enough: what the players see, what they hear and what pushes them to act. Give more detail later, when the players ask.

End the scene with a question. The door stands ajar and candlelight leaks out, what do you do? The players’ answer writes your next scene.

Check difficulties

Players see the difficulty as a word, not a number. While you set the difficulty in the panel, the word players will see appears next to it.

• Do not call for a roll when the outcome is certain. Opening a door is not a check, opening a locked door quietly is.
• Do not let failure stop the story. Even when a hero fails, they move on at a cost: a noise, lost time, a suspicious guard.

Balancing battles

While you pick monsters in the Battle tool, the panel shows how hard the encounter is: low, moderate, high or deadly. This follows the SRD 5.2 experience budget and looks at the party’s level.

• Make your first battle moderate. Players should not lose their heroes while they learn the rules.
• Keep battles short. When most enemies are down, the rest may flee. The End in victory button brings you back to narration.
• If you run the monsters yourself, you choose their moves. Leave them to the bots and the game plays them smartly.

Rewards and limits

Experience and gold are written into the heroes’ permanent record. That is why there is a cap on rewards per session and per twenty four hours. The panel shows what remains. Plain rewards must be inexpensive gear, and each hero can receive at most two potions per session. Magic items have their own rules below.

Tie rewards to the story. The rescued merchant hands over the purse, the temple priestess gives a potion. Players remember what they earned and why.

Giving and crafting magic items

The Give a magic item section of the rewards panel offers two ways. Pick an SRD magic item from the list, or use Craft to make your own. When crafting you choose a name, a description, a type and up to two properties. Rarity comes from the properties, and two properties raise it by one step.

Magic items go only to persistent heroes and are bound to them: they cannot be given away or sold. The party level limits rarity. From level one to four you can give at most uncommon items, at level five rare ones. In one session you can give at most one rare or two uncommon items.

The name and description are stored as plain text and appear on the player’s item card exactly as you wrote them. Tie the item to the story: say in one sentence whose hand it comes from and why it matters.

Table safety

A good table is one where everyone feels comfortable. The subjects players ticked under Subjects the narrator leaves out appear in the panel as a combined list, you never see who marked them. Avoid those topics or keep them behind the curtain.

• When the X card is used, change the scene without asking for an explanation.
• You can mute a player who behaves badly. If needed, report them to the moderators.
• Take a few minutes at the start of the session and ask the players what kind of story they want to play.

From one narrator to another

• Say yes, but instead of no. A player’s idea can take the story somewhere unexpected.
• Share the spotlight. Ask a quiet player what their hero is doing.
• Give each character one clear trait: a stuttering guard, a child who always eats apples. Players will remember them that way.
• Keep preparation light. One scene, two characters and one secret are enough for an evening.