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Running Your First Session

This tutorial walks you through running a game session with the DM Map window. You’ll learn how to open the battle map, place your party, control fog of war, show the map to players, and keep session notes.

Time to complete: 10-15 minutes

What you’ll learn:

  • Open the DM Map window for a module
  • Select the active map and place PC tokens
  • Control fog of war
  • Open the Player Display and move tokens during play
  • Keep session notes
  • End the session

Prerequisites

  • A module with at least one map and some tokens (Tutorial 2)
  • At least one PC created and assigned to the campaign — fog of war reveals around PC tokens, so you need a PC to see anything
  • For the fog-of-war step, your map must be a UVTT file (it carries the wall data fog needs)

Step 1: Open the DM Map Window

  1. Open your campaign and go to the Modules tab
  2. Select your module from the sidebar
  3. Click the Play button in the module header

A separate DM Map window opens showing your module’s battle map. Your main window stays on the campaign dashboard — keep it nearby, you’ll use it for monster stats and notes during play.

Step 2: Select Your Map

At the top left of the DM Map window is a Map dropdown.

  1. Open the dropdown — it lists your module’s maps plus any campaign-level maps (suffixed “(Campaign)”)
  2. Select the map you prepared in Tutorial 2 (the first module map is usually selected automatically)

The map loads in the window with its grid and the monster tokens and light sources you placed in Tutorial 2.

Step 3: Place Your PCs

PC tokens aren’t placed during prep — you add them at the table.

  1. Click Add PCs in the map toolbar

A token appears for each PC assigned to the campaign, placed in a small formation in the top-left corner of the map. Drag each PC token to where the party enters the map.

To move any token: click and hold, drag, release. Tokens snap to grid squares.

Step 4: Turn On Fog of War

Fog starts off. To hide everything the party can’t see:

  1. Click Fog in the map toolbar

On your view, areas outside the party’s vision turn semi-transparent gray; players see nothing there at all. While Fog is on, LOS (token line of sight) is forced on too, so enemies outside the party’s sight stay hidden automatically.

Note: The Fog and LOS buttons only appear for UVTT maps — fog needs the wall data UVTT files carry. On a plain image map, work with Reveal Map and per-token visibility instead (right-click a token → Hide from Players).

Try the ambient light dropdown too: set it to Dark and watch the visible area shrink to your placed torch and the PCs’ darkvision. See Control Fog of War for the full set of controls.

Step 5: Open the Player Display

The Player Display is a second window for your players (a TV, projector, or shared screen).

  1. Click Display in the DM Map window’s top toolbar
  2. A new window opens, and the button changes to Display On
  3. Drag the new window to your player-facing screen

Players see the current map with fog applied, visible tokens only, and no names, stats, or controls. While the display is open, a Blackout button appears next to Display On — click it to black out the player screen while you reposition tokens or set up a reveal.

Step 6: Play

Now run the encounter:

  • Move tokens by dragging them. The Player Display updates immediately, and fog recalculates as PC tokens move — drag a PC down a corridor and watch the visible area follow.
  • Reveal hidden enemies by right-clicking a token and choosing Show to Players (or select it and press H).
  • Look up monster stats in your main window: the module dashboard’s monster list opens a stat block panel when you click a monster. Double-clicking a monster token in the DM Map window selects that monster in the dashboard for you.

Step 7: Keep Session Notes

Every module comes with a Play Notes document. In your main window:

  1. On the module dashboard, find Play Notes in the Documents panel
  2. Click it to open the editor

Type initiative order, HP, rulings, and player decisions as you go — the editor auto-saves (“Saving…” then “Saved”). Notes persist between sessions and are included when you export the campaign.

Step 8: End the Session

When you’re done:

  1. Click Display On to close the Player Display
  2. Close the DM Map window

Token positions are saved automatically, so the next time you click Play, the map is exactly where you left it.

Next tutorial: Player Display Setup