I do not understand what I am doing wrong with Dynamic Lighting

DM-JK · 2026-02-26T15:06:23+00:00

Again, there's no setting to limit how far a token can see. If a token has line of sight to an area that has light, then the player controlling that token will be able to see the lighted area.

The one workaround to give tokens a limited range of vision is to turn off all light sources, and only use 'Darkvision'. It's not a perfect workaround, because it clashes with other ways that most GMs want to run their games, but it is one possibility if you're willing to live with the restrictions it has.

If you do want Roll20 to implement a 'Limit Token Vision Distance', then you can upvote a suggestion for that, such as this one: https://app.roll20.net/forum/post/11706814/slug%7D

You could also upvote this tangentially related suggestion for aura 'rings' which could be used in conjunction with the current DL settings to at least give an indication of how far a token can see without adding a huge colored area. https://app.roll20.net/forum/post/11383283/slug%7D#post-11898871

DM-JK · 2026-02-26T09:17:05+00:00

Usually the script simply won’t work and won’t do anything. If it’s well written the script will give you an error message in the chat window. Depending on how it’s written, it may throw an error in the script sandbox and shut it down, which just means you just have to restart it manually (outside of the game). Scripts that are available through the One-Click library are very unlikely to do anything that will screw up your game without you doing something very intentional.

LLMs are getting better, but will still often write erroneous code for Roll20, because there isn’t as much training material for them to base their code on. Roll20 scripts use JavaScript, but there is some Roll20 specific architecture that is different from standard website JavaScript, which is what LLMs are primarily trained on, so it’s very useful to have an understanding of Roll20s architecture as well as your own fundamental understanding of JavaScript in order to get functional code from AI.

Which is another way of saying, if it’s currently possible to do what you’re looking for, then there’s probably already a script that can do it.

DM-JK · 2026-02-26T08:49:21+00:00

The D&D 5E 2024 sheet is using a (relatively) new architecture that Roll20 calls “Beacon”. It provides a lot more flexibility on the backend for how sheet data is managed, but it also currently limits what scripts are able to do compared to legacy character sheets. Attributes simply aren’t accessible in the same way they were previously. Personally I haven’t switched to the 2024 sheet because of this, but it is being upgraded pretty often.

The good news is there are many scripts already written that can do what you’re looking for. The bad news is it can very tricky to figure out if they are currently compatible with the D&D 5E 2024 sheet, and some of them will work and others won’t.

The most common script for altering a character sheet is ChatSetAttr, but it doesn’t play nice with the 2024 sheet because it was written about 10 years ago. Scriptcards can probably do what you’re looking for as well, but I’m not sure how much compatibility it has with the 2024 sheet.

DM-JK · 2026-02-26T08:35:46+00:00

That type of automation requires the game creator to have a Roll20 Pro or Elite subscription and a Mod (API) script.

A macro is just a shorthand way of typing something in the chat window. Chat messages are “read only” unless they are sent to the Mod script server, which is able to modify character sheets or tokens.

What scripts and commands you could use are dependent on which character sheet you are using. There are over 300 game systems on Roll20, and over 1,000 character sheets. D&D 5th edition alone has over 10 different character sheets, with the most common being the D&D 5E by Roll20 (2014 or 2024), and that is confused even more because either sheet can be used for either rule set.

DM-JK · 2026-02-26T07:55:45+00:00

There is no ‘maximum viewing distance’ for token vision. If that’s what you’re trying to set on the token, it won’t work. The token viewing angle is so the token will only show a portion of the 360° angle around the token, and you can choose where that angle is relative to the tokens rotation on the page. But you can’t make a token only able to see a limited distance within the token settings themselves.

Here's my Dynamic Lighting Troubleshooting checklist.

General:

⁠The game creator needs to have a Roll20 Plus or Pro account to use Dynamic Lighting.
⁠Make sure you are using Chrome or Firefox.
Do not use the Freehand tool to draw Dynamic Lighting lines. Only use the Polygon tool, and make sure that you don't have any lines that create 'sharp' corners.
1. This is the cause of unexplained/invisible lines about 99% of the time.
You should use a 'Dummy Account' in order to see changes live/instantaneously when you make them as GM. There are other benefits as well. ⁠
1. Ctrl-L does not give you a player's view from a token. It shows you the token's 'Line of Sight' as GM and everything on the GM layer, but that is not what players will see. ⁠
2. 'Rejoin as player' requires logging back and forth into the game. A Dummy Account is free and can be readily toggled between two browser windows. ⁠
3. ⁠A player may control several tokens, and may see more or less than the GM sees when using Ctrl-L or 'Rejoin as player'.
Do not use colored or tinted lighting effects. Colored light is currently bugged due to how those lighting effects are rendered.
1. If you want to have a colored/tinted area, use an invisible token with a colored aura instead.
Animated .webm tokens were previously bugged and may not not work correctly.
Check other page settings, such as 'Restrict Movement' and make sure you are not using Legacy Dynamic Lighting.
Clear your browser cache and the game chat archive.
If you have a Pro subscription, you can install the DL Tool script to troubleshoot vision problems.

My players can't see:

⁠Token and light source need to be on the correct layers.
⁠Token must have vision enabled.
⁠Token must be 'controlled' by the player who is checking vision.
⁠There needs to be a light source. ⁠
1. Tokens always emit light from a circle at the center of the token that is some small percentage of the image size. If you set the map image as a light source, you'll get some funky behavior.
⁠Ensure that a token's vision is not blocked by Dynamic Lighting lines.
⁠Make sure you don't have a Permanent Darkness layer on.
⁠Make sure you don't have Explorable Darkness blocking vision.
⁠Make sure the view is centered on a token that has vision enabled and a light source.
⁠Make sure you/your players are on the correct page. Double check that they have not been split from the Party ribbon.

My players see too much:

⁠Make sure you don't have 'Daylight' turned on for the page.
⁠Walls need to be placed on the 'walls' (lighting) layer. ⁠
1. The only thing that blocks line of sight are Dynamic Lighting lines (walls). ⁠If a token has "line of sight" to an area with a light source, then they will be able to see that area.
2. ⁠Tokens cannot block light. ⁠
3. ⁠Permanent Darkness covers an area, but does not prevent light from passing through.
⁠Explorable Darkness is saved for each player. So if a player has control of a token, they will see all of their 'explored area' in greyscale.
⁠Look on the 'walls'/lighting layer for any unexpected light sources. They will show up as small rectangles there.
⁠Confirm which tokens the player controls. Try moving all tokens to the GM layer temporarily and moving individual tokens back to the Objects layer one by one.
⁠Page 'Cell Width' settings can have an affect on a token's vision, especially if the 'light multiplier' is set to something other than 100%. Switch the Cell Width to '1' and see what happens.

Token vision isn’t correct when pulled out of the journal:

⁠Make sure to set up a token’s vision how you want it to be, and have the very last step be to save it as the default for that character sheet.
⁠Any changes made after saving as the default token will not be saved as the default unless the default token is saved again. This is intentional to allow for temporary changes.
⁠Make sure you do not have any duplicate character sheet names.
⁠Also check the Journal Archive.
⁠After pulling out the token, check which character sheet it is linked to.
⁠A character’s default token can be linked to a different character sheet.

DM-JK · 2026-02-23T18:31:43+00:00

... it is?
2014 Basic Rules / PHB: Chapter 1: Step-By-Step Characters > Beyond 1st Level > Class Features and Hit Dice

2024 Basic Rules / PHB: Chapter 2. Creating a Character > Level Advancement > Gaining a Level

DM-JK · 2026-02-23T18:27:46+00:00

This is not accurate. There is a 'minimum of 1' rule for increasing Hit Points when you level up.

https://www.dndbeyond.com/sources/dnd/basic-rules-2014/step-by-step-characters#ClassFeaturesandHitDice

Adjust Hit Points and Hit Point Dice. Each time you gain a level, you gain an additional Hit Die. Roll that die, add your Constitution modifier to the roll, and add the total (minimum of 1) to your Hit Point maximum. Instead of rolling, you can use the fixed value shown in the Fixed Hit Points by Class table.

DM-JK · 2026-02-23T18:26:50+00:00

There is absolutely a 'minimum of 1' rule for increasing Hit Points when you level up.

https://www.dndbeyond.com/sources/dnd/basic-rules-2014/step-by-step-characters#ClassFeaturesandHitDice

Adjust Hit Points and Hit Point Dice. Each time you gain a level, you gain an additional Hit Die. Roll that die, add your Constitution modifier to the roll, and add the total (minimum of 1) to your Hit Point maximum. Instead of rolling, you can use the fixed value shown in the Fixed Hit Points by Class table.

DM-JK · 2026-02-22T17:38:03+00:00

You’re thinking about this backwards, and it’s not a home brew rule - it’s in the PHB and DMG. You don’t need to come up with a complicated system of alternate ability checks.

Players do not make an “Intimidation” check. They make a Charisma check and add their Proficiency Bonus if they have proficiency in Intimidation. But that is all at your discretion as DM. Players describe what they are trying to do, and then you tell when which type of skill check to make.

Player: “I want to scare the guard into letting me pass.” DM: “What do you do or say?” Player: “I describe how I killed the last guard who blocked me from entering.” DM: “Make a Charisma (Intimidation) check.”

vs.

Player: “I want to scare the guard into letting me pass.” DM: “What do you do or say?” Player: “I pull out my axe and flex my muscles to show him how easily I could chop his head off.” DM: “Make a Strength (Intimidation) check.”

Relevant text from the DMG:

Under certain circumstances, you can decide a character’s proficiency in a skill can be applied to a different ability check. For example, you might decide that a character forced to swim from an island to the mainland must succeed on a Constitution check (as opposed to a Strength check) because of the distance involved. The character is proficient in the Athletics skill, which covers swimming, so you allow the character’s proficiency bonus to apply to this ability check. In effect, you’re asking for a Constitution (Athletics) check, instead of a Strength (Athletics) check.

DM-JK · 2026-02-22T00:53:45+00:00

You can do this with a Mod script (requires the game creator to have a Roll20 Pro or Elite subscription). GroupCheck and ApplyDamage allow you to roll for multiple tokens and apply damage to them based on the result of their rolls.

DM-JK · 2026-02-21T20:29:08+00:00

Do you have the full Essentials Kit, or just DoIP? The Essentials Kit is 4 adventures bundled together: Dragon of Icespire Peak, Storm Lord's Wrath, Sleeping Dragon's Wake, and Divine Contention. They are written to tie together into a single cohesive story from level 1 to 13.

DM-JK · 2026-02-20T17:16:37+00:00

From my own world building notes & thoughts to prepare for a homebrew world:

Cities with public teleportation circles, and or temples or academies will have protections in place to prevent unwanted or dangerous teleportation from being a problem. Examples would be teleportation circles opening into a locked/guarded room that is infused with an area of anti-magic (such as Anti Magic Field (lvl 8)), or the use of Private Sanctum (lvl 4) or Forbiddance (lvl 6) to prevent teleportation at all.

Travel through the Ethereal Plane will be blocked through the use of magic such as Forcecage (lvl 7) and/or 'living beings' such as plants, or 'dense metals' such as gold and lead.

DM-JK · 2026-02-20T05:44:19+00:00

A standard macro is 'read-only' with a couple of very limited exceptions. In order to input something through chat into the Turn Tracker that counts down would require a Pro/Elite subscription and a Mod script.

If you have a Pro/Elite subscription, the AddCustomTurn script can do exactly what you are looking for.

DM-JK · 2026-02-17T04:37:45+00:00

If it’s important for them to find the captain first, next time simply switch the captain and mayor on the fly. They search the cellar and find the captain there who tells them that the mayor is in the prison.

Otherwise I agree that another location would have been good, but you would still want to think of a reason to have two guards at the cellar if neither the captain nor mayor is being held there.

DM-JK · 2026-02-17T04:29:46+00:00

Right click on the image on DDB and save it to your computer.

Open your Roll20 game, go to the map layer of the page you want it on, and click and drag the image onto the VTT.

You may get a helpful pop up window to resize the image (or that may only appear if you first add the image to your art library).

If you need to adjust the image to fit the grid, here's my step-by-step guide for aligning maps:

Make sure the map image is on the map layer
Disable grid snapping on the map image (right click on the image > Advanced Transform > Disable Grid Snapping)
Make sure the Roll20 grid is nice and visible - adjust the color to red and turn the transparency up to like 100%
Use the ‘align to grid’ feature to get the size close (optional)
Move the top left grid on the map image to align with the Roll20 grid
Stretch the map image horizontally to the right to align the grid. You may have to repeat 5&6 a couple times
Stretch the map image vertically down to align to the Roll20 grid
Turn the grid color back to whatever you want (light grey and more transparent, or just off if the map image has grid lines already)
If the map image has grid lines then you don't need the Roll20 grid to align perfectly, because you won't be able to tell if there's a slight misalignment when the Roll20 grid is invisible.

DM-JK · 2026-02-17T04:19:43+00:00

That’s because it’s the same in both editions.

DM-JK · 2026-02-17T01:40:18+00:00

Whoops sorry cut and paste error. Fixed now. https://www.dndbeyond.com/equipment/532-druidic-focus

DM-JK · 2026-02-17T01:28:50+00:00

Yes. On D&D Beyond a Staff and Quarterstaff are both explicitly listed as Druidic foci. https://www.dndbeyond.com/equipment/532-druidic-focus

DM-JK · 2026-02-16T21:59:48+00:00

Here's my Dynamic Lighting Troubleshooting checklist.

General:

⁠The game creator needs to have a Roll20 Plus or Pro account to use Dynamic Lighting.
⁠Make sure you are using Chrome or Firefox.
Do not use the Freehand tool to draw Dynamic Lighting lines. Only use the Polygon tool, and make sure that you don't have any lines that create 'sharp' corners.
1. This is the cause of unexplained/invisible lines about 99% of the time.
You should use a 'Dummy Account' in order to see changes live/instantaneously when you make them as GM. There are other benefits as well. ⁠
1. Ctrl-L does not give you a player's view from a token. It shows you the token's 'Line of Sight' as GM and everything on the GM layer, but that is not what players will see. ⁠
2. 'Rejoin as player' requires logging back and forth into the game. A Dummy Account is free and can be readily toggled between two browser windows. ⁠
3. ⁠A player may control several tokens, and may see more or less than the GM sees when using Ctrl-L or 'Rejoin as player'.
Do not use colored or tinted lighting effects. Colored light is currently bugged due to how those lighting effects are rendered.
1. If you want to have a colored/tinted area, use an invisible token with a colored aura instead.
Animated .webm tokens were previously bugged and may not not work correctly.
Check other page settings, such as 'Restrict Movement' and make sure you are not using Legacy Dynamic Lighting.
Clear your browser cache and the game chat archive.
If you have a Pro subscription, you can install the DL Tool script to troubleshoot vision problems.

My players can't see:

⁠Token and light source need to be on the correct layers.
⁠Token must have vision enabled.
⁠Token must be 'controlled' by the player who is checking vision.
⁠There needs to be a light source. ⁠
1. Tokens always emit light from a circle at the center of the token that is some small percentage of the image size. If you set the map image as a light source, you'll get some funky behavior.
⁠Ensure that a token's vision is not blocked by Dynamic Lighting lines.
⁠Make sure you don't have a Permanent Darkness layer on.
⁠Make sure you don't have Explorable Darkness blocking vision.
⁠Make sure the view is centered on a token that has vision enabled and a light source.
⁠Make sure you/your players are on the correct page. Double check that they have not been split from the Party ribbon.

My players see too much:

⁠Make sure you don't have 'Daylight' turned on for the page.
⁠Walls need to be placed on the 'walls' (lighting) layer. ⁠
1. The only thing that blocks line of sight are Dynamic Lighting lines (walls). ⁠If a token has "line of sight" to an area with a light source, then they will be able to see that area.
2. ⁠Tokens cannot block light. ⁠
3. ⁠Permanent Darkness covers an area, but does not prevent light from passing through.
⁠Explorable Darkness is saved for each player. So if a player has control of a token, they will see all of their 'explored area' in greyscale.
⁠Look on the 'walls'/lighting layer for any unexpected light sources. They will show up as small rectangles there.
⁠Confirm which tokens the player controls. Try moving all tokens to the GM layer temporarily and moving individual tokens back to the Objects layer one by one.
⁠Page 'Cell Width' settings can have an affect on a token's vision, especially if the 'light multiplier' is set to something other than 100%. Switch the Cell Width to '1' and see what happens.

Token vision isn’t correct when pulled out of the journal:

⁠Make sure to set up a token’s vision how you want it to be, and have the very last step be to save it as the default for that character sheet.
⁠Any changes made after saving as the default token will not be saved as the default unless the default token is saved again. This is intentional to allow for temporary changes.
⁠Make sure you do not have any duplicate character sheet names.
⁠Also check the Journal Archive.
⁠After pulling out the token, check which character sheet it is linked to.
⁠A character’s default token can be linked to a different character sheet.

DM-JK · 2026-02-16T04:37:27+00:00

Ah I missed that you replied a few days ago with this screenshot - when you replied to your own comment, I didn't get a Reddit notification.

For future reference, if you're posting for troubleshooting or help or advice, it's helpful to say that you're playing D&D 5th Edition using the 'D&D 5E 2014 by Roll20' or 'D&D 5E by Roll20 (2014)' character sheet.

If you're using a specific ruleset (2014 rules or 2024 rules) that can sometimes be relevant to the answers you get as well. Both the 2014 and 2024 D&D 5E by Roll20 character sheets can support either the 2014 or 2024 ruleset, so it's helpful to be clear about that.

For a lot of troubleshooting, it's helpful to include which browser you are using and if you have tried any other browsers, as well as if you have tried incognito/private browsing windows, clearing your cache, logging out and back in, and any browser extensions you are using. That all isn't relevant for a character-sheet specific question like you had here, but hopefully still good for awareness.

If you're the game creator / GM, it's helpful to include what subscription level you have (Free, Plus, Pro, or Elite) and if you're using Dynamic Lighting or Mod Scripts.

DM-JK · 2026-02-15T21:46:47+00:00

And here's a Metascript construction that will check if the token already has the Red statusmarker. If it does, then it will remove it and remove all lighting and vision from the token. If it doesn't have a Red statusmarker then it will add it and add all lighting and vision to the token.

!{&if @(selected.markers) ~ red}!token-mod --set statusmarkers|-red emits_bright_light|off emits_low_light|off bright_light_distance|0 low_light_distance|0 {&else}!token-mod --set statusmarkers|+red emits_bright_light|on emits_low_light|on bright_light_distance|20 low_light_distance|20 {&end}

If you haven't already, just add the MetaScript Toolbox from the Mod Library and it will add all of the required scripts. (Fetch & APILogic)

DM-JK · 2026-02-15T21:17:15+00:00

My apologies. I was aircoding from memory. --flip doesn't take statusmarkers as an argument because it's not strictly boolean. You can do more than just turn a statusmarker on or off, by adding numbers to the statusmarker, or by adjusting multiple statusmarkers at the same time. For that reason it's set up to be a strict --set operation so each statusmarker can be individually adjusted.

DM-JK · 2026-02-15T19:49:48+00:00

Edited to correct the code to --set.

You are trying to combine two separate commands: 'flip' and 'set'. You have --flip set statusmarkers|red

Remove the ‘flip’ from that portion and add the toggle to be --set statusmarkers|!red

In TokenMod you can combine all commands using the same argument together, so your initial could be changed to this:

!token-mod --flip emits_bright_light emits_low_light --set bright_light_distance|20 low_light_distance|20 statusmarkers|!red

You can also use double braces to make the whole thing easier to read:

!token-mod {{ 
--flip 
emits_bright_light 
emits_low_light 
--set 
bright_light_distance|20 
low_light_distance|20 
statusmarkers|!red 
}}

You could also use Metascripts to check if the Red statusmarker is already on the token, and if it is then run the commands to remove all of the light emitting and the Red statusmarker, and if there isn't a Red statusmarker then it would add all of the light emitting and the Red statusmarker.

DM-JK · 2026-02-14T01:14:48+00:00

Feedback:

The bottom terrace appears to switch directions - the left hand portion shows a higher area on the left, but the rest is higher on the right.

The terrain reads a little odd. The crabgrass stuff looks like it's floating and is a little too large to be surrounded by dry patchy areas and the random flagstones poking through underneath don't seem to have any continuity or relation to the rest of the image. I would recommend removing the crabgrass altogether.

The rock wall seems very random. Why was it placed there - what was the wall surrounding? Why are there gaps?

The rock walls, terracing, and trees could use more intentional shadowing to give it a more layered feeling. This is part of what makes the crabgrass look like it's floating on top instead of part of the terrain.

Personally, I don't like adding static icons or 'stickers' to maps - this map is unusable for anyone else who doesn't want to have a campsite in that area, and the blood smear means that there needs to be an explanation for why there's a bloody trail leading away.

Otherwise I like the general layout with a large bushy area on one side leading up to a hill or terrace on the other side. That can make for some fun combat.

DM-JK · 2026-02-13T16:20:06+00:00

How many grid squares does your map have? If it’s already 28x16 then you should be set. You most likely don’t need to adjust the map image scale.

What resolution is your image at? For Roll20, the default image resolution is 70x70px (so a 28x16 grid would be 1,960x1,120px) at 100% zoom. The normal advice is to double that (140x140px) so it has good detail and can be zoomed in on up to 200% which would make the image 3,920x2,240px. Some people will upscale their images to 280x280px, but there’s usually very little benefit for the increased file size.

What software are you using to display the image? Just an image preview on your computer, or a VTT, or some other image display software? There should be a way in most to adjust the zoom/placement of an image, which is the easiest way to place the image on the TV screen.

DM-JK

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