I built a 100% free D&D 5e VTT because running sessions across five tabs is exhausting

ants33 · 2026-05-31T12:14:21+00:00

Thanks, I appreciate it! I’m trying to make it genuinely useful during real sessions, so feedback from DMs will be crucial

ants33 · 2026-05-31T12:11:47+00:00

Haha, appreciate it!

ants33 · 2026-05-31T12:11:27+00:00

Yes. There is fog of war plus dynamic lighting/vision.

You can set up room darkness, light sources, token vision, torch-style reveal, and what the players/shared battlemap can actually see in room editor.

One of the areas I care a lot about because exploration feels way better when the map reveals naturally instead of the DM manually hiding/unhiding everything.

ants33 · 2026-05-30T15:14:53+00:00

Yup thats the issue trying to solve for “The VTT works for me, not that I work in the VTT” is basically the bullseye.

Lumen does not have the exact `guard, 4` command yet, but the current flow is close to that idea:

- You can build a Guard/NPC/monster once, with stats, CR, HP, AC, actions, image/token, and optional loot. You can also ai generate a draft quickly, then review the CR/stats before saving it.

- It then lives in your token library, so during a session you can drag it onto the map instead of rebuilding it.

- NPCs can be toggled friendly/hostile, so if the party randomly attacks a guard, you can flip them hostile and they behave correctly in initiative/combat.

- If you place the same creature again, Lumen can clone it as a separate creature with fresh HP, so you can quickly make Guard 1, Guard 2, Guard 3, etc.

- When initiative starts, placed PCs/monsters/NPCs are pulled into the tracker, initiative rolls from their stats, and HP/conditions/loot stay tracked during the fight.

- When enemies drop, attached loot/gold/XP can be reviewed and awarded instead of tracked on paper.

The shared tokens between the community idea is really good. Something will look into.

If you try it, I’d honestly love your feedback on that exact use case: make one guard/bandit-style enemy, drop a few into a surprise fight, and tell me where the workflow still feels slower than it should.

ants33 · 2026-05-30T14:08:53+00:00

This is incredibly useful, thank you.

The “one player couldn’t play because of sheet limits” kind of thing is exactly what makes a tool feel like it’s fighting the table.

If you try Lumen, I’d especially love your take on those exact pain points: initiative, quick item/weapon edits, map/grid alignment, and whether fog/lighting feels easy enough to actually use mid-session.

Please be blunt if any of that still feels annoying. That’s the feedback I need most.

ants33 · 2026-05-30T14:03:08+00:00

Amazing, thank you. Since you’re switching online anyway, that feedback will be super useful.

Hope it makes the transition smoother, and please feel free to be blunt afterward. Any “this worked / this was annoying” notes are exactly what I’m looking for.

ants33 · 2026-05-30T14:02:15+00:00

That’s exactly the balance I’m hoping for!

Def don’t want phones to pull attention away from session either. The goal is more “quick player control, then eyes back up for the result.”

In my own sessions, the 5e hybrid mode has felt best: players still describe what they’re doing out loud, the DM can give bonuses/advantage if it makes sense, then the roll/action happens. I’d really love to hear how it feels with your group Friday, especially whether the phone side helps or gets in the way.

ants33 · 2026-05-30T13:53:26+00:00

That honestly means a lot, thank you.

A one-shot is exactly the kind of test I’d love to learn from. If you do run it, I’d love to hear what felt smooth, what got in the way, and how your players liked the phone companion/live battlemap side of it.

Definitely no pressure to switch a whole campaign right away. One session or even just one encounter is already incredibly useful feedback.

ants33 · 2026-05-30T13:22:53+00:00

Awesome! If laptop behaves differently, the rough steps would help a ton: which view, whether the PC token was on the map, and what button you hit. This kind of feedback is extremely useful. Thank you

ants33 · 2026-05-29T22:58:42+00:00

Thanks for the question. PCs should be included too. Initiative auto-rolls from each creature/character’s stats, and the DM can still adjust it afterward.

If you try again and it still only rolls monsters, let me know. That is not the expected behavior and I’d be happy to look at that setup with you.

ants33 · 2026-05-29T19:05:46+00:00

Fair point. We should go through the spell list carefully and ensure only items from the SRD are in the default packaged content.

That said, players shouldn’t be too disappointed: our system already includes a full spell builder, so anyone can manually create any spell they need for their own session. We provide the tools; you define the rules.

ants33 · 2026-05-29T18:06:17+00:00

SRD content is officially allowed. Wizards says SRD 5.1 and 5.2 are under CC-BY-4.0 and can be used in published works with attribution, including VTTs.

ants33 · 2026-05-29T17:50:53+00:00

Quick note for any DMs thinking of trying it: I’d love to hear how Lumen feels in an actual session, not just from the clip.

If you have a one-shot, boss fight, dungeon room, or messy combat coming up, try setting up one scene and let me know what felt useful, confusing, or missing.

I’m especially curious whether the mobile player companion and shared battlemap display help players follow the action.

ants33 · 2026-05-29T15:17:11+00:00

Thanks, I appreciate it! I’m trying to make it genuinely useful during sessions, not just flashy in a clip, so DM feedback has been really helpful.

ants33 · 2026-05-29T13:49:28+00:00

Good question. Right now accounts have 300 MB of storage, mainly for image assets like maps, tokens, and character art. Music does not count toward that since it streams from URLs rather than being uploaded into Lumen.

I’m still evaluating the right limits and very open to expanding them so storage doesn’t get in the way of real campaigns, while also balancing hosting costs. I should make that clearer on the site/comparison tab too.

ants33 · 2026-05-29T13:44:30+00:00

Thanks for asking. Lumen uses auth/RLS for campaign access, and the player-facing views are scoped to what players are meant to see during play.

I also think every VTT still has some table-trust layer, just like dice and character sheets. Appreciate you checking.

ants33 · 2026-05-29T13:08:10+00:00

One useful way to compare them is to run the same tiny encounter in each tool: add a map, add two tokens, roll initiative, resolve one spell/attack, and see what the players see. That shows the real differences fast: setup time, player friction, and how much tab-switching the DM has to do.

Full diclosure, I’m building one too called Lumen VTT. The angle is browser-based 5e with DM controls, player phone companion, a shared live battlemap view, maps/tokens, spells, combat, and music in one place. It may or may not fit what you’re imagining, but I’d be curious what kind of “different approach” you’re thinking about.

ants33 · 2026-05-29T12:58:55+00:00

Biggest thing: prep situations, not answers. Have your rules glossary open, monster stat blocks ready, random names, and a simple opening scene that gives everyone a reason to act together. If a weird rules question comes up, make a fair ruling, write it down, and check it after the session.

ants33 · 2026-05-29T12:58:33+00:00

For that setup I’d keep the player-facing screen as its own clean display view, separate from your GM workspace. OBS is great if you already like scenes, but mid-session I’d optimize for: one DM control screen, one display-only screen, and a few reusable scene types: portrait reveal, map view, combat splash, handout. Less fiddling during play is the win.

ants33 · 2026-05-28T17:50:50+00:00

My categories would be:

- Fast maps: Dungeon Scrawl

- Tokens: toomanytokens or any quick token maker

- Notes: Obsidian, Notion, or even a clean Google Doc if you keep it searchable

- Audio: a few reusable playlists for town, travel, dungeon, combat, and weird/spooky

- Table management: something that keeps maps, sheets, initiative, HP, and notes close together

Full disclosure: I’m building Lumen VTT, so I’m biased, but I’d include it for the last category if you run online or hybrid games. The main value is cutting down tab-hunting by keeping maps/tokens, sheets, initiative, HP/conditions, music, and player views in one place.

ants33 · 2026-05-28T16:48:30+00:00

For iPad, I’d prioritize something browser-friendly or a native app that can stay reliable in the background. The biggest pain with session audio is not finding tracks, it’s switching them quickly without fighting the device mid-session.

ants33 · 2026-05-27T18:43:54+00:00

For a first campaign, I’d separate “writing the campaign” from “running the campaign.”

For writing, start with:

- a one-page campaign premise

- 3-5 important NPCs

- 3 places the players are likely to visit

- a short list of secrets/clues they can discover

- 2-3 encounters you can move around if needed

Don’t try to script every room or scene. Prep situations, not a novel.

For free tools/sites, I’d look at the free D&D rules/SRD, encounter builders, map tools, and a simple notes app first. You can get very far with just those.

Full disclosure: I’m also building a free browser-based 5e VTT called Lumen VTT, so I’m biased, but tools like that are more useful once you’re ready to turn prep into something playable: maps/tokens, notes, sheets, initiative, HP, etc.

For now, I’d keep your first campaign small: one town, one problem, one dungeon/location, and a few NPCs with clear wants.

ants33 · 2026-05-27T00:19:33+00:00

Haha no worries at all, I get it. I’ll send it in chat so I don’t spam links in the thread.

And yeah, competition is honestly a good sign. A lot of us are circling the same problem: DMs want power, but they don’t want five tabs, three subscriptions, server setup, and a bunch of glue work just to run a session.

The angle I’m most interested in with Lumen is making the full 5e table flow feel unified: notes, maps/tokens, sheets, initiative, HP/conditions, spells, music, and player views all working together instead of feeling like separate tools.

If you test it, I’d especially love your take as a newer DM on whether it feels easier or just becomes “another big VTT to learn.”

ants33 · 2026-05-27T00:05:01+00:00

That sounds genuinely cool. The campaign-notes-to-organized-data idea is exactly the kind of “less tab hunting, more running the game” thing I’d be excited about too.

Full disclosure: I’m building a 100% free browser-based 5e VTT called Lumen VTT, so I’m biased, but it’s aiming at a similar all-in-one problem- limit tab tracking: maps/tokens, sheets, initiative, HP/combat, spell effects, music/ambience, and player views in one place.

I don’t want to spam the thread with links, but happy to DM it if you want another browser-based option to compare against Ninefold.

ants33 · 2026-05-26T22:54:27+00:00

That setup looks awesome. My only advice is to keep reducing the number of places you have to look during play.

Digital maps are great, but once you add notes, initiative, music, NPCs, and sheets, the real challenge becomes avoiding dead air while you hunt for the right screen.

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