Handbook

Getting Started

1. Open the app. No account or install.
2. Create a campaign from the Data Manager sidebar. Everything is scoped to a campaign: maps, tokens, playlists, story slides, sheets.
3. Switch between modes using the top nav bar. DMs see five modes; players see only the VTT.
4. All data persists locally in your browser. To share with players, start a multiplayer session (see Multiplayer).

The Modes

VTT

The live battle map where tokens move, initiative runs, and dice roll. This is what players see.

Map Editor

Authoring environment for battle maps. Not shared live with players.

Data Manager

Campaign, map, token, asset, and playlist library. Also where you import and export.

Sheets

Character and creature sheet editor and viewer. Markdown+ format.

Story

Narrative slide reel for image reveals, NPC portraits, and location descriptions.

Companion

A phone-sized view for players: sheet, inventory, HP, abilities, and rolls. See Companion Mode.

The music player is not a mode -- it lives as an always-visible widget in the bottom-left corner (see Music).

Campaigns

A campaign is a self-contained bundle of maps, tokens, playlists, story slides, and sheets. Create and switch campaigns from the Data Manager sidebar. Only one campaign is active at a time.

Token templates are campaign-scoped but can be copied across campaigns via import/export.

Large assets (over ~200 KB) need a bit more browser support. In Chromium-based browsers (Chrome, Edge, Brave), FeyGate will ask once for a folder to store them in; everything after that is automatic. In other browsers, stick to smaller assets or use tokens with tiny portraits.

Map Editor

Switch to Map Editor mode and open or create a map from the Data Manager.

Tools

• Select (V) -- click or drag-select. Multi-select with shift. Rotate with the orange handle (shift snaps to 15°).
• Rectangle (R), Ellipse (E), Polygon (P), Line (L) -- shape primitives. Shift constrains to square/circle.
• Brush (B) -- freehand fill.
• Pan (H, Space) -- move the viewport.
• Asset (A) -- drop in pre-built assets (vegetation, structures, furniture, light sources).

Boolean draw modifiers

• Ctrl + draw -- union with selected shape.
• Alt + draw -- subtract from selected shape.

Layers, undo, filters

• Layers: visibility, lock, drag-to-reorder.
• Undo/redo with no practical depth limit.
• Hand-drawn filter toggles per map, turning crisp shapes into sketched, organic lines.
• Dynamic lighting: place point lights, choose a time-of-day preset (dawn, day, dusk, night, underground, none), or disable lighting with none.

For every tool option and every shortcut, see Map Editor Tools.

Running a Session

1. Load a map in VTT mode from the map picker.
2. Drag token templates from the Data Manager onto the canvas to place instances.
3. Pan with right-click drag or Space+drag; zoom with the scroll wheel.
4. Open the dice tray (R), initiative tracker (I), and token picker (T) as needed.
5. Toggle the grid with G.

Initiative

Open the tracker with I. Add combatants from the canvas selection or type manually. Cycle turns to advance the round counter. Selecting a tracker entry highlights the token and vice versa.

Line of Sight

Toggle line of sight from the VTT toolbar (DM only). With it on, each player only sees what their tokens can currently see -- everything else fades into fog, and areas a player has already explored settle into a dimmer "remembered" fog instead of snapping back to black.

The DM's own view always shows the full map regardless of the toggle, so you can set up a reveal without spoiling it for yourself.

Tokens

HP & stat bars

• HP input accepts +5, -3, or an absolute number.
• Custom stat bars: name, max, one of seven colours, visibility (all, dm, hidden).

Status conditions

Ten built-in conditions: Stunned, Poisoned, Burning, Frozen, Prone, Invisible, Frightened, Blinded, Paralyzed, Concentrating. Toggle from the token's properties panel; indicators appear on the token.

Size categories

Tiny (0.5x), Small (0.75x), Medium (1x), Large (2x), Huge (3x), Gargantuan (4x). Sets the grid footprint.

Templates & instances

Create a token template in the Data Manager. Each placement on the canvas is an instance with its own HP, conditions, and position. Editing a template's max HP propagates to instances; editing an instance's current HP does not.

Visibility

Per-token: visible, dm (DM sees it, players do not), or hidden (nobody sees it, for staging).

Copy / paste

Ctrl+C / Ctrl+V duplicates selected tokens with every property intact.

Dice

Open the dice tray with R in VTT mode. Rolls are 3D, physics-simulated, and sync to every connected player.

Notation

Supported polyhedrals: d4, d6, d8, d10, d12, d20, d100. Natural 20s on a d20 glow; rolls are logged per session.

Story Mode

Story Mode is for narrative beats -- image reveals, NPC dialogue, and scene descriptions. Slides are grouped into named sessions.

Slide types

Image

Fullscreen picture. Use for dramatic reveals.

NPC

Portrait, display name, and DM-only notes: tone of voice, personality, key phrases. DM notes never cross the network.

Location

Optional image and sensory notes (what players see, hear, smell), plus private DM notes.

Character Sheets

Sheets are Markdown+ documents: standard Markdown plus custom interactive components. Autosaves on every edit.

Components

• HP tracker -- same math input as tokens.
• Stat box -- numeric value with label; good for ability scores and modifiers.
• Skill check button -- clickable roll button.
• Pip tracker -- consumable resource (spell slots, abilities with limited uses).
• Tabs -- split a long sheet into sections.

Because the format is text-first, there is no required structure. Write whatever the system calls for.

Music Player

The music player is an always-on widget in the bottom-left corner. It appears as soon as the active campaign has at least one playlist. There is no separate Music mode.

Creating playlists and tracks

1. Open the Data Manager and switch to the Playlists content type.
2. Create a playlist (campaign-scoped).
3. Add tracks by pasting any YouTube URL.

Playing music during a session

• Pick a playlist from the dropdown in the player widget.
• Use prev / play-pause / next. DM controls are mirrored to every connected player in real time.
• The progress bar along the top of the widget shows track position.

Roles

DM (or solo)

Full control: switch playlists, transport, volume.

Connected player

View-only transport (disabled buttons show what's playing). The volume slider is always enabled, so each player balances music against voice chat on their own.

Collapsed state

A chevron in the top-right corner collapses the widget to a compact pill (play-pause + track title). The widget auto-collapses when you switch to Map Editor so it does not cover your drawing surface; toggle it back open at any time.

Multiplayer

Hosting

1. Click the session indicator in the nav bar and start a room.
2. FeyGate generates a 6-character code.
3. Share the code, or share the URL with the code baked in.

Joining

Players open FeyGate with a URL parameter:

https://feygate.app/app/?join=ABC123

Or they enter the code manually from the nav bar.

URL parameters

?room=CODE

DM: rejoin an existing room as host.

?join=CODE

Player: join a room.

?join=CODE&companion=1

Player: join and open straight into Companion Mode. This is what the invite QR code links to.

How it works

A lightweight relay passes messages between everyone at the table and stores nothing itself. The DM's game is always the source of truth; late joiners catch up automatically, and a dropped connection reconnects with tokens exactly where they were left. Shared images aren't re-sent if someone at the table already has them, so reconnecting and catching up stays fast.

Companion Mode

Companion Mode gives each player a phone-sized view instead of the full VTT: their character sheet, inventory, HP, abilities, and a roll log, synced live with the DM.

Joining

Open the session popover in the nav bar while connected and scan the QR code, or share the invite link -- both drop a player straight into Companion Mode on their phone, no separate app or login.

What syncs

HP and sheet edits made in Companion Mode sync to the DM's screen immediately, and abilities a player has shared are visible to the DM in a drawer on the VTT toolbar.

A player can also reach Companion Mode from a desktop browser via the same invite link -- it's a view, not a device restriction.

Import / Export

Campaigns export to a .fey file containing maps, tokens, playlists, story slides, and sheets. Use it to back up, move to another device, share with a co-DM, or archive.

Export

1. Data Manager → Campaign → Export.
2. FeyGate produces a .fey file in your downloads.

Import

1. Data Manager → Import.
2. Pick a .fey file. It creates a new campaign alongside existing ones; nothing is overwritten.

Keyboard Shortcuts

Map Editor

VTT