The power bar

The power bar is a box where you type commands, such as /roll 1d20+5 or /show Stealth, instead of clicking through menus.

For: Game Masters and players · Plan: Free · 15 minutes

Press Ctrl+K (Cmd+K on a Mac), or click its button on the tool rail, and a box opens over the board. Type / and it lists every command you can use, with a line on what each does. It's quick for things you'd otherwise hunt for: rolling a table, opening a spell's rules, or giving everyone in the party 300 experience points at once. Its newest command, /show, finds a value on your character sheet for you: a pointer clicks its way to the box and rings it, so you learn where it lives. The Game Master (GM), who runs the game, can use it to show a player where something is on their own sheet.

Some pages, and the macro editor's Command Palette tick box, call it the command palette: it's the same box.

Open the power bar

• Press Ctrl+K (Cmd+K on a Mac). It works anywhere in RollQuest, in a game or on your dashboard, even with the board selected.
• Or, in a game on a computer, click the power bar button at the bottom of the tool rail (the column of icons down the right edge), just above Help and Feedback. Hover over it to see Power bar (Ctrl+K), or Power bar (⌘K) on a Mac.

Press the same keys again, press Esc, or click outside the box to close it. On a phone there's no power bar button.

Type a command

1. Type /. Every command you can use is listed, each with a line saying what it does. Keep typing to narrow the list.
2. Pick a command: click it, or press ↓ and ↑ to highlight it and Tab or Enter to pick it. A line under the box shows how to write it and what it does, such as /show <value> [@character]: Show where a value is on a character sheet.
3. Type the rest. Suggestions appear as you go: names, values, items, conditions, tables. Enter picks the highlighted suggestion while what you've typed isn't finished, and runs the command once it is.

Most commands close the box as they run. /journal stays open so you can add another entry. If a command can't run, it says why, under the box or in a message at the top right.

Find a value on your sheet

/show walks you to a value on your character sheet, such as a skill, a saving throw or your armour class. A second pointer, the guide, does the clicks you'd do yourself at a pace you can follow, then rings the box. Use it when you know what you want to roll but not where it is on the sheet.

1. Open the power bar.
2. Type /show and a space. Your game system's values are listed by name, each with its ID and, when it has one, its range, such as Strength with STR · 1–30.
3. Type part of the name, such as athl. The closest names come first: a name that matches what you typed exactly, then names that start with it (shortest first), then names that contain it.
4. Press Enter to pick the highlighted value, then Enter again to run it.

The box closes and the guide appears in the middle of the screen: an arrow with a soft halo round it, so you can tell it from your own pointer. It glides to each thing it clicks and shows a press:

• If your sheet isn't open, it opens by itself, usually in the Form View.

• In the Form View, it clicks the page and then the tab the value is on. On a Canvas sheet, it turns the pages forward and then back until it finds the value.

• Then it rings the box with a pulsing outline and shows a tip with the value's name and Click here to roll Athletics when clicking the box rolls it, or Here's Athletics when it doesn't, with Got it.

Your own mouse keeps working the whole time. Click the ringed box to roll it: the ring goes as you click and the roll goes ahead.

• Stop the guide part way: click anywhere, on the board too, or press Esc. It stops where it is and the pointer goes. Your Esc goes only to the guide, so it doesn't also close your sheet.
• End the ring: click anywhere, press Esc or click Got it. Closing the sheet ends it too.
• Run /show again and the new guide replaces the old one.
• With reduced motion turned on in your computer's settings, the pointer jumps instead of gliding, and the ring doesn't pulse.

The guide looks at the sheet as it's open: it doesn't switch between the Form View and the Canvas view. If a value isn't on the view you're in, such as a value the artwork of a Canvas sheet doesn't show, it says it couldn't find it: switch views and try again. See Form and Canvas views.

Which values you can show

The list holds the values your game system declares that have a name of their own, including the ones the sheet works out for itself, such as skill bonuses and ability modifiers. Showing a value never changes it. A value with no name of its own isn't listed.

• As a player, /show shows your own sheet. If you play more than one character, name the one you mean: /show Stealth @Kagra (put quotes round a name with a space: @"Old Tom"). With no @, it uses your first character that has a sheet.
• As the GM, /show Stealth with no @ shows your own character, if you play one. Naming a player's character asks that player instead: see Show a player where something is (GM), below.

If the guide can't help

Message	What it means
Name the value to show: /show <value>	You ran /show on its own. Type a value's name after it.
No value called "…" in this game's system	Nothing in your game system has that name or ID. Pick one from the list.
"…" could be … or …: type more of the name	Several values start with what you typed. Type more of the one you mean.
"…" is the name of … and …: type the one you mean	Two values share that name, such as an ability and its proficiency. Type the ID of the one you mean.
You can only show your own character's sheet	As a player, you named someone else's character.
… has no character sheet attached	That character has no sheet yet. See Who can see and change a sheet.
Name a character: /show <value> @<name>	You have no character on the board for a plain /show. Name one with @.
… has no character sheet to show	You named a token that isn't a player character, such as an enemy.
Couldn't open …'s sheet.	The sheet didn't open in time. Try again.
Couldn't find … on …'s sheet.	The sheet opened, but the value isn't on the view it's in, or it's inside a section that's folded shut. Switch views, or open the section, and try again.

Show a player where something is (GM)

When a player asks where their Stealth is, you can walk them to it on their own screen. They're asked first, and the guide only starts if they agree.

1. Open the power bar.
2. Type /show, the value and the character, such as /show Stealth @Kagra. After the @, the list offers the player characters that have a sheet, and @players and @selected.
3. Press Enter. A message says Asked Kagra to follow along.

Kagra's player sees a card at the top of their screen: Your GM wants to show you Stealth on Kagra's sheet, with Not now and Show me. Show me starts the guide on their screen, exactly as if they'd run /show Stealth themselves. You're told Kagra is following along, or Kagra said not now.

• /show Stealth @players asks every player about their own character, once per sheet. @selected asks the players of the tokens you've selected on the board.
• Naming your own character walks you, on your screen, with no question.
• Only players who are in the game right now are asked. Nothing is sent to the others, and the message says why.
• The card waits up to 3 minutes for an answer, then goes. Asking about the same value again replaces the waiting card. Up to five cards can wait for a player, shown one at a time, and only cards from the game they're in: leaving the game clears them. The card steps aside while a guide is walking, so it never covers what the guide clicks.
• If the player has the game open in two tabs, both show the card, and answering in one clears the other.

What you might see as the GM:

Message	What it means
Asked Kagra to follow along	The card is on their screen. With several, they're all named, such as Asked Kagra and Ava to follow along.
Kagra is following along / Kagra said not now	Their answer.
Kagra's player isn't in the game right now	Kagra has a player, but they aren't connected to this game. Nothing was sent.
Nobody is playing Kagra	No player has that character. Nothing was sent.
Kagra is not on the board	That character's token isn't in the game any more.
Kagra has no character sheet attached	Give the character a sheet first.
Name a player character: /show <value> @<name>	You named only tokens that aren't player characters, such as an enemy.
Couldn't reach the server. Try again in a moment.	Your connection dropped, or no answer came within 5 seconds. Nothing was sent.
Only the GM can show a player where something is	Only the game's GM can ask a player.

Every command

Commands that act on tokens take targets after an @: a name, such as @Kagra (put quotes round a name with a space: @"Old Tom"), or a group: @all, @players, @enemies, @npcs, or @selected for the tokens you have selected on the board. /xp, /coins, /item and /condition show a summary first when they're aimed at a group, and /slot does too, or when it uses up more than one slot: press Enter to go ahead or Esc to cancel. /damage and /set don't ask.

Commands for everyone:

Command	What it does
/roll <expression>	Rolls dice, such as /roll 1d20+8, with the 3D dice and the result in chat. See Roll dice.
/sheet	Opens your character sheet. On its own, or with your character's name (/sheet @Kagra), it opens yours; a player can't open anyone else's (You can only open your own character sheet). The GM can open any player character's sheet. It also takes a name without the @ (/sheet Kagra); Enter picks the highlighted name until what you've typed names one character, and a name nobody has says No character called "Kagra".
/show <value> [@character]	Walks you to a value on your character sheet and rings it. As the GM, naming a player's character asks that player to follow the guide on their screen. See Find a value on your sheet, above.
/macro <shortcut>	Runs one of your macros, or one your GM shared, by its shortcut, such as /macro attack. Enter picks the highlighted macro until a whole shortcut is typed. See Macros: what they are.
/journal <text>	Adds a quick entry to the campaign journal for this session. A player's entry goes in the shared player journal; the GM's goes in the GM's own journal unless it starts player:. The line is kept as you typed it, @names and quote marks included. Needs Starter or Pro: on Free you see Journal access requires the Starter or Pro plan.
/look <name>	Opens a small reference window for a spell, weapon or item, such as /look Fireball. Start with spell, weapon or item to search only those. A spell's Components line names its material, such as Revivify's diamond worth 300+ GP. Only the GM can look up creatures (/look creature Goblin), so players can't read a monster's stat block.
/table [times] <name>	Rolls a rollable table, with the same 3D dice as in chat, such as /table 2 Treasure. Table names fill in as you type; Enter picks the highlighted one until the name matches a single table. Players can roll the tables their GM shares. A name that matches no table, or several, gets a message listing them, and nothing is rolled. See Rollable tables.
/set <value> <number> [@targets]	Changes a value on character sheets, picked by name from your game system's values as you type, with its range shown beside it. A plain number sets it, +2 or -2 changes it by that, and =-1 sets a negative number. With no target, the GM's change goes to every player character and a player's to their own. Values the sheet works out for itself can't be set: the power bar says what they're worked out from. See Chat and chat commands.

Commands for the GM only (a player who types one sees DM-only command):

Command	What it does
/damage <amount> [type] @<targets>	Damages tokens, such as /damage 8 fire @Goblin. A negative amount heals. See Damage and healing.
/condition <name> [rounds] @<targets>	Gives tokens a condition from the game's list, such as /condition Poisoned 3 @Kagra, for a number of rounds if you give one. Put a minus in front of the name to take it off: /condition -Poisoned @Kagra. See Conditions.
/xp <amount> @<targets>	Adds experience points to player characters' sheets, such as /xp 300 @players. A negative amount takes them away.
/coins <amount><coin> @<targets>	Adds money to sheets, such as /coins 50gp @Kagra, naming the coin by your game system's abbreviation or symbol, or its name. A negative amount takes it away, never below 0: the message says what's left when there wasn't enough, such as Kagra (had 3, now 0). See Inventory and money.
/item <name> [xN] @<targets>	Gives an item from the game's catalogue, such as /item "Potion of Healing" x2 @Kagra. An item that asks for a choice, such as a magic weapon's base weapon, says to add it from the sheet instead.
/slot <level> <+n or -n> @<target>	Gives back (+) or uses up (-) spell slots of a level from 1 to 9, such as /slot 3 -1 @Kagra. Using up more than one asks you first. See Spells and casting.
/stakes <character> <option>	Only in a game whose system has roll tags, such as Drownwake: sets the stakes of one player's next roll. See Playing Drownwake.

/sheet, /show, /set, /xp, /coins, /item and /slot work on player characters with a sheet: a target without one is skipped, and the message says so. The ones that change a sheet change it once, however many of its tokens you name. If a name doesn't match, the power bar says No such target, and suggests a close name when there is one. Two tokens with the same name are offered as, for example, Goblin (1) and Goblin (2), so you can aim at each one; typed bare, a shared name is refused (2 tokens are called Goblin: use @"Goblin (1)" or @"Goblin (2)"). Chat has commands of its own, such as /roll, /table and /w; the others on this page, such as /sheet and /show, work only in the power bar.

The power bar, part by part

Part	What it does
The box	Where you type. Empty, it reads Type / to begin (e.g. /roll 1d20+8).
Command line	Under the box once you've picked a command: how to write it and what it does. For /set, a second line names the value you picked, its ID, its range and the system's note on it.
Suggestions	The list under that. Click one, or highlight it with ↑ and ↓ and press Tab or Enter. Each row has its name on the left and a detail on the right, such as Player, a value's ID or a table's Table · shared.
↑↓ navigate · Tab / Enter select · Esc close	The keys, under the list.
Error line	In red under the box when a command can't run, such as Unknown command "/shw".
Confirmation	For a command aimed at a group, the box gives way to a summary of what's about to happen, with Enter to confirm · Esc to cancel.

Keys in the power bar

Keys	To
Ctrl+K (Cmd+K on a Mac)	Open or close it
↑ / ↓	Move through the suggestions
Tab, or Enter while the command isn't complete	Pick the highlighted suggestion. /macro, /sheet, /show, /set and /table keep picking until you've typed a whole shortcut, a character's name, a value's name, a number or one table's name
Enter	Run the command, or confirm one aimed at a group
Esc	Cancel the confirmation, or close the power bar
Esc while the guide is walking or ringing a box	Stop the guide

Related

A tour of the table · Your sheet at the table · Keyboard shortcuts and mouse controls