Dynamic lighting that makes the dark matter
FreeA dungeon is only scary if you can't see the end of the corridor. RollQuest's dynamic lighting puts real light sources on the map: torches, lanterns, glowing runes, a cold blue from the crypt door. Walls block it. Doors block it until they open. And the whole system is on the Free plan.
Dynamic lighting for a virtual tabletop, without the setup tax
On some platforms dynamic lighting is a paid add-on, on others it's a settings screen with forty options. Here it's a panel. Open Lighting, click where the light goes, set a colour and a radius. Done.
Lights have a bright radius and a dim radius, like the rules expect. They can flicker, so a torch looks like a torch. They can be any colour. A red glow from a forge, green from a fungal cave, a tight white beam for a bullseye lantern.
Torches that follow the party
Attach a light to a token and it moves with the token. The fighter carries the torch, the party walks behind her, and the pool of light slides down the corridor as she goes, while walls still stop it at the edge of each room. Choose Stop Following and the torch stays where she left it.
Torches that follow a token are on Starter and Pro.
How it works in RollQuest
Draw walls in Wall Mode, on an uploaded map or one you painted in the map builder. Add doors in Door Mode. Open Lights, add a candle, a torch, a lantern or a magic light, and set the scene to bright light, dim light or darkness. That's the whole setup.
During play, open a door and light spills through. Close it and the room goes dark again. Lights can be toggled from the GM's side at any moment, so blowing out the candles is one click.
Darkvision, and seeing in bands
A token's sight isn't one number. It's an ordered list of bands, each with an outer distance and a visual mode, which is how you model darkvision honestly:
0 to 120 ft Greyscale · beyond 120 ft not visible
That's a 2024 dwarf in darkness: everything within 120 feet is the washed-out grey that darkvision is actually described as, and past that there is nothing. (A 2014 dwarf's darkvision reaches 60 feet.) A human gets one band and a hard edge. Something with blindsight gets a short band that doesn't care what the lighting is doing.
Bands can differ by lighting state, so the same token can see one way in a lit room and another way in darkness, without you swapping anything over mid-session. Leave a token unconfigured and it keeps the sensible default from its senses.
The words on screen name what you'll see (Full Colour, Greyscale, not visible) rather than any one game system's vocabulary, so the same control works whatever you're running.
Scene weather
Rain over the market square. Snow drifting across the pass. Weather is a layer over the scene that moves on its own, saved with each scene, and it's on Pro. Turn it on for the outdoor scenes and off for the crypt. Players don't need a plan of their own to see and hear it.
There are presets rather than a pile of sliders, in six groups: rain, snow, sleet and hail; mist, smoke, cloud cover, storm clouds, haze and underwater; sunbeams, moonbeams, an aurora, fireflies; leaves, blossom and feathers on the wind; a thunderstorm, a blizzard or a firestorm; and hazards such as ash, a sandstorm, toxic fog or a swarm. Set the intensity, the wind and its direction, so drizzle and downpour are the same preset at different strengths. Each scene's weather can play up to two looping sounds of its own, such as rain and distant thunder.
Works with
Fog of war uses the same walls, so a lit room behind a closed door stays hidden until the door opens.
Audio has door-triggered sounds, so the creak and the light arrive together.
Frequently asked questions
Does RollQuest support darkvision?
Yes. A token's vision is set as bands (for example full colour to 30 ft, greyscale to 120 ft, nothing beyond), and those bands can change with the lighting state.
Is dynamic lighting free in RollQuest?
Yes. Lights, walls, doors and token vision are all on the Free plan. Torches that follow a token are on Starter and Pro, and weather is on Pro.
Do walls block light and vision?
Yes, both. One set of walls handles fog of war and lighting together.
Can I have different coloured lights?
Yes. Any colour, with separate bright and dim radius, and an optional flicker, pulse or electrical animation.
Can players carry a light?
Yes, on Starter and Pro. The GM attaches a light to the player's token and it moves with them.
Is weather on every plan?
No, weather is on Pro, decided by the GM's plan. Everyone at the table sees and hears it, whatever their own plan.