When purchasing an Adventure or Map Addon, customers with Plus or Pro subscriptions expect battle maps to include Dynamic Lighting already set up for them. Dynamic Lighting is a lighting system that updates players’ lines of sight in real-time, as you play. It is available to Pro and Plus subscribers. The owner of the game will need a Plus or Pro subscription to set up Dynamic Lighting in the game they're using for their Game template.
What's New with Dynamic Lighting
Stay up to date with the latest releases for Dynamic Lighting!
Step 1: Enable Dynamic Lighting for the Page
As noted in Setting Up Pages, the Page Settings menu has a tab dedicated to Dynamic Lighting.
- In the Page Settings Menu, click on the Dynamic Lighting Tab
- Toggle the Dynamic Lighting setting from "Off" to "On"
- If you currently have this page loading on the Tabletop, the scene will appear darker than it was before once Dynamic Lighting is turned On. If the effect is too dark or too light to see, you can adjust the visibility by using the slider under GM Darkness Opacity setting.
- The remaining settings under this tab aren't necessary until later on once your barriers and light sources are in place. Save your menu changes by clicking on the Save Settings button at the bottom of the menu. This will automatically close the menu and return you to the Page Toolbar.
- Collapse the Page Toolbar by clicking on the X button at the bottom of the toolbar.
Step 2: Drawing Walls, Barriers, Doors, and other Obstructions
To create walls and line-of-sight barriers on the Dynamic Lighting layer, you will be using the Drawing Tools found on the Tabletop Toolbar. You can review the various drawing tools available and how to use them in the Drawing Tools article.
Reviewing Your Map
Before you start creating barriers and placing lights on the Page, take a moment to review your map.
Ask yourself the following questions about your map and make note of what you find:
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What areas of the map have unmovable Walls?
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Where are there Doors or other movable vision obstructions?
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Where are there Secret Doors?
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Are there levels of elevation that would obstruct vision only in One Direction?
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Where are there Columns, tree trunks, or other smaller objects on the map that would still block line of sight, but you want Players to still be able to see them?
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Are there objects like Windows or Cell Bars on the map where Players could see through, but still impede their movement?
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Where are there Light Sources here? Are they a specific color? Brightness? Is it a narrow beam of light or a radial glow?
‘How do I create barriers?’
Go to the Toolbar's Layer section and choose Dynamic Lighting. This will switch you to the barrier layer for creating lines and shapes that block vision.
When you are ready, click on the Drawing category of the Toolbar and select Draw Shape. Draw Shape allows you to quickly draw pre-made shapes. By default, you will draw a rectangle. Hold down the Alt key to draw a circle instead. You can use the Polygon/Line tool to draw less constricting lines and shapes.
You can use either of these tools to draw outlines of all the walls, columns, doors, and other pieces of the map that you want to block light for total engagement. To reiterate, anything drawn or placed on this layer will block lighting or vision for Tokens on that page.
Setting up Transparent Barriers
Transparent dynamic lighting barriers allow light and vision to pass through while blocking movement. Select the "Transparent" option on the draw tool in the Dynamic Lighting layer to use this feature.
We automatically check your page settings when choosing transparency to ensure that "Restrict Player Token Movement" is enabled. If "Restrict Player Token Movement“ is not enabled, a pop-up will appear, and clicking "yes" will enable the setting without opening an extra menu.
When you draw a line with the transparent option, the lines will be dashed to show that they are transparent. In the image below, players can see over the bushes but can not walk through the thicker areas or stumps.
Setting up One-Way Barriers
To create one-way dynamic lighting barriers, select the "One Way" option in the Draw tool's submenu. The One Way option allows light and vision to pass through from one side of the barrier but not the other.
When a line or shape is drawn with this input selected triangles will appear near the line letting you know which way light and vision will bypass the barrier. You can toggle the direction using the button to the right of the submenu. In the image below anyone on the balcony above the stairwell can see everything happening below them but anyone below is unable to see onto the balcony.
If you are looking for dynamic lighting lines that block all vision from both sides those are now called "Walls" in this submenu and are the default option. Any dynamic lighting created before the introduction of one-way barriers will be a "Wall" by default.
Setting up Walls for Dynamic Lighting
In this video, we will show you how to draw and set up walls using Dynamic Lighting. Use barriers to build rooms, block line of sight, and customize your map for your Roll20 game. Setting up walls is only available to Plus and Pro Accounts.
Doors and windows have been one of our most requested features since Legacy Dynamic Lighting. With the enhanced capabilities of Updated Dynamic Lighting, we are able to bring you these modern architectural marvels! Players can peek through windows, encounter locked doors, or discover secret passages. Here are some key tips for setting up doors and windows:
- Dynamic Lighting components require proper set up of your page and token settings to function correctly. We recommend using the Dynamic Lighting Checklist to ensure a correct setup.
- Doors and windows are placed beside barrier lines, not on barrier lines. Make sure you are leaving room for your doors and windows.
- Both windows and doors have been set up to work with our Mods (API). Check out the API: Objects page in our Help Center to learn more.
- In order to function properly, windows and doors need Restrict Movement to be enabled. When you first set up doors or windows on a map, you will be prompted to turn this setting on.
- To delete a window, just select it and press the backspace or delete key on your keyboard.
Windows In Dynamic Lighting
Windows serve multiple purposes in the game. You can shove enemies through them, peek into them for strategic advantage, or break into them to start your heist. Our windows offer three editable features:
- Window Line Color: This will change the display color of the window on your Dynamic Lighting layer. This makes color-coding easy for more intricate dungeons!
- Locked Window: This toggle will determine if your window is locked or not. When your window is locked, both GMs and players will be unable to open or close it.
- Opened: This toggle will determine whether your window is open or not. When a window is open, players will be able to move their token through the window, as if they are climbing in.
In addition to these features, you can resize and rotate windows via bubbles at each end of the window from the Dynamic Lighting layer. To delete windows, simply highlight them and press delete or backspace. Check out our step-by-step guide on setting up doors and windows below for more guidance!
Doors In Dynamic Lighting
Doors can be both helpful and hindering to adventurers. They can block dangerous enemies or prevent access to valuable treasures. Our doors offer four editable features:
- Door Line Color: This will change the display color of the door on your Dynamic Lighting layer.
- Secret: This determines whether or not players can see your door. This is great for doors that need to be spotted with a Perception check, or if you have doors that you don’t want to be revealed right when players enter the room.
- Locked Door: This toggle will determine if your door is locked or not. When your door is locked, both GMs and players will be unable to open it.
- Opened: This toggle will determine whether your door is open or not. Open doors cannot be locked.
Guide: Setting Up Doors and Windows
In the toolbar menu, hover over the hand icon to see your component (light, window, door) options. Click your desired component to pull up the component's customization options. From this point on, any time you click your map your component will be placed. Be careful not to leave random doors scattered around in your dungeon!
Recommended Line Settings
Here are the barrier settings we use internally on our own marketplace conversions. The following line weight and differing colors for the various barrier types are approved for the accessibility of people with colorblindness and make it easier to tell where a line can be removed without the GM having to remove whole sections of what's drawn on the Dynamic Lighting layer to find what they need.
- Use the “Regular” Line Weight selection
- Use Blue ■ (Hex #0000ff, RGB: 0,0,255) for walls and immovable objects like tree lines.
- Use Orange ■ (#ff9900, RGB: 255,153,0) for doors, secret doors, curtains, and other movable line-of-sight breaks that the DM may want to be able to move/remove manually.
- Use Pink ■ (Hex #ff00ff, RGB: 255, 0, 255) for one-way lines
- Use Cyan ■ (Hex #00FFFF, RGB: 0, 255, 255) for transparent barriers such as windows, cell bars, and portcullises.