Tabletop RPGs bring friends together for nights of fantastic scenarios and immersive storytelling. Gamemasters can easily manage NPCs, run encounters, keep their lore organized and accessible to players, and more. As a gamemaster, Alchemy helps streamline much of the hassle that comes with running games virtually so that the gamemaster can focus on the most important part: the story

This article is all about walking gamemasters through the Alchemy interface for the first time and uses the Gamemaster Demo game located in their Library.

When loading into the Alchemy game experience, gamemasters will be brought to the Game Lobby: a screen that enables them to review game information and their own device inputs before entering a game. The lobby experience is private, and anything said or seen in the lobby is not transmitted to players or gamesters already in the game.

The game lobby enables gamemasters to do the following:

Once finished, a gamemaster can select the ‘Join Game’ button to be brought to the following screen.

This screen is the main view a gamemaster will see during their time running a game in Alchemy. Below is an explanation of each area on this screen and how the gamemaster can interact with each of them.

On the left side of the gamemaster's screen, the Journal panel will show all of the messages players and the gamemaster send to the group or whisper privately to one another. Many automations, such as actions and dice rolls, also display in this chat window.

A gamemaster can select the pip to the left of any journal message. Once they do, they can delete the message permanently by selecting the red DELETE text that appears at the top of the Journal Panel. A gamemaster can also delete any message in the journal panel by right-clicking the message and selecting the 'Delete' menu option.

The Notes panel allows players and gamemasters to enter personal notes relevant for the story and store them directly in the game where they can be easily referenced. Notes can be created, edited, and deleted to keep information updated as the game progresses.

When creating a scene, the gamemaster is able to input a Scene Name and Location to describe the context and area the player's characters currently are exploring. This information is displayed at the top of the main view for all users to see. This text can also be clicked to view the credits for each asset used in the creation of the scene.

While running a game, gamemasters are able to view information related to their party members, NPCs, and spectators who may be observing their game if the game is marked as public.

When a gamemaster selects a player character in this panel, they will be presented with options to view their character sheet, view or modify their trackers, add their token to the tactical map, change the player's status, or play as that character; bringing themselves into the same view and permissions as a player.

Within the party panel, each player and gamemaster will have a status indicator next to their player portrait. These indicators mean the following.

Gamemasters are able to click on each character or NPC in these lists to see all of the information and abilities about them. Clicking into the Spectator tab also enables gamemasters to see the avatar and username of the spectators watching the game.

Within the Party Panel, players are able to click the video panel icon to bring out the camera drawer in games where the 'Video Chat' setting is enabled. Within this interface, camera panels will show for each player online in the game. Beneath them, the camera toggle can be selected to start streaming video from a webcam attached to the player's device.

The small caret (^) icon next to this button will allow players to select which video source to use. When using Alchemy in a browser, the browser needs to allow app.alchemyrpg.com to access the device's webcam in order to use this feature.

Within Alchemy, gamemaster are able to create tactical encounters for their players. To the left of the Party Panel, the tactical map can be toggled. Once selected, players will be presented with a map (if the gamemaster has uploaded one) or the ability to toggle a grid if needed. The gamemaster can also add the tokens of players and NPCs; enabling players to freely move their own token and inspect each token for the relevant NPC or player information.

Beneath the Tactical Map button is the Audio Settings button. Everyone can select this button to adjust the volume levels for the scene's music and ambient sound for their own personal device.

Alchemy leans on the gamemaster preparing a number of scenes to bring the players into the world around them. The Scenes Panel enables the gamemaster to select existing scenes to preview prior to pushing it live to their players, view details of the scene, make edits to the scene, play the scene for their players, or delete the scene altogether. Gamemasters can easily add a new scene by clicking the 'Add Scene' button at the bottom of the panel. To find specific scenes listed in the panel, they can use the scene filter by scrolling up past the first scene listed at the top.

When creating or editing a scene, the 'Notes' tab of that module will be on full display in the Notes Panel, enabling the gamemaster to reference information about that scene hidden from their players.

The GM Actions Panel enables gamemasters to create actions in Alchemy so they can automate more complex dice rolls and messages quickly. For instance, if a gamemaster is planning an encounter where rocks are falling on the players constantly during the fight, the gamemaster can automate a GM action to roll all of the necessary dice and present messages to the players instructing them on what they need to do in that moment.

Throughout the lifecycle of a game, the gamemaster is able to upload handouts of information they can present to players as they reach certain parts in the story. Whether it is a cryptic clue to pass a dungeon puzzle, or an invitation to a royal wedding, the handouts your gamemaster chooses to present the players will appear in this region of the screen.

At the bottom of the screen, three icons representing a machine's gear, a 20 sided die, and a microphone can be found.

The gear button provides gamemasters with options to view our help documentation, disable visual motion effects, activate the X-Card, view the game's safety tab (See more in our Safety Tools article), edit the game's details, or quit the existing game being played.

The D20 button allows users to roll any type of dice in a classic seven piece polyhedral set. When rolling these dice, the results will appear in the Journal panel.

If the gamemaster has enabled voice chat, each player can use the microphone button to mute and unmute their microphone. The small caret (^) icon next to this button will allow players to select which audio source to use for their voice. When using Alchemy in a browser, the browser needs to allow app.alchemyrpg.com to access the device's microphone in order to use this feature. As a note, voice chat will be disabled unless two or more players are actively logged into a game.

The Floating Action Button (FAB) within Alchemy is generally located in the center of the screen and is often denoted by the button's white outline. This button often presents additional buttons to run various commands such as rolling dice, confirming changes, or exiting back to the main view.

To make the most of Alchemy and learn more about the platform's additional features for gamemasters, check out: