Alchemy is a platform for tabletop RPG players and gamemasters that can help them play their favorite games virtually in the most immersive way possible. Within Alchemy, players are able to perform common tasks like rolling dice, managing characters, running encounters, and more. Alchemy enables everyone to organize everything they need to play a game intuitively so they can focus on the most important part: the story.

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

In This Article

When loading into the Alchemy game experience, players will be brought to the Game Lobby: a screen that enables players 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 players to do the following:

Once finished, a player can select the ‘Join Game’ button to be brought into the game experience. After creating their character, the following screen appears:

This screen is the main view a player will see during their time playing a game in Alchemy. Below is an explanation of each area on this screen and how players are able to interact with each of them.

The top left panel is one of the most active panels during a game. The Journal panel will show all of the messages players send to the group or whisper privately to one another. Many automations, such as actions and dice rolls, also display in this chat window.

The Notes panel enables 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 players to see. This text can also be clicked to view the credits for each asset used in the creation of the scene.

While playing a game, players are able to view information related to their party members, NPCs the gamemaster has revealed, and spectators who may be observing their game if the gamemaster has marked the game as public.

When a player selects their character in the Party Panel, they will be presented with options to view their character sheet as others would see them, mark themselves as Here or Away, or quit the game. Additionally, a player can set a status for everyone to see in this panel. This status can represent anything from character conditions to their best in-game quotes.

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

Players are able to click on each character or NPC in these lists to see the information and abilities that the player or gamemaster has chosen to reveal about them. Clicking into the Spectator tab shows the avatars and usernames 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.

To the left of this 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.

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, handouts the gamemaster chooses to present the players will appear in this region of the screen.

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

The gear button provides players 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), view the game's details, or quit the existing game being played.

The D20 button enables 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

The Floating Action Button (FAB) within Alchemy is located directly below the player bar (see below) 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.

The bottom left of the screen is an extension of the most often used information on a player's character sheet. Actions within Alchemy enables players to automate certain types of rolls and messages to appear in the chat window for everyone to see.

The Equipment tab will show any items the character is currently holding. Each item can be clicked into to show further information specific to that item.

The Trackers Tab will show in Custom System games and can be used by players and NPCs to track resources they use during the game using a tracker bar or pips. More on how these trackers can be created can be found in the Creating a Character article.

At the center of the screen, the player bar will show current information about the player's character. Their character portrait in the center will show artwork uploaded for the character and can be clicked to view their character sheet. This information can also be edited by selecting the lock icon in the top left of the module after clicking the character portrait.

Flanking the character portrait are two trackers which can be updated live to reflect a character's current statistics. In many games, these bars may represent Hit Points or experience points. Selecting each tracker enables players to change the value of that stat.

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