Creating Light, Windows, and Barriers

Dynamic Lighting can enhance your gaming experience by immersing your players in dark dungeons or dense jungles. By creating barriers that restrict unwanted light, you can make the game more realistic and engaging. You can set up lighting manually or use files on the VTT that set it up for you.  

UVTT map files place walls, doors, windows, and lights automatically. See Universal Virtual Tabletop (UVTT) Support for more. This article covers building and adjusting Dynamic Lighting by hand.

‘How do I create light?’ 

There are two ways to add Dynamic lighting to your dynamically lit maps:

• Using Tokens: Tokens give sight and provide light to players. For more information about tokens and lighting, visit our Dynamic Lighting Token Settings page.

• Using Daylight Mode: Daylight Mode illuminates your entire map with natural light. For a daytime market atmosphere, check out our DL Page Settings page.
• Using The Place Light Tool in the Toolbar: This button allows you to place a token emitting 20 feet of Bright Light and 20 feet of Low Light on whatever layer you have selected

‘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 movement" is enabled. If „Restirct 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.

Placing a Door or Window

Windows and doors have been one of our most requested features since Legacy Dynamic Lighting’s inception. Windows allow players with permissions and line of sight to see through them, but they block movement for player tokens unless "Restrict Player Movement" is enabled. Use windows for spying or creative heist scenarios.

Hover over the Placement tool in the toolbar and select the Place Door/Window button, then click on the map to place it. You don't need to configure everything before placing; set the type, lock, or secret status afterward from the portal's mini-menu.

Adjusting a Door or Window After Placement

Right-click any door or window on the tabletop to open its mini-menu:

• Use the dropdown at the top to switch the portal between Door and Window
• Toggle Secret to hide the portal from players until it's discovered
• Toggle Locked Door to prevent it from being opened
• Toggle Opened to set whether it currently allows movement through

In addition to these settings, you can resize and rotate a door or window using the bubbles at each end, and change its line color, from the Dynamic Lighting layer. To delete one, select it and press Backspace or Delete.

Window Features

There are three editable Window features:

• Window Line Color: This will change the display color of the window on your Dynamic Lighting layer.
• Locked Window: This toggle will determine if your window is locked or not. When your door 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.
• Curtains:  Curtains on open windows will allow movement but block vision; and curtains on closed windows will block vision and movement.

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 a window, just select it and press the backspace or delete key on your keyboard!

Setting up Token Vision with Dynamic Lighting

Adjust Vision Settings for a token & tweak your players' line of sight on your map. With Dynamic Lighting on, update Token Vision, Night Vision, and field of view! [Plus & Pro Subscription needed]

‘Do you have any more tips?’

• You can utilize different color lines to help tell different types of barrier shapes apart (ex. lime green for stationary dungeon walls and bright red for doors).
• Remember that any drawings or tokens added to the Dynamic Lighting layer are invisible when you leave that layer.
• If you plan to block out a multi-room/complex map, we recommend that you build your barriers with smaller, individual lines. This makes it easier to select and move shapes that you add to the layer.

This page is about Dynamic Lighting, a feature exclusive to Plus and Pro subscribers, or to players in a game created by a subscriber. If you would like to use this feature, consider upgrading your account. 

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Dynamic Lighting

Are you looking to set up Dynamic Lighting quickly, or need to double-check your work?

You can visit the Dynamic Lighting Checklist for a quick and easy walkthrough!