Frequently asked questions

Yes. The apps and the server are MIT licensed and free to download. Optional AI providers or agent subscriptions you choose are billed by those providers; hosting and optional addon services may have their own costs. A human Dungeon Master or a local model costs nothing.

Not with the project; there is no central service. A world hosted from your own app has an owner you name in one field. A friend's app-hosted world asks for a name and a room code. A self-hosted server has its own accounts, with or without Discord.

No. The desktop and Android apps host a world themselves and share it with a room code. A server is for groups that want the table reachable without anyone's app open, a shared local model, or the extras. See Which setup fits your table.

Yes, fully: host a world on it, or join one. Android today; an iPhone joins in Safari through the invite link.

D&D 5e from the SRD 5.1, extended by the Open5e content pack (about 1,800 spells, 2,000 items and 3,200 monsters) and the settings' own classes and backgrounds. The app enforces the rules itself, about 96 percent of the SRD held by the engine; the narrator never edits a number. The whole SRD 5.1 is in the app as a searchable rulebook, from the home menu or the book button at the table.

Yes. Any Linux build runs; added to Steam as a non-Steam game it starts full screen in Game Mode and takes the controller on every screen. See Install on Linux.

It cannot. Dice, hit points, spell slots, conditions and the death track are computed by the app; the model only asks for rolls and narrates results through validated tools that are logged. A reroll of a narration never changes a die.

With a key: choose a tool-capable storyteller from the models your key lists and optionally a cheaper utility model. The app preserves your selection; there is no fixed model every account is assumed to have. Locally: at least 16 GB of graphics memory. On a 16 GB gaming card, gpt-oss-20b; with about 28 GB or more, Qwen3.6 35B at the largest quantisation that fits, with a 64K context. The desktop app installs either for you. Below 16 GB a local model is not supported: use a key, an agent program or a human Dungeon Master. Anything must support tool calling. See Local models and System requirements.

One whose command-line agent can paint as well as narrate: ChatGPT Plus (Codex) or SuperGrok (Grok Build, also in X Premium+). Either tells the story and paints portraits, scene art and maps on one plan, with no API key and no graphics card. Claude Code narrates too but cannot paint. See Bring your own agent.

With a 16 GB graphics card, yes: the desktop app installs gpt-oss-20b and runs it on the card, free and private. Below 16 GB no local model is offered, because none that small plays the full rules well; use your OpenAI key, an agent or a human Dungeon Master there. See System requirements.

Tool calling is off or weak. Check --jinja on llama.cpp, that thinking is not disabled, that presence penalty is 0, and that the model supports function calling. Run Test backend on a server. Server troubleshooting.

The context window is too small and the story is being compacted early. A local model needs at least 16K to narrate and 24K for fights, and 32K or more is recommended; serve it at 64K; set the context override for an unknown endpoint; OpenAI models get 128K. The Context tab shows what was cut.

Yes. A campaign's Table language setting has fifteen languages, and the Dungeon Master writes the story in it. For story memory in that language, choose Many languages under Story memory in the desktop app's Settings, or set a multilingual EMBEDDING_MODEL on a server. The app's own buttons and menus stay in English.

Through OpenRouter as a Custom backend, or with Claude Code or Grok Build as an agent program on a desktop or server. There is no direct Anthropic, xAI or Google backend.

Yes: Human DM mode, with a console, a binder, maps and an assisted mode that hands pieces to the AI when wanted.

Their app is closed or not sharing. A code only leads somewhere while its host is online; ask them to open the campaign.

Not to host from the app: sharing uses a tunnel. A self-hosted server needs its web port reachable (usually behind an HTTPS proxy) and, only for the built-in voice media server, one UDP and TCP port.

The world goes offline; nothing is lost. Friends see the host marked offline and rejoin when it is back.

A self-hosted server, yes: make a backup from Admin, Backup and restore it on the other machine; keep the matching database key with the archive, especially if it is supplied through the environment rather than an archived file. See Backups and restore. In either app, Settings, Move your world exports the whole device world, including installed world packs, to import on another desktop or Android device. Import previews and confirms replacing the destination world. Keys and sign-ins do not travel; re-enter the AI key afterwards.

The tunnel helper does not ship for the Mac build yet. A Mac hosts for itself, shares on its Wi-Fi for a table in the same room, joins any world, and can run the server for a group. See Install on macOS.

Nothing about your play. With a shared world, the broker sees the tunnel's name and your address while you share. Everything else depends on the AI provider you connected, if any. See What leaves your machine.

On the server that uses it (the one inside your app, or the one you run), sent only to the provider, never to players.

Account settings, Delete account, on the server the account lives on; the app offers it per saved server. A grace period set by the server's administrator applies. See Delete your account.

Yes: typed physical entry per die shape, or Pixels Bluetooth dice, when the campaign's dice policy allows it. A requested physical roll waits for you. See Dice.

Browsers grant the microphone on HTTPS or localhost only. Use the app, or ask the host for an HTTPS address.

No image backend is connected, or it is unreachable. Pictures fail soft to placeholders. Add an OpenAI key, ComfyUI or the FLUX worker; battle maps never need one. See Image providers.

It is now Settings. On a phone, open More in the bottom bar. Its contents row separates campaign details, prep, table settings, Story AI, rules and ending. Table settings use named, searchable groups with a Saving/Saved line.

No. Use a Ready-made hero when offered, or From your library, which lists your own heroes, pregens from your adventures and the ready-made ones; or Build your own. In the builder, Help me build asks four questions and offers two suggested characters, and Fill what's left fills the rest. The lobby, solo adventure and late-join character gate use the same routes. A new build can be resumed from a draft saved on that device.

It is waiting for the table: at an AI-narrated table with more than one player it answers once everyone with the table open has acted or pressed Pass, or after a quiet spell. The banner says whom it is waiting on, and whoever steers the story can press Go on now. A break someone called holds it too. See The table.

A world pack reskins a setting. An addon adds an importer, map generator or board view and is managed in Admin, Addons. Addon controls are available in browsers and desktop, with Android support still pending. See Addons.

Open an issue with the app or server version, the platform, what you did and what you saw. The in-app user guide and the tours cover the screens; this knowledge base covers the rest.

Yes: the Open Dungeon Master Discord is the place for questions, tables looking for players, and talk about the project.