Quick start

The shortest path from "empty app" to a campaign you could run at a table. Skim it first, then walk through with the app open in another tab.

Before you start

  • You're on a browser that has at least once visited the RpgMeister app.
  • You have, optionally, one player's party export JSON ready on your clipboard. You can skip this and add a placeholder party for now.

No login, no install required. The app runs offline once the browser has cached it.

On a PC or laptop? That's the comfortable place to build NPCs and zones. You can Export zone (clipboard) later and import on a tablet at the table.

1. Create the campaign

  1. Open Campaigns (the list page).
  2. Tap Create new campaign in the footer. An empty draft is created and the app jumps to the edit page.
  3. Open the General panel (it's expanded by default). Type a campaign Name — that's the only required field at this point — and a short Description if you like.
  4. Leave Include default NPCs checked (it is on by default), then tap footer Save campaign. That seeds a starter NPC catalog. Grab the cast; cull later — deleting a goblin is faster than inventing one.

Include default NPCs only appears on a brand-new unsaved draft. Uncheck it before saving if you deliberately want an empty catalog. Details: NPCs — Include default NPCs.

Panel Save buttons (Save NPC, Save party, etc.) also persist the campaign and will seed defaults when the checkbox is on.

2. Trim or add NPCs

  1. Expand the NPCs panel. You should already see the starter catalog.
  2. Delete anything you won't use, or tap Add NPC for something custom.
  3. For a new entry: give it a Name, fill stats later if you want, then Save NPC.

NPCs are reusable across encounters. They're stored on the campaign, not on a zone or a location — the same goblin can show up in three rooms.

3. Add one zone

  1. Expand the Zones panel.
  2. Tap Add zone. The app creates a zone called "New zone" and switches you to a dedicated zone-edit page.
  3. Rename it in the General panel (e.g. "Dragon's lair").
  4. Add at least one location in the locations panel. The first one is marked as the zone's entrance automatically.
  5. Tap Save zone in the footer when you're happy. Then Back to campaign to return.

Zones are the only thing in the campaign that have their own page rather than living inside an expansion panel — locations, links, and notes need the real estate. Edits stay in memory as you navigate, but Save zone is what writes them to local storage.

4. Add a party

  1. Back on the campaign edit page, expand the Parties panel.
  2. Tap Add party. The editor opens an empty draft.
  3. Name the party (e.g. "Heroes").
  4. If you have a player's party JSON on your clipboard, hit Import (clipboard). The party fills with their characters; collisions ask you to confirm before overwriting.
  5. Tap Save party. Done.

If you don't have a player's export yet, just save the empty party with a name. You can re-open it any time and import characters when the players send you their JSON. See Parties for the full flow.

5. Try Play (optional)

  1. Back on Campaigns, tap the green Play icon on your campaign row.
  2. In Session setup, pick your party and zone.
  3. Select a location, tap an encounter template (or Custom encounter), and see the encounter runner.
  4. End encounter or Exit play when you're done exploring.

Full session guide: At the table.

You now have a campaign

One named campaign with a starter NPC catalog (trimmed to taste), a zone with a starting location, and a party slot. That's enough to start building something real:

  • Add more NPCs and bundle them into encounter templates.
  • Sketch the rest of your zone — more locations, links between them, notes per room, encounter references per location — on the zone page.
  • Export the whole zone or your NPC list to your clipboard to share with a co-GM or paste into a different campaign as a starting point.

If something went wrong

  • The page warns "No campaign is currently loaded". You arrived at the edit page without selecting a campaign first — tap the link to go back to the Campaigns list and open one.
  • Import didn't do anything. Check the clipboard actually contains the JSON (paste somewhere safe to verify). On mobile, you may need a long-press to copy before the clipboard read fires.
  • Play opens but encounters are disabled. Pick a party in session setup first.

More gotchas live on Troubleshooting.

Open the app

Open Campaigns →

Want the broader picture first? Read How it works or jump straight to Campaigns.

← Back to Campaign Guide