Page Updated:   2022-02-17

This page is about a Roll20 feature exclusive to Plus & Pro-subscribers, or to players in a Game created by a Plus/Pro-subscriber. If you'd like to use this feature, consider upgrading your account.

This Tool is only available for GMs in a game.

The Darkness Tool (a.k.a. "Hide / Reveal Areas" tool) is used with the Updated Dynamic Lighting(UDL) system to manually reveal & hide areas of the map, as well as the option to reset the explored area. It is an upgrade & replacement to the free Fog of War tool.

It's accessed through the Toolbar.

Getting started

Open any game using Updated Dynamic Lighting and navigate to the Darkness option of the Toolbar. From there, select an option for how to draw, Rectangle or Polygon, and whether you want to Hide Areas or Reveal Areas of Darkness. Once chosen, simply click and move around the map to begin hiding or revealing your areas from your players.

If you want to reset all Permanent Darkness drawings on the map, click the Reset Permanent Darkness option on the menu.

To enable use of Permanent Darkness/Explorable Darkness you need to have turned on Explorer Mode for the map page, not just Dynamic Lighting.

Place some Permanent Darkness

Features

Permanent Darkness

Permanent Darkness allows you to set an area of total darkness that Tokens cannot see through, regardless of vision or lighting.

Explorable Darkness

Explorable Darkness allows you to set an area of total darkness that can be revealed with Night Vision or a general light source. This option will only be available if you have Explorer Mode enabled in your Page settings.

Hide Areas

This option allows you to hide areas of your map. You could also think of it as "creating" areas of Darkness.

Explorer Mode and Darkness Tool: Roll20 tutorial (Oct. 2021)

Reveal Areas

This option allows you to reveal areas of your map you hide previously. You could also think of it as "removing" the "created" areas of Darkness.

Rectangle

The Darkness tool is basically a "drawing" tool, so selecting this option allows you to "draw" hidden or revealed areas using a rectangular shape. To draw, simply left click somewhere on your map and drag - you will see a rectangle begin to form; release your left click and the shape will finish drawing.

Polygon

The Darkness tool is basically a "drawing" tool, so selecting this option allows you to "draw" hidden or revealed areas using a polygon shape. To draw, simply left click somewhere on your map and a shape will begin to form. Continue to left click to add corners to that polygonal shape. Simply right click to finish drawing the shape.

# Reset Permanent Darkness

This option allows you to reset everything that was created using this tool. Additionally, if you are using Explorer Mode, this will reset all areas of the map that were revealed during exploration.

Related Pages

• Updated Dynamic Lighting
  • Explorer Mode
• Darkness Tool

Toolbar

• w/ Select/Move Tool
• b Layers
• i Drawing Tools
• e Fx Tool
• s Zoom Tool
• Ruler
• Place Light Tool
• C Fog of War / Darkness Tool(UDL)
• t Turn Tracker
• t Dice Rolling GUI
• ? Help Tool