The original Roll20 tabletop was ahead of its time, but after more than 12 years, it started to fall short by modern standards. Last year, we rebuilt it from the ground up to better support how people play today, and the result is faster, ditches the clunk, and is way easier to use.
In this video, we’ll walk through everything that’s changed, highlighting new or improved features and quality-of-life improvements that make playing and GMing better. If you’ve been wondering whether it’s time to upgrade your games, this video is for you.
Still using the old tabletop? Learn how to upgrade your campaigns in this blog post.
Looking for a written list of improvements?
- The GM Hamburger Menu now gives quick access to more settings, game links, and bug reporting, giving more control at the click of a button.
- Right-click context menus are smarter, surfacing common in-game actions (including some that used to require keyboard shortcuts)
- Group Actions allow you to lock or move multiple tokens at once, saving you time and clicks
- The new Enumerate Tokens feature auto-labels selected tokens with numbers, perfect for easy enemy tracking!
- Advanced Transform tools let you disable grid snapping and token menus, ideal for setting up NPCs or objects like furniture or scenery that don’t need them.
- You can now Rotate & Resize objects with greater precision, including half and quarter-cell scaling, flip tokens vertically and horizontally,
- Use the “V” keyboard shortcut to quickly view all tokens you control – super helpful in dark rooms.
- Need more control when setting up scenes? We’ve added Redo in case you accidentally get keyboard-happy and undo something by accident.Use page-specific Ctrl (or Cmd on a mac) Z and Y shortcuts as much as you like to get things just right.
- When pasting multiple objects, they’ll space out automatically for easier selection and movement. You’ll also notice immediate feedback when dragging to select, granting you precision and better visibility over what you’re trying to do.
- The Token Marker menu now includes a search bar, a bigger viewing area, and a “Clear All” button, making these handy in-game visual aids easier than ever to use.
- Zooming now follows your cursor, and holding shift gives you finer control for extra precision.
- Panning has also been unrestricted, so you can place objects off-page, visible to GMs only, for later use.
- Got a busy map? High-Contrast Scrollbars can be turned on in VTT Settings to improve visibility and make it easier to move around a page.
- Use the Re-Center Map button to reset your view, and hold down shift while using it to reset the zoom to 100%
- Now, when players load into a new page, their view will auto-center on their controlled token, making it easier for them to find where they are.
- Page Settings menus have been overhauled for ease of use. Your heading now shows the active page name instead of “My Page” so it’s easier to tell where you are and access settings, which have also received a glow-up, making it easier to control everything seamlessly.
- A new Build a Map button connects directly to free map-making software Dungeon Scrawl, letting you create maps with advanced tools that sync automatically to your tabletop session. Perfect for planning ahead or improvising on the fly when your party goes somewhere you weren’t expecting, this awesome new feature is easy to learn and turns anyone into a cartographer in minutes.
- Turn Order now auto-sorts new entries by initiative instead of dropping them at the bottom of the list, so you don’t have to re-sort manually.
- The new Hide/Reveal tool replaces Fog of War, and is available to all users, providing a free, cleaner, and easier interface for managing visibility mid-game.
- Doors & Windows are also easier to set up and maneuver; you can now copy and paste them, and use multi-select to open or close many at once.
- The new Dynamic Lighting tool consolidates all relevant settings, updates your map in real-time, and includes tooltips for easier setup and to teach new users how it works.Enjoy animated darkness effects when setting a scene.
- Diagnostic information can be found in the tool’s footer and shows tokens with vision and light sources for quick troubleshooting if your lighting isn’t working how you hoped. Hovering over these highlights them on your map.“Preview as Token” and Explorer Mode can be found here now, too. Finally, GMs can now multi-select tokens and toggle vision through the right-click context menu on pages where Dynamic Lighting has been enabled, saving time and clicks!
- The Effects Tool, previously a subscriber feature, is now available to all users, with a refreshed interface, a new library of visuals to choose from, and better click-and-drag gesturing and measurement. Subscribers can access advanced customization options, allowing for unique particle effects tailored to any scenario.
- When dragging large images onto the VTT, you’ll get a prompt that offers to switch you to the map layer… I can’t be the only one who always accidentally drops my maps as tokens.
- A new Foreground Layer, found in games created by subscribers, renders above the Token layer, and adds depth and dynamic interactions to your games, allowing foreground objects like roofs, treetops, and overlays to obscure the map and tokens in your campaign.
- Reactions, another new feature in games created by subscribers, allow objects to fade, disappear, or appear out of thin air based on token interactions. Surprise your players with hidden passages, traps, surprise encounters, and more. Use your imagination to keep the party on their toes.Conditional Fade is the first of many Reactions to come. We have more coming soon that will interact with chat and help trigger automations in-game.
- Use the new command /rh in chat to raise a hand during gameplay to ask questions, bring an idea to the group, and more.
- We’ve expanded support for animated file types in chat, so you can entertain your party no matter the occasion
- Speaking of Animations: the upload process is faster and more intuitive, now with support for batch uploads and better error messaging. You can also multitask while your uploads are processing instead of twiddling your thumbs and waiting. The Maximum file sizes for both images AND audio have increased for all users
- In the Journal, Handout text input and GM notes fields are 3 times larger, making writing and editing easier
- Character Sheets (and Characters in your Journal) are also easier to use in the new tabletop: shift+double click on tokens to open up their linked character sheets easily. Minimized sheets now re-open properly from both the right-click menu and the Journal tab.
- You can duplicate characters and handouts in just two clicks, less than half as many as it used to take.
- For D&D fans, use both the 2014 and 2024 5E Character Sheets in a single game, picking your preferred sheet for characters & NPCs
- Prefer other systems? You can use Demiplane character sheets for supported games like Pathfinder and Cyberpunk, right alongside Roll20-native sheets. Plus, Roll20 subscribers now get full access to Demiplane’s subscription benefits at no extra cost, and can enjoy cross-platform sync, allowing you to purchase eligible titles once and play on either platform!
- Finally, Mod Scripts can now be included when copying a game, making setup easier for repeat campaigns!
Tell Us What You Need
Our Suggestions & Ideas forum is the best place to request and vote for tools and features that would improve your Roll20 experience. If you have ideas about how to make the tabletop better for your games, let us know by posting, commenting, and voting. Feel free to also join us on Discord, where you can hang out with other community members and connect directly with staff for brainstorming, troubleshooting, and announcements.