Table of Contents

Getting Started

Chat

Getting Started

Chat

Chat is your table's communication hub. Use it for normal conversation, private whispers, and fast roll sharing without leaving your current screen.

There are three chat surfaces in Manaflo: Host Chat (GM side), Player Chat (character side), and Solo Chat (the Test tab on a solo sheet).

Player Chat itself has tabs: Test, Party, and a Combat tab that appears once the host starts an encounter and shows the initiative order. The chat button changes color while combat is running.

Quick Notes

  • Send message: press Enter to send, or use Shift + Enter for a new line.
  • Roll command: start with /r or /roll then add notation like 2d20+5.
  • Sheet roll: type /q and part of a name to roll something you already have, without writing notation.
  • Whisper command: start with /w, /whisper, or @.
  • Color hints: valid roll syntax turns green, invalid syntax turns red, active whisper mode turns purple.
  • Solo chat: useful for testing; messages are not saved and clear on refresh.

Choose the right chat

  • Host Chat (GM): run table communication, manage private notes, and moderate messages.
  • Player Chat: talk with party members, whisper to players or GM, and share rolls from your sheet.
  • Solo Chat (Test tab): safely test roll formulas without affecting party history.

Party chat basics (host and player)

Party chat basics (host and player)

Party chat is where shared conversation happens.

  • Messages appear in a threaded feed with timestamps and sender context.
  • Use the help button for an in-chat quick reference.
  • Use the alignment button to move the chat dock left or right.
  • Older messages load as you scroll upward, so long sessions stay accessible.

Rolling in chat

Rolling in chat

Use /r or /roll followed by dice notation.

  • Example: /roll 2d20+5
  • Valid notation is highlighted in green before send.
  • Invalid notation is highlighted in red and send is disabled until corrected.
  • Dice buttons across the app send output to whichever tab is currently active (Party or Test).

Character-side chat also supports shorthand tokens like STR, DEX, and PB inside roll notation.

Roll from your sheet with /q

Rolling from the sheet with the /q command

Most rolls are already on your sheet, so you do not have to rebuild them as notation.

Type /q followed by part of a name. Matches appear above the input, grouped by where they came from:

  • Stats and Skills
  • Attacks and Spells
  • Hit Dice and Death Save

Move through the list with the arrow keys and press Enter, or click a match. Names that start with what you typed are listed first, so /q st puts Stealth and Strength above Investigation.

Anything with one way to roll it fires immediately. Anything with several asks which one first: a stat offers Check or Save, an attack offers Attack, Damage and Crit, and a spell that is cast against a save offers Save DC instead of Attack.

Your Roll With setting still applies, so a character rolling with advantage keeps it here.

Reading a roll card

Every roll arrives as a card that leads with its total, with the dice that produced it underneath. With a lot of dice the total would otherwise land a wrapped row or two down, which is where it stops being findable at a glance. Hovering the dice reveals the notation behind them.

What the card shows depends on what was rolled:

  • Plain roll: a title if it had one, the total, then the dice.
  • Multi step roll: a custom roll with several steps arrives as one card with each step ruled off from the next. A step gated on the one before it that did not run keeps its name, grayed, with the reason in place of its numbers, such as needing a result of 15 or more.
  • Attack: the attack roll, then a button that rolls its damage. On a critical the button turns yellow and reads Critical Hit!, and the damage it rolls is the critical one.
  • Save: a roll made against a DC prints Success or Failure under the total.
  • Damage: one row per damage type, with a summed total above them only when there is more than one row, and a star beside the title when the damage was rolled as a critical.
  • Description: effect and item text arrives as a title with a note icon that opens the full text.

Re-grade damage after the roll

Halving a damage row from the roll card

Resistance and vulnerability are decided after the dice land, so damage can be re-graded on the card instead of rolled again.

  • Open the menu on a damage row and pick Half or Double.
  • The row is recolored and relabelled Halved or Doubled, and the summed total is recalculated.
  • Pick Normal to put it back.

Each damage row is graded on its own, so a hit that deals two damage types can have one halved and the other left alone.

Whispers and message filters

Whispers and message filters

Whispers let you send private messages to one target at a time.

  • Start with /w, /whisper, or @ to open recipient suggestions.
  • Select a recipient to lock whisper mode.
  • Whisper messages are shown with a purple style and recipient label.
  • Use the filter menu to narrow chat to one speaker or target conversation.

The host chat box

The host chat box

The host's chat sits in a dock you can move and get out of the way:

  • Move Chat Left and Move Chat Right put it on whichever side suits your layout.
  • Minimize Chat collapses it without losing the conversation.
  • Scroll to Top jumps back up a long session's history, which loads more as you scroll.
  • The dock can be dragged taller or shorter by its edge.

Help opens a panel explaining rolls, whispers and filters without leaving the chat.

Host: filtering the conversation

Host: filtering the conversation

Filter Messages narrows the chat to one thread:

  • Reset puts everything back.
  • Private shows only your private messages.
  • Each player is listed with their portrait. Pick one to see only that conversation.

While a filter is on, the chat header names whose conversation you are reading, so a filtered view is never mistaken for a quiet table.

Host: whispering a player

Host: whispering a player

Start a whisper by typing /w, /whisper or @, then the character's name. The list of players narrows as you type, so you rarely have to spell the whole name out.

Your messages appear on the right of the chat and players' on the left, and a whisper is labeled with who it went to, which helps when several private threads are running at once.

Reply on a message starts a whisper back to whoever sent it.

Host: moderating

Host: moderating

Hosts can remove any message in party chat, which is the way to clear a misfired roll or something posted to the wrong table.

Player chat specifics

Player chat specifics
Player chat specifics
  • Players can whisper to both the GM and other players.
  • Player filter options include GM and each party member.
  • Players can delete their own messages from chat history.
  • Reply shortcuts help quickly target the sender of a message.

Solo chat (test tab)

Solo chat (test tab)

Solo chat is your safe practice space.

  • Great for checking roll formulas, attack output, saves, and damage formatting.
  • Messages are local to the current session and are not persisted.
  • Refreshing the page clears the Test feed.
  • Use this before posting uncertain or complex rolls into Party chat.

Troubleshooting tips

  • If a roll turns red, check spelling and notation format (for example, 2d20+5, not 2dd20+5).
  • If you cannot send, make sure the input is not empty and the roll syntax is valid.
  • If whispers look stuck, clear the selected recipient and send again.
  • If you only see one person's messages, reset chat filters.