Making room for the game: a Sacrament VTT development update
A virtual tabletop should make it easier to play, not demand attention of its own. That's the principle behind the latest round of work on Sacrament's VTT.
We've been testing the interface, watching where it gets in the way, and making smaller changes rather than starting again. The aim isn't to make the tabletop look busier. It's to give the game more room.
More room for the battlefield
The first change is straightforward: the large Sacrament header is being removed from the tabletop view. It looks at home on the website, but during play that space belongs to the map, the tokens and the people making decisions.
We've also been tightening up padding in the GM controls, activity log and player toolbar. Those are modest adjustments, but they add up when you're running a session on a laptop.
Less interface when you choose a target
One interaction in particular needed attention. Selecting an enemy or obstacle could fill the bottom of the screen with a character's available items. The information was useful, but the timing was wrong. It obscured the very scene the player was trying to engage with.
The revised interaction is simpler. Select a threat and the tabletop asks:
How are you going to deal with this?
There's a button to open the character sheet if you need to check equipment or abilities. The items remain where they belong, on the sheet, rather than taking over the battlefield.
A character sheet that feels like Sacrament
We're also giving character sheets a lighter treatment: parchment and ivory surfaces, dark green ink, restrained oxblood accents, and clearer spacing between stats, equipment and actions.
It's a deliberate contrast with the darker VTT. A character sheet is something you read and work with throughout a session. It needs to be calm, legible and quick to navigate.
The typography is being brought into line across the project, too. Cormorant Garamond gives headings a touch of old printed scripture; Source Sans 3 keeps controls, descriptions and numbers clear. Atmosphere matters, but nobody should have to decipher their Target Number.
Removing what doesn't help
Not every feature earns its place. We've removed the extra Items button from the player toolbar, and we're taking the non-working image upload control out of card and token editing. Existing artwork and image addresses can still be used.
We're also adding a straightforward way back to the main website. Removing the large header shouldn't leave anyone stranded inside the tabletop.
Underneath these interface changes, we've been tightening pointer handling so a cancelled drag or a second touch is less likely to interfere with a token move or drawing gesture.
What happens next
These changes are being collected into a single update rather than deployed one at a time. That gives us a chance to check the whole experience together, including how it behaves for a GM and several players.
There's still work to do, particularly around live multiplayer testing and the small frictions that only become obvious in a real session.
The goal remains the same: less time managing the interface, more time deciding what happens when the Chapel's doors finally open.