Weather, time and light
Weather, time of day and scene light in a single window, and their values when the map opens.
Ambience brings the music, the weather and the time of day of the scene into one window. The person running the game changes it and it is saved with the scene: players see and hear it right away. This guide covers weather and time; music and effects are in Sound and music.
Where to find it
Open Weather and time in the table dock (music is in the same window, on another tab). The ambience window has three tabs: Music, Weather and time and Sound. It also opens from Ctrl K.
Requirements and permissions
Only the person running the game opens it. Players see the result (rain falls on their screen, the sky changes colour) but not the panel. Weather is drawn with particles: if someone has them off (Particles are turned off on this device (Settings › Performance: light quality or particles disabled): the weather is saved and players with particles on will see it, but it is not drawn here.), the weather is still saved and everybody else sees it.
Setting the weather
- Open Weather and time and go to Weather and time.
- Pick a type: clear, rain, storm, snow, mist, embers, ash, leaves, fire, dust or fae lights.
- With any type other than clear, the Intensity slider appears, from 5 % to 100 %.
- If the map has weather sound (rain, wind, thunder), Hear the ambience turns it on in your browser. Each person switches it on for themselves and it starts off.
Setting the time
Time only tints the light of open-air maps. Turn on Outdoors to see the sky and move the time; indoors nothing changes.
- Time and sky: a slider from 0 to 24 hours, in five-minute steps.
- Four one-tap buttons: Sunrise, Midday, Sunset and Night.
- If the campaign has a world clock, a button puts the world time on the map, and a switch makes the map follow that clock whenever it changes.
- Sun heading: where the sun falls and therefore which way shadows point.
Tip. With the world clock switch on, a jump of hours on the timeline (a long rest, a journey) changes the map sky without you touching it.
Table options
What the map has when it opens is set in Table settings, not in this window.
| Option | What it does | Default |
|---|---|---|
| Weather on open | Weather the map opens with: clear, fog, rain, storm or snow. | Clear |
| Intensity | Intensity of that weather, 0 to 100 %. Only matters if there is weather. | 60 % |
| Time on open | Time on open: dawn, noon, dusk or night. | Dusk |
| Map time follows the world clock | The sky of an open-air map follows the world time. | Off |
Known limits
- With "reduce animations" or light quality, weather falls slower with fewer particles, or is not drawn; it is only a matter of looks.
- World quest deadlines show at the foot of the weather and time tab, but are edited in World › Timeline.
Common problems
"I set rain and see nothing." Particles are off on your device (light quality or particles disabled in the performance settings). The weather is saved: people who have them on will see it.
"I move the time and the map does not change." Check Outdoors: on an indoor map time does not tint the light.