PiDM — coming soon

PiDM is a dual-screen Dungeon Master console for tabletop role-playing games played in person. The DM runs the session from a tabbed control screen; the players see a separate full-screen display (a TV or second monitor) that the DM drives. Remote players can follow along in any web browser, with nothing to install.

It is built to run on a Raspberry Pi 5 with two HDMI screens, and on ordinary Linux desktops.

Status: in private testing before its first public release. It will be released as open source under the MIT licence. This page will be updated when it is available.

What it does

• Player screen: show images, maps (with fog of war and tokens), video and a webcam to the table; blank or revert in one click.
• Sound: layered ambient beds, a sound-effects board and text-to-speech NPC voices.
• Campaign: adventures, chapters and sessions, each with its own maps, images, sounds, documents and notes, ready to open mid-session.
• Reference: a configurable DM Screen, D&D 5e SRD spells, monsters, magic items and equipment, imported D&D Beyond character sheets, PDFs and generators.
• Table aids: captions, a countdown timer, progress clocks, a marching order and an in-world calendar with weather.
• Notes: a scratchpad, session-prep sheets and search across everything.

Obsidian Portal integration

PiDM can link and post to Obsidian Portal using its official API:

• Read: your campaign’s wiki pages and characters, so names in your session notes can be turned into Obsidian Portal links automatically.
• Write: post a session note as an Adventure Log entry, tagged and linked. New posts are always created GM-only; PiDM never changes a post’s visibility, so nothing is revealed to players unless you publish it yourself.
• Only when you ask: every request is started by you (Connect, Refresh or Post). There is no background polling.
• Your keys stay on your machine: you register your own application and sign in with Obsidian Portal’s PIN flow. The keys and access token are stored only on your own computer, in a file only you can read, and are never shared or uploaded anywhere else.
• Works without the API too: a campaign backup file can be imported offline instead.

Contact

Questions about PiDM: github.com/elminster.