MAPS VTT 101 Guide for Total Idiots Wanted (er, Needed!)

I am a total idiot and am finally ready to admit that I need help! I am more than halfway through my D&D Beyond Master Tier annual subscription, but I still haven't managed to get a single VTT encounter up & running.

I read the FAQ, I tried my best and clicked around within Maps VTT every place I could to learn as much as I could. (I am visual-verbal. I prefer to read & experiment, so if it turns out I need to go watch the YouTube videos to learn what I need, I'll try to find the transcript first or instead.)

Early successes:

• I purchased a small library of books (physical & digital, core & expanded rule books, adventures, …)
• I'm sharing all my content with my players.
• All my characters are shared with links to be assigned by any player to any available campaign.

Even Quick-Play defies me. (I didn't have much luck with the quick-play prebuilt campaign, Intro to Stormwreck Island, but that was immediately after its feature released. I think if I try again I might succeed?) I've created my own campaign using Maps VTT in a browser on my laptop, but still haven't managed to play-test (Rather than run a pre-built quick-play session, I prefer to run my own game despite my arduous journey of repeated failed attempts to learn what I need to succeed.)

My Maps VTT journey is comprised of me performing DM character & campaign creation using my main account on a laptop (browser), and play-testing via an alt-account on a tablet.

Are there any Step-by-step HOW-tO Guides available? Is YouTube where I must go to look for guidance?

Thank you in advance. Sincerely,

• An Idiot

Awesome, thanks. I'm so glad I asked!

Quote from spamandtuna >>

There’s a pretty comprehensive guide written here:
https://www.dndbeyond.com/posts/1570-d-d-beyond-maps-how-to-start-playing-today

Someone please correct me if I'm wrong, but the mobile app does NOT currently support Maps VTT, correct? The guide suggests that this feature is available, but for the life of me I cannot figure out how to access it. I see my characters and the history log (nothing more). The iOS app I am using is dated from this past December, 2025, but I see no updates are available.

Quote from Nimglin_Kurrelguyre >>

Quote from spamandtuna >>

There’s a pretty comprehensive guide written here:
https://www.dndbeyond.com/posts/1570-d-d-beyond-maps-how-to-start-playing-today

Someone please correct me if I'm wrong, but the mobile app does NOT currently support Maps VTT, correct? The guide suggests that this feature is available, but for the life of me I cannot figure out how to access it. I see my characters and the history log (nothing more). The iOS app I am using is dated from this past December, 2025, but I see no updates are available.

 
Maps is aimed for desktop using browser.

For mobile devices you would need to use a browser, not the app. However, even then there may be some issues.

Quote from Nimglin_Kurrelguyre >>

Quote from spamandtuna >>

There’s a pretty comprehensive guide written here:
https://www.dndbeyond.com/posts/1570-d-d-beyond-maps-how-to-start-playing-today

Someone please correct me if I'm wrong, but the mobile app does NOT currently support Maps VTT, correct? The guide suggests that this feature is available, but for the life of me I cannot figure out how to access it. I see my characters and the history log (nothing more). The iOS app I am using is dated from this past December, 2025, but I see no updates are available.

 I'm pretty sure I never suggest or imply Maps is present in the mobile app. All I do mention is that you can see and send rolls in/from the app

Quote from Davyd >>

Quote from Nimglin_Kurrelguyre >>

Quote from spamandtuna >>

There’s a pretty comprehensive guide written here:
https://www.dndbeyond.com/posts/1570-d-d-beyond-maps-how-to-start-playing-today

Someone please correct me if I'm wrong, but the mobile app does NOT currently support Maps VTT, correct? The guide suggests that this feature is available, but for the life of me I cannot figure out how to access it. I see my characters and the history log (nothing more). The iOS app I am using is dated from this past December, 2025, but I see no updates are available.

 I'm pretty sure I never suggest or imply Maps is present in the mobile app. All I do mention is that you can see and send rolls in/from the app

 My apologies, I never intended to imply that you had! Please accept my apology for my failure to make myself clear. I meant only that the article "'beyond maps how to start playing today" itself contains passages which imply Maps VTT should be available within the mobile app.

I was led me to believe that I might be able to access Maps VTT via the mobile app on my tablet, in lieu of accessing my game via a web browser as a result of three specific passages, which I have excerpted for the purpose of elucidation:

Using Maps on Mobile 

While Maps isn’t going to be initially optimized for phone and tablet, you can still use your mobile device to access and use the VTT for your D&D games on the go. You may encounter some areas where the menus or interface don’t quite properly display. Over time, we will work out these kinks and ask for your feedback as we develop this tool.

 I see my characters and the history log (and nothing more). The iOS app I am using is dated from this past December, 2025.

Navigating Maps and Moving Tokens on Mobile

Navigating maps on mobile devices works pretty much as you would expect. Press and hold on an area of the map, then move your finger to drag the map around and pinch to zoom in and out. Tokens can be tapped to select them, and then dragged in the same way you can drag the map.

As a reminder, Maps functionality on mobile is still in development, so your experience may not be ideal!

 I have not been able to access any of these features. I presume they were in beta when this was written but since pulled until such time they pass evaluation and subsequently deployed, some sweet someday.

Using Fog of War on Mobile

When using the Fog of War feature on mobile, you can’t move the map around while you have the paint or erase features selected, so you’ll need to switch back to the Pan feature in order to zoom or pan the map. However, with the paint or erase feature active, you can simply draw with your finger where you want to add or remove fog of war. 

 Nope. With no maps displayed, I cannot drag my finger to paint FOW on Mobile.

That's referring to accessing the site on a mobile device, not using the app. Also that article hasn't been updated in some time and a lot has changed with maps

Thanks for the clarification. There really ought to be better terms for idiots to differentiate between the D&D Beyond mobile app and Dndbeyond.com via browser.on mobile devices. I guess it's the ampersand!

Mobile = mobile site

App = app