The Player Screen

The player screen is the second view Encounter+ draws — the one your players look at. It shows the map, the initiative order and whatever you are presenting, without your notes.

It goes to an AirPlay display, a monitor connected by cable, or a second window on Mac. The same view is what online players see in the browser, so setting it up once covers both. See Remote Play.

Connecting a display

How	What to do
AirPlay	Mirror to an Apple TV or AirPlay-capable screen
Cable	Connect an HDMI or USB-C adapter
Mac	Open the player screen as a second window

Once connected, the external screen controls show the status and the resolution of the display, so you can confirm it is really connected before your players arrive.

On Mac, Open Window puts the player view in its own window, which you can drag to a second monitor.

The two halves

The player screen is configured in two places, split by how often you change things:

• The controls — what you are showing right now. Opened from the game screen.
• The settings — how it looks. In Settings → External Screen, and linked from the controls.

If you are mid-session and want to change what your players see, you want the controls.

The controls

Battle map

Presenting picks which of the loaded maps is on the player screen — or none.

The viewport shows you what part of the map your players can currently see, drawn on your own screen. Fit Screen matches their view to yours, which is the quickest way to get everyone looking at the same thing.

Overlay

The overlay covers the screen with something other than the map:

Type	What it shows
None	Nothing — the map or the default theme
Image	A picture, full screen
Handout	Text you write, in your chosen style

Use Image for artwork, a portrait or a battle map you are not running yet. Use Handout for a letter, a prophecy, or anything the party reads out.

The look

The rest is set up once, in External Screen Settings:

• Default theme — a title and background shown when nothing else is on screen.
• In-combat theme — a background and the initiative order’s position and style.
• Shared party vision — how much of the party’s line of sight is pooled.
• Screen margins and overscan — for TVs that crop the edges of the picture.

The initiative order

The initiative display can fill the screen or sit along one edge.

The full-screen layouts — flow, detail and grid — are only available when no map is shown, because a map fills the display. With a map up, you get the edge positions or nothing at all.

You also choose which names are labelled: everyone, monsters only, players only, or none. Hiding monster names is a simple way to keep an unidentified creature mysterious.

What stays on your device

Your players never see:

• Hidden tokens.
• Anything on the DM layer.
• Hidden markers.
• Your notes, the library and settings.

They also see only what their characters can see, if line of sight is on. See Line of Sight & Fog.

Directing attention

Double-tapping the map can move the players’ camera to that spot, show a pointer ripple, or both, depending on Double Tap Action.

It is the fastest way to say “look here” without describing where.

Common questions

The display is connected but shows nothing

Check the status row in the controls. If it reports a connection, check that a map is selected under Presenting, or that a default theme background is set.

The edges are cut off on my TV

Use Overscan and Screen Margins in External Screen Settings. Many TVs crop the picture slightly.

My players can see something they should not

Check three things: the token’s Hidden flag, which layer the drawing is on, and whether the marker is hidden.

Where to go next

• External Screen Settings — every row on the settings screen.
• Remote Play — the same view, in a browser.
• Battle Maps — what you are presenting.