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How to run Shadowdark torch and lantern timing at the table

Shadowdark's light runs on real time, so the best torch timer is a flame you can see burning down. Here's how to set one up on a tablet, run it from your phone, and make the darkness land when the clock says it should.

Why Shadowdark light is real-time

In Shadowdark, light is a resource that runs out. As the rules describe it, a torch burns for one hour of real time, and a lantern burns for an hour on each flask of oil. That means the light is not tracked in game turns: it is tracked on the clock at your table, so a long argument about whether to open the door burns the same torch as a fight.

That one idea is what makes dungeon crawls in Shadowdark tense. The party feels the light shrinking, decisions get faster, and the moment the torch dies everyone feels it. A visible, full-screen flame makes the countdown part of the room instead of a number someone has to remember to check.

Always check your Shadowdark rulebook for the exact rules on light ranges, relighting, and what happens in the dark. This guide covers how to run the clock, not the rules themselves.

Set up the torch timer

You need two devices: a tablet (or any screen) that becomes the light, and a phone that controls it. Nothing to install and no account.

1. Open the lantern on the tablet. Go to sdlantern.com in the tablet's browser and tap Full screen. Lay the tablet flat in the middle of the table, or stand it up like a lantern.
2. Scan the QR code with your phone. It opens a remote control for that exact tablet and works on any network, including mobile data.
3. Pick a burn time. Tap 1h for a standard torch or lantern, or choose 15m, 30m, 2h or any number of minutes from 1 to 1,440.
4. Choose a style and color (more on that below), then tap Light the flame.

If you reload the tablet page mid-session, the timer carries on where it was. A flame that burned out while the page was closed stays out.

Run the clock during play

Pause for breaks and rules lookups

Real-time light needs a pause button. Tap Pause when someone gets a drink or you stop to look up a rule. The flame keeps burning on the screen, but the clock stops until you tap Resume.

Adjust the time

Use +5 min and -5 min for rulings, a found torch, or a generous GM. Restart the timer begins a fresh one-hour torch when the party lights a new one.

Let it die, or snuff it out

In the last minute the flame shrinks and sputters, then goes out in a wisp of smoke and the screen goes completely black. If the party snuffs a torch to hide, tap Snuff out twice (the second tap confirms, so a stray thumb doesn't end your light).

Choose a light style and color

The same clock can look like very different light sources:

• Torch: a wrapped, charred head with a big ragged flame and drifting embers. The classic dungeon light.
• Lantern: a real iron-and-glass lantern with the flame inside the glass. Calm and steady, good for a prepared party.
• Candle: a small, quiet flame on melting wax. Good for crypts and tense stealth.
• Campfire: logs, stones and a roaring fire for rest stops and overland camps.
• Flame: a plain full-screen fire that lights the whole table.

You can change the style and the flame color at any time, and the tablet updates live. Torchlight orange is the default, but any color works for magical light: witchfire green, arcane blue, eldritch violet or infernal red. Use the color palette for hundreds of shades or type an exact hex value.

Add ambience music

The Music tab on the remote plays instrumental fantasy tracks, grouped by mood: a quiet village, a tavern, the road, a campfire rest, a dungeon crawl, something eerie and a boss battle. Tracks crossfade over five seconds, so changing the mood mid-scene never cuts off abruptly, and the volume slider lets you duck the music when someone talks.

The speaker icon at the top of the remote shows whether the tablet can play sound and lets you mute it. Music is by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com), licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0.

Online and one-shot tips

• Playing online? Open the lantern on a monitor or second screen and share or capture that window, so everyone sees the same flame burning down.
• Running a one-shot or at a convention? Pick the style that fits the room, set a 1-hour timer, and keep the remote in your pocket. Players see the light shrinking without anyone checking a stopwatch.
• Want the lights down? A dim room makes the flame the real light source. When the torch dies, the table goes dark with it.
• Other games: the same timer works for any old-school fantasy tabletop RPG where torches burn out.

Troubleshooting