dnd

Real-time collaborative D&D 5e character sheet manager.

I wanted a better way to run character sheets in my own campaigns — something where the DM and player can see the same sheet at the same time without passing a PDF back and forth.

How it works

• TypeScript/Node.js server with a WebSocket-based real-time sync layer
• Players and DMs connect to a room identified by sheet ID; any update is broadcast to everyone else in that room
• Ping/pong heartbeat cleans up dead connections every 60s
• A fully typed Character model covers stats, skills, spells, equipment, notes, and class resources
• React frontend built with Vite for the character sheet UI

Getting started

Run both server and client (recommended)

npm install
npm run dev

The server runs on ws://localhost:8080 and the frontend on http://localhost:5173.

Run individually

Server:

cd server
npm install
npm run dev

Client:

cd frontend
npm install
npm run dev

Message protocol

Type	Data	Description
join	{ sheetId }	Subscribe to a sheet's room
leave	{ sheetId }	Unsubscribe
update	{ sheetId, update }	Send changes; server saves and relays to room