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Campaigns And Backups

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errorsallthethings edited this page Jul 7, 2026 · 9 revisions

Local VTT campaigns are stored as local folders on your computer. A campaign folder contains the campaign file, scene files, imported assets, thumbnails, and metadata backups.

There are no required accounts, cloud saves, or remote servers. If you can back up a normal folder, you can back up a Local VTT campaign.

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What A Campaign Is

A campaign is the main container for your Local VTT content.

A campaign can include:

  • Scenes.
  • Scene folders.
  • Imported maps.
  • Imported token images.
  • Scene thumbnails.
  • Token thumbnails.
  • Campaign players.
  • Turn order settings.
  • Dice display settings.
  • Player View display settings.
  • Metadata backups.
  • Metadata revision restore tools.
  • Thumbnail maintenance tools.

Campaigns are meant to be portable. You can move a campaign folder to another drive, copy it to another computer, or back it up using your preferred backup tool.

Campaign Folder Structure

A typical campaign folder looks like this:

Local VTT Campaign/
  campaign.json
  assets/
    maps/
    thumbnails/
    tokens/
    overlays/
    effects/
    handouts/
  scenes/
    scene-id.scene.json
  backups/
    campaign/
    scenes/
      scene-id/

campaign.json

The campaign.json file stores campaign-level data.

This can include information such as:

  • Campaign name.
  • Scene list and scene folder organization.
  • Campaign players.
  • Campaign-level settings.
  • Recent or active campaign state used by the app.

Do not edit this file while Local VTT is open unless you are intentionally performing manual recovery and understand the risk.

scenes Folder

The scenes/ folder stores individual scene JSON files.

Each scene file stores scene-specific data such as:

  • Map settings.
  • Grid mode and measurement settings.
  • Fog of war shapes.
  • Tokens placed on the scene.
  • Drawings.
  • Templates.
  • Weather settings.
  • Animated effects.
  • Layer visibility and ordering.

Scene files use relative asset paths so the campaign can be moved without breaking every imported map or token reference.

assets Folder

The assets/ folder contains imported files used by the campaign.

Common asset folders include:

  • maps/ for imported static, GIF, and video maps.
  • tokens/ for imported token images.
  • thumbnails/ for generated scene and token previews.
  • overlays/, effects/, and handouts/ for current or future asset types.

When you import a map, Local VTT copies the selected map file into the campaign folder. When you import token art, Local VTT stores the cropped token-ready image in the campaign folder instead of retaining the original source image. This helps keep campaigns self-contained without preserving oversized token source files.

Local-VTT-Folders

Save Behavior

Local VTT tracks campaign and scene changes separately.

You may see save indicators for:

  • Unsaved campaign changes.
  • Unsaved scene changes.
  • Both campaign and scene changes.

Examples of campaign-level changes include:

  • Renaming the campaign.
  • Reordering scenes.
  • Creating, renaming, moving, or deleting scene folders.
  • Changing campaign players.
  • Updating campaign-level Player View or dice settings.

Examples of scene-level changes include:

  • Importing, replacing, or changing a map.
  • Moving tokens.
  • Drawing fog of war.
  • Adding effects.
  • Changing grid settings.
  • Adding drawings or templates.

Save before closing the app or switching away from important work.

Backups

Local VTT creates metadata-only JSON backups before overwriting campaign or scene JSON files.

Backups are stored in:

backups/
  campaign/
  scenes/
    scene-id/

Local VTT keeps the latest 10 campaign backups and the latest 10 backups per scene.

What Backups Include

Backups include JSON metadata only.

They can help recover:

  • Campaign structure.
  • Scene metadata.
  • Token placements.
  • Fog shapes.
  • Grid settings.
  • Layer data.
  • Drawings.
  • Templates.
  • Effects settings.

What Backups Do Not Include

Backups do not duplicate large asset files.

They do not copy:

  • Map images.
  • Video maps.
  • Token images.
  • Generated thumbnails.
  • Other imported asset files.

This keeps backup folders small, but it also means you should back up the full campaign folder if you want complete protection.

Restore Revisions And Open The Backups Folder

Local VTT includes a Restore Revision option in the Campaign panel. Use it to review available metadata backups and restore a selected campaign or scene revision from inside the app.

The restore dialog also includes Open Backups Folder for inspecting backup files in Explorer or performing manual recovery.

Local-VTT-Backups

Manual Recovery

Use Restore Revision first when the app can open the campaign and list available backups. Manual recovery is still available for cases where you need to inspect or replace files directly, and should be done while Local VTT is closed.

To recover campaign-level data:

  1. Close Local VTT.
  2. Open the campaign's backups/campaign/ folder.
  3. Choose the backup file you want to restore.
  4. Copy it over the campaign's campaign.json.
  5. Reopen Local VTT.

To recover a scene:

  1. Close Local VTT.
  2. Open the relevant folder inside backups/scenes/.
  3. Choose the scene backup you want to restore.
  4. Copy it over the matching file in the scenes/ folder.
  5. Reopen Local VTT.

Only replace files if you are sure you selected the correct backup.

Moving A Campaign

To move a campaign:

  1. Close Local VTT.
  2. Copy or move the full campaign folder.
  3. Open Local VTT.
  4. Choose Open Campaign.
  5. Select the moved campaign folder.

Because Local VTT stores asset paths relative to the campaign folder, maps and tokens should continue working as long as the full folder was moved together.

Backing Up A Campaign

For a complete backup, copy the entire campaign folder.

A complete backup should include:

  • campaign.json
  • scenes/
  • assets/
  • backups/

You can store the copy on an external drive, another computer, or your preferred file-sync service.

If you use a sync service, avoid editing the same campaign from multiple computers at the same time.

Thumbnail Maintenance

Use Regenerate Thumbnails from the Campaign panel when scene thumbnails or token previews are missing, stale, or need to be rebuilt after asset maintenance.

Thumbnail regeneration rebuilds previews for imported map and token assets. It does not restore missing source map, video, or token files.

Missing Assets

If a map or token asset is missing, Local VTT may show an error or display missing content.

This can happen if:

  • The campaign folder was only partially copied.
  • Files inside assets/ were deleted or renamed outside Local VTT.
  • A sync service failed to download all files.
  • The campaign was restored from JSON backups without restoring assets.

To fix missing assets, restore the missing files from a full campaign backup if available.

Good Campaign Habits

For smoother sessions:

  • Keep each campaign in its own folder.
  • Do not manually rename or move files inside the campaign folder while Local VTT is open.
  • Back up the full campaign folder before major prep work.
  • Use Restore Revision when you can restore metadata from inside the app.
  • Close Local VTT before manually restoring backups.
  • Keep large video maps organized and avoid deleting files from assets/maps/.
  • Use scene folders to organize active, prepared, archived, and test scenes.

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