Character stakes dashboard
The Stakes Dashboard is a GM session prep view showing one card per player character, all on screen at once. It is a read at a glance — open it before you prep a session and you immediately see where the dramatic pressure is and who has been waiting in the wings.
Access it from the world sidebar under Campaign > Stakes Dashboard, or from the session prep view.
What each character card shows
| Element | What it tells you |
|---|---|
| Character name and portrait | Identification |
| Current arc summary | Where the character is in their arc right now |
| Sessions since last meaningful spotlight | How long since this player had a moment that mattered to them |
| Active anchors | People, places, or things this character cares about, with bond strength and current threat level |
| "This matters most" anchor | The player's self-designated top priority right now |
| Unresolved threads | Narrative threads tied directly to this character |
Reading the dashboard
Threatened anchors are the clearest session prep signal. An anchor with high bond strength and high threat level means: this character cares deeply about something, and that thing is in danger. Sessions that press on threatened anchors tend to hit.
Aging spotlight counters shift the card color as a soft prompt:
- 0–2 sessions: no indicator
- 3+ sessions: card shading shifts
- 5+ sessions: explicit flag — "Consider a spotlight moment for [Character] soon"
These are suggestions. Some players run background stretches while they process events at the table. The dashboard shows you the data; you decide what to do with it.
The dashboard does not prescribe what to run. It shows what is true about your characters right now. Use it as input to your prep, not as a prescription.
Where the data comes from
Players set their own anchors and designate their "This matters most" anchor from their character portal. Bond strength and threat level are updated by players as play continues.
GMs can also set anchors on behalf of a player who does not use the digital tools.
If a player tells you at the table "I really care about the blacksmith, I want to check in on him next session," add that as an anchor yourself. You know what matters to your players even if they do not log it.
The spotlight counter is driven by player self-report from the post-session flow — the dashboard reflects whatever the player recorded.
Anchors at a glance
An anchor card inside the character card shows:
- The anchor name and type (person, place, object, goal)
- Bond strength (1–5)
- Threat level (none, low, rising, critical)
- A short note if the player or GM added one
Threatened anchors — bond 4–5 with threat level rising or critical — are highlighted so they read immediately without scanning the full card.