Opportunities › Virtual tabletop for TTRPG campaigns › Proposed app
Candlemap
Run battle maps, initiative and a player screen from your campaign notes
- Score
- 42
- confidence 53
- Evidence
- 6
- items on the page
- Rivals
- 2
- named in sources
- First version
- 35 d
- estimate
- Type
- Desktop and mobile
- PWA: on computers and phones alike
- Market since
- 2012
- Mature market · AI estimate
ScreensConcept
Desktop and mobile: Game masters design encounters and manage campaigns on desktop, but run live combat from a screen at the table using the same app; both uses are central to play. Sample screens on a computer and a phone, in the proposed brand. Their numbers are sample data.
Goblin Ambush
Turn: Goblin BossRound 3
About this appAI proposal
Candlemap is a lightweight virtual tabletop for game masters who keep their campaign in Markdown notes. Open your notes folder, link a battle map to an encounter note, and run combat from one screen: tokens, fog of war, dice and initiative.
Players join through a link and see only what you reveal. No player accounts, no install. Your notes stay in your own files; Candlemap reads and writes plain Markdown, so your campaign is never locked in.
It is for hobbyists and organized-play groups who find full VTT platforms heavy and want notes and play in one place instead of two disconnected tools.
- Tagline
- Your campaign notes, lit up on the table.
- Voice
- warmpracticalunfussy
- Why this name
- A candle lights a dark dungeon, and a map is what you play on. Two plain words, easy to say at the table.
In the first version
Members say which features they would use. It tells PWAS what people want; it changes no score.
Notes-linked encounters
Turn any Markdown note into an encounter. Monsters, maps and loot listed in the note become tokens and panels on the table.
No member yet
Battle maps with fog of war
Drop in an image, set a grid, and reveal areas as the party explores. You see the fog first; players see only what you open.
No member yet
Initiative tracker
Roll or enter initiative, track turns, rounds, HP and conditions. Results can be saved back into the encounter note.
No member yet
Separate player view
Share a link that shows only the revealed map and visible tokens. Works on a TV, tablet or phone.
No member yet
Brand identityAI proposal
Check the name against trademark registers before using it.
Palette
#1F3B3ALantern Teal · primary#F6EFE0Parchment · surface#222B2FInk · text#D9822BEmber · accent#6B8F71Moss · data#1B2427Night · dark background
Typography
Aa
Candlemap
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ 0123456789
PricingAI proposal
Foundry VTT's pricing page lists one paid plan at $50 one-time (verified). The Game Master tier sits just below it. The free and hosted tiers are starting points to test; the material gives no price for them.
Free
Free
- One campaign
- Maps, tokens, dice, initiative
- Player view link
Game Master
$39 once
- Unlimited campaigns
- Macros and session logs
- Offline install
- Markdown export
Hosted Table
$6 a month
- Stable player links
- Map and asset backup
- Up to 8 players per table
Would you pay Hosted Table · $6 a month?
Your answer tells PWAS which prices people accept. It changes no score.
No answers yet.
What it could be worthEstimate
What a software business making this much sells for today, from real deals. Pick a monthly revenue.
If it makes
Worth about
$194,000
Sale range $132,000 to $263,000
$120,000 a year in revenue
From 87 software businesses listed and sold on Empire Flippers in the last year, revenue vetted by the broker: they sell for about 19× their monthly revenue, most between 13× and 26×.
Measured on profit, the middle deal is 32× monthly net profit: about 2.7 years of profit.
An estimate, not an offer or financial advice. A real price depends on profit, growth, churn, how much of the work is the owner's, and the buyer.
How it would growAI proposal
How the product would reach new customers through its own use, and how the first ones would be found. A plan to test, not a result.
- Built-in loop
- Shared outputs. Every session the GM sends a player-view link. Players see the map and the Candlemap name on a shared screen or their phones, and may later run their own games.
- Do they become customers?
- Players are a pool of future GMs, but most never run a game. Test how many players open a link and then start their own campaign within 60 days.
- First customers
- Game masters who already keep campaign notes in Obsidian and run weekly in-person or hybrid games for a group of 3 to 6 players.
- Where to reach them
- Obsidian community forums: Share a free demo and a campaign note template in the TTRPG and plugin discussion threads.
- Tabletop RPG subreddits: Post short clips of a note turning into a running encounter, and ask GMs to test it.
- Discord servers for GMs: Offer free hosted tables to a few organized-play groups in exchange for feedback.
- First milestone
- Twenty GMs run three sessions each, and at least five pay for the Game Master licence.
Why people already pay for this
- VerifiedGitHub repository gained 587 stars in 22 days
- Public claimThis is an open-source virtual tabletop solution integrated into Obsidian, providing battle maps, tokens, fog of war, dice, initiative tracking, and a separate player view.
- AI inferenceThe repository has 587 stars and 70 forks, indicating active interest and adoption in the community.
- AI inferenceThe project is actively maintained with 174 open issues, showing ongoing development and user engagement.
- Public claim
Tech stack
Every proposal builds on the same PWA base, installable from the browser on any phone or computer. Dashed boxes are what this app adds.
- AppNext.js and TypeScript
- PWAManifest and service worker
- UITailwind CSS
- Data and authSupabase Postgres
- PaymentsStripe
- EmailResend
- HostingVercel
- This app · Realtime syncRealtime channel service for player viewPushes revealed fog and token moves to player screens within a second.
- This app · Local file accessBrowser folder access for Markdown notesReads and writes the GM's notes folder without uploading the campaign.
RisksAI inference
- CommercialAn open-source Obsidian tool already offers this for free. Paid value must come from the hosted player link, offline use and ease, which is untested.
- TechnicalReading a local notes folder from a PWA works unevenly across browsers, especially on iPad, and may force a sync-based fallback.
- PlatformUsers may prefer a plugin inside Obsidian over a separate app, and Obsidian's note formats or conventions can change.
- Intellectual propertyMaps, tokens and monster data come from game publishers. Shipping content could infringe, so only user-supplied or open-licensed assets should be used.
- CommercialFoundry VTT's $50 one-time price sets an anchor; a lighter tool may struggle to charge close to it.
Everything marked AI proposal or AI inference was written by a model from the evidence on the opportunity page. The proposed name must be checked against trademark registers before it is used.