Welcome, Game Master. This guide walks you through setting up your first table in Sled Dog and getting your players seated. It applies to every game Sled Dog supports — your system's own section in the sidebar covers what's specific to it.
Watch the video above for a two-minute tour, then use the notes below as a reference.
Create a party
A party is your table. From All parties, choose New party, give it a name, and pick your game system. You become the GM automatically.
Running one party is free. If you run more than one table at a time, that's the supporter tier — see Supporter & billing.
Invite your players
Open your party and share the invite link. Anyone who joins with that link is seated as a player — they can build a character, but only you can see and edit GM-only material.
Players can also build a character before they have a link and bring it in afterwards; it arrives with everything intact.
Set the house rules
Party → Settings → Player permissions decides what non-GMs can do. Both toggles are off by default, which is the strict setting:
- Let players edit each other's characters — off means each player edits only their own. You can always edit everyone's.
- Let players delete world, notes, and steading-asset entries — off means only you can delete shared content. Players can still add and edit it.
The same Settings tab is where you swap the placeholder artwork, choose which community content your table installs, and decide whether players may upload their own character portraits.
What only the GM can see
- Objectives marked GM-only
- Map pins you've hidden from players
- World and home-base notes flagged for the GM
- Secret content you haven't revealed yet
Next steps
- Add your first objective so the table has a goal.
- Drop a few map pins to sketch the world.
- Run a session — see Running a session.