For groups
One server for every table, whether club, game store, Discord community or a circle of friends with several campaigns. Game masters look after their campaigns, one person looks after the server.
Built for many tables
Several campaigns, one administration
Every group has its own campaign with chronicle, bible and scheduling. The administration sees accounts, queue and costs, but none of the campaign content.
Invite at the table
New players scan the QR code or open the invitation link. Anyone without the app gets a page that explains what to do next.
Costs with a ceiling
You set a monthly cost limit for cloud services. When it is reached, jobs wait instead of spending money. An overview shows what each campaign has used.
Backups and updates on their own
Every night the server backs itself up, and the last 14 days are kept. If you like, it also updates itself and rolls back if a new version does not start.
What it looks like in the app
Three modes
Local server
Your server and a worker, for example a PC with a graphics card at your club or at home, process everything. With Taleward for Windows, both live on one PC. Nothing goes outside. This is how Taleward is meant to run.
Only electricity, a few cents per session.
Local server, cloud as fallback
The local server does the work. If it is unreachable for a while, the cloud steps in, if the campaign allows it.
Costs only when the cloud steps in, then about €1 per session.
Cloud only
Transcription through Mistral (EU), summaries through Mistral or another provider. No local server needed.
About €1 per four-hour session, with a monthly cost limit, plus the rent for the server.
Costs only arise during processing and go through whoever runs the table.
What does a session cost?
The Taleward software costs nothing, there is no subscription and no licence. Only processing costs money, and that goes to the provider of your choice.
| per session | with one session a week, per month | |
|---|---|---|
| Local, with your own graphics card (Taleward for Windows, server, box with PC), not counting the hardware | a few cents of electricity | under €1 |
| Transcript local, chapter through the cloud | about €0.15 to €0.40 | about €0.60 to €1.60 |
| Transcript and chapter through the cloud | about €0.90 to €1.10 | about €3.50 to €4.50 |
| With “Cloud only” in addition: rented server | – | about €5 to €12 |
| For comparison: usual subscription services for tabletop sessions | about €2 to €5 | about €8 to €22 |
For comparison: monthly prices of publicly listed plans of subscription services, converted per session at four sessions a month. Subscription services include storage and operation; with Taleward you add your own hardware or the rent for a server instead.
For the local way you need a suitable graphics card. Without one the processor does the work, which takes much longer. We calculated electricity at a typical household price of about 35 cents per kilowatt hour.
With “Cloud only” you add the rent for a small server, mostly up to about €25 if you want to cancel monthly. For a single group that comes to around €9 to €17 a month, in the range of the subscription services. It gets cheaper with several tables on one server, locally or with the box.
Longer sessions cost more. A monthly cost limit prevents surprises, and if you do not play, you pay nothing.
Taleward is always free for players. Account, app, chapters and character cost them nothing. Costs only arise during processing and go through whoever runs the table. Whether you split them as a group is up to you.
Providers change their prices. We check the values regularly and update them here.
Frequently asked questions
Which game systems?
All of them. Taleward is system-neutral: D&D, Call of Cthulhu, The Dark Eye and Household should all feel at home. Taleward writes down what is said; it does not do the maths.
Does it work over Discord?
Yes. For games on Discord, everyone records their own track.
What does it cost?
Taleward is always free for players. Account, joining, chapters, bible, comments, scheduling and character portraits cost them nothing. Costs only arise during processing and go through whoever runs the table. Whether you split them as a group is up to you.
With a local server it stays at a few cents of electricity per session. Through the cloud, Mistral by default, it is about €1 per four-hour session, capped by your cost limit, and with “Cloud only” the rent for the server as well. The overview is above under “What does a session cost?”.
Where is the data?
On your server. Recordings are deleted as soon as the GM releases the recap, by default after 7 days at the latest. With “Cloud only”, they go to Mistral in the EU to be turned into text. For the summary, only the text goes to the chosen provider; the administration shows where it is based, and outside the EU only after explicit confirmation. With a local server and no cloud, nothing goes outside.
Everyone gives their own consent before recording, and can export their data and delete their account.
Does everyone need the app?
No. Reading, commenting, scheduling, matching voices and reviewing also work in the browser at app.taleward.org, on the iPhone too. The web app can be added to your home screen.
For long recordings on a phone you need the Android app, because in the browser the recording stops as soon as the screen turns off. The web app needs a server with HTTPS and a domain; a server that only lives on your home network works with the app only.
Guests can consent without an account, right at the table.
What happens when a campaign ends or someone leaves?
The GM can close a campaign, so it stays available to read, or delete it, and then it disappears together with all recordings, images and documents. Anyone who drops out leaves the campaign themselves. The character stays in the story: the GM keeps it as an NPC or hands it to someone else at the table. And if the game master changes, the campaign is handed over to someone else, and the old GM simply plays along.
Can we move a campaign to another server?
Yes. The game master packs the campaign into a file and takes it over on the new server. Anyone who comes along gets their seat back there. Everyone decides for themselves whether their own character data comes along.
Cloud permissions do not move along. The GM decides again on the new server.
Can the GM bring in their own notes?
Yes. The game master uploads their documents, such as notes or an adventure. Taleward suggests bible entries from them, with a public and a secret part. Only what the GM confirms is added.
How do people sign in?
With a username and password or, if your server offers it, with Google, Discord, Apple or Microsoft. An email address is optional; it helps, for example, when resetting the password.
How do updates reach the phone?
Through your server: it fetches new approved versions of app and worker once a day and passes them on. The app then shows “Taleward x.y is available” and downloads the update from your server. Never during a recording.
Nobody in our group does tech. Can we still use it?
Yes, with the Taleward Box: a ready-made image for the Raspberry Pi. Write it to the memory card, plug it in, set it up in the browser, no commands at all. The box runs on your home network; a PC on the same network with the worker app turns the recordings into text. More under “Self-hosting”.
Is it worth it for a single table?
Yes. A single table runs Taleward the same way on its own server, rented or at home. Someone at the table takes care of the administration. Everything on this page applies to you as well.
Can whoever runs the server see what happens in our campaign?
No. The administration shows accounts, jobs and costs. Recaps, bible and transcripts are only visible to the campaign’s members, secrets only to the game master.
Ready? On a PC with a graphics card, Taleward for Windows is the quickest way. A server of your own for many tables takes one evening.