Self-hosting

A program for a Windows PC that contains everything: the server with your campaigns, the worker that turns recordings into text and writes the chapters, and the app. No terminal, no setup code, no administration.

The players join with their phones, by QR code on the same Wi-Fi.

The same program is also the worker for an existing server: on first start, choose “Connect to a server” instead of “Everything on this PC”. There is no second program.

What you need

• A PC with Windows 10 or 11, ideally with an NVIDIA graphics card
• About 25 GB of free storage and at least 8 GB of memory
• Your own Wi-Fi that the PC and the players’ phones are on
• The PC switched on while you record and while the recording is processed

1. 1

   Download and install

   Download the program only here or from github.com/Taleward and start it. If the file reached you any other way, for example by email, in a chat or on a USB stick, do not start it. On first start Windows warns with “Windows protected your PC”, because the program is not digitally signed for now. Click “More info”. If the app name shown is the file you just downloaded (TalewardWorker-Setup.exe), click “Run anyway”. If it shows something else, cancel. To be completely sure, compare the checksum below the button first. The source code and build logs of every version are public on GitHub, and updates come without another warning. In the installer you can choose to start Taleward with Windows.

2. 2

   Choose “Everything on this PC”

   On first start, choose “Everything on this PC”. If your group already has a Taleward server, choose “Connect to a server” instead. Then the PC works only as a worker for that server.

   

   
3. 3

   Check the PC and load the AI package

   Taleward checks whether graphics card, memory and storage are enough and estimates how long processing a session takes. Then it downloads the AI package once, just under 8 GB. Depending on your internet this takes 10 to 30 minutes, and you can use the PC normally in the meantime.

   At the end, Windows asks once whether phones on your Wi-Fi may reach Taleward. Allow it for private networks.

   

   

   

   
4. 4

   Create your account

   You sign in to Taleward with a name and password. You are the game master and create your campaigns.

   Taleward can only be reached on your Wi-Fi, and the connection to it is not encrypted. So use it on your own Wi-Fi, not in a café or on other people’s networks.

   

   
5. 5

   Open Taleward

   Taleward now runs in the background. “Open Taleward” shows the program window: on the left a sidebar with campaigns, GM screen, overview, processing, backup and settings. Under “Campaigns” you create campaigns, record on the PC or connect the players’ phones. A slider sets how much graphics memory Taleward may use, the rest stays free for gaming.

   

   

   

   
6. 6

   Invite your group

   In the campaign you show the QR code. The players scan it with their phone, get the app and are in, as long as they are on the same Wi-Fi.

   

   

Day to day

Taleward sits in the notification area at the bottom right, next to the clock, sometimes behind the small arrow. Double-click its icon to open it. Right-click shows the menu: Open Taleward, Settings and status, Administration, Pause and Quit. The dot on the icon shows how it is doing:

• Green: running, ready for the next session.
• Orange: processing a session or starting up.
• Red: needs you. Open Taleward, it tells you what to do.
• Grey-brown: paused or stopped, for example briefly during an update. Resume from the same menu.

Updates come by themselves when nothing is running. Taleward backs everything up first, and if a new version does not start, it goes back to the old one.

The PC does not need to run around the clock. Processing a session costs only a few cents of electricity, while a PC running all the time costs roughly €4 to €15 a month. Switch it on when you play and while the session is processed, then let it sleep. While it sleeps, Taleward cannot be reached by your group.

Under “Backup” you save all campaigns, sessions and images to one file with a password, for example on a USB stick. That is also how you move to a new PC.

If your group grows, the campaign moves to a server of your own, with all chapters and the bible. The GM grants cloud permission there again.

A ready-made image for the Raspberry Pi 4 or 5 with 4 to 8 GB, with everything the server needs. Write it to the memory card with Raspberry Pi Imager, connect the Pi, open taleward.local:8000 in your browser and set it up. No commands at all. Only download the image through the button here, from github.com/Taleward.

The box runs on your home network, even without internet, and updates itself when online. The Pi cannot transcribe, a PC on the same network with Taleward for Windows (as a worker) or Linux does that. The web app in the browser does not work with the box, the Android app does.

You do not need to program, following instructions in a terminal is enough. The server is up in about 20 minutes.

1. 1

   Choose a server

   A Linux server with Docker, 4 GB of memory is enough: rented, at your club, at home or on Windows 11 with WSL. If you rent, you need a VPS, a plain web hosting plan is not enough.

   Without a domain it runs on your home network only. Then only the Android app works, not the web app in the browser, and the server cannot be reached from elsewhere.

   Making it reachable from the internet

   For that the server needs a domain or subdomain, such as taleward.your-club.org, with an A record pointing to its IP address. At home this works with port forwarding on your router and DynDNS.

   If there is enough power, the worker runs on the same server.

2. 2

   Install

   Open a terminal on the server and paste this command. The script asks whether the server should be reachable from the internet or on your home network only, and then sets everything up itself, the first time in 3 to 5 minutes.

   curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Taleward/taleward-server/v0.4.165/install.sh | sudo bash

   What the script does

   It installs Docker and builds the server. For the internet it asks for the address and an email for the HTTPS certificate; HTTPS is set up automatically with Caddy and Let’s Encrypt, and at the end it checks the certificate. It creates all secrets itself. If another web server is already running, it says so and offers to switch it off. On Windows 11 it also sets up WSL, the firewall and autostart.

3. 3

   Open the setup link

   At the end, the script shows a one-time link. Only someone with this link can set up the server:

   Im Browser öffnen:  https://taleward.your-club.org/verwaltung/einrichtung?code=ABCD-EFGH

   Lost the link? This command shows it again:

   cd /opt/taleward && sudo docker compose exec server chronik einrichtungscode

4. 4

   Go through the assistant

   You create your administrator login. Then an assistant takes you through everything that is needed. Every step can be skipped; open items stay on the overview. You can change the operating mode later under settings.

   1. Club or group
   2. Mode: Cloud only, Local server or both
   3. Summaries
   4. Privacy notice, with a template
   5. Backup
   6. First game master

   

   
5. 5

   Invite the GM

   In the “First game master” step you create their account or send them an invitation. They enter your server’s address in the app, for example taleward.your-club.org, sign in and, with the default settings, create their campaign right away. They invite their group by link or QR code. From here on, you are hardly needed.

   Nobody needs a registration code for this. Whether people may create an account without an invitation, with a code or freely, and whether new game masters need approval first, you set in the administration under Settings → New accounts.

   Anyone who does not want to install the app uses the web app in the browser at your server’s address with /app/. It needs HTTPS, so a domain; on a home-network-only server, only the Android app works.

The worker turns recordings into text and, if you like, writes the chapters too. There are two ways to run it, and you can combine them.

In the administration: every worker at a glance. Pausing takes one click, for example while you are gaming on that PC.

On the server itself

If your server has an NVIDIA graphics card, the worker runs right on it. The install script detects the card and sets everything up, including a local language model for the chapters if you like. Without a graphics card it runs on the processor, but slowly.

On a PC with Windows or Linux

On Windows, use the same program as above, Taleward for Windows, and choose “Connect to a server” on first start. Then enter the server’s address and the pairing code, which you get in the administration under “Transcription → Connect another worker”. The program does the rest. A slider sets how much graphics memory Taleward may use, the rest stays free for gaming. With “Write chapters on this PC too” it takes over the chapters as well, without any cloud. You can switch between “Everything on this PC” and “Connect to a server” later in the program’s settings. For Linux there is a script, see below.

Nothing needs to be opened on your router. The worker contacts the server itself and asks for work. If it is off, recordings wait until it is back. You do not need a Hugging Face account: the server downloads the model that tells voices apart from taleward.org, checks it and passes it on to the workers.

The PC does not need to run around the clock for this. Processing a session costs only a few cents of electricity, while a gaming PC running all the time costs roughly €4 to €15 a month. Let it sleep after the work is done, or switch it on when a session is waiting.

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Taleward/taleward-worker/worker-v0.3.25/install-linux.sh | bash

The Taleward bot records online sessions in a Discord voice channel, one track per person, only with every single person’s consent. The bot behind the button on taleward.org only works with the community server. If you run your own Taleward server, you also run the bot yourselves. It then belongs to exactly your server, and whoever runs it is responsible for it.

What you need

• Your Taleward server, version 0.4.162 or later, at an https address
• A Linux machine with Docker. The server Taleward runs on is enough.
• Your own application in the Discord developer portal
• The bot key from the administration (Discord bot → create key)
• About 30 minutes

Your server comes with templates for the bot’s privacy policy and terms of use, which you adjust in the administration. The bot is free software (AGPL-3.0) like the app and the server.

The mode decides where your sessions are processed. You pick it in the assistant and can change it later under settings. Cloud services always need the GM’s permission per campaign; they are off by default.

• 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.

  What you need

  • A server (box or Linux with Docker) and at least one worker: on the server itself or on a PC with Taleward for Windows or Linux
  • Ideally an NVIDIA graphics card from the GTX 10 series with driver 528 or newer: from 2 GB, good from 6 GB. Without one the processor does the work, roughly 4 to 10 hours for 4 hours of recording
  • For chapters without the cloud: a local language model, from 6 GB of graphics memory or 16 GB of RAM; the script or Taleward for Windows sets it up

• 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.

  What you need

  • Everything from “Local server”
  • Plus a Mistral key, for summaries another provider if you like
  • The GM’s permission per campaign for the cloud to step in

• 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.

  What you need

  • The server as for “Local server”, but without a worker
  • A Mistral (EU) key for transcription; for summaries Mistral or another provider
  • A monthly cost limit, set in the assistant

The server updates itself to the newest approved version at night, with a backup first and a way back if the new version does not start. You can switch this off or update right away under Administration → Updates. By hand on the server:

cd /opt/taleward && sudo ./aktualisieren.sh --jetzt

App and worker come through your server too. Workers then update themselves, the app shows a notice.

Every night the server backs up all data, and the last 14 days are kept, but on the same server. So download a backup regularly (Administration → Overview → Backup).

With a second factor (Administration → Sign-in), the administration asks for a code from your authenticator app after the password. A passkey works instead of the code: Windows Hello on a PC, fingerprint or face on a phone, or a security key. This only works if the server runs at an https address.