📱 Multi-device players

👤 For: Game Masters · 💳 Plan: All plans · 🔄 Updated 2026-10-17

A common scene at the table: one player wants their phone for dice and whispers and their tablet for the scene image. Wovenkeep supports that — they just join twice, with a slightly different name for the second device. Every push reaches every device that is connected under a name.

The GM’s 👥 Connected players list: Lena, Jonas and Lena-Tablet, each as its own entry

What it does

Each connection joins the session under a name. That name is the player's identity: scenes, whispers, items, handouts and sounds are addressed to a name, and every device connected under that name receives them. If you rename a player in 📋 Prep → Players (see Renaming a player), their items and handouts move to the new name — the player then joins under the new name.

To use two devices, a player joins each device under its own name — for example Lena on the phone and Lena-Tablet on the tablet. Wovenkeep treats each as its own connected player, so each shows up in the Players list and each can be targeted individually or together.

💡 Tip: Reusing the exact same name on a second device does not work — the second join is rejected (see Troubleshooting). Always give the second device a distinct name like Name-Tablet or Name-2.

When to use it

  • A player wants dice on their phone and the scene art on a bigger tablet screen.
  • A remote player on a computer also keeps their phone handy when they step away.
  • One player wants a backup connection on a second network in case the first drops.
  • Two people sharing one character want to split who watches what.

📺 A shared screen for the whole table? For a TV or projector that everyone watches, use the TV view instead of a second player device — it needs no name and takes no player seat.

Step by step

The player joins each device separately:

  1. First device — scan the GM's QR code (or open the join link), type a name (e.g. Lena), tap Join, then tap the start screen once (the audio gate).
  2. Second device — open the same QR code / join link again, type a different name (e.g. Lena-Tablet), tap Join, then tap the start screen.
  3. Both connections now appear in the GM's Players list as separate entries.
  4. To push to both of Lena's screens, target both names (for whispers/sound) or push to ALL.

What the player sees

The player view has the same four tabs on every device — 🎬 Scene, 📦 Inventory, 📜 Documents, 🔨 Crafting — so the second device is a full client, not a mirror. Each device shows whatever was pushed to its name.

The same scene on Lena's phone and on her tablet (joined as Lena-Tablet)

The device-count badge

When the same name reconnects from a fresh connection (for example after a network drop and rejoin), Wovenkeep may briefly hold more than one socket for that name. While that is the case, the Players panel under Live shows a small grey count next to the name:

● Lena          (2 devices)
● Lena-Tablet
● Jonas

The (N devices) label only appears while a name holds more than one live connection — it is a plain text count, not a per-device-type icon. Most of the time you will see distinct names instead, one row each.

What targets which devices

Push type Reaches
Scene All connected players (every name)
Sound — untargeted All connected players
Sound — targeted to a name That name only
Whisper to a name That name only
Item give to a name That name (item appears in their Inventory tab)
Handout to a name That name only
Handout to ALL All connected players
Push-check One row per name (see below)

For your mental model as GM: the name is the addressee. A player on two devices has two names, so to reach both you target both names — or push to everyone.

Push-check (health ping)

The Push-Check tool in the GM topbar pings every connected name and reports one row each:

✓ Lena            42 ms
🔇 Lena-Tablet     no audio     ← audio gate not unlocked on the tablet
⏳ Jonas           …            ← no answer yet
  • ✓ with latency in ms — connected, audio working
  • 🔇 no audio — connected, but that device hasn't unlocked its audio gate
  • ⏳ — still waiting for an answer
  • ✗ no ACK — no response

Because each device joins under its own name, each gets its own row — so you can tell Lena exactly which screen to tap. See Running a live session → Push-check.

What is shared and what is per-device

Two devices of the same person are two separate player connections, so most state is per-name, not magically shared:

  • Audio gate — each device unlocks its own audio. If the phone has sound but the tablet doesn't, tap the tablet's screen once.
  • Scene / Inventory / Documents / Crafting tab — each device's open tab and scroll position are independent.
  • Inventory and handouts — these are addressed to a name. Give an item to Lena and it lands on Lena's device; to put it on the tablet too, give it to Lena-Tablet as well.

Disconnecting

When a player closes one device, only that name's connection ends:

  • If Lena-Tablet closes its tab, the Lena-Tablet entry leaves the Players list. The Lena phone keeps running untouched.
  • When the last connection for a name closes, that name is removed from the connected list right away. There is no hidden grace timer.
  • If a device drops and the same name reconnects, Wovenkeep recognises the previous (now-dead) connection and restores that name as a reconnect.
  • After a reload, a phone with a saved character shows Session in progress – continue in {code}; Continue ⚔️ rejoins under the character's current player name — after you rename the player, under the new one.

Plan limits

Multi-device costs nothing — pushing to player phones is free on every plan, including the free Adventurer tier. Your plan's player cap (Adventurer 6, Game Master 8, Storyteller 8, Guild Master 12 — see Pricing) counts seats in the campaign — the player characters created (or claimed via invite) at your table. It is not a limit on live connections: a second device joining under its own name does not use up a seat.

Troubleshooting

Symptom Cause Fix
Second device shows "Name … ist in dieser Session bereits vergeben" That name is already connected — exact-name reuse is blocked Rejoin the second device under a distinct name (Name-Tablet, Name-2)
Tablet shows a different scene than the phone The tablet joined after the last push Push the current scene again — it goes to all connected names
Sound on the phone but not the tablet The tablet's audio gate isn't unlocked Tap the tablet screen once
Whispers reach the wrong device Whispers are addressed to a name; only that name receives them Whisper the player's other name too, or whisper the name they're actually reading from
One device keeps dropping and rejoining Flaky network on that device Move it to Wi-Fi, or keep it on a stronger connection
A device vanished from the Players list Its tab closed or lost connection It reappears when the player rejoins under the same name