Indoor/Outdoor map

This it the inspiration for The Greyden, an ancient tomb that has been over taken by natural growth. Most parts the walls and floor remain but the greenery dominates both. Tree canopies are the new ceiling only letting through a few rays of light. In these areas I want the light to be dim but in other parts the ceilings have remained intact (or repaired) so I want them to be dark? In addition to the dim light I only want players to be able to see out to a certain distance. I don't want to constantly go itno each character's settign and adjust the light. Ideas?

Think Hollywood. You have built your scene, now the right lighting design can make or break the mood. If you can afford it overhead-wise, in terms of page size and complexity, use a lot of dim short distance lights, by varying the angle of the light and moving it around until you get it right, you can paint a scene. One of my earlier attempts, this was kind of boggy in actual play, I over-reached a bit.:

I like using Aaron's Torch script to handle most of my lighting needs. You can create a journal/sheet, "DM's Torch" with any token action macros. Use @{target|token_id} in your macro and change vision/light source of a token just by selecting it. You can have macros for light sources, ie(torchlight, light-spell, bullseye-lantern, candle, etc.) and types of vision, ie(darkvision, low-light, blind, fog, etc.) You can also toggle daytime/nighttime. Very handy. I often use a Token's Aura with a HUGE radius to add "mood lighting" to my maps or sections of the map. Also, if an Adjustable Global Illumination (please add a comment) gets implemented...

TheDux said: Tree canopies are the new ceiling only letting through a few rays of light. In these areas I want the light to be dim but in other parts the ceilings have remained intact (or repaired) so I want them to be dark? In addition to the dim light I only want players to be able to see out to a certain distance. The first part is really simple. Turn on dynamic lighting, no global illumination. Add dim light sources wherever you want there to be some light. The second part needs elaboration. By 'see out to a certain distance', do you mean that you don't want them able to see any light in the distance that are in their line of sight? That's going to be tricky. Or do you mean you just want them carrying torches/lanterns.whatever that provide an island of light around the tokens as they move around the map? That's dead simple. Elaborate on your needs/desires and more information can flow your way. :)

I think he is looking for an overgrown area with lighting ranging from darkness through diffused dim light to possibly shafts of sunlight highlighting areas for dramatic effect. It can be done with a bit of time and carefully placing light sources on the D.L. layer. I do a scene like this by first building the basic terrain, cranking the Gm opacity up and dropping tiny light sources here and there. Then I draw the D.L. lines , adjust the light sources, go back and add some additional terrain features (trees, stones...) and add their D.L. lines. Finally I log in as a player and walk through the scene to see what changes need to be made for the look I am seeking. Pretty much the same as a lighting plan for a film or other theatrical event. Set, setting, cast & performance, Roll 20 is my medium for performance, until I win the lottery and actually build my game setting, ha ha!

al e, everything you wrote applies to his first request. But there's that second request of his that I want clarification on, limiting how far his players can see.

I think the best way to limit distance is to put a number of small objects, {trees, rocks, bits of this and that) carefully scattered through scene with D.L. barriers done very small. Again a lot of trial and error is involvd to get the placement right. Go for twisty lanes and perhaps glimpses of things from specific points.