Feature Guide
The Two-Deck System
Fantasy Fader runs two decks (Deck A and Deck B) so there's always a track cued before you need it. One track plays while you load the next one. To load a track, paste a YouTube or Spotify URL into the input at the top of either deck and press Load. Once a track is cued, press Play to start it.
The main value of two decks is keeping contrasting tracks ready at the same time. Load an ambient piece (a tavern soundscape, a forest ambiance, a dungeon drone) into one deck, and a combat or tension track into the other. When initiative is called or a threat appears, one press switches the mood.
Crossfading: The FADE Button
The FADE button in the center panel transitions audio from whichever deck is playing to the other. Instead of a hard cut, it blends one track into the next over the Fade Duration you set. Shorter fades (2–4 seconds) work for urgent escalations; longer fades (8–15 seconds) suit scene changes where you want a slower shift.
A good rule of thumb: match fade duration to how far apart the two tracks are in mood. The bigger the contrast, the slower the fade.
Fade to Silence
Sometimes you want the music to stop without transitioning to another track. The Fade to Silence button (center panel, below FADE) fades the playing deck down to silence over the Fade Duration, then pauses it. The button changes to Fade from Silence. Press it again and the same track fades back in at its original volume.
Good uses: dropping music for a monologue, silencing the room before a big reveal, or giving players a quiet moment after a hard fight.
Mute & Loop
Each deck has two utility buttons next to Play/Pause:
- Mute: Silences the deck instantly without stopping playback. The pre-mute volume is saved and restored when you unmute. Good for cutting audio briefly during rules questions or crosstalk without losing your place in the track.
- Loop: Keeps the current track repeating. The button highlights in purple when active. Loop is useful for ambient soundscapes (a forest, a tavern, a dungeon) where you want continuous background sound without watching the deck.
Keyboard Shortcuts
Fantasy Fader can be fully controlled by keyboard so your hands stay off the mouse during play. All shortcuts can be remapped in the Hotkey Settings menu (gear icon, top right).
Selecting tracks: Press 1–9 to highlight that playlist slot. Press ← Left or → Right to highlight the track loaded in Deck A or Deck B. The selected track is outlined in amber. Press Esc to clear the selection.
Loading tracks: With a playlist item highlighted, press Shift + ← to load it into Deck A, or Shift + → for Deck B. The track is removed from the playlist, and any track already in that deck is sent back to the playlist.
Moving deck tracks: With a deck track highlighted, press Shift + ← or Shift + → to move it to the opposite deck (swaps if both are loaded). Pressing Shift in the same direction as the selected deck ejects the track to the bottom of the playlist.
Quick-load next track: Press Space to load the top playlist track into the idle deck. If neither deck has a track it loads into Deck A; if only one is occupied it fills the empty one; if both are loaded it targets the deck that is not currently playing.
Volume: With any track highlighted (deck or playlist), press ] to raise its volume by 5% and [ to lower it by 5%.
Reordering the playlist: With a playlist item highlighted, press Shift + ↑ or Shift + ↓ to move it up or down. Combine with Space to line up your next few tracks without touching the mouse.
Local Library
The Local Library lets you use audio files stored on your computer (MP3s, WAV files, FLACs, and other common formats) as tracks on your decks, in your playlist, and in the soundboard. It works alongside YouTube and Spotify.
Connecting a folder: Click the folder icon in the top-right toolbar. Click Pick Folder and select the directory with your audio files. Your browser will ask for permission to read it. Fantasy Fader remembers the connection across page reloads.
The file panel: Once connected, a Local Library section appears below the playlist showing every recognized audio file in the folder. Click any file to add it to your playlist. Files already on a deck or in the playlist are marked with a checkmark. Use Add visible to bulk-add all currently shown files at once.
Hiding files: Click the eye icon on any file row to hide it from the listing. Useful for keeping the library tidy during a session without removing the file from your folder. Click Show all in the panel header to make all files visible again.
Managing the connection: The folder icon modal lets you Refresh the file listing after adding or removing files on disk, Change Folder to switch directories, or Disconnect to remove the library.
What works with local files: Local tracks load on decks the same as YouTube tracks. The deck area shows the track name and a music icon instead of a video. Crossfading, Loop, Mute, volume sliders, and all keyboard shortcuts work normally. Auto-Balance analyzes local files by reading them directly, so no tab capture or browser prompt is needed. Local files are a free feature.
Browser support: Local Library requires Chrome 86+ or Edge 86+. Firefox and Safari are not supported.
The Playlist: Preparing Your Session in Advance
The playlist is where pre-session prep pays off. Before your session, think through every location, encounter, and beat your players could reach, and load a track for each one. Include:
- Location ambiances: the town square, the dungeon entrance, the throne room, the tavern
- Combat tracks: one or two for standard encounters, something heavier for boss fights
- Emotional beats: a quiet piece for revelation moments, something triumphant for victories
- Wildcard tracks: something neutral or tense for scenes you didn't plan for
Reorder tracks by dragging and dropping. Rename any track by clicking the pencil icon. If "Epic Battle Theme III" needs to say "Boss Fight" so you can find it fast mid-session, that's what the pencil icon is for. To load a playlist track onto a deck, drag it from the playlist onto Deck A or Deck B.
Saving Sessions: Prepare for Multiple Games at Once
The Save / Load feature (top left) stores complete session states (both decks and the full playlist) under a named session. Build a playlist for each campaign or one-shot you're running, save it, and switch between them when needed.
If you run multiple games, keep a separate saved session for each one. Open Save / Load before your session, load the right one, and you're ready.
Auto-save: Fantasy Fader saves your current state to browser local storage as you work. If you close the tab or your browser crashes, your decks and playlist will be there when you come back. This is automatic and always on. Auto-save is tied to the browser on the device you're using and does not sync across devices. For cross-device access, use a named session with a free account.
Layer Tracks (Pro)
The Combine button (center panel, below Balance) merges both decks into a single layered unit on Deck A, clearing Deck B. All sub-tracks play simultaneously. Stack a thunder ambiance under a string score, or layer two soundscapes that work together. The combined unit works like a regular track: you can fade to and from it, drag it to the playlist, and save and reload it in sessions.
Building layers: Load a track onto each deck, then click Combine. If Deck A already holds a combined track, clicking Combine again adds Deck B's track to the existing unit. There is no cap on how many tracks you can layer.
Managing layers: Click the list icon (MANAGE) in the track chip of a combined deck (or on a combined playlist item) to open the Manage Layers panel. From there you can:
- Adjust the volume of each layer independently with a slider.
- Remove a single layer. It moves to the other deck if empty, or to the bottom of the playlist. If only one layer remains, the unit downgrades to a regular single track.
Note: Spotify tracks cannot be included in a combined unit due to Spotify's one-stream-per-account limit.
Volume Balancing (Pro)
YouTube tracks are not recorded at consistent loudness levels. A dungeon ambiance might be noticeably quieter than your combat music, so you end up adjusting volumes mid-session. The Balance button measures the loudness of every loaded track and adjusts volume sliders so they all play at a consistent perceived level.
After balancing, a small amber ▾ marker appears on each volume slider showing the recommended setting. You can adjust volumes freely after that. The marker stays as a reference. Run the balancer during pre-session prep so you're not touching sliders at the table.
Spotify Integration (Pro)
Fantasy Fader Pro supports Spotify playback via the Spotify Web Playback SDK. Connect your Spotify account using the Spotify button in the top-left corner. A few things to know:
- Spotify Premium is required. The Web Playback SDK is a Premium-only feature. Free Spotify accounts cannot be used for in-app playback.
- One active stream at a time. Spotify only allows a single active playback stream per account on third-party apps. If both decks have Spotify tracks loaded, Fantasy Fader cannot play them at the same time, so fading between two Spotify tracks is not possible. The app will warn you when this is the case. To use crossfade, pair a Spotify track with a YouTube track on the other deck.
Soundboard (Pro)
The Soundboard maps keyboard keys to short audio clips for one-shot sound effects: a thunderclap, a door creak, a dragon roar, a combat sting. Clips can come from YouTube or your connected Local Library. Each soundboard key plays a precise clip: YouTube entries use start and end times in seconds; local files play from the beginning. Soundboard audio plays on top of whatever is running on your decks.
Opening the soundboard: Click the grid icon in the top-right toolbar, or press B (remappable in Hotkey Settings). The last soundboard you had open will appear. Press Esc to close.
Creating a soundboard: From the soundboard list, type a name at the bottom and click Create. You can have multiple soundboards. One per campaign, or separate ones for ambient stings and combat effects. Press 1–9 to open a soundboard directly from the list.
Mapping a key: Open a soundboard to see the on-screen keyboard. Mapped keys are highlighted in purple. Click any unmapped key (or press it on your keyboard) to open the mapping editor. Choose YouTube or Local File as the source. For YouTube, paste a URL or video ID and enter start and end times in seconds (e.g. Start: 7, End: 9 for a two-second clip). Name it or leave it blank to auto-fetch from YouTube. Set the volume and click Save.
Playing sounds: With a soundboard open, press any mapped key to trigger it. The key lights up green while playing and stops at the end time. Press the same key again to stop early. You can also click keys on the on-screen keyboard.
Editing and removing mappings: The panel to the right of the keyboard lists all mapped sounds. Click Edit to change an entry, or ✕ to remove it. Pressing a mapped key from the keyboard view also reopens the editor for it.
Embeddable videos: Some YouTube videos cannot play in embedded players because the uploader disabled it. If a sound fails to play, you'll see a message explaining this. Try a different version of the clip on YouTube, or use a royalty-free sound effect library.
YouTube Ads
YouTube videos can include ads before playback starts. If a track on a deck has an uncleared ad, fading to it will transition into the ad instead of your music. To avoid this:
- Pre-clear ads during prep. Before your session, mute the deck, hit Play, let the ad finish or skip it, then pause and rewind. The ad won't play again for that video in the same session.
- YouTube Premium removes ads entirely and is the simplest fix if you run audio-heavy sessions regularly.
Practical Pre-Session Workflow
- Open your saved session for tonight's game (or start fresh).
- Add tracks to the playlist for every location and encounter your players might reach.
- Rename tracks so they're recognizable at a glance.
- Run the Balance analyzer so all tracks are at consistent loudness.
- Set up your soundboard with any one-shot effects you expect to use.
- Drag your opening ambiance to Deck A and your first combat track to Deck B.
- Save the session so your prep is there for next time.
- Enable Loop on ambiance tracks so they run without attention.
- At the table: keep one deck playing and the next track ready. Use FADE when the mood shifts, Fade to Silence for dramatic pauses, and Mute for quick interruptions.
Tips for Audio at the Table
- Stay ahead. Load the next track onto the empty deck while the current one is playing, not after it ends. You'll avoid dead air between scenes.
- Loop ambiance, fade for combat. Long ambient tracks run fine on loop. Focus your attention on timing combat fades, where the moment of the switch matters.
- Trust the fade. Players will feel the transition even if they can't name it. A well-timed fade into combat music makes initiative feel different.
- Volume is mood. Lowering an ambient track during a tense conversation adds pressure without fading out entirely. Bring it back up when the tension passes.
- Prepare more than you think you need. Players go off script. Two or three neutral tracks (something for wandering, travel, or downtime) cover improvised scenes without silence.