Foundry v14 Guide

Control Bars & Macro Bars Walkthrough

Learn how on-screen Control Bars, physical Macro Bars, and rotary knobs bring versatile, tactile control into your Foundry VTT v14 sessions.

The Fundamental Tektos Rule:
"The Control Layout is the shape. The Template is what the controls do. A Control Bar is one on-screen copy you have opened in your Foundry workspace."

1. The Three Core Concepts

Tektos cleanly separates physical geometry from executable behavior:

Control Layout (The Shape)

The permanent arrangement and input count supplied by Tektos—such as a 3×3 on-screen grid, a 4×4 macro pad, or a rotary knob. The layout defines button positions and input routes.

Template (The Behavior)

The reusable package that gives a Control Layout its name, purpose, button icons, actions, parameters, and instructions. Templates can be exported, shared as .tektos-control.zip packages, and imported into clean Foundry worlds.

Control Bar (The On-Screen Window)

One movable, floating window you have opened in your Foundry v14 workspace. You can have multiple independent Control Bars open simultaneously.

2. Multiple On-Screen Control Bars

In Tektos for Foundry v14, Game Masters are not limited to a single hotbar. You can open and arrange multiple independent Control Bars tailored to different parts of your game session:

Each Control Bar remembers its own:

• Custom Name
• Chosen Template
• Screen Position
• Lock State

Tektos anchors a compact gear-and-arrow launcher in the bottom-left corner of Foundry. Clicking the arrow quickly opens or closes all active Control Bars together without closing your individual setups.

3. Physical Macro Bars & Knobs

Tektos provides stable hardware registrations for physical macro pads (1×3 up to 5×5) and physical rotary knobs:

Knob Mechanics: Every physical knob has three distinct inputs: Turn Left, Turn Right, and Press. The knob itself has no fixed purpose; the assigned Template determines what those three inputs do.

Setting Up a Physical Device

  1. Choose or download a Tektos Template matching your hardware grid (e.g. 3×3 Macro Bar).
  2. Activate that Template in Tektos Settings under Control Surfaces.
  3. Open Keybinding Maps in Tektos to view the stable shortcut routes.
  4. In your device software (Stream Deck, VIA, or keyboard mapper), assign each physical key to send the matching shortcut.
  5. Return to Foundry and test while the Foundry window is active.

4. Importing a Downloaded Template

  1. Download the official .tektos-control.zip from Browse Templates.
  2. Open your Foundry v14 world and navigate to Tektos Settings.
  3. Under Control Bars, choose Import and Open (or under Templates, choose Import Share Package).
  4. Select the downloaded zip file.
  5. Review any Macro warnings and approve only if you trust the creator.
  6. Position your new Control Bar and lock it in place.
Browse Control Bar Templates →