This guide will teach you how to introduce a functional isometric grid into Roll20, but you can theoretically use this method on any virtual tabletop which supports a hexagonal grid.

Before we begin, I wanted to extend a big thank-you to Rootyful, who was the one to first share this method with me, create the original overlay, and allow me to pass it all on. Thanks Rooty!

Step 1: Download your isometric grids

I’ve prepared six isometric grid overlays packaged as PNGs with transparent backgrounds. These tile near-seamlessly and are designed to be used as an overlay on a 70 DPI canvas. More on that to come.

Click here to download the Isometric Grids ZIP file.

Step 2: Prepare your virtual tabletop

Create a new scene (known as a “page” in Roll20) and open its settings by clicking the cog icon in the page-select menu. Set the dimensions to whatever you might need, then scroll down to the Grid section and make the following changes:

• Set the Grid Type to Hex (H).
• Set the Cell Width to 70px (the default).
• Set the Grid Color and Opacity to something visible. This is only temporary.

Step 3: Upload and align your isometric grid

First, switch to the Map & Background layer using the vertical toolbar on the left-hand side of your screen. You must stay on this layer in order to select and manipulate the grid and anything else you might place here.

Next, import the isometric grid of your choice into the scene. If this is the first time you are importing this grid into Roll20, simply drag and drop a PNG file (from Step 1) of your choosing from your file browser into the Roll20 scene. If you have done this previously, it’s better to load your existing grid from the Art Library instead.

The isometric grid should now appear as an object in your scene, though it will likely start out at a very strange scale. Right-click it and select Advanced > Set Dimensions, then enter 16×16 units (or 1120×1120 pixels). Hit Set to confirm your changes.

The grid will now be set to the right scale, and you will be able to move it around and have it snap to the hexagonal grid below it. It should align with the grid like so:

Keep this image in your mind! This underlying hex grid is going to allow for all the token snapping, measurement, and all the other grid-based tools to work with your new isometric grid.

The final step is to return to your Page Settings and set the Grid Opacity to zero in order to hide the hexagonal grid. Your isometric grid will remain, along with all that underlying functionality, and you can now copy and paste your 16×16 grid tile to your heart’s content to fill the scene.

That’s all there is to it! Just be sure to send your battle maps and assets behind the grid on the Maps & Background layer with Right Click > To Back, and utilize the Objects & Tokens layer for anything you will be moving around during play.

If you have any questions or comments please keep scrolling down and share them below. Have fun!

Map and Asset Downloads

As I said, I’ve only dabbled in isometric thus far… Regardless, here they are! Let me know if you’d like to see more — they’re certainly a blast to draw.

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