BRP on Roll20

[LochaberAxe]

I have just started to look into the possibility of running BRP on Roll20 as one of my long term players can't make most of our FTF play. Has anyone documented the macros and player abilities in Roll20 needed to run BRP. If so are you prepared to make them available or even provide a system specific guide on Roll20 based on practical experience of using BRP on this VTT? I know that the GM can run Roll20 without this but I feel that anything which shortens the VTT 'learning curve' is probably worth doing. I might give it a go once I have organised some actual games on this.

BTW If anyone currently runs BRP on Roll20 and would like to offer an old-timer the chance to view it as a player for a session or two then please let me know. I have found nothing so far using Roll20 LfG

[Skunkape]

Interesting that you brought this up, I'm going to start running a BRP sci-fi game on either Roll20 or RPTools, having never used either before, I'm not sure which one will work better, so I'm going to start with Roll20, then decide how much I like it.

I do like the fact that Roll20 has a video chat function, so that gives it a big plus for me. I'll probably be writing up Macros for the it if I continue to use it and will make any of them available to anyone who is interested in having them. Doesn't help you now, but just wanted to give you a heads up where I'm going with it.

[wbcreighton]

They are supposed to be going live with roll-able Tables later this month, which will help with critical hits and fumbles ( so I wouldn't try to use macros for that ).

Setting up the specials, criticals and fumbles would probably be the most important part of the process, but I haven't looked into it yet.

The macros don't support If Then statements or anything complex so I'm not sure there is much that you can really do.

[tedopon]

We are moving to CoC in a couple weeks using roll20. I realize that's not much help now, but I can tell you that I really like it for the other games we've used it with (no BRP based ones yet).

We haven't built any macros yet...we are lazy.

We pretty much only use the dice roller, image sharing and map tool.

[LochaberAxe]

They are supposed to be going live with roll-able Tables later this month, which will help with critical hits and fumbles ( so I wouldn't try to use macros for that ).

Good. Table rolls will be really useful for Hit Location. I still think macros will be useful but I haven't much experience in GMing on a VTT. Plenty of IT background including various macro languages.

[wbcreighton]

Well rollable tables are live on Roll20 now, if you are a supporter or subscriber. So that should help. I think they need a new dice function for handling a BRP success roll.

[RosenMcStern]

Speaking of that, Alephtar Games is now evaluating the idea of launching its own tool/community for "lightweight" online gaming based on hangouts (while continuing to support Fantasy Grounds for heavy-duty gaming). Would anyone be interested in trying, or possibly kickstarting, such a tool?

[LochaberAxe]

Support for doing different macros/abilities/rollable tables depending on whether an initial test gives '0 Successes' or '1 Successes' would be a good. Rollable tables are useful but still at an early stage

First I am going to ask them for the option to sort the turn tracker by ascending numerical order as per 'Dex rank order' in BRP rather than just descending numerical as per 'highest dex first' But that is just because I use fudge dice to mix up the initiative order each turn.

[LochaberAxe]

Speaking of that, Alephtar Games is now evaluating the idea of launching its own tool/community for "lightweight" online gaming based on hangouts (while continuing to support Fantasy Grounds for heavy-duty gaming). Would anyone be interested in trying, or possibly kickstarting, such a tool?

Perhaps if it was a clear improvement on things like Roll20 and if it isn't tied to particular hardware/os platforms and if it isn't tied to one game system. If they make a really convincing case on Kickstarter.

If would rather see them do something radical with Fantasy Grounds especially for BRP

[wbcreighton]

Speaking of that, Alephtar Games is now evaluating the idea of launching its own tool/community for "lightweight" online gaming based on hangouts (while continuing to support Fantasy Grounds for heavy-duty gaming). Would anyone be interested in trying, or possibly kickstarting, such a tool?

I personally would rather that Alephtar Games puts all of their energy into making resource material for BRP. Roll20 seems to be a decent platform and there are lots of users. I would rather that you worked with them to improve the BRP experience and possibly sell BRP material on their marketplace. We need some custom dice rolling functions for d100. Creating another platform might fragment the user base and get less exposure for BRP to the general gaming audience. All IMHO.

[RosenMcStern]

Roll20 seems to be a decent platform and there are lots of users. I would rather that you worked with them to improve the BRP experience and possibly sell BRP material on their marketplace.

The point is that their marketplace is extremely obscure, and in some cases questionable, in how it works, and definitely not designed to sell supplements. For one thing, it DOES NOT allow me to give away anything for free. Why?

[wbcreighton]

The point is that their marketplace is extremely obscure, and in some cases questionable, in how it works, and definitely not designed to sell supplements. For one thing, it DOES NOT allow me to give away anything for free. Why?

I would guess that they don't want the marketplace to be flooded with free products. I think they have changed the way it works so that you can sell full adventure products but there are only a couple of them up there now. It is still a VERY new company/site and I expect there will be plenty of changes as they learn the best methods to proceed. They only just recently revised the whole forum system.

[Baron]

Don't know about that. But from what I've read, Roll20 and Tabletop Forge (the Google hangout VTT) and their customers are now merged into Roll20. And FWIW, I've toyed with several VTT programs, and Roll20 looks like it might fit my needs better than anything else. Streamlined, not too complicated or demanding; then again, I don't need all that much functionality anyway. I've been reading Roll20's updates, and they keep mentioning regular increases in their user base. So it might very well be a good community to get involved in.

[RosenMcStern]

I would guess that they don't want the marketplace to be flooded with free products. I think they have changed the way it works so that you can sell full adventure products but there are only a couple of them up there now. It is still a VERY new company/site and I expect there will be plenty of changes as they learn the best methods to proceed. They only just recently revised the whole forum system.

This is entirely possible, of course. The problem is that Alephtar has invested heavily in Fantasy Grounds (which I still consider the best platform and community for online gaming) and the results were... well, _you_ probably know better than me

Before investing in another community or tool, we must be sure that the end result will not be disappointing again. After seven years of intense online gaming and game marketing, I have developed a clear idea of what would benefit the game industry and hobby as a whole. And the guys at Roll20 are headed towards another direction, at the moment.

[nclarke]

Personally I'm happy with G+ Hangouts and a die roller app. If the app allows shared results fine, but I trust people I play with so they can roll real dice or virtual dice as far as I'm concerned. What I don't want is being tied to a particular remote server with the potential for lag or price hikes or adverts.

While I don't think that Google will pull G+ like they did with their Reader app recently there are alternative video and audio apps about that can replace same. At worst it's Skype and Twiddla or another whiteboard app. If your play style requires a grid and tokens then something like Roll20 or FG is almost mandatory.

[Skunkape]

The point is that their marketplace is extremely obscure, and in some cases questionable, in how it works, and definitely not designed to sell supplements. For one thing, it DOES NOT allow me to give away anything for free. Why?

I understand their point about not making things free. I don't agree with it necessarily, but they state that if you've spent time creating the art, you should get paid for that time.

I'd be good with making somethings free and allowing others to charge.

I do like the interface though but also don't want to fracture the community by having everyone and their brother make their own VTT.

[RosenMcStern]

Thanks everyone for the feedback. This mini-discusion was quite useful.

[Skunkape]

You're welcome.

I do wish that there would be some kind of a standard VT that someone would come up with, but everyone has their own ideas about how they want to do things.

We had our first session last night, not much playing, mostly just getting everyone connected and me answering questions about the campaign. Went well as far as most were concerned, couple of technical difficulties, partly from the Roll20 system and partly from our own computers. But now that we've ironed most of them out, we should be good to go!

[LochaberAxe]

We had our first session last night, not much playing, mostly just getting everyone connected and me answering questions about the campaign. Went well as far as most were concerned, couple of technical difficulties, partly from the Roll20 system and partly from our own computers. But now that we've ironed most of them out, we should be good to go!

Good to hear that BRP has a bridgehead on Roll20. Did you get any player reaction? I haven't yet started and I will try it with one or two players who have more tech background in the next week or so. I would like to be able to combine VTT and FTF play in the same session but not till I am ready.

[Skunkape]

My players liked the experience. We've played BRP before, but never had a VT session. One of them mentioned Roll20 to allow us to be able to play, which is how I learned about it. A new player had never tried BRP before, but liked the idea of the system being much more flexible than d20 systems.

The guy who introduced me to Roll20 liked the ability to remove the grid and gridless play, which allows easier movement than having to stay on a square or hex grid. I've been trying to move in that direction with our table top play but so far haven't had the time to go completely gridless.

In the future, once I get my game room back, I'm going to invest in a projector and use Roll20 or another system to project maps onto the game table!

[RosenMcStern]

In the future, once I get my game room back, I'm going to invest in a projector and use Roll20 or another system to project maps onto the game table!

In which case you might wish to try MapTool. It is a very solid software, its only "sin" is that it is not web-based and can give you some headaches if the GM does not have a fixed IP. But if you use it only to show fancy maps to people in the same room as you, it is unbeatable.

[LochaberAxe]

My players liked the experience. We've played BRP before, but never had a VT session. One of them mentioned Roll20 to allow us to be able to play, which is how I learned about it. A new player had never tried BRP before, but liked the idea of the system being much more flexible than d20 systems.

The guy who introduced me to Roll20 liked the ability to remove the grid and gridless play, which allows easier movement than having to stay on a square or hex grid. I've been trying to move in that direction with our table top play but so far haven't had the time to go completely gridless.

In the future, once I get my game room back, I'm going to invest in a projector and use Roll20 or another system to project maps onto the game table!

Thanks for the feedback. I have lined up some of my usual group for a try-out. They are all techie and most have played BRP so I am hoping it will get a similar reaction to your group.

I might try gridless movement. We are used to hex grids. Presumably you aren't using Strike Ranks etc?

There are some of my group who will always be face-to-face players but if I can use Roll20 to reconnect with the ones who can't be present it will be worth the effort. I may even run side adventures/ split parties as Roll20 only.

I too had thought of using a projector but mine will probably need to be transportable to allow me to use it at our wargames club. If you do get one please post. I am interested in how the Roll20 maps look when projected, especially with general background lighting present.

[LochaberAxe]

In which case you might wish to try MapTool. It is a very solid software, its only "sin" is that it is not web-based and can give you some headaches if the GM does not have a fixed IP. But if you use it only to show fancy maps to people in the same room as you, it is unbeatable.

Not sure if the last sentence was intentional sarcasm? I think you miss the point. When running games with VTT AND face-to-face players it does make sense to show both groups the same info.

BTW If you want to compare Roll20 and MapTool or any other VTT perhaps you should open a separate thread. I think you are off-topic on this one.

Edited March 22, 2013 by LochaberAxe

[wbcreighton]

Not sure if the last sentence was intentional sarcasm?

I'm quite certain it isn't sarcasm. Rosen is just saying that Maptools excels at mapping functions so it would be ideal for projecting maps onto a table.

I think you miss the point. When running games with VTT AND face-to-face players it does make sense to show both groups the same info.

With Maptools you could project the map onto a table top as well as show the players in a different location the same map. You could do the same with Roll20.

[LochaberAxe]

My players liked the experience. We've played BRP before, but never had a VT session. One of them mentioned Roll20 to allow us to be able to play, which is how I learned about it. A new player had never tried BRP before, but liked the idea of the system being much more flexible than d20 systems.

The guy who introduced me to Roll20 liked the ability to remove the grid and gridless play, which allows easier movement than having to stay on a square or hex grid. I've been trying to move in that direction with our table top play but so far haven't had the time to go completely gridless.

In the future, once I get my game room back, I'm going to invest in a projector and use Roll20 or another system to project maps onto the game table!

Just to say that I have started running BRP on Roll20 with a few of my players. Their reaction was also very positive and we are going to follow up with a few more sessions. I still plan to run joint face-to-face and online sessions but that is probably several weeks off.