First Time User: Dice Question

[lud1999]

Hi,

Our RPG group is having trouble finding opportunities to play because we are all now too geographically dispersed. So I decided to do something about it and started looking into VT solutions.

From the more than half a dozen VT I briefly looked at, FG gave me the best impression. I downloaded the demo version of the software to get a feel of it and learn how to use it; so I can teach the rest of the group. (I understand it's only version 1.05 and not the current 2.x).

After playing around with the various components, I decided to do the following task: roll the stats for a new character, thus the following few dice related questions:

a. Can I roll 4d6 keep the highest 3
b. How can I take the result of my roll and fill the str entry in the character sheet? I could drag the result as a modifier but not to the char sheet.
c. Can I roll 1d4+1d6 (See note 1)

None of those are critical issues, we can add mentally the result, it just seemed strange the interface didn't support them. So I am wondering if I am missing something.

On different topics:

Light: Does the map "fog of war" take into account light source on the various PC and NPC?

Training video: Are they any training video like the one provided by Klooge Werks for their VT?

And on a general note: anything you find missing from FG that could make us regret our decision to go with it?

Thanks,

Note 1: From the ruleset modification document I could see there is a addDie function listed for the diecontrol, it looks like it would do the trick for adding different type of dice. The rest of the group member are not professional programmer, I want to be sure the solution I propose to them is user friendly and intuitive...is there a set of "must have" add-on I should have?

[Foen]

Some quick answers:

a. Not with a normal session, although there is a character-generator in FG2 which I have never tried. Others might advise.
b. I have never tried, but it would not be difficult to do this with a modified ruleset (though that would then commit you to modified rules, rather than standard rules, and you should think carefully before making that decision for a given campaign).
c. Sure. Type /die 1d6+1d4 and it will roll them. If you use any combination like this regularly, drag it to a short cut slot.

Light: No it doesn't. The GM manually erases the fog as the players move around the map.
Training video: I've not seen one.

In respect of your last question, I have only ever used FG but I haven't found any show-stoppers or problems that make me regret selecting it. If you want to ask a broader church of folks, try the Four Ugly Monsters forums - there are good folks there with wide experience across platforms.

Ruleset modification is really neat - if you want to play more than just DnD, then make sure you choose a product that supports rich customisation and has an active modding community. FG2 fits both those bills.

Stuart

[VenomousFiligree]

a. During create local characters you can roll dice or point buy, when you roll dice the options are:
Roll x dice, drop x dice and add x.
So yes you can roll 4d6 and keep the best 3, but only during local charcter generation.

b. Again in the "create local characters" this is fully doable.

c. Yes

:)
MB

[Foen]

Ahh, one more thing about software selection: FG is purely a Windows product. If you have members of your group who run Mac or Linux platforms you will really struggle. The FG engine relies on extensive use of DirectX and hence emulators can't run it reliably.

Definately a show-stopper if you have mixed platforms, I should say.

Stuart

[Griogre]

As all your question have already been answered, I’ll take a shot at buyer remorse, but first Foen is right - this is a Windows only product because of the DirectX use for the dice.

I believe your first impression is accurate on FG. I’ve used several other VTTs, and FG simply has the most intuitive interface for anyone whoever has played a roleplaying game face to face. This is extremely important for non computer savy players. To be honest, most VTT documentation stinks. Because of this an intuitive interface, while always good, becomes even more important. Totally agree with Smiteworks strategy or not - their goal was to simulate the table people play around in a face to face game – and this make it very easy for new online players.

There are two broad categories of virtual table top software for D&D – cause by the terms of the Open Game License clause on automation. There are those like FG which have SRD data and those like Klooge who don’t. If you don’t have d20 data you will often find automation of die rolls and other mechanics. The problem with automation it is adds complication which increases the learning curve and sometimes requires a great deal of preparation for the game master.

On the reasons I ended up with FG was you can sit down and run an adventure with notes besides your keyboard. It is easy enough to add graphic images as maps but ultimately you don’t have to and most GM’s don’t want to do any more data entry than they can help. :p

[Sorontar]

On the reasons I ended up with FG ....

Rolley dice did it for me, I didn't get past that before I bought the full license ....... come to think of it I like shiney things as well :D

[Griogre]

LOL, well I liked the dice too, but mostly because in FG - just like in a face to face game - you can just grab a handful of d20s and throw them. Then, just read them left to right while mentally adding in bonus' - just like in a face to face game and this is very fast. It's not as great a feature as it use to be in FG1 because of the FG2 die parser on full attacks on the personalities but still very fast.

[Astinus]

LOL, well I liked the dice too, but mostly because in FG - just like in a face to face game - you can just grab a handful of d20s and throw them. Then, just read them left to right while mentally adding in bonus' - just like in a face to face game and this is very fast. It's not as great a feature as it use to be in FG1 because of the FG2 die parser on full attacks on the personalities but still very fast.

Griogre, when you say "FG2 die parser" are you referring to the ability to drag and drop from the "Attack" field of the Personalities tab into the chat window? And if you're creating your own Personalities, can you set it up to do something similar? I tried typing die codes to no avail.

[Xorn]

You know, I have a video capture software that captures the desktop in FG2 just fine. I was wondering if anyone would be interested in small tutorials, or even a demo of a game being played.

I had it running last game because I've got this one player that's always doing stupid stuff, and he mentioned, "I'll try to talk to the rats." Since he had no ability to speak with rabid, starving, giant rats, they were just spooked, and ate him. Someone else in the group used the drawing tools to write "He lies He-Who-Spoke-With-Rats." on the map.

As if that wasn't funny enough, I happened to have a cache video recorder running (saves the last 2 minutes of screen capture AFTER something cool happens) and posted that excerpt the next day. I still won't remove that character (who I renamed He-Who-Spoke-With-Rats) from his character list.

[richvalle]

LOL

Ok, that is pretty funny.

rv

[lud1999]

Thank you all for the answers and comments! Some of this seems to work only on FG2, but that's fine.

Now I just need to convince the group!

[Griogre]

Griogre, when you say "FG2 die parser" are you referring to the ability to drag and drop from the "Attack" field of the Personalities tab into the chat window?
Yes. :)

And if you're creating your own Personalities, can you set it up to do something similar?
Yes. :D

I tried typing die codes to no avail.
The parser has been coded to expect two general styles of entries bascially a monster like attack and character like attacks. It is very particular about the entry, though, you have to just right or it won't work. I'll get you some general strings with each style. As a general rule the parser is made to use the general style out of a monster manual, so often you can just type in the full attack entry verbadum and it will work.

Monster style:
Lets start real simple with a example: Bite +5 (1d6+1) - This will allow you to hover the mouse over bite and throw a d20 that will show up in chat as a d20 roll +5 and anotated as Bite. If you hover your mouse over the (1d6+1) it will throw a d6+1 and anonotate it as Bite in the chat. Ok from the example you can see the first word is what the anonotation in chat is called, Bite in this case. The next number after the name of the attack is the plus (or minus) to hit. After the number, +5 in this case the parser ignores anything until it finds a ( or some other keyword it understands. In the default entries you will often see "melee" or "range". These entries are not important and you can add them or not as you wish. I typically leave them out because the name of the attack usually give you a good idea of the type of attack. Before we move on to a more complicated example note that the anonotation always capitalizes the first letter of the attack - ie "bite" and "Bite" both show up as Bite in chat.

Lets do a gargoyle with 2 claws, a bite and a gore attack in our next example to introduce the keyword "and". The full attack would be 2 Claw +6 (1d4+2) and Bite +4 (1d6+1) and gore +4 (1d6+1). There are two things different in this string: the "2" in front of Claw and the and connecting all the attacks. I also did not Capitalize gore in this example but the when you throw the dice you will see it capitalized in both the damage and to hit roll. Notice also I used Claw not Claws - this is because what shows up in chat is each attack seperately. The keyword or is used exactly like the and keyword so I am not going to give an seperate example. Change the and to or in the example above if you have any questions on how it works.

Character Style:
Lets do a 7th level character with a +1 bastard sword as an example - [+1] Bastard Sword 14/9 (1d10+4/19-20). There are some differances from the monster style here but much is the same. Let's start with the [+1]. The brackets mean don't show what's inclosed by the brackets in the chat window. This is important as you usually don't want to show the players how magical the weapon is unless it is obvious. The 14/9 are the to hits. You can put as many slashes in as you want. Each number seperated will be an attack with the first number in the series called (attack 1) all the way up to the number of attacks. A bastard sword threatens on a 19-20 and you can see that in the damage part (1d10+4/19-20). Anything after the / is ignored up to the closing ) and *never* displayed in chat. This is useful as you can put anything you want in there that you find helpful ie /Poison to remind you the blade is poisoned.

One more example that is a little more complex: [+1] Bastard Sword 14/9 (1d10+4/19-20 Poisoned) and [+1] Short Sword 14/9 (1d6+2/19-20) or [MW] Composite Long Bow 12/7 (1d8+2). There is nothing new in here just some more attacks strung togeather.

One final comment that is important. You can't use half the Monster and half the Character styles in an entry. It will not work. Do your entry all one way or another. By entry I mean one weapon attack.

[Hamish]

Wow Griogre.... that was quite a read, but very informative.

[Astinus]

Now, that's an answer! Thanks Griogre. SmiteWorks should pay you to write a comprehensive user guide. And the parser is a great software feature, too. Very handy.

[DNH]

Thank you, Griogre! Exactly what I wanted to know and I didn't even ask for it! I use a modified ruleset for 2e and am having to make do with bare d20 rolls when I would really love these "automated" attack rolls ... only I have never been able to get it to work either. Brilliant answer ... now I just need to see if I really *can* get it to work for 2e.

Thanks again.

[DNH]

ok, preliminary attempts to get this working have failed. quick question: does the field have to be called <atk> or <fullatk> in order to work?

answer: no, it doesn't ... but it does have to call on the npcattackfield.lua script, which i had crippled earlier when i couldn't get it to work!

i have this half-working now. by this i mean that i can roll damage dice from the CT, no problem, but the attack dice is still a work in progress. this is down to my having modified the chat_chat script to handle dropped attacks as per ad&d 2e rules. i can roll the dice correctly but no results are displayed, which is largely the point! i will get this working soon enough.

[DNH]

excellent! i now have this working like a charm! in short, it now works as a 2e version of the d20 attack fields but does the whole thac0 calculation. i had to make changes to monster entries, chat_chat.lua and npcattackfield.lua and it could probably look prettier but, well, *i* am a happy chappie anyway. combats will run much more quickly now.

:)