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Tough_Tonka
2008-12-22, 01:03 AM
Me and some old high school friends that got together over the winter break talked about playing DnD over the internet. One of the friends suggested using Facebook (maybe making a group out of it or something).

If this idea goes underway I'll probably end up being the guy DMing it. So I'm wondering if anyone on the boards has any advice/experience they would like to share with this sort of situation.

These are some questions I'm already asking myself:

I saw that game table tool on the DnD insider and I thought it looked really cool. I was wondering if there were any freeware (or cheap) programs like it that are worth trying out? Were probably going to play 4e so that would be helpful.

Also does anyone know a website that has online character sheets for 4e?

Are there any sort of dice rolling programs you can use with an Facebooks instant messaging or any facebook apps that might be useful for playing RPGs?

For that matter are there any websites for playing RPGs through IMing that are more useful than Facebook?

Any help you'd have to offer is really appreciated:smallsmile:

Alysar
2008-12-22, 01:13 AM
I play D&D over IRC chat rooms (there is a dicebot script running in the room)

We use this http://rptools.net

There's a mapping tool, a token maker for making avatars to use in the maptool, a dice program, a initiative tracking program...

Everything is programmed in Java so it is completely platform independant.

The mapping program includes its own chat room and dice script, btw.

You'll need image resources to create maps for the mapping program. Try the forums here (User Creations section)

http://www.dundjinni.com

and this site

http://rpgmapshare.com

Hope this helps :smallbiggrin::smallcool::smallsmile:

RTGoodman
2008-12-22, 01:42 AM
Me and some old high school friends that got together over the winter break talked about playing DnD over the internet. One of the friends suggested using Facebook (maybe making a group out of it or something).

If this idea goes underway I'll probably end up being the guy DMing it. So I'm wondering if anyone on the boards has any advice/experience they would like to share with this sort of situation.

Well, for starters I don't think Facebook works. I'd go with either Gametable (http://gametable.galactanet.com/), the D&D Insider Game Table from the WotC site (if they ever get it up and running, and if you're willing to pay to use it), IRC (as Alysar suggested), or maybe even Play-by-Post, like this game (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=94818) I'm running. Play-by-Post (PbP) is a LOT slower (since you're only doing on post at a time, and it might take days for some people to post), but it's probably the simplest since there are a TON of sites where you can do it (here on GitP, Myth-Weavers, any personal message boards you have, etc.).


These are some questions I'm already asking myself:

I saw that game table tool on the DnD insider and I thought it looked really cool. I was wondering if there were any freeware (or cheap) programs like it that are worth trying out? Were probably going to play 4e so that would be helpful.

Gametable (as I mentioned earlier) is probably the most popular (as far as I know), but I don't know if it supports 4E yet. Someone else'll have to get back to you on that.


Also does anyone know a website that has online character sheets for 4e?

Myth-Weavers (http://www.myth-weavers.com) and several other sites have this. That's the one I use, though. You have to have an account, but it's free, so have at it.


Are there any sort of dice rolling programs you can use with an Facebooks instant messaging or any facebook apps that might be useful for playing RPGs?

Not for Facebook, but a lot of gaming sites for PbP have built-in dice rollers, AOL Instant Manage (i.e. AIM) has a built-in roller, some IRC programs have 'em, and Invisible Castle (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/) can be used to track rolls from elsewhere.


For that matter are there any websites for playing RPGs through IMing that are more useful than Facebook?

Any help you'd have to offer is really appreciated:smallsmile:

Well, see the above advice. That's all I've got. :smalltongue:

Starscream
2008-12-22, 11:39 AM
OpenRPG is pretty good for this. It's free and it has maps, images, dice, private channels so you can whisper to the DM or other players, and can store commands as macros so you don't need to type everything out. For 4E you can just program in your powers and use them with one click.

Knaight
2008-12-22, 12:13 PM
I use maptools, and Skype, which is a voice program. It requires everyone to get a microphone though, but headsets with a microphone and headphones are about 10 dollars, meaning that its cheaper than using D&D insider.

THAC0
2008-12-22, 02:19 PM
I use maptools, and Skype, which is a voice program. It requires everyone to get a microphone though, but headsets with a microphone and headphones are about 10 dollars, meaning that its cheaper than using D&D insider.

We do this as well. If you go this route, we've found it easiest to have a player host the skype chat while the DM hosts the maptools server. There's a lot of uploading and downloading, so that helps a bit.

potatocubed
2008-12-22, 04:22 PM
On that note, check to make sure you can actually host a server before game day. I think nearly anyone can, but you'll have to open the right holes in your firewall, etc. and it's probably best to do that in advance.

CarpeGuitarrem
2008-12-22, 05:11 PM
I use maptools, and Skype, which is a voice program. It requires everyone to get a microphone though, but headsets with a microphone and headphones are about 10 dollars, meaning that its cheaper than using D&D insider.
Skype does have chat.

Ravyn
2008-12-24, 03:55 PM
I tend to favor doing my online chats by text rather than by VOIP. I use the current version of AIM; it lets me create both IC and OOC chats so the tabletalk doesn't get in the way of the game, allows me to squirt individual messages to the players, between font and color gives me options for color-coding every NPC I've got (which is saying something when you look at my game) so I don't have to worry about the different voices I come up for them getting distorted by the mikes, the game doesn't really get interrupted by people running to the bathroom because typelag means it won't get too far and they can just scroll up when they get back, and the autolog function means I can go back and check which side of the river I put the castle on or who exactly it was who insulted which NPC. Works out pretty well for me.

Blue Warlock
2008-12-24, 10:04 PM
I use www.rpgtonight.com it has its own voice chat and messaging functions, but they can be a bit laggy so I combine the mapping program with aim.

Alysar
2008-12-25, 12:00 AM
I prefer IRC simply because there's so many options. You can change your screen name at will, you can have a log of all your posts, you can have multiple chat windows open at the same time (one for out-of character chat and one for in-character dialog and area descriptions), you can get a dicebot script running in the room.