3.5 in a forum

[Magugag]

Hey, I have a group of several online friends who are interested in playing a D&D game DM'd by yours truly! I've played 3.5 tabletop for quite a while now, but I have absolutely no idea how to swing it over the internet effectively. We usually hang out on a forum, and that seems to me like a very good way to get things done as it's an easy conduit for roleplaying in particular, which tends to be a heavy feature in games I run.

However, as you can imagine, I've got a few concerns. For one, I'm having a hard time finding a convenient way to get battle done. There doesn't seem to be any good, expedient way to represent a battle grid, and that strips away a great deal of the tactics and fun of combat in the game. Is there any way around this? Or if you even have suggestions in general or different ideas that might pan out better, those are also very welcome.

[VGLordR2]

I was once in a group that used a Google Docs spreadsheet. It worked pretty well.

[Rallicus]

You could always use a Virtual Tabletop (VTT) and take a screenshot of your map, then post it on the forum.

In the short time I did Play by Post games (never again - horrible medium to run the sort of games I run), what I'd do is fire up Maptool, draw a map, drop down some tokens and label the top and left side of the grid (A-[highest letter] going vertically across, 1 - [highest number] going horizontally). That way they could say something like, "I move forward and attack the enemy (A5 to D5)," and I could move the token on my map accordingly and take another screenshot.

It's a lot of unnecessary work but one of the few options you have with forum games that allow users to post throughout the day, rather than sit down and play all at once.

If you play on forums during a specified time, though, I'd recommend switching to a VTT like Roll20. It's pretty simplified as far as VTTs go, and the 100mb image limit is pretty lame, but it's easy to pick up and use.

Hope that helps.

[Magugag]

I had never seen Roll20 before- or indeed any other virtual tabletop! This looks amazing and completely alleviates all of my concerns with combat. Thanks a bunch for pointing it out to me.

[JeminiZero]

I was once in a group that used a Google Docs spreadsheet. It worked pretty well.

Perhaps something like this (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=13388654&postcount=4)?

[Ernir]

There is a Guide to Play by Post Games (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=181299) over in our PbP forum. It probably has something you need to know.


Perhaps something like this (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=13388654&postcount=4)?

Mine look like this (https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AnrwSTVjG0mhdDgzQXp2YU9yZnhZS0VaNjVnY0NlX 1E&pli=1#gid=0) or this (https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AnrwSTVjG0mhdHlrU015NjlQMUpfRUtNdUl0Y2twc 0E#gid=0) these days. :smalltongue:

[Bloodgruve]

d20 Pro (http://d20pro.com/) is my favorite. Maptool (http://www.rptools.net/index.php?page=maptool) is good too.

My local DM just moved away and my group is still gaming together on d20 Pro and it works quite well with Skype or Ventrillo.

GL
Blood~