Topic: To Mods: would you folks consider supporting an official Roll20 character sheet?

[Turbs]

for those who dont know, Roll20 is a free virtual tabletop for roleplaying in any system,
they are about to release an update that allows you to custom design character sheets for exclusive use with their Virtual tabletop.

http://blog.roll20.net/post/82092273480/data-delve-dev-blog-2-introducing-character-sheets ((this is an offsite link))

I am wondering if the Dev's here know about/are considering using what resources they have in terms of AutoHARP, Combat Minion etc to design and implement or simply support 'official' sheets?

[Wolfhound]

While I can't comment about their support of such a thing, two of the players in our RMU Playtest group were strongly encouraging doing so, since they like Rolemaster but don't like the complexity of character creation and leveling.  They don't mind it themselves, but they don't ever run Rolemaster (any version of it) anymore due to other players reluctance to play it because of this perceived complexity.

[Thom @ ICE]

If I understand correctly, you are encouraging a d20 version of Rolemaster so that individuals can play off using the free VTT - Roll20. It sounds as if Roll20 is effectively a dice rolling tool with a shared screen for maps, graphics, etc. and a data repository.  It doesn't sound like it includes the system rules in any way.  I guess I am not grasping what this major overhaul to RM would do.

Just wanting to ensure I understand before bringing it to the table.

[Turbs]

If I understand correctly, you are encouraging a d20 version of Rolemaster so that individuals can play off using the free VTT - Roll20. It sounds as if Roll20 is effectively a dice rolling tool with a shared screen for maps, graphics, etc. and a data repository.  It doesn't sound like it includes the system rules in any way.  I guess I am not grasping what this major overhaul to RM would do.

Just wanting to ensure I understand before bringing it to the table.

almost correct.

Roll20 is just a name since d20 are usually the most commonly used systems. however it fully supports all methods of die rolling (even the highly complex ones) and allows for users to create and define thier own virtual dice (i.e. Warhammer fantasy roleplay 3rd ed. FATE, etc) so defintiely not encouraging a D20 conversion. we currently use this VTT for playing RMU playtests.

as for the rest of your description you are spot on.
basically the new developments allows for users to design their character sheets for use with whatever system they prefer.
you design a layout, (i think this part is in html) then can apply macro buttons which effectively execute all your skill rolls, RR's, etc. 
this is the limit of my technical understanding of their product. I am unsure if they will implement leveling up scritps or the like but as of now you simply need to manage your own data entry in to your character-sheet.

[Thom @ ICE]

If it doesn't require our rules set, and simply needs a blank template to store data in, then certainly we could release a formal template - but even better, if someone who is familiar with Roll20 wants to do the creative work we can definitely consider that option.  It may be something we could pay for, or it could be something that people could earn OIC DP from.  We'd probably even be OK with separate versions for each of the RM versions.

[Turbs]

Well this is encouraging.
I firmly believe that having officially vetted stuff like this makes it easier for newer players to jump in easier and start playing

[Moostik]

Roll20 is a VTT like Fantasy Grounds, but free, so that players can join games without having to buy a license first. Personally, I (and my group) is using Maptool, which is basically open source. It adds to the gaming experience and enables us to join the table from different cities. We run a hybrid VTT/PBP campaign. Tools like these, coupled with tools like Minion, are fantastic.

The reason we don't use FG is that the framework only supports RMC, and all my players would have to buy a license. Maptool is a grat tool for limitless campaign mapping and sharing, but has its limits as a VTT, at least for now. I think with Roll20 it's the other way around, but I haven't gotten around to testing it properly.

I think we should all acknowledge that the digital age is upon us, and supporting tools like this may be the future of roleplaying. RM is, IMO, especially suited for digitalizing because of the complexity. It will really benefit in terms of saved time, from implementing and supporting digital tools.

Turbs; Do you know what a framework can contain in Roll20 apart from chr. sheets? I ask because I don't.

[Merkir]

I am wondering if the Dev's here know about/are considering using what resources they have in terms of AutoHARP, Combat Minion etc to design and implement or simply support 'official' sheets?

I just had a look at Roll20 and it looks very nice. I even signed up to take a closer look, especially at the API.

I was particularly interested in how it might work together with Rolemaster Combat Minion, hoping to be able to find that the data entered into a Roll20 RM character sheet might, through an API export request, be imported for use in Minion. While I can't see anything in their API that could do that yet, perhaps they might cater for that in the future.

There would also be the possibility of sending data back to Roll20 itself to update wound/hit point indicators on the Roll20 character tokens/images.

And, the ability for remote players to roll dice on Roll20 with instant transfer of the total to the dice roll fields within Minion would be awesome.

If anybody sees this type of functionality within Roll20, or other online tabletop systems, please spread the word.

On a different note, I was getting quite excited to see that Roll20 developers simply use javascript to program the system to implement their own rules. Since Minion is a javascript-only web app, I was initially thinking there might be the possibility of plugging in the Minion software into Roll20 as a module. Unfortunately, reading further, all javascript written by devs is excuted on their servers, not client-side, meaning that it has no access to a browser or browser-like DOM. So it appears incorporating Minion (in its current form) into Roll20 is not possible.

Still, I would be hopeful that their API may allow import/export functions in the future so that the GM could run Roll20 and Minion side by side, character sheets and dungeon mapping handled by Roll20, and combat encounters handled by Minion, with some interactivity possible in the future - mainly the char sheet to minion db export and dice roll transfers.

[Moostik]

I am wondering if the Dev's here know about/are considering using what resources they have in terms of AutoHARP, Combat Minion etc to design and implement or simply support 'official' sheets?

I just had a look at Roll20 and it looks very nice. I even signed up to take a closer look, especially at the API.

I was particularly interested in how it might work together with Rolemaster Combat Minion, hoping to be able to find that the data entered into a Roll20 RM character sheet might, through an API export request, be imported for use in Minion. While I can't see anything in their API that could do that yet, perhaps they might cater for that in the future.

There would also be the possibility of sending data back to Roll20 itself to update wound/hit point indicators on the Roll20 character tokens/images.

And, the ability for remote players to roll dice on Roll20 with instant transfer of the total to the dice roll fields within Minion would be awesome.

If anybody sees this type of functionality within Roll20, or other online tabletop systems, please spread the word.

On a different note, I was getting quite excited to see that Roll20 developers simply use javascript to program the system to implement their own rules. Since Minion is a javascript-only web app, I was initially thinking there might be the possibility of plugging in the Minion software into Roll20 as a module. Unfortunately, reading further, all javascript written by devs is excuted on their servers, not client-side, meaning that it has no access to a browser or browser-like DOM. So it appears incorporating Minion (in its current form) into Roll20 is not possible.

Still, I would be hopeful that their API may allow import/export functions in the future so that the GM could run Roll20 and Minion side by side, character sheets and dungeon mapping handled by Roll20, and combat encounters handled by Minion, with some interactivity possible in the future - mainly the char sheet to minion db export and dice roll transfers.

You may (possibly) have better luck with rptool's Maptool, that also runs on java, where everything is run client-side, on the GMs computer. Players run maptool and connect to GMs IP. There is an option to run on a hosted server, and different connection options. You can design and import your own custom framework with macros that handles everything. I'm not much of a macro writer, so I'm making do without system-specific macros (nobody ever wrote a RM framework).

Still, I haven't compared the two properly, so I can only speak objectively from my own experience. I suspect Roll20 has a larger, more active development community and user base.

[DavidKlecker]

When it comes to VTT software like this, I'm open to exporting character sheets in AutoHarp into a format that can be read by them. Just let me know either by PM or you can email me at perfecthundred@gmail.com and be sure to include a link or description and example of the format that is needed.