Author Topic: Dungeons and Dragons  (Read 13672 times)

Anaris

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Re: Dungeons and Dragons
« Reply #15: March 04, 2011, 09:14:30 PM »
Sounds fun. I'd give it a shot.

Excellent.

Now I just have to write it.

In my copious spare time.
Timothy Collett

"The only thing you can't trade for your heart's desire...is your heart." "You are what you do.  Choose again, and change." "One of these days, someone's gonna plug you, and you're going to die saying, 'What did I say? What did I say?'"  ~ Miles Naismith Vorkosigan

Indirik

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Re: Dungeons and Dragons
« Reply #16: March 04, 2011, 09:16:10 PM »
Which you won't have until /after/ the treaty system is done, right?
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Anaris

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Re: Dungeons and Dragons
« Reply #17: March 04, 2011, 09:37:19 PM »
Which you won't have until /after/ the treaty system is done, right?

And religious schisms, and the guild reorganization fixes, and the Population Rebalance.... :-\
Timothy Collett

"The only thing you can't trade for your heart's desire...is your heart." "You are what you do.  Choose again, and change." "One of these days, someone's gonna plug you, and you're going to die saying, 'What did I say? What did I say?'"  ~ Miles Naismith Vorkosigan

Tom

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Re: Dungeons and Dragons
« Reply #18: March 05, 2011, 09:47:37 AM »
I have some grand ideas about a good web-based package that could handle a lot of the different parts; I have a significant chunk of the map-walking part written, but mothballed.

There are a number of specialized softwares that do it. Most are windows-only, half of the suck and the other half is barely acceptable. I never liked any of them very much.

Tom

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Re: Dungeons and Dragons
« Reply #19: March 05, 2011, 09:49:56 AM »
That's why I was considering something along the same lines as BM—or, perhaps more accurately, like WI.  Something where each player can log on, do what they have to do, and when everyone's gotten their stuff in, things can move along.

The basic idea would be that the DM has control over everything but the characters' own persons—and that includes having control over the characters' positions, so they can't go gadding about without him being able to react—and players essentially "propose" actions, which the DM can then confirm, modify, or deny.  Everyone, of course, can talk all the time.  Talking is a free action ;)

I think you just re-invented play-by-(e)mail roleplaying. (and SpellMaster) :-)

The problem with this is that you lose one of the most important tools of storytelling: Pacing. You have to make it up somehow. In SM I had something, for a D&D thing you'd have to come up with something.

Anaris

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Re: Dungeons and Dragons
« Reply #20: March 05, 2011, 02:26:01 PM »
I think you just re-invented play-by-(e)mail roleplaying. (and SpellMaster) :-)

Well, yes and no.  And SpellMaster was a significant part of the inspiration for the idea ;-)

The difference would be that the players can look at the map any time, and the computer can keep track of everything that's happened, both the text of everything people have said, and the record of where they've all been, etc.  They could even look at the party members who are currently with them, see what they're carrying, etc.

Quote
The problem with this is that you lose one of the most important tools of storytelling: Pacing. You have to make it up somehow. In SM I had something, for a D&D thing you'd have to come up with something.

Yes, I know, that is the main problem, and I haven't yet been able to come up with a way to make up for it :-/

But I guess the question is: is it an acceptable sacrifice to make to be able to play D&D with a bunch of people who are, in all likelihood, never going to be able to come up with a single time when they can all meet to play, even over the internet?
Timothy Collett

"The only thing you can't trade for your heart's desire...is your heart." "You are what you do.  Choose again, and change." "One of these days, someone's gonna plug you, and you're going to die saying, 'What did I say? What did I say?'"  ~ Miles Naismith Vorkosigan

Tom

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Re: Dungeons and Dragons
« Reply #21: March 05, 2011, 03:10:57 PM »
Hm, that's an interesting concept indeed.

Yes, providing the online tools so that the game is accessible even when "paused", and everyone can look at all the info at any time, and leave notes for other players and/or the GM - that might work.

Yes, could be an interesting project. Unity 3D webplayer springs to mind almost immediately as a solution for an interactive map. :-)

Anaris

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Re: Dungeons and Dragons
« Reply #22: March 05, 2011, 03:30:21 PM »
Heh, I was just making it a simple top-down map.  No more than line-art at the moment, though I was hoping to add some sort of tile/texture support in future to make it look nicer.

So far, most of the work has been in getting the movement to work nicely, and in automatically calculating line-of-sight, so it can reveal the map as it is walked through.
Timothy Collett

"The only thing you can't trade for your heart's desire...is your heart." "You are what you do.  Choose again, and change." "One of these days, someone's gonna plug you, and you're going to die saying, 'What did I say? What did I say?'"  ~ Miles Naismith Vorkosigan

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Re: Dungeons and Dragons
« Reply #23: March 05, 2011, 07:12:54 PM »
That's why I was considering something along the same lines as BM—or, perhaps more accurately, like WI.  Something where each player can log on, do what they have to do, and when everyone's gotten their stuff in, things can move along.

The basic idea would be that the DM has control over everything but the characters' own persons—and that includes having control over the characters' positions, so they can't go gadding about without him being able to react—and players essentially "propose" actions, which the DM can then confirm, modify, or deny.  Everyone, of course, can talk all the time.  Talking is a free action ;)

So if all the people are online at once, things can move pretty quickly, with everyone moving, the DM confirming actions, and the whole play flowing fast.  If people can't get online together for a while, they can still play at their own pace, and the DM can make an executive decision to just let people who don't show up for a week follow the party mutely.

By the way, this is exactly how Fantasy Grounds 2 and MapTool work (two popular tools for dnd-over-the-net).
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Anaris

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Re: Dungeons and Dragons
« Reply #24: March 05, 2011, 07:49:14 PM »
By the way, this is exactly how Fantasy Grounds 2 and MapTool work (two popular tools for dnd-over-the-net).

I've tried MapTool, and been deeply unimpressed.

I don't recall all the details at this point, but it seemed incredibly cumbersome to get to work, and was a bit clunky in the interface.

A quick glance at Fantasy Grounds 2's website indicates that it's Windows-only—which isn't necessarily a showstopper, since Wine works very well these days, and I do have VMs, but it's a definite minus. 

What is a showstopper is that it costs money.  I'd be willing to at least consider shelling out some for a tool that would let me host for anyone, but so far as I can tell, you need to at least buy a $25 "lite" license to be able to even play as a regular player.

Rolling my own will take longer, and not give such a comprehensive featureset as something like FG2, but it will be free for everyone, and accessible through a web browser.  And heck, if I open-source it once it's in usable condition, maybe enough geeks will like it that it can gain some of those other features.
Timothy Collett

"The only thing you can't trade for your heart's desire...is your heart." "You are what you do.  Choose again, and change." "One of these days, someone's gonna plug you, and you're going to die saying, 'What did I say? What did I say?'"  ~ Miles Naismith Vorkosigan

Longmane

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Re: Dungeons and Dragons
« Reply #25: March 06, 2011, 03:12:07 PM »
Jeez it must be a good 20 yrs since I last played AD+D or MERP!, as what with losing track of my old circle of friends when I joined the forces, and likewise this long distance hauling lark preventing me building up a new one, (saves a small fortune on heating my flat etc though, as often away 8 days in 10 lol) I've never had the opportunity again, so can't wait until this takes off.
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