pbp Forum Project

[tdewitt274]

One die rolling function that IC doesn't provide that I'd like is the ability to do attack and damage rolls for 4e area attacks, where you roll one attack roll, say 1d20+5, for each target of the attack, but everyone that gets hit takes the same damage. In IC, I either have to make 2 rolls, or do something like this, to attack 3 monsters: 1d20+5;1d20+5;1d20+5;2d6+4. It would be nice to write, say, 3x1d20+5;2d6+4. Or 3.times(1d20+5), if you want to get all ruby about it. Syntax doesn't matter terribly much.

I think that this has been addressed. Of course, I kind of just looked over the functions. I could be wrong.
Roll Dice
"each – apply X value to all dice
10d10.each(2)] – add 2 to every die roll"

 

[covaithe]

What do you/they use the notes for? Is this for "Attack Roll" or "Saving Throw" or "Athletics Skill Check"? Or is there a larger purpose to the notes?

You can see my notes usage in my history at IC, here.

There are two main purposes of the note field for me. First is just to keep track of which roll is which. Without something in the note, it would be hard to tell the giant's attack roll vs. Sarenax, from the cambion's attack roll vs. Orelal. Especially when I'm DMing, I can make many attack rolls in a single post. Second, I use the notes for anything I want to say about the roll, before actually rolling the virtual dice. If I'm rolling multiple attacks, I can say which order the rolls apply, before rolling: e.g., 1d20+5;1d20+5 Note: scorching burst vs. zombie 1 and troll 2. If I'm making saving throws against multiple conditions, I can specify which roll goes with which condition. If there are situational modifiers in play, I can say whether or not the roll includes them, e.g. "includes combat advantage vs. troll". If I'm rolling against a 10% chance to stabilize a dying PC in 3.5e, I can specify in advance what constitutes a success, e.g. 1d10; Ter-raen stabilizes on a 10.

 

[tdewitt274]

You can see my notes usage in my history at IC, here.

Thanks for the clarification and example!

In my vision, the pbp Forum will include the references that you note in the attack rolls. For example, multiple attacks in the Forum will allow you to choose the target of each attack.

Ex,
Full Attack +10 vs Orc Chief (+1 Bless)
Full Attack +3 vs Goblin Skirmisher (+2 Flanking, +1 Bless)

However, for an online dice rolling program, I can see how these are helpful.

Just throwing options out there, but what if a "Target" was available from a list of combatants/PCs that could be chosen and saved with the results? The GM would add monsters to a campaign and make them "active" for actions.

The notes would still stay, of course.

 

[tdewitt274]

Die Roller

I've made some modifications to my Die Roller and converted it from JavaScript to PHP (I'm developing this version offline). This will work similar to the Invisible Castle site. I'll need to make more modifications, so it's a bit away from "release".

As a result, I'm opening the flood gates to requests. I'll be adding a registration page so the person can store/see the results. I know there have been posts previous, but I want to start again with a clean slate.

Don't think of limitations, the sky's the limit!

So, what do you want to see?

 

[tdewitt274]

I've been thinking about the current die roller and it's possible limitations. So, in an attempt to generate new ideas, I've created a second Die Roller. This die roller is far from complete (does not generate randoms, no gloss, development mode), but has the basic user interface ready.

Features

• Uses a calculator interface, but users can type the results as well.
• Supports a more mathematical approach to grouping, using "(" and ")"
• Adds additional functions
  • H = Highest = high()
  • /H = Remove Highest = remHigh()
  • L = Lowest = low()
  • /L = Remove Lowest = remLow()
  • Exp = Exploding (wild) die = explode()
  • Her = Hero System = hero()
  • Avg = Average = avg()
  • Sum = Sum = sum()

Here are some examples:

If you want 6 rolls of 4d6 and discard the lowest, you would enter 6(remLow(4d6)).

If you want to do multiple rolls with the same modifier (2 rolls of 1d20 + 2), you would enter 2(1d20 + 2).

If you wanted to do multiple dice (for example, a weapon with fire damage and STR damage), you would enter 2d4 + 1d6 + 4.

Don't forget, you can also subtract (like in Alternity): 1d20 - 1d12 -2
Multiply: 2d6 * 3
Divide: 5d6 / 5

Take a look at both and let me know your thoughts.
Die Roller v1
Die Roller v2a

I'm also looking for any additional comments regarding what you would want to see in a die roller. Feel free to post any wish you have.

 

[KerlanRayne]

Have you taken a look at Myth Weavers? It's close to many of the things you have described. Here are some of the features:

• Each game is it's own subforum.
• The GM can setup subfolders to organize threads.
• Players can create their own threads but the GM can move or delete them if he wants.
• Dice rolling is done inside the posts with extensive options for modifiers, number of times to roll, etc.
• Once a message containing a roll has been posted it can be edited any way you want, but if the roll is altered in any way a warning is included in the post letting everyone know that it has been tampered with.
• They have their own character sheets to keep track of all stats.
• There are tags that let you make rolls using info from your associated character sheet. For example you can roll a fort save without looking up the info on your sheet, you can also add situational bonuses on the fly.
• There is a tag that lets players put secret messages inside posts that only the GM can see, and vice versa.

I looked through the games and found a random one for you to check out. Here is Eyes of Silver. I don't know anything about the game.

There is a list of the dice roller options here.

There is also a page simply to try out the BBcode here. It's for testing only and doesn't get posted anywhere.

Is this of any help?

 

[tdewitt274]

Have you taken a look at Myth Weavers?
...
Is this of any help?

Just got a chance to take a look at this. They do have some nice features and it looks like they have a similar concept. I'll have to take a longer look at the site though.

Thanks for the link!

 

[Gansk]

How would immediate actions work when players are posting in "initiative order mode"?

 

[tdewitt274]

How would immediate actions work when players are posting in "initiative order mode"?

Good question! This can be potentially tricky and should probably provide plenty of options.

Considering the platform, it's difficult to say who is watching at any point in time. In an ideal setting, the database would determine when there was an action for a person (something that it's already doing) and send an email. However, that is ideal and would likely be an enhancement at a later point in time.

Any way you look at it, the person taking the action should at least finish their round. If something adversely affects it, action should be taken after the fact and roll back anything that happened after that point in time.

One way to tackle it is not entirely the most elegent way. Opportunity Attacks and Reactions are tricky because they may be happening when the person isn't watching the thread. As a result, the most appropriate action should be taken.

In either case, an indicator would populate saying that [PersonX] has an action. The person would have the designated amount of time to react. If they don't react, it goes onto the next player. If the next player has not made their action yet, then [PersonX] can still make their action. If the next player does take their action, then the Opportunity Attack/Reaction is lost.

In 4e, you can attack any one combatant only once. In 3.x, you can only do so many AoO. As a result, you may not want to spend that AoO on some peon while the big boss may be coming through. In other games, you need to pay attention all the time (Monopoly, Cribbage, BattleTech). So, it's going to depend on the system, and therefore should have some type of setting.

Maybe this is a personalized setting that follows any time limits established.

Another option is to declare the conditions that would trigger an Action or Reaction. "I use Shield if anyone attacks me." "I attack Bad2 if I threaten him."

Anything I missed?

 

[tdewitt274]

Hello All! Just thought I'd pop in and let you know what I've been up to lately.

I've been messing around with the Die Roller option some more. While I haven't hammered out specifics, I've been trying different technologies to see if there is an ideal way. I've come to the conclusion that it's going to require multiple angles.

My most recent idea is to do a kind of "Merge" between my two dice generators (see my signature). I like the aspect of the second die roller (which I never mentioned, but looks a LOT better in FireFox) that I created, but it was missing something. The dice on the first is extremely convenient, but also lacks functionality. While I do have the first one "working" by saving posts, the second one did a horrible job at allowing posting.

So, long story short, I've been throwing around the idea of a "Shopping Cart" type die roller. In a nutshell, it will take the dice icons of the 1st, the buttons of the 2nd, and the "results" of the 1st. You enter your dice on the same "line" so that they can be easily referenced, deleted or modified.

For example in 4e,
You want to roll 4(1d20+5) and 2d6 damage. You'll first start out by creating a new record (process undefined, but I'm sure it will be some kind of "Start" button) to group everything together. What you will do next is click the d20 button and assign a modifier of +5. Add notes if desired. Then, you will assign (undefined function) damage by choosing the d6 twice (total 2d6). When finished, you will close out the grouping (undefined, but likely a button). The results would be:

Spell
    Orc Chief: 1d20 + 5
    Grunt 1: 1d20 + 5
    Grunt 3: 1d20 + 5
    Grunt 4: 1d20 + 5
Apply to all
    Damage: 2d6

For 3.x example,
Same as above, but would look like

Spell
    Orc Chief: 1d20 + 5
    Grunt 1: 1d20 + 5
    Grunt 3: 1d20 + 5
    Grunt 4: 1d20 + 5
Apply to each
    Damage: 2d6

The differences between the two are that 2d6 in 4e would give each the same value, where 3.x would give an individual 2d6 to each target.

Of course, this is all theory at this point. Considering that South Dakota is getting snow right now, I probably won't venture out this weekend so I'll give it a whirl.

I'm interested in hearing your thoughts. While this is all theory, does it sound like something that would be useful? Does it sound too complicated? Is there anything that you would add to the process? Remove from?

As always, and suggestions are appreciated!