D&D 4E Advice: Running an Online 4e Game

[Dedekind]

I had a problem with autoloading monster powers. Wading through the MapTools forums has been a hassle to actually figure out how to fix it. At this point, I just made a macro for rolling each dice individually and do all and powers myself. Probably a fix exists but the open source aspect has made it hard for me.

 

[OnlineDM]

I had a problem with autoloading monster powers. Wading through the MapTools forums has been a hassle to actually figure out how to fix it. At this point, I just made a macro for rolling each dice individually and do all and powers myself. Probably a fix exists but the open source aspect has made it hard for me.

I'm assuming you're talking about a framework here that has built-in autoloading of powers from Monster Builder or something like that. I don't use any of the pre-packaged frameworks, so I can't say how they work. What I do, though, is use my own framework, and I have a sample monster token that I use as a template.

That monster token comes with six different attack macro buttons: SingleTargetAtWill, MultiTargetAtWill, SingleTargetRecharge, MultiTargetRecharge, SingleTargetEncounter, MultiTargetEncounter. Whenever I'm setting up a new monster token, I start with the template and then edit the macros in the buttons that I need (and delete the buttons I don't need).

I've made the macros easy to edit. Here's an example:

[h: AttackName="SingleTarget"]
[h: AttackBonus=0]
[h: Defense="AC"]
[h: NumDice=1]
[h: DamageDie=6]
[h: DamageBonus=0]
[h: DamageString="damage."]


[h: Enh=0]
[h: CritDamageDie=0]
[h: DamageRoll=roll(NumDice,DamageDie)]
[h: d20roll=d20]
[h, if(CritDamageDie > 0), CODE:
{ [CritBonus=roll(Enh,CritDamageDie)] };
{ [CritBonus=0] }
]

[h: AttackRoll=d20roll+AttackBonus]
[h: MaxDamage=NumDice*DamageDie+DamageBonus+CritBonus]
[h: RegularDamage=DamageRoll+DamageBonus]

<b>[AttackName]</b><br>
Attack: [d20roll] + [AttackBonus] = <b>[AttackRoll]</b> versus [Defense]<br>
[if(d20roll==20), CODE:
{<font color=Red>--CRITICAL HIT--</font><br>
Hit: [NumDice*DamageDie] + [DamageBonus] + [CritBonus] = <b>[MaxDamage]</b> [DamageString]
};
{Hit: [DamageRoll] + [DamageBonus] = <b>[RegularDamage]</b> [DamageString]}
]

For most attacks, I'm just editing the first seven lines. I set the name of the attack, the bonus to the attack roll, the defense that the attack is going against, the number of damage dice, the damage die size, the bonus added to the damage roll, and the text that accompanies the hit. So, a power called Bite that's +12 versus AC, 2d8+6 damage and ongoing 5 damage (save ends) would look like:

[h: AttackName="Bite"]
[h: AttackBonus=12]
[h: Defense="AC"]
[h: NumDice=2]
[h: DamageDie=8]
[h: DamageBonus=6]
[h: DamageString="damage, and ongoing 5 damage (save ends)."]

It only takes a minute per attack to make these changes. Naturally, more complex attacks might take a little more work (adding a Miss line or Effect line is done manually at the end of the macro; adding a secondary attack takes some work depending on the situation), but for the most part it's pretty easy to set up a monster this way.

 

[Arlough]

I, too, am a preponent of Maptool. As for the audio, since I am already using Comcast VOIP for my home line, I just went and got a phone with speaker-phone built in to it.

A couple of things about Maptool (RPTools in general):

1. Check out the online tutorials.
   They are really quite well done and give you something to build off of.
2. Think of it as your standard battle mat and markers, except digital.
   Just like the map made with wet or dry erase markers on a vinyl grid mat, these maps only need to convey basic info to your players. If you want to do more, you can, but it isn't really nessasary.
3. Realism isn't nessasary. You are trying to communicate with your players.
   It isn't "realistic", but make the doors and windows high contrast like bright orange and blue, and make them thicker than the walls. This is especially important if you are using vision blocking, since the players' line of sight will end on the line you draw, so they will only see half the wall line (unless you make the walls double thick).
4. Only use as much as you feel comfortable with.
   I have spent hours trying to get all sorts of things to work for my players, only to have them go a different direction and have all that time "wasted." I don't regret it, since I learned a lot that allowed me to put in fewer hours on later dates, but if I was relying on the tool to do everything for me, I would have been stuck or would have had to make the players go where I wanted them to go.
5. Light sources use processor power!
   I made a building with a bunch of small light sources, creating lots of shadow. It was a cool effect, but only two of the players could experience it and the rest had massive lag.
6. Only draw the map that is needed.
   You can draw the whole neighborhood/city/county/country/world, but it will cost processing power. Just put each on a separate map within the campaign.

If you are using the Character Builder, Monster Builder, and Compendium, then I would suggest you use Rumble's framework. He has it set up to read your character sheet and enter all the data for you, as well as power reading and integration, etc.
Quite frankly, his framework does everything the Wizard's up and coming VTT supposedly can't do yet, but may do someday. I want to send him a gift basket made of cheese and bacon!

But, if it seems too much to have the tool manage everything for you, you can still use it's vision blocking and character movement without too much trouble, and still have everyone roll their own dice and announce the results.

Best of luck, and get back to us on what you try out and what your impressions are.