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Other Realms => Role Play Theater => Topic started by: William Swiftfoot on November 20, 2010, 10:12:43 PM

Title: Chat Based DnD?
Post by: William Swiftfoot on November 20, 2010, 10:12:43 PM
Since Alias had brought it up, I figured Id ask. Would anyone be interested in trying a One-off DnD game over chat? I figured this would be a good way to test if it was viable, and I have a couple of the Living Forgotten Realm modules for 4th on hand.

All 4th edition books are allowed, as are Jonas's anthro races.

Game time would probably have to be between 7 and Midnight EST(GMT -5) if during the week, or between 10am and 9pm EST if on Saturday or Sunday.

So, would anyone be interested?
Title: Re: Chat Based DnD?
Post by: Dragyn on November 20, 2010, 10:19:59 PM
Hmm...I might be able to.  Most weekends I spend doing homework, but I'm not opposed to taking a few hours out of that, at all.

Odds are I won't be up that early on a Saturday, but if you're willing to start a bit later, I could probably pull that off.
Title: Re: Chat Based DnD?
Post by: Tvorsk on November 20, 2010, 10:20:43 PM
I would be VERY interested, if not for work and well, timezones... I'd be a boat anchor to you folks, our access times overlapping only narrowly except for saturdays, maybe... and that's why I liked the forum one. {:(
Best of luck, have fun...
Title: Re: Chat Based DnD?
Post by: Geary on November 20, 2010, 10:30:11 PM
I'm on most of the time, excluding every-other-weekend due to Virginia *Grumbles*
Title: Re: Chat Based DnD?
Post by: Digital Vulpine on November 21, 2010, 08:32:39 AM
I could probably make it, though on Tuesdays and Thursdays I usually don't get back from class until around 8pm.
Title: Re: Chat Based DnD?
Post by: William Swiftfoot on November 21, 2010, 12:59:12 PM
Well that is a good group, so I guess maybe roll with this.

Main plan as I said would be one module, which Im guessing from whats been said would be best done on saturday, time determined by what works best. Game can be done through Grand Hall chat, or by RPTools, which is a program with chat, dice and map tools for use with the game.

With that in mind, what are your guys best times?
Title: Re: Chat Based DnD?
Post by: Dragyn on November 21, 2010, 02:29:09 PM
Saturdays are usually pretty open.  I can set an alarm and probably make it any time, though I'll be groggier, earlier.
Title: Re: Chat Based DnD?
Post by: William Swiftfoot on November 22, 2010, 09:27:58 PM
Any other opinions on that? Just curious so we can get stuff shaped up and I can get a date set.
Title: Re: Chat Based DnD?
Post by: Jonas on November 23, 2010, 01:09:40 PM
I would like to join. I should be available any day except for wednsdays and thursdays from 8:30PM onwards. I go from Ontario time, so not sure what clock you use Kenku.
Title: Re: Chat Based DnD?
Post by: Alias on November 23, 2010, 08:35:26 PM
i would be good with this time schedule for most days.
Title: Re: Chat Based DnD?
Post by: William Swiftfoot on November 23, 2010, 09:03:38 PM
Ok, I think its time I starting getting stuff together I think. Who can work with a game that started around 2-3pm EDT(GMT -5) on December 4th and if that doesn't work, what sort of time would work better?
Title: Re: Chat Based DnD?
Post by: Dragyn on November 23, 2010, 10:41:41 PM
Hmm...yeah, I can probably be up by noon on a Saturday.  That should work for me.
Title: Re: Chat Based DnD?
Post by: Jonas on November 25, 2010, 10:59:39 AM
Actually, I'm going to have to withdraw from this. I have a lot of stuff due on monday and I really need to focus my work efforts.
Title: Re: Chat Based DnD?
Post by: William Swiftfoot on November 25, 2010, 12:52:18 PM
Not a problem Jonas.
Title: Re: Chat Based DnD?
Post by: William Swiftfoot on November 26, 2010, 10:36:51 PM
Ok, unless someone says differently, I think that will be the time. December 4th at 2pm Eastern.

With that in mind, time to get a few other things clear for game time.

Characters need to be level 1, and any printed resource is allowed, plus the anthromorphic races that Jonas created. One other note is I would advise everybody to do a read over of "A Players Guide to the Forgotten Realms" since that is the worldscape, and there is a small regional bonus that the Living World Game also included.

Board play will be done on MapTools...which can be downloaded here: http://www.rptools.net/ if this is an issue for people, I might be able to pull off some sort of videostream based setup, but I would prefer running through the program.

As for modules, you have the choice of:
CORM 1-1 "The Black Knight of Arabel"
BALD 1-1 "Flames of Initation"
and
TYMA 1-1 "Elder Wisdom"

I could probably dig up other ones from the Wizards site, but thats what I have on hand.

So...what do you guys think?
Title: Re: Chat Based DnD?
Post by: Digital Vulpine on November 28, 2010, 05:09:12 PM
What will we be using to allocate stats?  3d6, 4d6 discard low, or point-buy?

In addition, it would be helpful to have some preliminary information on the campaign and start location before the 4th.
Title: Re: Chat Based DnD?
Post by: Dragyn on November 28, 2010, 06:00:46 PM
What DigiVul said, and also, it would be good for those of us taking part to get together and try to figure out who's filling what role in the party, at some point.
Title: Re: Chat Based DnD?
Post by: William Swiftfoot on November 29, 2010, 01:23:42 AM
Id say Point Buy as standard for 4e. As for preliminary information, that depends on your choice of module. General information on the Forgotten Realms(also known as Faerun) is it is a world of high magics and sharp contrasts, to the point of that there have been times in the living world campaigns when the gods have been affected, and have heavily affected the world. The world also has several realms, including thoes such as the underdark to which the drow dwell.

As part of this, each person my add one "Home Region" to thier character, which they gain the ability of their home region, and possibly if a game is a set at a later time, gain other advantages when within it.

As for more module based:

Corm1-1 "The Black Knight of Arabel" is set within the forested human Kingdoms of Cormyr, to which Arabel is a northern trade town. The city has been dealing with a dark rider leading a legion of shadow, to which you will be tasked to investigation.

Bald1-1 "Flames of Initiation" is set within the great city-state of Balder's Gate, a city of high trade, although has been also known as a starting place for thoes that seek adventure, like yourselves.

Tyma1-1 "Elder Wisdom" is set within the scorched Dragonsborn run lands of Tymanther. The land is full of old ruins, and you have been tasked by a local governer to go investigate one of them.

As to which module you wish to take...that is up to you :P

I also must quickly apologize. When I first entered the LFR gaming curcuit, there was a preview PDF to LFR...which has seemed to have dissapeared from the site, and I seem to have lost my copy. Agian I apologize. However, all the information is in the Players Guidebook, and if you would like I can list out the region abilities if need be.
Title: Re: Chat Based DnD?
Post by: Dragyn on November 29, 2010, 12:27:53 PM
Failing that, I can look later (when I get home) to see if I have a copy of said PDF.   I'm not gonna' say for certain that I do or I don't, but I'll check.
Title: Re: Chat Based DnD?
Post by: Alias on November 29, 2010, 03:08:28 PM
i dunno, the one with the ruins looks kinda interesting to me.
Title: Re: Chat Based DnD?
Post by: Dragyn on November 29, 2010, 04:59:37 PM
I don't know anything about any of these modules, and I'm not particularly biased.  If I had to pick one, I'd probably pick the Black Knight one, but any of them work, fine.

Kenku:  I have the Forgotten Realms Campaign Guide.  Is that what you meant?
Title: Re: Chat Based DnD?
Post by: William Swiftfoot on November 29, 2010, 10:19:56 PM
I think thats the dmish guide although if uit has the region abilities it should be good. I speak more of the smaller players guide although.
Title: Re: Chat Based DnD?
Post by: Dragyn on November 30, 2010, 12:36:02 AM
Ah.  I also have the Forgotten Realms Player's Guide.  Knowing what I'm looking for is helpful.  I'll get those to you, when I can.
Title: Re: Chat Based DnD?
Post by: Geary on November 30, 2010, 02:46:10 PM
I'm afraid that until I get unbanished from the computer, I'll be unable to participate
Title: Re: Chat Based DnD?
Post by: William Swiftfoot on November 30, 2010, 05:54:31 PM
Well, I have the players guide. More of there was a preview pamplet for LFR that summarized the region advantages. I can post a list of the advantages if people need them.
Title: Re: Chat Based DnD?
Post by: Dragyn on November 30, 2010, 07:17:09 PM
Alrighty, Then.  I can't find the pamphlet, but my PDFs are horribly disorganized, so I'll let you know if I find it.
Title: Re: Chat Based DnD?
Post by: William Swiftfoot on November 30, 2010, 07:25:16 PM
Hmm...think this would be a good time for a roll call! Ive heard interest from I believe Dragyn, Alias, and DV. Is there anyone else who is definitly playing?
Title: Re: Chat Based DnD?
Post by: Dragyn on November 30, 2010, 07:33:16 PM
Just verifying that yes, I'm still in.
Title: Re: Chat Based DnD?
Post by: Geary on November 30, 2010, 08:38:37 PM
Strike my previous note, I'm back in
Title: Re: Chat Based DnD?
Post by: William Swiftfoot on December 03, 2010, 12:21:53 AM
As its thursday night, I think its time I made a decision on mod. The mod will be TYMA1-1 "Runes in Ruins".

Edit: Also, if you guys are having issues with RPTools, I have no issue with streaming it. The version that we will use is the current update. Either way I would advise downloading Tokentool and making a character token for your character, as it will be needed either way.
Title: Re: Chat Based DnD?
Post by: Digital Vulpine on December 03, 2010, 12:52:23 AM
I'm working on a rogue geared towards ranged abilities.  It should give me a higher DPS and hit rate than a Ranger, though the latter would give me more mobility.  However, I like the Rogue's better capacity for maintaining concealment.
Title: Re: Chat Based DnD?
Post by: Alias on December 03, 2010, 01:19:18 AM
i'm going to be using a wizard, i think, who is kind of a dork and specializes in things like putting people to sleep and making the ground sort of slippery XP
Title: Re: Chat Based DnD?
Post by: William Swiftfoot on December 03, 2010, 01:34:28 AM
Heres a list of regional benefits if anyone needs them
Title: Re: Chat Based DnD?
Post by: William Swiftfoot on December 03, 2010, 07:18:07 PM
Maptools mod is up and ready to go. One note although is I botched the title, which should of been "Elder Wisdom". It is a bit of a ruin exploration although.
Title: Re: Chat Based DnD?
Post by: Dragyn on December 04, 2010, 04:40:47 AM
Alright, then.  Considering that We already have a rogue (striker) and a wizard (controller), I made a defender, in this case, a Minotaur Battlemind--which is the psionic defender class.

I focused on Abilities that reduce the damage I take or which let me move where I need to be, so I can soak all the hits for you guys, since that'll sort of be my job.

I shouldn't have any trouble with MapTool, and I've made a token and attached it to a character file, in the hopes that it will make things go smoothly.  Here's hoping.

And I'm off to bed, for now.  If I'm not messing up the timezone conversion, I've only got 7 hours to sleep.  Alarm clock it is.
Title: Re: Chat Based DnD?
Post by: William Swiftfoot on December 04, 2010, 08:31:10 PM
Hey guys, how much RAM do you have? Just curious cause we may be able to avoid the disconnects if a higher memory limit is given.
Title: Re: Chat Based DnD?
Post by: Dragyn on December 04, 2010, 11:57:46 PM
I have 4 GB installed, though since I'm running 32 bit, only 3 of that is usable.

(3.37 according to the control panel, but I don't really know, myself.)
Title: Re: Chat Based DnD?
Post by: Digital Vulpine on December 05, 2010, 09:36:58 AM
I've got enough, and we're still not exactly sure what causes the disconnects, but it looks like as long as you set the memory limit around 512 megs the memory leak is not a problem, at least for players.  The low initial usage means that someone with low memory could get away with 256 megs for a while, though since I was disconnected several times I don't have an accurate estimate of how much the leak would take up over the course of a full session.

Keep in mind that you have to set the maximum memory that the tool can access.  The default is 64 Megabytes, and I was getting higher than that pretty fast.  I set it to 512 and never hit my cap, however I was still disconnected several times.
Title: Re: Chat Based DnD?
Post by: William Swiftfoot on December 05, 2010, 01:57:44 PM
Thats partially why I was asking, as I read on the frameworks page, the proper settings for the framework is 1024/1024/10

I believe in my case I can run that if I shut down a couple programs, so I was thinking of trying to figure what would be good limits for the group.

Of course the issue may simply be my connection, while fast, has a tendency to be woggy(as I can't host skype due to it sounding like a cell phone call with interference), but thats an issue that I can't really fix.
Title: Re: Chat Based DnD?
Post by: William Swiftfoot on December 11, 2010, 12:53:47 PM
Due to a player being unavailable for the moment, game start time is delayed until 3:00pm EDT.
Title: Re: Chat Based DnD?
Post by: William Swiftfoot on December 11, 2010, 01:37:40 PM
Server is up and ready to go. Same port address and IP as last week.

One note although is I upped the Maptools settings. Max is 512, Min is 128, and Max stacks is 4