GM'S GAME SCREEN INSTRUCTIONS
The GM's screen possesses all of the features of the player's screen plus several functions that are unique to the GM. There are two rows of control buttons along the top, with a large map display area occupying most of the page.
NOTE: The buttons and some text fields on the GM screen have a short line of explanatory text, describing function and use, that appears when you place the cursor over the button or field without clicking.
The first eight buttons along the top row open small windows that are used to handle various functions. Starting
from the left these are:
Roller - opens the die roller.
Players - opens a window with a list of players, main PCs, and avatars.
Controls - opens a window with various game control functions and a status display.
Textchat - opens the text chat window.
Voicechat - opens a window that allows voice chat using an on site program.
Load - opens a screen that allows GMs to use on site maps, sounds, miniatures, and avatars etc. and to upload and store their own.
Chara sheets - opens a screen for handling character sheet creation and fillout.
Logoff - Closes and locks the game.
The windows are designed to "float" in front of the main display. You can move them wherever you want and close them when you are not using them. They may dissappear (go behind the main screen) temporarily when you enter text in some fields, but they will pop forward again when you click the button associated with the text. If one gets lost for some reason, click its button to bring it back.
The remaining buttons in the first row and all the buttons in the second row control miniatures and map functions. They are grouped into four secions labelled "Minaitures," "Grid," "Maps," and "Pictures." These buttons and other controls in the windows that they open are explained in detail here, starting at the left side of the first row:
The die roller is a random number generator that simulates the rolling of dice. Clicking the "roller" button opens a window with a number of buttons and fields on the top and a large blank area with the words "Ready to roll!" on the bottom. At the very top there are seven blank fill in boxes below labels saying D100, D20, etc. down to D3. There are also two double sets of blank boxes labeled "custom1" and "custom2" plus two boxes marked "mod1" and "mod2". When you roll a die you obtain a random number between 1 and the number of faces on the die, inclusive. D100 is commonly referred to as a percentile die. D20 down through D4 are used in the D20 system. D6s are the traditional cube shaped dice used in practically every dice-based game ever invented. D3s are useful in "scissors, paper, stone" type rolls: a 2 beats a 1, a 3 beats a 2, but a 1 beats a 3. Any die with an even number of faces can be used in a coin toss; one player calls "odds" or "evens" instead of heads or tails.
The blank boxes are where you type in the number of each type of die that you want to roll. For example, if you need to roll 3 D6s and 1 D4, you would enter a 3 in the box below the D6 label, and a 1 in the box below the D4 label. Just leave the boxes blank for the dice you are not using. Normally the dice that you roll are all added to one another to get the final result, but if you put a negative number in for the number of dice, these dice will be subtracted from the rest.
The two double sets of blank boxes below the labels "custom1" and "custom2" are for dice with non-standard numbers of faces. For example, if you need to roll two dice with 16 faces each, you would type in a 2 in one of the left boxes and a 16 in the box to the right of it.
The boxes labeled "mod" allow you to add modifiers (+ or -) to your total roll. You can add up all your positive and negative modifiers and type the result in here. It will automatically be added to your die roll.
The functions of the buttons in the first row below the die input fields are as follows:
Roll!: To roll the dice, after you have entered the numbers of each, click the "Roll!" button located in the row of buttons below the dice entry fields. The server generates a random number for each of the dice rolled, then adds them up to get your result. The resulting odds of getting any total are the same as if you took the appropriate number of real dice of each type and rolled them on a table.
Your result and the results of all the other players are displayed on a results table that appears below all the buttons. This table lists the number of each type of die that each player rolls, their modifier, and their result. Whenever you roll (or perform certain other functions) the results table will refresh itself several times over the next minute (roughly) to pick up and display the roll results of the players. If there are any slowpokes who haven't rolled yet after the refresh stops, press the button marked "Refr" (for refresh) every once in a while until they get around to rolling. The refresh button refreshes the table once each time you press it. Rolls are also timestamped and recorded in the textchat and die rolling record for future reference, if that feature is activated (see the textchat section), AND if "Show GM rolls to players" is checked (see below). Both the players and the GM can view the record.
Show: This is a special roller that lets you see the rolls of all of your individual dice. It is useful for things like character generation, where you might roll a number of dice and discard the lowest result. The individual rolls of all the dice, plus their added total, will show up on the results table and in the saved text chat and die roll record, if that is activated.
Rset: erases all the numbers of dice that you typed in. It's a good way make sure you get rid of the old dice configuration before you enter a new one.
Refr: Refreshes the results table once to pick up any new rolls that happened after the last time it was refreshed by you or automatically. You can use it to pick up die rolls from slowpokes.
Zero: sets the roll results of all players to zero. This is used to ensure that no old rolls show up on the next roll. Otherwise, the player's old rolls just stay there.
Rlock: Lets each player roll once, then locks their die roller. Useful for keeping control of the rolling process, and also letting players make unsupervised rolls outside of normal gametime.
Lock: locks the die roller so that players can't roll. This can give you time to review results before anybody can roll again and change the results table.
Unlock: unlocks the die roller so that players can roll again. Note that the die roller is set to "unlocked" when you first open your gameroom.
Purpose (optional text entry field): If you want to identify the purpose of your roll type it here, 20 characters max. It shows up on the results table and in the saved textchat and die roll record, if that is activated.
Show GM rolls to players (checkbox): Check this box if you want your rolls to be visible to players. If not, leave it blank. This will also cause GM rolls to be printed or not in the textchat and die rolls record (see the text chat section).
Second row of buttons: The second row of buttons contains a drop down list labeled "Combos" followed by several buttons. These are used to save commonly used combinations of dice and mods, so that you don't always have to type the numbers and mods in the boxes. These combos can be grouped into different catagories, like "rolls for NPC#6" or "saving throws." You can also reorganize and move them around after they are saved. You can save up to 100 combinations of dice. The buttons in the second button row operate as follows:
Roll combo: To roll a saved die combo, select the die combo from the drop down menu and press this button to roll it. This is equivalent to the "roll!" button on the first row.
Show combo: To show the rolls on individual dice of a combo, select the die combo from the drop down menu and press this button. This is equivalent to the "show" button on the first row.
Save combo: To save a die combination, type in the number of dice of each type and the mods in the appropriate boxes, Then press "save combo," You will get a message in the die rolling results window asking you to type in or select a catagory for the combination, and to type in a name for the combination. The catagory name goes in the text field marked "New catagory." If you don't type in a category name, the combo gets listed under the classification "uncatagorized" in the drop down list. If you have already created catagories in the process of previous saves, they will be listed with check boxes above the text entry fields. You can check one off instead of typing its name into the field. The name of the die combination itself goes in the text entry field labelled "Entry:" Once you have filled in the fields, press the "save now" button. Lastly, reload the die roller window (it is best to click the "roller" button on the main window again) to cause the new combo to appear in the drop down menu. The name followed by a list of the dice and mods (such as 2D20 1D6 mod+3) will appear on the list below the chosen catagory heading. From then on that die combination will be "thrown" whenever you select it from the drop down list and then press the "roll combo" button next to it.
Delete combo: Select a combo from the drop down menu and press this. You should get a message saying that deletion was successful.
New catagory: If you want to create a new catagory without adding any dice combos to it yet, press this. A text field labeled "New catagory" will appear. Type in the name and press the "Create catagory" button. If you reload the roller, the new catagory will appear in the drop down list.
Delete category: If you press this all the catagory names along with check boxes appear below. You can check one off and a click a "delete now" button. WARNING: when you delete a catagory, you delete all of the dice combinations contained within it. As usual you must reload the die roller for the change to show up on the drop down list.
Rearrange: If you press this button you get four drop down menus that let you select categories or individual entries and move them to a position before or after another category or entry in the list.
Toggle cards: Changes the window to a card deck simulator. See the next section.
You can try out the die roller at any time to familiarize yourself with its operation.
The card deck simulator appears in the die roller window when the "toggle card deck" button is clicked in the die roller. The card deck feature lets you simulate most of the physical actions that you can do with a card deck. It is primarily meant for use with games where results are determined by the draw of a card, though it is possible to play many card games with it. It is currently under construction, so new features above and beyond those described below will be implemented in the future.
The card deck simulator has two card piles at the top left and top right corner of the window. One is labeled "deck," the other is labeled "discards." Between them are a number of control buttons for the GM and a short status list of the state of various settings. Below these will appear a series of wooden looking "table" areas next to each players name, plus a larger area next to the GM's name. The functions are described here:
Deck: The deck is where people get whatever cards the GM has uploaded. To pick up a card, click the deck, then click anywhere in your "table" area. The card appears face up to you, but is initally invisible to others. There is currently no dealing function. Cards are selected at random, so there is no need for a shuffling function.
Discards: The discard pile is where you get rid of cards, Click your card, then click the discard pile. The card disappears from your table area. The card is gone for good, until you load a new deck.
You can also pass cards to other players. See the instructions for that below.
Top bottons
Deck loading buttons: There is a column of buttons to the immediate right of the deck pile, labeled "Load deck:" at the top. They are labeled "Traditional." "Many Things," and "Tarot." A Mah Jong deck will be added soon. Clicking a button loads that type of deck into the deck pile. The Traditional deck is the four suit hearts, clubs, etc deck, plus two jokers, used in most card games. Many Things is the standard d20 variant. The Tarot deck is a 78 card version.
Lock: Locks the deck so that players can't draw or discard.
Draw then lock: Lets players draw one card, the locks the deck.
Unlock: Unlocks the deck.
Jokers: Click this to include the two jokers in the traditional deck. It does not effect on other decks.
No jokers: Do not use the two jokers in the traditional deck. It has no effect on other decks. You can toggle back and forth between "jokers" and "no jokers" at any time (this willprobably be changed in the future to allow a switch only upon loading a new deck).
Toggle dice: Changes the window back to a die roller.
Status display (no buttons): The list labeled "Status display," immediately to the right of the toggle card deck button, lists the type of deck that is in play, whether jokers are being used (only relevant for the Traditional deck), and the lock status of the card deck window.
Card display area:
The players are listed along the left edge. Below each player's name is a label indicating whether their individual card window is locked. When lock is set to "draw then lock" some player can be locked and others not, depending on whether they have drawn cards. You,the GM, are listed last.
Card "table" areas:
Next to each player's name is a long wooden looking table area where their cards appear. Cards that are hidden appear face down. Card that are revealed to everyone are shown face up.
The GM's table area is taller than the rest. The top half is labeled "revealed cards" (see the left side), and the bottom half is labeled "hidden cards." Your own cards are always face up to you, but those that are hidden from others appear in the lower half of the table, and those that are revealed to the other players appear in the top half. (On the player's versions of the card deck window, their own table area is at the bottom and is larger than the others. The GM's appears as a small table area at the top.)
Passing cards between players:
You, and your players can pass cards to each other by clicking on the card, then clicking on the player's table area. Cards that are face down will appear face down to everyone but the player to whom they are passed. Card that are face up will appear face up to everyone.
Bottom buttons:
Show one: This button, located below your table area, causes one card to be revealed to all the other players. Click this button, then click the card that you want revealed. The card moves to the top of your table area, and the players now see it face up.
Show all: This button causes all of your cards to be revealed to all the other players. Just click the button. All your cards move to the top of your table area, and the players now see them face up.
This button opens a small window with a row of pictures of the player's avatars (ideally, players should put pictures of their main PC here to help identify who is controlling what). Below each picture is the name of the main PC and below that the player's name. You have the designation "GM" instead of a character name.
This button opens a window with buttons and fields at the top and a text display area below. The buttons and fields let you set various parameters of the game. They are explained below:
Maxminis: Lets you declare the maximum number of miniatures that each player is allowed to put on the map. The default is two. Enter a number in the box to the left of the button and press. The first text line below the buttons should change to display the number that you just entered.
Lock: Locks the gameroom so that no one can get in even with the right password. handy to have if you don't want people popping in and seeign things while you are setting things up between games. The second line of text below the buttons tells you whether the gameroom is currently locked or unlocked.
Unlock: Unlocks the gameroom.
Lurk on: Lets lurkers view your game from a special lurker's window. CURRENTLY THE LURK FUNCTION IS NOT ENABLED. WE PLAN TO GET IT UP AND RUNNING AGAIN SOON.
Lurk off: Prevents lurkers from viewing your game.
Mini centering buttons:
Center: Causes miniatures to be placed with their geometric center at the click point when players move them. This is the best setting for top view tokens on top view maps.
Base: Causes miniatures to be placed with the center of their base edge at the click point when players move them. This is the best setting for side view miniatures placed on isometric maps. Many prefer it for side view miniatures on top view maps also.
NOTE: If you change the settings during a game, the miniatures will shift to their new centering positions the next time someone moves one of their miniatures or the GM changes the fog of war or grid.
Permit load: Grants permission for a selected player to upload images to your personal storage area, from which you can load them into the image display window. (Note: everyone automatically has the ability to load miniatures.) This is useful if a player wants to illustrate something, like a complicated character movement, with a drawing. Select the player's name from the drop down menu below the button and then press the button. The players name will be added to the list of people allowed to load images, down in the text field.
Player delete: Temporarily deletes a player from the game. Thier player information disappears but their miniatures and character sheets remain unless they or you delete them. Such players can get back into the game any time they want to with the right password. This function is intended for use when a player has to leave a campaign for a long period of time but plans to be back. Select the player's name from the drop down menu below the button and then press the button. A warning statement appears. If you are sure you want to delete them, click eject, and a confirmation appears. Refreshg of reload the control window to get the text fields back.
Player ban: Permanently bans a player from the game. It is intended for use with players who are being pests and whom you want to get rid of. Thier player information disappears, and they are immediately lcoked out of game functions like chat. The gameroom is also locked. They can't get back into the game under thier current name, even with the right password when the gameroom is unlocked. However, they can sign up under a new name so it is a good idea to change the password after you eject someone. Their miniatures and character sheets remain unless they or you delete them. Select the player's name from the drop down menu below the button and then press the button. The players name will be added to the list of banned players, down in the text field.
This opens a window with a large rectangular field at the top, where typed conversations show up. There are five buttons immediately below it:
Chat on: Turns on the chat window. When the window is on, it automatically refreshes itself every five seconds or so to pick up incoming messages, and also refreshes when you enter you own messages. Internet Explorer users may hear a faint click every time it refreshes.
Chat Off: turns off the window and causes the messages to disappear.
Record on: Starts saving time stanped text chat and die rolls (except for the GM's if they are hidden) in a file for future review and reference. The "Toggle chat record" button that you use to display this is described below. You might want to use this for die rolls alone even if you are not using text to communicate.
Record off: Stops recording text chat and rolls to the file, but does not erase existing recorded chat and rolls.
Erase recorded: Erases the recorded text chat file. There is no way to get the erased chat back.
Text Input fields:
Name: If you want to speak in character, you can type your character's name in this field, and just leave it there as long as you wish. This name will appear in boldface and italics before each of your messages. Your personal name/handle automatically appears in boldface before your character name. If you leave the name field blank, only your name/handle appears.
Message input field: To display a message to the chat window, type it in the message field directly below the name field and click on the send button (leftmost in the row of buttons below the message line – see below). The text dissappears from the entry field when send is clicked, and shows up a few seconds later in everyone's chat window. You can send text, numbers and some symbols, but not HTML tags.
Text colors: To the right of the message input field there is a small white box that says "black." Clicking on the down arrow button next to it drops down a menu with several colors to choose from. Selecting one of these causes your message to appear in that color.
Message Buttons
Send: Pressing this sends whatever is in the message field to everyone's Main Chat Window.
Rset: Erases whatever is in the message field.
You can save up to eight phrases at a time using the buttons marked "Ph1" – "Ph8."
To save a phrase under one of these buttons, type the phrase in the message line, then click on the Rec button instead of the Send button, and then click on the button you want to save the phrase to (i.e. one of the Ph1- Ph8 buttons to the right).
After that, you can send the phrase to the Main Chat Window simply by clicking on the appropriate Ph button. You don't have to press Send.
To erase a message from any Ph button you can either leave the message line blank and click Rec, then the Ph button; or you can click on the Eras button and then the appropriate ph button. The latter will work even if the message line has something in it.
If you forget which phrase is stored under which button, you can use the Dsp button. Press this button, then press a Ph button. The phrase that is stored under that button appears in the main chat window, after a line saying "Button's Common Pharase is:" The phrase only shows up on your screen, not the player's. It disappears after a few seconds.
Toggle Buttons:
Toggle secret chat:This causes the window to expand and a second text display and message entry field to appear below the main chat window. This is for secret messages or conversations that you only want to be seen by certain people. Clicking it a second time shrinks the window and closes the secret chat functions.
The expanded window contains the following additional buttons and checkboxes
Secret on: This turns on the Secret Chat window. The secret chat window operates exactly like the main chat window, except that the messages will be seen only by the selected people. It will refresh itself every 5 seconds or so to pick up new messages.
Secret off: This turns off the Secret Chat window.
To send a secret message or hold a complete secret conversation, you first have to select the players to whom your messages will be sent. You do this by checking off the small boxes below the secret chat window. You can check off as many people as you like. YOU MUST CHECK OFF YOURSELF IN ORDER TO SEE YOUR OWN TYPED MESSAGES IN THE WINDOW.
Message line: To send a message, type it in the message line beneath the secret chat window and click send. Only the people you have checked will receive your message.
Send: Sends the typed message. The message disappears from the text entry line when you press send, then reappears in everyone's secret chat window a few seconds later.
Reset: Erased the message in the text field if you decide not to send it.
Text colors: To the right of the reset button there is a small white box that says "black." Clicking on the down arrow button next to this drops down a menu with several colors to choose from. Selecting one of these causes your message to appear in that color.
NOTE: Players will not see your message if they have their Secret Chat window off, and might not notice it right away even if it is on. Therefore, you may have to use the normal chat window to tell them that you want to have a secret conversation with them. If you want to be more clandestine, ask them via email or IM to be sure to keep their Secret Chat window running. Your first secret message should probably be something like "I'm trying to open a secret conversation between Sheila, BobG and SpaceCadet. Please be sure to check each other off in your secret conversation boxes." Then give the players a little time to do this. They will have to check the appropriate boxes and click on their own buttons.
NOTE: each person's messages are sent only to those people that they themselves have checked off. Opening a line from you to them does not automatically open a line from them to you.
Toggle chat record:
This causes the window to expand and display all the saved text chat and die rolls up to the point that the button was pressed. This is a static display. It does not update unless you click the toggle button twice to open and close the window. To save text chat and die rolls to your own machine for permanent archiving, right click with your mouse in the window that displays the recorded text and choose "select all" from your mouse's menu. Then paste it into your favorite text editor and save it in an appropriately named file.
Note: To use voicechat of any type we highly recommend use of a headset with a built in microphone, as opposed to a separate microphone with desktop speakers. The latter will pick up sound coming out of your speakers while you talk, creating echos for eveyone else. A standalone microphone sitting on the computer or near it also tends to pick up the vibration and hum of the computer, creating a background hum when you speak.
The voice chat button opens a long thin window containing a gray bar with voice chat controls. There are three buttons and two text fields within the gray bar:
"talk:" You must press this just before you start speaking. If you don't, people won't hear you. When pressed, this button changes its label to "stop." You must press it again when you stop talking, otherwise you will send a lot of dead air and slow down the voice chat system for everyone.
"vol+" and "vol-:" These buttons do just what you expect - press the vol+ button repeatedly to increase volume in steps up to a maximum limit. Press vol- to decrease volume down to a minimum limit.
The GM's screen also has two short text fields next to the buttons. The first, white text field, is labeled "Emergency Textchat. In the event that something happens to your microphone or for some reason your connection really slows down, you and your players can type short messages to each other, like "I'm not getting voice anymore, lets move to the text chat windows." Each person's message goes to all the other players. There isn't enough room in this line to conveniently play a game this way. In the event that one or more of your players is having difficulty with voice chat we'd recommend switching to the text chat window.
As the GM you can also enter a two simple commands when necessary: /mute playername, where playername is the handle of a player, turns off that player's voice chat. /unmute playername turns on their voice chat again. This lets you control problem players. You can turn off an offending player's sound for a few minutes as a warning that they must follow your rules regarding talking out of character, making obnoxious noises, or whatever. Note that the "player eject" function described above does not do anything to voice chat. To completely shut out an ejected player you must mute them.
The rightmost gray text field merely displays the message that you type into the white text field, and presents a confirming message whenever you mute or unmute someone.
This button launches a window that lets you do things with character sheets. See the separate character sheet instructions. Functions include generating a new character sheet template to fit your particular game, filling in character sheets, and viewing your NPC and player's character sheets. The GM can view a sheet at the same time as a player and see the changes as the player inputs them, in order to help new players fill in their sheets.
This button logs you out of the game, closes the gameroom,and removes it from the active game list. Since it does not show up on that list, players cannot log into it. Players already in are not ejected, however. If you want your players to continue to be able to log into the game "off hours," don't click this button. Then the game room will automatically remain open for 3 1/2 days. To start the clock again and leave it open longer, all you have to do is log in again.
NOTE: The gamerooms used to close after only 12 hours. We made them stay open longer in part because some people were interested in using them in "play by post" style, where people take actions and post messages non real time, at their liesure, taking a day or more per turn. You might consider this style of play if you have a busy schedule and can't afford to take several hours out of it every week for a real time game. Just make sure that you log on periodically to keep the gameroom open.
Miniatures are small pictures of characters that you can move around on your map. Players can use more than one miniature if you allow them to (see explanation of the "maxminis" button in the control section). The default is two. As GM you can use as many as you want. You upload miniatures from the miniature upload fields acessed via the "Load" button. They can be uploaded from your own PC or selected from our thumbnail gallery. You can also upload an avatar in the same way. This is a picture that is associated with you in the player's info window. It is a goog idea, at least in the beginning, to have everyone use their main PC miniature as their avatar. It helps keep track of who's running what.
Pressing the load button takes you to a screen that has, at the top, a table that says "access onsite collections." There is a line there that says "Select miniatures from onsite by clicking this button" with another load button after it. There is also a line there that says "Select a personal avatar from onsite by clicking this button" Further down in the page there is a section called "My uploaded miniatures" with a browse button that lets you select miniatures from your own machine.
If you choose to select a miniature from the onsite collection, click the button next to the "Select miniatures from onsite..." line. You will be taken to another window which contains a list of several catagories to choose from (fighters, clerics, sci fi etc.). Follow the instructions in that window. When you choose a catagory, a large number of thumbnails of miniatures will appear at the bottom of the window. You may have to scroll down below the instructions and some other verbiage to see them. You select a miniature by clicking on it. It will appear in the area at the top of the graphics window. It will be resized to fit the space available but you can change its size later (see below). You do not have to wait for all the thumbnails to load to select a miniature.
If you want to select a miniature picture from you own machine, use the browse button in the "My Uploaded Miniatures" section. It will open a second window that lets you browse your own files or network and select a .jpg or .png file for upload. You are limited to a file size of 50K. Once you have selected, click the Upload button. If you select something other than a .jpg or .png file, or one that is more than 50K in size, you will get an error message. Otherwise the picture will appear in the area at the top of the graphics window. It will be resized to fit the space available but you can change its size later (see below).
You can upload multiple copies of the same image. This is handy for encounters involving more than one monster of the same type.
If you want an avatar from the onsite collection OR your own machine, click the button next to the "Select a personal avatar from onsite..." line. You will be taken to a window which contains the same list of catagories that are used for miniatures (fighters, clerics, etc.). Follow the instructions in that window. When you choose a catagory, the same thumbnails that are used for miniatures will appear at the bottom of the window. You may have to scroll down below the instructions and some other verbiage to see them. You select an avatar by clicking on it. It will appear in the player's information window the next time you open or re-open that window.
The catagories list page also has browse and upload buttons near the top that let you select and upload an avatar from your own machine. It operates in the same way as the miniatures uploader. As with minaitures you must select a .jpg or .png file for upload. You are limited to a file size of 50K. Once you have selected, click the Upload button. If you select something other than a .jpg, .bmp or .png file, or one that is more than 50K in size, you will get an error message. Otherwise the picture will appear in the player's information window the next time you open it.
You can change your avatar at any time by loading a new one..
As you or others upload miniatures they will appear next to each other in the blank area above the map in their Image Display Window. Your players all have an equivalent area. Anything that anyone else places in these areas will be invisible to other players. It is a good idea to plan the types of NPCs and monsters that you are likely to need during your session, then open your game early and load them into the top of the screen. That way you won't have to go hunting for them in the middle of an encounter. You can just move them onto the map, where they will suddenly appear to your players. The Miniature Upload Area on your player's screens is also a good place for them to store henchmen, familiars, and the like when they are sent off on errands or are otherwise removed from the party.
You, as GM, can move all miniatures. Your players can only move their own. You move a miniature by clicking on it, then clicking on the part of the map where you want to move it. The miniature will appear with the center of its bottom edge located at the point where you clicked. The coordinates of the center of the bottom edge should be used as the position of the miniature when calculating ranges, etc. After you've clicked on a miniature, you can keep moving it from place to place just by clicking on different parts of the background. This will continue to be true until you click on another miniature or do something else, like send a message.
NOTE: There is a small area below each miniature where you cannot click on the background. If you want to move your miniature downward by a small amount you may have to move your miniature twice to get to the spot you really want.
The controls here are used to add, size, and move grid lines to maps:
Top: Produces a square grid pattern for use on top view maps. You can enter a value in the text field to the right of the "off" button to cause the squares on the grid to be of the entered dimension in pixels. The default is 25 if you don't enter a number. This is explained in more detail in the instructions below for the "scale" button.
Hex: Produces a hex grid pattern for use on top view maps. The center to center dimension of the hexes in pixels is the number you put in the text field. Default is 25.
Iso: Produces an angled grid pattern for use on isometric drawings. The X and Y axis lines are angled by 30 degrees to the horizontal. Images drawn to this grid pattern have an appearance similar to that seen in some old pseudo 3D games and isometric CAD drawings. The width of the cells along the X and Y axes in pixels is the number you put in the text field. Default is 25.
None: This erases whatever grid is on the map.
Scale: This button has a field next to it where you fill out a number. This number tells the script how big to make the grid boxes. The number that you input is the number of pixels between all the grid lines on the top grid, between the hex centers on the hex grid, or between the X or Y axis (diagonal) grid lines on the isometric grid. When you draw a map you have to decide on some scale, for example pixels per foot or meter, then decide how big you want to make your grid squares. For example, if your map scale is 10 pixels per foot, and you want to draw squares that are 5 feet on a side (as are typically used in the d20 manuals), you will ned to use squares that are 10 X 5 = 50 pixels on a side. You would type "50" in the scale field. Press the scale button after you've entered the number, and the grid will change size. If there is no grid there, enter your number and press the appropriate grid button (top, hex, or iso) to display one, instead of the scale button.
Shift: This button allows you to shift the position of the grid to line up line intersections with corners of rooms and so forth. It has two fields next to it where you type in the number of pixels you want to shift left or right (first field) or up and down (second field). Use positive numbers to shift to the right or up. Use negative numbers to shift to the left or down. Click the button after you enter the numbers. You can use 0 in one of the fields if you only want the grid to move horizonatally or vertically.
Refr: Refreshes the map window.
Hide: This button places an opaque "roof" over your map. When you press it, a semi transparent, dark gray layer will cover your entire map, but the map will still be visible to you. The map itself will appear darker, but all of the miniatures on the map will remain bright and clearly visible, and you will be able to move them, erase them etc. Your players, however, will see the entire map covered by a black, opaque layer, making it totally invisible. The players will be able to see and move their miniatures, but they will not be able to see the map beneath them. You can create transparent holes in this opaque layer to reveal only certain rooms, features, etc. with the Tsqr and Tcir buttons, which are explained below.
NOTE: All newly loaded maps
will have an opaque (to players) cover when they first appear (see below).
The cover will appear semi transparent to
you. You will have to clear it or draw
transparent areas in it (see below) to allow your players to see it.
Trans: This causes your entire map to become visible to both you and your players.
Tsqr: Creates a transparent rectangle in the opaque layer covering the map. After pressing the button, click your mouse in one corner of the area you want to be transparent, and then click it again in the opposite corner (remember that the GM's "opaque" layer is really semi-transparent, so you can see where you are clicking on your map underneath it). A rectangular area between these two points will become fully transparent to both you and your players. If you need more transparent space or an odd shaped area you can keep creating overlapping rectangular areas by clicking points inside and outside the transparent area.
If a player's miniature happens to wind up in an opaque black area, they will still be able to see it and move it.
Bsqr: Creates an opaque
rectangular area in a transparent background. You can use it instead of the
Hide button if you only want to hide a small area of your map. You can also use
it to "trim" transparent areas in an opaque background if you happen to
overshoot and reveal too large and area. Just create overlapping opaque
rectangles at the edges of the transparent area.
Tcir: Draws transparent circles. Click the button, then click a point on one edge of the circle, then click a point on the opposite side of the circle. The program draws a circle with its center halfway between the click points and its edge at the click points. HINT: Turn on the grid to help you find two exactly opposite points of a circular room, or to figure out where the center will be when drawing a dungeon on the fly.
Bcir: Draws opaque circles. Click the button, then click a point on one edge of the circle, then click a point on the opposite side of the circle. The program draws a circle with its center halfway between the click points and its edge at the click points. HINT: Turn on the grid to help you find two exactly opposite points of a circular room, or to figure out where the center will be when drawing a dungeon on the fly.
If you need a dungeon in a hurry you can download one of the onsite "floor" images and use the Trec and Tcir buttons to
create transparent shapes in the cover to form corridors and rooms. Use the grid feature to correctly size everything. You might not want to try this with dialup - it can get rather slow.
Prxall: Turns on proximity vision for all the miniaures, and allows all of them to see out to the radius in pixels that you type in to the field at the left of the button. Type in the value, then click the button. On the GM screen you will see red circles of the specified radius appear around all the miniatures. The players, however, will see an opaque cover appear (if it's not there already) with transparent circles of the proper radius around all the miniatures. The opaque cover used for proximity vision is placed on top of the one used for other transparent shapes. Therefore, for example, if you make a room transparent using the tsqr button, and there is a player with proximity vision standing near the right wall, they see a semicircle to their left, and nothing to their right.
Currently All players see all the transparency circles around all other player's miniatures. They do not see the circles around the GM's miniatures.
Prxmini: Turns on proximity vision out to a specified radius for one selected miniature. This allows you to give different vision radii to different miniatures. Enter the radius, then click the button, then click one of the miniatures. A red circle of the specified radius appears around the miniature on your screen. A transparent circle appears around the miniature on the player's screens. If any other miniatures do not have vision radii assigned to them, they will wind up "in the dark." So once you start assigning vision radii to miniatures, you have to do it for all of them.
NOTE: If proximity vision has been turned off, and you click the prxmini button, it automatically turns on proximity vision and puts the previously assigned vision circle around each miniature.
Prxoff: Turns proximity vision off. Everyone can see to the edge of the map. However the other opaque and transparent areas created by the GM with the "Tsqr," etc. buttons remain.
Range: Places a range circle around a miniature or a point on the map, handy for determining whether a player can hit a target with an attack, or the damage radius of an area weapon. Enter the range in the same field that you use for proximity vision, then click range, then click a miniature or a point on the map. A purple circle of the specified radius with hatch marks at ten degree intervals will appear around the miniature or map click point. If you clicked on the map a "+" mark is shown at the center of the circle. These circles are only visible on the GM's screen.
Rngoff: Erases range circles that you place on the map (as opposed to around miniatures, see NOTE below). Click this button then click the "+" mark in the center of the range circle. NOTE: as of this writing, this button will not work for range circles around miniatures. To erase those range circles, enter "0" in the range field, click the Range button, then click the miniature.
Mve:
This changes the position of your map. Both you and your players can reposition the map on your own screens using this button. Click the button, then click the part of the map that you want to appear in the center of the map window. Be aware than the top of the map window where your loaded miniatures first appear is part of the map, and will move up behind the top of the window if you center on a lower part of your map. You can get at your stored miniatures again by moving back or zooming out.
Zoom+ and Zoom- buttons: Both you and your players can zoom the entire image area in and out on your own screens using these buttons. The background and the miniatures will increase and decrease in size by a factor of 2X every time you push a button, up to a limit of +/- 4X. To operate, click one of the zoom buttons, then click on the part of the map that you want to be centered after zooming. The map will then zoom and center. Be aware than the top of the map window where your loaded miniatures first appear is part of the map, and will move up behind the top of the window if you center on a lower part of your map. You can get at your stored monsters again by zooming out or moving.
This section section is intended for the display of non-map images - things like pictures of scrolls, magic items, runes, wanted posters, etc. You can store up to ten such images here and both you and players can view them in separate window. There is a button marked "display" and a drop down list in this section. Select the name of the image that you want to view from the drop down list, then click the "display" button. The image will show up in the map window. You load images into the list via the page acccessed by the "loading" button described earlier. To got back to the map, click the refresh button back in the Graphics (Maps) section.
The large frame covering the lower area of the page is the graphics window where all the maps and miniatures appear. It has no controls of its own.