PLAYER'S GAME SCREEN INSTRUCTIONS
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 six 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.
Textchat - opens the text chat window.
Voicechat - opens a window that allows voice chat using an on site program.
Avatars - opens a window that lets you choose a personal avatar to help identify you in the player's information window.
Chara sheets - opens a screen for handling character sheet creation and fillout.
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 sound effects, miniatures and map functions. They are grouped into five sections labelled "Sound," "Minaitures," "Maps," "Pictures," and "Grid." These buttons and other controls in the windows tha 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). The GM's rolls can be shown or hidden at the GM's discretion.
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.
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.
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 save 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 replaces the die roller when the "toggle card deck" button is clicked in the die roller window. 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." Below these appear a series of wooden looking "table" areas, next to the GM's and each player's name, plus a larger area next to your name, with three buttons below. Card deck functions are described here:
Deck: The deck is where you get whatever cards the GM has uploaded. Currently the GM can upload three types of deck: the traditional four suit (spades, clubs, hearts, diamonds), a standard Deck of Many Things, and a 78 card Tarot deck. To pick up a card, you 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 no "dealing" function at this time. Each player picks up their own cards, and which ones they get is determined at random. There is no shuffling function either - that is unecessary due to the random number generator that picks cards.
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 the GM loads a new deck.
You can also pass cards to other players. See the instructions for that below.
Card display area:
The GM and the players are listed along the left edge. You 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. Cards that are revealed to everyone are shown face up.
Your table area is larger (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.
Passing cards between players:
Everyone can pass cards to each other by clicking on the card, then clicking on a player's or the GM'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.
Toggle Dice: Click this to bring the die roller back.
This button opens a small window with a row of picures of the player's avatars (ideally, players should putpictures 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 opens a window with a large rectangular field at the top, where typed conversations show up. There are two 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.
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 a display window to appear containing all the text chat and die rolls (except for the GM's if they are hidden) since the time that the GM turned this feature on. 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 on 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. The GM can erase the chat record.
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.
There are 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.
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.
If you choose to select an avatar 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, etc.). Follow the instructions in that window. When you choose a catagory, a large number of thumbnails of avatars 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. You will get a message that you avatar has been selected. From then on when you or anyone else in the game opens the player's information window, the avatar picture will appear above your name.
If you want to select an avatar from you own machine, use the browse button at the top of the window. 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 25K in size, you will get an error message. Otherwise you will get a confirmation message and the picture will appear above your name in the player's information window from then on.
You can change your avatar at any time by selecting a new one.
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 is pretty simple. There are two buttons in this section that let you turn sound on and off. The GM can play looped background music and sound effects during the game. With sound on you can hear them. These sound buttons have nothing to do with voicechat sound. See the separate section for that.
Miniatures are small pictures of characters that you can move around on your map. Players can use more than one miniature if the GM allows them to via the GM game screen. The default is two. 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.
Pressing the load button takes you to a screen that has, at the top, a section that lets you upload miniature picture from your own machine. Below that is a section that let you select one of several catagories of miniatures from the onsite collection (fighters, clerics, sci-fi, etc.).
If you choose to select a miniature from the onsite collection, click the circle to the left of the type of miniature that you want. 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 at the top of the window. 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 25K 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.
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. Anything that anyone else places in these areas will be invisible to you. The Miniature Upload Area is a good place to store henchmen, familiars, and the like when they are sent off on errands or are otherwise removed from the game.
Players can only move their own miniatures. GMs can move anyone's. You move a miniature by clicking on it, then clicking on the part of the background where you want to move it. Depending on how the GM has things set up, the miniature will appear either with its geometrical center at the click point, or with the center of its bottom edge at the clicked point. The latter is most useful for side view miniatures displayed on isometric maps, since the mini appears as if it is standing at the click point.
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.
Refr: Refreshes the map window. You have to click this button to make the map appear when you first log in. Use this button if something gets hung up or you have to get the map back after reloading the game screen.
NOTE: All newly loaded maps
will have an opaque black (to players) cover when they first appear (see below).
The GM has to clear it or create transparent areas on it using controls on the GM's screen. So if you see a big black area instead of a map, ask the GM
to do this.
Rset: De-zooms the map and returns it to the home position with its upper left corner near the upper left hand corner of the map window. If you happen to be zoomed into the lower right area of a large map, and the GM uploads a small map, you may be unable to see the new one or get back to it because you are zoomed in far off the edge. This button will get you back. It is also just handy to have.
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 Monster Pen area 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 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 Monster Pen area 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. The GM can store up to ten such images here 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 a new window.
If you have the GM's permission this button will allow you to upload pictures and maps to the GM. Pressing the button opens a window that lets you select an image from your own machine (.jpg or .png) and upload it to the area where the GM stores maps and images. The GM can have a look at it and display it in the map or pictures window if they want to. The size limit for players is 500K.
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.