What are you GM's requiring of your players? POLL

Talk about whatever topic you'd like, RPG related or not. (But please discuss things related to our software in the Tools section, below.)

Moderators: dorpond, trevor, Azhrei

What are you GM's requiring of your players? POLL

Most/all set-up options plus macros
8
31%
Whatever they feel they want to set up, but at least a little to keep the game moving
18
69%
 
Total votes: 26

User avatar
Amaril
Great Wyrm
Posts: 1058
Joined: Sun Nov 26, 2006 11:44 am
Location: Atlanta, GA
Contact:

Post by Amaril »

I don't use macros. We play face-to-face, and players like rolling dice. It's something with which to interact while playing the game. It gives them a sense of control of their actions.

As such, there are no requirements on their behalf except to show up and have fun. :)

red_tanker
Kobold
Posts: 15
Joined: Sun Jul 06, 2008 11:03 am
Location: GMT+0

Post by red_tanker »

UntoldGlory wrote:
emirikol wrote:Red:

Download UntoldGlory's 4e monsters (even one of them).
I think that's the old template. Check out the following thread for a lot of 4e goodness: http://forums.rptools.net/viewtopic.php?t=4476
Arh, thanks. imported the template from that link, used a untoldglory monster and switched it's mode over. now it's showing (most of the) 4ed stats.

now... how can i hide the monster stats from the players?

To keep the thread on track, currently I only ask for a char sheet (I'm currently looking for a sheet to name official) and ideally an image for the token.

I'll setup the tokens, I might setup macros for at-wills and basics (won't complain if the players want to do that as well).
People make Choices
...
Choices make People

User avatar
UntoldGlory
Great Wyrm
Posts: 1649
Joined: Sun Mar 16, 2008 8:12 pm

Post by UntoldGlory »

If you edit the campaign properties, the * in front of a property means it shows on the float over. If you play with strict token ownership (reccomended by me), then you can also add the @ symbol, which means only the owner will be able to see the float over stuff. So as long as only you own the monsters, only you will see the stats on floatover. I also reccomend making yourself AND the player owner of their tokens, instead of just the player.

User avatar
syntruth
Giant
Posts: 241
Joined: Mon Aug 18, 2008 7:15 pm
Location: Michigan, USA

Post by syntruth »

I've asked my players to make their token. We went over how to create simple macros, since that is all that I require. A 4E game contains way too many rolls (especially for AoE attacks) to do singly, so I'm requiring simple macros. The complete table'd macros, while they look cool, spam the chat way too fast; instead, if a player has those, I've asked them to prefix it with "/gm" so it only goes to me. (And to use them sparingly.)

Most of our macros are of this form:

Code: Select all

<b>Name of Attack</b>
Attack: [d20 + (...modifiers...)] vs. Reflex
Damage: [1d8 + (...modifiers...)] (Cold)
And that is about it. Since we've moved to .b45, we now have AoE spells set up using:

Code: Select all

Attack: [c(number_of_targets) d20 + ...] vs. Reflex
And that's about it. I have them fill out their token properties, and I have a bunch that is eval'd for them (like attribute modifiers, level modifier, etc...)

[/code]

Goumindong
Giant
Posts: 143
Joined: Mon Aug 04, 2008 2:08 pm

Post by Goumindong »

Option number 1.

They need

1. All essential stats filled in on their character sheets

2. A simple text macro for every attack power and repeatable action they will be taking.

I can supply the rest.

User avatar
Orchard
Great Wyrm
Posts: 1852
Joined: Fri May 09, 2008 10:45 am
Location: Doylestown PA
Contact:

Post by Orchard »

I don't require anything other than attack and damage macros. I allow virtually anything that doesn't take up an insane amount of space and gives me the numbers and information I need.

I verify the macro as I choose--either by looking at the code in the printout (or more recently) I have them just use token macros and I take a look at those. I'm pretty relaxed about it all, but that's largely because I know these guys pretty well and none of them are remotely interested in cheating. They are more likely to make an honest mistake (and that I've seen) which is an important thing to catch at some levels. Ultimately, its just a game and its meant to be fun. I think that's the most important part. Once you can't have fun because you are worried about all the tech and crunch and macros, I'm not really interested--and neither is my group.

Epic world-spanning adventure to kick some evil butt. That's the idea. Everything else is secondary. As the DM, I'm just there to provide the context, framework, and make sure that there is some challenge, loot and sense of danger/excitement. I get to have fun by trying to kill them in new and creative ways, but there's enough of them to figure out ways out of my carefully crafted traps and such.

Maptool is a tool. I don't expect it to get in my way or to become a nuisance for me as GM or for my players. When that happens, I'll want to move on. Tools facilitate, not limit.
0+0=1, for very unstable CPUs.

ElCucuy
Cave Troll
Posts: 50
Joined: Thu Jul 03, 2008 7:30 pm

Post by ElCucuy »

My name is El Cucuy, and apparently I am a tyrant.

I do all the macro work for my players, as well as handling their token properties. They do occasionally want to change a couple things around with their macro's, though it's usually just the naming to sort them in particular ways.

The one thing I do require is that the spam not only be kept to a minimum, but that it follows a consistent setup. That just makes it easy for all of us to know where to look for the results and that everything is labeled clearly and properly to avoid confusion...especially since two of our players are first timers and still learning. But that also cuts down on the spam. I absolutely hate the full-power description view that a lot of the macro's being posted here on the boards use, and fortunately, so do my players, so we use a pretty short output that gives use just the basics.

So all they got to do is show up and impersonate their tokens.

El Cucuy

User avatar
Orchard
Great Wyrm
Posts: 1852
Joined: Fri May 09, 2008 10:45 am
Location: Doylestown PA
Contact:

Post by Orchard »

ElCucuy wrote:My name is El Cucuy, and apparently I am a tyrant.

I do all the macro work for my players, as well as handling their token properties. They do occasionally want to change a couple things around with their macro's, though it's usually just the naming to sort them in particular ways.

The one thing I do require is that the spam not only be kept to a minimum, but that it follows a consistent setup. That just makes it easy for all of us to know where to look for the results and that everything is labeled clearly and properly to avoid confusion...especially since two of our players are first timers and still learning. But that also cuts down on the spam. I absolutely hate the full-power description view that a lot of the macro's being posted here on the boards use, and fortunately, so do my players, so we use a pretty short output that gives use just the basics.

So all they got to do is show up and impersonate their tokens.

El Cucuy
No, it's not being a tyrant--there are others that share your view, or even a more extreme version of it. Frankly, I think its all about what suits your style and that of the group. My style is admittedly VERY relaxed. All I want from my players is a timely response in actions--after that, its all about having fun.
0+0=1, for very unstable CPUs.

User avatar
palmer
Great Wyrm
Posts: 1367
Joined: Sat Sep 06, 2008 7:54 pm

Post by palmer »

UntoldGlory wrote:I do 95+% of the setup. Mostly all I require of them is make their characters and send me pics. I make the tokens and macros and everything. I did that even when I wasn't dming.
Ditto. They handle the RP aspects.
I handle the runningthe-game aspects.

Post Reply

Return to “General Discussion”