RPTools.net

Hi. I'm new here. I followed snikle here from the peginc .com (Savage Worlds) forum, so blame him.

I've actually looked at MapTool before. When I did, I kinda wrote it off as yet another tool that claims to be universal, but is really only practical with d20. Apparently I was wrong about that, as you guys have obviously had a few sessions with Savage Worlds.

Still, it isn't entirely clear to me how this is done. I haven't messed with the InitTool yet, but it seems d20 oriented, while Savage Worlds handles initiative with a deck of cards. I'd also like to know how to best handle the Wild Die rolls.

In a more general sense, I think it would be a good idea for those who are experienced with using the rptools with various systems to help us noobs out with some how-to docs. They could include things like specialized macros, settings tweaks, workarounds (as I suspect may be the case for Savage Worlds initiative), and how to setup up character stats for different systems. As it is, the learning curve seems a bit steep if you are doing something other than d20.

Welcome Nys !

I was in on the games snikle ran and it worked out pretty well. We're still fine tuning, but the progress is active.

I think the various system How Tos is a great idea. I'll put that on the list of things to include in the new web site we're building.

For wild dice, I would put a macro on my token, let's say Fighting, so it would look like:



So whenever I needed my character to do a fighting roll I would right click it->Macro->Fighting and it would roll both the d8 and d6. Then I could choose which I wanted to use.

Note that this requires at least MapTool 1.2 to do inline rolls. (Note that in 1.2 the "d8" needs to be preceded with a "1", e.g. "1d8")

I'm with you Nys, I would like to see how other people are implementing all the RPTools for their system of choice.

Currently I'm trying to get everything worked out for the HERO system, and the folks here have been great in getting me pointed in the right direction when I get lost.

Init Tool, while it isn't just d20, doesn't have support for a deck of cards. If you could explain to me how this is used I'll try to make sure that you can do this in the 1.1 version. I'm adding scripting to this version so it should be able to do what you need, but I'd like to make sure before I make such a claim

The Deck of cards issue... I don't know. I'm kind of unhappy with it. Why not just roll a [1d54] with 53/54 as "wild" and then go from there.

Well, one advantage of using cards is that unlike a dice roll, you won't have any ties. While two players might draw the same face value, Spades are first, then Hearts, Diamonds, and Clubs (reverse alphabetical order).

The drawn cards aren't placed back into the deck and shuffled after a round unless a joker has been drawn. This means that the likelihood of drawing a joker steadily increases until someone draws one.

Also, there are Edges in Savage Worlds that work off of the card draw system. For example, draw two and use the best. These would have to be houseruled otherwise.

And, most importantly, it maintains the Savage Worlds feel. Using a deck of cards speeds up play when you and your buds are around the same physical table, but I can understand how it might not make sense to you to use it at the electronic table. Still, I think it is important to maintain the feel of the system, and arguably necessary if rptools strives to be truly universal.

jay, I'm not sure the legality of copy/pasting the initiative rules and relevant Edges, so if you wouldn't mind, they are available in the test drive rules at:
http://www.peginc.com/Games/Savage%20Worlds/Downloads/SW%20Rev/TestDrive4.pdf

What we did was the GM drew for us and told us what we got, then figured out our ordering and he put tokens on the map to represent that order. I'd like to make this a more formal process to work with SW.

First, I must admit that I am not up on all of the capabilities of InitTool or the level of integration in MT that it currently enjoys. I use a fairly custom initiative method that has a lot of modifiers and is rolled every round, so my fear is that I will either have to greatly change my system or learn how to do some pretty complicated scripting that may or may not even be able to do what I want it to do. So, for the most part, I planned on running initiative manually and using some kind of method like you mention above to indicate order to players. Which brings me to my actual point...

In Battlegrounds I created a "Combat Pad" type graphic (http://www.openmindgames.com/omg_products_cp_large.htm) I could then make the graphic a floating object and place other floating objects (like the names of people and arrow markers) over the pad. In this way, I expected to basically run initiative manually and just sort people and other information on the initiative pad so people know what is going on.

However, since MT doesn't have floating objects this won't work out quite the same way, nor am I sure it would be a good idea in any mode except full-screen. However, MT does have integrated windows and I think it would work just as well if we could open an optional window in MT where we could arrange icons and graphics for a visual representation of initiative (or any other purpose, like a deck of cards.)

Once this mechanic was implemented, it would also serve as the basis for a side/hide board too (except that the side/hide board would not be visible to players.)

Two birds with one stone.

Yeah, being the "great defender" I explained to my group how the Savage World initiative system worked and then when they started trashing it my defenses enlightened me to why it's beneficial.

1) It definitely fits the tabletop more than it does VTT

2) When playing with 20 characters in a round with initiative constantly rerolled would get absurdly annoying/boring - the deck definitely makes it quick and lets combat go quickly.

Re: InitTool - I keep trying to use it... it's a good program... but what's the best way for me to get initiative information from IT to MT for my players to see at this point?

Have we derailed this thread enough?'

Also, may I suggest you try out 1.3b6 and the explode function... [1d6e] should let you ace and reroll if I'm understanding the function correctly... Are all the die rolls in savage worlds able to ace and thus wouldn't you want to explode them all? Am I missing the point of the system?

We're working on that ...

We'll, since we're already derailed..

It is possible that InitTool isn't the best place for simulating a deck of cards. Perhaps what is needed is a separate DeckTool that InitTool can call to do card draws. (Doesn't InitTool call on DiceTool to do dice rolls?) After all, simulating a deck of cards (customizable cards!) would certainly be worthy of a standalone app.

I see your point. Its not really an initiative, die, or map system. It would be nice as a network sharable resource with deal, shuffle, discard, and token stackable features. I could see maptool having hooks into it, though.

Magic CCG in MT anyone?

That would rule !

I'm working on some specs for DeckTool.