On-line D&D
I've found 6 options to actually play D&D on-line. Two of them don't work at all (can't find one of em to try, and the other's master server is just down), one of em is promising, but would take a lot of programming to get right, one might go subscription, and two are just about perfect. As to not waste much time, I'll skip to the 3 most likely:
*The Vassal Engine is an open sourced java program made to design games in. It's almost usable as-is, but to make it work for us, we'd need to do some coding. It's the least likely candidate for now, but shows promise. It's java, so it'd run on any computer, real-time mini movement on a battle map (imported from any image) with scalable grid/hex, autocalc distances, dice roller, etc... The problem is that it's not setup with all sorts of specialized gamer commands (init, skills, saves, etc...). Also, you have to setup each player slot, and I haven't figured that out yet. I can add them, but the players then can't move crap around on the board. Weird, but whatever... there are better options.
*OpenRPG is in a tie for first. Like Vassal, it's free, has real-time mini movement on a battlemap. You can import image files for maps, scale grid/hex sizes on it, calculate movements, ranges, etc... auto-roll skills, saves, attacks, init, keep track of init order, number rounds, so on and so forth. It's really impressive, and with a little guidance, easy to learn. I'm currently working with it to see what it can and can't do, but just got started. You can also get a bunch of plugins for it to do different things, so it's modifiable. It's programmed in Python, but works on Mac OSX because it's unix based or some crap.
Some other features are "character sheets" the players have, so all of your info can be quick referenced in the prog. I don't have much experience with it, so I can't go off too much, but it appears to be a pretty strong program.. Oh, you can also attach sounds to some events.
*Klooge Werks is tied with OpenRPG. It's very similar to OpenRPG, but has a much more slick interface, and is also programmed in java, so it runs on any computer (Mac, PC, Linux, etc...). I haven't gotten to test the client/server play of it yet, but I've read just about all there is, and it's amazing. It has all of the features of OpenRPG, but seems much nore intuitive (except the getting a server running part, but I'll figure it out). You can assign info to the miniature icons so with a cursor hover, you can see AC, HP, and all sorts of junk... pretty much whatever you choose. There is a little HP bar under it as well, so you can get a rough idea of someone's damage. You can also attach sounds to events, and 2.0 is supposed to enhance that ability. It's a different approach to almost the exact same thing as OpenRPG, but there's one catch. It isn't free.
Without getting into all of the pricing and licensing options, we're basically looking at about $20 a person. That's not too bad at all considering what you get, but I have yet to decide if it's worth it over the free OpenRPG. They are so similar, you can basically see them as almost the same, but one is free, and one is much more appealing and intuitive. Klooge seems to have a stronger character sheet system, and 2.0 is coming out VERY SOON, and at that point, I think it'll blow OpenRPG out of the water. So I'll call it a tie, but I lean towards Klooge. That said, some people have complained of performance issues, though the solution to that should be as easy as clicking this little clear cache button every so often. Testing will tell.
How does all of this junk work you may ask? I'll give you an example.
The DM prepares the adventure like usual, but they enter all of the notes, encounters, area descriptions and crap into the program. For maps, they can either create one before-hand (by scan, paint program, download, whatever) and figure out the scale. They can lay out the minis on each map and mark them so only he can see them, the players can't. The maps can be hidden as well, so as the game goes on, the DM can reveal different parts. (This is as easy as drawing a freehand shape around whatever they want to reveal, or r-clicking on any mini's or a mini group, then changing them to visable). Basically, the DM is ready to go before the session.
They players connect up, and game on. Their characters are saved in the prog, and any rolls made are done in the prog by clicking on a button. Skills, Saves, Attacks, etc... are one button click functions that dump to the general chat screen. You can customize macros so your fireball is either a button, or a short command you type at the chat prompt so it gives a cool description and auto-rolls damage for you. For special rolls, there is a little dice toolbar that you can select the number and type of dice, as well as any bonuses or penalties. This is pretty handy for the DM since you can roll 3 attack rolls at once and they show up in order (and with the total at the end).
General chatting can be done by messaging, whispering (private between any combination of DM, group, player), and emotes (like "**Kire pokes at the pastry."). If we add in another program like Roger Wilco or Net Meeting, we can actually communicate in voice. It sounds like it might be horribly slow, but I really don't think it'll be bad at all. The DM won't have to repeat much as it'll be in the chat log. Most info in general will be available someplace on the screen, and player to player chatter would't slow anything down. It'd take a bit to get used to, but once we get the hang of it we should have a blast.
I've been throwing around a bunch of ideas to make it even more "normal", but until we actually start playing it's hard to tell what would REALLY work. Some examples:
The DM could use voice and everyone else could just type. (easier to be in character, no worries of chatter, can use only if everyone can use voice)
Everyone gets to use voice, but only one at a time prompted by the DM. (easier for everyone to be in character, have to watch chatter, again, everyone would need voice)
Nobody uses voice at all. (might feel a little cold at first, but it's one less thing to go wrong. We'll probably try this first)
Another thing I'd like to bring up is the DM's ability to EASILY make custom maps for this type of thing. I've found a few free programs that pretty much rule. Two are for doing dungeons, cities, rural, or pretty much anything, but they tend to be more useful for player scaled maps. The third is only useful for larger outdoor or world maps. I haven't had much time to really get familiar with these programs yet, but I've poked at them a little bit. These descriptions are by no means complete, but should give you a rough idea of what the progs do.
*Dungeon Crafter is a tile-based editor that makes it almost too easy to whip up cool looking maps in almost no time. There are tons of free add-on tilesets to use, and you can also make your own. Easy as hell to learn, but after you have the right tiles, you should be able to do just about anything. Whip up a map, save as an image, import into the on-line RPG program of choice and you're good. They'd always scale the same, so you shouldn've have to modify your scale settings for battlemap distances.
*Interactive Dungeon is a different aproach to what a map can be, but it's done in a similar tile-based style as Dungeon Crafter. You can add in encounters, traps, extra info, etc... I've hardly looked at it because I forgot it was installed, but it seems pretty deep.
*Realm Creator (MapX) is about as easy to use as DC, though it has a different approach. Instead of tilebased, you make drag boxes and other shapes, and choose a texture for them. It makes prettier maps, but might take a little more work. The cool thing is that you can choose or create any texture you want, so you can make some beautiful maps. Like DC, the scale could always be the same if you want, so you wouldn't have to change the program settings when you load the different maps.
*Wilbur is a fractal terrain generator that pumps out some really cool maps. I dunno how big the saved map files are, or exactly how to make crap I want, but it looks like it has some great potential. Check it out, it's just fun to toy with.
It's going to take me some time to test just OpenRPG and Klooge Werks. If you think you might be interested in getting in on some of the on-line games, hit up these links and check out the products. Even if you won't play on-line, the mapping utilities are really sweet for printing out maps, or putting together modules for others to download. If you're in the S-Team or Squadron 8 and feel like checking this stuff out, let me know what you think. Ben left it up to me to make the call on what we'll be using. By the time this gets on-line, I'll also have a poll up on the Mad Gamers yahoo group for the S-Team folks. As you can see, I'm pretty excited about all of this. It could mean a weekly or biweekly game that runs for a paltry 3 hrs a session. No travel time, no clean-up, just 3 hours. Could be sweet!
-SuperGnome
Quick PM update. I got Klooge running (client and server) and realized it was just a matter of using the ip. Duh, I know, but I was tired last night, so screw off. *8) Anyways, it's very very cool. You can roll individual init or party init and a little dealie up top lets you click through the order. You can also r-click, then target, then click on a target mini. Until you change targets, that's who you're aiming/swinging at. You click your attack button, if it hits, it makes a little hit sound. Then you hit damage, you hear a scream and it queues up the damage to said foe. Then the DM r-clicks on the baddie in this case and decides whether or not to apply damage, how much (can modify by fractions or just chnage the number). Players can move guys around (toggled by the DM) and once they're done, the DM can accept the move. There's a tool to record incremental moves, but I haven't spotted it yet. I ran my server on my local network, and also out over the internet through my router (with port forwarding enabled for Klooge if you're curious). I dunno what to say besides I'm absolutely blown away. Klooge just plain rules. It's very intuitive, and can only get better. Oh, and the interface is pretty customizable... you can choose which panes to display and which to dock. My friends, this is the shit.
--Re SuperGnome