Hello there. I'm in the process of planning a campaign of dark heresy to be played over the net. This is because all my old players are scattered across england, and i want to start RPGing again!

What i want to know is are there any programs out there that will allow me to create a map for a battle scene and then play it out turn based with my players? I've been toying with maptool, but i'm not sure i've figured it all out really. Are there other battlemats out there?

Also, could anyone give me some advice on running an online game, like good practice, things to avoid etc? How do people deal with dice rolling?

It's been a while since i last GM'ed so any feedback would be great, thanks!!

snufkin said:

For dice rolling and having maps open, my online group that I play in uses OpenRPG: www.openrpg.com

So far it's been a little tricky, most of the time working, I think we're getting the handle of it though.

Alternatively: http://www.rptools.net

Haven´t used it, but it looks nice.

Tokens for 40K/DH should be in the gallery.

I've used RPTools and found that it works great. We have one monitor - which essentially acts as a GM screen - for the players and a laptop for the GM.

The players pass around a wireless mouse when it's their turn to act.

It's a little asset heavy to set up, but worth it if you already have the hardware.

I like the look of rptools, the only thing which confuses me is the macros. And are players blocked from moving/ taking actions if it is not their turn?

snufkin said:

To my knowledge: no. And we genarally don't mess with the macros.

Hmm, I'm in a similar situation (players across the US). I've been trying to decide between Screen Monkey and OpenRPG, though Rptools looks promising as well. Can anyone give a comparitive opinion? I don't really need the map function, just a group chat and die-roller that supports various fonts and colors for text. I prefer to keep combat fairly abstracted, rather than mapped, when I can, as it speeds things up.

Yeah Comparison would be good!

Also I thought i'd just share some things with you. I've found a couple of dice rollers for msn messenger plus which you just stick in the plugins file:.....hmm i can't seem to post the link. If you type in D & D dice roller, or msn dice roller into google you should be able to find the forum thread for it (in the messenger plus forums). I have to say though i havent tried them, but it sounds like a really handy plugin. Hope that helps Aureus.

Also, i've tried the rptools dice tool. It seems good, nice and simple. But i can't figure out why it is a seperate program to maptool, and whether the dice rolls can be visible to all the players. There is a chat feature in maptool Aureus, which presumably would be ok for your group.

I'm getting to grips with the map layout in maptool now. I edit the basic map using a scanner, Gimp and the older terragen, then get little objects from the dunjinni forums to decorate them with. The grid is easy to play around with. All i have to do now is see if i can connect up my players with my pc!

Hey Snufkin,

I'm interested in joining your group as a player. I have some experience with DH and also W40k in general.

I'm also a european, which would be great because of the timezone.

If you still want a player, count me in.

Cheers

Apex

Hey Apex! Thanks for your interest, but i wasn't actually looking for more players, i've got more than i've had before so i don't really wanna push it too much! haven't GMed in a while too... But if you want, send me a message or something and if it turns out i can fit you in i could message you.