Show HN: Roll20, a new virtual tabletop for playing RPGs online (kickstarter.com)
This is a project that I have been working on in my spare time for a while now. It's a new virtual tabletop for playing pen and paper role playing games online, but it takes an entirely different approach than anything out there right now. Rather than trying to turn pen and paper games into video games, with features centered around one-click damage calculations and detailed stats tracking, Roll20 focuses on storytelling. It has completely new features like background music, player journals, and an expansive art library with a built-in web search.
The entire system runs on NodeJS, Padrino, Backbone JS, Raphael, ShareJS, and a few dozen other "HTML5" technologies. OpenTok/TokBox powers the built-in video chat.
We're trying to raise some money on Kickstarter to fund further development and get us to the finish line. If you enjoy playing pen and paper games and think this is a good idea, we'd love your support -- help us spread the word!
33 comments
[ 3.3 ms ] story [ 690 ms ] threadThe entire system runs on NodeJS, Padrino, Backbone JS, Raphael, ShareJS, and a few dozen other "HTML5" technologies. OpenTok/TokBox powers the built-in video chat.
We're trying to raise some money on Kickstarter to fund further development and get us to the finish line. If you enjoy playing pen and paper games and think this is a good idea, we'd love your support -- help us spread the word! You can also check out a little more info on the site:
http://roll20.net
I don't want that, I don't need that. That's what the GM is for, and trying to implement the rules themselves mean I need to program, in order to run my game.
I just want an extension of my minis map, on the web. I'd like to click-and-drag to move figures around, scribble on stuff, and maybe import some PNGs if I feel motivated.
Or not. My scribbles are good enough, since you have VIDEO of me, right there, describing it.
Again, this is where people get lost.
Things don't need to stand alone, like they would in Diablo, or Baulder's gate. I don't want to spend a long time mapping out a dungeon before we play, I want to fire up a game, and wing it as we all play together.
That's what I love about Tabletop games. As a GM, I can just use my marker, and my voice, and GO!
Make that easy, and I'll get all my friends to get their friends to sign up ;)
Have you posted a link to this kickstarter anywhere else? A cursory search on reddit didn't pull up any results, and I think there are a few subreddits over there that might have some interest as well.
Contact me at troygoode AT gmail DOT com. Maybe I could trade the .com over to you for a domain you have laying around?
Really interface is key, computer interfaces tend to get in your way and that is really damaging to the flow of the game. I'm definitely going to check this out, and if it's any good, I'll be a bit jealous that I'm not working on it.
I personally launched Fabletop.com a couple of months ago, but the approach is a bit different, focusing more on a robust chat system, and less on the battlemat.
Good luck to you guys!
If you guys want to bypass some of the journal features and instead focus on the tabletop, check out our API: http://help.obsidianportal.com/kb/api/api-overview You could use Obsidian Portal as the backend to store characters, notes, journal, etc. Allow people to import their Obsidian Portal campaigns into Roll20, and you can focus on the tabletop.
We've got around 40,000 campaigns in our system, so it's not a fool's errand.
Contact me at micah@obsidianportal.com if you're interested.
Funny what a small place the internet is sometimes.
[0]: http://roll20.net/policies/acknowledgements.html
[1]: http://sharejs.org/hex.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lGMjnmdwC8s
It doesn't seem like it would suit my style of GMing at all, though. It's been decades since I used a battle mat or dice. My basic style is just to tell the players what they see, and ask them what they do. Even just trying to come up with pictures for the NPCs the players encounter would seriously slow me down -- in a normal session, probably half of the NPCs and settings are generated on the fly. On the other hand, the video chat, the text chat, the logging, and the idea of mood music all sound like they'd be great tools.
Would it be reasonable to run the system with just those features going? Is there something else out there which will already do this?
An 8 bit mode or a simplified mode - A lot of the genre is related to imagination - the GM comes up with his description of frightening beasts, and people fill in the gaps with their own take on it.
At the same time the case should also be made that a good market place will also create good art that inspires people to come up with scenarios.
Hmm. Heck if the market place even takes inspiration from deviant art landscapes and the likes, it could be an impressive force.
Yes.
Play checkers if you'd like. Honestly, at it's base this is a system of layers in a browser. You can put one thing on top of another thing. You put a token on a table. That's why this thing is cool, I think. Yeah, I'm using it to play D&D... but Riley and I were both pretty intent on making sure this was a blank slate. We both love video games-- but we also both loved that tabletop games can be so, so much more because it's whatever you bring (or don't bring) to the table.
I will say, I'm really jazzed that combat-wise we have a grid-less measurement system. Like, you can quickly drag your mouse to go "okay, this would move me 10 feet" or whatever, and I've always wanted to fiddle with that as an option.
That said, I'm convinced this is worth trying out, and will definitely keep an eye on it. If I can find the money in our budget, I'll contribute on Kickstarter too. (That's a big if at the moment, alas.)