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VTT Game Setup Question - Managing Local Players?

Hi there, I'm new to Roll20 - so apologies if this has been asked before, but I can't seem to find the answer I'm looking for on the interwebs. I'm setting up a Pathfinder campaign on a VTT, where all the players are local (face to face). We use wiimote IR pens, and wireless mouses to interact with the table. What is the best way to implement R20 in this face to face situation? Would it be having the GM logged in as GM for the GM screen, and then having the GM logged in as 'Joined as Player' for the VTT (player's screen)? This is the maptools setup I'm used to, and it seems to work for managing PC tokens on R20. But... One of the many attractive qualities of Roll20 is having macros assigned to players. From what I understand the macro bar at the bottom is tied to the player that is selected. So, for example, if I set up all of the macros for the tokens my players will be using as GM, there is a mess of macros (for all PC tokens) on screen that don't seem to filter when another token is selected, making it rough to manage multiple PC tokens with all of the abilities, etc. What am I missing? Thanks for any input.
Well... you're gonna get about as many different methods as people who answer this post, but here's what I personally would do: First, have a GM log-in. The GM, on his own computer, somewhere the players can't see it. Second, the players' log-in, the big screen, that everyone can see (including the GM.) Now the tricky part... the set-up. Make all the journal entries for the monsters, mooks, npcs, etc, and keep 'em private to the GM. Only the GM will have access to this stuff, and only on her private screen. Make journal entries for all the player characters, and be sure to give access to ALL of them to the one player who's logged in as the players, and their tokens. This way, everybody who isn't the GM is signed in as one PC and can control all the Player Characters, each on their own turn, all on the big screen. You'll have to rely on the honor system to keep your players from screwing around with each others' tokens! (See HERE for information on setting up Journal Entries, and HERE for information on how to set up tokens.) (See HERE for important tips on how to set up tokens to match journal entries properly) Create a bunch of macros, set up for general use. This will take some doing, but it's worth it. Technically, the only macro you really need is this one: "D 20 " ---- /me rolls a [[1d20+?{modifier|0}]] for ?{reason|no reason}. This macro names the controlling player, prompts them for the modifier to their dieroll, then prompts them to specify the reason they've rolled the die (for record-keeping accuracy) and outputs the result in a nice tidy little package. However, having a lot of other macros will speed things up a lot. (See HERE for documentation on macros in general, and HERE for a couple other macros I find helpful.) In addition, I would set up a bunch of generalized Token Actions, like so: For each character, pick one melee attack, one ranged attack, and one special attack (Possibly a multiple attack, or a spell, or whatever). You can have more, of course, but for simplicity's sake we'll just have a few. Set up Attributes (not abilities) in each character's journal that match the Token Actions you want, such as M1Weapon M1Bonus M1Damage R1Weapon R1Bonus R1Damage S1Weapon S1Bonus S1Damage then fill in for each character as needed: M1Weapon Longsword M1Bonus 7 M1Damage 1d8+3 R1Weapon Crossbow R1Bonus 3 R1Damage 1d6 S1Weapon Magic Missile S1Bonus 0 S1Damage 2d4+2 Then, set up macros using SELECTED TOKEN format, like so: Melee Attack: /em @{selected|token_name} swings his @{selected|M1Weapon} and gets a [[1d20+@{selected|M1Bonus}]], doing [[@{selected|M1Damage}]] points of damage! Obviously you can change this around to fit your campaign style, desired flavor text, and so on; this is just an example. This way, when it's a player's turn, they can select their token on the map, select the macro they want to use, and just click a button or two. For anything not macro'd up like this, use the "D20" macro shown above, and refer to their paper character sheet for the appropriate bonus. You can also, with a little more work, set up specialized Abilities (not attributes) for each character, to keep the output from getting to repetitive. Doing all this should keep things moving smoothly, give the players a view of their own so they don't see stuff the GM needs hidden, give them all (each) access to their characters and tokens, and requires only a minimum of clicking and/or keyboarding for each players' turn. The downside, of course, is that it requires quite a bit of setting up beforehand; but believe me, it's going to be well worth the trouble, for anything but a one-shot game. I wish we'd had this back when I started gaming; I can only imagine the fun of getting a group of people huddled around a big-ass TV displaying all the maps, tokens, and everything! (When I was a kid, we used a whiteboard for mapping and Monopoly pieces for tokens, and we liked it!) Unfortunately, these days all my gaming friends are scattered all over the world... Good luck!
Awesome reply, Phnord Prephect! I will implement and test your suggestions. Thanks for taking the time to map it out for me. Phnord Prephect said: I wish we'd had this back when I started gaming; I can only imagine the fun of getting a group of people huddled around a big-ass TV displaying all the maps, tokens, and everything! (When I was a kid, we used a whiteboard for mapping and Monopoly pieces for tokens, and we liked it!) Unfortunately, these days all my gaming friends are scattered all over the world... Good luck! Yeah, my players range from old-schoolers who used to hand map and keep detailed spreadsheets and journals for their characters to new schoolers who like everything digital. From the GM perspective, I tend to fall into the latter camp. My goal is to go entirely paperless, and I'm almost there with Roll20, Hero Lab, Powerpoint (for flavor and reference) and a custom excel spreadsheet that I built to track world time, round modifiers, overland travel, gold, XP and more per campaign and session with a few clicks and a lot of macros...lol. I am also anxiously awaiting the release of RealmWorks as it will consolidate a lot of what I use PPT for. I find working with these tools greatly improves my prep time and more importantly, post-session record keeping. Having a career and a family I need all of the time savers I can get! Plus, having all of these tools humming in the background eliminates a lot of dead time (ie digging through books, the web) and keeps the session momentum going. As an added bonus, visuals like R20 really set the immersion level to high and keep the 'shiny object' folks engaged (of which I am one...lol). Thanks again for your thoughts!
Actually, with rugged Re-roll, you can create Abilities on each player's character sheet. Link the sheet to the token and each token has their own set of macros displayed at the top of the screen whenever you click on that token. That will also let you built abilities/macros that reference character sheet attributes for all sorts of automated goodness. (auto-calculated HP changes from CON damage? Yes please..) That would leave you the normal Macro bar for some very general macros (perhaps just basic 1d4 - 1d20 ?{modifier|0} rolls).
Mark G. said: Actually, with rugged Re-roll, you can create Abilities on each player's character sheet. Link the sheet to the token and each token has their own set of macros displayed at the top of the screen whenever you click on that token. That will also let you built abilities/macros that reference character sheet attributes for all sorts of automated goodness. (auto-calculated HP changes from CON damage? Yes please..) That would leave you the normal Macro bar for some very general macros (perhaps just basic 1d4 - 1d20 ?{modifier|0} rolls). Hi Mark, Thanks for the feedback. I'm trying to implement this, but I am running into a snag. After linking a sheet (journal) to a token, I create an 'ability' in the character journal (say 'Attack') and click to show it in the macro bar...'Attack' shows up for all the 'player controlled tokens' when I select them. There seems to be no 'by-token' filter. Am I missing something?
Ah-ha! Nevermind. Got it work. Missed the 'Make as Token Action' in the ability creation screen. Nice!
Sounds like a pretty sweet rig. Happy Hunting!