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Thanks all for previous helpful comments. My players are barking about being able to upload their character sheets. I've set 5E as the default system in the campaign settings. Where or how do players upload sheets now so they are accessible by them and myself?

<a href="https://wiki.roll20.net/Character_Sheets" rel="nofollow">https://wiki.roll20.net/Character_Sheets</a> is the wiki page about sheets. If you have more questions please feel free to start a fresh thread with your questions.

Hello. New to roll 20. Played RPG's before but don't have any source books to make characters. Is that a major problem or is it still possible to join games?

Hi Gwyn. You can try joining any game you want on roll20. Not having access to rules could be a problem IMO. Some game systems have their rule sets freely accessible online. Some rpg's require nothing more from a player than participation, while others can be very rules "heavy". Find a game you would like to join and correspond with the GM. Best to ask the person running a game what they will expect from the players. If you really enjoy a game I would encourage you to show your support by purchasing any material you would find benefical. Everyone benefits. Have fun. Cheers.

Been gaming on Roll20 for a while, just signed up as a DM. I think I've got a pretty good handle on a lot of things, but... I uploaded a bunch of homemade "tiles" (as .png files) to my library, for use in building a classic hex map. Each hex is saved at a size of 90 x 78 pixels. (I've found that, on a hex map, that size looks better than the hex's official 70 pixels.) Problem is, each time I drag a tile onto the grid, it automatically resizes (and skews) to 70 x 70. I can go back in and change it by clicking on the tile, of course, but I'd really prefer not to have to do that for each and every tile I lay down. Is there any way I can tell the program "Don't resize these files when you import them, don't reshape them, just snap them to the grid and otherwise leave them alone?"

Hello Ari. To keep the map from resizing your tiles you can either disable the grid or hold the alt key when drag/dropping them onto the map area so they ignore the grid. Those are the two methods right now that can be used. I believe there is an API script that does what you want but not sure on that and it is also a mentor level feature. Some wiki pages for info if you haven't read them: <a href="https://wiki.roll20.net/Manipulating_Graphics" rel="nofollow">https://wiki.roll20.net/Manipulating_Graphics</a> <a href="https://wiki.roll20.net/Keyboard_Shortcuts" rel="nofollow">https://wiki.roll20.net/Keyboard_Shortcuts</a> <a href="https://wiki.roll20.net/Advanced_Shortcuts" rel="nofollow">https://wiki.roll20.net/Advanced_Shortcuts</a> <a href="https://wiki.roll20.net/Geomorphic_Map_Tiles" rel="nofollow">https://wiki.roll20.net/Geomorphic_Map_Tiles</a> Good luck and if you have more questions please feel free to create a new thread with your questions. It will stand a better chance to be seen sooner and receive a quicker answer.

Heh. Problem is, I don't want to ignore the grid--I want the tiles to snap to--I just don't want them to resize in the process. Because I make it my mission in life to be difficult. ;-) If I can think of another way to approach the question, I will indeed start a new thread. Thanks.

Ari M. said: Heh. Problem is, I don't want to ignore the grid--I want the tiles to snap to--I just don't want them to resize in the process. Because I make it my mission in life to be difficult. ;-) If I can think of another way to approach the question, I will indeed start a new thread. Thanks. Also try this thread to see if you can find more help.

I just got roll20 and heard how great it is, so far the words did not justice. This look amazing, although I am having trouble with some features. Is there a way to just make or transcribe a PnP D&D sheet on to here to store and drop in a game or would that have to be up to the DM? Thank you very much.

Hi David. Welcome aboard. You can make as many sheets as you like but it will ultimately be up to the DM whether you may bring your own character or not. Most game listings in the LFG area will specify how character creation, submission, pre-gen's, etc., will be utilized. Hope this helps and have fun. Cheers.

David B. said: I just got roll20 and heard how great it is, so far the words did not justice. This look amazing, although I am having trouble with some features. Is there a way to just make or transcribe a PnP D&D sheet on to here to store and drop in a game or would that have to be up to the DM? Thank you very much. Character sheets are created inside a campaign. The GM of the game picks the character sheet the game will use. If you wanted to play around with this you'd need to create a new campaign, give it a character sheet, make a character in that campaign, and then filling out the character's sheet. Or, just wait until you're playing in a game and follow your GM's directions.

I'm struggling with the line of sight and torch light. I put torches in my rooms, but i also added the line of sight onto a character. They can't see the light the illuminates the area, and they can see through the darkness of the room with the line of sight. What can I do to allow them to see the area.

Jason M. said: I'm struggling with the line of sight and torch light. I put torches in my rooms, but i also added the line of sight onto a character. They can't see the light the illuminates the area, and they can see through the darkness of the room with the line of sight. What can I do to allow them to see the area. There is a Dynamic Lighting Style Guide that you might find useful. For Dynamic Lighting to work for your player, the player has to have a token on the board that has been set to Controlled By "That Player" and that token also has to have "Has Sight" checked from the advanced tab. There needs to be a light source in the scene with a Light Radius large enough to emit light and without any light obstructions blocking it from the player seeing the light. The light source also has to have the "All Players See Light" option checked. Also check to make sure you don't have Fog of War also turned on as that will create a second layer of darkness that has to be revealed in a different manner.

Hello Roll20, Looking to make the right choice between VTT's out there I am asking myself how one see's how much room he has taken up so far as a DM. Making a campaign to see that you can't finish becasue of lack of space has me worried? for 10MG when you have a pic of let's say 1.6MG i have a feeling it will add up fast. Does that refer to one map or 10MG for the total of the whole campaign?

Hello Patrick. As a free account subscriber, you have 100MG not 10MG. Also if you use the search feature in the art library anything found is not counted, any marketplace purchases are not counted. The only things that are counted is what you upload from your computer. subscription info

Ahhh... I see the light! Thanks Pat :)

I think you got the 10MG from the file size upload limit. Paid subscribers have that size limit while free accounts are limited to 5MG per file.

and that refers to everything uploaded or just per campaign created?

The 100MG is based on your account. You can have as many campaigns as you want. The 5MG is per upload limit. You will not be able to upload anything bigger than that limit.

Not sure if this has been answered anywhere, so I'll ask here. I'm completely new to tabletop RPGs, and so I was watching one of the twitch streams to get an idea of what it's like. I noticed that the rolls in the chat window caused two numbers highlighted in yellow to appear. I'm still not quite able to figure out what each number represents as far as what the player actually rolled. The GM tended to refer to the number on the left; what does the number on the right signify? How does the roll indicate what number you would need minimum to pass a skill check, saving throw, etc.? Or are those things only supposed to be known by the GM? Sorry if this is a silly question or it's in the wrong place.

Hi Madeline. Roll20 uses an easy scripting format to create macros that can handle the dice rolls and calculations found in many rpg's. Rolls highlighted in yellow indicate an "inline" roll. Inline rolls are used to show the total amount, after dice roll(s), attributes, and modifiers are applied. You can still see the "math" behind the roll by hovering over the inline roll output in chat. Depending on the game and the macro being used, there are any number of ways to roll and interpret the results. It's a very flexible system that can fit most any rpg. You can create a macro that rolls an attack (number on the left) vs an opponent's Armor Class(number on the right). You can create macros that are only seen by the GM as well. Hope this helps. Cheers.

Alrighty, that clears some things up. Thanks!

Hi there, I was referred to your website by a fellow WoW player, and it sounds so cool. I started playing in the 70's with 1st edition, played alot of 2nd edition, and some 5.0. My question, do I need to make a PC, along with a character sheet, before I join a game? Do most DM's simply premake the character sheets or use templates, or is it up to the player to do it either before or after being accepted into the advanture. How does that work? I have no problem digging out my players handbook but want to know how best to prepare for an adventure. I have read the wiki, watched the vids, perused the forums....anyone?

It is up to the GM. Some games will be done with pre-generated characters (usually one-shots for newbies), some games will be make your own. It is just like real life! ^_^ Talk to the GM of the game you are interested in.

Max S. said: Hi there, I was referred to your website by a fellow WoW player, and it sounds so cool. I started playing in the 70's with 1st edition, played alot of 2nd edition, and some 5.0. My question, do I need to make a PC, along with a character sheet, before I join a game? Do most DM's simply premake the character sheets or use templates, or is it up to the player to do it either before or after being accepted into the advanture. How does that work? I have no problem digging out my players handbook but want to know how best to prepare for an adventure. I have read the wiki, watched the vids, perused the forums....anyone? Hi Max! Welcome! It really depends on the DM or GM! I would recommend you check out our Looking for Group wiki and Looking for Group tool . This will show you all the games that need players and most listings will tell you what the DM/GM is wanting. I have certainly seen games where character creation is part of the campaign and others looking for established PC's. You can also create your own game as the DM/GM and listing it on our site using the tool.

Hi, I'm new to roll20 since I've discovered it by chance digging on the internet. I really love it and I'm impressed by the great opportunity it gives to RPG's lovers. I'm setting a campaign based one cult Heroquest, with some customizations. I've made many experiments to understand how the program works. Particularly I'm interested on dynamic lighting feature and I'm working on it. I've noticed that if I test it by clicking Ctrl + L on a particular token everything seems to go straight well, but if I made the same attempt through the "rejoin as player" button I can see only a black screen with just the tokens on it. I know this is an issue that probably you've heard a lot of times, but I'm sure that I'm doing things in the right way with tokens permission and I can't understand why one method works and the other one doesn't. I want to be sure that things will going smooth when I play the first game with my friends. I want to impress them and I can't do this if the lights won't turn on :-) By the way, I've made a subscription for Mentor level and I've paid via Paypal. I've read somewhere that this method of payment is not allowed. I haven't found an up to date section on the site or inside the forum that gives information about this. Anyway, my level's been upgraded and roll20 send me back an alert with confirmation of payment. I think I've done everything in the right way. Thank you very much, I'm going to support you and spread the voice across my friends about roll20. Sorry for my terrible english.

Hi Gianmarco. I recommend reading thru a couple of wiki pages if you haven't done so already. Dynamic Lighting and the Dynamic Lighting Style Guide . Lot's of great information can be found there. A couple quick things to check; make sure if you are using Fog of War you have uncovered an area of the map so players can see, make sure player tokens have sight and can be controlled by the players, make sure there is a light source(radius/dim) that all players can see. This could be a player token that is carrying a light source, like a torch, or just a "torch" token on the map. Hope this helps. Post back if things are still black for you as a player. Cheers.

Ok, now I realized I made a silly question. The matter was that I have been activating fog of war which represent a different system than dynamic lighting. Essentially fog of war needs to be removed manually in order to allow sight to the players. Dynamic lighting hides the environment and things that are off the radius of token's sight. Sorry, I'm a newbie to Roll20 and when something doesn't work I go panic. Thank you for the prompt answer.

Gianmarco V. said: Ok, now I realized I made a silly question. The matter was that I have been activating fog of war which represent a different system than dynamic lighting. Essentially fog of war needs to be removed manually in order to allow sight to the players. Dynamic lighting hides the environment and things that are off the radius of token's sight. Sorry, I'm a newbie to Roll20 and when something doesn't work I go panic. Thank you for the prompt answer. NP. I've been "bit" by Fog of War myself. :-) It's kind of misleading using CTRL+L on a token, since you will still see some items as the GM. I often test with another account and log into my game as that player, using a second browser window. Have fun.

Hi, I am completely new to the world of table top rpg's I have just purchased the 5th edition players rulebook/handbook (which won't be here till the 18th), I have role played before but that has been in game like world of warcraft. I'm finding it pretty daunting to join a game as I feel like I'm going into a game blind, With not creating a character for D&D before or knowing the rules I feel like I am going to inconvenience other players. Any advice to help try and over come this ? I can't want for my players rulebook/handbook to get here so I can get reading. I'm just pretty nervous I guess. I can not wait to play a game of D&D and thanks to this site I finally can, There isn't a local store or group near me that plays. So thanks for Roll20 for being here.

Hey Ketsurui, Welcome to Roll20! To answer your specific question: There are many games specifically created to help newbies to the system get their feet under them. You'll want to keep an eye on both the Looking For Group forums and the LFG directory ( <a href="https://wiki.roll20.net/Looking_for_Group" rel="nofollow">https://wiki.roll20.net/Looking_for_Group</a> ), paying special attention for any games that say they're open to/looking for players new to the system. Good luck!

Hi! New here and planning to use it in a different way, not as an online gaming session, but as a backlit projected tabletop. I need to build the table and buy a projector first, so I was playing around with it a bit. I have several questions: To do a campaign the way I am describing, I assume I would need essentially two computers to run the show. My own, as the GM computer and another to connect to the projector and show only what I want the players to see on the projected tabletop. Is that correct? I am still fiddling around with it, but if I want to use a specific map that either I have drawn or I find in hard copy, I can simply scan and save and drag it into the screen to begin using it? Can I then add textures to my map that I hand drew? I haven't invested in the advanced version, but I like the idea of using sight lines for each character. If I get the advanced version, how do I set that up without having their tokens on the screen? They will probably use miniatures on top of the table. Excited to use this system. I love that so many game systems are already loaded and include each of their particular quirks. I enjoy many of these but also play a really uncommon one called the James Bond RPG. I know that I can use any other for the maps so it isn't a big deal, but how difficult would it be to integrate a new system? Thanks a lot! BigManDan

Daniel T. said: Hi! New here and planning to use it in a different way, not as an online gaming session, but as a backlit projected tabletop. I need to build the table and buy a projector first, so I was playing around with it a bit. I have several questions: To do a campaign the way I am describing, I assume I would need essentially two computers to run the show. My own, as the GM computer and another to connect to the projector and show only what I want the players to see on the projected tabletop. Is that correct? Hello and yes that is the best way to use it for the projector otherwise they will get to see everything as you would be projecting the GM pov. Daniel T. said: I am still fiddling around with it, but if I want to use a specific map that either I have drawn or I find in hard copy, I can simply scan and save and drag it into the screen to begin using it? Can I then add textures to my map that I hand drew? You are correct. If you have a specific map that is not found in roll20, either through art library google search or purchased marketplace item, you will have to upload it as you indicated. Any map you place in the map area you can add textures. tokens, etccc.... to it. Daniel T. said: I haven't invested in the advanced version, but I like the idea of using sight lines for each character. If I get the advanced version, how do I set that up without having their tokens on the screen? They will probably use miniatures on top of the table. For dynamic light to function (supporter or mentor subscription) you would need a token to move on the roll20 map. It is just how it functions. You could have a token as a group indicator so that you as a gm could move it to slowly reveal the map. Right now you could just use the Fog of War to do that (available to everyone for free). This would let you as the gm reveal the map as much as you wish also. Daniel T. said: Excited to use this system. I love that so many game systems are already loaded and include each of their particular quirks. I enjoy many of these but also play a really uncommon one called the James Bond RPG. I know that I can use any other for the maps so it isn't a big deal, but how difficult would it be to integrate a new system? Roll20 is system neutral which means if the dice engine can roll it, you can play it (there are some rare game systems that the dice engine can not do) and there is the API (Mentor level feature) that can expand that to almost anything you could imagine. With this being played in a face to face game you have all the basics you need right now in the program but there are more goodies coming in the next update called " Update of holding ". Have fun and good games

I'm sure this has been asked before, but what do I have to do and to whom should I throw bits if I just want to use this app offline? I'm not planning to use it to game with people over the internet. I want to use it for non-d20 games here at home with a projector, as a bajillion others probably do having seen the imgur posts. But I am suspicious because I don't see any place to purchase or download the application, which suggests there is no available software for users and (much worse) that you maintain complete control over our IP when we design. I don't mind paying a monthly fee or something, but I really don't want to have to log in to design my adventures and store it on someone else's server. The inconvenience, the lack of security assurance, and even just the idea of being forced to give an app company direct access to watching me create personal shit is not exactly a selling point. Maybe I'm jumping to conclusions about your business model, though. I guess all I'm asking for is a no-nonsense explanation of the boundaries of your service, so I'll know if I should use it, or look for a decent competitor service, or even make my own with jme or something. (Probably I am asking a bit rudely, as I've had a bad day; honest apologies.) Trixie

Sorry AW but roll20 is server based closed source code. There is no offline ability to use rol20.

A. W. said: I'm sure this has been asked before, but what do I have to do and to whom should I throw bits if I just want to use this app offline? I'm not planning to use it to game with people over the internet. I want to use it for non-d20 games here at home with a projector, as a bajillion others probably do having seen the imgur posts. But I am suspicious because I don't see any place to purchase or download the application, which suggests there is no available software for users and (much worse) that you maintain complete control over our IP when we design. I don't mind paying a monthly fee or something, but I really don't want to have to log in to design my adventures and store it on someone else's server. The inconvenience, the lack of security assurance, and even just the idea of being forced to give an app company direct access to watching me create personal shit is not exactly a selling point. Maybe I'm jumping to conclusions about your business model, though. I guess all I'm asking for is a no-nonsense explanation of the boundaries of your service, so I'll know if I should use it, or look for a decent competitor service, or even make my own with jme or something. (Probably I am asking a bit rudely, as I've had a bad day; honest apologies.) Trixie Trixie, while your game information is stored online the terms of service explicitly state that we won't access you games and data without your permission. You have complete security over your material. Roll20 as a multiplayer experience is designed and only works when everyone can connect via the internet. Its how our architecture works as well as how we can let you play with people in the same room or across the globe. Moreover it allows us to insure that your dice rolls are perfecly random with our Quantum Dice.

I appreciate the reassurance, Steve. Is there any way for me to download my own game information, however? Most of my game materials are created and used offline. I do have to disagree that "your service only works when everyone can connect to the internet", as I stated in my original message that my intent is to use it as a tool for an in-person game with a projector (as others coming here also are interested, probably due to the imgur post). I have no interest in using it to play online. Someone above mentioned that they needed two separate computers to get the projector approach to work. Is this true? That sounds a bit needlessly complex. Couldn't I connect to two Roll20 accounts from the same computer? Also, would I need to pay for two accounts in order to use it in the fashion I've described previously? The imgur post made Roll20 look super-amazingly-cool for gaming, but it's starting to look like your system is not really set up to handle the needs of tabletop gamers. I'm willing to jump through some hoops if I can get it to work, though. The only functionality that is needed is the ability to set up maps on and light sources on a GM screen, and have a second screen that only shows the light sources which can be projected onto a standard battle grid. This allows a grid to automatically paint itself from character fov, which is a *very* useful thing for tabletop gaming.

A. W. said: Someone above mentioned that they needed two separate computers to get the projector approach to work. Is this true? That sounds a bit needlessly complex. Couldn't I connect to two Roll20 accounts from the same computer? Also, would I need to pay for two accounts in order to use it in the fashion I've described previously? The imgur post made Roll20 look super-amazingly-cool for gaming, but it's starting to look like your system is not really set up to handle the needs of tabletop gamers. I'm willing to jump through some hoops if I can get it to work, though. The only functionality that is needed is the ability to set up maps on and light sources on a GM screen, and have a second screen that only shows the light sources which can be projected onto a standard battle grid. This allows a grid to automatically paint itself from character fov, which is a *very* useful thing for tabletop gaming. Two computers are required when you want a 'player view' to be projected, while you use your GM view to do Sekrit Things to the map. If you're fine with the players seeing every single thing you do, including your view of the GM Layer of the map, then you can proceed using only one machine. The GM account is the only one that needs to be subscribed to use the features in your campaign, a 'player' account for the projection system does not need to be a subscribed account. Roll20 CAN be used the way you would like, but you have to understand that this functionality is a happy side-effect; the system was originally meant for people to get together at a virtual tabletop (VTT), with the intent that everyone would be online together. Over time people have found ways to bring Roll20 to their real tabletop. The next major update to the system is bringing in more 'Roll20 at your real tabletop' functionality and focus, but it sounds like the features it is bringing aren't ones you'd be interested in anyway if all you are looking for is map projection and dynamic lighting for your 'party' token.

Hi, I just wanted to introduce myself. I am currently playing two play-by-post games and GM'ing another. My own game uses my own artwork, so when I recently discovered Roll20, I thought, "Yeah… this would sure beat using PhotoShop to update my maps!" Seeing how I want to use my art, I sought approval from the Roll20 Team to create content for the marketplace. I got the green light, but of course I'll still need approval once I submit my first pack. It'll be a while before that happens. In the meantime, I just want to say that I'm impressed with what I've seen so far—both the artwork and the functionality of the virtual tabletop.

A. W. said: I do have to disagree that "your service only works when everyone can connect to the internet", as I stated in my original message that my intent is to use it as a tool for an in-person game with a projector (as others coming here also are interested, probably due to the imgur post). I have no interest in using it to play online. The imgur post and your use case are not the primary purpose behind Roll20, they are ancillary uses that people have put it to. Primarily, it is a means for remote players to join together on a common platform and play. I imagine that is what Steve is talking about. Someone above mentioned that they needed two separate computers to get the projector approach to work. Is this true? That sounds a bit needlessly complex. Couldn't I connect to two Roll20 accounts from the same computer? It depends on your situation. If you are controlling all of the movement of things on Roll20, you could do it with one computer. I believe the poster above had one computer he GMed from, and one computer his players all shared as an interface to control their characters. Also, would I need to pay for two accounts in order to use it in the fashion I've described previously? In a single computer setup, you would be able to login with your account on two separate browser windows, then click the "Rejoin as Player" button in the settings for one browser window, and place that on the projector for your players to see, then control the game in the other window where you are logged in as the GM. The imgur post made Roll20 look super-amazingly-cool for gaming, but it's starting to look like your system is not really set up to handle the needs of tabletop gamers. I'm willing to jump through some hoops if I can get it to work, though. The only functionality that is needed is the ability to set up maps on and light sources on a GM screen, and have a second screen that only shows the light sources which can be projected onto a standard battle grid. This allows a grid to automatically paint itself from character fov, which is a *very* useful thing for tabletop gaming. You should be able to achieve this with a minimal of effort, provided you are connected to the roll20 website. As mentioned before, there is not a way to play "offline", but that doesn't mean you can't play in person. Personally, I run all my in person games on Roll20 for the shear convenience. Many of those games have moved to online and in person and back several times based on situations, and it has been a nice seamless transition. Edit: Guess I should refresh before posting, GenKitty already pounced on this topic. =D Just to reiterate what she said, only the GM Account needs to be a paid account to access advanced features, player accounts (if you even need any) do not require anything more than a free account. (And Technically, with the right hardware, you can have a player controlled view and only one computer (Linux, multiple video cards, multiple X-Servers, multiple input devices... ) )

Welcome to Roll20, L-E-G-E-N-D-A-R-Y - S-I-D-E-K-I-C-K-!-!-! (That's how it sounded in my head... can't type echoes very well though... =D )

Thanks, THE Aaron! I'm surprised my username got that kind of echo without the manly avatar like I use on DA. Huh. An 80x80 pixel box just sitting there in a post… that won't get any echoes. Also, I did have a question. I forgot to ask it, and yet you answered it anyway. The question was if I could GM and play at the same time, for testing purposes. Now I know I can, so "thank you" and "yay."

The Aaron said: The imgur post and your use case are not the primary purpose behind Roll20, they are ancillary uses that people have put it to. Primarily, it is a means for remote players to join together on a common platform and play. I imagine that is what Steve is talking about. I realize that. I just don't know why they aren't interested (?) in opening up the system for a use case that has a lot of demand when they clearly have the system and software to support it. Edit: Guess I should refresh before posting, GenKitty already pounced on this topic. =D Just to reiterate what she said, only the GM Account needs to be a paid account to access advanced features, player accounts (if you even need any) do not require anything more than a free account. (And Technically, with the right hardware, you can have a player controlled view and only one computer (Linux, multiple video cards, multiple X-Servers, multiple input devices... ) ) Couldn't you just use a program that sends a particular background window to the projector...? I mean I know you can do that easily with Powerpoint, but I don't know how much support is needed by the program itself. The main reason I'm belaboring all this shit is that I'm certain I can't be the only GM with these questions. (Also I am still curious if it is possible to download your personal game information, as I would very much hope...)

A. W. said: I realize that. I just don't know why they aren't interested (?) in opening up the system for a use case that has a lot of demand when they clearly have the system and software to support it. A website is not designed to run as a stand alone application on a personal computer. They certainly have the talent to create software that could do what you are talking about, but it is not what they are currently doing, and not what this software is designed to do. It is a happy coincidence that it will work for local play with the constraint that you must be connected to the server. Couldn't you just use a program that sends a particular background window to the projector...? I mean I know you can do that easily with Powerpoint, but I don't know how much support is needed by the program itself. Sorry to confuse you with that part. The issue I'm talking about address there is allowing the players to control things on the screen. You could do that with a very special setup on your computer, or you could do it by passing them the keyboard and mouse when it's their turn, or you could do it with two computers. If you are doing all of the controlling, you needn't have more than one computer, you just need to have two browser windows. The main reason I'm belaboring all this shit is that I'm certain I can't be the only GM with these questions. I'm certain you are not, I know of quite a few people successfully using Roll20 as a tabletop replacement for local play. They use the setup I described above of having either a separate player computer, or a secondary display that the player's see. I have used it myself. (Also I am still curious if it is possible to download your personal game information, as I would very much hope...) Probably if you could describe more thoroughly what you mean, someone can get you a better answer. When you make a campaign, you are uploading all the content to the campaign, so I would think downloading would not be necessary. If you're talking about creating a map on Roll20 and downloading it to an image for local play, that's not something that is supported. If you're talking about setting up a campaign in some structure, and then downloading the contents of the campaign in that same structure, probably not. If you simply mean keeping an archive of the chat log so you know what text based RP occurred, you can download that from the Campaign Details page.

Legendary Sidekick said: Thanks, THE Aaron! I'm surprised my username got that kind of echo without the manly avatar like I use on DA. Huh. An 80x80 pixel box just sitting there in a post… that won't get any echoes. Also, I did have a question. I forgot to ask it, and yet you answered it anyway. The question was if I could GM and play at the same time, for testing purposes. Now I know I can, so "thank you" and "yay." It was either that, or Legend ...wait for it... dary Sidekick! =D

Oh, in that case, I need the other t-shirt.

The Aaron said: A. W. said: I realize that. I just don't know why they aren't interested (?) in opening up the system for a use case that has a lot of demand when they clearly have the system and software to support it. A website is not designed to run as a stand alone application on a personal computer. They certainly have the talent to create software that could do what you are talking about, but it is not what they are currently doing, and not what this software is designed to do. It is a happy coincidence that it will work for local play with the constraint that you must be connected to the server. (By the way, thank you for your quick and detailed responses. Very much appreciated.) I'm fine with that, and that isn't what I'm referring to. When I say "opening up the system for a use case", I'm referring to two things: 0) Providing information on how to set up roll20 for an in-person game experience on the website in some prominent location, so a user can figure out what the system provides and what it allows you to do without lengthy forum conversations like this one. I really wasn't able to figure out these things without asking these questions, but I admit I may just be too impatient to look through more of the information here. This issue obviously isn't a problem for me anymore, though I still have questions I probably won't be able to know answers to without asking here in more detail or just purchasing the service in the hopes it will have what I want. (Hex-based maps, for one.) 1) Allowing the users to maintain ownership of over our intellectual property by supporting at the very least download capability of maps in png format (severely reduced image size or quality is fine!) and campaign data in csv or similar format. This one is important, and I would think it's not very much to ask. It has nothing to do with where the data is maintained or the software or method used to access the service, and it shouldn't reveal anything about how your service functions under-the-hood if you think I'm secretly some kind of competitor. These seem like no-brainers to me, but without this functionality I'm still not certain whether having an automatic lit map I don't have to draw with wet-erase is worth the trouble of not being able to access my campaign information except through a limited interface that keeps my intellectual property permanently in someone else's hooves. I'm being serious: I'm still having a hard time deciding if this is worth it. The monthly fee is not a problem (price is not really an object here), nor is the fact that my use case is not what the system is intended for. I'm just vacillating over whether the coolness factor and convenience is worth loss of control over my IP (and the convenience associated with that). I will probably pay for temporary access to the service, and if it can't do what I need it to, then that's that. I was going to purchase a new projector for this purpose, though, and since that's in the four-digit neighborhood I won't do it until I know more.

A. W. said: 0) Providing information on how to set up roll20 for an in-person game experience on the website in some prominent location, so a user can figure out what the system provides and what it allows you to do without lengthy forum conversations like this one. I really wasn't able to figure out these things without asking these questions, but I admit I may just be too impatient to look through more of the information here. This issue obviously isn't a problem for me anymore, though I still have questions I probably won't be able to know answers to without asking here in more detail or just purchasing the service in the hopes it will have what I want. (Hex-based maps, for one.) Ah. Providing documentation for this use case is probably a good idea. Most of the instructional content on the wiki is geared toward the primary use case of the system, so I can see why it would be frustrating trying to research this topic. With the popularity of that Imgur post, someone should probably step up and document that emergent usage. Our wiki is community editable, so someone who has recently gone through digging into this might topic might be able to provide good insight for future users. =D A hex grid is available ( <a href="https://wiki.roll20.net/Page_Settings" rel="nofollow">https://wiki.roll20.net/Page_Settings</a>) : 4. Grid There are a number of different grid options to choose from, including size of the grid, how diagonal distance is measured ( D&D 4e, 3.5/Pathfinder, Euclidean or Manhattan ), type of grid ( square, horizontal hex and vertical hex ), whether or not to display labels on the border ( hex grids only ) and the color and opacity of the grid. It supports numbering and measuring as you might expect. Grid snapping for drawings is still based on a square grid I believe. 1) Allowing the users to maintain ownership of over our intellectual property by supporting at the very least download capability of maps in png format (severely reduced image size or quality is fine!) and campaign data in csv or similar format. This one is important, and I would think it's not very much to ask. It has nothing to do with where the data is maintained or the software or method used to access the service, and it shouldn't reveal anything about how your service functions under-the-hood if you think I'm secretly some kind of competitor. I imagine the downloading of maps restriction is more a question of the licensing for the artwork that might be on it, but I can't really speak to that officially. Roll20 is designed to be a virtual table top first, and a map editor second. Most who are concerned with having a large local copy of their maps create them in other software (The GIMP, Tiled, etc) and then upload a full sized image to Roll20 for playing. Most of the artwork in the MarketPlace is downloadable for local use.

Sounds decent, The Aaron! I am now comfortable enough with what I have heard to sign up. I really appreciate your time and attention. Thanks!

No problem! Happy to help. =D