Help with making a new game.

So I've been running a Homebrew game with friend locally for some time now, and we just finished the campaign right before our group went it's separate ways for varying reasons. I really enjoyed running the game however and it was a very fun and interesting concept, and I wanted to try bringing it to Roll20. Heres the problem. Most of the people on here will look at my profile and the first thing you'll notice is that I've had almost no activity but been a member for around two years. I first joined the site a long while back, and frankly I wasn't all that pleased with a number of different incidents that soured the taste of the community. I won't go into it because I'm holding the benefit of the doubt and hoping that those events were just isolated incidents. Long story short, I haven't used Roll 20 for much of anything. Now I've been GMing this particular home brew for almost eight months, and most of the assets I have for it are non digital. I don't wanna scan the maps and things in because they wouldn't really work for this sort of medium. Here's something I've put together as an intro page to the whole thing. Welcome to Genesis, the world that was left behind after wars waged by the ancients unleashed chaotic and destructive forces upon the surface. These energies have long since settled, but the changes wrought remain. The Ancients cities have fallen to ruin, but within there still lives the remnants of humanity. Humans, the descendants of the ancients, have lost all history and knowledge of their past glories. Now forced to live in tribal communities for safety and survival, they are the least powerful denizens of Genesis, though the most numerous by far. Orcs, stronger and more hardy evolutions of the ancients. They rejoice in combat and glory, and their entire culture is shaped by it. Their kind are hated more than most others, for they are constantly raiding and assaulting others. They are not evil, however, merely overfond of war and conquest. Elves on the other hand, avoid conflict as much as possible. They're homes are hidden, and they fly from place to place with speed and agility matched only by those borne of birds. They are secretive and distrusting, even as they are distrusted and feared. Seen as wraiths, and spoken of in whispers or wive's tales, Elves are of nightmares to those not of their kin. Hidden in deeper passages beneath the ancient cities, or found in the countryside under foothills of mountains, or even in the hearts of mountains themselves. The Dwarves hammer and file and dig and mine and work and work and work. Dwarven blood means hearty bodies and strong minds, for a dwarf set to a task is a landslide crushing everything in it's path. Dwarves craft weapons and armor for orcs, build houses and homes for humans, even fashion jewlery for elves. They're a mercantile kind, and fond of people. They don't care where you come from so long as you can drink your fill and spend your coin. In the hearts of the ruins are wonderous devices and ancient technologies, yet recovering these is perilous and dangerous. And also a most enjoyable experience for any gnome worth their stubby ears. Often found living in the ruins of the ancients, the nomadic gnomes delve deep into their homes, running free and flexible through the twisted passages and crumbling buildings. No other race can move as freely and quickly as a gnome can, and when you need to find something shiny and expensive, you want to hire a gnome. But among all these many different peoples, there are none more feared, revered, respected, or hated, than the Sky Dwellers. The most pureblooded of all those descendant of the Ancients, the sky dwellers look human, yet more. They stand taller than their fellows, they are stronger, faster, quicker of mind and hardier of body. Adorned by glyphs and runes, and with eyes of silver, the Sky Dwellers are the children of the most powerful race to exist in Genesis: the Dragons. And while this great stature would seem a blessing to some, to them it is a curse, for they are few and far between, and are seldom welcome among the other races. Into this world you are born, and whether you find glory or destruction, the tale you now tell will be one of true fantasy. The ruleset I intend to use is Pathfinders plain and simple, with a few variations and differences that we used for the homebrew. Most any humanoid race that exists in pathfinders is playable in this homebrew, but the races listed above are the only ones who have ruling factions. Also the Skydwellers are NOT dragonborn specifically, they have their own story and lore that people would have to dig up in game. As it stands though they're a primarily NPC race, though for here I would allow people to play one if they wanted. They get a huge number of bonuses and plusses that other characters do not have, and 80% of the time they're stronger all around then other characters. However their like Liches and necromancers in Golarian, in that EVERYONE dislikes if not outright hates them. So a player who's running a Skydweller character is going to have constant hostility from most NPCs, they're going to get the short end of the stick in most social encounters, and they're just all around treated nice. So people who play skydwellers will be really powerful, but will also be getting no help or handicaps from anyone. That's all I really have at the moment, I'd like some feedback and advice on how to get started, primarily around how to go about building the world on the site, making the maps, and getting NPCs and everything set up for it. Some recommendations on how many people I should let join, as well as anything else that could be helpful would be great as well. Thanks in advance.

Ok, whew! Unknown Archon, I made it through your question, that had a lot of game-and-world-material within it. When using "Specific Questions" forum, you'll get the most direct answer if you can narrow it down to a specific question that you're asking, and put the question in the subject line and the first paragraph. Your game material looks nice, and is ok here as a demonstration of what kind of material you're asking how to best present it on a Roll20 game. Generally though, focus your Community Forum post down to the actual questions you have about using Roll20, and reserve the backstory bits of the races/game for your actual game (and for your LFG post if you are recruiting players). Here is a welcome post with helpful links to start reading, followed by some specific responses to your questions at the end. - - -  Welcome to Roll20 :) To get kicked off right, I'd suggest watching our introductory video series, Introduction to Tabletop RPGs , which covers the general idea of how they are played, which game to choose and then find a group of fellow gamers. Secondly, for the Virtual TableTop itself we have a Tutorial that shows you how to use the various parts of the software. Additionally, starting your own test game to play with the controls is an excellent way of getting used to the software, and you really can't break anything I promise! Thirdly, check out the Looking For Group Tool and Looking for Group Forum daily for games that may be of interest to you. Fourth, be sure to completely fill out your User Profile . Your Bio is where you have a chance to catch a GM's eye with a well-written statement about yourself Enjoys Playing is important for two reasons: Every entry you put here is a data-point for The Orr Group Industry Report of games being played, and it lets other people looking at your profile know a bit more about you Actively Seeks Group For is where you can add yourself to the Player Directory for systems you want to play We have a wiki that grows weekly and is very much worth exploring. Feel free to ask any questions you have about Roll20 by posting in the various sub-forums on their particular topics (Don't stress about putting topics in the right sub-forums, we mods really don't mind moving topics when needed!) Happy gaming! - - -  I'll try to help start some answers to what you asked about. First, it is great that you have an early Register date of Roll20. Second, it doesn't matter very greatly that you have a low amount of Hours Played. Some people may look at this statistic, others won't pay attention to it. The way to build it up is to use Roll20 more, particularly after you have clicked "Create Game" or joined some games. The main way to get started building your game in Roll20, that you asked, is go and click "Create Game" and start there. Enter the tabletop of your game, as well as the game's Forum that is outside the tabletop on the Details webpage of your game.  The material that you posted above (about the races, with the pictures) would make a good "Introduction" post on your game's Forum. You can literally copy-paste it from your post (above) into a new post on your game's Forum. Next you can make your first Pages in your game.  Make a "Splash Page" or Landing Page or Introduction Page. Choose your favorite "City" picture from above, and drag-drop this onto your first Roll20 Page in the game.  It's not a MAP, it's a background image for a splash page.  Drag the size-handles to expand the picture to a large size on the Page.  Now zoom OUT and look at it again. Next? Here is a special GM tip for you.  Click to Select that city picture on your Page, then press SHIFT-Z. This will make the picture "pop up" in a special lightbox display. When your players are logged in you can use this technique to focus everyone on a certain picture when you are telling the story to set the mood!! Next, go into Page settings and expand the Size of that Page. Give yourself some margins around the edges.  Ok? Now go and place your Dwarf picture and other race/setting pictures, around the borders and margins of your City picture.  Fill up your Splash page as-if it was a cork-board or scrapbook page that sets the mood of your game. Next, go back to Page menu and click the COPY SETTINGS button of your first page, thus making your second (blank) Page with the same settings such as matching background color.  Go to your new Page, name it something like "Adventure 1".  On this page you can make your first Map, or just make another scrapbook style whiteboard, whatever you need for the first adventure.  Go into the Roll20 Art Search and type "Map". Find one that you like and drag-drop it onto your second Page, stretch it to make a nice full size map. Now you can go about creating a few Characters and some Tokens (which are like minis representing characters or monsters).

That's actually a significant help to me on several different points, thank you very much for that. Specifically speaking, the questions I really need help with is with actually creating the maps and such, as when we ran this in my apartment we used a plain unstyled metric board and some painted coins. I can't exactly put that at the map, and besides I was hoping someone could help me with the actual map building itself, as in how to do that on a technical level, and what programs would be compatible with roll20 for that. Also how do I put the images into the intro page?

Once you are in your tabletop (in your game), use the Art Search and Art Library feature, above the chat room. In that section you can Upload images that you already have on your computer. It also lets you drag-and-drop many more images onto your tabletop or map, without uploading them yourself (ones that you can buy or get free from the Marketplace of Roll20 are found there inside the search, along with results "From The Web"). Wiki docs for that, including screenshots to help you see how it will work, <a href="https://wiki.roll20.net/Art_Library" rel="nofollow">https://wiki.roll20.net/Art_Library</a> Here are 3 of the most basic ways to have a Map for your game, on a Roll20 Page: 1. Take a picture of your plain metric board from home. Upload the picture into your Art Library, place it on the page. Use digital "Tokens" in Roll20 to replace the painted coins you used to use. Done! 2. Use the Roll20 Drawing Tools to make lines and shapes, similar to using a marker on your metric board. Wiki docs for this,&nbsp; <a href="https://wiki.roll20.net/Drawing_Tools" rel="nofollow">https://wiki.roll20.net/Drawing_Tools</a> 3. Start with a blank page, choose a background color, then go into the Roll20 Art Search and type "Map" or perhaps "Caverns" or "Field of grass" or "Castle Map" or "old tavern". When you see a map that you like in the search results, drag it onto your Page and resize it to what you need. Done. If you want to make & create your own custom map that is more sophisticated, with particular hallways and decorations, furniture, chests, traps where you want them, trees where you want them --- this can be done inside Roll20 (using Tiles and art sets from the Art Search). &nbsp;For even greater control you can use an external graphics editor program.

This is a significant help for me, thank you very much. Another issue I have is the custom character sheets. The campaign uses Pathfinder rules for the most part, but there are custom races and classes that have entirely unique rulesets. I've looked the character sheets over but I'm a little confused with how to make the custom ones work the way I would hope, that is primarily on Pathfinder but with a handful of differences.

I would recommend you asking for help in the&nbsp; character sheet forum. Tag the post title with [PF] and include what you need help with such as what formulas have been changed. This will get more specific eyes that are skilled in sheet customization on your post.

Unknown Archon said: This is a significant help for me, thank you very much. Another issue I have is the custom character sheets. The campaign uses Pathfinder rules for the most part, but there are custom races and classes that have entirely unique rulesets. I've looked the character sheets over but I'm a little confused with how to make the custom ones work the way I would hope, that is primarily on Pathfinder but with a handful of differences. It's probably not necessary to use Custom Character Sheets for this, and would probably save you some time if you don't. Can you just ask the Players to write the extra stats/details on the BIO tab of the character instead? (Large free text area). &nbsp;Or as a second option, can you have them write the extra races in one of the empty unpurposed "Notes" fields of the existing PF sheet? Those kinds of workarounds would save you from reprogramming a Custom sheet. If you still want a Custom sheet, follow what Pat said to post in the Character Sheets forum.

Kinda an old post, but I do have one more question. In the introduction, I've been trying for a bit now to put images into it, and no matter how I do it I can't seem to make the images show. I'm not really sure how I'm supposed to do this so Some info on that would be great. I just want to put the image in the intro so that people see it when they're looking at the RP

Unknown Archon said: Kinda an old post, but I do have one more question. In the introduction, I've been trying for a bit now to put images into it, and no matter how I do it I can't seem to make the images show. I'm not really sure how I'm supposed to do this so Some info on that would be great. I just want to put the image in the intro so that people see it when they're looking at the RP Where is your introduction? To help with that, I would like to know, is the place you want to put a picture in your game forum, in the chat, or on the tabletop?

IT's the game forum I think, that area when you click on a game and it has the introduction into what the game is and what it's about, as well as the rules and stuff before it has a list of things where you post to apply to the game.

The LIstening, actually. It's a new homebrew, if you look it up it's called Two Evil, and it's supposed to have images, but right now I think they're just links.

Ok, I understand now. That area is called Game Description. It can use Markdown formatting. &nbsp;I haven't tried it with images, but here is a link for Markdown formatting syntax for placing images: <a href="http://daringfireball.net/projects/markdown/syntax" rel="nofollow">http://daringfireball.net/projects/markdown/syntax</a>... Wiki docs for this, <a href="https://wiki.roll20.net/Game_Management#Game_Descr" rel="nofollow">https://wiki.roll20.net/Game_Management#Game_Descr</a>...

I've tried that and It still doesn't display the image itself, just the link. Could it be that I simply cannot put in the images with markdown text? Although that doesn't seem right cuz I've seen other game descriptions with pictures.

You can post images in the Listing Discussion, but not in a game's description.

Silvyre said: You can post images in the Listing Discussion, but not in a game's description. We'll take a look at the wiki then, because it says you can use Markdown in the game description and links to a Markdown Syntax that includes image code. Thank you Silvyre.

You can use Markdown in those areas, but [Markdown](Images) aren't parsed by design.

Which section is the game listing discussion then, and how do I post the introduction in the description to it?

The Listing Discussion of a Looking for Group Listing functions just like the Community Forums. You could create a new topic, and then post anything you'd like within it, including images (e.g. by using the Insert Image tool on the toolbar). If you then Sticky that topic (by clicking the Sticky button beside the Delete button on the first post of that topic) , it will gain further visibility as well as persist as the first topic on top of that Listing Discussion.

This is strange, because I swear that I've seen game descriptions with pictures in them.

I would just like to add that you should not be afraid to scan any sort of hand-made map and use it in Roll20.&nbsp; A rough hand-made map is just perfect for any setting that's fantasy or low-tech anyway.&nbsp; If you want a more sophisticated look from Renaissance/Age of Exploration/Victorian on up, you can get some cheap or free map-design software. Once you scan it you can add to your play area, but one area that people have a hard time with is aligning maps to the internal grid of the tabletop area.&nbsp; With a little practice you can make squares (or hexes) line up perfectly, and that is specifically addressed with a wiki and video here. <a href="https://wiki.roll20.net/Aligning_Maps" rel="nofollow">https://wiki.roll20.net/Aligning_Maps</a> Oh, and I see that map alignment is also a pinned post at the top of this Forum!&nbsp; It's a common issue/problem/peeve. I like to select the appropriate scale in units per square, and then by using the Ruler tool and holding down ALT, why, I can get exact distances from any point on the map to any other (it does not jump to the nearest square when you hold down ALT).&nbsp; You can even play elegant tricks with a feature called a Rollable Table Token , which is a Token whose picture&nbsp;you can instantly change from a selection list.&nbsp; But the real power of this feature is that a Token can be expanded to any size, so you can actually plunk it down to make it a section of your map, AND change the map once wars shift boundaries or a meteorite hits, or whatever, which looks elegant!&nbsp; You can also enlarge a Token to make a picture slide-show, if that helps tell a story better with fast switching between pictures. Another point to remember is that if you want to make top-view Tokens with see-through areas to blend into the terrain, you should upload a graphic file which is .png.&nbsp; .png files allow "transparent" sections (which you can make with graphics programs like Gimp), but .jpg or .gif will not work.