All,

We've recently gotten into online play and I ran my first game last night. I'm looking for tips especially on the GM side, though I'll happily take ones for player efficiently as well. Here are some things I'd love to get some tips on.

General game play
1. How do you manage the copy of the mod, the map, the stat blocks and damage tracking? I struggled a bit last night even with a second monitor.
2. What do you keep printed if anything?
3. I think it's valuable for the GM to be looking at the camera while doing things like boxed text and RP with the PCs, which requires the information to be right in front of you. Has anyone found a good way to do that while keeping the video chat in front of you as well?

Tokens
1. Is it possible to share recommendations or actual free tokens? I'm not looking to avoid paying for something I should, just trying to establish a set that would be helpful.
2. I had a lot of problems finding anything that looked liked villagers, commoners, etc. I tried a variety of terms. Any suggestions for the search or have specific token recommendations?
3. Character Tokens - I was able to find ok representatives but they could have been better. What terms do you find help sort things down to what you want? Is there a way for example to limit it to fantasy type images?
4. If it's possible to share tokens - either references or directly, do you think it would be worthwhile to identify a set of tokens that work well for a given mod and add that as a reference?
5. What do you find is the best information to use in the bubbles on tokens either for characters or foes? Stamina in the center green circle makes sense. Where do you keep track of the number to differentiate the various identical tokens?

Maps / Layers
1. Is there a way to either add layers or not have all layers as a GM visible at once?
2. What have you found is the best way to manage scene changes for combat? It would be great if you could promote everything from a layer at once. I think it's possible to multi-select tokens such that all of the items on the board can be pulled up at once. Anyone have experience with this?
3. I was not able to get the map squares in HP10 to line up with the map squares in Roll20. I kept the original dimensions from the mod and then resized it within Roll20 to try and get it aligned and failed. Is that simply an issue with the old maps and new ones work better, or am I missing something?

Macros
1. Any recommendations for how to manage macros when there are often a number of adjustments that need to be made - tactical edge, two-weapon fighting, wolf pack tactics, etc.? It can become a fairly significant list very quickly and unwieldy.
2. Any macros you find useful having as a GM?

Miscellaneous
Any other general suggestions to help make things move smoothly? I have requested people log in 15 - 30 minutes in advance just to make sure all the technical issues are resolved before starting play.
I think focusing on using a single chat window in Roll20 is better than splitting between Roll20 and Google Hangouts.

I hope we can use this to improve everyone's online experience.

With a sweep of his hat,

Paul

Here are some of my own thoughts and observations so far. I invite others to add theirs as well.

General Help
The help section for players can be very useful on their website and worth taking at least a quick look at in advance. https://wiki.roll20.net/Getting_Started_Players

The overall help is also good and contains a lot more information on the overall site and capabilities. https://wiki.roll20.net/Main_Page

Dice Rolling
For Arcanis, in general you'll use the command /roll 2d10+d<#>!+<bonus> where <#> is replaced by the die type and <bonus> is replaced by your bonus. So if you're making a mettle check and you've got a d8 for a stat and +3 bonus, it would be /roll 2d10+d8!+3. The exclamation point indicates that the die can explode.

It's also possible to condense the math into a single result # where you see the dice rolled if you hover over it. you use square brackets and don't use the /roll command as the brackets take care of it for you.

Macros
Macros are very helpful to set up in advance. As players are expected to roll using the online features, macros will speed things up. Here are a few macro examples and explanations.

FT2WF+WPT+TE
TWF - Primary (WPT & TE)
Faith's Temper Attack [[2d10+d8!+7]]
Faith's Temper Damage[[d6+d10!+2]]

The first line is the macros name. It does not allow spaces. It's my shorthand for Attack with Faith's Temper(my short sword), Two-Weapon-Fighting with the bonuses for wolf pack tactics and tactical edge added.
The 2nd line "TWF - Primary (WPT & TE)" displays when I run the macro letting me know I've run the right one.
The Attack and Damage are broken out over 2 lines as I believe you're only supposed to have 1 command per line. The labels such as "Faith's Temper Attack" doesn't count.

Init
Initiatve [[{4d10}kl1]]
The structure of this is a bit different because with initiative you're only looking to keep the lowest die. Putting the dice in swiggly brackets and then adding kl1 at the end keeps just the lowest die. kl1 is shorthand for Keep Lowest 1

Met
Mettle [[2d10+d8!+3]]
This is a standard skill check. If you have a number of skills that all operate off the same die type and bonus, you can probably simplify them down to a single one if you want.

When possible, get the link to the campaign the GM is using in advance so you can go in and set up your macros.

Using Macros
There are several different ways to make use of macros during play.
1. Macros bar
2. Token actions
3. Macros list

Macros Bar
To add a macro to the macros bar check the checkbox to the right of the Macros "in bar". The Macros bar shows up at the bottom of your screen and are available constantly. These are good for out of combat actions where you don't have your token selected already. This bar does not wrap, so if you have too many you may not see all of them. There is a scroll bar that appears beneath them if you move your cursor there though allowing you to get to the ones you can't see. The downside is that it's not obvious so unless you know to look for it or happen to discover it, it's hidden.

Token Actions
Inside of the macro there's an option to "Show as Token Action?" If you click yes, these options only appear when you've clicked on a token you control. They appear at the top of your screen and are smaller, so you can fit more in. These will wrap to new lines as opposed to having a scroll bar. It keeps everything visible but could take up more screen space.

Macros List
In the macros list itself there is a small die icon to the left of each macro name. Clicking on this will execute the macro. This doesn't take up any screen space, but can be a bit of a pain to click from the chat window to settings to use the macro and back again.

With a sweep of his hat,

Paul

I'm posting from my phone so this will be a short one, if I get a chance I'll put up more later.

1. You don't need the 'sqiggly brackets' at all for initiative. I use [[3d10kl1]] and it works fine.

2. There is a way for the GM to create different 'pages'. When I GM I always go in a day or two in advance and set up all of my maps on different pages, with my enemy tokens already in place. Roll20 displays the pages along the top of the screen, with a ribbon on the page showing the one the players are viewing. When you want to change pages you just copy the player tokens, and drag the ribbon over to the next map.

3. There are some free resources out there for tokens (just google fantasy token/pog), but I would suggest taking a look at the Roll20 marketplace. There are some really skilled artists that make content, and it is pretty cheap. Personally I like supporting the artists and the platform.

4. For player tokens, if your players are going to be playing regularly, don't be afraid of putting thr onus on them to find a token that works well for their character. If I as a GM have to find a token for someone, it is probably going to be a 'good enough' effort. If they want to have a token that perfectly matches their character, they can go spend the $5-10 it costs to commission one from Devin Night or another artist. No different than bringing your own mini to a table. If the GM has to lend you one, you don't get to complain that it doesn't look exactly like your character.

This has turned out longer than I had planned, so I'm ending it here. Hope this helps.

Oh, and re: tracking damage. You should be able to go into the token permissions and say that only the gm can see their health bar, and then record damage right on the token. Paper and pen works too though.

For players, I would suggest that everyone use the green circle on your token to track damage. Enter your max stamina in both spots and then you can just enter the amount of damage you take as -X when you are hit (where X is damage minus armor) and everyone can see your health bar (or, if you don't want everyone to see it, just leave the "max" slot blank and the bar won't display).