Comments

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  Curufea

  Posts: 161 November 2010

  There already is a dice roller. Look up at the banner at the top of the page, on the right are two dice, just after the link for "blog".
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  okami00

  Posts: 4 January 2011

  But not a dice roller that will share results with your DM? Or am I missing something? Which is easy to do, given my computer skills...
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  igornappovich

  Posts: 76 January 2011

  actually that could be really cool, if somehow you could add a button to the existing dice roller so that it knows to post your roll into a specific forum thread within your campaign. That way even DMs who dont use their campaign forums much currently might be tempted to use it more often (and encourage players to use it too).
  
  It would be easy enough for a DM to create a short post asking for the players to respond with a description of their action, and a d20 roll result.
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  MGMT

  Posts: 1 January 2011

  Oh yeah. I'd go premium if I could use the forums that way for pbp.
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  Duskreign

  Posts: 1,085 January 2011

  I have to admit that this feature would be pretty neat, if it could be implemented easily enough. A dice roller that allows everyone in a campaign to see the results would be great, regardless of the section its in. I think in the interim, we could have "this link":http://dicelog.com/dice on our pages to set up with players in a given forum.
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  RaseCidraen

  Posts: 890 January 2011

  I actually have a great link that gaaran found that we're going to be using in my new campaign - it allows for a "dice room" to be open in a separate HTML link - which is kind of awesome. WIth private rooms!
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  VentureSix

  Posts: 30 January 2011

  Invisible Castle is a great online dice rolling resource. http://invisiblecastle.com
  Pretty fantastic for PbP games!
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  igornappovich

  Posts: 76 January 2011

  Thanks for the links guys. The problem I have though is a practical one, in that its pretty hard to get everyone in a PnP group to use a website to supplement the RL sessions. Of course some will love it, and some wont want to use it at all in most instances. I just think, my own personal opinion here, that if Obsidian Portal is able to integrate/ steal/ incorporate some more of these little tweaks and features then it would make it much more likely to be a tool that actually gets used a lot in campaigns by everyone in the gaming group instead of being primarily a DM resource with some player involvement. I know, there are exceptions to this of course.
  
  Its just a lot easier to get someone reluctant to use online resources to follow One link to a one stop shopping type place rather than a list of links no matter how short that list is. People get brain lock and immediately decide its not worth it once you go beyond one site a lot of times. I used to keep a website for my campaigns, that players could read, upload too, etc but it didnt really have features, it was just a public record keeping tool. Whenever I tried to add links or have them use other resources, it triggerred the lazy gene that is inherent in most humans.
  
  So yeah, I just think it would be easier overrall to get more users, and to get existing users to start paying a fee, if they didnt have to use other websites for some of the basic stuff you might want to do in an online d and d setting. Since they already have the dice roller, just wondering what kind of controls would need to be written to have it, say, write to an already open forum posting, or maybe just a separate forum entry called dicelog that records the username , timestamp, and die roll-- in order to be a built in anti cheat control.
• 

  Duskreign

  Posts: 1,085 January 2011

  Nobody is disagreeing with you. We're just offering alternatives until Obsidian Portal does offer these features.
  
  It wasn't their intention for this to be a PbP hub, but simply a data repository. We all find ways to make it more than it was originally intended to be, and that's awesome. Obsidian Portal is growing with us, but as with any organic relationship, there are bound to be growing pains.
  
  Micah, Ryan, and the others hear you. They have plans... big ones... for Obsidian Portal's further development. However, they also have primary jobs outside of this site, and other commitments demanding their attention. They address concerns like this as frequently and ferociously as they can, so I feel confident you will see a dice roller feature in our forums eventually.
  
  Until then, put your DMing foot down and get your players to cooperate with you in using one of these fine alternatives.
  
  I also have lazy players. I'll write something, send it to everyone, and more than half will tell me "Nah, I didn't get a chance to check that out." or "I skimmed it." or what have you. It's frustrating, and yes, it's very human-naturey. I began to quiz people at the table, surreptitiously, to see if they actually read and retain what I write for the game. The people who actually follow through on these relatively minor commitments earn my respect, as well as in-game bounties. The people who can't make the time to simply do what they said they would (i.e. - take fifteen minutes to read something I wrote just for them) are going to feel the fury of a DM scorned. Really, how much are you asking your players? You're asking them to integrate an external dice roller, which shouldn't take more than five minutes of their time. If they can't do that for you, why waste your time with them? If you're not worth five minutes of their time, they aren't worth five seconds of yours.
  
  I want a lot of features, too. I want sticky threads in the forums, specifically, as well as the ability to have secret discussions in our forums shared only among a select group of players. Until I get them, I'll happily use the tools as they are offered, and find alternatives wherever I can.
• 

  Dyluth

  Posts: 92 January 2011

  I agree with everything you've said Dusk, in particular the fact that if your not worth five minutes of a players time, they shouldn't be worth five seconds of yours. In fact, that's a quite decent life lesson in general as well when one thinks about it ;).
• 

  Duskreign

  Posts: 1,085 January 2011

  I have come to realize that 99% of what I write is written for people who are 1% likely to read it. That's why catching up on my adventure logs has been so difficult for me. I don't write succinctly, as you may know. I prepare every session as if it is the chapter of a novel, or an act in a play, or, as in my Star Wars game, an episode in a saga. My logs average 4,000 - 5,000 words, and they take me hours, sometimes days, to put together in a sensible, dramatically appropriate way. In Wyrmshadow Adventures - War is Hell, for example. all the logs are written in first-person perspective from the point of view of one-time NPC and current PC Khulvos, a Minotaur Monk. Not only am I recounting the events of the sessions, but I am doing so in the voice of a specific character, essentially role-playing my adventure logs as if I were that character recording his thoughts into a journal.
  
  None of my players are stupid, or slow, or uneducated. They can all read. The average human reads about 300 words per minute. Hours to days for me to write... about fifteen minutes for my players to read.
  
  And for the most part, none of them do.
  
  I wasn't really thinking of what I said... the five minutes/five seconds thing... as words to live by. I'm honestly just a little jaded, and was expressing that in my post. However, in retrospect, I suppose it wouldn't be such a bad policy to adopt on a more regular basis.
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  RaseCidraen

  Posts: 890 January 2011

  Hey Dusk! I can guarantee a 14.3% Read-through rate on everything you've written for Dark Queen! (Wait, no, that could just mean you read your own work...)
  
  Minimum of 28.6% read through (guaranteed), but likely approaching 100%. You spend a lot of time on your works, and I appreciate it! You write well, and I'm trying to work my way through reading all of Wyrmshadow, but it's slow going, as there's a lot of stuff there!
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  Poutine_Paladin

  Posts: 285 January 2011

  Add another 14% to Dark Queen, Dusk...and I echo Rase's assertion of Wyrmshadow. I'll get through it eventually. I see your frustration though, I guess...from what you're saying it sounds like the people here read more of your stuff than the ones that writing is aimed at.
  
  Maybe this will help:
  
  No time that you spend being creative is wasted time, my friend. Even if you were to be the ONLY one to EVER read what you're putting down...it's the act of writing it that is important. I've got tons of writing that I don't even intend for anyone else to read, but in no way would I think that it wasn't worth taking the time to do. Continue to engage your creativity (like as if you had any plans to stop) and try to get the most out of it for YOURSELF, and then if anyone else gets anything out of it....it's just gravy.
  
  mmmmm, gravy.
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  RaseCidraen

  Posts: 890 January 2011

  Hear hear Poutine! That's a most excellent way of looking at it - the only time wasted is the time we care nothing about. Mistakes are not time wasted, because we care that we made them. Creativity is the ultimate outlet of universal awesomeness!
• 

  FemmeLegion

  Posts: 521 January 2011

  Rase, I'm quoting that last sentence in one of my email signatures. Should I simply credit it to "Rase Cidraen"? You're welcome to PM me if you'd like it attributed to something else.
• 

  RaseCidraen

  Posts: 890 January 2011

  Femme,
  
  Feel free to attribute it to the titular Rase :)
• 

  Hotspur8

  Posts: 6 June 2011

  I did a test of the dice roller. The two big fuzzy dice at the top. Easy to use and cut and paste.
  
  1. Click on the dice
  2. In the Dice to Roll box, type in the #d(20), then hit go.
  3. You can even add numbers. (example 1d20 + 5), or (4d6 + 12)
  4. Highlight, right click, then copy.
  5. Paste the results.
  
  Roll: 1d20
  17
  Roll: 3d20
  28 = 7[d20]20[d20]1[d20]
  Roll: 2d20
  14 = 9[d20]5[d20]
  Roll: 1d20 + 5
  13 = 8[d20]5
  Roll: 4d6 + 12
  30 = 2[d6]6[d6]4[d6]6[d6]12
  
  Easy Breezy. Note: The screen holds five rolls before you get a scrollbar attached.
• 

  GamingMegaverse

  Posts: 2,999 June 2011 edited June 2011

  Dusk-
  Even if your players don't read it, some of us read it... I have a series of campaigns that I read regularly- it has taken the place of some mags & blogs I used to read. Your detail and point-of-view is enjoyed!
  Victor
  
  "A God...Rebuilt":http://www.obsidianportal.com/campaigns/a-god-rebuilt

  Post edited by GamingMegaverse on June 2011

  Just trying to help out.

  
• 

  Duskreign

  Posts: 1,085 June 2011

  KillerVP, that means more to me than you could possibly know.
• 

  arsheesh

  Posts: 850 June 2011

  Awe Dusk, great to see you buddy. I know you're busy these days, but honestly, just seeing your avitar every now and again really brightens my day.
  
  Cheers,
  -Arsheesh
• 

  RaseCidraen

  Posts: 890 June 2011

  Indeed! I haven't seen you around in a while, which makes for one sad Rase.
• 

  Duskreign

  Posts: 1,085 June 2011

  To quote a certain famous halfling, of late, I've felt like butter scraped over too much bread.
  
  But I miss you guys, too. Believe me, I think of you all the time.
• 

  RaseCidraen

  Posts: 890 June 2011

  I hear if you mix yourself with additional butter, things get easier. Or if you eat some of the bread, that way it'll decrease the spreading.
  
  As always, man, let me know if I can do anything for you. I've got some awesome projects I'm itching to tell you about!
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  Poutine_Paladin

  Posts: 285 June 2011

  I like bread, too, Dusk. Obviously don't know what's keeping you so busy, but others can help out sometimes, my friend.
• 

  Grisha

  Posts: 2 August 2011

  Duskreign, if you want your players to read your adventure log put something they don't actually know in it. I usually use their knowledge skills (and other rp skills like sense motive and gather info) to give them a slight advantage for next time. Like knowing that the wizard they are about to battle "sometimes" sends his elven servant to buy spell components from the passing traders or that he is known to burn people alive.
  
  It won't motivate all of them, because I'm sure DND is not what they breathe and live (that's only for us, the DMs to experience) but it will be get the majority in.
  
  
  
  But back to the topic, I would also really like to have an integrated dice roller so my players and my posts could be posts with dice results.
  
  Hotspur8, what you have suggested would work in a perfect world. Unfortunately we dont live in one and so you or you players could just re-roll and post the more favourable dice roll. As a DM it shouldn't be a problem, but I can see some players getting consistently good rolls during important moments.