This article is a work-in-progress by its author and not yet finished.
Check the discussion tab to see if more information is provided. Please remove this message when no longer necessary.
|
Overview
http://www.d20pro.com/
d20pro is role-playing software a lot like Fantasy Grounds 2. It is surely one of the better FG2 alternatives out there, but like all software like this, has its own quirks.
| TODO: | | Provide well-rounded overview. |
Licensing
GM typically buys a license with enough guest licenses such that players can connect for free. Players can buy a player license to make up for the DM not having enough free slots available.
Tips
Import things to know about d20pro:
First joining the game:
When you join, the first thing you'll want to do is to launch the two main windows.
- Click the d20pro button in the top left (this is your Start Menu, pretty much)
- Choose Game Log
- Go back and also choose Roster
- Resize the two windows for convenience out of the way (I like the roster to be thin and wide)
The game/chat window, which has tabs for All, Game, and Chat. Use the All tab unless you want to filter the information for convenience.
Main interface tips:
- Show your PC action menu: Right-click on your character(s) for the context menu
- See character quick info: Hover over their picture (get in the habit of this!)
- View character sheet: Select your character and type E
- Loading Lag: If you see an hourglass icon in the top right, you're loading something big (map, picture, etc). Please wait!
Comparisons to FG2
Things you will hate about d20pro
- Players have no control over their character sheets. DM does most of that.
- All chat typed into the chat box is considered OOC! In-character chat is handled like this:
- To chat IC, select your character.
- Press T for Talk. Enter your text and click the button to send it.
- If you don't want to click the button, hit CTRL+S for quick sends, etc.
- GUI is not 100% intuitive (but won't feel totally unfamiliar)
Things you will love about d20pro
- GM will love the tile-based map creator
- Effects are tracked with their own duration timers. DM can see the entire list (screenshot on the right) while players can hover over their character to see their effects.
- Movement management is pretty cool
- Runs on Linux, OSX, and Windows
Other things
- Pros:
- Very easy to import graphical assets for creatures, maps, handouts, etc
- Supports PDF handouts and URL handouts
- All combat rolls are managed by the interface
- GM approves all rolls explicitly
- Reconnects due to net issues are pretty seamless for players
- Cons:
- Only shows the players one map at a time (helpers: world map can be a pic handout, avoid lots of small maps)
- No Notes
- No GM handout notes (helpers: use text-block notes in chat, or use d20pro's PDF/url/txt handout features)
- No cross-player collaboration via notes (helpers: effect management makes this less needed, use a wave URL handout)
- No easy/visual reach indicator for mobs
- No way to share effect templates, each player saves their own templates locally.
- Neither here nor there:
- Tile-based fog of war management (cool, but sometimes revealing half a grid cell would be cool)
- Network indicator
