#roll20 presents

[mapdoctor]

Fishing Village [25x25]

New map! The road continues somewhere in the coastal region of your setting when a small fishing village presents itself to the traveling party. The adventurers enter a small, salt-corroded tavern. Soon after they set foot in, a fisherman with a distinct mark on his face approached them, offering the hard-to-refuse quest.

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Roll20

[rustedportal]

SCAVENGE the ruins of Humanity like the Walking Dead, SLAY Damned and Risen Dead like Buffy, and SURVIVE Soulslike danger is a deadly and magic rich Post-Apocalyptic Earth.

[robohaven]

AFFECTION GAME NOW ON ROLL 20!!

Today Affection Game has been published on the @roll20 virtual tabletop games app, and I’m having a ton of emotions (all good ones)!

As a lot of you know: in my spare time, I develop games to assist with communication in relationships.

Affection Game guides you through the mechanics of intentional conversations. The rules require you to thoughtfully invite people to play, choose cards for each session based on your levels of comfort, and practice your listening skills so your companion feels truly heard.

I completed my final update to the card prompts, all of which are based on what I’ve learned through relationships both past and present. I am willing to combat my anxiety with the affection and respect I have for those I love.

You now have 2 ways to play:

Virtually, on the digital game platform Roll 20

In-person, using the physical card game

If you play, let me know how it goes for you! I love to learn how my game integrates into different relationships (even if the result is “this was very difficult”)

Just @ me or something, I wanna know if your hearts were in those cards.

[goadventuremaps]

Hi Hi There.

deep in a cave, resting peacefully, is an ancient but wise dragon, which over time has merged with the rocks of the place.

This dragon knows the present, past and future very well, so if he considers that you are worthy, he will answer your questions, but if not, you will be consumed by his flames

Patrons will receive for each map: high quality images, gridless versions, special version for Roll20, map tokens, color variations, versions without props. PSD of the original map, PDFs for printing the maps, behind the map images and much more.

Become A Patreon!

[rennybu]

Hi there! Maybe this is a weird question, but as an artist and A D&D, I thought you might be a good resource! I'm wanting to commission a portrait of my D&D character for roll20 purposes, but I'm struggling with what refs and such I should gather for the artist. How can I make it as easy as possible for an artist when the character I'm wanting a portrait of isn't human? Would a written description suffice, or are images better? Thank you for whatever advice you have! --sincerely, a Loam enjoyer

DELIGHTFUL QUESTION, not weird at all!!! I hope its okay to publish this in case anyone else was wondering the same :']

Speaking as an artist who's done portrait commissions in the very recent past, a mix of images and written description is a sweet spot. Notes about specific features that the reference images might not show, or might not show accurately, help a lot to avoid retakes and corrections down the line.

Using Loam as an example, I have my own drawings of him I can crop and compile as reference, as well as a human model whose face proportions I like and make sure to include in case the realism is helpful at all to the artist. (The model is. EXTREMELY pale, ginger, and blue-eyed, so it really is just for like, Nose, Mouth, Jaw. FORM!) Then bolster what I've provided with additional reference - for Loam's ears, I have some pictures of cow ears saved for the overall shape and fur texture. AND all his jewelry afgkhfldKLJSHFGLSKD <3 Plus various armors, weathered fabrics, pieces of misc gear that complement and offer more options than what I've presented in my own artwork - to give the artist a range to work within, while still representing what I imagine suits Loam.

Simple notepad or Paint sketches also go a long way in conveying which details/features are most important to include in a given commission!!! Even scribbling over a reference image to be like, "this but PURPLE" is quick and easy. The power of the stick figure/smiley face with annotated doodles is never to be underestimated in communicating a bigger idea!!!!!!

SUMMARY?

Any existing artwork of the character

Any models/actors (or animals, for textures in fur/scales/eyes/teeth, etc etc) with features that are accurate to your image of the character

A simple doodle/sketch of the concept you have in mind

Written notes to consolidate the visuals you've provided and fill in any gaps that might still remain

BONUS? Links to the artist's own work depicting non-human features in a way you enjoyed seeing previously, that made you want to commission them for your character! (this has also helped me in the past with clients wanting lighting/rendering styles, hair, magic effects, etc. similar to pieces I'd done previously)

GO FORTH HAVE FUN!! i hope some of this was a little helpful :'D

[choshasan]

DND question...

Help??

I'm still fairly new-ish to dnd, have some experience, but I'm not an ancyclopedia..

Most recent game was a game zero(?) I think that's what the DM called it, anyway, not the point,

And I made my character, all was well, except, everyone present was pretty fucking tired during the character making, all pretty half asleep, and trying to share one PHB and google with D&D Beyond & Roll20, so I cannot tell if I did something wrong in making my character, if our DM gave me the wrong info, and all I can find of google is "you went wrong somewhere", here's what's the problem;

I'm Lvl 3 bard, I, according to google, should have 6 spells and 2 cantrips?? (4 lvl 1 & 2 lvl 2??)

Buuut, somehow, I wound up having 8 spells and 3 cantrips, and I do not know how. And I didn't note which of my spells were meant to be lvl 2 and which were lvl 1...

So I'm trying to find which is meant to be which, and I just have no clue...

My DM is 1. Currently busy, 2. Has strong ADHD and 3. Was extremely tired and half awake when he helped me make my character, so, Not really gonna get any help from him until next session, which doesn't even have a date yet, but most likely not in the near future, but I've been trynna get everything in order for it, and yeah.. I'm stuck here...

Info about my character;

Race: Asmodeus Tiefling

Class: Lvl 3 Bard

Background: Charlatan

Alignment: Chaotic Neutral

Spells:

Hellish Rebuke

Song of Rest

Charm Person

Disguise Self

Cure Wounds

Dissonant Whisper

Calm Emotion

Enthrall

Cantrips:

Thaumaturgy

Vicious Mockery

Mage Hand

Stats:

Str: 10 (+0)

Dex: 18 (+2)

Con: 14 (+2)

Int: 8 (-1)

Wis: 9 (-1)

Cha: 21 (+5)

Things my DM made me put in Features & traits:

Dark Vision

Hellish Resistence

Mantle of Inspiration

Bardic Inspiration

Jack Of All Trades

Weapons:

Longsword

Daggers

Instruments:

Lyre

Lute

Viola

Languages:

Common

Infernal

Halfling

Elf

Gnome

I would guess the reason I have so many spells may be because I'm an Asmodeus Tiefling?? I remember that giving me extra stuff, I just don't remember exactly what...

Thank you to anyone who's capable of helping!

(My character's name is Barbie btw, he's fun ✨️)

[annazonart]

Going on sale until next year!

Trying to afford holiday presents for loved ones and general bills.

Payment up front (via PAYPAL) but I have a decently fast turnaround!! I need references (unless you want to pay extra for design work).

NSFW - Patrons and mutuals only.

Ocs, dnd characters, furry, anthro, mech, weapons, whatever!

No real people, no gore, no hate.

Roll20 tokens example 👇

They're very small but I pack as much detail into them as I can! :3c

Thank you for any interest! Message if interested!

[podcastingpineapple]

Liveblog for One Scene. Palisade 54, 01:21:30 onwards.

AH FUCK AH TITS AH FUUCK THEY INVITED HER IN?? WAS THIS A TRAP????

"This time She moves not of her own will." Oh fuck. FUCK!!

"You see fear in Elle." OH YEAH? UH-HUH?? YEP. FEAR IN ME TOO.

Amazing. Terrifying. You really didn't read fine print on that contract, Elle!

"We gotta learn how to kill divines D:<" "ELLE, I KNOW WHERE WE ARE GOING!!" (Protective girlfriend win!!!)

And then fucking "What is the goal of this scene?"

Head in hands. Face on the floor.

Sidebar! I am little bit confused why Present can just teleport into the Mirage.

I mean, okay, it is not enough for the Principality that One Divine gets in. Also Present was/is in the Pact, so, you know. Useless I suppose in grand scheme of things. Also also! Arbitrage had a Box with a button on Palisade in a shed, so maybe that is like... a beacon. Or like a gluetrap.

Roll20 hates the cast so much. I hope Evil Keith has given good councel and cori will get out. I am scared.

Aaaaghhh CORI BABYGIRL!!!! THE DICE!!! THIS IS SO MUCH MISFORTUNE!

Divine Present loosing it's elect and fighting cori all the way to the arms of Perennial..... space is kinda sad.

[gnusnoteunuchs]

How is Wallflower going for your group and what kind of mech does Castrati use?

the Wallflower campaign that i was in is on basically a permanent hiatus; some of our players got burned out, and we couldn't keep going. it's a shame, because it was a super fun campaign and we had an awesome GM, but it is what it is

Castrati was running a SSC Emperor for a while, but after it was destroyed in battle he did a homoerotic forging-a-new-weapon montage with the old warrior TERROR to switch to a frame variant of the Emperor that my fellow players homebrewed as a birthday present for me. I really enjoyed the Emperor's whole "ranged support" thing and their frame variant reimagined it as a shorter-ranged, tougher, less focused version that was meant to perform better for close quarters engagements.

I gotta admit, one of the things I miss about that game was that the Emperor was the very first anything i encountered in a TTRPG that genuinely felt like it was mechanically perfect for what I like to play.

anyways, this was the art i did of the Swan Song, Castrati's final mech. The remains of his Emperor have been fused with earthmoving equipment and cast-off shells of native Hercynian fauna to create this awful transformable bug samurai thing. my lovely girlfriend @heartfuldame also did an incredibly cool pixel art kitbash for the roll20 sprite that i hope she will post here

[fantastiskdod]

I am very excited to present this map, For this I thought of an island but that it had a peculiar shape in this case the shape of a crescent.

You can see a preview of all content by clicking here.

If you liked the map, I'd be extremely thankful if you considered supporting me on my Patreon.

Patrons get rewards including high-quality files, optimization for online platforms (Roll20), Gridded & Ungridded versions, map variations, Tokens, Line drawing versions, PSD, PDF, and much more.

[mapdoctor]

Your Everyday Dungeon [40x50]

Dear friends,

I present to you the perfect dungeon for your everyday needs. It's plain and simple, ideal for some dungeon crawling. Rituals, cultists, old books, levers, and tombs full of skeletons? Yes, please!

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Subreddit

[rustedportal]

Coming Soon! AtR: Survivor Starter, a 5th Edition DND Compatible campaign starter for Apocalypse the Risen Campaign Setting. Follow now, back at launch for a free adventure pdf and 6 free Perilous Hunts, deadly encounters, 4 released weekly during the campaign.

[lex1nat0r]

White Elephant: One Quarter of a Double-Cross

AAR #11

Session reports from my ongoing Lancer campaign.

Characters (LL 1):

Raiju (They/Them, Hacker 2/Ace/Centimane, Barbarossa 1) - GMS Everest - Delta

Sunshine (They/Them, Grease Monkey/Technophile/Engineer/Juggernaut, Pegasus 1) - GMS Everest - Exchange of Affection (Player not present this session)

Rook (He/Him, Walking Armory/Stormbringer/Brutal, Balor 1) - GMS Everest - Not Fun By Myself

Daylight (She/Her, Technophile 2/Crack Shot/Infiltrator, Vlad 1) - GMS Everest - Hits Different

Magpie (They/Them, Hacker 2/Technophile 2, Goblin 1) - GMS Everest - General Protection Fault

NHPs:

Molotov - Via Sunshine’s Technophile talent - Projects as a small velociraptor - unshackled

Willow - Via Daylight’s Technophile talent - Projects as 1-2 squid - unshackled

Murgatroid - Via Magpie’s Technophile talent - Projects as a wizard? - shackled

Prev session writeup

Sunshine pilots THUNDER KING with Molotov taking over Exchange of Affection, both of them going to escort fleeing clones and staff away from the facility before the nuke goes off.

Meanwhile, the rest of the lancers move to a different entrance to get vehicles full of clones and staff safely across the badlands before the unknown arrives. But it turns out several of the vehicles have already been disabled by unknown cloaked mechs arriving on foot ahead of the dropship. Daylight orders Security Chief Haase out of her mech and into the nearest vehicle as the lancers make contact with the unknowns. The new arrivals claim to be Blackspine, which immediately gets the lancers on edge as they remember the omninet rumors that Blackspine doesn't actually exist and is just a phantom Neuropa likes to blame its mistakes on. Additionally, Rook's instincts pick up something off about the situation. The 'Blackspine' pilots claim they want to help the clones, so if the lancers could just get all the vehicles in a neat pile their dropship can pick them up. The lancers decide to engage, while claiming that they're remaining loyal to their employer, confusing everyone.

Combat 2.3 How Did You Think This Was Going to Go?

Sitrep: Escort+

OPFOR:

Unholy Disease (Veteran Witch - Chain / Hacker)

Brutal Deceit (Veteran Mirage - Metafold Shove / Hardened Target)

Universal Doom (Veteran Scourer - Flash Lens / Lightning Reflexes)

RPV Grunt Support - Remote Reboot

Scourer x3

Mirage - Manifest False Idols

Outcome: PC Victory (called at the end of round 6 for time)

(Tokens by Retrograde Minis (on the basic blank hex tokens that come with Lancer so they show up well), map by Interpoint Station’s pixel art assets, VTT is Roll20)

In addition to the regular Holdout objective of getting the payload out, I added a secondary objective to protect as many of the other trucks carrying clones as they could, and a tertiary objective of getting data from the cockpit of any of the Veteran mechs they take down. The lancers got the bonuses from accomplishing both - saving more clones got them respect from the other mercs in and around the planet, and the cockpit data definitely proved that these 'Blackspine' pilots were just Neuropa after all.

While I like the roleplaying that happened at the beginning of the combat, I think overall the combat was tighter than it should have been. Escort's kind of tricky - the players only have so many moves to get the payload to safety and that was made worse but putting them on the clock during the roleplay. I should have come out and told the players from the top that if it came to a fight they would have to get the payload to the other end of the map.

Enemy comp was also more difficult than I wanted it to be. Were I to do this combat again, I'd replace the regular Scourers with Assaults and maybe change Unholy Disease from a Witch to a Priest.

Also 6 rounds is about the right length of combat for my group, need to keep that in mind even if it means making smaller maps for sitreps like Escort.

With the payload safely extracted and most of their mechs wrecked (including causing Universal Doom's reactor to meltdown), the Blackspine cut their losses and hop aboard their dropship. The lancers detonate the nuke, destroying the facility and technically fulfilling their contract.

Lt. Nagase aboard the Kingfisher reports more unknown contacts approaching shortly before the lancers receive a broadcast from The Crimson Unlimited, the sector's premier mercenaries, telling them to stand down as Cortex Concord has hired the CU to take the clones and staff into their custody where they can be protected until a Union DoJ/HR team arrives to sort everything out. The lancers turn everyone over except Director Prinzivalli, since she's promised them an extra reward if they can get her to one of the stations in orbit around Sanctuary Blue. The Kingfisher picks up the mechs and shoots off for orbit, Rook grumbling that everyone keeps lying to the group.

Next time: The Pasta Interlude

[goadventuremaps]

Hi Hi there.

During the trip, our characters entered a complex of caves that found an exit in this place, exiting through the cave at the top, upon arrival they find a snowy landscape in the middle of the forest and to their surprise they find a strange altar surrounded by ice spikes.

These crystals need magical energy to function, and they take it from whoever is standing in the center, but prevents them from seeing the events of the present, past or future from anywhere in the world.

This site was used by ancient prophets to warn people about future tragedies and thus prevent them, but it was also used for evil helping those who used it, change the course of history.

today an ancient conjuring lobri is necessary to be able to use it, in addition to the fact that only a sorcerer skilled with ice magic will be the one who must perform the ritual.

Patrons will receive for each map: high quality images, gridless versions, special version for Roll20, map tokens, color variations, versions without props. PSD of the original map, PDFs for printing the maps, behind the map images and much more.

Become A Patreon!

[open-hearth-rpg]

Cards (Generative): Great RPG Mechanics #RPGMechanics

Prologue

One of the great tragedies of moving to online play has been making certain ttrpg elements more challenging. There’s the obvious: not being able to fully see & grok other players’ body language and the tactile element of a shared table with books & sheets in your hand. But there are also system elements made difficult like maps and shared dice rolling. While these particular issues had been solved by various VTTs and apps, there’s a cost in ease. For me it’s more work to assemble an electronic map and tokens than to grab stuff off the shelf. 

Cards in rpgs are a tougher issue for online play. There have been apps to manage standard playing decks, but unique ones present more of a challenge. I’ve played quite a bit with the Roll20 app– and it works for some purposes but not for others. And, even with the ability to make unique electronic decks, you still don’t have the tactility– the sense of holding, shuffling, and managing your cards. The various board game simulators have aimed to replicate this, with varying success.

On Cards

Cards in tabletop rpg play usually have three possible functions: reference, generation, and resolution. I’ll talk about their place as a heightened randomizer tomorrow. Today I want to cover the cool ways in which they’re used to create worlds and set things up. 

The earliest memory I have of someone doing this was an old-school player who picked up D&D in the mid-1970s as a college student. He ran a campaign where he would do a tarot reading and then based on that modify your stats, give you a family background, and assign you traits. It was simultaneously exciting and disempowering. 

I had that in mind years later when I sketched out a tarot for our ongoing fantasy world. I mocked up cards and wrote up meanings for the whole deck, based on the history we developed. Eventually I used that as a prompt system for generating NPCs. You would draw three cards and then sketch out a character based on those elements. 

That’s not unlike the approach taken by The Story Engine. It’s both a writing and a roleplay tool. The original one is a collection of prompts, which is interesting and probably a useful tool for doing in-depth session planning. But I’m more intrigued by The Deck of Worlds. This offers set of world-building elements and prompts. You stack and build up details on the tiles, creating an interesting picture. It’s beautifully put together. 

Likewise we’ve seen a variety of cards as tiles used for generating random dungeons and wilderness areas. I can imagine a Hexcrawl done like this, letting the GM create the terrain as they go. I’m certain those are already out there. These generators make use of the strength of cards: the richness of information possible on them. They’re a step forward from the classic random roleplaying tables. 

With cards, instead of a simple prompt, you can easily add more text, sub-tables, and graphical information. You elevate the randomizer. If you want to increase utility, you can use both sides or have the orientation of the cards impact the results. It’s a great way to bring tables to life– but does have the disadvantage of a more serious investment of energy. There’s a big difference between a multicolumn, one-page table and a version of that table done as a deck of cards. Speaking as someone who has accumulated a lot of RPG reference cards, I can attest that the space and storage component can become an issue– beyond the question of how many times you’ll actually need to use the deck…

But two recent games build the use of cards directly into the set up in an interesting way. Alice is Missing uses cards to establish the world. It’s clever because of how the cards to impart information and keep the play silent. You have character, clue, suspect, and location cards. The particular combination of those dramatically affects the story being told: what & when those appear. 

Likewise Zombie World offers an cool approach to using cards as building blocks. A checklist card of elements guides the collaborative creation of the PCs’ enclave. But more interesting is the random set up which frames the whole game. Players are dealt four cards: 1 Past, 2 Present, and 1 Trauma. The first and the last of these they can look at, but are kept facedown. From the Present cards, describing who their character is now, each player picks one and turns it face up, discarding the other.

The decks are substantial for these– expanded by a couple of supplements. Based on the mix of their three cards players come up with character details and background. After introductions another set of cards is dealt out between players. This describes a relationship between the two of them. They then negotiate and work out the details. Once play actually begins, one of the goal each player has is to hit their trigger and reveal their Past and Trauma cards. 

I love the way the use of the cards reinforces the themes of play. Character creation is super fast– you can set up and get to playing in 15 to 30 minutes, depending on the group. That’s the kind of energy you want going into a horror game like this. Zombie games lean into “we are our own worst enemies,” and the hidden elements of characters reinforce that. Characters are rich, but they are also disposable. If you die early, generating a new character is the work of a few moments. The cards also factor into resolution, but I’ll come to that tomorrow. 

For a time Magpie had a sci-fi version of the Zombie World system on their docket. That seems to be in limbo now– perhaps the form factor of ZW didn’t do as well as they hoped or perhaps the success of the Avatar rpg washed everything else away. It’s too bad because right now, with the success of Among Us, a sci-fi take on these mechanics could be awesome.

[roll20]

Coming Soon to a Livestream Near You!

Next month be prepared for the adventure of a lifetime. GM Shareef Jackson is bringing a whole new cast together to explore the world of Kids on Bikes. Come meet them and get hyped alongside them for a collaborative story-telling roleplaying game full of ordinary people grappling with strange, terrifying, and very, very powerful forces. Join them all on February 15 at 8am PT (4pm UTC) as they begin their journey together!

Meet the cast:

Shareef Jackson (Game Master) is a STEM diversity advocate who enjoys video games and TTRPGs! Follow him at shareefjackson.com, http://twitter.com/shareefjackson, or http://twitch.tv/reefjackson for links to his work.

My goal is to use the Kids on Bikes system to build a world that everyone can participate in.  I also want to promote a diverse cast of players, as well as in game characters, to show that tabletop RPGs can be enjoyed by everyone. - Shareef

Markeia McCarty is a geek & gaming host, TTRPG player/DM, improviser (UCB, iO, Second City) and is also a Marketing Manager for Hunters Entertainment. She's played on a variety of TTRPG shows including Critical Role, Geek N Sundry, and HyperRPG. She narrates and story edits the animated horror series, Something Scary, on YouTube (youtube.com/snarled). Tuesdays 6pm PT, she RPGs on Hunters Entertainment Twitch (http://twitch.tv/huntersentertainment ). Twitter/IG: @markeiamccarty, Twitch: DarthMarkeia

One of the things I'm excited about with this upcoming Kids on Bikes campaign is the wonderful diversity representation. Differing ethnicities, gender identities and backgrounds both on & behind the scenes. Not only that, but we'll have the feel good pleasure of having a Kids On Bikes campaign where yes, anything thrilling can happen (like Space Robots, possessed toasters, and aliens that can do the Tango) but also real social commentary can be done with knowledgeable and experienced people co-creating together. The possibilities are pretty beautiful and I'm excited to be a part of it. - Markeia

Xu Mason is a bilingual first generation Asian American actress/writer/comedian. She came up through the Chicago improv scene, where she studied at The Annoyance, iO, and The Second City. She has been on multiple iO Harold Teams, and was a 2019 Second City in conjunction with NBC Universal Bob Curry Fellow. Her writing has been found in Points in Case, Belladonnas, Flexx Mag, and Funny-ish. She currently plays games online with her improv team StirFriday Night, and more. Find her on twitter and instagram at @hellotherexu. 

I love collaborative world building. I think it's so much fun to create and explore a world together, using one tid bit here to fuel another. Setting the mood, and creating something zany, fun, and lovely - or all three. It's almost like improv, but only for my head and shoulders. - Xu

Noir Enigma is a voice actor, streamer, musician and improvisor. He has studied at Chicago's iO, Westside Theater, and Second City. He is the Nerdy host of Critical Misses' Morning Ritual, creator and Game Master for Kobold Presses Into the Southlands, Magpies Second City Saviors and The Lonely Throne a 5th Edition game in his created setting of Gloria on Thursdays on his twitch channel. He is the Social Media Manager for LFM Network and can be found at twitter/twitch/youtube as @TheNoirEnigma.

What I’m most excited about is trying out this new system. Kids on Bikes is something that I’ve heard so much about but never got to get my hands on until now. Plus I get that added benefit of playing this new system with such amazing players, I have not played a single game with any of the cast so this is so terribly exciting that I can’t wait. I know we’re going to bring something special together and I can’t wait for you all to see it! - Noir

Kailey Bray is a Juilliard-trained actor from Ottawa, Canada. She is the creator and Game Master of Damsels, Dice, and Everything Nice, the Princess RPG parody. In addition to Damsels, she’s the Community Manager for AMC's Walking Dead Twitch Channel, and a producer for Hyper RPG and Pixel Circus. (Twitter: @hapabarbarian)

I’ve never gotten to play Kids on Bikes and I’ve always wanted to try! I love the collaborative world building aspect of the system and I can’t wait to see what we all create together! - Kailey

Premieres February 15 | 8am PT (4pm UTC) | twitch.tv/roll20app