The Immaterial Plane

A Short Update

2011-12-07T22:17:00.001-05:00

I've been pretty quiet on this blog for sometime as I've been almost entirely consumed with work, family, and writing Life After Death, a zombie survival horror campaign to be published by Reality Blurs. Sean Preston has been a phenomenal mentor throughout the writing process, and I really believe we have something unique to offer the genre while cleaving closely to its core themes.

On the side, I've also been working more on my Savage Eberron adaptation, but it got to the point where content had to be pulled from published sources to make it feel more complete. As a result, I haven't published those updates so as not to infringe on any publisher's copyright. I might be inclined to create a version of the documents in which I cite content and their sources rather then present the content directly.

One exciting addition to the Savage Eberron game is the inclusion of some material from the Horror Companion. This book is almost like a Fantasy Companion 2 in many respects with its additional spells, rituals, and other useful options. I'll probably write a summary post about which parts I reference for Savage Eberron.

I'll try to post more regularly now that my draft of Life After Death is nearly complete.

Savage Eberron: Sins in Eberron

2010-12-11T21:51:00.006-05:00

Savage Worlds includes Minor, Major, and Mortal Sins in Arcane Background (Miracles). In a nutshell, this is a punishment applied when a Holy Warrior or Champion (or any character with Arcane Background (Miracles)) commits an act that goes against the tenets of his or her faith. The description in the Savage Worlds rules describes this as the character's deity forsaking him.

This idea works easily enough in a setting such as Greyhawk or Forgotten Realms in which the gods walk the earth and directly engage with the affairs of mortals, but Eberron's approach to religion is strictly built upon the faith of mortals. That's not to say the deities don't exist; we just don't see them walking across the surface of Eberron and directly interacting with mortals. If the gods actually exist, they simply do not present themselves physically.

Secondly, some faiths follow an idea rather than a specific deity such as the Cults of the Dragon Below or the Blood of Vol. The Lord of Blades is also regarded as a divine being by his followers even though he is a mortal being in actuality.

In addition to the ambiguity of whether or not the gods actually exist, clerics (speaking in D&D terms now) are not restricted from casting spells of opposing alignments to his own either according to the Eberron Campaign Setting [D&D v3.5].

With the above in consideration, one could argue that there shouldn't be any penalties for Minor, Major, and Mortal Sins. Where does that leave the check and balance for keeping devout followers from committing acts that contradict the tenets of their faith?

An alternative is to embrace the concept of a faith-driven power that comes from within instead of being bestowed by an external deity. A Champion might commit an act that is against his true faith, but even having an inkling of doubt about his actions might induce a -2 penalty to his Faith roll. If he commits a Major Sin, it could rattle his faith enough to prevent him from using any powers for a week. If he does something that completely undermines everything for which his faith stands (i.e. - a Mortal Sin), he should feel compelled to complete quest or task of atonement to regain his powers. (This last case could be an opportunity to change faiths as well.)

What do you think? Would you use Minor, Major, and Mortal Sins in your Savage Eberron game, or would you ditch the concepts altogether for your interpretation of faith in Eberron?

A New Legendary Edge for Savage Worlds

2010-11-19T11:30:00.000-05:00

Legendary Awesomeness

Requirements: Legendary

You are so legendary that you are awesome! Because of how awesome you are, you can take any Edge as long as you meet the requirements. Each Edge you take makes you even more awesome and legendary!

Updates for Savage Eberron

2010-11-07T21:51:00.008-05:00

Inspiration struck, and I decided to revisit some of the previously written material for Races and Edges. I also created a new section regarding magic that covers adds Druidism (with Eberron's druid sects) and a presentation of Weird Science specifically tailored Arcane Backgrounds.

In general, I'm learning quite a bit about designing for Savage Worlds' game mechanics. Believe it or not, there is an art to it, the skill for which only develops by reading and understanding the design decisions behind certain rules. Working with Reality Blurs, and in particular Sean Preston, has given me a lot of insight into some of those things.

As such, I decided to revisit some of this Savage Eberron stuff that I had done before, flexing those design muscles a bit, pulling the bits apart, and rebuilding things based on what I've assessed from the core rules and other supplements.

Shifters and Shifter Edges

I cleaned up the Shifters a bit. I'm still feeling uncertain about the idea of the shifting duration and frequency and extending it with Shifter Edges. I feel like it works, but it's trying too hard to mimic the D&D v3.5 rules. Savage Worlds doesn't typically deal with per-day abilities. An alternative is to base it on Power Points, a model which I might tackle in the near future. Other than that, I think I did a decent job of balancing the effects of the shifting abilities (renamed from shifter traits to avoid confusion with Savage Worlds Traits). You might find some a little more powerful than others, but I tried to balance that against the likelihood of opportunities to use that ability.

Warforged and Warforged Background Edges

I completely revamped warforged. I had a lot of difficulty with warforged since I started this project. When I started, I was trying very hard to keep with D&D v3.5's definition of a "living construct" be creating a new Monstrous Ability and designing it based on the concepts in the v3.5 Eberron Campaign Setting.

As ridiculous as this might sound, it wasn't until recently that I realized living constructs in Eberron aren't regarded as such because they can be partially healed with healing magic or because they don't have all of the characteristics of constructs. Those are just concepts supporting game balance in D&D v3.5. Instead, it's the idea that warforged are sentient, conscious, and emotional constructs. They can think freely. They feel emotions. Those are concepts that come out in story and play, not in game mechanics. As such, I completely removed the Living Construct Monstrous Ability and simply made warforged constructs, plain and simple.

Other Edges

While looking at the edges, you might also notice that I added some Wild Card Edges based on the Action Boost and Action Surge feats from the v3.5 Eberron Campaign Setting. These aren't direct translations as much as they are reinterpretations for Savage Worlds. I'm still unsure how I feel about Wild Card Edges in general, but they are presented as options nonetheless.

You'll also notice two Professional Edges: a revised Gadgeteer Edge, which was tailored for artificers, and the Ascetic Psion Edge, which is based on the Fantasy Companion's Adept Edge but tailored for Kalashtar characters.

Magic

As mentioned above, here you will see two Arcane Backgrounds presented: Druidism and Weird Science. Inspired mechanically by Hellfrost's interpretation of Druidism, it also includes unique spells for the different druidic sects. I'm a little uncertain about the Greensingers' list, but I'll revisit that some other time.

Weird Science isn't changed much from the core rules except that I worded it to suit Eberron specifically, noting that practitioners of Weird Science are known as Artificers. I'm still working on a predefined list of powers for artificers, but that shouldn't be too hard to come up with.

I also added a revised version of Schemas to the document. The original version was missing some details and had some funky stuff going on with the Gadgeteer Edge that I stripped out in this new version. The details added include cost and time for creating schemas and effects of a failed Weird Science roll.

There are probably some other hidden updates here and there.

Savage Eberron: Magewrights and Schemas

2010-08-23T11:40:00.008-04:00

I just posted a reply on the Pinnacle forums regarding mass production of magic items in a steampunk setting. The original post had an idea that closely resembled the role of magewrights and schemas. In my reply, I quickly drafted a model that could be used in a Savage Worlds Eberron adaptation, and I wanted to post it here to share with others.

Defining Magewrights

Magewrights could be written up as a Professional Edge, but I think leaving it as a title for an archetype would be good enough. One could suggest that a magewright is simply a character who only has the Arcane Background (Weird Science) Edge but not the Gadgeteer Edge.

Defining Schemas

For schemas, we simply create a new magic item called that is something of a mix between a scroll and tome (see Treasure in the Savage Worlds Fantasy Companion) that doesn't disappear after use (note: tomes don't disappear, but scrolls do). In other words, a schema is a scroll for creating a device, but acts as a tome in that it effectively gives a new power to the character who uses the schema; however, the character cannot recreate the device if the schema is lost.

I'd also require a character to have the Arcane Background (Weird Science) Edge to understand the designs and notations of schematics rather than allow anyone with any Arcane Background to use it as this would maintain the distinction of its function and flavor.

Here is the final result written in the context of Eberron:

Schema: A schema is a magical technical description containing a design, notations, and patterns for reproducing a magical device. Only a character with the Arcane Background (Weird Science) Edge is able to use a schema with a successful Weird Science roll. It takes a small amount of time to create a device using a schema (determined by the GM, but at least 1d6 minutes).

An artificer or magewright can create a schema just like any other device using the Arcane Background (Weird Science) Edge. Only an artificer may use the Gadgeteer Edge to create a rough draft of a schema with the limitations inherent to the Gadgeteer Edge itself. An artificer or magewright may duplicate a schema with a successful Weird Science roll.

Google Photos Blog: Picasa 3.6 Now with Collaborative Albums

2009-12-08T17:12:00.001-05:00

In Gaming with Picasa Web Albums, I mentioned a tip about using the Picasa desktop software to synchronize albums. I also mentioned the option to collaborate with albums. One thing I omitted was that Picasa 3.5 didn't properly support it. Well now Picasa 3.6 does. Read on to learn more.

Google Photos Blog: Picasa 3.6: Now with collaborative albums

"In August, 2009, we released collaborative albums for Picasa Web Albums, making it possible for multiple people to add pictures to the same album. Since the easiest way to upload to Picasa Web Albums is using the Picasa software, we're happy to announce that in Picasa 3.6 you can upload photos and videos directly to friends' collaborative albums. Just select your photos, click the 'Upload' button, and select 'Contribute to a friend's album.' Type the name of your friend and Picasa will show you the albums to which you have permission to contribute."

Rune RPG: Video Game and RPG

2009-10-25T22:55:00.001-04:00

I was digging through a box of old PC games that I had saved, all of which were among my favorites, and two of which were Rune and Rune: Halls of Valhalla. For those not in the know, Rune was a FPHnS (first person hack-n-slash) based on Norse mythology, and a gruesome one at that. Halls of Valhalla was an expansion strictly for arena play.

While installing the game, I visited the old Human Head Studios Rune web site, and I discovered a forgotten tidbit. Atlas Games had produced an RPG based on Rune. I immediately cursed myself. Why did I not buy this RPG when it was available? Oh, that's right. I was stuck in D20 land. *sigh*

Now I kick myself for this RPG is no longer in print. I did find copies on Amazon for $20 from third-party sellers, but I haven't investigated it much further. My hope was that it was available somewhere in PDF format so that others could purchase and play this RPG as well. So far, I've had no luck finding.

Something crossed my mind, however. I have no idea if this RPG is any good. So, I turn to you, RPG community. What do you know about the Rune RPG?

Gaming with iGoogle

2009-10-22T06:01:00.001-04:00

Now that we have accumulated a list of Google provided tools and services, we need a place to quickly access them all. iGoogle, Google's free personal and customizable portal, is the answer. In this article, we will look at how iGoogle will provide a dashboard interface for almost all of your needs when Gaming with Google.

Accessing iGoogle

As was the case in all of the previous articles, the first thing you will need to do is log into iGoogle with your Google Account. Once you have logged in, you will be presented with some prepopulated content. This is a good starting point to understand how iGoogle works.

iGoogle Anatomy

There are several components to the iGoogle interface. On the far left, you have tabs with each tab having a drop list of the gadgets residing on that tab. If this is the first time you have logged into iGoogle, you will have a single tab labeled "Home."

The center of iGoogle's interface is where you will see and arrange various gadgets. Arranging gadgets is extremely easy. Simply drag the gadgets from their title bars and drop them wherever you would like to place them. If you have more than one tab and would like to move a gadget from one tab to another, you simply drag a gadget onto the tab name on the left.

Chat

You might also notice a little chat gadget floating beneath the column of tabs on the left. You should see a listing of your contacts that you have created previously. iGoogle provides an instant messaging tool via Google's Google Talk/Gmail chat/iGoogle Chat network. I did not write up an entire article about this as it is relatively self explanatory, but you should at least know that the chat list is a reflection of your Google Contacts, and if you are using a Gmail account as your Google Account, your chats are automatically archived in the Chats folder in Gmail. The Chat tool also allows you to conduct group chats with two or more of your contacts. You could also use this tool to have secret conversations with the GM or with other players in your gaming group during a game session.

Adding Gadgets

Now we get on to the fun stuff. Essentially, we are going to add a gadget for each of the services we have covered so far. Adding a gadget is extremely simple. In the lower right corner of the Google banner, just above the main content area, there is a link labeled "Add a gadget." Clicking that link will provide a new user interface that provides you with tons of gadgets to add. To create your very own Gaming with Google dashboard, search for and add the following gadgets.

Google Groups

The Google Groups gadget displays a list of Google Groups in which you are a member. This list can be sorted alphabetically or by new messages.

Google Calendar

The Google Calendar gadget displays a monthly calendar with an agenda below it. Editing the settings allows you to enable or disable the mini-calendar view or the agenda list. The gadget also allows you to select which calendars you would like displayed.

If you switch to canvas view by clicking the box icon to the far right of the channel's title bar, you'll see a full size embedded Google Calendar.

Google Reader

The Google Reader gadget is a rather impressive one that is fairly customizable. This gadget allows you to select which tags you would like to display. If you tagged all the feeds related to your gaming group's blogs, albums, or whatever else, you can display new items from those feeds all together.

Options for this gadget include displaying an item in a bubble or opening it in a new window, choosing the number of items to display at one time within the gadget, showing or hiding read items, and sorting.

In canvas view, you get the ability to select individual subscriptions or whole folders (tags) and can alternate between expanded view or list view. Starring items for reading later is also more accessible as is toggling between new items and all items.

Blogger

The Blogger gadget is a simple one. This gadget gives you a form in which you can quickly enter a post and submit it to one of the blogs associated with your account. It is a completely stripped down interface, so don't expect much from it.

Google Docs

Want quick and easy access to your most recent Google Docs? This gadget will give you a listing of those. The gadget's search bar will filter the list as you type. You can also choose to display items owned by you, opened by you, or starred items.

Google Tasks

If you use the Tasks feature in Google Calendar, you will also want to add this gadget. As an added bonus, Google just updated the gadget's canvas view to a fully functional interface for managing your tasks. You should definitely play around with this gadget some.

By the way, if you have an iPhone or an Android phone, Google provides a mobile interface for Tasks. This is great for referring to these tasks during a game session. If you enjoy a more analog approach, Tasks can be printed, too.

Google Bookmarks

I have not covered Google Bookmarks in this series, and I did not really plan to. Google Bookmarks has limited functionality, but it does synchronize with the Bookmarks button on the Google Toolbar which is available for Firefox and Internet Explorer.

The benefit of the Google Bookmarks gadget is that you can create a tagged list of bookmarks for resources you would like to have available such as the Hypertext d20 SRD or perhaps the D&DI Compendium. You could even create a list of links to all of the Google services and applications highlighted in this series.

(If you would like to see an article about Google Bookmarks and the Google Toolbar, drop a line in the comments below or send an email to contact.us (at) thediceoflife.com.)

Summary

Those are the core gadgets associated with the Google services we have covered in this series so far, although I did leave out the Picasa Web Albums gadget because it only acts as a slideshow based on an album's feed.

There are a huge number of great gadgets out there that are not developed by Google. If you have a few that you enjoy using, please feel free to share links to them here for everyone else to enjoy. You can also subscribe to our Google Group and send emails to the other members of the group straight from the gadget's page.

Gaming with Google Docs Update: Sharing Folders

2009-10-14T20:37:00.000-04:00

If you hadn't heard already, Google recently updated Google Docs to allow sharing of entire folders. Any file placed in that folder is automatically shared according to the permissions established for the folder. For example, if you share files with your gaming Google Group, simply create a folder, share the folder with the Google Group, and drag-and-drop any of the files into that folder. Google Docs will take care of the rest.

Gaming with Google Reader

2009-10-01T06:00:00.001-04:00

We're getting close to the end of our Gaming with Google series with only two more articles after this (three if we get a Google Wave invite). In this article, we'll explore the use of Google Reader in relation to role-playing games. Actually, to be fair, there isn't much that directly applies to RPGs. What Google Reader does allow you to do is create a single place for you to review any new content published via some of the resources covered in the previous articles, specifically Google Groups, Blogger, and Picasa Web Albums.

About Feeds and Google Reader

First, let's cover the basics. Google Reader is a news/feed aggregator/reader. I was about to write out an entire explanation, but then I remembered this excellent video that illustrates it better.

If you want to know more about how Google Reader works, here's a short, 1-minute video.

Setting Up a Google Reader Account

Creating a Google Reader account is as easy as visiting the Google Reader web site while logged in to your Google Account. Now that we have that out of the way, let's get to adding in the feeds to our favorite resources.

Subscribing to Feeds

Blogger

Let's start with your blog. You'd like to keep up with the journal entries from the GM or your fellow players to see what they are posting and to keep up with the content.

Most blogs, will provide an icon as demonstrated in the videos above. Clicking that icon typically yields an interface that allows you to add the feed to your preferred aggregator, including either iGoogle (which we'll talk about next time) or Google Reader. Most modern web browsers will also display a version of the standard feed icon in the address bar or someplace else among the browser's toolbars. Clicking that icon also allows you to subscribe to a given feed, and in some cases, it will display multiple feeds available on the site.

Blogs not only allow you to subscribe to the posts but also the comments as well. This means if one or more individuals make a comment on a post, you will see that comment in your Google Reader account.

Picasa Web Albums

The next site to subscribe to is Picasa Web Albums. When you visit any Picasa Web Album, you'll notice an RSS link to the right just below where we were able to create a link to the album. Copy the link address from that link and add it to your subscriptions via Google Reader as described in the video above.

You can also subscribe to a user's account as well. If go up one level to view all of the users available albums, an RSS link will appear on the bottom right of the page. You can subscribe to that link address and any new publicly available albums will appear in the feed. Note that this particular feed does not show individual images.

Google Groups

The third source you might want to subscribe to is your Google Group. There really isn't a need to subscribe to Google Groups if you're set up to receive emails from the group, but in case you want to monitor or syndicate the posts, the option is there. You'll notice our sidebar includes a feed of recent topics from our Google Group, which is just one example of how you can repurpose this content.

When you visit and sign into your Google Group, you'll notice an XML icon at the bottom of the page. Clicking on that icon takes you to a page that lists two columns for feeds to which you can subscribe. For most users, the difference between Atom and RSS is negligible. If you really care, the links to Wikipedia elaborate on their details.

Discovering Other Feeds

You'll notice Google Reader has a link in its navigation labeled "Browse for stuff." Clicking this link reveals a page that allows you to search or browse the Interweb for other sources of content. Try a search for your favorite topic and find out what feeds are available for subscription. Also try searching for you own team blog.

Organizing Your Subscriptions

Google Reader allows you to create folders (tags really) that allow you to organize your feeds into logical groupings. Any one feed can be tagged to reside in one or more folders. As your subscription library grows, I highly recommend organizing them to help you sort through them.

Following Friends

Google Reader has yet another awesome feature that is among the key components of Google's social networking efforts: sharing.

There are two sections in the Google Reader interface that pertain to this feature. The first is "Shared Items" under "Your Stuff" which shows a list of items you've shared with the public. To add an item to this list you simply open an item from any feed you want and click the share icon at the bottom of that item. This will automatically include that item in the Shared Items list. You can also add notes to shared items by using the "Share with note" feature.

By the way, it's entirely possible to share an entire folder via Google Reader's Settings. This allows you to create a page and a new feed to which others can subscribe. For example, if you have a collection of feeds pertaining to Savage Worlds, you can share your entire Savage Worlds folder to create a master aggregated feed to which others may subscribe (or for you to incorporate into your blog's sidebar).

The other section that utilizes the sharing feature is "People you follow." This list is generated based on your Google Contacts and only displays those who have activated a Google Reader account. Any time any of those individuals shares an item, it will appear in their lists.

The strength of this feature is in allowing you and your gaming group to share items of common interest and even comment on them via Google Reader.

If you're feeling adventurous, look for the feature that allows you to add a Shared Items widget to your Blogger blog.

Wrapping Up

The remaining features available in Google Reader are too vast to cover in a single article. The core of this article was primarily to introduce you to Google Reader as an aggregator for your feeds related to these articles. It's evident, however, that it is far more than just an aggregator.

Take the time to explore Google Reader a bit. If you find a neat feature that you'd like to share with others, feel free to post it in the comments below. We look forward to reading what little hidden secrets you might unlock just from poking around in Google Reader.

Next: Gaming with iGoogle

We'll take a look at how to pull it all together in a single go-to interface using gadgets in iGoogle.

Gaming with Picasa Web Albums

2009-09-08T06:00:00.001-04:00

In Gaming with Blogger, we discussed using Google's Blogger to maintain a campaign or character journal. This week we'll add some images to the mix with Picasa Web Albums. With Picasa Web Albums, players and GMs can share character portraits, maps, illustrations, MapTool screenshots, tokens generated from TokenTool for use in MapTool, or photos of your face-to-face gaming session.

Picasa Web Albums is a fairly robust tool for uploading and sharing images with family, friends or even web sites. Additionally, if you upload a photo in Blogger, it will store the image in a Picasa Web Album titled after that blog.

Creating a Picasa Web Album

Picasa Web Albums allows you to create multiple albums of images with different share permissions. Creating a Picasa Web Album account is easy. Just like every other Google service, you only need to be logged in with your Google Account and visit the Picasa Web Albums homepage. As mentioned earlier, if you've already uploaded photos via Blogger, you'll see an album titled after your blog.

If you haven't created an album yet, you can do so now.

Tip: There's another method by which you can easily upload photos via email into a album titled "Drop Box" for organizing at a later time. You can set up this feature in the Settings for your Picasa Web Album account.

Click the Upload button at the top of the page. You'll either be presented with a list of existing albums or a form to create a new album. If you are presented with a form with a list of existing albums, click "create a new album" at the top.
Fill in the title, description (optional), and place taken (optional).
Select the Share option desired.
1. Public means your images will appear in search results.
2. Unlisted means only those to whom you send the web address can find your images.
3. Sign-in required to view means specific individuals must sign in with their Google Account to view it. Note that an album has to be unlisted or public in order for an image to be linked on another web site.
Tip: You can use the Picasa software application to organize albums on your local computer and upload them in batch to albums in you Picasa Web Albums account. You can even synchronize albums between the two, meaning if you add or delete an image in a folder or album in the Picasa software, it will automatically sync with the respective web album.

If you're using Internet Explorer, you'll be prompted to install an Active X control that gives you an enhanced uploading tool. Any other browser will allow you to upload 5 photos at a time.
Select the images you wish to upload.

Now you have your first web album. You can reorganize or reorder your album via the Edit menu below the album title. This allows you to copy or move images to another album, change the order of the images by dragging them around, or delete an image from an album altogether.

Sharing Albums and Images

What's the use of uploading images if you can't share them with others? Picasa Web Albums gives a lot of flexibility in regards to how you can share your images with others.

Email

Note: When using the Share feature, notice the option for "Let people I share with contribute photos." This allows others to upload photos to this same album. It's great for gaming groups who want to share a single album of character portraits, drawn maps, handouts, or whatever else.

Email is an easy option if you want to send updates in batches after gaming sessions. You can email a link to an album or individual photo to anyone you'd like by clicking the Share link at the top. The Share feature will create an email form in which you can either select a group from your contacts or an email address to which you can send the link. Remember how we set up contacts, groups and a Google Group? This is yet another service that can utilize those features.

Linking

If you want to post a link to your album in an email or on the web, you can do so via the "Link to this album" feature on the right side of the album's page. You'll notice that it gives several options.

A direct URL for copying and pasting
HTML to paste into a Web site
A Flash widget to embed a slideshow

If you are actually looking at an individual image in an album, you can provide a link to that image instead. A direct URL is an easy way of sending a quick link to an album or for embedding screenshots and photos into a web page, blog, or forum post. The embed option for an individual image provides two check boxes:

Hide album link
Image only (no link)

Selecting "Hide album link" will change the content of the Embed option from HTML for a table to HTML for a hyperlink. Selecting "Image only (no link)" displays the URL for the image itself, meaning that the url will display the image alone rather than displaying the image within the Picasa Web Album. Note that the "Select size" option affects the display of the image as well as the URL.

The Flash widget will give you a few options to configure the slideshow such as size and autoplay.

RSS

You'll notice just below "Link to this album" is another option for RSS. This link is the URI for an RSS subscription to the album. Note that you can also subscribe to a user's Picasa Web Albums account as well. If you're not familiar with RSS feeds and subscriptions, we'll cover this in the next article.

Next: Gaming with Google Reader

We'll take a look at how Google Reader allows you to keep track of journal posts (via Blogger), Picasa Web Albums, and other updates from your favorite news, podcasts, and other resources.

Sharing with Google Groups

2009-08-18T10:00:00.001-04:00

Google implemented a new feature for its Sharing system in Google Sites, Calendar, and Docs that directly affects one of the core set ups in our Gaming with Google articles, making it even easier to share those resources with others.

Sharing with Google Groups (via the Official Google Blog) discusses how you can now share calendars, docs, and sites with an entire Google Group rather than typing in individual users' names or email addresses.

In Gaming with Google Groups, we discussed setting up Contacts and a Google Group, and using your Contacts to easily share other Google Services with those individuals. Now you can simply enter the email address for your Google Group and each member of the Google Group will automatically have access. If a member leaves, they lose access; if a new member joins, they automatically have access.

This doesn't make the initial setup of Contacts obsolete. You still might have occasions when you want to share with a specific subset of your gaming group whether it's one person or just everyone but one person.

Let us know if you find this new feature useful. I've already found a few cases where I'll definitely use it.

Savage Eberron: Sample Artificer and Infusions List

2009-08-17T12:51:00.004-04:00

OK, it's been forever and a half since my last blog post. Well, not really. The Dice of Life has kept me pretty busy these days, and I'm sad that my progress on Savage Eberron has all but completely stopped. I do plan to continue development.
To make up for it, here's a sample Artificer using my conversions, Savage Worlds: Explorer's Edition, the Fantasy World Builder Toolkit, and the Fantasy Gear Toolkit.

Notes

The stats below do not include or account for any weapons or equipment
Actual Knowledge skills required for gadgeteer are entirely up to the GM. In this example Knowledge (Magecraft) is specifically applicable to the concept of magecraft as a craft and industry in Khorvaire.
As a personal house rule, the Gadgeteer Edge requires only 1d6 minutes to imbue rather then the default 1d20 minutes to create. Imbued items are quicker to produce as they aren't made of mechanical or electrical parts that need to be constructed; however, because items made with the Gadgeteer Edge last as long as they have power points, they can be imbued in advance, though not as quickly as a in D&D Eberron v3.5 rules.
The Enchant Edge (mentioned below) appears in the Fantasy Gear Toolkit and is available to those with Arcane Backgrounds of Magic, Miracles, or Psionic rather than Magic and Miracles only; psionic characters can create psionic items as well. However, an artificer with the Power Drain Power Points cannot drain power points from a psionic item.

Human Artificer (0 XP)

Attributes: Agility: d6, Smarts: d8, Spirit: d6, Strength: d4, Vigor d6
Charisma: 0; Pace: 6; Parry: 2; Toughness: 5
Skills: Wierd Science: d8; Knowledge (Arcana) d6; Knowledge (Magecraft) d6; Repair d8; Weird Science d8
Edges: Arcane Background (Weird Science); Gadgeteer
Hindrances: Cautious, Curious
Powers: Boost Trait

Accessible Powers (Infusions)

Infusions are Powers that can be imbued on items or constructs, including living constructs. They are applied with either the Weird Science Edge or the Gadgeteer Edge. This draft list of infusions available to artficers is a limited subset of the powers available in Savage Worlds: Explorer's Edition and Fantasy World Builder Toolkit. (This list eventually will be converted and updated to Fantasy Companion.) The list is partially inspired by the complete list of infusions available from v3.5 Eberron supplements.

Armor
Barrier (invisible wall of force)
Bolt
Boost Trait
Bridge
Deflection
Drain Power Points (works with magic items made with the Weird Science, Gadgeteer, or Enchant Edges only; does not apply to psionic items)
Fortune
Repairing (same as Healing, but for constructs only)
Greater Repairing
Guiding Hand
Wall of Blades

Gaming with Blogger

2009-08-10T06:00:00.001-04:00

Keeping a journal for your campaign can be extremely helpful to your gaming group, but it can also be yet another thing to add to your already crammed to-do list. Factor in higher priorities in your life such as taking time to pay the bills, spending time with your family, working on projects around your home, running errands, or enjoying time with your non-gaming friends; the next thing you know, your next game session is tomorrow night, and you've forgotten everything that happened in the previous session. The entire effort becomes a chore, and soon neither you nor anyone else in the group is able to keep accurate track of what's going on in the campaign, especially if you're not playing any more frequently than once or twice a month.

That's where a team blog in Blogger can come in handy. This article will show how you can collaborate on a team blog in a fun way to keep track of your campaign while also developing your character's personality further as the campaign moves along, all without having to take too much time away from your life away from the game table.

Creating a Blogger Account

Before we get too in depth with this, let's talk a bit more about Blogger, Google's free blog service. Blogger's tagline is "Push-Button Publishing," and it really is that easy as you'll see in a little bit.

Conveniently, all you need to create an account is to sign in with your Google Account. Once you've signed in, you can click the little link labeled "Create a Blog." The next page will ask you to name your blog and provide a web address. The only difficulty here will be in trying to find a web address that isn't already taken. Note: You can create multiple blogs with a single Google Account.

Congratulations! You now have a blog.

Benefits of a Blog

How many times have you had the following conversation?

GM: OK, guys. Do you recall what happened last session?
Player 1: Didn't we have to find some magic doo-hickey for that guy, whatever his name was?
Player 2: His name was Horace.
Player 3: No, Horace was the inn keeper.
Player 4: I thought we already found it.
GM: No, you guys. You already found the Chaos Stone, and it wasn't for Horace the inn keeper; it was for Ferrik, the priest of Ralishaz. Ugh. Don't you guys keep track of this stuff?
Player 3: No, we didn't. We were in the middle of the crypt just outside of the main vault. We haven't caught up with the BBEG's do-boy.
Player 5: Hey, guys! Sorry, I'm late. What did I miss last session

Too many times, right? Well, you, too, can prevent RPG amnesia by keeping a journal.

It's easier said than done. In some cases, someone might volunteer to be the party's scribe, which is great for players playing bards, scribes, chroniclers, or news reporters, but for anyone else, it might be a burden.

Tip: Get the members of your gaming group to contribute to the blog in the same manner. This serves several purposes:

Load balancing: Rather than one person being tasked to keep a record of events, everyone can contribute a little bit of their own perspective.
Verification: Players and their characters might each remember something differently or recall different details and facts. This helps when one or more players forget a detail that might be important.
Redundancy: It's always good to have a backup and a redundancy system. The same is true here. If you depend on one person to maintain your campaign journal, there's too many reasons why the journal might not be updated (e.g. - absence from a game session, other life priorities, etc.)

Adding Authors

By default, you're the administrator of the blog. Now, you'll want to add some additional authors, specifically members of your gaming group. In Gaming with Google Groups, we added members of the gaming group to your Google Contacts. We saw how convenient this was when you added members to your Google Group, and we get to see this same convenience when you add authors.

To add authors to your blog:

Click the Settings tab.
Click "Permissions" on the far right of the second row of tabs.
Click the button labeled Add Authors.
Either begin typing the names or email address of the members of your gaming group, or click "Choose from contacts" and search for them.
Click "Invite."

Each of the members will get an invitation to join your blog. Once they have accepted, they will be designated as authors of the blog and can create new posts. By default, they will not be able to edit or delete posts from other authors or change settings in the blog. If you desire, you may click "grant admin priveleges" next to their name to give them those additional rights.

Note: The Permissions screen also allows you to set who can see the blog. If you want it to remain private for the authors eyes only, you can set that here.

Tips for Maintaining Your Journal

Now, when most people think about keeping a campaign journal, they immediately assume they need to write these great, elaborate, imaginatively detailed stories with which they'll entertain their gaming group and the world. If you want to save your sanity, forget that idea. You've got enough to do. Instead, think more along the lines of an in-character journal that's written in short blurbs of notes.

Write in character. It helps you to develop your character's personality and perspective of the world in which you're playing.
Don't worry about writing lengthy prose. Just write short blurbs of notes that your character might make for the sake of keeping track of his adventures with his fellow party members.
If you have a laptop during the game, take your notes during the session. Blogger has an autosave feature that will save your post as a draft as you compose your post. (Google Docs does the same with your documents.)
Don't forget you can edit a post or add new posts. Blog posts aren't written in stone. If you forgot a piece of important information, add it to you post or as a new post entirely.

An example of a simple post might look like this:

Ambushed on the trail by lizardfolk while searching for Temple of Kha'shazul. There were only 5 of them. Refrained from wasting magic. Let the fighter and scout dispose of them quickly. The druid did not take much action and looked almost silently scornful. I wonder why.

Found the temple of Kha'shazul. Heavily guarded by more lizardfolk and odd dragon-like centaurs. Stealth and planning allowed us to pass them effortlessly. (Oddly, they kept a pet girallon.) We fought through the upper levels and killed two young adult black dragons. We rest now before venturing deeper.

That's all. Short, sweet, and to the point. There's no need to account for every swing of a sword or every casting of a spell. All you need to do is capture the basic events for record-keeping purposes.

Creating a New Post

Creating a new post is easy. Simply click the tab labeled "Posting," and a new post will display. Writing the post is as easy as typing and using the formatting toolbar. Don't worry about getting fancy with formatting. Remember, this is supposed to be a basic campaign journal. In a future article, we'll talk about how to post from an iGoogle gadget.

You'll probably want to add labels to your posts as well. Labels are ways of dynamically searching for similar posts by click on the label link at the bottom of the blog post or in the list of labels on the side of the blog. Make sure your labels are meaningful. I recommend also including the author's name as a label to find all posts by that author.

Posting from Google Docs

In Gaming with Google Docs, we discussed taking notes. Well, Google Docs also allows you to publish your notes to a blog post automatically.

Click on the "Share" button and select "Publish as web page."
Click "Post to Blog" and edit the settings, most of which is self explanatory. Be sure to type the title of your blog verbatim, otherwise it will not work properly.
Click "Post to Blog", and Google Docs will generate a new post with the content from your document.

After the post is added, you can edit the post directly from within Blogger, but this will not update the content in the Google Doc. If you change the content in the Google Doc, you must click "Post to Blog" to update the post.

Gadgets

I can almost hear you asking, "What the heck is a gadget, and why is it important for blogging?" The long answer is a little complicated, but the short answer is it's a tool to add features to your blog, and yes, they can be important.

Gadgets are functional features you can place either in a sidebar of your blog or above or below your posts. To add a gadget, go to your blog, and click "Customize." You'll see a link labeled "Add a Gadget" in the layout. For practical purposes, we're going to add the gadget labeled "Subscription Links." Subscription Links provides web addresses for RSS or Atom feeds to which readers may subscribe and recieve updates when your blog has a new post or comment. We'll talk more about why this is important when we get to Gaming with Google Reader.

Click "Add a Gadget."
Scroll down through the list of "Basic Gadgets" until you find "Subscription Links," and click the "+" next to it.
Edit the Title field if desired, and click "Save."
Either leave the gadget where it is or simply drag and drop it to the desired location.
Click "Save" above the layout.

Now you, your gaming group, or anyone else can easily subscribe to your campaign journal and automaticall retrieve updates.

Another handy gadget to add is Followers, which makes it easy to subscribe to a blog via Google Reader (more on that next time, I promise) and to see who else following your blog. Take a look at the various gadgets available; you'll be surprised at what you find.

That pretty much wraps up the most basic aspects of managing a campaign journal via Blogger. There are a lot of advanced tools in Blogger, and I strongly suggest you play around with them to see how they work. If you're worried about messing up your blog, create a sandbox blog for yourself to test out the various features and settings.

If you have any questions on how to do something in Blogger, feel free to ask in the comments below or in our Google Group.

Next: Gaming with Picasa Web Albums

We'll explore using Picasa Web Albums to share character portraits, maps, MapTool screenshots, and other images used in your campaign.

Update: I decided to cover Picasa Web Albums next, which will give more utility to using Google Reader.

Gaming with Google Docs, Part 2

2009-07-22T06:00:00.001-04:00

In Part I of this article, we covered some basic ways Google Docs can be used to facilitate and coordinate your role-playing game. Specific examples included handouts, campaign notes, and player character backgrounds as well as folders/tagging and mobile access to your documents.

In this article, we'll take a look at some of the more advanced tools available in Google Docs such as forms for collecting or archiving information, spreadsheets for basic accounting, using presentations for campaign intros and segues, using drawing tools for creating maps and illustrations, and accessing your material offline.

Spreadsheets

When most people think of spreadsheets, they think of complicated calculations spanning multiple sheets with rows of data ranging from dozens to thousands. In the RPG community, many thinking of autocalculating character sheets, XP calculators, magic item creation calculators, and other such geekery. Google Spreadsheets performs most of those tasks and a little bit more. If you're unfamiliar with working with spreadsheet formulas and functions, I recommend you begin with the online Help available for Google Spreadsheets.

In general, spreadsheets can be used to track and compare data. One example might be tracking earnings and expenditures or account balances over time. This same use can be applied to your character's wealth. Other uses might include tracking and calculating your character's experience points, or calculating points spent on character creation.

Another easy function a spreadsheet can serve is to create basic tables of information such as a character's progression as he gains experience points, listing new weapons available in the next town, or presenting transportation timetables and costs for that airship you had planned for the PCs to board.

Be careful with tinkering around with spreadsheets. While handy in many cases, forcing it to be useful to your RPG can result in a lot of time wasted that could have been better spent on planning your next session or reading up on your character's abilities. Don't let the tools do more harm than good.

Drawing Tools

Google Docs has recently implemented a drawing tool available within a document, spreadsheets, or presentation. These drawing tools are fairly basic and are primarily used to create the most basic diagrams. With a little practice, you can use these tools to create some basic diagrams of your own, such as the symbol found on the cover of an ancient tome, or alien writing found etched on some strange metal from another planet.

Forms

Another new feature available in Google Docs is the ability to collect information via forms. These forms allow you to create one or more fields in a web page in which visitors can enter information. It can be as simple as collecting email addresses or as verbose as a full survey complete with Likert scales. Survey responses are collected in a spreadsheet ready for you to crunch the numbers and turn them into visual charts and graphs. The applications of this feature might be of limited use to role-playing games. The best use might be to collect PC stat blocks from players.

Presentations

If you've ever sat through a lecture or conference seminar with a PowerPoint slideshow, then you know what Google Docs' presentations are. The most obvious use for presentations in an RPG game is the ability to show an introduction to a campaign or segues between adventures or encounters. Additionaly uses might include an emulated presentation for a modern game in which the PCs are being briefed for a mission, an image gallery of NPCs or maps, or general scenery to set the mood.

Some of the better features included in Google's presentation application are its portability, the ability to chat with other viewers during a presentation, and the ability to embed a presentation into a web page such as the one below. Play around with the features, including the "View Together" link.

Embedding a video like the one above is very easy. In fact, if you already figured out how to embed a calendar or publish a doc as a web page, you're already halfway there. Embedding a presentation is accessed through the Share button where you can play with the settings.

Offline Access

One of the concerns with Google Docs is the misconception that you cannot access all of your online work when you don't have internet access. Google has fixed this with the availability of the Offline function in the upper right corner of the application. Offline will automatically cache copies of your files on your local computer. When you attempt to visit Google Docs without an internet connection, it will still pull up the offline version and you can view or edit away. Once a connection is reestablished, Google Docs will automatically resync the data. Other tools that have this Offline feature include Google Reader, Gmail, and Calendar. So when you're at the gaming table with your laptop but without an internet connection, you'll still have all of your notes available to you for your convenience. Even if you don't trust this feature, you can always save a downloaded copy in your favorite file format or print it out.

That ends this two-part article on Gaming with Google Docs. How might you use Google Docs for your game? Post a comment below with your published Google Doc or presentation to show us what you've accomplished with these tools.

Next: Gaming with Blogger

A look at simple ways to use Google's Blogger as a campaign journal for your gaming group.

Update: Made some corrections in the intro and added a section about Offline Access that I had accidentally left out.

Gaming with Google Docs, Part 1

2009-07-09T17:23:00.001-04:00

Google Docs is a flexible suite of online Office-like applications. Its list of applications includes spreadsheets, documents (including PDFs), presentations, and forms. Not only can you create original files in Google Docs, but you can also import files created in your favorite office application including OpenOffice.org and Microsoft Office (including 2007).

Google Docs also grants you the ability to save documents to a file on disk and includes formats such as HTML, DOC, PDF, and more. In this article, we discuss some of the basic uses for Google Docs and how they can apply to your RPG campaign.

By the way, have you noticed how I've stopped providing links to Google's services? My reason: You can "Google" them.

Use Cases

By this point you're probably wanting me to get to the part about the use cases for Google Docs with RPGs and how can it save you time. So without further delay, here's the rundown.

Take notes for your campaign anywhere without having to save a local file, back it up, etc.
Co-GMing? Share that file easily with anyone you'd like, and ensure you both have the most recent version of the document (see Sharing Files below). You can even compare versions and roll back to a previous version.
Collaborate between players and GMs on writing character backgrounds, including commenting capabilities.
Develop your campaign guide or player's cheat sheet without having to manage different versions and copies of files.
Record player or GM notes during a session or between sessions.
Collaboratively write sessions summaries in a shared document.
Keep in-character journals.
Post any of the above documents to a blog (see Sharing Files below) or embed them into your group's Google Site (to be covered in a future article).
Tip: Google Docs also supports sharing of PDF files such as character sheets, free PDFs, etc. Simply click the checkbox next to the name of the PDF in your list of documents, and click the Share button at the top. The rest is pretty self explanatory.
Create a campaign intro presentation, publish it as a web page or as an embedded slideshow on your existing page such as a Google Site (like I said, we'll get to that in a future article.
Use drawing tools to create basic illustrations or handouts that have symbols, runes, sigils, or other strange writings.
Search all of your documents, presentations, spreadsheets with Google's super searching powers.
Save a document as a PDF for distribution and printing.
Save a document in HTML format and copy the HTML into your web site.

Just by these examples alone, it's obvious that the type of documents are not only versatile, but they utility and features they provide is, too.

Sharing Files

Note: The invitation form can pull in contacts or offer suggestions from your Google Contacts which we set up in the first article Gaming with Google Groups. See? I told you that would be handy.

Update 8/18/2009: Google has added a new feature to it's sharing capabilities that allows you to share a file with a Google Group via the group email address. Any members leaving or joining will automatically lose and gain access to the file respectively. You may also send invitations to the entire Google Group rather than distinct individual email addresses.

Update 10/13/2009: Google Docs now allows you to share entire folders.

The real strength of Google Docs is in its ability to share content from within the service itself, accessible from either the main Google Docs list or directly in a document. In either case, the "Share" option is what you are looking for.

Google Docs allows you to share a document, for example, with anyone by inviting them as a collaborator (editing permissions) or a viewer (read-only permissions). You can also allow invited collaborators to share the document with others and/or set the invitation to be used by anyone; the latter is particularly good if you are sending the invitation to a mailing list such as your Google Group.

The third and fourth options for sharing the document is to email a copy as an attachment or to publish it as a Web page. The Web page is an excellent option if you are sharing your document with the world.

Sharp observers will notice a fifth option for publishing the document to a blog (such as Blogger), which is exactly how I published this particular article. Simply click the Share button, select "Publish to Web page...", and enter the information for posting to your blog. We'll discuss uses for blogging more when we get to into Gaming with Blogger.

Folders/Tagging

Tip: If you are using Google Docs to write and post to a blog, tags applied to your document will also be applied to your post.

This is important if you care about organizing your files. You can use "folders" (tags, really) to label your documents. The flexibility in this feature is pretty impressive. You can easily create new folders, as well as subfolders, and applying these tags to to a document is as easy as dragging and dropping the document to the folder. You can also place a the same document in multiple folders which is the same as giving it multiple tags.

Mobile Access

You can read your Google Docs via your mobile device if you have data service and can browse the Web. to read any of your documents or spreadsheets on the go. This is great if you want to review your campaign notes while taking the train to work or in a boring meeting.

That ends the first part of Gaming with Google Docs. What are some of the ways you think you might be able to use Google Docs with your gaming group?

Next: Gaming with Google Docs, Part 2

Discover the power of Google Docs' spreadsheets, forms, presentations and offline access.

Gaming with Google Calendar

2009-07-03T06:00:00.001-04:00

It's probably challenging enough to keep your life organized as is with a full work schedule, keeping your home, spending time with family, errands, social occasions, and so much more. Add your kid's schedule into the mix, and you see your open time slots dwindling away. In between all of that, you want to be able to schedule a game with your gaming friends' who might have busy schedules of their own. Google Calendar to the rescue!

Google Calendar is a free service that only requires a Google Account, which we created in the previous article. To get to it, simply Google "google calendar." Google really makes this too easy for us.

Uses for Google Calendar

The first thing you're probably asking is "How does Google Calendar help my gaming?" Given the inconsistent nature of most adults' schedules, there are a number of benefits.

Update 8/18/2009: Google has added a new feature to it's sharing capabilities that allows you to share a calendar with a Google Group via the group email address. Any members leaving or joining will automatically lose and gain access to the calendar respectively. You may also send invitations to the entire Google Group rather than distinct individual email addresses.

Your gaming group can share view-only access to their personal calendars (or hide the details by sharing only the free/busy information) with the rest of the gaming group, spouses, friends, coworkers, etc.
You can create multiple calendars each with different types of appointments to share with different social circles.
You can grant various levels of permissions to others over a shared common calendar (i.e. - make changes to events, manage sharing, and see all event details).
You can color code and overlay multiple calendars including yours and any calendars shared by others by simply clicking on those calendars in the list to the right.
You can keep family members in the loop with regards to your gaming schedule.

This last one is more important than it seems. Being the busy individuals that we are, it's sometimes easy to forget what's going on and when. How many times has your significant other been caught off guard because you were getting ready for your game session? If you share your calendar with the individual, or better yet, have permissions to copy the event to their calendar (yes, you can copy an event from one calendar to another with a click of a mouse), you can keep them informed of your schedule. This could include nights when you plan to prep for your game.

OK, so you opened up Google Calendar for the first time, and are greeted with a welcome message and a form asking for some details such as name and timezone. Go ahead and put in the necessary information based on your own preferences. Once you've submitted the information, you'll be presented with your empty calendar.

At this point, you can either import an iCal file from your existing calendar, or just start from scratch. If you don't know how to export and iCal file, read the Help for the appropriate application; Google Calendar's Help will instruct you how to import the file. I'll leave that up to you so that I can continue with the rest of the article.

Creating Events

Next, let's look at the anatomy of an event. Creating an event is ridiculously easy. There's a Quick Add feature that lets you type in a description of an event and will resolve the information into event details. For example, "Eberron Campaign at 8pm on Friday" will automatically create a new event titles Eberron Campaign and schedule it for 8 pm on the closest future Friday.

Once the event is created, you can double-click on it to change the details. Note that you can also click and drag it or resize it to change the scheduled time and date.

Editing Events

The details in a Google Calendar event are somewhat impressive. You have the obvious options such as What, When, and Where, but you also get to select on which calendar you want the event to appear, enter a Description, add Guests, and set Reminders.

When allows for Repeats, which means you can set recurring scheduled game sessions, even if you're group meets every first Friday of the month. Play around with this feature to become familiar with it. If you heavily use calendaring tools at work, you'll have no problem figuring this out.

Where is perhaps one of the coolest features. If you type in the address to the location of your next gaming session, Google Calendar will automatically insert a link to a Google Map pinpointing the location. If you're inviting someone who isn't familiar with how to get to the location, they can call up directions from Google Maps instantly.

Inviting Guests

Remember when we added the contact information for the members of your gaming into your Google Contacts? This is yet another place where having done that comes in handy. When you click "Add guests," you can either choose from a list of your contacts or simply start typing either their names or email addresses. Google Calendar will offer suggestions as you type; selecting the entry with the arrow keys and pressing enter is about as easy as that gets. The permissions for the guests are entirely up to you.

When the recipients receive the invitation, they'll see all of the details, including the description, the map to the location, and a set of links -- Yes, Maybe, and No -- for responding to the appointment. When the recipient responds, they can indicate if any guests are coming, add a note, add additional guests if you allowed them, and set their own reminders. This is all assuming they use Google Calendar, too. Why wouldn't they?!

After the event has been sent, the organizer can follow up with guests via the "Email Guests" link integrated within the event.

Embedding a Calendar on a Web Page

This is perhaps one of the cooler features in Google Calendar. In the calendar settings, you'll see an option to embed the calendar on a web page along with some customization options. To embed the calendar into a web page, simply copy and paste the HTML. Below is an example of a calendar that I sized to 440 x 380, included a U.S. Holidays calendar, and defaulted to an Agenda view. In the future, we'll see how we can pull this into other Google services such as Google Sites, Blogger, or iGoogle.

Notice the message about not having permission to see one of the calendars? That's because I didn't share The Dice of Life personal calendar, but attempted to include it in the customization. I chose to leave it that way so that if you come across the same error, you'll know why.

That pretty much covers the most important parts of Google Calendar. There is one small feature I didn't cover, but it's not really related to calendaring per se. For homework, take a look at the new Tasks feature in Google Calendar, and post a comment here about how you can leverage Tasks for your own gaming or personal needs. Make sure you explore the details in Tasks; there's a lot more there than what you see initially. Note that Tasks also appears in Gmail and iGoogle, and it holds the same data.

Next: Gaming with Google Docs, Part 1

Learn how to use Google Docs to create and share campaign documents with your group such as GM/player collaboration on writing PC backgrounds, distributing handouts, and tracking experience points for players.

Gaming with Google Groups

2009-06-30T06:00:00.001-04:00

For this article, we'll focus on Google Groups as a means for you and your gaming group to conveniently communicate. Google Groups is Google's version of mailing lists and community forums as it serves both purposes. It allows members to email the entire group with a single email address. Alternatively, you can post messages directly to the Google Group, and they will be sent as emails to all members. In addition to basic mailing list functionality, your Google Group can be used as medium for basic play-by-post role-playing games.

Google Groups also allows members to create custom pages that members can edit and update, and has a Files section for uploading and sharing files.

To access or create a Google Group, you'll need to create a Google Account.

Creating a Google Account

If you already own a Google Account, you can skip straight to Adding Group Members to Google Contacts below.

Creating a Google Account is easy and free. All you need is either your own email address or simply create a new Gmail account. I recommend creating a Gmail account simply because of the vast amount of features that allow you to more efficiently manage email and keep track of threads. The search function in Gmail is far superior to most other email systems, too, but I digress; you can learn more about Gmail accounts from Google. For the sake of simplicity and moving forward with this article, we'll assume you use your own email address for your account. After all, you can always convert your Google Account to a Gmail account in the future.

To create a Google Account, follow these steps:

Go to Google.com. (Easy enough so far.)
In the upper right corner of the page, you'll see two links labeled "iGoogle" and "Sign in." (We'll play with iGoogle in a future article). Click "Sign in."
A sign-in box will display on the right side of the Google Accounts page. Since we don't have a Google Account yet, we can't sign in, but below that box is a link to "Create an account now." Click that link.
The next page is where you enter your information and agree to the terms of service. Upon submitting the information, Google will send a confirmation email to your email address.

Congratulations! You are now the proud owner of a Google Account.

Adding Group Members to Google Contacts

Tip: Google has a Sync application for some mobile devices that will synchronize contacts (and calendars) between your phone and your Google Account.

The next thing you'll want to do is add members of your gaming group to your Google Contacts. This is useful for other Google applications. When you invite members to share those services, Google will automatically suggest contacts from your account as you type their names or email addresses, saving you a lot of typing and time. The minimum information you'll need is name and email address. Feel free to add other information including birthdates, phone numbers, addresses, etc.

Creating a Google Group

After logging in with your Google Account, creating your instance of most Google Services is as easy as visiting that page while logged in. We saw this with Google Contacts, and we'll see it again with Calendar, iGoogle, Google Reader, and some others. Some services require a little bit more information for setting up the service; Google Groups is one of those.

Go to Google Groups.
On the right side of the page, you will see a button labeled "Create a group." Click that button.
A form will be presented to you asking for basic information about your group. As you type in the name, you'll notice the Group's email and Web addressed will begin to fill in. Sending emails to the email address will post the message to the Group Discussions and send emails to members based on their personal email settings. Any replies to such emails are automatically sent to the Group email address, posted in the Discussions under the respective thread, and distributed by email once again. You'll might want to add the email address for your Google Group to Google Contacts.
Under "Choose an Access Level," select Restricted. This prevents anyone outside of your group from freely joining without permission.
Click the button labeled "Create my group."
Note: Invitations to members require they accept before being able to access the group, but adding members grants access to the Google Group immediately.
The next screen will ask you to invite or add members of the group. This is an example of where adding members of your gaming group to Google Contacts comes in handy. As you begin to type each name or email address, Google will suggest matches. Use the arrow keys on the keyboard to select a contact and press enter for each member you want to add. Verify that the delivery option is set to "Emails."

Now we can start playing with Google Groups.

Post a test message to make sure everyone receives the message. Ask them to reply to the email, and observe how Google Groups behaves with each reply. Be sure to check out the Discussions to observe how threading works, too.

Now you have a convenient way to maintain communications and keep everyone in your gaming group in the loop without worrying about not including someone in the recipient list of an email.

Now that you have the basics of your Google Group established, start playing around with the features, including files and pages. Files allows you to upload useful resources and handouts such as character sheets, campaign guides, character creation guidelines, or houserules.

Explore the "Group settings" of your new Google Group. You can find this on the right side among the Group navigation links. (Only owners and managers can see this link.) Group settings has a number of important tabs that allow you to customize the settings of the Group. The two most important ones are "Access" and "Email delivery."

Access is a critical section where you can control the visibility and and permissions of your group, including joining, posting, inviting, and uploading files. If you have concerns about privacy or anyone messing with the Group, this is where you make the necessary changes.

Email delivery is less critical, but it can help tremendously with easily identifying emails that come from the group by inserting identifying text in the subject of the emails and by customizing the footer. This tab also lets you manage how replies to messages are handled. To best utilize the mailing list feature of Google Groups and ensure everyone is kept in the conversation, keep replies sent to the whole group.

That wraps up the basics of Google Groups. If you have any questions about the features within Google Groups or about this article, please do not hesitate to post them in the comments below.

Do you have any tips and tricks pertaining to the use of Google Groups? Feel free to submit your own ideas in the comments below.

Next: Gaming with Google Calendar

Learn how to share your calendar with your Gaming Group and set up your [always tentative] gaming schedule.

Gaming with Google: Article Series Outline

2009-06-25T15:00:00.001-04:00

Throughout the series of articles, I'll be creating various setups across Google's wide range of services, beginning with a Google Group specifically for The Dice of Life. We'll assume the role of a gaming group to demonstrate exactly how these tools work together in an integrated manner as well as provide a tangible outcome as we progress through the series.
This article provides an outline of each of the services and systems and how we'll be utilizing them throughout the project.
The first three services will be covered together in the next article. The remaining services will each have their own article.

Google Account: You'll need this to access various Google Resources.
Google Contacts: Maintain a list of your contacts. Other Google services and applications will reference these contacts automatically as you type them in to invite others to share those services.
Google Groups: The main method through which we'll communicate as a group.
Google Calendar: Schedule gaming sessions and share busy/free times with the group.
Google Docs: Share spreadsheets, documents, presentations, and PDFs with your group.
Blogger: Create a in-character and/or out-of-character journal of sessions with multiple members of the gaming group as authors of the blog. Great for distributing the workload of recapping with comments from members filling the gaps. Use Google Docs to publish posts.
Picasa Web Albums: Upload and share maps, character portraits, virtual tokens, etc. all of which can be downloaded or linked to from the other Google applications.
Google Reader: Subscribe to, share,and comment on feed items from useful sources including your Google Group, Picasa Web Albums, your campaign blog, etc..
iGoogle: Pull all of the above tools together in a custom interface directly on your iGoogle home page.
Google Sites: Create a wiki-like campaign Web site for notes, distributable files, character backgrounds, setting information and dashboard gadgets, including embedded Google Docs and Google Calendar.
Google Wave: Run a play-by-post or real-time chat campaign or run a game that's a hybrid of both. Also create campaign notes, player's guide, and more. Update: I was fortunate to be among the first recipients of Wave invitations.

As Google's services change and improve frequently, this list might include additions and changes. If such a change occurs, I'll repost this blog with the respective updates.

The Dice of Life: Introductions

2009-06-22T22:53:00.004-04:00

A new blog, The Dice of Life, has been launched today. It's a collaborative effort among two others and me. I could write a blurb here about it, but then I'd just be repeating myself. Essentially, it's a blog for RPG enthusiasts who are trying to strike a balance among work, life, and gaming. Go check it out, and see what you think.

Savage Eberron: Artficers

2009-06-19T19:15:00.007-04:00

I've seen quite a few artificer conversions that I feel are usually overly complicated. They typically try to create a new Arcane Background and implement some form of craft reserve. My recommendation is to not bother with any of that. Stick to the concept and feel rather than a literal translation.

The easiest way to create an artificer is to simply use the Arcane Background (Weird Science) Edge and the Gadgeteer Edge. Weird Science allows for artificers to create magic items that have their own reserve of power points based on existing powers, much like the artificer. Power Edges help to augment those items. Gadgeteer simulates infusions well enough. I would substitute the two science-related Knowledge at d6 requirements for Knowledge Arcana at d8 (or whatever you think works for your campaign).

Finally, if you want to mess with things a bit, you could use or modify the Creation Edges from the Fantasy Gear Toolkit. (I'm curious to see what the upcoming Fantasy Companion has to offer, too).

Savage Eberron: Edges

2009-06-18T13:19:00.007-04:00

Here's the link to some new Edges for Savage Eberron, including a representation of Dragonmark Edges as an Arcane Background that can be taken along with other Arcane Backgrounds.
This model of dragonmarks in Savage Worlds allows for the use of the New Power Edge presented in Savage Worlds: Explorer's Edition so that you may acquire Lesser and Greater Marks as well.
I hope to finish Dragonmarks next, complete with unique trappings based on the individual marks. I'm depending solely on the SWEX and the various Savage Worlds Toolkits for existing powers. If anyone has any recommendations for the Mark of Making, please post in the comments below.

Savage Eberron: Races

2009-06-18T13:14:00.007-04:00

As promised, here's my conversion for races in Savage Eberron. I highly recommend paying attention to the Hindrances which are something most Eberron conversions lack. I think they are important, especially for warforged, kalashtar, and changelings.

Let me know what you think.

Next up, Edges!

Savage Worlds

2009-05-19T15:15:00.010-04:00

If you look at my last post (a little more than a year old), you'll see my reluctant consideration of playing D&D 4e. A huge portion of that was hung on the availability of the online tool as well as the general game system itself. Well, I've not switched to 4e, and the online game table has yet to be released; in fact, Wizards of the Coast has postponed it indefinitely.

I have, however, switched to Savage Worlds and for several reasons.

Some of the key features of the system are:

The rules are fast and easy to learn and play (not to be mistaken for a "rules light" system).
It uses a K.I.S.S. approach to creating or adopting rules for just about any genre or setting.
It's affordable with a price tag of $10 for a single core rulebook that has everything you need.
It requires far less preperation time than any version of D&D.

All of this is by design. Based on podcast interviews and other postings and articles, the design of the game was intended for older gamers with busy lives (i.e. - full-time jobs, families, etc.). As you know by my last post way back in May, that fits me pretty well.

The Story Behind the Switch

First, I tried running a v3.5 game for my cousin and some friends of ours. It was fun, but we were all pretty busy people. They had a hard time digging into the rules just for managing their characters alone. That was one strike against the game. We also had a hard time coordinating our schedules, but that's not any flaw of the system and isn't really a reason for dropping D&D v3.5 as a system. It was a bit of a catalyst for taking a break from the game in general.

Then another member of the RPTools community was offering to run a Savage Worlds demo game using MapTool. I decided to try it out and asked if I could jump in. Prior to the game I downloaded a copy of the Savage Worlds Test Drive Rules and I liked what I read. I immediately ordered a copy of the book from Amazon.

I received my copy on the same night as the demo, and eagerly began reading it (after having dinner with my wife). I hopped online in time for the game to start and began playing. I had a lot of fun. Before I knew it, I was pretty much running my character with at least the basics of the game well understood. Surprisingly, the Test Drive Rules really helped with getting the basics down before even getting my hands on the complete rules. A casual player could honestly get away with just having the Test Drive Rules.

Well, here's where my life changed. Around 11-11:30 p.m. we're at a point in the game where my character, an overconfident rogue, was surrounded by zombies in the middle of a forgotten sub-city crypt with the rest of the party trying to save my hide. Then my wife calls me from the bedroom.

"I think my contractions are getting closer."

"What? Seriously? Are you sure?"

Her due date was two days away. It wasn't improbable for her to be going into labor.

I jumped back to the keyboard real quick, "Hey, guys. I gotta go." (Prior to the start of the game session, I had jokingly warned them that my wife could go into labor at any minute and apologized ahead of time for having to leave abruptly in the middle of the game.)

So needless to say, my gaming stopped for the next 3 months. I shelved my copy of the Savage Worlds: Explorer's Edition as well as all of my D&D books and spent my time and energy on being a father and husband.

Revisiting the Game

Around November of 2008 I decided to read over my copy of the Savage Worlds: Explorer's Edition and start up a game of my own. First I tried converting Eberron to Savage Worlds. I had a lot of success with it as it was pretty easy, but decided to put it on pause after most of the initial work was done. (I still need to flesh out dragonmark powers with trappings).

The process helped me to exercise the concept of focusing on the feel of the setting rather than literal rules interpretations from D&D to Savage Worlds. When working with Savage Worlds conversions don't ever try to convert the system; rather let the Savage Worlds rules do the work for you. The rules are flexible enough to allow for just about any concept.

Example: Artificers in Eberron can be handled with the Arcane Background (Wierd Science) Edge, the Gadgeteer Edge, and the Relic Creation Edges from the Fantasy Gear Toolkit. The mechanics governing these edges are different from the Artificer's class abilities, but they are similar enough that the concept is the same. The character can make permanent magic items, permanent magic gadgets with their own pool of power points, and temporary magic items that burn out after use or a certain duration.

I'll post more about my Eberron conversions some other time.

I've since been playing in an online space pulp game and running a Conan-like Greyhawk game set in Stonehold, and both have been extremely fun and easy to play.

If you haven't tried Savage Worlds, I highly recommend it. It's a great alternative to D&D and the rules really do a good job of letting the player roleplay their characters freely.

Recent Changes to My Gaming Life

2008-05-12T09:46:00.005-04:00

Well, to start with, I recently moved to Atlanta which pretty much immediately ended my campaign and gaming history with my friends in Gainesville, FL. We toyed around with the idea of gaming online using MapTool, but most of them were disinterested in that idea. Conveniently, one of my former players lives right around the corner from me; she and her husband had moved up a couple of years before us. She was already involved with a gaming group and so I was able to pick up another game with them. That only lasted a couple of months though due to another recent and major change in my life. My wife is pregnant! At the time of this post, she is 25 weeks. As such, I've had to spend less time nerding out and more time helping her around the house with things and getting our home ready for a new tenant. So what to do next? Well, with 4e around the corner, I'm considering a switch for multiple reasons.

There is going to be a feature called D&DI which will include the following:
1. Online versions of Dragon and Dungeon Magazine
2. Online game table with customizable miniatures and VoIP
3. Online database of all rules as they are published in various supplements
4. $14.95 monthly, $12.95 a month for 3-month subscription, or $9.95 a month for annual subscription; that's cheaper than spending at least $20 a month on a hardcopy
Setting supplements will consist only of campaign guide and a player's guide.
Playing could occur in smaller time spans of an hour or so before bedtime online at home rather than driving back and forth to someone else's house
The new rules are designed to reduce the work of the DM, and having the content from the magazines online as well as online character creation tools that use that database almost turns the work into none.

The other upside is that my cousin (who also has a three-and-a-half-year-old and a 4 month-old daughter) and a mutual friend are interested in learning to play D&D. The new version and online tools could help them to get a quicker handle of the game and with creating characters. Being able to play online also makes it easier for us to get together without having to lug my stuff to my cousin's house or him having to juggle time with wife and watching the girls. The downside is that it increases their cost of buy-in. A new 4e book and the online tools adds to the expense. I already have a spare v3.5 PHB that I'm loaning to them, and so their cost of buy-in is minimal. Additionally, they are eager to start right away. Switching to 4e means they have to wait 3 more weeks or so and then I have to learn the new rules then before playing. Oh, the dilemmas of a D&D nerd.