Revision as of 16:02, 23 January 2019

Due to its narrative nature, DramaSystem by Pelgrane Press is an excellent fit for the Roll20 platform. Here are some tips and tricks for running DramaSystem in Roll20.

Setting Up

Create 4 types of "decks" in the UI:

Drama tokens - an unlimited deck of tokens, all the same. Make sure these "cards" have both a front and a back (but they can have the same image in both)

Bennies - an unlimited deck of tokens that are all the same, which are different from the Drama tokens and Procedural tokens. Again, make sure these have both a front and a back.

Standard playing cards; remove the jokers.

Precedence - one card for each player, including the GM. Number these incrementally (1 through 4 for 3 players and 1 GM, for example).

Setting Up the VTT

Set your avatars to be moveable and put each player's avatar somewhere on the table where they can have their tokens handy. Be aware that avatars near the top of the table will have their "hands" of cards disappear above them, so make sure to leave plenty of room above them!

Tracking Order of Precedence

Use the Turn Tracker for your Order of Precedence. Drag each character's token to the turn tracker, or enter each player's name in the turn tracker.

When you need to set up the order of precedence, recall all cards to the Precedence deck and click Deal. From the Deal dialog box, click the "Deal cards to turn order items" button.

Click the Turn Order Settings icon (gear on the turn tracker) to sort the turn order numerically, ascending.

Tip: Create a GM-visible handout to track the episode order of precedence, since it is used from one session to the next, and is not reset by scene precedence.

Running Procedural Scenes

Provide each player with a set of procedural tokens in red, yellow, and blue. When a player uses one, give it the "dead" or "X" status icon to indicate that it's been flipped.

Players drop their cards onto the table face up when playing cards in a procedural scene.

For the GM, put your procedural tokens on the GM layer and move it to the center of the VTT. When it's time for the reveal, move it from the GM layer to the token layer and then give it the "X" status icon. Leave the GM tokens that you have used on the token layer so players can easily see which ones have been used already.

Track ongoing consequences from procedural scenes in the character sheet.

End of the Episode

Players use the whisper feature (/w gm) to tell the GM their votes for Bennies for the episode. Recall all drama tokens and have all players reset their procedural tokens. Do not recall the bennie cards.