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GM approval Mechanics

Discussion in 'General Discussion' started by Whirlingdervish, Apr 3, 2016.

  1. Whirlingdervish

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    Is there any plans to add the option to to turn off the gamae master needing to micromanage everything the players do from attacks to adding an item, money or ability to their character sheets. I trust my players to not cheat and all this having to approve everything slows down the game alot.
     
  2. edwardcd

    edwardcd Administrator
    Staff Member

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    Re: GM approval BS

    Player updates Character then submits to GM...
    OK > Next > Finish to approve a change made by the player is "too much micromanaging" ?

    ProTip: use a cloud based service (such as google docs) for your players to track character's items and wealth (party treasure), unless it directly changes stats/attacks/damage/etc in which case you have the player change the character sheet then the GM approves.


    If you are wanting a discussion or to voice your request, you'll need to provide a little more information. Such as:
    1) How are you using D20PRO in this use-case? and
    2) How you would like D20PRO in the future to handle this specific use-case?
    Then we will see what other users think, or what I think after reading your full request post with use-case info.

    My initial thought is reducing the 3 steps into 2.
    OK > Next > Finish
    to
    OK > Finish (with an option to check the more detailed view).
     
  3. Whirlingdervish

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    Re: GM approval BS

    as it stands right now the dm has to approve attacks, every addition of a spell,a description a note ,or an ability has to be approved the only thing does not need to be approved by a dm is skill check which is pretty inconsistent if you ask me

    As for how i am using it I have a player in NYC, 1 player in the middle of nowhere Montana, 3 players in grand forks ND, 2 in fargo Nd, 1 Park River ND and one in Bismark ND now granted not all 9 play all the time but with regularity i have six players and i am using it to run pathfinder so its not uncommon for my players to keep notes and add and remove item, or add spells to their book or try to work on abilities (at will, per day etc....) eventually when everything is set up it won't be that big of a problem but it would be nice to be able to not have to deal with it

    As for your pro tip....already doing it But since i am already using Campaign Cartographer,Fractal Mapper, Otherworld Mapper, The Keep ,Realm Works , Herolab, Skype and a couple of other programs i am trying to reduce not add to what i am using

    the gm approval is great it would be even better if it had an off switch for those of us who do not see a need for it

    Edit: I never touched on the micromanaging comment you made ..... I don't know about you but i don't oversee every change to a players characters sheet when i run my at the table group. Why is it you think i should when i run for my online group?
     
  4. edwardcd

    edwardcd Administrator
    Staff Member

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    Re: GM approval BS

    Attacks
    There are two options for attacks. GM approval needed, or auto. If you want auto resolution with no GM input, there's an option for that. Goto the D20PRO Main Menu, goto Options, Judge, "I trust my players not to cheat" then put "0" for seconds to resolve attack (use a higher number than "0" if you want time to intervene to make changes (for times where players do not know they have a cursed item or when players do not know they have a bonus or penalty applying - or just so you have time to describe how they hit the bad guy before they know the damage - cinematic that way).

    There are some abilities that allow a reroll before the result is known - how do you handle this? - D20PRO handles it by having the GM approve as they can see the roll and total along with the target number. This goes for attacks and saves vs an effect... When it doesn't allow GM/Player intervention we basically say that ability is useless. I see their roll and result and let the player know "you rolled an 11 on that saving throw, did you want to use your daily ability to re-roll on that" (or whatever they setup as their "let me know if I roll under" number or whenever they want to know what they rolled)

    Adding Attacks/Abilities/Info/Description/Memos on the D20PRO Character Sheet (this is what I thought you were discussing in the original post - Players adding stuff to their D20PRO Character Sheet)
    Adding anything to the character sheet at this time requires GM approval since it's an asset on the GM's computer.

    Skill Checks
    Since Skill Checks are not target based, meaning there is no target number known for the roll, those are always displayed in the log without the result known - unless the GM says so before or after the roll.


    The Way I GM
    I actually have two styles of GM'ing.
    1) Pathfinder Society Official Play style, where everything is approved by the GM - me. This mode I have everything pre-programmed into the characters and I can narrate what happens as I approve actions.
    And, 2) Home Game Play style, I let players pick if they want to keep a paper sheet and roll at their location with real dice then communicate with me what they rolled for to hit/damage/effects/etc. And I also let players come with pre-programmed characters where everything is on the D20PRO character sheet. And I let players chose from anything in between those two polar opposites.


    D20PRO's Position
    D20PRO needs to have support for GM approval to support Organized Play such as Pathfinder Society and D&D Adventurers League where GM approval is required. For home based games, where some of these requirements are not needed, we just need to know how you want to GM/play so we can best leverage D20PRO to fit those needs. D20PRO is above all, a Virtual Tabletop designed by gamers for gamers - as our whole team plays TTRPGs and we take suggestions and feedback from all our users - we just need to know how people like to play and we'll see how we can get the most requested features into a release. Our goal is to make D20PRO allow GMs to Play Faster and Better than the alternative.


    Summary
    - D20PRO does have a way for Attacks to be fully automated without GM approval. (See "I trust my players not to cheat" in Judge Options)
    - Please list out the other places where you want this "I trust my players not to cheat" to also apply other than what you listed already (Player Character Sheet Updates and Ability Usage).
     
  5. Whirlingdervish

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    Re: GM approval BS

    So my group is in its second session on d20pro migrating from Maptool and many of the things we are happy with. its just the having to submit everything even nonessential things like description notes and certain essentials thing like changing hit points from the mini when you take damage or when you heal from it at that table it would not be a big deal but when you running a remote group it slows things down it would be better to have the gm approval mechanics on a toggle
     
  6. DMReckless

    DMReckless New Member

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    I think the best solution for this is that for any token the GM has made owned publically or by a Player should be enabled to be changed by the owner(s) without approval.
    Even if it were a button like the I trust my players not to cheat for combat rolls.
    Like "I trust my players to manage their own sheets." and then giving ownership lets them do whatever they need without approval. That way you still control everything that's not owned by a player, and the players can manage their own sheets. Seriously, when you have five or six players needing to make adjustments, or gods forget, level up their characters, it gets annoying.
     
    Whirlingdervish and Tay-Dor like this.

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