BRP - The Players' View
- Derek Batting
Desktop
The screen has the following basic areas:
Along the top, starting from the left, is the list of player portraits;
In the top right-hand corner are the Sidebar Buttons;
Down the right-hand side is the Icon Bar;
Along the bottom are twelve Quick Slots;
Immediately above the quick slots at the left-hand end is the Modifier Box;
Immediately above the quick slots at the right-hand end, if the option is enabled, is the Secret Die-roll Box;
Above the modifier box is the Chat Box: the bottom area is for entering chat and some commands, the main area is the chat output pane.
Sidebar Buttons
These buttons open various dialog boxes for interacting with Fantasy Grounds, as follows:
Pics
Pics opens a portrait selection screen, where you can view and select from a list of installed character portraits. To add portraits to your system, copy an image file (JPG, PNG, GIF, BMP) into the portraits sub-folder in your application Data Folder (accessible from the Start menu). The ideal size is 63x63 pixels, but if you use another size Fantasy Grounds will scale it for you.
RGB
RGB brings up a color picker, which controls your dice color. The dice color is also used as your distinctive arrow color on some tactical battle maps.
PCs
PCs opens the Character Selection Box, which enables you to create new characters or select one of your existing ones to play. You can have multiple characters in the same game, and each will appear in the list of player portraits.
Prefs
This brings up a preferences box which controls how the ruleset operates. For players there are just four preferences.
The first one controls how whisper commands are interpreted. If set to 'No', typing /whisper Jim hi will look for character call Jim and send the text 'hi' to that character. If set to 'Yes' the command would have to be typed as whisper Jim: hi. The second option can be useful if characters have spaces in their names.
The second option controls whether a key must be pressed at the same time that the mouse wheel is scrolled to edit a number. If no key is needed, the mouse wheel freely edits number fields. This can be unhelpful if the number field is also in a list. The option can be set to use SHIFT, CTRL or ALT instead of None.
The third option changes the way hit points by location are displayed, if your game uses that mechanic. If you have a humanoid character, and this option is set to 'Yes' then the Vitruvian Man is used to display hit locations (below on the left), otherwise a tabular format is used (below, on the right).
The final option controls whether a close box appears at the top right of each window.
Mods
This opens a module activation window, which controls which reference modules are available in your Library. The stack-of-books icon shows whether a module has been activated: if it is gray and has a red check mark against it, it has not yet been activated and won't appear in your Library. If it is solid, it will be available in the Library. To toggle the activation for a module, double-click the stack of books.
• +/- brings up a list to store common die roll modifiers. If you have a power or item which you routinely use to boost your chance of success, you can enter the details here and it will be readily available to drag or double-click to add the modifier to your next roll. Pending modifiers appear in the Modifier Box, and frequently-used modifiers can also be placed in a Quick Slot by dragging them there.
FX
FX opens a similar list to store frequent effects, such as Invisible or Enraged. Effects are probably more useful for gamemasters, and can be dragged to the Combat Tracker.
Icon Bar
The Icon Bar holds only three icons by default for players: the Notes icon; the Library icon; and the Token Box icon.
Notes
Notes provide a mechanism for players to record information about the current campaign or adventure, and to share those notes with other players if desired. Each note has free format text and a 'Public note' check. If a note is made public, all other players can see that note but not edit it. Otherwise only you (and the GM) can see your notes.
Library
The Library contains reference material for the campaign, including the BRP core rulebook and any
additional campaign material added by the GM.
Token Box
The Token Box holds assorted gaming tokens to use on tactical combat maps. Typically it contains lettered tokens and any bespoke tokens added by the GM. Players often don't use these generic tokens, as their character portraits can be used on tactical battle maps instead.
Quick Slots
The quick slots allow single-click access to anything placed in them, and can also be activated by pressing the function keys numbered F1-F12 along the top of the keyboard. In addition to the twelve standard slots, additional slots are available by pressing combinations of the CTRL, SHIFT and ALT keys, giving 96 different slots in total.
Typical uses for the quick slots include:
Commonly used attack and damage rolls;
Common roll modifiers;
Short cuts to common lists from the reference modules (such as powers and weapons);
Frequently used skills.
If a slot is used to hold a skill, by dragging the skill from the Character Sheet, the slot will automatically update to reflect and experience or other increases to that skill.
Modifier Box
The modifier box accumulates various circumstance modifiers, which are then applied to the next die roll. Modifiers can be created using the +/- Sidebar Button, dragged from any number field or added using the /modifier Chat Box command.
If the GM has enabled it, the modifier box may also have a sequence of skill level modifiers to its right: x2 for Easy; x1 for Normal; and x½ for Difficult. Select one of these before rolling a skill check to modify the chance of success.
Secret Die-roll Box
If this facility has been enabled by your GM, a box appears on the screen towards the lower right hand side, next to the Token Box icon. Any die roll dragged and dropped onto this box will be rolled secretly: the GM will see the result of the roll, but no players (including the one who initiated the roll) will know the result. This is typically used when the GM asks for some kind of sense check (such as Listen or Spot), and allows the player to control the roll without knowing the result.
Chat Box
Unless you are using a separate VOIP program, most of the action takes place in the chat box. Typed text is presented in character, out-of-character speech and other commands can be entered using the slash (/) key. In general it is only necessary to enter the first few letters of a command (enough to distinguish it uniquely) rather than the whole command name.
The ruleset supports these standard FG commands:
/die [nDn+n] [message]
/vote [message]
/ooc [message] - send an out-of-character comment
/action [message]
/emote [message]
/mood [mood] [message]
/mood ([multi-word mood]) [message]
/whisper [character] [message]
/wg [message] - whisper to the GM
In addition, the custom commands supported are:
/version - display the ruleset version information
/modifier [+n] [message] - add a modifier to the modifier box
/group [message] - send a message to your chat group
Group chat is a feature controlled by the GM that lets grouped characters talk to each other without the other characters seeing the conversation.
Character Sheet
The Main Tab
At the top of the Main tab is space to record some of the more standard details about your character, such as age, profession etc. For more obscure or detailed information, the Notes tab has plenty of space.
On the mid-left of the tab is space to record each of the characteristics (STR, DEX etc) and the sheet automatically calculations their associated characteristic rolls. Depending on which type of BRP game you are playing, these may differ (such as APP vs CHA, and different rolls). A characteristic roll can be double-clicked or dragged to throw dice for that roll.
The mid-right section holds derived characteristics, such as damage bonus and hit points, together with power points, fatigue points and sanity points. These last three only show if the GM has them enabled for your campaign. Note that maximum hit points, power points, fatigue and sanity points are not calculated automatically, as they are frequently over-ridden by house rules. The bottom section of the tab holds summary weapon/attack information. The default attacks (such as Grapple) are automatically filled in, but others can be added either by right-clicking the section or dragging a weapon from the Library. Clicking the gray square on the right of an attack line opens a more detailed view of that attack.
Dragging or double-clicking the attack name or Att % field will throw an attack roll. Dragging or double-clicking the Damage field will throw damage dice, including damage bonus if appropriate. The MINI buttons on the top right and bottom left of the sheet bring up minimal views of the overview and attacks sections, which can be helpful if you don't want the full character sheet cluttering the desktop.
The Skills Tab
Skills can be shown grouped by category (as in the screen shot above) or ungrouped, and you can switch views by right-clicking on the skill list.
To throw a skill roll, either drag or double-click the skill name or the Total field. Skill rolls can also be dragged to the Quick Slots. If your GM has enabled skill category bonuses, these are shown in the category headings and included automatically in any skill rolls.
Some skills have specialisms, such as Drive, and a separate field is available to record the specialism. To add further instances of the skill with a different specialism, simply click in the specialism field and press the 'return' or 'enter' key on your keyboard.
Additional skills can be found in the Library, and can be dragged to the skill list, and you can also create new skills by right-clicking on the list.
The Powers Tab
The top part of the powers tab holds general information about your character and the campaign, and includes any relevant skills (if you don't have these skills on your skills tab, they won't show here).
The middle section includes a list of all the powers to which your character has access. Powers are by far the most setting-specific feature of BRP, so the type of power can vary widely, and not all the fields on this list will be relevant for all powers. To get a more detailed view of a power, click its gray Info box on the right-hand side of the entry.
Powers can be dragged here from the Library, or new powers can be created by right-clicking the list. The lower section of the tab is for recording character failings in campaigns where that mechanism is used (for example, Superworld). The points recorded here are typically used to buy additional powers, but there is no automation which constrains this because the method is likely to differ significantly from one campaign to another.
The Inventory Tab
Most of the inventory tab is devoted to a list of kit that your character is carrying. Aside from the obvious fields, the check box under the weight icon indicates whether a particular item should be included when calculating total encumbrance, and the check box under the tri-bar icon indicates whether this item should be included in the inventory mini sheet.
The special items section is mainly for GM use, and will include unusual objects (such as arcane tomes or mystical puzzle-boxes) placed on your character sheet by the GM.
The wealth section is free format, as the basis for determining wealth varies too substantially from one genre to another to make this aspect of the character any more specific.
The Armor Tab
The armor tab only appears if the GM has enabled the optional hit location feature of the ruleset, otherwise armor is dealt with as a text box on the inventory tab.
This tab can appear in two formats, the Vitruvian Man (shown above) or in a tabular format. The Vitruvian Man only shows if your character is humanoid and you have enabled it in the preferences dialog box.
In this form, the hit locations are shown at a glance as colored circles with gray being healthy, then shading from yellow through orange, red and black as the location suffers more damage. If you click on one of the hit locations, additional detail is given (the above screen shot has the right arm hit location clicked).
You can assign damage to a hit location by dragging the result directly from the Chat Box to the desired hit location. You can throw a die to select a hit location by double-clicking on the Vitruvian Man, and select a missile location by pressing SHIFT when double-clicking.
The tabular view shows all hit locations at once, but otherwise includes the same information. Note that in either view, you must separately maintain the total wounds on the main tab of the character sheet: this isn't linked to the individual hit locations because some damage is non-location (such as asphyxiation).
Finally, there are two buttons at the bottom of the tab: on the left is a button to open the armor mini-sheet, which gives at-a-glance information on the character's hit locations; and on the right is a button to roll hit locations randomly. If you hold down the SHIFT key when clicking this button, a missile hit location is rolled, otherwise a melee hit location is chosen. If no missile hit location information is included for your character, the roll will always yield a melee location.
The Notes Tab
The notes tab (not shown) contains a free-format box for recording additional details about your character.