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1. Currently the audio is sent to everyone regardless of what was selected in the Send To menu The audio is played on the recipient s speakers or headphones A player can choose to mute their audio output useful for when they don t want to disturb someone else in the room There are two sound channels in BRPG One is reserved for looping audio and the other for non looping sound effects This means you can play a non looping sound effect e g a sword clash even while a looping sound effect e g background music is playing To stop a looping sound from playing open the Send Audio panel and press the Cancel button Loading a new Encounter will also stop any audio that is currently playing Consulting Charts amp Tables If you have access to a scanner you can scan in reference material from your RPG game books such as charts tables lists and character sheets Due to copyright restrictions we cannot provide these for you These reference material scans can be accessed by you in BRPG simply by placing them in the Charts amp Tables folder at the system level You can even organize these reference materials by putting them into subfolders only one level deep or BRPG won t have access to them Be sure to save your scans in JPG or BMP format In a future version BRPG will also support RTF and PDF format Nothing in the Charts amp Tables folder is transmitted to anyone s
2. Clicking on the About window closes it exception clicking on the URL launches your default web browser and takes you to the Battlegrounds Games web site Y Hotkeys Since BRPG s interface is designed to remain hidden and out of the way to avoid distractions and to promote roleplaying much of the program s functionality is controlled by Hotkeys Hotkeys are simple keyboard shortcuts for activating a command or changing a game setting There is no need to hold down the SHIFT key or any other modifier key when pressing a Hotkey The following is a list of all the Hotkeys in BRPG GM and Player Arrow Keys Scroll Map 1 4 6 9 Move Selection on square grid 1 3 4 6 7 9 Move Selection on hex grid Rotate Selection Clockwise minus sign Rotate Selection Counter clockwise TAB Toggles the Chat window R Roll Dice C Consult Charts amp Tables G Toggle Grid On Off L Login Screen also use to log off N Notepad Help Screen P Preferences Screen Q Quit BRPG confirmation required GM Only DELETE BACKSPACE Delete Selection confirmation required M Change Map S Save Encounter F Fog of War Screen E Load Encounter T Turn Sequencer U Unit Manager H Hide Selected Unit toggle V Send Visual Aid A Send Audio X Toggle Snap to Grid On Off The Battlegrounds Button To make BRPG even easier to use you can select most of the Hotkey commands
3. Map Maps in BRPG can measure up to 2440 pixels wide by 2440 pixels high Each cell on the map is 61 pixels across so if you are using a square grid it can be up to 40 x 40 squares and the hex grid up to 40 x 46 hexes If you need a larger playing area you can create a second Encounter with another map and switch back and forth between them as needed Map Settings The GM only can select Map Settings from the BG button to access this panel Map Settings Grid Cells Wide 20 gt Fractional Cells Wide 0 Pe Grid Cells High 40 A Fractional Cells High 82 0 3 AM Cancel OK Controls on this panel allow the GM to specify the map s exact dimensions so that it matches the grid This is particularly useful when using a map with a grid already on it The grid overlay see below is automatically cropped to the map s dimensions Scale settings for a given map are saved in each Encounter file wy Grid Overlay A square grid or hex grid is overlaid on top of the map The grid overlay will be automatically cropped to fit the size of your current map Anything placed on the map goes on top of the grid overlay except for figure bases tile objects and Area of Effect overlays The grid may be shown or hidden at any time with the press of a Hotkey G From the Preferences screen the GM can decide what type of grid to use square or hex the color of the grid overlay bla
4. Delete Selection from the Battlegrounds button Turning the Grid On or Off Press G to toggle the grid overlay on or off Some people may prefer the added visual realism achieved by keeping the grid hidden during play at least until the need arises to count the range to a target Grid visibility has no effect on the Snap to Grid feature which is independent Grid visibility is a local option so for example the GM may chose to show the grid on his screen while a player chooses to have it hidden on his Login Panel Press L to open the Login panel If you wish to join a game click on the Log In button Please log in E 4 Please log in Username Username James Wiliam Tell s IP Ai i ERRE Host s IP Address 192 168 1 100 192 168 1 100 Password iF any Password if any Port to Use Port to Use 1626 1626 Check if Host _ Check if Host Connect Cancel Cancel Connect If you are the GM Host Type in your username a password if you wish to require one to keep your game private and make sure the Check if Host checkbox is checked For port number use 1626 unless you or your players firewalls and or routers require you to use a different port to connect Once a host attempt succeeds close the Login panel The chat window will automatically open It will tell the GM his internal IP address which if not behind a router is also the external IP address If b
5. Table of Contents Overview of Battlegrounds RPG Edition sstasssosscasesdeslecasnepieenroniiacasarmdacaianaiecas 4 What TE IS sireiiiatiirirerinarina nonnina inn r a raa aaa 4 What IE ISD Caisse aia 4 Omer Pateni USOS naana a IE ENEI en ence eee 4 Avand gO Sers ee T E E N e 5 What You Nec orriari aTa EA saint 5 How IE WOKS sirap ara EAA E AEAN AAAA 6 Learning to Use this SOWarE eee eee ne een ree pte a aaa niia 7 Learning ModE agiria a a aa aaa a aoada ai 7 Terms and Abbreviations Used in this Manual sssssssssssessrrnsnnrrnnnnnnrnnnnennnnrnnnnnn 8 Sytem REQ SEG sassen r a O E E 9 a A A shaaansenoaneeanseines 9 Recommend T cine 9 EEI E E AA E A E A E A O A A E E E 9 Launching BREG pacinan E 9 TU 1 A E A A E T nies 10 GM and Playe esirin E EE 10 EE A EA A A T A E A E eR 10 The Battlegrounds Button ssssssssessssernosnsnosnnrsensnnennonannnsnsnnennensnnonnnnesnnrnenne 11 Playing Sura CE sipaan E 12 MaDe nina iaatnucs ne nda ihareinindantaieeereaidadnleeaeiiuaaaaT id 12 Map Sere ve acaiacnscqanaensaaniasasaanceaoinsniaansacaiannsicaia aniseed nsaanisniaaiiareintanquninaaind 12 Grid Bc 9 amen en ener ee tes Serer Oe ene r eer te 13 Snap tO GNOE E E EE E EE 13 Scrolling the Mapecsasceneiia a aE 13 Unit Types Figures and ODJEC S x csckinscinniconidvadavaideraapbbieedinciienianndvadennideniancied 14 FIGUES siisii Ena AEA ANE EEE EREDA aG 14 e T E A E E E T 14 EE A A A E E E A E E E E E E A E A AET 14 oj A E E T E
6. This is an overlay that gives some basic operating instructions and provides a handy reference of all the hotkeys used in both the GM Client and the Player Client If you need additional help consult this User Manual or the BRPG forums Click anywhere on the Help screen to make it go away or press the hotkey again Sending Visual Aids GM only In multiplayer games you can send your players visual aids Visual aids are anything that can be shown in a picture or diagram a campaign scale map or area map a picture of a character item or room etc Open the Send Visual Aid panel by pressing a hotkey V Only the GM may send visual aids Category SEN Category Illustrations Illustrations H Selection Selection Mountainpeak Mountainpeak J Seale Send To EVERYONE v GM C Canes Send Use the controls on the panel to select the image that you would like to send In multiplayer games you can use the Send To popup menu to select who should receive the visual aid You can choose to send it to everyone to a single player or to a group of players When you ve made your selection press the Send button Currently all visual aids are sent to everyone regardless of what was selected in the Send To menu When the file is done transferring to the specified clients the visual aid will appear on the recipient s screen atop the map and units It can be dragged with the mouse to re
7. 12 units when saving or loading Encounters Aside from those limitations the free Demo is just as full featured as a licensed client Purchasing and installing a client license unlocks the software and removes these limitations Another way to avoid the timeout limit if you are using just the free Demo is to log into a game that is hosted by a GM with one or more Floating Licenses available Important Note If you are running BRPG on a Windows PC make sure that you have installed it to the hard drive and partition where it will reside permanently before proceeding Moving a licensed BRPG installation to another hard drive or partition may disable your license If you have purchased a license for BRPG open the License panel by clicking on the red Battlegrounds button and selecting License from the pulldown menu that appears License Challenge Code XBO320DAJNX Response Code License Type GM Client Unlock Current License Type UNLICENSED If you are running BRPG on a Windows PC the Challenge Code field will be pre filled for you E mail your Challenge Code to activation battlegroundsgames com Y We will e mail you back with a Response Code that will allow you to install your BRPG license s on that computer If you are running BRPG on a Mac you must follow a few steps to determine your Challenge Code Select the Apple menu from the menubar at the top of the screen and select About This Mac
8. E E PONE E T E E T N 15 Controlling UNITS mmcss eaaa aa aaa aea 16 Pladnga Figure OF the MaD sini 16 Pacing an ODjecton Me Ma ciwsriririn kinnin aen in E Re Ee ET TEE 18 Selecting and Deselecung a UMIE aniwusiiiuuniusianuiiiaiuciniucnmiuaniuunwn 20 Moving a UME ssania EEEE ENEE 20 ROTATING TUME sinsin ana aipa edna ana naa aaia ia a easda anana 21 Adosung a Umes 16S wirnceisicinent deinen een ema 2i DOG EINE E T E A E T A O 21 Contextual Popup MenUS s ssssssssssssnsrrsnsrrssrrrnsrrrnsrninannnnnntnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnne 22 EONO Saan e RE E E E ameeeceES 23 Attack avilable for figures OMY arriverai nrinn inii i 24 Target avaiable Tor Ngure S OF aunennundnunddnnnmudiaduunuuaannunen 24 Health Status available for figures Orly civics ciicsincsaniscrcciacsisasevenseciiersienaannnererier 25 Label available for figures only sinirini a aa da aaae 26 Base Type availabi for figures OMIY sarr irsri tsrs nki stnrns ki Tanara Tr Enaka PENNA ANERER TRANEN 27 Stealth Invisible available for figures only aissis 28 Sideboard available to GM only for both figures and ODjECtS 1 ccscceseeeeeeeeneeenes 28 Hide available to GM only for both figures and objects cescceescenscensecsassenesnnenens 28 Light Source available for both figures and ODJECES 1 ccsssvseceasssnscensessensenesnnenees 28 Enhanced Night Vision available for figures ONY scsccesccssssserscessnsssssnssensscsnsenssees 29 Area of Effect available for both figur
9. On the screen that opens click on the More Info button This will launch Apple s System Profiler application By default you should be seeing a screen labeled Hardware Overview On that screen you will find a serial number listed See red highlight below System Profiler File Edit View Window Help e008 Power Mac G4 Power Mac G4 6 3 06 8 16 AM Contents Hardware Overview ATA Machine Name Power Mac G4 j Machine Model PowerMac3 3 Audio Built In CPU Type PowerPC G4 2 9 Bluetooth Number Of CPUs 2 Diagnostics CPU Speed 500 MHz Disc Burning on ae ane Bus Speed 100 MHz FireWire Boot ROM Version _4 2 8f1 Graphics Displays Serial Number XBO320DAJNX Memory ales Order O100258788XB0320DA1234123412341234 PC Cards a PCI Cards Parallel SCSI Power Printers Serial ATA USB Y Network AirPort Card Firewall Locations A Modems DB be ee In rare cases no serial number is shown on this screen Should this occur use the serial number printed on the computer case instead Copy this number down then quit System Profiler E mail your Challenge Code to activation battlegroundsgames com We will e mail you back with a Response Code that will allow you to install your BRPG license s on that computer Once you ve received your Response Code via e mail launch BRPG open the License panel and paste your Response Code into the Response Code field in BRPG Mac users should also fill in their C
10. a unit to move it Scrolling the map with the mouse cursor is disabled while certain panels are open wy It is strongly advised that you run BRPG in the highest screen resolution you are comfortable with so that you can see more of the map at one time and therefore don t need to scroll around as much A future version of BRPG will support zooming in and out and will have a minimap that will provide an overview of the entire map and allow for faster map navigation Unit Types Figures and Objects There are two main categories of things that can be deployed on the map figures and objects These are collectively known as units Only the GM may place units on the map and only the GM may delete them Figures Figures are used to represent the PCs NPCs animals and monsters on the map basically anything that can move attack and be killed including magically animated items Figures differ from Objects because all figures have a base and a color coded Health Status halo unless these features have been manually turned off Figures also have a contextual popup menu accessed by right clicking on a Figure that offers many more options than the contextual popup menu does for Objects Bases You may specify a color or a texture to use for each figure s base You may also select the size of the base to use for each Figure The shape of a figure s base square or hexagonal will automatically match the current grid
11. and down arrow buttons to move those items higher or lower on the map You may also make non contiguous selections for adjusting Sideboard and Hidden status Hold down the Shift key while clicking to make contiguous selections and hold down the Command key on Mac or the Control key on Windows while clicking to make non contiguous selections Help Screen Press the key to bring up the Help screen HOTKEY GUIDE GM amp Players GM Only Arrow Keys Scroll Ma H Hide Selection toggle 1 2 3 6 7 8 9 Move Selection baere Grid M Change Map 1 3 4 6 7 9 Move Selection Hex Grid S Save Encounter 5 End Move E Load Encounter O Cancel Move T Turn Sequencer Rotate Selection Clockwise U Unit Manager Rotate Selection Counter clockwise V Send Visual Aid R Roll Dice A Send Audio N Notepad F Fog of War C Consult Charts amp Tables xs Toggle Snap to Grid On Off G Grid Overla toggle on off Backspace Windows Delete Selection L Login window also use to logo Delete Mac Delete Selection TAB Toggles the Chat window must be logged Ta 2s Help shows hides this screen P Prererences Q Quit the program Basic Instructions Right click on a map cell to deploy a figure or object GM only Right click ona figure or object to access a tee fossi menu GM or igure Owner only Place th cursor over a figure or object to read its notes To use a hotkey first close the chat window
12. button short for Step the Sequence at the bottom of the panel the GM advances to the next figure on the list making it their turn to act This is indicated by a blue halo around their figure and by a message in the chat window After the last figure on the list has taken their turn the Turn Counter at the top of the panel increments by one and the process begins all over again until the combat or encounter is resolved The Turn Counter at the top is editable by the GM Click on it hold down the mouse button type in the desired turn number then release the mouse button Unit Manager GM only Press the U key to bring up the Unit Manager Only the GM may access the Unit Manager Unit Manager Unit Manager Jant Spidi Archer Table IDeaaq ugni 2 o Toggle Sideboard status White Horse This panel is used for controlling which units are visible hidden locked or tiled which are on the Sideboard and what the stacking order of the units should be this is useful because for example you may want a unit to stand over a dead w body but under a tree Your chosen settings will be updated in real time on the map Units at the top of the Unit Manager list will be drawn on the map above lower listed units Tile objects are an exception to this rule but are best placed low on the list to keep things organized If you select a single item or a contiguous selection of items you can use the up
13. can be added to the game in the same manner A wealth of free quality artwork is available on the internet see the Links amp Resources page on the Battlegrounds Games web site and more is posted every day Of course the graphically inclined can make their own custom artwork using any graphics application Adding Custom Artwork Sound Effects Reference Material and Grids to BRPG Users wishing to add their own artwork or sound effects into the program may do so by simply placing the asset file in its corresponding folder at the system level Maps Figures Objects Audio Visual Aids Charts amp Tables or Grids The Figures folder and Objects folder accept graphics in JPG BMP and PNG format The Maps folder accept graphics in JPG format only The Visual Aids folder and the Charts amp Tables folder accept graphics in JPG BMP and PNG format only The Audio folder accepts sound files in WAV MP3 SWA AU and AIFF format The Grid folder accepts graphics in PNG format only For graphics without a transparency layer alpha channel JPG is the recommended format in order to keep file sizes down and hence speed up transmission times in multiplayer games For graphics with a transparency layer use PNG format For audio files MP3 or compressed AIFF format is preferred in order to keep file sizes down and hence speed up transmission times in mul
14. has a static IP address Changing the Map GM only Press M to open the map browser Only the GM may change the current map Category oy Category Fantasy Interior Fantasy Interior Selection Selection bludragn_inn f bludragn_inn Cancel Select Select the map you want to swap in then click on the Select button In multiplayer games if the GM has selected a map that has been used before on the connected clients the map switch will be instantaneous on the players screens Otherwise the connected clients will automatically request the map from the GM s client While the map is being transferred the players will see a placeholder graphic in place of the map Map transfer times vary and depend on the size of the map in question the host s upload speed the connected clients download speed and whether or not bandwidth is being utilized by other applications such as a voice chat program It is not unusual for a very large map to take several minutes to transfer even over broadband Note that when swapping in a new map units retain their relative positions In most cases the units must be repositioned on the new map If Fog of War is in use Blackout mode will be automatically engaged to allow the GM to reposition all the figures thus avoiding any premature map reveals on his players screens If you are a player and your map window suddenly goes black it is because the GM
15. is changing the map Give him time to finish his preparations Y There is currently a 2MB limit on file size for online transfers Sending a larger file will fail If necessary apply enough JPG compression to your maps to get them under 2MBs In a future version maps will be transferred in sections and reassembled on the client s end thus bypassing the 2MB transfer limit It will also be possible to send maps audio files visual aids and other large transfers long before they are needed in the game Such assets will not be revealed to the players until the GM calls for them at which point they will be presented immediately Rolling Dice Press the R key to open the Dice Roller panel T f Dice EES Type of Dice d d100 Number of Dice Modifier SEURE Bebe Number of Dice Modifier M E Send To Send To GM GM B Modifier applies to each die Modifier applies to each die Min of 1 _ Fudge Roll Min of 1 Fudge Roll SA amp S Total 6 Total 35 Done Done Roll Set your die rolling options as desired then click on the Roll button or simply press the RETURN or ENTER key this is a handy way to keep rolling the same roll over and over Up to 9 dice may be rolled at once exception only 3 percentile rolls at once The die types included in BRPG are d2 d3 d4 d6 d8 d10 d12 d20 and d100 percentile In a fut
16. out and clearly labeled If you know how to push a button use a popup menu and press a hotkey you know how to use this program You can literally be playing within minutes of installing the application If you ve ever bought roleplaying software aids that were so hard to use that you never did use them you ll realize just how important this is Some users may prefer to dive right in and start experimenting that s OK you won t break anything Others might prefer to give this manual a quick read first in order to become familiar with the software We recommend a mix Print out this manual for easy reference and use it as a guided walk through of the software reading each section as you follow along on your computer Learning Mode BRPG has a feature that lets users learn the software more easily by keeping advanced features hidden until the user feels ready for them By default BRPG has Learning Mode turned on It can be turned off or back on from the Preferences panel With Learning Mode enabled the Movement Guide shows more hotkeys when a unit is selected and the Dice Roller panel is presented with a more basic but more consistent interface This is a relatively new feature and is not fully developed yet More adjustments will be made to it in future versions of BRPG such as adding a Teach Me command to the BG button that will walk through and explain whatever feature the user is interested in learning abo
17. settings click the OK button You will notice that the figure on the map is now transparent This is because it is automatically hidden from the players by default This allows you to further tweak the figure such as adjust which way it is facing or perhaps attach a text label or wy notes to it When you re ready you can choose to reveal the figure to the players by pressing a hotkey H All figures are placed on the map with a default orientation facing to the right but once on the map you can rotate them as needed Placing an Object on the Map The procedure for placing an object on the map is the same as for placing a figure Only the GM may place an object Move your mouse cursor on the map to the cell where you want the object placed then right click to get a contextual popup menu Select Place Object cy Cats I a4 Place Figure if Place Object amp W es Ea mya Z e fe sihe An object browser panel appears allowing you to choose a suitable illustration to depict the object on the game map Category Category vegetation Bodies Selection Selection oak Dead Knight peon Cancel Select Once you ve selected suitable artwork click on the Select button The object appears on the map in the cell you specified Unit Settings Unit Settings Object Name Object Name Tree Table Scale Adjustment Sorter Scale Adjustment 75 t Ce A Rotation Adjustmen
18. type There are also two base types available that can be used to indicate the demeanor of NPCs towards the PCs Friendly a green tinted clear base and Hostile a red tinted clear base Neutral NPCs can use the untinted clear base Bases are drawn underneath the map grid so that large opaque bases will not obscure the grid Halos Glowing halos around each figure can be used to denote the approximate Health Level of the figure The halos are color coded green for Good yellow for Fair and red for Critical The actual implementation of what constitutes Good Fair or Critical is up to the GM of course but a recommended guideline is to use Good if the figure is at over 50 of its Hit Points Fair if the figure is between 50 and 26 of its Hit Points and Critical for 25 or less Health Status halos may be globally disabled from the Preferences screen or individually disabled for specific figures by selecting Unspecified from the 9 contextual menu instead of a health level for example when the GM does not wish the players to know how close a creature is to dying By default health status halos are enabled but set to Unspecified when a figure is first deployed In a future version the GM will be able to set the health status halos to be visible only to him her In addition to the colored halos the figure whose turn it is to act according to the Turn Sequencer is highlighted with a blue halo This
19. a slain in a fierce battle His body is tried to pry it open recently were dragged away by someone Cancel You may enter in any sort of notes that you want The most common use of this feature is for displaying a brief description of the unit in question or for displaying statistics about the unit e g for a torch object how long it burns for how long it s already been burning and perhaps how much damage it does if used as a weapon The program will automatically size the displayed note as needed depending on the amount of information entered ToolTip notes have a maximum width of 3 cells to avoid screen clutter Clicking on a ToolTip note will make it go away until the next time the mouse moves over the unit s graphic If you edit a unit s notes and clear the text entry field completely no ToolTip will be shown for that unit In the current version ToolTip notes do not appear when Fog of War is on 9 Attack available for figures only and only if it is that figure s turn to act Selecting this command designates the figure as the attacker A red Attacking text label is superimposed on the figure If a user changes his mind and wishes to cancel the attack altogether he or she can simply select this command again which will now read Cancel Attack The purpose of this command when used in conjunction with the Target command see below is to make it clear to everyone i
20. ber of cells across that it should be then multiply that number by 61 That s how many pixels wide your map needs to be for use in BRPG If your graphics software allows you to maintain the aspect ratio you don t need to calculate the map height separately Here is a handy chart for figuring out what your map s dimensions need to be Squares Across Width in Pixels Squares Across Width in Pixels 5 306 23 1403 6 366 24 1464 7 427 25 1525 8 488 26 1586 9 549 27 1647 10 610 28 1708 11 671 29 1769 12 732 30 1830 13 793 31 1891 14 854 32 1952 15 915 33 2013 16 976 34 2074 17 1037 35 2135 18 1098 36 2196 19 1159 37 2257 20 1220 38 2318 21 1281 39 2379 22 1342 40 2440 Maps made with Dundjinni map creation software are perfectly compatible with BRPG although you must still resize them If you are making a Dundjinni map exclusively for use in BRPG it is recommended that you output the map as a BMP at 61 pixels per inch and then convert it to JPG format S4 When creating your maps be sure to leave off any wildlife doors or any objects that you want to be moveable and just insert them later in BRPG You should also export your map without a grid since BRPG gives you the option of showing or hiding the grid as needed Maps larger than 40 cells in either direction will need to be broken up into several pieces and presented in separate Encounters Qui
21. by clicking on the Battlegrounds button Delete Selection BACKSPACE Hide Selection H Toggle Grid G Map Settings Login Panel L Show Chat Windi Dice Roller R Turn Sequencer T Unit Manager U Change Map M Fog of War Panel F Send Visual Aid V Send Audio A Consult Charts amp Tables C Notepad N Save Encounter S Load Encounter E Preferences P Help License About Quit Q A popup menu will list all of the commands available including the Hotkey that will trigger each of the commands Simply select a menu item to trigger that command The available commands in the popup menu will vary depending on whether you are the GM or a player If a particular command is dimmed disabled it is probably because you must first select a unit on the map to apply that command to Note that License and About are the only commands in this popup menu that are only accessible from the Battlegrounds Button and that they are the only ones that don t have a Hotkey equivalent assigned to them Playing Surface Beneath the map is a picture of a playing surface i e a tabletop You can set any of three different surfaces from the Preferences screen Wooden Table Mahogany Table or Flat Black In the future it may be possible for users to add custom background pictures Users may want to use a genre specific illustration not unlike what you might find on a GM screen
22. ck white grey yellow red blue green or brown and the opacity of the grid overlay 10 100 in 10 increments Users may also add their own custom grid overlays in case they wish to add more grid colors or even additional grid information such as centerpoints for Line of Sight calculations or a grid numbering system see Expanding BRPG below Snap to Grid Snap to Grid is on by default As you roll your mouse cursor across the map a cell highlight graphic snaps from cell to cell as you roll over each one This happens even if the grid overlay is hidden If Snap to Grid is disabled from the BG button or with the X hotkey the cell highlight graphic does not appear and units may be dragged around freely on the map without snapping to the center of each cell If Snap to Grid is enabled units will snap to the center of each cell even if the overlay grid is hidden Scrolling the Map Use the arrow keys to scroll the map by pressing the arrow key indicating the direction that you would like to reveal Each press of an arrow key scrolls the map by one cell When the edge of the playing surface is reached the map will not scroll any further and you will hear a table bump sound effect Note that in multiplayer games the arrow keys only work when the Chat Window is closed You can also scroll the map by moving the mouse cursor to an edge of the map window This even works if you are in the middle of dragging
23. culate what a character can see Note that this command is available to objects as well as figures so that for example you can put a torch in a wall sconce and have it light a room or hallway or have a campfire illuminate the surrounding campground Enhanced Night Vision available for figures only Selecting Enhanced Night Vision from the contextual popup menu produces a submenu from which you can chose the exact type of enhanced night vision that the figure possesses None Dark Vision Low Light Vision or some other vision option that the GM wishes to make available in the game such as NVGs in a Modern Sci Fi or Time Travel game Edit Notes Health Status Label Base Stealth Invisible Sideboard Hide H Light Source Enhanced Night Vision ce Area of Effect Low Light Vision Owner Dark Vision Delete BACKSPACE The exact contents of this submenu and the effects of each setting can be customized by the GM see Customizing BRPG below A unit s Enhanced Night Vision setting is one of several factors used by the program s dynamic Fog of War feature to calculate what a character can see Area of available for both figures and cts AoE Overlays can be used to show the area of the map affected by a spell blast radius etc Only the GM or the owner of a figure may place an AoE Overlay There are three main types of AoE overlays cone circle and beam Selecting Area of Effect from the c
24. e Sideboard Hide H Light Source Enhanced Night Vision Area of Effect Owner Delete BACKSPACE Label available for figures only Text labels can be assigned to any figure to help the GM and players remember important facts such as postures or whether a figure is surprised stunned etc BRPG comes with a number of pre defined text labels but you can also define your own see Customizing BRPG below Selecting Label from the contextual popup menu produces a submenu from which you can chose the exact label you want or select None to remove all labels You can also chose to have a label that shows the character s name y None Character Name Free ext Flat footed Surprised Stunned Prone Edit Notes Health Status Stealth Invisible Sideboard Hide H Light Source Enhanced Night Vision Area of Effect Owner Delete BACKSPACE Kneeling Crouching Crawling Riding Sneaking Hiding Climbing Flying Swimming Unconscious Drunk Asleep Poisoned Paralyzed Petrified Dazed Confused Sick Frightened Charmed Cursed Blessed Held Grappled Berserk In a future version a Free Text label option will be added for defining custom labels on the spot Base Type available for figures only Figures can have a base displayed underneath them not unlike traditional tabletop miniatures The shape of the base square or hexagonal is dictated by the map grid type A vari
25. e objects are drawn under the grid overlay and under figure bases Tiles are useful when constructing a map out of component parts like rooms and hallways They are also useful for concealing the existence of secret areas of a map For example a tile showing the area beyond a secret door can be kept hidden by the GM until the secret door is discovered by the PCs Other than affecting how objects are drawn on screen this setting has no effect on players since players can t select or move objects anyway w Owner available to GM only for figures only Selecting Owner from the contextual popup menu produces a submenu listing the GM and all the players logged into the game The GM can designate anyone on this list to be the owner of the figure A figure cannot be selected nor can its contextual menu be accessed unless you are the GM or the figure s owner and even if you are the figure s owner you can only do so when it is the active figure unless you are the GM Edit Notes Health Status Label Base Stealth Invisible Sideboard Hide H Light Source Enhanced Night Vision Area of Effect Owner Delete BACKSPACE v Mary R Delete available to GM only for both figures and objects Selecting this command deletes the unit This is an alternate method of deleting a unit particularly useful for Tablet PC users The other methods are pressing the Backspace key Windows or the Delete key Mac or selecting
26. ehind a router the GM can press the IP button on the chat window and his external IP address will be shown in the chat output window a few moments later 9 GMs should inform their players of their IP address and port number via e mail a third party chat client by voice chat or where possible by telephone If you are a Player Type in your username the IP address of the game s host and a password if one is required Make sure the Check if Host checkbox is not checked and that you use the port number given to you by your GM usually 1626 Every player must have a unique username If a player logs in with a username that is already in use by another player he or she will be automatically booted from the game A player will also be automatically booted if they log in using a different version of BRPG than the host is using Version parity is required for multiplayer games If you are already logged into a game and wish to disconnect open the Login panel and press the Log Out button Logging out will automatically close the chat window if it is open In the current version the password field is ignored anyone can join In a future update the program will remember your login settings whenever you successfully log in to a game and these fields will be pre filled in for you the next time you try to log in Note however that the host s IP address may have changed since your last session unless the host
27. es and ODjJ CtS cscscccsssosssssessnesscssenesssensees 30 Lock available to GM only for objects Only ssciaciincsensdcetsiciintecesdansrieadiesetendee tiene 31 Tile available to GM only for objects OMY isisisinssicciisssiserinesinesiseteiasincssiasinanceanens 31 Owner available to GM only for figures OFY wcccesscsssssesseesscessssnssenssensnsonsecsssensens 32 Delete available to GM only for both figures and objects 32 Turna tne Gnid OND Oy Ofise Na 33 Login Pane lenean E S 33 JF you are Me OS orie Erare Ee Er EEE E E EEANN EE EErEE EENEN 33 DE OEE A E E aid T E T E E E A 34 Changing the Map GM ONIY lt b ivcctissicsticwenavaicwcsagpic iaia 35 Roling DICE csniyrirnuprieniveynatni nna e a nN aan N OR 37 T rn Sequencer GM ONIY rs pee es cee seen adian eee naten 40 Unit Manager GM OMY eee ee nelees a nee treme ae eer lene eel ie eran oae weet eeaee merle eer 41 De a eget eee eee tee eae 43 Sending Visual Aids GM only ascssscnsacdiacasasdiararaddeasasacdeacesacdiaeasaitiesasadargiasacaias 44 sending Audio I OUI isasssrssiiaaa n on 45 Cons lting Charts amp Tables ccc acsequnsadorqnacdniasesananasancnaeasecaceusmeannieseimmesasesecaiee 47 Fog of War GM OMIY eis octets acted eG cee aa n r 48 Saving am Encounter GM ONIY errs aaa 50 L ding an Encounter GM Only Jas a choi conchae taorch Sind ann na 50 PreferenCES aiicseiccosiandiassdeeniaautagehaeedactatealapscinedapaidassapiadeoddgiatesiacninnlamsidautaunida 51 Licensing LY Ci
28. ety of base colors and textures are available to choose from including Friendly and Hostile which are tinted versions of the Clear base intended to denote the figure s demeanor towards the PCs The default base type is Clear which lets you see the underlying terrain that the figure is standing on but you can change that default from the second Preferences screen Hint Users who prefer the most realism can opt to hide unit bases altogether select None and turn off the map grid and the Health Status halos Dark Grey Light Grey i i Dark Blue Edit Notes LightBlue Health Status Green Label Maroon Brown Stealth Invisible Sideboard Hide H Light Source Enhanced Night Vision Area of Effect Owner Friendly Delete BACKSPACE Hostile Grass Stone Cavern Earth Sand Stealth Invisible available for figures only Selecting this command turns a figure semi transparent to visually indicate that the character is either invisible or is trying to be stealthy e g hiding in shadows This should not be confused with the GM s Hide command which completely removes a unit from the map on everyone s screen except for the GM s A stealthy or invisible figure is still drawn on the map for all to see it s merely a visual indicator of the figure s state Select this command again to return the figure to normal Sideboard available to GM only for both figures and objects Select this command to
29. from playing games online BRPG can be used offline too The GM at a face to face game session might run it on a desktop computer or laptop connected to a large display or multimedia projector which the players can see Or it can be played over a local area network LAN with each player sitting in front of his her own computer While BRPG is primarily intended for use with pen and paper RPGs with a little imagination it could also be used for other types of online collaboration You could even use it to play some wargames although our next product in development Battlegrounds Wargame Edition will be specifically tailored for use with wargames Advantages While online roleplaying is not a replacement for playing in person with your friends using BRPG in your game sessions does offer some significant advantages over the traditional style of playing RPGs For starters the visuals are greatly enhanced Not only do maps look better but so do the miniatures or tokens used to represent the characters NPCs and monsters that populate your world Audio clips both music and special effects can also be used to set the tone enhance the mood or even provide the players subtle clues Private messaging using the Chat window is certainly an improvement over whispering or passing a player a hurriedly scribbled note which can cause distraction and perhaps even alarm in a real life game session The same goes for die rolls which BRPG allows
30. hallenge Code Select the License Type from the pulldown menu either GM Client or Player Client and click the Unlock button Your BRPG software is now licensed This means that there is no more timeout limit If you have a GM client it also means you can load amp save Encounters without the 12 unit restriction If you have a GM Client and have purchased one or more Floating Licenses you will also have received your Floating License Response Code keys The procedure for installing a Floating License is the same as described above except that you must select Floating License from the License Type pulldown menu Customizing BRPG You can also customize BRPG by editing any of the plain text files stored in the Preferences folder Enhanced Night Vision Labels Menu txt Light Sources Menu txt Menu txt The information in these files allows you to define the various light sources night vision types and pre defined text labels that you want to use in your games Complete instructions for editing the contents of the files can be found in the files themselves In a multiplayer game the light source information is always pulled from the GM Client and settings in the players local file are ignored Expanding BRPG Adding new maps digital minis and props to BRPG is very easy Just drag a JPG or PNG graphic into the appropriate folder This can even be done in the middle of a game without re launching the application New sounds
31. ight be a good idea to make an Encounter that just has the PCs deployed in their standard marching order This Encounter can serve as a starting point for improvised Encounters Loading an Encounter GM only Load an Encounter by pressing a hotkey E Only the GM may load an encounter A dialog box opens prompting you to select the encounter you wish to load You may only select a file ending with bge Select one then click the Open button or simply press the Enter or Return key In a multiplayer game a lot happens when you load an Encounter The map and all unit graphics including Sideboarded units are sent to all the players that don t have those assets preloaded Until those graphics are received the map and units are displayed on the client screens using a placeholder graphic s GMs should wait until all the players report that they ve received everything when there are no more placeholder graphics visible before proceeding with the game session wy Preferences BRPG s Preferences screen lets you tailor the program s functions and interface to better suit your particular needs Open the Preferences panel by pressing a hotkey P Preferences Preferences Grid Type Dds Grid Type Square Square sy Grid Color Grid Color Black Grid Opacity Grid Opacity HSE CAEL eela Movement Guide Color white None Dice Roll Sound Effect Dice Roll Sound Effect Long Short By Use ico
32. ilding s interior Saving an Encounter GM only Save an Encounter by pressing a hotkey S Only the GM may save an encounter A dialog box opens prompting you for a file name and destination If an Encounter already has a name it will be pre filled in for you so you can just press the Save button file or press the Enter or Return key to overwrite the prior encounter file If it is a new encounter or if you wish to do a Save As provide a unique name for the encounter first Unless you specified a different location encounters are saved logically enough in BRPG s Encounters folder A bge extension short for Battlegrounds Encounter will be automatically appended to your file name Encounters may be saved by the GM prior to a game session as part of the GM s preparation They may also be saved during play as a backup in case of a computer crash or ISP disconnect When the GM is offline preparing a set of Encounters for the next game session he or she will need to make several Encounters The easiest way to create a new Encounter is to first load an Encounter that has the PCs pre deployed on it and do a Save As giving your new Encounter a different name Change the map delete any unneeded units rearrange the remaining units deploy any new units necessary and Save again this time overwriting your new Encounter In theory you should only ever need to deploy your PCs once It m
33. ing Open With from the contextual popup menu e On Mac OS X right clicking does not work with certain models or brands of Bluetooth mouse Use control click instead e On Mac OS X Unsanity s Application Enhancer APE and or WindowShade X may be incompatible with BRPG If you experience problems disable these programs and try again Credits Lead Developer amp Programmer Graphics Support Feedback amp Consulting Webhosting amp Server Support User Manual amp Website Proofreading Playtesters Sample mini adventure Hernan Ruiz Camauer aka Heruca Mark Manders aka Kepli Dice scans Eric Williamson aka Erian_7 AoE overlays Roger Rutherford aka Halebop Cecil Solomon James Miller aka Metajock Hernan Ruiz Camauer aka Heruca Eric Williamson aka Erian_7 Roger Rutherford aka Halebop Mark Manders aka Kepli Roger Rutherford aka Halebop Thanks to everyone who provided feedback on the BRPG forums for helping to improve BRPG and to everyone who pre ordered BRPG Thanks also to my wife Cecilia for putting up with my ungodly work hours for so many months and for supporting my crazy dream even in the midst of a financial crisis and prolonged unemployment Y
34. kout Client Screens button Turning this on will cover the entire map with darkness regardless of light sources dark vision or anything else This feature is included so that the GM can prevent the players from seeing the map It is automatically enabled any time the GM changes the map This is to allow the GM to properly reposition the PCs on the new map without the dynamic FoW reveals giving anything away ahead of time It can also be used when the GM finds him herself having to improvise a quick encounter for which the GM was not prepared and needs a little privacy to perform the encounter setup A checkbox allows for a Shared Party View This is commonly used in face to face game sessions where a single large display or projector is used for Y displaying the map to the entire adventuring party Turning on Shared Party View effectively merges all the PC s views into a single composite image Another checkbox control allows the GM to specify whether moonlight or any ambient light equivalent to moonlight is present This can be important if any figure possesses Low Night Vision When checked a player controlling such a figure will have the entire FoW layer made semi transparent similar to the GM s FoW view Just how transparent depends on the setting of the FoW Layer Opacity pulldown menu A Refresh button is currently provided in the event that the FoW fails to update properly but this button will be remo
35. lect objects Moving a Unit Select a unit then press one of the movement keys preferably on the keypad to move the selected unit in the direction specified by the movement template Diagonal movement is possible if your game rules allow it If you are in the middle of moving and need to scroll the map to see further in that direction you can do so with the arrow keys or with the mouse without interrupting the movement A unit can only move as far as the edges of the virtual table If using a map that is smaller than the table this means that you can move units off the map and onto the table This should probably only be done with units that the GM wants to be temporarily out of play Note that in a multiplayer game the movement keys only function if the Chat Window is closed If the keypad numbers are not moving units as expected activate the Num Lock function on your keyboard and try again Another way of moving units is to drag them with the mouse to where you want them If Snap to Grid is on the unit will snap to each cell s centerpoint as the mouse is dragged Releasing the mouse will send the new position to connected clients and update the Fog of War if it is in use based on the new unit s location Note that a player may only move figures he she controls In a post release update the movement system will be changed significantly to use an approved movement method This will allow players to indicate whe
36. lso dictate how BRPG should use the selected artwork by defining scale rotation and offset values for changing the centerpoint of the graphic Unit Settings Unit Settings Character Name Character Name Ghoull n aa Owner GM GM HJ Base Type dy Base Type Clear Cavern Base Size Owner Base Size 5x5 15 x 15 B Scale Adjustment Scale Adjustment 55 3 Rotation Adjustment Rotation Adjustment 89 2 Horizontal Offset Horizontal Offset Vertical Offset Vertical Offset Portrait style token Portrait style token Figure shown from front Figure shown from front Figure shown from above Figure shown from above Cancel Cancel OK A real time preview of your chosen settings is shown on the map In order to match the orientation of a figure s graphic to the facing indicator on the figure s base you should use the rotation slider on this screen to make the figure face due right Specify whether your selected artwork displays the figure from above default from the front or whether it is portrait style artwork If you select Portrait the artwork will not be rotated to match the figure s facing on the map If you select Front the figure will be vertically offset for you to properly align it in a cell although you may further tweak the vertical and horizontal offsets to get the exact placement you want When you are finished adjusting the
37. n the game who is attacking what without having to type detailed explanations in the chat window This command is intended to be used just prior to designating the target of the attack and rolling to hit Stepping the Turn Sequence will automatically remove the attacking status of a figure Target available for figures only and only if it is not that figure s turn to act Selecting this command designates the figure as the target of an attack A blue Target text label is superimposed on the figure If the attack is canceled for some reason the Target label automatically disappears The purpose of this command when used in conjunction with the Attack command is to make it clear to everyone in the game who is attacking what without having to type detailed explanations in the chat window e g I attack the third orc from the left the wounded one holding an axe This command is intended to be used just prior to the attacker rolling to hit Stepping the Turn Sequence will automatically remove the target status of a figure Health Status available for figures only Figures can have a color coded Health Status halo displayed to help the GM and players remember who is wounded and who isn t Selecting Unspecified hides the halo for that figure 7 4 f fy Lava Fro Z eee 7 A Edit Notes Attack Health Status gt v Unspecified Good Fair Critical Base Stealth Invisibl
38. ns in Dice Roller M Use icons in Dice Roller More Preferences More Preferences _ Cancel OK The settings that can be controlled from this panel include turning features like Snap to Grid Tooltips and facing indicators on or off choosing your grid type hexes or squares grid color and grid opacity changing the sound effects used for die rolls or turning them off completely creating your own custom Chat Macros and much more You will be able to preview your grid settings as you select them If you change your mind and press the Cancel button everything will revert to your prior settings Your settings are saved when you click the OK button or on the More Preferences button and are automatically reloaded the next time you launch the program w Preferences Preferences Default Figure Base surety Seda Default Figure Base Clear iz Preferred Panel Location r AR Preferred Panel Location Right Center E Background Image Background Image Mahogany Table Mahogany Table HJ caei _Cancel_ C o _ Some options like grid type and the use of facing indicators can only be set by the GM and affect everyone connected to that host Other options can be set locally by each player without affecting anyone else Licensing BRPG The free Demo of BRPG has two important limitations The first is a 45 minute timeout period The second is that the GM is limited to a maximum of
39. o face to the right until the mouse is released Deleting a Unit Select a unit then press the Backspace key Windows or the Delete key Mac Only the GM may delete units If deleting a figure you will be asked for confirmation to avoid accidental deletion Units may also be deleted by selecting the Delete command from their contextual menu or by first selecting a unit and then selecting the Delete command from the Battlegrounds button Contextual Popup Menus If you are the GM or the owner of the active figure right clicking on a figure pulls up a contextual menu with a number of commands and options to chose from These are described below Health Status Label Base Stealth Invisible Sideboard Hide H Light Source Enhanced Night Vision Area of Effect Owner Delete BACKSPACE Right clicking on an object also pulls up a contextual menu but with less options than are available for figures Edit Notes Sideboard Hide H Light Source Area of Effect Lock Tile Delete BACKSPACE The number of commands listed in the contextual menus can vary depending on who s turn it is to act and whether you are a player or the GM Edit Notes Any unit may be assigned notes either by the GM or by a figure s owner that will appear in a ToolTip when a user places the mouse cursor over that unit Unit Notes Unit Notes The chest looks like someone has The knight appears to have been
40. o you needn t worry about breaking copyright laws as this is considered personal use and is therefore perfectly legal Just don t share such scans with others Open the Consult Charts amp Tables panel by pressing a hotkey C Category eh Category Unfiled Unfiled Selection Selection Missile Weapons Table Missile Weapons Table H ee s Cancel Select gt Once you ve selected the reference material you want to consult click on the Select button The selected item will open in a new borderless window atop the map screen When you are done consulting it double click anywhere on it to make it go away Y Fog of War GM only Open the Fog of War FoW panel by pressing a hotkey F Only the GM may access the FoW panel Fog of War Enable Fog of War Blackout Client Screens __ Use Shared Party View a Moonlight or equivalent present FoW Layer Opacity 100 gB Refresh Cancel XJ OK J Click on the Enable Fog of War button to turn on the FoW feature This will reveal the FoW layer which masks off any portion of the map not currently covered by a light source covering it in darkness For the GM the FoW layer is only drawn at 70 opacity allowing the GM to see and control units that would otherwise be completely obscured If Fog of War is not enabled all the other controls on this panel will be disabled Also on this panel is a Blac
41. ontextual popup menu produces a submenu listing AoEs in both light and dark variants as well as geometric or gridded variants gt yvCenter j Top Right Bottom Right Circle Dark Bottom Left Cone Dark Top Left Edit Notes Beam Dark Remove Health Status Label Circle Light Base Cone Light Stealth Invisible Beam Light Sideboard Gridded Circle Dark gt Hide H Gridded Cone Dark None Light Source Gridded Beam Dark Enhanced Night Vision Area of Effect Gridded Circle Light Owner Gridded Cone Light Delete BACKSPACE Gridded Beam Light AoE Overlays by default will orient themselves with the unit s facing Select the same AoE again from the contextual menu to see options for changing the orientation of the AoE or in the case of circle AoEs for changing its centerpoint Selecting None from the first submenu will clear all AOEs for that unit Selecting Remove from the third submenu will remove just the chosen AoE Lock available to GM only for objects only Objects may be locked down so that the GM does not accidentally select or move them during play A locked object is drawn above the grid overlay This setting has no effect on players since players can t select or move objects anyway Tile available to GM only for objects only Objects may be declared tiles so that the GM does not accidentally select or move them during play Tiles are similar to locked objects except that til
42. own the Control key while clicking BRPG makes extensive use of right clicking so a multi button mouse is recommended Unit a generic term used to refer to any figure or object o System Requirements Minimum Windows 98 ME 2000 XP NT e Pentium III or equivalent Macintosh OS X e Power Macintosh G3 running OS 10 1 5 or better All Platforms RAM 256 MB Hard drive space 100 MB Display 16 bit color Resolution 1024 x 768 Recommended Processor 500 MHz or higher 1GHz or better recommended if using the Fog of War feature RAM 512 MB or better Display 24 bit color Hard drive space 300 MB Note The higher the display resolution the better the graphics look and the more map you can see at any one time Higher resolutions greatly reduce the amount of scrolling required in a typical game You should set your display s resolution prior to launching BRPG but if you do change it while BRPG is running you can manually resize the window to better accommodate the new settings Note that BRPG does not specifically support multiple monitors at this time Installation Double click the zip file BRPG to expand it The software is now ready to use There is no installation procedure Launching BRPG Double click the appropriate BRPG application for your platform Mac or Windows The About window opens while the program initializes then the default map open grassland is displayed BRPG is now ready for use
43. place a unit in the Sideboard which is an off map virtual holding area To remove a unit from the Sideboard thus placing it back on the map at it s prior location use the Unit Manager Units that come off the Sideboard are automatically hidden to allow the GM to make any last minute adjustments before revealing the unit to the players Hide available to GM only for both figures and objects Select this command to hide a unit on the map It will disappear from the players screens and show as transparent on the GM s screen exception if a player owns the figure in question it shows up transparent on his her screen Select this command again to Show the figure Light Source available for both figures and objects Selecting Light Source from the contextual popup menu produces a submenu from which you can chose the exact light source that you want to assign the figure or select None Edit Notes Health Status Label Base Stealth Invisible Lamp Common Sideboard Lantern Bulleseye Hide H Lantern Hooded Light Source Sunrod Enhanced Night Vision Continual Flame Spell Area of Effect Dancing Lights Spell Owner Daylight Spell Delete BACKSPACE Light Spell The exact contents of this submenu and how they affect visibility can be customized by the GM see Customizing BRPG below w A unit s light source setting is one of several factors used by the program s dynamic Fog of War feature to cal
44. position it if necessary When a player is done looking at the visual aid he she can double click anywhere on the picture to make it go away Sending Audio GM only In multiplayer games you can send your players audio files Audio files can be music clips voice recordings or sound effects They can be set to play once or to loop continuously useful for mood music or ambient sounds like rain wind a thunderstorm a babbling brook etc Open the Send Audio panel by pressing a hotkey A Only the GM may send audio Category ao Category Combat Ambient Sound Loops FA Selection Selection Sword Drawn Crackling Campfire B volume Volume Loop Continuously M Loop Continuously Auto Preview __ Auto Preview LE Le Click to preview Click to preview SLANG Send To ov 3 Cancel Cancel C Send Use the tools on the panel to select the audio clip that you would like to send You can either listen to each file you select by clicking on the Preview icon or set sounds to auto preview using the checkbox provided You can also choose at what volume the sound should be played relative to the recipient s system wide volume setting In multiplayer games you can use the Send To popup menu to select who should receive the audio You can choose to send it to everyone to a single player or to a group of players When you ve made your selection press the Send button
45. re they would like to move by sequentially clicking the cells to their intended destination The GM will then have the option of approving all or just part of that move wy Rotating a Unit Select a unit then press the plus key to rotate the selection 90 degrees clockwise or the minus key to rotate the selection 90 degrees counter clockwise If you are using a hex grid instead of a square grid the selection is rotated only 60 degrees Holding down the SHIFT key while pressing a rotation key rotates a selected object by only 30 degrees Figures may not be rotated in 30 degree increments If your RPG game system does not require unit facings to be specified you can turn off the figure facing indicators from the Preferences screen In the current version the facing indicator cannot be turned off Adjusting a Unit s Offsets Sometimes you don t want units to be perfectly centered in a cell An example of this is a figure using a long pole weapon You would want the body of the figure centered in the cell allowing the polearm to protrude into an adjacent cell s You can use the controls on the Unit Settings panel to adjust the centerpoint offsets but this alternate method allows this to be done directly on the map to a unit that has already been deployed Select a unit on the map then hold down the SHIFT key as you click and drag it If the selected unit is a figure it will be temporarily be made t
46. rs get bored waiting for their turn to come around again Once everyone is logged in the players and the GM communicate with each other via text chat which is built into the application Optionally they can also communicate via a voice chat application running in the background see the Links amp Resources page on the Battlegrounds Games web site for various third party software options Some groups prefer a mix of the two such as voice chat for player dialogue and text chat for in character dialogue BRPG will soon allow a log of the entire text chat to be saved for those who like to keep a record of what happens in a campaign The GM moderates the game session just as he would in a face to face game Based on the GM s narration the players each playing the role of a character decide what they want to do The participants move their virtual miniature figures around on the game map in accordance with the RPG game system s rules to indicate where they are in relation to one another and to the game map s terrain features The GM may move any item in the game but each player may only move his or her own character s Learning to Use this Software Battlegrounds RPG Edition is designed to be easy to use and equally easy to learn to use There s no steep learning curve as you might find in some competing products There are no arcane indecipherable icons in the user interface All controls are intuitive consistent logically laid
47. ssion a battlemap with an optional hexagonal or square grid on which to place and move your digital miniatures and props a virtual dice roller with both standard and polyhedral dice chat functions and a Fog of War feature that lets you gradually reveal the game map as the players explore BRPG provides the game engine and you provide the game rules maps and digital minis see the Links amp Resources page on the Battlegrounds Games website for information on where you can download free high quality maps and digital minis Because it s generic BRPG supports roleplaying in any genre using any RPG system or ruleset including house rules Use BRPG to play fantasy modern day sci fi wild west horror whatever you want We think you ll find that this is a tool that can bring your games both online and offline to new heights of excitement and realism What It Isn t BRPG is not a game itself but rather a tool for playing a game that you already own It doesn t have any game system specific artificial intelligence to implement your game s rules and it doesn t come with character spell and monster stats for your specific RPG system In fact one of BRPG s greatest advantages is that it isn t game system specific It s generic enough to use with any RPG rules system so you can get a lot more use out of it than you can out of similar competing products that are tied to a specific ruleset Other Potential Uses Aside
48. t A 5 i Rotation Adjustment 46 i i Horizontal Offset a asl Horizontal Offset 0 Vertical Offset Vertical Offset 0 Cancel You are automatically taken to a second screen where you can specify the object s name every figure and object must have a unique name and define how BRPG should use the artwork by defining scale rotation and alignment values A real time preview of your chosen settings is shown on the map When you are finished adjusting the settings click the OK button You will notice that the object is now transparent This is because it is automatically hidden from the players by default This allows you to further tweak the object such as rotating it or perhaps attaching descriptive notes to it When you re ready you can reveal the object to the players by pressing a hotkey H All objects are placed on the map with a default orientation but once on the map you can rotate them as needed Selecting and Deselecting a Unit Simply click on a unit to select it A movement template is superimposed on the selection unless the movement template feature has been disabled under Preferences If the unit is a figure it will also be highlighted with a white halo To deselect a unit simply click on any empty spot on the map or on the playing surface the tabletop The GM may select any unit on the map but players may only select a figure that has been assigned to them by the GM Players may not se
49. the current game turn often called a Round and lists all the figures on the map including invisible ones and hidden ones but not including figures on the Sideboard Note that hidden figures only appear in the GM s Turn Sequencer not the players In a future version players may have access to a pared down version of the Turn Sequencer They will not be able to alter the sequence list nor see as much information as the GM sees on his her Turn Sequencer The GM can use the Turn Sequencer to arrange the listed figures in the order in which they can act each game turn To arrange the order in which figures are listed single click on a figure it will be marked in bold text then use the up and down arrow buttons on the right side of the panel to adjust that figure s order in the list Most RPG systems use some form of initiative based sequencing use the Dice Roller for rolling initiative but some systems base acting order on character attributes like a Move or Speed score BRPG lets the GM arrange the figures in whatever order he she desires or even to change that order in the middle of a Round A green highlight on the Turn Sequencer indicates which figure s turn it is to act Double clicking on a figure s name will make it the active figure On the map the active figure is highlighted with a blue halo The blue halo overrides the Health Status halo if one is being used for the figure By pressing the Step
50. tiplayer games Custom grid graphics should be named according to what color they are since the file name is what appears in the Preferences screen when you access the Color pulldown menu Other than free space on your hard drive there is no limit to the number of custom assets that can be added to BRPG You can organize your media assets by placing them in folders but do not use nested folders folders within folders or BRPG will not be able to access them Frequently accessed materials can be placed at the root level as this will allow you quicker access to them within the program In the future BRPG will support more media formats and may allow for nested folders Using Third Party Maps with BRPG BRPG will accept maps from any source that can create JPG output whether you ve created them yourself from scratch in a graphics application or made them using any third party mapping program Using the Map Settings panel you can resize those maps within BRPG so that it is scaled and aligned properly with BRPG s grid But if you follow these instructions and size your map properly using a graphics editing program beforehand you won t need to do any tweaking in BRPG at all If you don t already own a graphics editing program there are many free applications for both Macs and Windows PCs available for download on the internet that will allow you to do this To get your maps properly sized count the num
51. tting the Program You may exit the application at any time by pressing the Q hotkey or by pressing Command Q on the Mac or ALT F4 on Windows You will be asked for confirmation to prevent quitting accidentally and losing an unsaved Encounter Updates Updates to this User Manual and the BRPG software will be periodically posted on the Battlegrounds Games website where you ll be able to download them for free If you are registered on the forums you will receive e mail notification every time a new version of BRPG becomes available Support For technical support and customer service please use the forums on the Battlegrounds Games website at www battleqroundsgames com Potential Conflicts with Third Party Software e On some Windows systems ZoneAlarm from Zone Labs can cause BRPG to crash or fail to connect when hosting or joining an online game If this happens ZoneAlarm should be turned off for the duration of the game session e Window s Software Firewall may block access when hosting or joining an online game if not properly configured On some systems it may even have to be disabled for the duration of the game session e On Mac OS X Smith Micro s StuffIt version 9 or less does not extract the BRPG zip file properly although it may ook like it did Upgrade to StuffIt v10 0 or better or use Mac OS X s default unzipping tool BOMArchiveHelper which is accessed by control clicking on the BRPG zip file and select
52. uc jcnicigoiennaseiiniaanbinasletinisinienunsierianid A Eoia 53 Customizing BRPG siasiisnsprisnasriina aa aaan aa 55 Expanding BRP G zesse a ee nome en re a nae Ser renner 56 Adding Custom Artwork Sound Effects Reference Material and Grid to BRPG 56 ising Tiira Parry Mais WI BRP Gi reirs tirit Esiet atian ir EE aA EENAA EET 57 Q ming the Progra aisanana aan daii 58 Updates cagiiandqresain tens i a AEEA 58 SUPPOR eec e E rarer yoy teeny oe Pree erates ert ere yer 58 Potential Conflicts with Third Party SOMWarG i siscccsceccscccteccscdecccsnctscsssscdsiasssceeden 58 CdS eee ee ene ee ee ane re ere eon ee ore ce ee eee eae ete seer eee eee sere 59 Notes in red like this one are used on occasion to clarify plans for future versions of the software Overview of Battlegrounds RPG Edition What It Is Battlegrounds RPG Edition or BRPG for short is an online virtual tabletop for use with any pen and paper roleplaying game system It s a cross platform software tool that breaks down geographical barriers by letting you play your favorite RPG with friends who live far away BRPG also enables you to play more games than you might otherwise be able to For example if your oca friends aren t interested in a particular game you want to play BRPG enables you to play that game with an online buddy even if that person lives halfway around the world BRPG provides you with all the tools you need to conduct a roleplaying se
53. ure version it will be possible to roll dice directly from the chat window or by activating a dice macro The program remembers the last die type and number of dice rolled so if you close the Dice Roller panel and come back to it later you can reroll with all your preview settings by just hitting the RETURN or ENTER key You can click on any of the rolled die graphics to remove that die from the result This is useful for things like rolling 4d6 and ignoring the lowest die In the current version removal of dice from the results is not transmitted to other connected clients The GM can also fudge die rolls by fixing each die s result before the dice are rolled To the players a fudged die roll looks identical to a normal roll In multiplayer games you can use the Send To popup menu to select who should receive the die roll You can choose to send it to everyone to just the GM to a single player or to a group of players If you are the GM and wish to make a die roll without your players seeing it just send the die roll to yourself The Dice Roller uses an interface similar to the rest of the control panels in BRPG This was done to make the program easy to learn and use by having a consistent interface However a better suited advanced icon based interface is available for those who wish to use it It can be enabled from the Preferences screen by turning off Learning Mode Instead of the
54. usual popup menus it offers dice icons for selecting the die type and the number of dice Clicking on a die icon at the top of the screen will pull up a menu from which you can choose how many dice to roll Your selection is marked in red text Type amp Number of Dice Mu elie eiias Type amp Number of Dice H4ea06 ansan 9 9 Modifier Send To Modifier l Send To S 0 v EVERYONE v 1 ry GM Modifier applies to each die M Modifier applies to each die Min of 1 Fudge Roll Min of 1 Fudge Roll AN CEN TEDI 18 y SL Ss VA Total 15 Total 21 Done ae Roll In multiplayer games the results are reported in the chat output window which keeps a log of all die rolls for future reference If another player or the GM rolls the dice a Die Roll Results panel will open on your screen but not if you are currently using another panel Be sure to space out your die rolls to give everyone a chance to see what you rolled before rolling again In a future version die roll results will appear directly on the map window along the top instead of in a floating window Turn Sequencer GM only Press the T key to open the Turn Sequence panel Only the GM may access the Turn Sequencer Damien of Melkor Murdock Assassin 1 Ghoul 1 White Horse ssassin 2 Ghoul 2 Close StepSequence The Turn Sequencer keeps track of
55. ut A sample mini adventure will be included with v1 0 featuring various Encounters that gradually build in complexity and highlight BRPG s feature set It is intended to be a good way for GMs to learn the software along with their players Uhh ey fon FRAT I End Mov O2 Cancel Move Terms and Abbreviations Used in this Manual AoE Area of Effect BRPG Battlegrounds RPG Edition Cell a generic term used to define a single grid square or hex on the map Figure a digital mini or token used to represent a PC NPC animal or monster FoW Fog of War a system of gradually revealing the map to the players as they explore it GM Gamemaster the person hosting and moderating a BRPG game Hotkey A keyboard activated shortcut Hotkeys only work in BRPG if the Chat Window is closed Modifier key A key that must be held down while performing another action Modifier keys include SHIFT CONTROL OPTION Mac only ALT Windows only and COMMAND Mac only NPC Non player character a figure in the game that is controlled by the GM Object Any prop a tree a piece of furniture a campfire a dropped weapon etc used to customize a map and or to show the location of important items or equipment PC Player character a figure in the game controlled by a player Right clicking Pressing the right mouse button On a Mac with a one button mouse you must Control click instead hold d
56. ved from future versions if it proves to not be necessary Note that the fog of war layer can take a long time to render particularly on slower computers and more so if there are many light sources on the map particularly light sources that cover a very large area like a Daylight spell Also keep in mind that the FoW feature is not intended to be used on every map Generally it should only be used in interior maps like caverns and dungeons where keeping map information from the players until they have explored the area is important It can also be used on exterior maps in nighttime encounters where the lack of light and or the use of stealth can be tactically important In a future version BRPG will also allow the GM to manually mask or unmask specific areas of the map by using drawing tools that will be provided on the FoW panel This will be useful for things like keeping the interior of a room secret until the door is opened or not being able to see what lies down an angled corridor until the party has turned the corner Until this feature is in place it is recommended that GMs use cover objects to conceal such areas These are black masking graphics placed as objects on the map When the area needs to be revealed the cover object is placed on the Sideboard or simply deleted Such object masks needn t be just black shapes either A roof graphic on a building would be a perfectly natural means of concealing the bu
57. visual cue is useful for players to know when they are expected to act The currently selected figure is highlighted with a white halo The white selection halo supercedes the blue active figure halo as well as all the health status halos Objects Objects represent everything else such as dropped weapons treasure furniture trees or moveable terrain features like doors Objects do not have a base or a halo associated with them Controlling Units Placing a Figure on the Map Move your mouse cursor on the map to the cell where you want the figure placed then right click to get a contextual popup menu Select Place Figure Only the GM may place a figure Place Figure Place Object A figure browser panel appears allowing you to choose an illustration to depict the character animal or monster on the game map Category Category Player Tokens _ Humanoid Top Down Vi Fe Selection Selection Ranger07_SR ey justicept eB L e a Cancel Select Once you ve selected suitable artwork click on the Select button The figure appears on the map in the cell you specified You are automatically taken to a second screen where you can specify the figure s name every figure and object must have a unique name its owner one of the players in the case of a PC which allows that player to move and control his own figure and its base type and base size You can a
58. you to keep private if desired or to fudge if you re the GM One of the biggest advantages provided by this software is the Fog of War feature which prevents players from seeing parts of the map that they have not explored yet This is difficult and time consuming to achieve in face to face games What You Need Just as with a traditional pen and paper RPG you need a Game Master or GM for short some systems use the term Dungeon Master or Referee and one or more players You also need your RPG system s rulebooks and character sheets just as you would in a face to face game session The more familiar you are with your game s rules the better but if needed BRPG can provide you instant access to important reference materials like charts and tables due to copyright limitations you must scan these in yourself If playing online all participants also need an internet connection broadband is highly recommended but not required o How It Works Whether playing on the internet or on a LAN the process is the same The GM who must be running a GM Client hosts a game BRPG s peer to peer networking system effectively turns the GM s computer into a game server The players then join by logging into the GM s game using either a Player Client or a GM Client The software imposes no limit on the number of clients that can connect at one time However note that large groups over 8 10 players can easily become unwieldy if playe

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