LordDoom:
Hello everyone, I'm new to this website and have questions on how to advertise a new game and also to what extent we as GMs have the ability to post images within our narratives and so forth. I saw that when starting a new game there were only options to include text and there was no way to include images or website links whatsoever. Anyone have some answers for me? I'd love to learn more so I know what I can & cannot do using this website as a home for my games. I enjoy being able to include images, videos, web links, music, and dice rolls and results. I believe this all helps enhance the online gaming experience, so without these elements I will feel that I will be handicapped if this site does not allow all those options. Please help me to know what can be accomplished here and what cannot, so I know how much time to spend on here. Thanks.
Hi, LordDoom,
Welcome to RPoL! You will find games of all sorts here, freeform to extra crunchy, fantasy, SF, modern world, supers, etc., etc., and especially etc.
Most of the answers I've given below are covered in the RPoL
Help under the
Games heading at left, in the subtopic RuBB Code.
(If you do intend to run games here, I'd recommend reading all the Games topics, and the Site Policies topics at minimum. GMs on RPOL have responsibilities which are spelled out there.)
I'll try to take your questions in order, so let's get started.
ADVERTISING GAMES:
How to advertise a new game? I'd look in two places. There's this forum:
Game Proposals, Input, and Advice
that is set up for GMs to float proposals for new games. This allows them to gauge interest in a game before doing all the development work needed to field it.
Do please check out the Notice that is stickied to the top of the topic list, as it has Da Rules for this forum. You'll see Notices in most forums here, and they contain good info in addition to the rules for use.
If you already have a game set up and just want to advertise it, check out:
Wanted - Players.
This is a true advertising board for existing games that are seeking new players. It has special rules that are posted in its Notice:
Wanted - Players Required Reading.
IMAGES:
How to include an image in a game? Again, there are a couple of ways to do this.
To include an image in a post, you would write a link that looks something like:
<img src="http://www.someimagehost.com/somepath/someimage.jpg">
(I've set this example off with code tags to keep it from forming an invalid link.)
where you would replace www.someimagehost.com/somepath/someimage.jpg with the actual path to an image you have hosted somewhere like imgur, or any of several other cloud image hosting services.
If you have map images or other documents you'd like to link to from within your game, there are places to do this. For maps, there is the:
Game Map
link just to the right of the
Dice Roller in your game (upper left of any game topic screen).
For documents, once they are hosted somewhere, get in your game and click on the
GM Menu
link at the upper right. This will open the GM Module. In the wider column to the right, find the second box down, labeled "Game Information". About 3/4 of the way down, you will see "Edit the External Game Links". This will allow you to enter or copy/paste URLs to your documents.
You can also use the integrated RPoL Wiki (something I, as yet, know very little about) to post articles about your game. I've seen it used by others to good effect, I just haven't had time to learn much about it yet.
MUSIC & VIDEOS:
I'll defer to one of the moderators for these questions. I've not used music or video content for any of my games to date. I believe linking to this kind of content will work, but embedding might not be available.
RPoL recently set up a Discord server. Info is available here:
link to a message in another game
DICE ROLLS:
RPoL has a dice roller with an independent log set up for each game. The dice roller is very versatile, and can produce a wide variety of dice rolls (even some that are unavailable in the "real world"). Again, Help has a topic under Games concerning the dice roller that spells out some of the more advanced tricks you can do with it (including how to write links within your posts that will pre-configure the roller for rolls your players need to make). There are even some special system-specific dice rolls available, as are options to drop, keep, or re-roll certain dice in a given roll.
OTHER ELEMENTS:
RPoL offers other functions in the GM Menu for management of players, characters, private topics, private message channels, and a lot more. Yeah, you didn't ask about these, but I thought I'd point out their existence anyhow.
Hey, hang out with us for a while. You've asked questions, and you have more to ask, I'm sure. Hit Community Chat and get to know the place. Meet new folks and talk about whatever.
If I can be of more help, jot back. I'll be around, and will try to help get answers.
This message had punctuation tweaked by the user at 16:47, Mon 01 July 2019.
