Alice Is Missing with Roll20 - Character Creation & Game Setup

Part two of three tutorial videos for running Alice Is Missing using Roll20. In this video, we'll show you how to use Roll20 to facilitate character creation, setup and play of the game.

[@ISwingABitMore]

Another Roll20 tip for folks: instead of manually shuffling and selecting the face-down cards at the 30- and 20-minute marks, you can number each row on the "Gameplay" page with number 1-5, then have whomever is supposed to shuffle to type /roll 1d5 into chat and flip over when they want to pick the card. That way, it stays more random and it's a little less hassle than manually shuffling.

[@himurogentoku7117]

Thanks for the tips, bro. That is a great idea.

[@xxJaded]

These instructions have been amazing! Thank you so much!

[@dragonBangBangBang]

If you want to zoom in on a card/image/handout that's on the table select the object and type the letter Z

[@dieJozvajs]

One question: If we assign relationships - do we discuss them openly or does every player just notes the assignment of each of his two relationships? If it is openly discussed (as I understood) - are the relationships also common knowledge to all characters? And I mean characters NOT players.

[@viviannedekok3305]

I was wondering the same. The rulebook says that facilitator has to say something along the lines of "Who has a relationship they'd like to share?" So I'd assume it's public knowledge?

[@dieJozvajs]

@@viviannedekok3305 Yes it is. At least we played it that way and everyone decided for himself if his or her character knew about the relations or not. After our session I would highly recommend not to get too deep into relationships and character backstories since it can be really overwhelming for everyone and a little streamlining really helps.

[@airedale360]

Do you know when the app will launch?

[@jdniemand]

The Character cards all have their secrets displayed in the open - wouldn't the players see all of them when you drag them to the Character Creation page?

[@LeighaSolo]

I'm considering adding little opaque boxes over the secret. It wouldn't take long at all. Though if you have players that would respect just "not looking" and/or can easily separate OOC and IC knowledge, that may work just as well. That's what I'm banking on for Clue Cards, since they are face up in Players hand. The urge to peek may be mighty ;)

[@danregan6917]

I actually got in touch with the creator because I had the same question. The "secret" part of the character card is not actually the secret, but a question and it is the _answer_ to that question that is secret which is not what is described on the character card. Hope that helps! and thank you Spenser for the answer!

[@LeighaSolo]

@@danregan6917 Thanks!

[@fdj4601]

I enabled fog of war and cleared the entire "map" except for the secrets. That way, each player can see the card they need to pull without seeing another person's secret.

[@simpleroleplay2136]

Is they way to play by voice?

[@DoctorJaxx]

I've played this a few times and I honestly wouldn't recommend it, unless you absolutely have to. Text helps so much with the immersion, and also the pacing. It would be a lot of people talking over each other otherwise, which is less disruptive over text. It really, really works as a text-based game.

[@simpleroleplay2136]

@@DoctorJaxx yes but what happens if you got a player who can not text

[@DoctorJaxx]

@@simpleroleplay2136 If it’s because of a disability, that’s a good question. I’d be curious to hear some workarounds. If it’s because of a tech limitation, the game is set up for play remotely on Roll20 in the chat tab, which is actually the only way I’ve played it so far!

[@simpleroleplay2136]

@@DoctorJaxx yes I have disability, I like the game but i would love to make it a voice game as I got the book but i find texing hard to do

[@DoctorJaxx]

@@simpleroleplay2136 In that case yes, I bet you could do it over voice! Maybe in person (with the physical copy), or using Roll20’s voice chat feature instead of the chat window if you are playing with people all over.

[@LihimSidhe]

I have to run this game for a gaming theater class and I can't believe how needlessly fucking complicated this game is to set up to simply play a text based RPG. I'm happy you found success creating this game but from this designer's perspective at least this is such a trash fire of design. I literally had an easier time learning how to program in javascript than following this utter mess. The only reason I'm even trying to run this is because my grade/group is counting on it otherwise I'd use something like FATE that does so much more with so much less. Jesus Christ.