NetRPG - RolePlaying over the Internet
©1995 by Erich G Bratton erich@kagi.com

Docs for Release 2.4

NetRPG is based on Chat 2.0.6 by Nathan Neulinger, with earlier versions by Peter N Lewis

"Did you used to play Role Playing Games in the old days, but can't anymore because your fellow gamers have moved off to jobs or grad schools in other cities?  Well, you're in luck!  You can still play RPG's (like D&D, copyright by TSR) with NetRPG!"

NetRPG is an expansion on Chat 2.0.6, with many added features that make it suitable for playing RPG's over the internet.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS:

BASIC INFORMATION ABOUT NET-RPG

Table of contents for this page:
0) Who wrote NetRPG?
1) What is NetRPG?
2) What machines does NetRPG run on?
3) Does it cost anything?
4) What do you really do with it?
5) How do I find someone to play games with?
6) Where do I get a copy of NetRPG?

0) Who wrote NetRPG?
    NetRPG was written by me, Erich G Bratton (erich@kagi.com), in order
    to keep playing games once everyone I gamed with in college moved
    on to other cities.
    
1) What is NetRPG?
    NetRPG is an internet server which lets a group of friends role-play
    over the net.  NetRPG allows players to talk with one another using a
    mud-like interface, ready weapons, set an armor class, have hit
    points, store online character sheets, calculate and run combats
    using initiative rolls, resolve attacks and distribute damage between
    players and monsters, store and retrieve ASCII maps to facilitate
    showing exactly where the action is occuring, roll dice either in the
    open or privately shown to only the player and DM, and allows the
    DM to fudge attack rolls when a plot line necessitates a critical hit
    or miss or whatever.

    All of these features combine in NetRPG to make live internet
    role-playing not only possible, but very enjoyable!

2) What machines does NetRPG run on?
    The NetRPG server runs on any Macintosh which has MacTCP.  Once the
    server is running, the players can connect to the server using their
    favorite MUD client from any type of machine.  (ie, they could run
    tinyfugue on a unix box, or Muddweller on a mac, or a telnet program
    on a PC)
    NOTE: a unix/DOS version is currently being worked on by another programmer...
    
    So, as long as you have one person who has a mac someplace, you can
    play using NetRPG.  You don't even have to be sitting at the Mac to
    play, you can just leave NetRPG running on a mac in an office
    someplace.
    
3) Does it cost anything?
    NetRPG is free.  All I ask is that you send me email telling me what
    you're doing with it, and whether or not you like it. 
    (erich@kagi.com)
    
4) What do you really do with it?
    Well, once you have played for a while and start getting into more
    complex adventures, you can add on Maven or other audio-conferencing
    tools (assuming everyone has a fast connection) or an electronic
    whiteboarding program such as "wb" for XWindows or NCSA's Collage.  But, now that NetRPG supports movable icons on the maps, you can get some serious gaming done with just text connections!
    
5) How do I find someone to play games with?
    The difficulty with NetRPG is that you never see/hear the other
    people.  For this reason, it seems to help to know the people you are
    playing with. However, if you don't have anyone who'd like to play,
    I think that advertising on rec.games.frp.dnd for a group to play
    on a regular basis (once a week works for my group) should turn up
    more than a few responses.

6) Where do I get a copy of NetRPG?
    NetRPG is available on the info-mac and umich archives.  Either pick
    your favorite archive and go into the comm/tcp directory, or use
    the following URL:
    
    ftp://mirror.aol.com/pub/info-mac/comm/tcp/
    
    Look for net-rpg-#.hqx, where # is the version number.  If you don't
    understand how FTP works, or how to unpack a file, please try to
    have someone around you help you out.  If not, email me and I'll
    help you.