Channels and campaign chat

Channels by category, mentions, attachments, polls, whispers, threads, pins and unread; how the GM creates and arranges channels.

Channels are the campaign's chat, arranged the way you would in a messaging server: a list of channels grouped into categories and, next to it, the thread of the open channel. They are used to play by post, to chat between sessions and for the GM to hand out information by area. Players and GMs both use them; only the GM creates and arranges channels.

Where to find it

In the campaign, Play room, Channels section (/campaigns/<id>?sala=jugar&sec=canales). A link can point at a specific channel, and mention or new-message notifications open that channel directly. On a play-by-post table it is the first thing that opens when you walk in.

Requirements and permissions

• All members see the channels that are not hidden from them and write in the ones that are not read-only.
• The GM also sees hidden channels (with a mark), creates, edits, arranges and deletes channels and categories, pins messages, edits or removes other people's and can speak as narrator or as an NPC.
• Every table always has a «Out of character» channel, pinned at the bottom of the list. The waiting-room channels do not show up here; they live in their own section (The waiting room).
• If the table has teams, each team has its own channel that only its members and the GM can see (Players, roles and teams).

Step by step

Read and move around

1. Click a channel in the list. Categories fold and unfold, and the table remembers which ones you left folded. With more than eight channels a search box appears above the list.
2. Next to each channel you see what is going on in it: the number of unread messages, mentions, whether you have a half-written draft and the muted-channel mark. Opening a channel marks it as read, but where you left off is frozen: the «New messages» line separates what you have read from what is new.
3. To jump to the next channel with unread messages, use the button in the channel header or the Alt ↓ key.
4. A right-click on a channel, or on a category, lets you mark them as read or change their alerts: mute, alert you about everything or only about mentions.
5. To get more room for the chat, click Full screen in the channel header.

Write a message

1. Type in the box at the bottom. Enter sends the message and Shift+Enter adds a line break. While you type, others see that you are typing.
2. To format, select part of the text: a bar appears with Bold, Italic and Strikethrough, and also with Code and Quote.
3. Typing @ opens a list of people and roles (and @todos, to alert the whole table); # opens the list of channels and : the campaign's own emojis. With [[ you can link a world entry. Choose with the arrow keys and confirm with Tab or Enter.
4. Click the «+» button on the box to choose how the next thing is written and what is added. The modes are Action, Out of character and «Whisper to…». What gets added is Attach a file, GIF or Insert an emoji, and also a Poll.
5. Files can also be pasted or dragged onto the box: up to five per message and 25 MB each. Images show in the thread and enlarge when clicked.
6. If you have several characters, or you are the GM, a selector lets you choose who speaks: your character, your account, the narration or an NPC.
7. Your draft is kept per channel for as long as the tab lasts: you can switch channels without losing it.

Chat commands

A line that starts with / is a command. Among the most useful: /r 2d6+3 rolls dice, /w name text whispers, /gr makes a roll only you and the GM can see, /me opens the door writes an action, /ooc goes out of character and /help shows the full list. The GM also has /desc to describe the scene, /as to speak for an NPC without a sheet and /clear to empty the channel.

Whispers, replies and threads

1. To whisper, use «Whisper to…» in the «+» (or /w) and choose to whom. Only the chosen people and you read it; not even the GM sees a whisper between players, so if you want the GM to read it, use Whisper to the GM. The target stays fixed until you remove it with «Stop whispering», and meanwhile your rolls in that campaign are whispered too.
2. To reply to a message, open its menu with a right-click (or the «…» that shows when you hover) and choose Reply; your message carries the quote. On a phone, drag the message to the left.
3. To talk aside without filling the channel, choose Reply in thread: a window opens with the replies to that message. The channel header gathers the open threads under Threads.
4. To react, use the quick reactions in the message menu or the emoji picker; on a phone, a double tap adds the quick reaction.

Pin, edit and remove

• Only the GM can Pin message. Pinned messages are read from Pinned in the channel header without losing your place.
• Everyone edits their own messages (Edit); the GM can also moderate other people's, and it is marked «edited by the GM».
• Removing a message (Remove message) happens at once and comes with Undo.
• Mark as unread leaves the channel unread from that message, so you can come back to it later.

Search

The magnifier in the channel header opens Search the channel. You type, the list shows the results and choosing one makes the thread jump to that message.

Vote with a poll

In the «+», Poll asks for a Question and at least two options, and publishes the poll as a message. Everyone votes with one click, and whoever created it or the GM closes it with Close poll. The same menu has two quick votes, «Vote: yes or no» and «Ask if everyone is ready».

Create and arrange channels (GM)

1. Click New channel in the section header. The channel form opens.
2. Fill in the Name and, if you like, the Description. Also choose its Category and its Classification. Save with the create button.
3. To group channels, click New category. A right-click on a category also lets you add a subcategory, a channel inside, copy it with its channels or delete it.
4. To arrange them, drag channels and categories in the list, or use Move up and Move down in the right-click menu.
5. To take a channel out of the players' view without deleting it, use «Hide from players» in its menu. With Visible only to you reserve it for certain people.
6. Deleting a channel also deletes all its messages and cannot be undone: the table asks first.

The channel map

In the section's «⋯» menu, Channel map opens an image with the channels placed as pins, so players can jump by clicking a place. The GM uploads a map, picks a channel from the list below, clicks where it goes and drags the pins to move them.

Examples

• A tavern by post. You create a «Village» category with the channels «Tavern», «Market» and «Smithy»; players move between them as between rooms and the GM narrates in each one.
• A news channel. You tick «Announcements: only whoever runs the table writes» on «The King's Proclamations»: everyone reads it, only you write.
• A planning meeting. With the table split into teams, each team has its own channel and plans its strategy without the other one reading it.

Options

A channel's settings come from the New channel form (or from Edit the channel, in its menu).

Each person also adjusts how the chat looks under Chat density, Chat avatars, Message times, Link previews and Full-screen chat by default. A right-click on the chat header offers them at hand. If you would rather be notified by email when someone mentions you, it is under You are mentioned in a campaign chat.

Tips

Tip. Use one category per place or chapter and keep a single «general» channel for whatever does not fit: that way latecomers know where to start.

• Mention someone with @ only when you need their attention: each mention adds a notification for them.
• For quick play, /r rolls inside the channel itself and the result stays in the thread.
• If a channel fills up with noise, mute it with a right-click and follow only the mentions.

Known limits

• The waiting-room channels do not show in this list: they live in their own section.
• A channel classified as Shop shows its shop panel next to the chat; shops are prepared in Shops.
• A message with attachments takes up to five files of 25 MB at most.

Common problems

«It will not let me write.» The channel is read-only (a news channel) or has slow mode: wait for the seconds the box shows.

«I cannot see a channel my companions can.» It may be hidden from you or reserved for other people; the GM decides that in its form.

«The file will not upload.» Check that it weighs under 25 MB and that you are not over five attachments in the same message.

«I removed a message by mistake.» Click Undo in the notice that shows up right after.

See also

The campaign: rooms and sections, Players, roles and teams, The waiting room, Sessions, schedule and reminders, Written roleplaying: what it is and how to play, Rolls, 3D dice and fair rolls.

All Roliando guides