Telegram notices

How to set up the bot for the table\u2019s group, choose which channels and notices arrive, test the sending and set your own personal notices per campaign and channel.

Roliando can send notices to Telegram in two ways, and both use a bot you create yourself:

  • The table's group. The GM connects the bot of their group, and upcoming-session notices arrive there along with, if they want, what is written in the campaign's channels.
  • Your own. Anyone can connect a personal bot to hear, in their own Telegram, about what happens in the campaigns and channels they pick. Nothing is sent unless you choose it.

Roliando never talks to Telegram from your browser: the bot's address is stored in the database and the server does the sending.

Create the bot

  1. In Telegram, message @BotFather and send /newbot. It asks for a name and a username for the bot and gives you a token that looks like 123456789:AAH....
  2. For the table's group: add the bot to the group. If the group uses topics, the bot must be able to write in the one you want.
  3. For your personal notices: open a conversation with your bot and write anything, even "hello". Until you do, Telegram will not let the bot message you.

Build the address

The address you paste into Roliando always has this shape:

https://api.telegram.org/bot<token>/sendMessage?chat_id=<id>

Replace <token> with the one BotFather gave you and <id> with the chat number. To find it:

  1. Write a message in the group (or to your bot, if it is for you).
  2. Open https://api.telegram.org/bot<token>/getUpdates in your browser.
  3. Look for "chat":{"id": and copy the number after it. For a group it is usually negative (-1001234567890); for your personal chat it is positive.

If the group uses topics and you want the notices to land in a specific one, add &message_thread_id=<topic number> at the end.

The address carries the bot's token: anyone who has it can write in your group. Do not paste it in a chat or share it. Roliando only shows it to the GM who owns the campaign (the group's one) or to you (your own).

The table's group

The GM who owns the campaign (and an administrator) can see and change it.

Go to Campaign → Settings, section Table etiquette, and find Telegram notices. Paste the address. It is saved when you leave the field.

If something is off, the field tells you:

MessageWhat it means
That is the group's invite link, not the bot's addressYou pasted the group's t.me/... link. Nothing can be published with it: you need the bot's address.
The group is missing: add ?chat_id=<id> at the end of the addressYou have the bot but not which chat to write to.
This does not look like a Telegram bot addressIt has to start with https://api.telegram.org/bot.

With a valid address, Send a test message appears. Press it: if all is well a message with the campaign's name reaches the group and Roliando says Test message sent. If not, it says "Telegram did not accept the message: check the token and the group". It is almost always a mistyped token, a bot that was not added to the group, or a wrong chat_id.

Which channels reach the group

Below the test, Also send what is written in the channels forwards what is written in the campaign to the group. It is off until you turn it on.

  • Channels to send. Tick the channels you want. Only channels open to the whole table are sent: a hidden channel, or one limited to some players, never leaves. With none ticked, all the story channels go, except off-character chat.
  • Which messages. What the characters say and What the GM narrates. At least one stays ticked.

Each message arrives with the channel's name and the author's.

Your personal notices

In Settings → Notifications, under Telegram:

  1. Paste your bot's address (with your own chat_id) and press Save address.
  2. Press Send a test to check it reaches you.
  3. Choose what you want to hear about. Each campaign has three levels: All, Mentions (when you are named or replied to) and Nothing. Add a campaign adds the ones you want.
  4. Inside each campaign, Channels lets you give one channel a different level. The rest stay Same as the campaign.

You do not get one message per line: Roliando gathers what is new and sends a single message every few minutes, with one entry per campaign or channel.

Get notices on Telegram pauses them without deleting anything. If Telegram stops accepting the notices (the bot was deleted, you blocked it), Roliando turns them off and shows the reason: fix the bot and turn them back on. Remove deletes your address and what you chose in each campaign.

Common problems

  • The test fails. Check the token (no spaces), that the bot is in the group, and the chat_id. For a personal chat, message your bot first.
  • The test arrives but the channels do not. Check that the channels switch is on, that the channel is one open to the whole table, and that its message type is ticked.
  • I cannot see the field in the campaign. Only the GM who owns the campaign sees it.
  • I changed the token in BotFather. The old address stops working: paste the new one.

Limits

  • Roliando only sends text. It does not forward images or dice rolls, or take replies from Telegram.
  • Notices are best-effort: a Telegram failure does not stop the game.
  • One bot per table group and one bot per person.

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