Game Wiki

Hi there, TK refugee here.

I'm in the process of reinstating two campaigns, getting used to the new tools I've got (OMG private sections in posts!) and lamenting the ones I've lost.

I used to lean pretty heavily on short campaign-specific wikis as a repository for story canon, house rules, unique mechanics and plot summaries, and the threads in the game don't quite carry the same static, referential feel.

Do other GMs provide this sort of info? Where and how? Part of me is considering linking off to an external wiki, but I'm keen to hear what kinds of solutions others have instituted first.

That is done here with a different format. Some just do long threads other use sub forums of threads.

Inside a thread some use the first post as a ToC then use format elements, such as spoilers, to break up the info. I use sub forums and shared custom sheets that hold information for quick reference.

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Example of spoilers used to break information into smaller readable blocks

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Shared sheet example

You can also use 1 thread and on the first post put links to the subsequent posts. Kinda like the char sheet repository.
It starts with a page listing all the sheets you will find in that thread. If you click one, it brings you to the relevant post.

If you want to share this between multiple games, you can create a public game and call it "my wiki game" or something. Then you can create references (links) to that from any other game.

Welcome to the community, JS! Good advice on subforums and separate threads above, and also bear in mind you can pin threads to the top of the page...

I'm in exactly the same boat at the moment and trying to determine the best approach to replicating the features we were used to on Tavern-Keeper.com

I would welcome the chance to swap notes and ideas if you are interested.

Campaign Wiki
At the moment, I'm experimenting with the Gamesplane Sub-Forum feature for recreating the Campaign Wiki. This feature creates a separate sub-forum with a specific title. I just haven't decided on the best strategy for using it yet.

Experimenting with Sub-Forums to reproduce the game management features of Tavern Keeper. e.g. The Tavern, Player Information and Campaign Wiki separeted from the Roleplay Session Logs.

Sub-Forums can be nested and their order in a list of sub-forums can be changed, so in many respects they could be considered as alternatives to Campaign Wiki category headings and used to create a wiki structure. The only slight negative of this approach is that sib-forums have to be populated by threads, so unlike TK you cannot just create a heading and type information straight into it.

The alternative is to do as someone suggested above and just create a Campaign Wiki as a Sub-Forum and insert one thread into it and then use BBcode to create the structure of the information content in the single resident post.

Campaign Wiki using a single post structured with spoilers and attribute headers.

I've tried both approaches but so far the only real conclusion I've come to is that the Campaign Wiki needs to be a sub-forum within your game forum to keep is separate from the other threads and locked to random updates.

Custom Character Sheets
I'm still struggling to create something approximating the TK character sheet template using GP BBcode. Youmight be licky and your game might be able to utilise one of the standard system sheets provided. But I play a homebrew version of WFRP, so I'm starting with a blank canvas and trying to code something that will work for my game. It's a bit of a learning curve as programming is not my strong suite, it's one reason why I gave up on Roll20.
Character Journals
Character Journals are something we used a lot, and I haven't begun to think about how to reproduce them as part of a Character Sheet.
OOC Comments linked to Posts
Another feature which we used a lot in our game, and I need to try and replicate for GP. GP has the ability to classify a post a OOC, but that would disrupt the Session Log, and we always discouraged players from making OOC comments in the roleplay. Having said that, I note that OOC comments are greyed out and low resolution, so I need to test to see how immersion-breaking they are in a real game. The other issue I need to check is whether other players can post OOC comments in an existing post as this was the most common purpose for OOC comments in our TK game. Players and the GM would post OOC comments linked to specific posts in the Roleplay Session. So, i need to work out if that's possible and how to do it at some point.

You can also check out various existing games from this list.
If you click the "public" tag, it will take you directly to that game's forum.

You can have a look to see how other GMs are doing it and how intrusive the OOC comments look to you.
Of course, each GM does it their own way. So you'll find different approaches from 'Let chaos reign' to 'This is actually my job'.

Okay, so related question for me and perhaps no one else: how do I format bullet points on here?

You're all AMAZING by the way. Thank you so much for your quick assistance.

Simple lists use + - * etc
- item
- item
You can find special characters that are actual bullet points and copy paste

Lol!

I asked that very same question about a week ago. This is the only forum I visit that doesn't have a facility for ordered and unordered lists.

Neither

Nor
[olist]

[/olist]
work.

It seems you just have to fudge it. I don't use lists that often, but it's annoying when you want one.

Doing something with a table might work.





The Guide to Gamer's Plane BBcode by Adam is really helpful BTW.
I tend to keep that open in a separate window for reference when I'm working.

Likewise, the Public Repository of Custom Character Games Sheets can help get you started if you need to produce a custom character sheet for your game. You can find something close to what you need and then copy and modify the BBcode.

They can't. The only way to add OOC comments is to edit the post itself, and by default only the original poster and the GM are allowed to do it. You can technically allow all players to edit each other's posts, but personally I don't think it's a good idea. Usually people just reply to each other in their own posts or a designated OOC thread, depending on the group.
Alas, there is no official tag for lists, so your easiest option is either special characters or tables. There have been a number of different suggestions in Didz's earlier question thread too, if you'd like to check it out! :D

That is going to become a pain, as in my game in particular, a roleplay post would typically attract multiple OOC comments from the rest of the group. I'm not sure if there is a work around as if not it could be a game killer as far as I'm concerned.

Being unable to comment directly on Roleplay posts is essential for both the GM control of the game and for social interaction between the players. But I don't want the Session Log broken into long strings of OOC posts between each Roleplay post. So, that might disqualify GP as a hosting site for me.

It's bad enough that the OOC comments are visible in the Session Logs, but if additional OOC comments are also going to increase the post count, then it becomes a game management problem for me. If only because I use 'post count' to determine XP.

Is there a functional difference between lists and just typing the delineators? I don't think that's something that needs a special function. I just do:
- item 1
- item 2
or
1. item 1
2. item 2
Haven't run into any issues with doing that.

As for OOC, what most games do is have a separate thread for OOC posts to prevent clogging up the RP thread. Keep in mind that most people also use the OOC comment function inside their post for convenience (ex. GM explaining the mechanics of a certain encounter, a quick OOC reaction to what's going on), so you should specify if you don't want them to do so.

Another way to make OOC comments in your post without disturbing the visual flow of the game thread, is to put them in spoiler tags

The main and obvious difference is the one I demonstrated and tested in my proposed use of Tables idea.

That's when you are creating a list containing blocks of explanatory text and you want the text to wrap within the confines of the list entry.

If one excludes the Table BBcoding then what you end up with is a mess.

1. Item 1.
2. Item 2.
3. Item 3.
4. Text Sample 1: Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, eam invenire assentior et, omnis philosophia an ius. Ea alterum sensibus cum, id est assum viris. Zril definiebas eum in, qui cu luptatum voluptatum. Et modo putant est. Te summo referrentur his. Everti adolescens has ad. Semper tacimates per ei, nec tincidunt adversarium no, in partem pertinax pri.
5. Text Sample 2: Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, eam invenire assentior et, omnis philosophia an ius. Ea alterum sensibus cum, id est assum viris. Zril definiebas eum in, qui cu luptatum voluptatum. Et modo putant est. Te summo referrentur his. Everti adolescens has ad. Semper tacimates per ei, nec tincidunt adversarium no, in partem pertinax pri.

* Unordered Text Sample 1: Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, eam invenire assentior et, omnis philosophia an ius. Ea alterum sensibus cum, id est assum viris. Zril definiebas eum in, qui cu luptatum voluptatum. Et modo putant est. Te summo referrentur his. Everti adolescens has ad. Semper tacimates per ei, nec tincidunt adversarium no, in partem pertinax pri.
* Unirdered Text Sample 2: Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, eam invenire assentior et, omnis philosophia an ius. Ea alterum sensibus cum, id est assum viris. Zril definiebas eum in, qui cu luptatum voluptatum. Et modo putant est. Te summo referrentur his. Everti adolescens has ad. Semper tacimates per ei, nec tincidunt adversarium no, in partem pertinax pri.

Unfortunately, that severs the context between the Roleplay post and the OOC comment.

A separate OOC sub-forum is definitely useful for general 'chit-chat' and I've already created a 'Tavern' sub-forum where the players can hang out and talk about the game in general. But TK had a post-specific comment feature that basically allowed the players and the GM to comment specifically about that Roleplay post, and we used it a lot.



Some of that might be possible out of context to the Roleplay post to which it relates, but it would lose the dynamic relationship with the action and story being told in the Session Log, which is not ideal. I would worry that it would break the flow of the game and undermine the social aspect of everyone being involved in the action. In a TTRPG setting, it would be a bit like the players having to leave the table and move to the kitchen every time they wanted to comment on the tabletop play.

But I need to see how other GMs are coping with it, and eventually test it with my players and see how they react.

Your worries should be alleviated! It doesn't break anything! Our games have worked wonderfully with the system we have! Many people use the OOC thread and quote the RP post in question, and sometimes even include a link to the post itself. In my games, small OOC comments are fine in the game thread, and it doesn't disrupt anything.

As for wikis, subforums work great. Or even just getting something like Google Docs or Obsidian Portal and linking it.

WOAH! I LOVE that.

Okay, manual bullets. Got it. Only pain is if it's a multi-line sentence it won't indent with just a dash, but the table solution has some promise. Awesome :)

I will admit the Tavernkeeper comments allowed better separation but I think it is a style preference. I had several games in TK where there were chatty players and there were instances I did not have time/energy to go through them all. Then the DM would post instructions/clarifications as OOC that I never saw. On the other hand I have seen DM here who ban OOC in game threads, poof, full immersion. If you want a hybrid then you can allow OOC in Story thread but only to post links to the OOC comment.

If you simply use GP for a little while, you’ll get used to the differences. I *do* miss proper bullets — in the end, even more than the OOC flip cards. Neither is anything approaching a deal-killer in my opinion. And there are a bunch of things GP does better — like editing posts with rolls, NPC posts, etc.