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 is especially useful for playing D&D (copyright
	by TSR).  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.