FAQ

**Frequently Asked Questions:**

**Is this a video game RPG?** - The RPG Engine is a way to handle miniatures and maps for pen and paper RPGs, like Dungeons and Dragons, Cyberpunk Red, and Vampire: The Masquerade. The protagonists in Stranger Things were playing a PNP RPG in their spare time when not avoiding being munched on.

**Is this just for DnD or does it cover other RPGs?** - TRPGE isn't tied to any system. There are no fixed rules that would narrow its uses to a particular game. There's also a Sheets system that allow users to make and share all sorts of RPG mechanics with macros and imported images. So you can import your favorite character sheet, set up interlocking properties on it, and distribute it to your players.

**Is everything set to a certain size or scale?** - The default scale is meters, however it's all user controllable. You can set the grid to feet, yards, parsecs, longcatlengths, etc. You can turn the grid on or off and even go with hexes. Items can also be rescaled in any dimension and you can even set what their default scale is when you pull them onto a board. Here's a guide to setting up the Map Scales in TRPGE for a variety of Tabletop RPG Systems.

**Does everyone have to buy TRPGE to play it?** - Not at all. There is the free version, which allows those players to join other games. Then there's the builder edition which has more objects and lets people host a game with other builders and add a free player. Then there's the GM edition which allows any number of players in. So if you have 3 builders edition owners playing, 3 additional free users can join. Or one GM owner can host everyone in this end of the spiral arm.

**What's the limitations on the free version?** - Free players have limited map options and fewer props available (though still several thousand). They also do not have access to the Steam workshop, where other players share their creations. They also can't host games.

**How many props do owners get with the full game?** - Ohhh, well over 5,000 as of August '22. Annnnnd, now we have over 7k as of November. Sorry, bad info, it's over 10,000 objects, special effects, and entities now.

**What kind of props? Is it only fantasy?** - Lordy, no. Beyond fantasy, we also have futuristic stuff, pirates/colonial, vikings, WWII era, modern, classical Japanese, we even got frickin' zombies up in here.

**OK, but I'm not that good at building stuff.** - That wasn't a question. :P Fortunately, building is pretty easy in TRPGE. You can freely place, rotate, and resize anything you need to suit your purposes. You can have things snap to the grid for quick building. You can even save things you've built as prefabs, like a furnished house, and drop copies of them in wherever you need. And if you just don't want to construct stuff period, prefabs and maps can be saved to Steam's workshop so anything people share is available to use. You can download things as simple as a table with books on it up to a full map complete with NPCs and animated doors. There's currently a couple thousand different prefabs on the workshop from users.

**What if I don't want to share my stuff with others?**- We hope you do share, as it makes the community stronger and gives everyone more options. But if you are truly shy about letting folks see your creations, the maps save locally as a default. You have to choose to save prefabs and maps to the workshop and when you do, you can make them available to only your Steam friends or even just you, if that's what you want.

**Can I customize my minis if I have something particular I want?** - There's already a good many minis in (over 300), but there's also a mini creator to custom build what you want. And any mini can have gear put in their hands and on their back even during gaming. Also you can import PNGs as "standee" minis on a base. Also, also, anything you build in game as a prefab can be assigned to a player as a mini. Also, ALSO, *ALSO*, HeroForge digital minis can be imported. Also x 4, we've got OBJ importing in now. AlsoOMGwhenwillthisstop, you have an armature you can use to literally build something that will use the base animations to run around with (so you can make big anime mechs from the ground up, if you want). Suffice to say you have options.

**Do I have to pull roofs off buildings and caves to see what's going on inside during play?** - You can if you want, and you can even set up animations ahead of time that strip out whole sections of walls with one click. But we also have this nifty invisiblizing box you can put into place. You can make it any size and put it anywhere and when you turn it on, everything within the boxed area is transparent. Great for seeing in buildings or caves.

**Is "invisibilizing" even a real word?** - I mean, why not? We've got things like taradiddle and cattywampus in the dictionary, so invisibilizing seems like fair game.

**How do I keep my nosy players from seeing stuff I'm not ready to reveal yet?** - Let's see, we have a fog of war system, so anything you paint with the FOW tool will be pitch black to the player. You can also make props and minis invisible to them. And you can set up invisible cameras that you can select and force the players' view to. Some of us are using those cameras childed to player entities to have a 3rd person, over the shoulder view, so the players can only see from the perspective of nearby their mini. It's whatever approach works best for you, a recurring theme in The RPG Engine design.

**Sounds neat an all, but I like rolling dice.** - No one's stopping you from doing that. Some people still use physical dice and stream their rolls. However, we've built in 3D dice you can chuck onto the board. You can have bonuses set up for your rolls and the total is pushed to chat. So roll on, Macduff.

**What about tracking character stuff?** - We got that covered, too. You now have access to the sheets system that lets you set up interlocked values and entries that can be combined and sent to the dice roller, as well. People have already made several automated sheets for a couple games that are up on the workshop.