The Roll20 Team
API Updates, Roll Templates, and More!
See the initial Update of Holding announcement here, and our first development peek here.
The biggest component of the Update of Holding is the upcoming iPad and Android apps, we’ve also made our Application Programming Interface (API) an area of emphasis. The biggest enhancement to our API is a new Repository. Currently using the API takes a fair amount of programming savvy (it is a programming interface!) in order to create and use the customized features powered by it, but the end result of this new Repository will be a collection of scripts that any Mentor user should be able to easily pick to activate in their games. Before we go live with the ability to easily incorporate from this new location, we’re hoping to have more scripts accessible in the Repository... so Mentors start submitting today!
We’ve also beefed up some of the capabilities of the API– we’ve updated its dice engine to pull rolls from our powerful QuantumRoll server, given the ability to create command buttons that show up in chat, and added a large number of new command properties that will make the API even more fun for programmers to customize their campaigns in the future. Mentors can read the full breakdown of what we’ve done thus far here.
It’s important to us to keep improving the non-subscriber experience of Roll20 as well, which is why we’re adding Roll Templates to our Character Sheet system. Currently all users can take advantage of approved sheets which have been created by our users to match your favorite roleplaying games (in order to utilize your own custom sheet, however, you do need to be a Mentor user). In addition to Character Sheets, there will now be linked “Roll Templates” which make the way your rolls from a sheet appear more visually matched with the game you’re playing. For example it would turn this...
...into this:
Much more attractive, isn’t it? Similar to the API Repository, this new feature will be coming slowly as the authors of Character Sheets update their work to include such templates. If you want to know how you can make these changes, check out our wiki article on Roll Templates.
Again, these are just parts of the overall Update of Holding which goes into effect later in Q1 of this year. If you want to start experimenting with some of these features early, most are available for use on our Development Server, which can be accessed by Mentor subscribers. Subscriptions are what allow us to be able to keep working on the system, and your support is appreciated.
Thanks for reading, and stay tuned for more information soon about the Update of Holding in an upcoming look at the Roll20 Compendium!
