Chat
Chat support allows for basic chat messaging inside of a campaign and provides a basis to share information between users like cast spell details.
Player View
The player view shows chat at the bottom of the character sheet and in it’s own tab. The separation between the character sheet and the chat can be varied by dragging the separation line. Note: when using a mouse hovering over the separator will show a drag bar.
Gamemaster View
For gamemasters the chat window normally displays under the combat tracker and also on a chat tab. When the combat tracker collapses into a tab the chat window then displays at the bottom of tabs. When displayed below the combat tracker or below tabs then a splitter is also available to adjust the size of chat.
Usage
While the chat box can be used to share basic text messages, its real power comes from the ability to share actionable information between users. For example, damage can be applied directly from the value of a damage roll.
Types of data sharing:
Basic Messaging: share text messages that can include emojis or links. Even with used in conjunction with other communications like Discord or Zoom this can be useful for thinks like sharing the zoom link.
Dice Rolls: All dice rolls are directly visible in the chat window. The rolls have many clickable elements for quickly performing common actions. Note: this replaces the previous dice roller and includes all of the previous functionality, plus additional capabilities.
Cast Spells: Spells cast from the character sheet show the cast spell and key information about the cast spell including action links for things like saves, attacks and damage rolls.
Handouts: Handouts displayed by the Gamemaster are also displayed in the chat log, making it easy to go back and review handouts.
Link Sharing: Most entries can now be shared to the chat log. This makes it easy to highlight information about a key spell, monster, item, race or class.
Safety Cards: Provide feedback from players or gamemasters to navigate sensitive situations while playing.
For more information click the links above. When in doubt try clicking on the chat entries to try out actions.
But wait what about my favorite messaging feature?
It is very likely that the Shard chat will be missing many features common to other chat or messaging applications. Some of these missing features will likely show up over time, but it is unlikely that Shard will ever include all of the features of applications like Discord, Zoom, or Facebook. These applications are fully focused on communication tools while with Shard our focus is on being the best place to play D&D. Over time we have discovered the value of having an integrated chat for sharing information between users and we have focused on communications features targeted for playing D&D. That will be our primary focus as we improve these features. We do want to hear about your biggest pain points so that our solution is good enough for the majority of cases while playing D&D. For the other cases we want to work well along side your favorite communication tools.