This quick start guide will help you get started with the app in a few minutes. If this is the first time you're logging in, read the first section carefully.
Initial log in
Open the email you received from nexus3.games
Once you’ve opened the link to the test site, enter your details in the form:
- Email address (the one the invitation was sent to)
- Create a password (and make note of it!)
- First and Last names (these will appear in your profile)
- Country (we’re starting local)
- Invitation code (this is in the invitation email)
- Read our Terms of Service (the blue text at the bottom)
- Tick the acceptance
- Click Sign Up
You’ll then get a confirmation message
Check your email and follow the instructions.
You’ll be directed back to the registration/login page where you’ll see a blue text link to log in.
Enter your email address & password that you set in the previous form and you’re in!
You should now see the Nexus 3 dashboard - this will be the first thing you see whenever you log in.
First-time logins will be presented with a list of four tasks to get you up and running with your basic profile settings and preferences. Each task text is linked to the app view that controls that setting so it couldn’t be easier.
To return to the dashboard at any time, click the Nexus 3 hexagon at top left of the screen
Step 1. Privacy Settings
As the prompt states, we’ve set everything to public.
We suggest you leave Account Visibility on public for the test - you can always switch between the two any time to suit your needs.
Friend Requests and Invitations can be set as you like. During testing we encourage that you experiment with the effects of these settings with other testers.
Once the testing period is complete, review your privacy settings to make sure each aspect is set to the level you’re comfortable with.
Step 2. Profile
The Headline will appear on your public profile card.
Adding your address - even just your City/Suburb, Postcode and State will allow the app to show Venue and In-Person Games that are near you.
Time zone is automatically populated from your browser settings and will be used for co-ordination of playing times for games that offer an online location.
Step 3. Player Preferences
Next you’ll tell us what rule system(s) you want to play and where you want to play.
Select at least one option for both.
Step 4. GM Settings
Here you’ll tell us what rule system(s) you want to run games in and where you want to play. Select at least one option for both.
Preferred venues looks for venues in our current venue directory, which are 98% Melbourne venues. Leave this blank until you know the venue is present in the directory.
You’ll notice that as you complete the tasks, they disappear from the list.
Navigation Overview
Navigation in Nexus3 is really simple. The core pages are accessible via the menus at the top of the screen: Find, Game Master, Player, 🧑User.
Each menu has a few options to choose from, which are expanded below.
To get back to the Dashboard click the Nexus 3 logo top left in any view.
Within each page we use tabs to display a rich variety of information and settings, depending on the context.
Dashboard
Here’s where we display the latest information in the form of several live feeds:
- Games looking for Players
- Message alerts
- Links to our Discord server and those of our partners
- Blog posts from Nexus 3
- Tips from Sly Flourish and Roleplaying Tips
Messages are also accessible through the User menu. You’ll see a red badge next to your avatar, with the number of unread messages.
User menu
The User menu contains all user-related settings and information not specifically related to your role as either player or GM.
Profile
The information you set here is used for your user profile card. If you add an alias, this will replace your name in the public directory, however your real name is shared with friends, and fellow group/game members.
Adding your physical location helps us co-locate other users, games and venues in the service. Your address is never divulged to other users or anyone else outside of Nexus3.
You can add any social media handles you want to display on your profile using the Socials section of your profile.
Please include your Discord handle and engage with our supportive community.
You can optionally hide your social media links from public view in your account's privacy settings.
Settings
Aside from setting your user account type, these are primarily related to privacy and security. Set the various privacy indicators to your comfort level.
You can re-visit and adjust them at any time.
Messages (incl. number of unread messages)
There are three main kinds of notification messages:
- Applications from players to join a game
- Friend requests from people who know your email address
- Invitations from friends or GMs to join a game
Friends
A full gallery of users that are your friends on the platform shows you their key details and provides buttons to allow you to invite them to games or unfriend them if needed. You can also look for friends using their email address, or invite friends not already on the platform.
Level Up
Here you can view your credit balance, redeem tokens for credits and other benefits, gift credits to friends and access to the Nexus3 Affiliate Program.
You can also follow a link to our Ko-fi store to purchase additional credits if you've hit zero balance.
Read more here about how to level up your account
Find menu
The directory is where you’ll find all the Games, Gamemasters, Players, Venues and Systems currently available in the app. You can easily navigate between each by clicking the relevant sub-menu.
Within each sub-menu you can browse, search and filter the content to find whomever / whatever you’re looking for. Only Players, Groups and GMs with profiles set to Public are visible in each directory.
The Venues and Systems directories are an ever-growing database of public play-spaces and TTRPG systems. Feel free to add anything new that you’re unable to find (and earn credits for doing so!). Once our team have verified it all users will be able to see all the relevant details in the directory and select them for their games.
Games
Here you’ll find a full list of all Games currently open and looking for players. Game cards have key info and tags to help you see at-a-glance what they’re offering. At the top right you’ll see smart tags that indicate game Status as well as if the game is Your Game. In-person games will show whether they’re located Near You and online games will show if a game is In Your Time Zone.
Gamemasters
This is a directory of all users with a publicly-listed GM profile. If you can’t find the GM you’re looking for, use the Find or Invite Friends button. You’ll need their email address.
If they’re already a registered user and their privacy settings permit, you’ll be able to send them a friend request. Otherwise we’ll automatically send an invitation email to the address.
Players
Just like the GM directory, here’s where you’ll find users with a publicly-listed Player profile.
Same goes here - if you can’t find someone, use the Find or Invite Friends button.
Venues
Here you’ll find a listing of all the Venues in your country, tagged and sorted in order of distance to each, with an extra tag for venues that are Local (<5km)
Systems
Our growing directory of TTRPG systems contains all the classics plus many others. If you can’t find a system you like playing, click the Request new system button - we’ll verify the system and let you know as soon as it’s available.
Game Master menu
GM Settings
Manage all of your GM-related settings here.
Preferred venues looks for venues in our current venue directory, which are 98% Melbourne venues. When you add venues to the preferred venues field, the list of available venues in new games created is comprised of your preferred venues only.
Leave this blank until you know the venue is present in the directory, or if you want to have a more flexible/wide range of venues to select from.
Manage My Games
In this view you can create new game offers and manage them through their lifecycle.
Click Add new game to create a blank game offer. The initial form gets all the essentials, then you can start editing all the fine-grained details.
Click to open the editor panel. This reveals five tabs that give access to critical aspects of your game offer: Preview, Settings, Status Members and Admin.
Preview
This tab is purely to give you a quick preview of what your public listing will look like, before you post it.
Settings
The Settings tab contains a series of expand & collapse bars that give you full control of all the details you’ll need to set up a game offer and attract players.
> Title, Description and Banner
This panel contains the title and description you entered when you first created the game. You can edit or add more detail to the description, modify the title and even change the system if you change your mind. Should your game struggle to attract player interest, this is where you can re-work the offering by altering some or all of the details without attracting charges for a new listing.
Upload an image (max. 500kB) to form the pictorial backdrop for your listing. We advise against using copyrighted material if you don’t have the rights to use it. Another option is to select a public domain image.
> Game Settings
Game type and system are set in the set-up form when you click New Game.
An option allows you to override the game system template for custom/homebrew rules
> Privacy Settings
Select whether the game is listed in the directory and who can apply to join
> Application Settings
Set up what information you want to gather from applicants.
The form builder is in it’s MVP state with plans to add other field types and save forms as templates.
> Player Settings
Set seat numbers (min & max) and experience required
> Time Settings
Here’s the place to set all the time-related parameters for your game.
Set one or more Session Times by clicking the + icon.
> Venue Settings
If you’d like to host the game online using your preferred suite of tools, select Virtual, then nominate your tools such as Foundry VTT, Discord, Zoom, or Roll20.
If you prefer face-to-face gaming, select in-person, then choose from the list of venues. If you've added venues to the preferred venues field, the list of available venues is comprised of your preferred venues only.
Optionally you can choose to nominate a custom private venue, only visible to players who sign up for the game. Only the suburb will be shown in public directory-listed games.
In-person games can also nominate a VTT fallback. Essential in these uncertain times!
> Safety Settings
Set a variety of safety features for your game, all of which are shown on your game offering.
- Safety Tools
- Content warnings
- Inclusivity
Sessions
The Session Manager within each game give you some basic tools to schedule and log sessions, make notes, and track metrics such as XP and loot for each player. The manager consists of three tabs:
- Session details - handles basic details about each session including date and time, description, and status. Adding multiple sessions at once is possible with the +New Session button, allowing you to rough-out your session plan to share with your players. You can also adjust settings to publish your logs and whether to allow players to post messages to the game group
- Session logs - gives the GM a place to log the details of each session as well as separate logs for each player where you can keep session-specific notes, track metrics like XP and treasure, and mark attendance
- Session posts - provides a way to send messages to the whole game group, or to specific players. With the allow players to post check-box, you can enable players to post messages too, including direct messages to the GM. The feature isn't intended to function as an in-game chat system - all VTTs have this functionality built-in
Status
The status indicator helps you track progress of your offering. You start in Draft, taking as much time as you need to craft the details before the offering is ready to attract player interest.
Once you’ve entered Location, Time and Player requirements you’re ready to post the offering to the next stage: Open
Once your offering moves to Open status, eligible players (depending on the game's privacy settings) can view it, send enquiry messages and apply to join the table.
If you have a GM Basic account, this is also a trigger for our billing system to invoice you for the listing and a credit is deducted from your account.
As soon as you have at least one player approved, you can progress the game listing to Playing status. The listing remains in the directory with a Playing status badge unless you change the privacy settings to remove it from the directory. During playing status, you can still accept applications to join the game. When the game comes to an end for whatever reason, the GM moves it to Completed status, at which point all participants can give feedback for the game and the GM's completed games tally increments by one.
Members
Lets you track pending applications and approved players.
Admin
Options to Transfer ownership and Delete a game if you no-longer wish to run it or list it.
Player menu
Player Settings
Manage all of your Player-related settings here:
- Player Bio
- Game Systems you prefer to play
- Venue types
- Preferred Venues
- Play Style
Games I Play
Keep track of all games you’ve applied to join or are currently playing in.
Support menu
At the bottom of every screen you'll find three icons to access our Facebook page, Discord server and Contact page as well as a few other self-explanatory external links.
