Wife and I are in our 30's & 40s and both played advanced back in the day. Interested in starting up again using remote play and it seems that this happens pretty easily, but I have no clue how the online games work. Do you call in on a zoom meeting? is there a unique server? How do we know that player rolls are legit? I understand we can use online tools but is there a unique online platform? Just want to get the basics on how we can meet up for a weekly game night. Can anyone give me some idea how this works? Much Appreciated!!!
Hi! My regular D&D group played weekly from about 2015 to March of this year. And then the Plague hit. We took about two months off, and when we realized that we wouldn't be back at a table anytime in the foreseeable future we decided to go online. This was a difficult transition for some of us (I'm 50 and not very technological).
We play on a site called Roll20.net. It's great. Only the DM needs to actually pay for a subscription (to make maps and host a campaign and such). For everyone else it's free. You just enter a name and email and you can accept the DM's invite to join the campaign (or you can just make yourself available to whatever group invites you to play). The roll20 site lets you create your character sheet right there, and you simply need to click on that sheet for the computer to make that roll for you. So there's no fudging. For example, at the start of combat everyone clicks initiative, and a little box pops up on the screen with everyone's roll listed in combat sequence. It's wicked easy! Roll20 also connects to your computer's camera and speakers, but a couple of our players found that to be a bit glitchy. So now each week just before the session starts, one player sends out an email invite to a Zoom meeting, and we all use Zoom for voice and camera, and Roll20 to see the map and character sheets and dice rolls. So you need both sites running at once. But we have had a great experience doing it that way. It's not the same as sitting at the table, but it's dang close. The best part is that we can still see and hear each other in real time as we're playing.
Also, if you have a DNDBeyond account, you can link your DNDB character sheets to the Roll20 site. They work together really well.
But again, I'm just a player in this campaign, so I'm sure the DM has A LOT more work to do behind the scenes to create the campaign in Roll20. And one player has to remember to host the Zoom meeting each week. And everyone has to have a computer capable of running both sites at once. So yeah, it's not perfect, like in the beforefore times, but it's the best thing we've got during these Plague Years.
I hope this helps. Have fun!
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Tayn of Darkwood. Lvl 10 human Life Cleric of Lathander. Retired.
Ikram Sahir ibn Malik al-Sayyid Ra'ad, Second Son of the House of Ra'ad, Defender of the Burning Sands. Lvl 9 Brass Dragonborn Sorcerer + Greater Fire Elemental Devil.
Viktor Gavriil. Lvl 20 White Dragonborn Grave Cleric, of Kurgan the God of Death.
My friends and I all meet in person every week. But, we looked into multiple virtual tabletops before deciding that for us...in person was just better. We are all early 20s through early 30s and all started with 5e. That said, the technological know-how for running an online campaign and getting involved was beyond any of our skill levels. It was a project we attempted for about two months to understand and eventually gave up.
We did do one session via a large group "zoom" type meeting. It SUCKED bad. Virtual play is more dependent on a map that none of us could figure out than playing at a table.
If you are tech savvy and have the technological know-how to run a VTT, I'd wholly recommend you go with FoundryVTT. They seemed like the best quality and the people behind it are great, personable and helped us troubleshoot some of our early issues until we got something going. Still, these are the words of a VTT quitter...if I ever try again, it will 100% be Foundry. And, I am confident in saying this after trying out NUMEROUS other platforms that were either ridiculously convoluted, the customer service was disrespectful and rude or had too high a price point to be justifiable.
Hope that helps some. Regardless, good luck on your online D&D adventures!
You can play by e-mail or play by post. There is a section of the site here that supports play by post. Of course things might move along slowly in PBP, and the RP sort of changes. I haven't used it, so you'll have to ask others how good that experience is.
You can play by using vocal chat through the Internet. This can be fun and I have a friend that does this often enough using Discord. I would expect other PC-Internet tools would allow a DM to run a campaign pretty well.
Then there are the websites that are made to support TTRPGs, like Roll20. These websites are designed to allow a DM to save content in advance, put maps or other graphics on everyone's screen and to handle dice rolls and share spell descriptions. I am using Roll20 in the campaign I am playing in right now. I am a player, not the DM. We use this site to create character sheets and share spells and help with dice rolls. It is very handy.
As far as handling Dice Rolls, if you can't trust all the party members, then the DM always has the right to make all the dice rolls. I would say you will want to avoid it, but it might be unavoidable. Otherwise the players roll their own dice and share the results. When using Roll20 and this site, the dice rolls are transferred right to the Roll20 chat window.
Good luck.
A lot of things have changed since AD&D. You should find someone that knows about 5e and learn how the mechanics have changed. We used to have To-Hit AC0 approach, and it has turned upside down. AC15 is better than AC10 now. Before AC2 was pretty good and anything lower was magic armor. Skill Checks are codified and a big part of the game. Saving throws are a little different. Armor falls into three classes, light, medium and heavy. Characters have "racial abilities" and "backgrounds" that grant certain benefits. Each class, and there are a few new classes, particularly among magic users, has subclasses that typically are selected at level 3 or level 2. Because of this there are numerous combinations you can use. HP are higher so death is a little less likely and the healing mechanics allow PCs to regain their health overnight. Also learn about short rests which will restore some HP and some abilities. Most of the spells are the same, but have been tweaked. Spell casters start with two level 1 slots, increase to 3 level 1 slots at level 2, and jump to 4 level 1 slots AND 2 level 2 slots at level 3. Back in the day, my Magic User started with 4 HP and one level 1 spell slot, typically sleep or magic missile, and then had to rely on his dagger and no armor for the rest of the day. Spell Casters get cantrips, which are like level 1 spells you can use as much as you want all day. Most of the magic items are the same.
Wife and I are in our 30's & 40s and both played advanced back in the day. Interested in starting up again using remote play and it seems that this happens pretty easily, but I have no clue how the online games work. Do you call in on a zoom meeting? is there a unique server? How do we know that player rolls are legit? I understand we can use online tools but is there a unique online platform? Just want to get the basics on how we can meet up for a weekly game night. Can anyone give me some idea how this works? Much Appreciated!!!
You can use Roll 20, Fantasy Grounds, or Foundry to be your table top. Some of these may have (limited) video and voice capability, but you can use something else for voice/video.
How do you know rolls are legit? Two points. One, easy one, is that all those VTTs allow rolls to be shown publicly. But two, is that, you should not play with people who you can't trust to be honest about their rolls.
I use Foundry and most of my players use the in-app die rolling, but I roll (as DM) with my own dice. I paid a lot of money for those metal dice and the leather-lined Wyrmwood rolling tray. I'm gonna freaking use them. But I also have always let all players roll however they see fit. They like rolling on the app so that's fine. But if they want to roll on their own desk, go ahead. I do not question rolls. I trust them. The point here: Play D&D with people you trust, and this is not an issue.
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WOTC lies. We know that WOTC lies. WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. We know that WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. And still they lie.
Because of the above (a paraphrase from Orwell) I no longer post to the forums -- PM me if you need help or anything.
I have learned so much and it looks like we are going to go onto roll20 to check out the offerings. I like the idea of zoom running with roll 20, nothing like a good roll play sesh. Also thanks for the info about changes to 5e. we are getting the player's handbook to read through and understand the differences in game play, do you suggest any other of the tomes for an advanced to 5e conversion?
Right now the interesting thing is the multi-class and how that works, there are good videos online to check too.
If you are going to use Roll 20, you might want to consider buying the books there, and not here. That will enable you to use all the book content directly in your game, and not porting it over to Roll 20. If I were using Roll 20, or Fantasy Grounds, that is what I would do, 100%. I don't use them (I use Foundry) so I have to port everything anyway. I think Foundry's flexibility and user-friendly UI are worth the porting but, there are lots of times when I wish I could just use stuff right from the books.
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WOTC lies. We know that WOTC lies. WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. We know that WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. And still they lie.
Because of the above (a paraphrase from Orwell) I no longer post to the forums -- PM me if you need help or anything.
If you’re wanting to go strictly physical, I’d definitely avoid Roll20 and just go Foundry. The benefits of Roll20 is having your books integrate into the VTT. Without the digital books, there is no benefit.
And if you decide you want digital books, Beyond has the cheapest prices on digital books with the most powerful tools for character creation and sheet maintenance during play.
oh, we wanted to have the actual book is that a disadvantage for the online portal use?
If you want physical then it doesn't really matter which VTT you pick. My point was just, if you are going to be e-versions, buy them in the VTT, so you have all the items already within the VTT you are using.
Also I am not sure I agree that Beyond has the best tools for use during play. Most of my players have switched to doing everything in Foundry because they find the UI easier. And it has the benefit of multiple sheet layouts so each player can use the one most intuitive to them, instead of all of them having to use the DDB layout (which Foundry does have -- though tellingly, none of them use it).
Thanks Alot Bio, we have been reaching out to a couple that we know and we are all seemingly on board. I have ordered the books for us and we will be getting brushed up on 5e for a couple weeks but pretty soon there is going to be a sunday evening request for 4 players looking to start up with a gm on a regular game night. we are all pretty excited! So thanks a bunch you guys.
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Wife and I are in our 30's & 40s and both played advanced back in the day. Interested in starting up again using remote play and it seems that this happens pretty easily, but I have no clue how the online games work. Do you call in on a zoom meeting? is there a unique server? How do we know that player rolls are legit? I understand we can use online tools but is there a unique online platform? Just want to get the basics on how we can meet up for a weekly game night. Can anyone give me some idea how this works? Much Appreciated!!!
Hi! My regular D&D group played weekly from about 2015 to March of this year. And then the Plague hit. We took about two months off, and when we realized that we wouldn't be back at a table anytime in the foreseeable future we decided to go online. This was a difficult transition for some of us (I'm 50 and not very technological).
We play on a site called Roll20.net. It's great. Only the DM needs to actually pay for a subscription (to make maps and host a campaign and such). For everyone else it's free. You just enter a name and email and you can accept the DM's invite to join the campaign (or you can just make yourself available to whatever group invites you to play). The roll20 site lets you create your character sheet right there, and you simply need to click on that sheet for the computer to make that roll for you. So there's no fudging. For example, at the start of combat everyone clicks initiative, and a little box pops up on the screen with everyone's roll listed in combat sequence. It's wicked easy! Roll20 also connects to your computer's camera and speakers, but a couple of our players found that to be a bit glitchy. So now each week just before the session starts, one player sends out an email invite to a Zoom meeting, and we all use Zoom for voice and camera, and Roll20 to see the map and character sheets and dice rolls. So you need both sites running at once. But we have had a great experience doing it that way. It's not the same as sitting at the table, but it's dang close. The best part is that we can still see and hear each other in real time as we're playing.
Also, if you have a DNDBeyond account, you can link your DNDB character sheets to the Roll20 site. They work together really well.
But again, I'm just a player in this campaign, so I'm sure the DM has A LOT more work to do behind the scenes to create the campaign in Roll20. And one player has to remember to host the Zoom meeting each week. And everyone has to have a computer capable of running both sites at once. So yeah, it's not perfect, like in the beforefore times, but it's the best thing we've got during these Plague Years.
I hope this helps. Have fun!
Tayn of Darkwood. Lvl 10 human Life Cleric of Lathander. Retired.
Ikram Sahir ibn Malik al-Sayyid Ra'ad, Second Son of the House of Ra'ad, Defender of the Burning Sands. Lvl 9 Brass Dragonborn Sorcerer + Greater Fire Elemental Devil.
Viktor Gavriil. Lvl 20 White Dragonborn Grave Cleric, of Kurgan the God of Death.
Anzio Faro. Lvl 5 Prot. Aasimar Light Cleric.
My friends and I all meet in person every week. But, we looked into multiple virtual tabletops before deciding that for us...in person was just better. We are all early 20s through early 30s and all started with 5e. That said, the technological know-how for running an online campaign and getting involved was beyond any of our skill levels. It was a project we attempted for about two months to understand and eventually gave up.
We did do one session via a large group "zoom" type meeting. It SUCKED bad. Virtual play is more dependent on a map that none of us could figure out than playing at a table.
If you are tech savvy and have the technological know-how to run a VTT, I'd wholly recommend you go with FoundryVTT. They seemed like the best quality and the people behind it are great, personable and helped us troubleshoot some of our early issues until we got something going. Still, these are the words of a VTT quitter...if I ever try again, it will 100% be Foundry. And, I am confident in saying this after trying out NUMEROUS other platforms that were either ridiculously convoluted, the customer service was disrespectful and rude or had too high a price point to be justifiable.
Hope that helps some. Regardless, good luck on your online D&D adventures!
You have a lot of options.
You can play by e-mail or play by post. There is a section of the site here that supports play by post. Of course things might move along slowly in PBP, and the RP sort of changes. I haven't used it, so you'll have to ask others how good that experience is.
You can play by using vocal chat through the Internet. This can be fun and I have a friend that does this often enough using Discord. I would expect other PC-Internet tools would allow a DM to run a campaign pretty well.
Then there are the websites that are made to support TTRPGs, like Roll20. These websites are designed to allow a DM to save content in advance, put maps or other graphics on everyone's screen and to handle dice rolls and share spell descriptions. I am using Roll20 in the campaign I am playing in right now. I am a player, not the DM. We use this site to create character sheets and share spells and help with dice rolls. It is very handy.
As far as handling Dice Rolls, if you can't trust all the party members, then the DM always has the right to make all the dice rolls. I would say you will want to avoid it, but it might be unavoidable. Otherwise the players roll their own dice and share the results. When using Roll20 and this site, the dice rolls are transferred right to the Roll20 chat window.
Good luck.
A lot of things have changed since AD&D. You should find someone that knows about 5e and learn how the mechanics have changed. We used to have To-Hit AC0 approach, and it has turned upside down. AC15 is better than AC10 now. Before AC2 was pretty good and anything lower was magic armor. Skill Checks are codified and a big part of the game. Saving throws are a little different. Armor falls into three classes, light, medium and heavy. Characters have "racial abilities" and "backgrounds" that grant certain benefits. Each class, and there are a few new classes, particularly among magic users, has subclasses that typically are selected at level 3 or level 2. Because of this there are numerous combinations you can use. HP are higher so death is a little less likely and the healing mechanics allow PCs to regain their health overnight. Also learn about short rests which will restore some HP and some abilities. Most of the spells are the same, but have been tweaked. Spell casters start with two level 1 slots, increase to 3 level 1 slots at level 2, and jump to 4 level 1 slots AND 2 level 2 slots at level 3. Back in the day, my Magic User started with 4 HP and one level 1 spell slot, typically sleep or magic missile, and then had to rely on his dagger and no armor for the rest of the day. Spell Casters get cantrips, which are like level 1 spells you can use as much as you want all day. Most of the magic items are the same.
Cum catapultae proscriptae erunt tum soli proscript catapultas habebunt
You can use Roll 20, Fantasy Grounds, or Foundry to be your table top. Some of these may have (limited) video and voice capability, but you can use something else for voice/video.
How do you know rolls are legit? Two points. One, easy one, is that all those VTTs allow rolls to be shown publicly. But two, is that, you should not play with people who you can't trust to be honest about their rolls.
I use Foundry and most of my players use the in-app die rolling, but I roll (as DM) with my own dice. I paid a lot of money for those metal dice and the leather-lined Wyrmwood rolling tray. I'm gonna freaking use them. But I also have always let all players roll however they see fit. They like rolling on the app so that's fine. But if they want to roll on their own desk, go ahead. I do not question rolls. I trust them. The point here: Play D&D with people you trust, and this is not an issue.
WOTC lies. We know that WOTC lies. WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. We know that WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. And still they lie.
Because of the above (a paraphrase from Orwell) I no longer post to the forums -- PM me if you need help or anything.
Wow, you guys and gals are really great!!
I have learned so much and it looks like we are going to go onto roll20 to check out the offerings. I like the idea of zoom running with roll 20, nothing like a good roll play sesh. Also thanks for the info about changes to 5e. we are getting the player's handbook to read through and understand the differences in game play, do you suggest any other of the tomes for an advanced to 5e conversion?
Right now the interesting thing is the multi-class and how that works, there are good videos online to check too.
Thanks again and happy gaming all!!!
Before you buy anything!
If you are going to use Roll 20, you might want to consider buying the books there, and not here. That will enable you to use all the book content directly in your game, and not porting it over to Roll 20. If I were using Roll 20, or Fantasy Grounds, that is what I would do, 100%. I don't use them (I use Foundry) so I have to port everything anyway. I think Foundry's flexibility and user-friendly UI are worth the porting but, there are lots of times when I wish I could just use stuff right from the books.
WOTC lies. We know that WOTC lies. WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. We know that WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. And still they lie.
Because of the above (a paraphrase from Orwell) I no longer post to the forums -- PM me if you need help or anything.
oh, we wanted to have the actual book is that a disadvantage for the online portal use?
If you’re wanting to go strictly physical, I’d definitely avoid Roll20 and just go Foundry. The benefits of Roll20 is having your books integrate into the VTT. Without the digital books, there is no benefit.
And if you decide you want digital books, Beyond has the cheapest prices on digital books with the most powerful tools for character creation and sheet maintenance during play.
If you want physical then it doesn't really matter which VTT you pick. My point was just, if you are going to be e-versions, buy them in the VTT, so you have all the items already within the VTT you are using.
Also I am not sure I agree that Beyond has the best tools for use during play. Most of my players have switched to doing everything in Foundry because they find the UI easier. And it has the benefit of multiple sheet layouts so each player can use the one most intuitive to them, instead of all of them having to use the DDB layout (which Foundry does have -- though tellingly, none of them use it).
WOTC lies. We know that WOTC lies. WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. We know that WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. And still they lie.
Because of the above (a paraphrase from Orwell) I no longer post to the forums -- PM me if you need help or anything.
Thanks Alot Bio, we have been reaching out to a couple that we know and we are all seemingly on board. I have ordered the books for us and we will be getting brushed up on 5e for a couple weeks but pretty soon there is going to be a sunday evening request for 4 players looking to start up with a gm on a regular game night. we are all pretty excited! So thanks a bunch you guys.