I have a group that has been together over a 9 month deployment. We are starting to pack everything home and I want to Keep things going and migrate online. What are some ways people have kept games going online? Is roll20 the best option, It wasn't very intuitive for me when I was playing around with it. Looking for suggestions. Thanks ahead of time.
I look forward to the day that I can say: "Welcome Home!".
I might suggest the least effort method may be to migrate the character sheets to DDB, if they aren't already and use Theatre of the Mind instead of an actual battle map and tokens. This way, your sheets aren't lost in the shuffle (I'm aware of what goes into the transition you are undertaking) and your combat encounters won't require integration of another digital platform that you may not return to when you get back.
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“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime.” - Mark Twain - Innocents Abroad
I have a group that has been together over a 9 month deployment. We are starting to pack everything home and I want to Keep things going and migrate online. What are some ways people have kept games going online? Is roll20 the best option, It wasn't very intuitive for me when I was playing around with it. Looking for suggestions. Thanks ahead of time.
The current group I'm DMing for, which has to play in a mix of in-person and remote right now, just uses Zoom and DDB characters sheets
On the occasions we need a battle map and minis, I just enter the meeting with my phone while DMing from my laptop and use that camera to show the folks who aren't in the room what's going on, but a lot of encounters can be handled using Theater of the Mind (i.e. just describing what happens)
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Active characters:
Carric Aquissar, elven wannabe artist in his deconstructionist period (Archfey warlock) Lan Kidogo, mapach archaeologist and treasure hunter (Knowledge cleric) Mardan Ferres, elven private investigator obsessed with that one unsolved murder (Assassin rogue) Xhekhetiel, halfling survivor of a Betrayer Gods cult (Runechild sorcerer/fighter)
I’ve only ever used roll20, but other options I’ve heard of are foundry vtt and above vtt. All three have different pluses and minuses, you could play around with each and see if one works for you.
I personally use Zoom for my remote session, but I have done campaigns over Discord voice/video chat also. Discord has the advantage of being free, other than needing to buy a $15 or so tripod that can suspend your camera over the battlemat (if you all use one).
Then the DM can move pieces on behalf of their party members - beyond having to move on their behalf, everything is still very similar to tabletop, so you do not have to learn a new digital system like Roll20.
That is a very good idea. Most of us have our sheets on DDB or another electronic medium. I like the idea of using a webcam or something and just controlling the map in that fashion. The encounter builder was helpful and fun to play as well.
I don't have any online subscriptions but have been playing successfully on Roll20 for a year now. It took me a few weeks to get into things properly, like how to setup monsters (some are included in the free subscription, but about half the time I have to create the creatures manually). There are some great "top 10 Roll20 tips" videos on youtube that really helped me get setup and to work out shortcuts and things, but some of it came after a few sessions in practicing what setup makes the gameplay smoother.
In my last session I didn't have a map ready for an encounter, so i used the draw tool to mock something crude up and used plenty of descriptions, it worked quite well. I do have a few blank maps setup though, where I can go to the map layer and add trees, camps, other stuff I need to fairly easily, and that helps with random encounters or when the party choose to do something I really wasn't expecting. In the library tab there is a search feature where you can grab png's off the web of anything you might want (barrels, wagons, castle walls) and then just drag them onto the map.
I've also used foundry vtt with another group as a player, and as a player it seems to work well, but as a DM it looks like there would be a lot of setup to get things working smoothly. I much prefer roll20 out of the two.
Having the character sheets recreated in Roll20 would be beneficial as you could manage the characters from there and use the rolls from the sheet, but do expect a week or so of setup, ie the maps, monsters, npc's etc you'll need handy. Coupled with Discord and MS OneNote, it's been a breeze once I've got the hang of it to run my campaign, and hasn't yet cost me a penny!
I play on Google meet. I use a laptop stand which puts the base of the computer at an angle, and then I angle the screen down to face the board. I’m typically not on screen during the session, which is a blessing when I’m scrambling to keep up with the players, but when it’s a heavy roleplay part, and can just angle it back up so they can see me.
I trust my players to be honest about their characters capabilities and rolls, so they have their character sheet on whatever medium they want.
We have played 5 or 6 sessions of the game I am running. Over the course we had 3 games running, about 4 or 5 one shots. One game has had over 15 sessions. We played a lot. Some of us hadn't really played before this. It has helped keep most of us sane.
We have played 5 or 6 sessions of the game I am running. Over the course we had 3 games running, about 4 or 5 one shots. One game has had over 15 sessions. We played a lot. Some of us hadn't really played before this. It has helped keep most of us sane.
Did you use figures and hand-drawn or pre-printed maps, or other visual way of playing in-person?
Knowing what level of visual detail you used would help inform the appropriate choices for an online replacement.
If you're using dndbeyond and you're looking to integrate something that resembles being together in a room without feeling too much like it's all automated or a computer game, then I really recommend having a look at AboveVTT.
It's essentially a Chrome extension (runs on edge, chrome and Firefox). It can access all your dndbeyond content and you can load maps stored online (or drive etc).
Played a few games on it now and it's awesome. There's a discord channel and devs are responsive. It's free to use, just the cost of what you have on dndbeyond. Moved a group from maps and miniatures to Above VTT in the same room or online. No issues so far.
For two years of pandemic now our group has used a combination of DNDBeyond, Roll20 and Discord that seems to work pretty well. You can link the first two so you can roll off your character sheet. We tried the Roll20 videochat function and...no (it may have improved). Used Zoom for while but Discord seems better.
I use Discord for voice and chat and DNDBeyond err.. obviously and AboveVTT for Virtual Table Top and it's superb DNDBeyond integration
Owlbear rodeo is another free VTT that's great particularly if you don't want or need DNDBeyond... but how is that possible!?!
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“It cannot be seen, cannot be felt, Cannot be heard, cannot be smelt, It lies behind stars and under hills, And empty holes it fills, It comes first and follows after, Ends life, kills laughter.” J.R.R. Tolkien, The Hobbit, or There and Back Again
Thanks, That is super helpful. I will look into all of them. I most likely will give roll20 another try, as well as the other.
Above VTT for me is the superior of the 3, it is free, integrated fully with dnd beyond and let’s you load your own maps up and let’s people move tokens about.
For communication I have set up discord. Again it’s free but it allows multiple channels, so we have various text chat rooms (general, in game, maps, etc) and 3 voice/video chat. Chit chat, game time and secret squirrel (for those one on one secret dm/player chats).
we have 2 people who can’t use VTT, all we do is 1 player shares his screen and streams the map so they can see what’s happening.
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I have a group that has been together over a 9 month deployment. We are starting to pack everything home and I want to Keep things going and migrate online. What are some ways people have kept games going online? Is roll20 the best option, It wasn't very intuitive for me when I was playing around with it. Looking for suggestions. Thanks ahead of time.
I look forward to the day that I can say: "Welcome Home!".
I might suggest the least effort method may be to migrate the character sheets to DDB, if they aren't already and use Theatre of the Mind instead of an actual battle map and tokens. This way, your sheets aren't lost in the shuffle (I'm aware of what goes into the transition you are undertaking) and your combat encounters won't require integration of another digital platform that you may not return to when you get back.
“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime.” - Mark Twain - Innocents Abroad
The current group I'm DMing for, which has to play in a mix of in-person and remote right now, just uses Zoom and DDB characters sheets
On the occasions we need a battle map and minis, I just enter the meeting with my phone while DMing from my laptop and use that camera to show the folks who aren't in the room what's going on, but a lot of encounters can be handled using Theater of the Mind (i.e. just describing what happens)
Active characters:
Carric Aquissar, elven wannabe artist in his deconstructionist period (Archfey warlock)
Lan Kidogo, mapach archaeologist and treasure hunter (Knowledge cleric)
Mardan Ferres, elven private investigator obsessed with that one unsolved murder (Assassin rogue)
Xhekhetiel, halfling survivor of a Betrayer Gods cult (Runechild sorcerer/fighter)
I’ve only ever used roll20, but other options I’ve heard of are foundry vtt and above vtt. All three have different pluses and minuses, you could play around with each and see if one works for you.
Thanks, That is super helpful. I will look into all of them. I most likely will give roll20 another try, as well as the other.
I personally use Zoom for my remote session, but I have done campaigns over Discord voice/video chat also. Discord has the advantage of being free, other than needing to buy a $15 or so tripod that can suspend your camera over the battlemat (if you all use one).
Then the DM can move pieces on behalf of their party members - beyond having to move on their behalf, everything is still very similar to tabletop, so you do not have to learn a new digital system like Roll20.
That is a great Idea. Thank you.
That is a very good idea. Most of us have our sheets on DDB or another electronic medium. I like the idea of using a webcam or something and just controlling the map in that fashion. The encounter builder was helpful and fun to play as well.
I don't have any online subscriptions but have been playing successfully on Roll20 for a year now. It took me a few weeks to get into things properly, like how to setup monsters (some are included in the free subscription, but about half the time I have to create the creatures manually). There are some great "top 10 Roll20 tips" videos on youtube that really helped me get setup and to work out shortcuts and things, but some of it came after a few sessions in practicing what setup makes the gameplay smoother.
In my last session I didn't have a map ready for an encounter, so i used the draw tool to mock something crude up and used plenty of descriptions, it worked quite well. I do have a few blank maps setup though, where I can go to the map layer and add trees, camps, other stuff I need to fairly easily, and that helps with random encounters or when the party choose to do something I really wasn't expecting. In the library tab there is a search feature where you can grab png's off the web of anything you might want (barrels, wagons, castle walls) and then just drag them onto the map.
I've also used foundry vtt with another group as a player, and as a player it seems to work well, but as a DM it looks like there would be a lot of setup to get things working smoothly. I much prefer roll20 out of the two.
Having the character sheets recreated in Roll20 would be beneficial as you could manage the characters from there and use the rolls from the sheet, but do expect a week or so of setup, ie the maps, monsters, npc's etc you'll need handy. Coupled with Discord and MS OneNote, it's been a breeze once I've got the hang of it to run my campaign, and hasn't yet cost me a penny!
Out of curiosity, how many sessions do you guys get in over the course of 9 months?
I play on Google meet. I use a laptop stand which puts the base of the computer at an angle, and then I angle the screen down to face the board. I’m typically not on screen during the session, which is a blessing when I’m scrambling to keep up with the players, but when it’s a heavy roleplay part, and can just angle it back up so they can see me.
I trust my players to be honest about their characters capabilities and rolls, so they have their character sheet on whatever medium they want.
Only spilt the party if you see something shiny.
Ariendela Sneakerson, Half-elf Rogue (8); Harmony Wolfsbane, Tiefling Bard (10); Agnomally, Gnomish Sorcerer (3); Breeze, Tabaxi Monk (8); Grace, Dragonborn Barbarian (7); DM, Homebrew- The Sequestered Lands/Underwater Explorers; Candlekeep
We have played 5 or 6 sessions of the game I am running. Over the course we had 3 games running, about 4 or 5 one shots. One game has had over 15 sessions. We played a lot. Some of us hadn't really played before this. It has helped keep most of us sane.
Did you use figures and hand-drawn or pre-printed maps, or other visual way of playing in-person?
Knowing what level of visual detail you used would help inform the appropriate choices for an online replacement.
If you're using dndbeyond and you're looking to integrate something that resembles being together in a room without feeling too much like it's all automated or a computer game, then I really recommend having a look at AboveVTT.
It's essentially a Chrome extension (runs on edge, chrome and Firefox). It can access all your dndbeyond content and you can load maps stored online (or drive etc).
Played a few games on it now and it's awesome. There's a discord channel and devs are responsive. It's free to use, just the cost of what you have on dndbeyond. Moved a group from maps and miniatures to Above VTT in the same room or online. No issues so far.
For two years of pandemic now our group has used a combination of DNDBeyond, Roll20 and Discord that seems to work pretty well. You can link the first two so you can roll off your character sheet. We tried the Roll20 videochat function and...no (it may have improved). Used Zoom for while but Discord seems better.
I use Discord for voice and chat and DNDBeyond err.. obviously and AboveVTT for Virtual Table Top and it's superb DNDBeyond integration
Owlbear rodeo is another free VTT that's great particularly if you don't want or need DNDBeyond... but how is that possible!?!
“It cannot be seen, cannot be felt, Cannot be heard, cannot be smelt, It lies behind stars and under hills, And empty holes it fills, It comes first and follows after, Ends life, kills laughter.” J.R.R. Tolkien, The Hobbit, or There and Back Again
Above VTT for me is the superior of the 3, it is free, integrated fully with dnd beyond and let’s you load your own maps up and let’s people move tokens about.
For communication I have set up discord. Again it’s free but it allows multiple channels, so we have various text chat rooms (general, in game, maps, etc) and 3 voice/video chat. Chit chat, game time and secret squirrel (for those one on one secret dm/player chats).
we have 2 people who can’t use VTT, all we do is 1 player shares his screen and streams the map so they can see what’s happening.