I run a D&D club at my high school, and I'm often swamped with so much work that I can't properly make maps in Dungeon Alchemist or plan sessions. My players are doing a heist right now, and I had to download stock photos and individually place them on each tile in roll20 to make a rudimentary "map." I know there's always improvisation, but I'm worried that my players won't have a good time if this keeps up. What can I do to prepare more in advance so that I won't have to pull out the board games again because I was not even remotely prepared?
I run a D&D club at my high school, and I'm often swamped with so much work that I can't properly make maps in Dungeon Alchemist or plan sessions. My players are doing a heist right now, and I had to download stock photos and individually place them on each tile in roll20 to make a rudimentary "map." I know there's always improvisation, but I'm worried that my players won't have a good time if this keeps up. What can I do to prepare more in advance so that I won't have to pull out the board games again because I was not even remotely prepared?
Teach them to use their imagination and do theater of the mind.
Well, based on all that, I would say stop using roll20 — but that probably won’t work. VTT systems require preparation, and that requires time to set up, and in a fully packed life that can be a hard choice.
The theater of the mind, where you describe what they see with their senses (sight, sound, smell, “feel”, taste, touch), is nice because you can be less prepared and be more improvisational. I remember drawing a dungeon in 1st period for lunch that day, and made up each room on the fly during the game.
I really can’t think of a way to avoid this though if you are using a VTT. It is really just kinda the way they work, and the only thing I can think of would be not to use a battle map, maybe?
Sorry I am not of much help.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Only a DM since 1980 (3000+ Sessions) / PhD, MS, MA / Mixed, Bi, Trans, Woman / No longer welcome in the US, apparently
Wyrlde: Adventures in the Seven Cities .-=] Lore Book | Patreon | Wyrlde YT [=-. An original Setting for 5e, a whole solar system of adventure. Ongoing updates, exclusies, more. Not Talking About It / Dubbed The Oracle in the Cult of Mythology Nerds
This is why my games are 99.999999% of the time theater of the mind. Unless the party is going into a cave or maze... then I will use Roll20.
Other than that, all theater of the mind.
Allows for way more improve - everyone gets to have their own mental picture compared to just moving pieces on a map (to me, too much of a board game feel).
But that said, some people do better with VTT/Maps/Visuals. Everyone operates differently.
Theatre of the Mind. Though it might not be as exciting as a real board (or digital one), it lets your players use their imagination. You can also draw a real board on A3 paper and place down some tokens. No need for terrain or minis, and it gets the job done.
Making digital maps is the bane of my existence, so I decided to stop very soon after I began DMing. I use a dry erase map and draw things as I narrate them or, if I have time, before session. When I play online, I snap pics of the map and upload it to a text channel so everyone can see. And when the combat isn't that big a deal or I can't be bothered to draw, I make my players use their imaginations.
Some people have the time and desire to set up elaborate maps on Roll20. It's nice, but it's not the only way to play.
Making digital maps is the bane of my existence, so I decided to stop very soon after I began DMing. I use a dry erase map and draw things as I narrate them or, if I have time, before session. When I play online, I snap pics of the map and upload it to a text channel so everyone can see. And when the combat isn't that big a deal or I can't be bothered to draw, I make my players use their imaginations.
Some people have the time and desire to set up elaborate maps on Roll20. It's nice, but it's not the only way to play.
I have a stack of the large presentation graph pads with the 1 inch squares that I draw fast layouts on for complicated battles, and then I have a small iPad on a stand that I use to project it to the players. I am hoping either zoom or teams gives me the ability to use a whiteboard for this eventually
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Only a DM since 1980 (3000+ Sessions) / PhD, MS, MA / Mixed, Bi, Trans, Woman / No longer welcome in the US, apparently
Wyrlde: Adventures in the Seven Cities .-=] Lore Book | Patreon | Wyrlde YT [=-. An original Setting for 5e, a whole solar system of adventure. Ongoing updates, exclusies, more. Not Talking About It / Dubbed The Oracle in the Cult of Mythology Nerds
If you can set one session of time aside for prep, make yourself a dungeon template on Roll20. IIRC, you can have multiple maps in tabs along the top. So find dungeon room pictures for the game, and group them by number of doors in and out, and then make one page per room.
When you have 10 or so of each type, in groups, write yourself a basic table of them, so you know what they are. You can use compass points for door locations, EG:
Then, hen you prep, just draw a simple map of the dungeon on a piece of paper and then randomly pick which room numbers will be each room, based on the doors you need them to have. When they move into the next room, change the tab to the next room on your scribble sheet!
With all the pictures already aligned to the grid, and with millions of possible dungeons, you should be ok for improvised dungeons with working maps!
Bro, there is a D&D club at my school, and my players ruin it by doing something "funny", such as drowning themselves for no apparent reason in my Hunger Games one shot. What do I do?
Bro, there is a D&D club at my school, and my players ruin it by doing something "funny", such as drowning themselves for no apparent reason in my Hunger Games one shot. What do I do?
Well you should start your own threads for your own questions really.
That said, simply say "ok, you drown. Good game guys.", pack up, and don't play with them again. If they ask you to, say you expect them to take it more seriously and appreciate the time it takes to prepare a game. If they try to talk you down, be committed - "no, your characters are dead, the story is over. There's nothing more we can do here."
If they try to bring the same character back, refuse. Nope, that guy's dead. Should have thought of that before you drowned yourself.
1. There are a ton of maps you can find for free out there. Don't get so hung up on finding one that fits the scene 100% accurately. 2. Make use of the "Search" function in the art library on roll20, and then look in "from the web" drop down to get a ton of PNGs that you can drag and drop onto maps. This allows you to easily and quickly customize maps and add relevant icons or terrain to a generic map and make it what you need. You can make a quick and dirty map in a matter of seconds when needed. 3, DL and and add a few basic generic maps to your roll20 game so you can use them as the base for whipping up maps like that.
4. Have a back up encounter to throw at your party for when you truly don't have any time to prep. Combats in particular can take up a lot of time and can be an entire session in a pinch.
I know a lot of people are saying "theatre of the mind" but If you are using roll20 and aren't playing in person then maps are actually really important. You don't have visual cues from faces and reactions that you would from an in person game, so having something visual is actually really important to keep focus and attention on the game.
I know a lot of people are saying "theatre of the mind" but If you are using roll20 and aren't playing in person then maps are actually really important. You don't have visual cues from faces and reactions that you would from an in person game, so having something visual is actually really important to keep focus and attention on the game.
Since the pandemic - all of my games are 100% remote (Discord + D&D Beyond + Beyond20) - and it's 99.99999999999999% of the time theater of the mind. Unless they're venturing into a cave/maze type setting. Otherwise a lot of times, if they ask, "Is there a tree near me I can climb?" I will say, "Sure. Roll me a Nature check. 10 or higher there's a tree next to you." Creates way more freedom for my players to also help shape what's around.
All of my games are in-person, so I can't relate to using Roll20. But I have used Owlbear Rodeo before and that works pretty well - I usually find maps online and use the default tokens.
I know a lot of people are saying "theatre of the mind" but If you are using roll20 and aren't playing in person then maps are actually really important. You don't have visual cues from faces and reactions that you would from an in person game, so having something visual is actually really important to keep focus and attention on the game.
Since the pandemic - all of my games are 100% remote (Discord + D&D Beyond + Beyond20) - and it's 99.99999999999999% of the time theater of the mind. Unless they're venturing into a cave/maze type setting. Otherwise a lot of times, if they ask, "Is there a tree near me I can climb?" I will say, "Sure. Roll me a Nature check. 10 or higher there's a tree next to you." Creates way more freedom for my players to also help shape what's around.
And that will be great for some people, but if your group enjoys things like strategic gridded combat then that style of play doesn't facilitate that.
I know a lot of people are saying "theatre of the mind" but If you are using roll20 and aren't playing in person then maps are actually really important. You don't have visual cues from faces and reactions that you would from an in person game, so having something visual is actually really important to keep focus and attention on the game.
Since the pandemic - all of my games are 100% remote (Discord + D&D Beyond + Beyond20) - and it's 99.99999999999999% of the time theater of the mind. Unless they're venturing into a cave/maze type setting. Otherwise a lot of times, if they ask, "Is there a tree near me I can climb?" I will say, "Sure. Roll me a Nature check. 10 or higher there's a tree next to you." Creates way more freedom for my players to also help shape what's around.
And that will be great for some people, but if your group enjoys things like strategic gridded combat then that style of play doesn't facilitate that.
Absolutely. And I am not saying it works for everyone. I was merely addressing this -
I know a lot of people are saying "theatre of the mind" but If you are using roll20 and aren't playing in person then maps are actually really important. You don't have visual cues from faces and reactions that you would from an in person game, so having something visual is actually really important to keep focus and attention on the game.
The idea that maps are important if you're not in person. And not having visual cues from faces.
Was saying, for myself (and my players) maps have not been important. And that rather than visual cues, listen to oral ques and if they're engaged.
But that said, if someone's been using maps - and that's the expectation - then, sure - random maps are available online - through Roll20 and through google searches for whatever you might need. But even then - if time is a constraint issue (which seems to be the case of the OP) - you still, as a DM need to be aware of what the maps looks like and how you might populate it - because now you're restricted by the visual that's there. So that's still going to take some time, rather than just having some things in a notepad written down as ideas, and just going with the flow and see where the game goes through theater of the mind.
I personally found moving away from maps in general to be far more liberating (for myself) and creates inclusive moments for my players (already cited about like when they ask "Is there a tree near me I can try to climb and see what's over there?" and I say, "Sure, roll me a Nature check. 10 or higher, there's a tree.") And stuff like that has been really fun to do (and just because a tree is there doesn't mean they auto climb it - now it's time for athletics or acrobatics to get up the tree!)
But everyone plays different. Some as you said, do prefer that map grid and want that Warhammer feel of miniatures moving across the map. And that's absolutely fine too.
As long as folks are enjoying the table - that's what really matters.
I get that, but this DM is asking for suggestions running this for a high school club. Do you think that going full theatre of the mind is a good suggestion for that a group that age that is use to gridded battle maps?
There are a few solutions. However, I am assuming that you have the story prepped in terms of knowing what is going on, what is happening next, what locations are involved and their general layout.
1) The least effort most expensive solution: Purchase Roll20 content.
Ghosts of Saltmarsh, Tales from the Yawning Portal, Candlekeep Mysteries, Radiant Citadel are adventure anthologies that you could generally fit into most games. Each of the adventures typically comes with at least one and usually several fully populated maps with room text descriptions, objectives and encounters. A new WotC publication that sounds similar is coming out soon based on heists.
I am currently running a campaign based on GoS with TftYP and bits of CM mixed in with some home made plot lines. It has kept the prep needed to a manageable level and I don't often need to make or go searching for maps. The maps in these can also be repurposed to whatever home brew adventure you are putting together. I find this tends to significantly reduce the prep work needed for online play.
2) The cheapest, least effort solution: Theatre of the mind
If you play everything via descriptions then all of the prep is on the adventure and depending on how good you are at improvisation, you can make up the room descriptions as you go along. TotM requires the DM to put in more effort making sure that the players understand the scene so that their choices make sense.
3) Cheap, minimum prep: Theatre of the Mind + hand drawn quick battle maps.
I've used this a few times when I didn't have a decent map available. In Roll20, have tokens available for players and monsters. Drop them on a blank map. Use the drawing tools to quickly sketch in the important local features (walls/trees/hills etc) the same as you would if playing in person with a battle map and dry erase markers. This works fine, takes minimum prep, helps reduce the confusion issues that can come up using TotM for combat and helps people who have trouble visualizing what is going on.
4) Inexpensive, moderate prep time: Download digital assets from the internet.
This requires time to search, find what you want, determine if there are any usage issues like copyright, download it, import it to Roll20, add dynamic lighting. The only time saving is in terms of creation time vs the time spent finding the digital asset which can be comparable depending on how picky you want to be.
5) Moderate cost, maximum prep time: Create your own digital assets using tools like Inkarnate or Dungeon Alchemist (I have both).
This is the most time consuming in terms of prep time. Making maps that look decent, with details, importing into Roll20, adding dynamic lighting. I've done this a few times but I keep it to a minimum since it is too much effort for too little reward. Most recently, I made a few cave maps and a mood/tone map for running Out of the Abyss since it doesn't provide anything for random encounters and I didn't just want to use TotM for everything. Every other approach I mentioned uses less prep time than this one.
My preference more or less in order is (all of these will include some TotM)
- buy content to run and fit it into my campaign - least prep effort for me
- simple hand drawn battle maps when the module content isn't enough
- make my own maps only when absolutely needed but if I want something specific, it is usually faster to make it than search for it
- search the internet - if it is something generic or I am not too picky it is faster to download than create
- pure TotM - it can work for some groups but depends on the people and their imagination and visualization skills.
I get that, but this DM is asking for suggestions running this for a high school club. Do you think that going full theatre of the mind is a good suggestion for that a group that age that is use to gridded battle maps?
Would not know without knowing the people.
For myself, I was reading The Hobbit by the middle of the 4th grade (thanks to my 4th grade teacher reading it to the class - I was obsessed after she read it). My imagination ran wild.
By High School, I was writing stories, poems, songs, you name it - just to silence the voices in my head demanding their story be told.
That said, my closest friend, Charles - he enjoyed D&D too - but I could tell that when I would use maps (hand drawn then on those big white pieces of paper you'd buy at Target) and we used pennies, dimes, nickel's and quarters as tokens on a map (we were cheap back then). And that provided the visual he needed. Wasn't much by any means but it helped him "see" the map better. And I'd just draw trees on these paper maps as needed if he was like, "Is there a tree next to me?" "Uh, sure." (Scribble)
I'd say by High School though, most people of that age, probably have a good imagination on those few sessions where the DM (the OP) wasn't prepared and for the sake of keeping the game going (vs cancelling the session), theater of the mind would probably work from time to time.
I run a D&D club at my high school, and I'm often swamped with so much work that I can't properly make maps in Dungeon Alchemist or plan sessions. My players are doing a heist right now, and I had to download stock photos and individually place them on each tile in roll20 to make a rudimentary "map." I know there's always improvisation, but I'm worried that my players won't have a good time if this keeps up. What can I do to prepare more in advance so that I won't have to pull out the board games again because I was not even remotely prepared?
NOCTURNE OP55N1
🛈 Meet Hanako at Embers.
Teach them to use their imagination and do theater of the mind.
Check out my publication on DMs Guild: https://www.dmsguild.com/browse.php?author=Tawmis%20Logue
Check out my comedy web series - Neverending Nights: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Wr4-u9-zw0&list=PLbRG7dzFI-u3EJd0usasgDrrFO3mZ1lOZ
Need a character story/background written up? I do it for free (but also take donations!) - https://forums.giantitp.com/showthread.php?591882-Need-a-character-background-written-up
Well, based on all that, I would say stop using roll20 — but that probably won’t work. VTT systems require preparation, and that requires time to set up, and in a fully packed life that can be a hard choice.
The theater of the mind, where you describe what they see with their senses (sight, sound, smell, “feel”, taste, touch), is nice because you can be less prepared and be more improvisational. I remember drawing a dungeon in 1st period for lunch that day, and made up each room on the fly during the game.
I really can’t think of a way to avoid this though if you are using a VTT. It is really just kinda the way they work, and the only thing I can think of would be not to use a battle map, maybe?
Sorry I am not of much help.
Only a DM since 1980 (3000+ Sessions) / PhD, MS, MA / Mixed, Bi, Trans, Woman / No longer welcome in the US, apparently
Wyrlde: Adventures in the Seven Cities
.-=] Lore Book | Patreon | Wyrlde YT [=-.
An original Setting for 5e, a whole solar system of adventure. Ongoing updates, exclusies, more.
Not Talking About It / Dubbed The Oracle in the Cult of Mythology Nerds
This is why my games are 99.999999% of the time theater of the mind. Unless the party is going into a cave or maze... then I will use Roll20.
Other than that, all theater of the mind.
Allows for way more improve - everyone gets to have their own mental picture compared to just moving pieces on a map (to me, too much of a board game feel).
But that said, some people do better with VTT/Maps/Visuals. Everyone operates differently.
Check out my publication on DMs Guild: https://www.dmsguild.com/browse.php?author=Tawmis%20Logue
Check out my comedy web series - Neverending Nights: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Wr4-u9-zw0&list=PLbRG7dzFI-u3EJd0usasgDrrFO3mZ1lOZ
Need a character story/background written up? I do it for free (but also take donations!) - https://forums.giantitp.com/showthread.php?591882-Need-a-character-background-written-up
Theatre of the Mind. Though it might not be as exciting as a real board (or digital one), it lets your players use their imagination. You can also draw a real board on A3 paper and place down some tokens. No need for terrain or minis, and it gets the job done.
If anybody would like my GMing playlists
battles: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2mRp57MBAz9ZsVpw895IzZ?si=243bee43442a4703
exploration: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0qk0aKm5yI4K6VrlcaKrDj?si=81057bef509043f3
town/tavern: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/49JSv1kK0bUyQ9LVpKmZlr?si=a88b1dd9bab54111
character deaths: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6k7WhylJEjSqWC0pBuAtFD?si=3e897fa2a2dd469e
Making digital maps is the bane of my existence, so I decided to stop very soon after I began DMing. I use a dry erase map and draw things as I narrate them or, if I have time, before session. When I play online, I snap pics of the map and upload it to a text channel so everyone can see. And when the combat isn't that big a deal or I can't be bothered to draw, I make my players use their imaginations.
Some people have the time and desire to set up elaborate maps on Roll20. It's nice, but it's not the only way to play.
I have a stack of the large presentation graph pads with the 1 inch squares that I draw fast layouts on for complicated battles, and then I have a small iPad on a stand that I use to project it to the players. I am hoping either zoom or teams gives me the ability to use a whiteboard for this eventually
Only a DM since 1980 (3000+ Sessions) / PhD, MS, MA / Mixed, Bi, Trans, Woman / No longer welcome in the US, apparently
Wyrlde: Adventures in the Seven Cities
.-=] Lore Book | Patreon | Wyrlde YT [=-.
An original Setting for 5e, a whole solar system of adventure. Ongoing updates, exclusies, more.
Not Talking About It / Dubbed The Oracle in the Cult of Mythology Nerds
If you can set one session of time aside for prep, make yourself a dungeon template on Roll20. IIRC, you can have multiple maps in tabs along the top. So find dungeon room pictures for the game, and group them by number of doors in and out, and then make one page per room.
When you have 10 or so of each type, in groups, write yourself a basic table of them, so you know what they are. You can use compass points for door locations, EG:
Room 1-10: N,S
Room 11-20: N,E
Room 21-30: N,W
Room 31-40, N,E,W
and so on.
Then, hen you prep, just draw a simple map of the dungeon on a piece of paper and then randomly pick which room numbers will be each room, based on the doors you need them to have. When they move into the next room, change the tab to the next room on your scribble sheet!
With all the pictures already aligned to the grid, and with millions of possible dungeons, you should be ok for improvised dungeons with working maps!
Make your Artificer work with any other class with 174 Multiclassing Feats for your Artificer Multiclass Character!
DM's Guild Releases on This Thread Or check them all out on DMs Guild!
DrivethruRPG Releases on This Thread - latest release: My Character is a Werewolf: balanced rules for Lycanthropy!
I have started discussing/reviewing 3rd party D&D content on Substack - stay tuned for semi-regular posts!
Bro, there is a D&D club at my school, and my players ruin it by doing something "funny", such as drowning themselves for no apparent reason in my Hunger Games one shot. What do I do?
Well you should start your own threads for your own questions really.
That said, simply say "ok, you drown. Good game guys.", pack up, and don't play with them again. If they ask you to, say you expect them to take it more seriously and appreciate the time it takes to prepare a game. If they try to talk you down, be committed - "no, your characters are dead, the story is over. There's nothing more we can do here."
If they try to bring the same character back, refuse. Nope, that guy's dead. Should have thought of that before you drowned yourself.
Make your Artificer work with any other class with 174 Multiclassing Feats for your Artificer Multiclass Character!
DM's Guild Releases on This Thread Or check them all out on DMs Guild!
DrivethruRPG Releases on This Thread - latest release: My Character is a Werewolf: balanced rules for Lycanthropy!
I have started discussing/reviewing 3rd party D&D content on Substack - stay tuned for semi-regular posts!
1. There are a ton of maps you can find for free out there. Don't get so hung up on finding one that fits the scene 100% accurately.
2. Make use of the "Search" function in the art library on roll20, and then look in "from the web" drop down to get a ton of PNGs that you can drag and drop onto maps. This allows you to easily and quickly customize maps and add relevant icons or terrain to a generic map and make it what you need. You can make a quick and dirty map in a matter of seconds when needed.
3, DL and and add a few basic generic maps to your roll20 game so you can use them as the base for whipping up maps like that.
4. Have a back up encounter to throw at your party for when you truly don't have any time to prep. Combats in particular can take up a lot of time and can be an entire session in a pinch.
I know a lot of people are saying "theatre of the mind" but If you are using roll20 and aren't playing in person then maps are actually really important. You don't have visual cues from faces and reactions that you would from an in person game, so having something visual is actually really important to keep focus and attention on the game.
Since the pandemic - all of my games are 100% remote (Discord + D&D Beyond + Beyond20) - and it's 99.99999999999999% of the time theater of the mind. Unless they're venturing into a cave/maze type setting. Otherwise a lot of times, if they ask, "Is there a tree near me I can climb?" I will say, "Sure. Roll me a Nature check. 10 or higher there's a tree next to you." Creates way more freedom for my players to also help shape what's around.
Check out my publication on DMs Guild: https://www.dmsguild.com/browse.php?author=Tawmis%20Logue
Check out my comedy web series - Neverending Nights: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Wr4-u9-zw0&list=PLbRG7dzFI-u3EJd0usasgDrrFO3mZ1lOZ
Need a character story/background written up? I do it for free (but also take donations!) - https://forums.giantitp.com/showthread.php?591882-Need-a-character-background-written-up
All of my games are in-person, so I can't relate to using Roll20. But I have used Owlbear Rodeo before and that works pretty well - I usually find maps online and use the default tokens.
If anybody would like my GMing playlists
battles: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2mRp57MBAz9ZsVpw895IzZ?si=243bee43442a4703
exploration: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0qk0aKm5yI4K6VrlcaKrDj?si=81057bef509043f3
town/tavern: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/49JSv1kK0bUyQ9LVpKmZlr?si=a88b1dd9bab54111
character deaths: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6k7WhylJEjSqWC0pBuAtFD?si=3e897fa2a2dd469e
And that will be great for some people, but if your group enjoys things like strategic gridded combat then that style of play doesn't facilitate that.
Absolutely. And I am not saying it works for everyone. I was merely addressing this -
I know a lot of people are saying "theatre of the mind" but If you are using roll20 and aren't playing in person then maps are actually really important. You don't have visual cues from faces and reactions that you would from an in person game, so having something visual is actually really important to keep focus and attention on the game.
The idea that maps are important if you're not in person. And not having visual cues from faces.
Was saying, for myself (and my players) maps have not been important. And that rather than visual cues, listen to oral ques and if they're engaged.
But that said, if someone's been using maps - and that's the expectation - then, sure - random maps are available online - through Roll20 and through google searches for whatever you might need. But even then - if time is a constraint issue (which seems to be the case of the OP) - you still, as a DM need to be aware of what the maps looks like and how you might populate it - because now you're restricted by the visual that's there. So that's still going to take some time, rather than just having some things in a notepad written down as ideas, and just going with the flow and see where the game goes through theater of the mind.
I personally found moving away from maps in general to be far more liberating (for myself) and creates inclusive moments for my players (already cited about like when they ask "Is there a tree near me I can try to climb and see what's over there?" and I say, "Sure, roll me a Nature check. 10 or higher, there's a tree.") And stuff like that has been really fun to do (and just because a tree is there doesn't mean they auto climb it - now it's time for athletics or acrobatics to get up the tree!)
But everyone plays different. Some as you said, do prefer that map grid and want that Warhammer feel of miniatures moving across the map. And that's absolutely fine too.
As long as folks are enjoying the table - that's what really matters.
Check out my publication on DMs Guild: https://www.dmsguild.com/browse.php?author=Tawmis%20Logue
Check out my comedy web series - Neverending Nights: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Wr4-u9-zw0&list=PLbRG7dzFI-u3EJd0usasgDrrFO3mZ1lOZ
Need a character story/background written up? I do it for free (but also take donations!) - https://forums.giantitp.com/showthread.php?591882-Need-a-character-background-written-up
I get that, but this DM is asking for suggestions running this for a high school club. Do you think that going full theatre of the mind is a good suggestion for that a group that age that is use to gridded battle maps?
There are a few solutions. However, I am assuming that you have the story prepped in terms of knowing what is going on, what is happening next, what locations are involved and their general layout.
1) The least effort most expensive solution: Purchase Roll20 content.
Ghosts of Saltmarsh, Tales from the Yawning Portal, Candlekeep Mysteries, Radiant Citadel are adventure anthologies that you could generally fit into most games. Each of the adventures typically comes with at least one and usually several fully populated maps with room text descriptions, objectives and encounters. A new WotC publication that sounds similar is coming out soon based on heists.
I am currently running a campaign based on GoS with TftYP and bits of CM mixed in with some home made plot lines. It has kept the prep needed to a manageable level and I don't often need to make or go searching for maps. The maps in these can also be repurposed to whatever home brew adventure you are putting together. I find this tends to significantly reduce the prep work needed for online play.
2) The cheapest, least effort solution: Theatre of the mind
If you play everything via descriptions then all of the prep is on the adventure and depending on how good you are at improvisation, you can make up the room descriptions as you go along. TotM requires the DM to put in more effort making sure that the players understand the scene so that their choices make sense.
3) Cheap, minimum prep: Theatre of the Mind + hand drawn quick battle maps.
I've used this a few times when I didn't have a decent map available. In Roll20, have tokens available for players and monsters. Drop them on a blank map. Use the drawing tools to quickly sketch in the important local features (walls/trees/hills etc) the same as you would if playing in person with a battle map and dry erase markers. This works fine, takes minimum prep, helps reduce the confusion issues that can come up using TotM for combat and helps people who have trouble visualizing what is going on.
4) Inexpensive, moderate prep time: Download digital assets from the internet.
This requires time to search, find what you want, determine if there are any usage issues like copyright, download it, import it to Roll20, add dynamic lighting. The only time saving is in terms of creation time vs the time spent finding the digital asset which can be comparable depending on how picky you want to be.
5) Moderate cost, maximum prep time: Create your own digital assets using tools like Inkarnate or Dungeon Alchemist (I have both).
This is the most time consuming in terms of prep time. Making maps that look decent, with details, importing into Roll20, adding dynamic lighting. I've done this a few times but I keep it to a minimum since it is too much effort for too little reward. Most recently, I made a few cave maps and a mood/tone map for running Out of the Abyss since it doesn't provide anything for random encounters and I didn't just want to use TotM for everything. Every other approach I mentioned uses less prep time than this one.
My preference more or less in order is (all of these will include some TotM)
- buy content to run and fit it into my campaign - least prep effort for me
- simple hand drawn battle maps when the module content isn't enough
- make my own maps only when absolutely needed but if I want something specific, it is usually faster to make it than search for it
- search the internet - if it is something generic or I am not too picky it is faster to download than create
- pure TotM - it can work for some groups but depends on the people and their imagination and visualization skills.
Would not know without knowing the people.
For myself, I was reading The Hobbit by the middle of the 4th grade (thanks to my 4th grade teacher reading it to the class - I was obsessed after she read it). My imagination ran wild.
By High School, I was writing stories, poems, songs, you name it - just to silence the voices in my head demanding their story be told.
That said, my closest friend, Charles - he enjoyed D&D too - but I could tell that when I would use maps (hand drawn then on those big white pieces of paper you'd buy at Target) and we used pennies, dimes, nickel's and quarters as tokens on a map (we were cheap back then). And that provided the visual he needed. Wasn't much by any means but it helped him "see" the map better. And I'd just draw trees on these paper maps as needed if he was like, "Is there a tree next to me?" "Uh, sure." (Scribble)
I'd say by High School though, most people of that age, probably have a good imagination on those few sessions where the DM (the OP) wasn't prepared and for the sake of keeping the game going (vs cancelling the session), theater of the mind would probably work from time to time.
Check out my publication on DMs Guild: https://www.dmsguild.com/browse.php?author=Tawmis%20Logue
Check out my comedy web series - Neverending Nights: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Wr4-u9-zw0&list=PLbRG7dzFI-u3EJd0usasgDrrFO3mZ1lOZ
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