I've been using the d&d beyond combat tracker using physical dice and doing math in my head, much like I would around a table. Do you all use a VTT? Digital dice? Avrae? Write down a list of prerolled attacks?
Roll20 with the Beyond20 extension. Gives the players a battle map so they can visualize enemies/terrain (Can find maps at reddit.com/r/battlemaps).
You can run the combat tracker and it updates in roll20, you just have to plug in the players initiative. And then you just adjust health on dndbeyond, no need to do the math in your head when the tracker...tracks that for you. You can even just click on the monsters abilities and it'll auto roll in roll20 (I believe it would be hidden from the players by default)
Roll20 definitely has a bit of a learning curve, but we have had a lot of success with it. We may even continue to supplement our in-person games with it for certain situations. Some of its advanced features involving lighting and individual line-of-sight just can't be replicated on a tabletop.
Really the biggest issue I've had with online play is the audio. Having just one channel for everyone is really problematic and makes all communication harder as we often like to have little side conversations while someone is deciding what to do or toss out jokes and one-liners as the action unfolds. Unfortunately I don't think there's any technology that gets around this at the moment as opening up separate chats is just clunky and not really want I'm wanting.
I use Foundry VTT for most things. However, I personally like to manually roll dice for to hit, damage, and so forth. Although I allow all players to do the same on their own desk in their own home (and perfectly trust them to do so) they enjoy the colored dice and cool visuals with Dice so Nice! in Foundry, so they all use those instead. I'm the only one left who rolls physical dice.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
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 always either roll on D&D Beyond (if a have an NPC with a character sheet) or on the google dice roller.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
All stars fade. Some stars forever fall. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Homebrew (Mostly Outdated):Magic Items,Monsters,Spells,Subclasses ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- If there was no light, people wouldn't fear the dark.
The speed and utility of Beyond20 with Roll20 and DNDBeyond has sped up our games significantly. It also takes out the most challenging aspects that made Roll20 hard to work with (creating and maintaining a character). But being able to just click on your character sheet in DNDBeyond and the full values of all the possible aspects of your class and choices makes it into the rolls. It truly is amazing... we say what we want to do, we click on it and we get the results... no lost time in calculations, no adding in things we forgot later... just straight into the storytelling. It has truly made me not want to play other games without a full digital toolset... and my wife and I still buy each other dice for things like Anniversary and Christmas, but it may be years before I roll them at a table even if we get back to fully meeting in person.
On more than one occasion we've seen three 20 and three 1's in a row.
I've also found that no matter how often I've rolled for perception, the unmodified results are always below 10, and I've only failed once on persuasion/deception, again unmodified results.
Everyone at the table has noticed statistically unlikely rolls as well.
I suppose it could be confirmation bias or selective attention. But for everyone?...
We use Discord and I let people use physical dice or Avrae (I personally hate digital dice). I have a second computer that I run in discord that is hooked to a GoPro that allows me to show them the setup beside me with minis and terrain. Works well for now.
I'm an old fashioned kind of guy. My players like to roll Physical die but do it in view of their camera. We probably could use virtual dice, but if it aint broke don't fix it.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
May your blades stay ever sharp, and your minds as well.
DM: you party is approached by a bug bear.
Newbie: that sounds terrifying its like a bear with wings and pincers!
Veteran No, Its a...
DM: *scribbling furiously* The bugbears mandibles click furiously, everybody roll initiative!
On more than one occasion we've seen three 20 and three 1's in a row.
I've also found that no matter how often I've rolled for perception, the unmodified results are always below 10, and I've only failed once on persuasion/deception, again unmodified results.
Everyone at the table has noticed statistically unlikely rolls as well.
I suppose it could be confirmation bias or selective attention. But for everyone?...
It’s an extremely well-documented phenomenon that humans do not intuitively understand randomness and that sequences that “look random” to humans are not at all random and vice versa. Usually the biggest giveaway is that actually random sequences have far more “streaks” than humans expect.
Roll20 definitely has a bit of a learning curve, but we have had a lot of success with it. We may even continue to supplement our in-person games with it for certain situations. Some of its advanced features involving lighting and individual line-of-sight just can't be replicated on a tabletop.
Really the biggest issue I've had with online play is the audio. Having just one channel for everyone is really problematic and makes all communication harder as we often like to have little side conversations while someone is deciding what to do or toss out jokes and one-liners as the action unfolds. Unfortunately I don't think there's any technology that gets around this at the moment as opening up separate chats is just clunky and not really want I'm wanting.
Ummmmm... if you just want to talk to the dm, just input this: [/talk to gm]
I've been using the d&d beyond combat tracker using physical dice and doing math in my head, much like I would around a table. Do you all use a VTT? Digital dice? Avrae? Write down a list of prerolled attacks?
Roll20 with the Beyond20 extension. Gives the players a battle map so they can visualize enemies/terrain (Can find maps at reddit.com/r/battlemaps).
You can run the combat tracker and it updates in roll20, you just have to plug in the players initiative. And then you just adjust health on dndbeyond, no need to do the math in your head when the tracker...tracks that for you. You can even just click on the monsters abilities and it'll auto roll in roll20 (I believe it would be hidden from the players by default)
Roll20 definitely has a bit of a learning curve, but we have had a lot of success with it. We may even continue to supplement our in-person games with it for certain situations. Some of its advanced features involving lighting and individual line-of-sight just can't be replicated on a tabletop.
Really the biggest issue I've had with online play is the audio. Having just one channel for everyone is really problematic and makes all communication harder as we often like to have little side conversations while someone is deciding what to do or toss out jokes and one-liners as the action unfolds. Unfortunately I don't think there's any technology that gets around this at the moment as opening up separate chats is just clunky and not really want I'm wanting.
My homebrew subclasses (full list here)
(Artificer) Swordmage | Glasswright | (Barbarian) Path of the Savage Embrace
(Bard) College of Dance | (Fighter) Warlord | Cannoneer
(Monk) Way of the Elements | (Ranger) Blade Dancer
(Rogue) DaggerMaster | Inquisitor | (Sorcerer) Riftwalker | Spellfist
(Warlock) The Swarm
I use Foundry VTT for most things. However, I personally like to manually roll dice for to hit, damage, and so forth. Although I allow all players to do the same on their own desk in their own home (and perfectly trust them to do so) they enjoy the colored dice and cool visuals with Dice so Nice! in Foundry, so they all use those instead. I'm the only one left who rolls physical dice.
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 always either roll on D&D Beyond (if a have an NPC with a character sheet) or on the google dice roller.
All stars fade. Some stars forever fall.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Homebrew (Mostly Outdated): Magic Items, Monsters, Spells, Subclasses
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
If there was no light, people wouldn't fear the dark.
We started on Discord but moved to roll20. For some reason, we're still using the Avrae Discord Bot. I guess we just got used to it.
However, it's doesn't appear to be fully random.
What doesn't, the bot?
Are you saying that it is giving non-pseudorandom results?
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.
My group uses physical dice, but i have full trust in them as they are my real life friends.
I suppose I could use some online system but don't quite need it yet.
"Sooner or later, your Players are going to smash your railroad into a sandbox."
-Vedexent
"real life is a super high CR."
-OboeLauren
"............anybody got any potatoes? We could drop a potato in each hole an' see which ones get viciously mauled by horrible monsters?"
-Ilyara Thundertale
The speed and utility of Beyond20 with Roll20 and DNDBeyond has sped up our games significantly. It also takes out the most challenging aspects that made Roll20 hard to work with (creating and maintaining a character). But being able to just click on your character sheet in DNDBeyond and the full values of all the possible aspects of your class and choices makes it into the rolls. It truly is amazing... we say what we want to do, we click on it and we get the results... no lost time in calculations, no adding in things we forgot later... just straight into the storytelling. It has truly made me not want to play other games without a full digital toolset... and my wife and I still buy each other dice for things like Anniversary and Christmas, but it may be years before I roll them at a table even if we get back to fully meeting in person.
Yes, the bot.
On more than one occasion we've seen three 20 and three 1's in a row.
I've also found that no matter how often I've rolled for perception, the unmodified results are always below 10, and I've only failed once on persuasion/deception, again unmodified results.
Everyone at the table has noticed statistically unlikely rolls as well.
I suppose it could be confirmation bias or selective attention. But for everyone?...
We use Discord and I let people use physical dice or Avrae (I personally hate digital dice). I have a second computer that I run in discord that is hooked to a GoPro that allows me to show them the setup beside me with minis and terrain. Works well for now.
I'm an old fashioned kind of guy. My players like to roll Physical die but do it in view of their camera. We probably could use virtual dice, but if it aint broke don't fix it.
May your blades stay ever sharp, and your minds as well.
DM: you party is approached by a bug bear.
Newbie: that sounds terrifying its like a bear with wings and pincers!
Veteran No, Its a...
DM: *scribbling furiously* The bugbears mandibles click furiously, everybody roll initiative!
It’s an extremely well-documented phenomenon that humans do not intuitively understand randomness and that sequences that “look random” to humans are not at all random and vice versa. Usually the biggest giveaway is that actually random sequences have far more “streaks” than humans expect.
Ummmmm... if you just want to talk to the dm, just input this: [/talk to gm]
Supreme Cat-lover Of The First Grade
I AM A CAT PERSON. /\_____/\
She/her pronouns please. (=^.^=)