Welcome to New Player’s Guide, the first stop on your journey to playing D&D. This series has advice for players who’ve just joined their first D&D campaign, as well as Dungeon Masters who want help taking their new campaign to the next level. To see the other articles in this series, check out the New Player’s Guide tag—and for the brass-tacks information on how to start playing D&D, click on the New Player Guide link at the top of this page!

This seventh installment of the New Player’s Guide series is for players and Dungeon Masters who can’t find a D&D group locally, or who social distancing and stuck inside their homes because of the COVID-19 coronavirus. D&D is best played in a place where you and your friends can all hear each other clearly, see the map and minis perfectly, laugh as loud as you want, and share snacks together. You might not be able to share snacks over a video call, but with the right tools and a few best practices, you can still have a perfect digital D&D game. Here’s how.

What You Need

All you truly need to play D&D online is an internet connection good enough to stream video and audio, a platform to call on, a pair of headphones, a microphone, and a camera. Most laptop computers have a built-in mic and webcam, and even though they aren’t streaming-quality, they’re more than enough to get the job done. If you want to go one step beyond, a dedicated table microphone and webcam will give you some extra sound and video quality that will make your online game easier to look at and listen to.

If you only have money for one, prioritize getting a good microphone. Video that streams in 4K is a luxury, but high-quality audio is practically a necessity. It’s so much easier to play D&D if your audio isn’t choppy or distorted. The Snowball by Blue Microphones is a great option for near-professional sound quality for under $100, and the Yeti is a step up, if you think you might also want to get into streaming in the future. Both of these microphones connect to your computer via USB, so you don’t need any specialized dongles to hook them up.

If you don’t have access to a computer, most cell phones have an exceptionally good built-in camera and microphone. You can make a simple phone stand using a stack of books and a pop-out grip.

There are lots of free tools that you can use to create a video call. Discord is the most popular option, and it’s simple to use. Skype is another option, and it comes pre-loaded on Windows computers. Both Discord and Skype have free phone app versions that let you make calls with friends using the computer version, too. Zoom is a high-quality alternative that most online D&D streamers use to collaborate, but it comes with a price tag if you want to use it for group calls.  

What You Want

Though it’s simple enough to get the basic tools you need to play D&D over an internet connection. However, there are a few other optional tools that might make your game more fun and convenient.

Digital Toolset. D&D Beyond is the official digital toolset of D&D. Obviously, we recommend that DMs create a campaign using D&D Beyond and have players create characters in that campaign to take full advantage of content sharing. That way, all the players in the campaign can create characters using options from all of the sourcebooks that the DM owns on D&D Beyond. There’s a lot of free content on D&D Beyond, too—including all of the content in the D&D Basic Rules, which is enough to get your first campaign off the ground.

Virtual Tabletop. Though not strictly necessary, a virtual tabletop is an excellent tool for playing online.  It’s particularly useful if you play using maps and miniatures at home, since you can upload maps and create tokens for characters and monsters. You may not need a virtual tabletop if you’re playing a game in the Theater of the Mind and using D&D Beyond to collect character sheets and compendium content in one place, but they can be a lifesaver for online groups interested in tactical gameplay.

A virtual tabletop also lets you share images and handouts with your players. Perhaps most importantly, things like monsters, classes, initiative trackers, and items are fully integrated into the system, letting you automatically add bonuses to dice rolls and take advantage of other automated quality of life improvements. In order to get these options added to your virtual tabletop, you’ll have to purchase the relevant book on that service. If you’ve already purchased a physical copy of the Player’s Handbook and a digital copy on D&D Beyond, paying for it a third time might seem excessive. If you think the ease of automation is worth $30, then go for it! Otherwise, you can make do with free tools and your own mental math.

Some popular virtual tabletops include Roll20, Fantasy Grounds, and Astral Tabletop. Roll20 and and Astral Tabletop both have free options, if you want to try the tool out before you pay for it.

Shared Virtual Dice. It’s easy enough for players to roll physical dice on their desks and call out their results. However, if you’re playing with people who you don’t trust not to lie about their die rolls, it can be useful to use a platform that includes virtual dice so that everyone can see the rolls. All major virtual tabletops have this feature, but there are free standalone shared rollers too. Some include Roll Dice with Friends, Rolz Dice Room, and Roll for Your Party.

A Player Community. Having people to talk to about D&D outside their gaming group is a luxury not everyone has. If you can't find enough players for your online game or just want to find more people to talk about D&D with, the D&D Beyond Discord Community is a great place to start. You can click on the Discord icon in the black ribbon at the top of any page on D&D Beyond to get an invite to our Discord server.

Avrae. This sophisticated Discord bot is a must-have for online campaigns that use D&D Beyond and Discord. It's full of automated features and virtual dice, similar to a virtual tabletop. If you want all of the virtual tabletop features but don't need tactical maps, Avrae might be exactly what you're looking for.

Best Practices

Now that you have all the tools that you need, you should take a few minutes to learn some good habits for playing online. Most of these tips apply to playing in person too, but since playing online is harder than playing in person, they’re more important than ever. Share these tips with your friends on game day to help make your session smooth as silk.

Avoid Crosstalk. Even when playing in-person, it’s good to minimize “crosstalk,” or talking over other people. Crosstalk is rude even you’re playing in the same room together, but when you’re playing online, talking over someone might make it literally impossible to hear what they’re saying. If you have something you can say privately to another player while a third player is talking, try using your platform’s text chat to avoid talking over one of your friends.

If crosstalk becomes a constant problem for your group, consider implementing a “hands up” system to help people indicate they want to talk. You don’t have to literally raise your hand like you’re in school. Simply type, “I have an idea,” or something similar in text chat. As long as your DM knows ahead of time that you’re using a hands up system, they can use their power as the game’s referee to give you an opportunity to talk.

Stay Focused. It’s easy to get distracted while playing D&D. Sometimes turns in combat can take forever, and you just need to look at your phone for a few seconds. It’s not a sin to get distracted, but be careful while playing D&D online: it’s easier than ever to get distracted if you’re playing on a computer. It’s so easy to pop open a new tab and scroll through Twitter while your party’s wizard is taking their turn—and then all of a sudden your DM has said your name three times because they need to know your AC because you’re being attacked by two carrion crawlers and a mummy. Only you know the balance of focus and relaxation that works for you. Try to find it quickly—and err on the side of staying off the internet, for everyone’s sake.

Speak Clearly. Always try to speak clearly and into your microphone while playing online. Even if you have a good microphone, it’s just one more thing between your words and your friends’ ears. Microphones and bad internet connections can distort your voice. This can ruin your high-intensity in-character conversations, and cause your DM to ask you over and over again to clarify which kobold you’re attacking in a tense combat. Even if your mic is perfect, mumbling or talking away from your microphone is a great way to make it impossible to hear you.

And for that matter, make sure that your chat app has the correct Audio Input and Audio Output devices selected before you start your call. It’s easy for your computer to default to a mediocre built-in mic instead of your $100 podcast-quality mic without you even realizing it.

Do you have any other tips for online D&D players? Let us know in the comments! Next time on New Player’s Guide, we dive into the world of tactical combat and help you create exciting gameplay in your combat encounters.

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James Haeck is the lead writer for D&D Beyond, the co-author of Waterdeep: Dragon Heist, Baldur's Gate: Descent into Avernus, and the Critical Role Explorer's Guide to Wildemount, a member of the Guild Adepts, and a freelance writer for Wizards of the Coast, the D&D Adventurers League, and other RPG companies. He lives in Seattle, Washington with his fiancée Hannah and their animal companions Mei and Marzipan. You can find him wasting time on Twitter at @jamesjhaeck.