So Era, amidst the pandemic, why do we not have virtual D&D groups?

[Hey Please]

Preface:

I have never had the privilege of being part of a D&D campaign and have only ever lived vicariously through watching others do so via YT like:

• Oxventure Presents: Silent Knight! A Dungeons & Dragons Oxventure (Episode 1 of 2)
• Oxventure Presents: Blades in the Dark - DEAD MAN'S DEBT! Chapter 1

I was never into the idea of D&D prior to seeing a campaign play out in, you guessed it, Stranger Things. Ever since I have been on look out but my college friends were never into it and now long after graduation I find myself without friends or family (I live in a different province than my parent). COVID has essentially rendered the concept of finding strangers to play with in person a non-starter.

And here is the real kicker- As an introvert I can live off of limited human interaction which I was getting at the gym (here in Newfoundland, Canada, they were open since last June owing to lack of community transmission) to keep my sanity (given currently I am unemployed). However, owing a sudden surge in COVID cases, starting today, newer stricter lockdown procedures are in place which has resulted in gyms being closed for the next two weeks (at least). Honestly, I feel like my sanity is now at stake given the last time we went into a lockdown and the gym was closed for 3 months, I spiraled into depression.


Topic:

Era has already played host to Meet Ups and side Discord correspondences. So, what would it take to form virtual D&D groups/communities based on time zones and/or geographic locations?

Personally, I would love to be able to be part of something new and adventurous whilst leveraging technology many of us have at our disposal at the moment to circumvent the risks posed by the pandemic.

PS: My knowledge in actual D&D mechanics is very limited.

 

[PlanetSmasher]

Honestly, the biggest obstacle to starting a virtual D&D group is finding someone willing to DM the damn thing. I'm already DMing one right now over Discord, so I can't do another without losing my mind, but if someone wants to volunteer to run a story I'd be happy to roll up a dumb character and play.

 

[Lord Fanny]

'Cause D&D is the devil's nectar and we should not partake in its vileness no matter how delicious and succulent it may be

 

[Griselbrand]

We tried to continue our game on Roll20 once the pandemic started. I wasn't familiar with it before so it took a lot of getting used to. While the dice mechanics are nice to have I found it quite a pain to use and it completely killed my motivation to continue as DM.

 

[rpm]

D&D online is already a very popular thing, especially over the past few months. I imagine you don't really see groups here because people already have pre-existing groups they're playing with

 

[Temascos]

We're not running D & D because it's all about Call Of Cthulu.

But seriously yeah, I'm a terrible Gamemaster as the rules often overwhelm me in a game and then the players go and do something like punch the mayor of the town they're supposed to save.

 

[Conditional-Pancakes]

We're not running D & D because it's all about Call Of Cthulu.

Click to shrink...

I see you have great tastes!

 

[Hey Please]

Honestly, the biggest obstacle to starting a virtual D&D group is finding someone willing to DM the damn thing. I'm already DMing one right now over Discord, so I can't do another without losing my mind, but if someone wants to volunteer to run a story I'd be happy to roll up a dumb character and play.

Click to shrink...

Do you do it like they do it over at Outside Xtra/Xbox i.e. Zoom style format with audio and video (I do not know if Discord allows that)?

We're not running D & D because it's all about Call Of Cthulu.

But seriously yeah, I'm a terrible Gamemaster as the rules often overwhelm me in a game and then the players go and do something like punch the mayor of the town they're supposed to save.

Click to shrink...

Bwhahahaha I have heard of this level of fuckery being a thing in D&D campaigns.

 

[PlanetSmasher]

Do you do it like they do it over at Outside Xtra/Xbox i.e. Zoom style format with audio and video (I do not know if Discord allows that)?

Click to shrink...

We do it with Discord Video, yeah. It's basically just a zoom call none of us are paying for.

 

[Dekuman]

MMOs

 

[Hey Please]

We do it with Discord Video, yeah. It's basically just a zoom call none of us are paying for.

Click to shrink...

Oh snap, I did not know that zoom stuff is paid! Appreciate the incidental heads up.

MMOs

Click to shrink...

The player is still bound to the hard rule set of game makers.

 

[PlanetSmasher]

Oh snap, I did not know that zoom stuff is paid! Appreciate the incidental heads up.

Click to shrink...

Yeah. Zoom is free...provided your meetings are under an hour (possibly 45 minutes?), after that they just disconnect you automatically unless the host pays for an extension or a premium account.

It's not really well-suited for D&D unless you pony up.

 

[TooFriendly]

I have a group that I play with online. We've been doing it for a few years now, using Roll20 for the board and google meet for video chat (we went through so many other video chat options but almost all of them have issues where one person's voice will fade down if another person talks).

we play once a week and stream it on twitch then it goes up on YouTube. Currently playing through curse of Strahd.

I've also been learning how to play Call of Cthulhu.

what I'd really like is a better online tabletop than roll20. I've seen some others popping up like shard etc. does anyone have any recommendations?

ultimately it would be amazing to play in a VR environment where everyone can see the same board. You could construct dungeons and environments out of tiles and other elements, and have animations and sounds. I saw that Tilt Five AR headset, but that is very expensive for a product that only has one sort of use case.

 

[Hey Please]

Yeah. Zoom is free...provided your meetings are under an hour (possibly 45 minutes?), after that they just disconnect you automatically unless the host pays for an extension or a premium account.

It's not really well-suited for D&D unless you pony up.

Click to shrink...

Copy that.

Given you have experience running campaigns, what is the general length of time for which a session runs and in terms of equipment required, do you have any advice for complete newbie?

 

[Uzzy]

Because it's really hard. There's a serious difference between running a game online over discord or whatever and running a game for friends around a table. Good video on the differences (and how to make things better) here.



Also D&D sucks. Or rather, my tastes have diverged massively from what D&D is good at (killing monsters and taking loot) and into more social games like Vampire: the Masquerade and Legend of the Five Rings. But trying to get people to join those games is like pulling teeth!

 

[julian]

Who wants to play D&D with a party full of trolls?

Spoiler

I had to

 

[Hey Please]

I have a group that I play with online. We've been doing it for a few years now, using Roll20 for the board and google meet for video chat (we went through so many other video chat options but almost all of them have issues where one person's voice will fade down if another person talks).

we play once a week and stream it on twitch then it goes up on YouTube. Currently playing through curse of Strahd.

I've also been learning how to play Call of Cthulhu.

what I'd really like is a better online tabletop than roll20. I've seen some others popping up like shard etc. does anyone have any recommendations?

ultimately it would be amazing to play in a VR environment where everyone can see the same board. You could construct dungeons and environments out of tiles and other elements, and have animations and sounds. I saw that Tilt Five AR headset, but that is very expensive for a product that only has one sort of use case.

Click to shrink...

Can you kindly link me to your twitch or YT account so that I may take a gander for a better understanding (esp. for the underlined part)?

 

[Rzarekta]

Am I seeing a swastika in the op?

 

[Ralemont]

Virtual feels a bit different, tbh. Also depends who you do it with but my group had a few people who were serious and a few who were half-jokey. D&D combat is also immensely boring and slow and the temptation to check your phone/browse online when it's not your turn is strong. I feel virtual loses a lot of the personality and comraderie that makes D&D great, but again YMMV with your group.

 

[Hey Please]

Because it's really hard. There's a serious difference between running a game online over discord or whatever and running a game for friends around a table. Good video on the differences (and how to make things better) here.



Also D&D sucks. Or rather, my tastes have diverged massively from what D&D is good at (killing monsters and taking loot) and into more social games like Vampire: the Masquerade and Legend of the Five Rings. But trying to get people to join those games is like pulling teeth!

Click to shrink...

I am not a fantasy guy myself, rather a sci-fi fan. So, my ears are perked up when you say, "social games". Can you link me example towards what the objectives of these types of games entail?

Thank you.

Am I seeing a swastika in the op?

Click to shrink...

Yes.

Fuck Nazis. Swastika in Hindu and Buddhist cultures predate the degenerate perversion of those murderous shit stains. I refuse to let a symbol of harmony be ruined by those irredeemable filth.

 

[ghostcrew]

We did! My group went online and we've been doing our campaign via Discord throughout the pandemic.

 

[samred]

because the tools have never been mature. Wizards slept on the concept of workable online D&D tools for yeaaaaaaaars. they had an online compendium for 4E tools that ran on fucking Silverlight, and rather than ever bother fixing it, they killed it outright, with current official tools being a glorified wiki. meanwhile, third-party DM/table services like Roll20 are bolted-together messes that haven't scaled to the demands of increased interest via the pandemic.

 

[Ragnar Blackmane]

Am I seeing a swastika in the op?

Click to shrink...

That one's a Hindu symbol that's been around for more than a thousand years.

@OP: I'm always down to participating in online P&P groups, but as the others have said, the bottleneck factor is DM availability. Groups on Roll20 with DMs who aren't asking for money for their effort usually have 40 or more applications, for which many DMs require effort close to that of an actual job application.

 

[Temascos]

Bwhahahaha I have heard of this level of fuckery being a thing in D&D campaigns.

Click to shrink...

It's disappointing in a way as when things go off the rails I secretly hope for Old Man Henderson levels of insanity but it ends up being quite mundane :P

 

[MrHedin]

I've been playing games on Roll20 for a couple of years now with audio over Discord (only one campaign ever did video). Its even nicer when you integrate a D&D Beyond sheet in, I never like the Roll20 character sheets. All of my campaigns have been run pretty well with Roll20 and as a player I don't really have many complaints about the platform (no experience on the other side of the screen to see how that is).

The only thing that I do miss is just actually rolling physical dice. One of my old DMs allowed us to roll physically and just state the results but then we realized one person was fudging and we stopped that.

 

[Maximo]

Cause online DnD sucks.

 

[Hey Please]

We did! My group went online and we've been doing our campaign via Discord throughout the pandemic.

Click to shrink...

Does it allow for some degree of drop in and drop out?

because the tools have never been mature. Wizards slept on the concept of workable online D&D tools for yeaaaaaaaars. they had an online compendium for 4E tools that ran on fucking Silverlight, and rather than ever bother fixing it, they killed it outright, with current official tools being a glorified wiki. meanwhile, third-party DM/table services like Roll20 are bolted-together messes that haven't scaled to the demands of increased interest via the pandemic.

Click to shrink...

I understood some of those words like 4th Edition, Wiki and Roll20 :P

It's disappointing in a way as when things go off the rails I secretly hope for Old Man Henderson levels of insanity but it ends up being quite mundane :P

Click to shrink...

I have no idea what that is a reference to but it sounds over the top (I'll google it later).

I've been playing games on Roll20 for a couple of years now with audio over Discord (only one campaign ever did video). Its even nicer when you integrate a D&D Beyond sheet in, I never like the Roll20 character sheets. All of my campaigns have been run pretty well with Roll20 and as a player I don't really have many complaints about the platform (no experience on the other side of the screen to see how that is).

The only thing that I do miss is just actually rolling physical dice. One of my old DMs allowed us to roll physically and just state the results but then we realized one person was fudging and we stopped that.

Click to shrink...

Ah, so Roll20 has virtual dice rolling. Rolling physical dice is how is how I have seen it being done in Outside Xtra/Xbox streams. It definitely takes a level of established trust to implement and sustain that.

 

[Rzarekta]

I am not a fantasy guy myself, rather a sci-fi fan. So, my ears are perked up when you say, "social games". Can you link me example towards what the objectives of these types of games entail?

Thank you.




Yes.

Fuck Nazis. Swastika in Hindu and Buddhist cultures predate the degenerate perversion of those murderous shit stains. I refuse to let a symbol of harmony be ruined by those irredeemable filth.

Click to shrink...

Gotcha. My bad, and now I know!

 

[Hotbug]

My group uses D&DBeyond for character sheets, Roll20 for gameplay, and Discord for yapping. We use the Beyond20 browser addon to link D&DBeyond sheets with Roll20: https://beyond20.here-for-more.info/ We also have a shared GoogleDoc with our character and adventure notes.

We play every week with no issues except the DM screaming at Roll20 from time to time.

 

[ghostcrew]

Does it allow for some degree of drop in and drop out?

Click to shrink...

A little. We've had sessions where someone hasn't been able to make it and they've caught up in the next session. Just like normal D&D.

D&D have all sorts of crazy tools for taking your game online now. Our DM smashed it bringing it all together and making it easy. I was sceptical but it's been fantastic.

 

[MrHedin]

Ah, so Roll20 has virtual dice rolling. Rolling physical dice is how is how I have seen it being done in Outside Xtra/Xbox streams. It definitely takes a level of established trust to implement and sustain that.

Click to shrink...

Yep virtual dice rolling and it adds in your modifiers as well. If you had a pre-established group or played online with the same group for an extended period of time to build that trust it can be done but I wouldn't do it fresh.

Also, I played a campaign on tabletop simulator and it had virtual dice rolling too.

 

[Conditional-Pancakes]

Also D&D sucks. Or rather, my tastes have diverged massively from what D&D is good at (killing monsters and taking loot) and into more social games like Vampire: the Masquerade and Legend of the Five Rings. But trying to get people to join those games is like pulling teeth!

Click to shrink...

Oh wow! I was really into Vampire: the Masquerade when I was a teenager/young adult. What was it, the Second Edition? (And I may or may not have taken part in some live-action games on some occasions... but nobody can prove it... :p) It's been YEARS since I even glanced at a book of it, though.

But my absolute favorite was and still is Call of Cthulhu.

 

[Elfgore]

I don't think my group could do it. Something about doing it in person just can't be done on Roll20 or Zoom or what have you. Distractions are also already a problem. If you had people with another free computer monitor open, we'd be doomed.

 

[Hey Please]

My group uses D&DBeyond for character sheets, Roll20 for gameplay, and Discord for yapping. We use the Beyond20 browser addon to link D&DBeyond sheets with Roll20: https://beyond20.here-for-more.info/ We also have a shared GoogleDoc with our character and adventure notes.

We play every week with no issues except the DM screaming at Roll20 from time to time.

Click to shrink...

Wow, that looks like a nice hub to gather all resources in one place to get going. I cannot even recall the last time I made a character sheet. Also is this your DM:

A little. We've had sessions where someone hasn't been able to make it and they've caught up in the next session. Just like normal D&D.

D&D have all sorts of crazy tools for taking your game online now. Our DM smashed it bringing it all together and making it easy. I was sceptical but it's been fantastic.

Click to shrink...

Well I live on East Coast GMT - 3.5 hours. If you have ever have an opening on your next adventure and think my time zone would be suitable, give me a holler (for as long as I am unemployed at least).

 

[Uzzy]

I am not a fantasy guy myself, rather a sci-fi fan. So, my ears are perked up when you say, "social games". Can you link me example towards what the objectives of these types of games entail?

Thank you.

Click to shrink...

So by 'social games' I mean games with mechanics and focus on social interactions, prioritising and rewarding players mechanically. This is more than just 'talking', and to be sure even in games like D&D you can have fantastic social interactions and roleplaying going on.

A game like Vampire: the Masquerade is primarily about figuring out what can get you through the night. Sometimes that'll mean bowing down to more powerful vampires, sometimes that'll mean engaging in violence, sometimes that'll mean getting in touch with a touchstone of your humanity so you don't descend further into your bestial nature. There's mechanics and systems built into the game to encourage these more social aspects.

My personal favourite game of recent years, Legend of the Five Rings, is based around playing investigators for the not so secret police in a Feudal Not Japan fantasy setting. You have to solve crimes in a society where evidence is far less important than saving face and obeying the dictates of your liege lord, and if the DM is doing their job right, there's always going to be a tension between the player's duty and desires. There's a whole social structure the game encourages you to take part in and emphasis in your play. You can't just kill your way to the truth. Well, you can try, but you're going to bring dishonour on your lord and get ordered to commit seppuku right quick.

Then there's other games like Monsterhearts, which is a wonderful RPG set in high school where you're secretly a monster. It's very Buffy/Twilight/The Craft. To quote the designers, it's all about 'creating stories about sexy monsters, teenage angst, personal horror, and secret love triangles. When you play, you explore the terror and confusion of having a body that is changing without your permission.' That's all about the social connections you make, gaining 'strings' over other characters you can pull to get them to do your bidding.

Those are the sort of RPGs I love really.

 

[Andrain18]

Copy that.

Given you have experience running campaigns, what is the general length of time for which a session runs and in terms of equipment required, do you have any advice for complete newbie?

Click to shrink...

Use Discord for Audio/Video
Also Roll20.net is my prefered method of online D&D. has everythingyou need to play the game and more. Even has audio and video built in, however i'd still suggest Discord.

 

[Kumquat]

On our podcasts for Roll High or Die we are running several campaigns virtually and putting it all together. The quality of the audio isn't as good but it keeps us safe.

 

[Comrade Grogu]

...What's with the avatar?

 

[Br3wnor]

Cause online DnD sucks.

Click to shrink...

With random people it probably does but as someone who's been in a group with 4 close friends for more than 3 years now, we have a blast. As long as the DM has a good overhead camera set up, you can get Mostly the same experience Of in person. Before COVID we would try to get together in person every 4-6 months and those sessions were obviously better but the virtual hang is still great. We all live 2-3 hours from each other so it's only way to play consistently

 

[Uzzy]

Oh wow! I was really into Vampire: the Masquerade when I was a teenager/young adult. What was it, the Second Edition? (And I may or may not have taken part in some live-action games on some occasions... but nobody can prove it... :p) It's been YEARS since I even glanced at a book of it, though.

But my absolute favorite was and still is Call of Cthulhu.

Click to shrink...

LARPing with a cape and false fangs? Yeah, I totally know nothing about that either...

Call of Cthulhu is great too! Again, love the focus on investigation and conspiracy, and the de-emphasis on violence. I ran a game called Trail of Cthulhu which was pretty similar, though I preferred the mechanics, and that had some great adventures. One set in a World War One field hospital, another at the Castle Bravo test where you had to stop Yog-Sothoth before a nuke went off. That was cool.

 

[Hey Please]

So by 'social games' I mean games with mechanics and focus on social interactions, prioritising and rewarding players mechanically. This is more than just 'talking', and to be sure even in games like D&D you can have fantastic social interactions and roleplaying going on.

A game like Vampire: the Masquerade is primarily about figuring out what can get you through the night. Sometimes that'll mean bowing down to more powerful vampires, sometimes that'll mean engaging in violence, sometimes that'll mean getting in touch with a touchstone of your humanity so you don't descend further into your bestial nature. There's mechanics and systems built into the game to encourage these more social aspects.

My personal favourite game of recent years, Legend of the Five Rings, is based around playing investigators for the not so secret police in a Feudal Not Japan fantasy setting. You have to solve crimes in a society where evidence is far less important than saving face and obeying the dictates of your liege lord, and if the DM is doing their job right, there's always going to be a tension between the player's duty and desires. There's a whole social structure the game encourages you to take part in and emphasis in your play. You can't just kill your way to the truth. Well, you can try, but you're going to bring dishonour on your lord and get ordered to commit seppuku right quick.

Then there's other games like Monsterhearts, which is a wonderful RPG set in high school where you're secretly a monster. It's very Buffy/Twilight/The Craft. To quote the designers, it's all about 'creating stories about sexy monsters, teenage angst, personal horror, and secret love triangles. When you play, you explore the terror and confusion of having a body that is changing without your permission.' That's all about the social connections you make, gaining 'strings' over other characters you can pull to get them to do your bidding.

Those are the sort of RPGs I love really.

Click to shrink...

Holy lawd jaysus! That is sounds so much more intricate and grounded than typical D&D stuff that I have been acquainted with thus far. It sounds amazing (less like a game and more like second life tbh)! Does one need to be versed in typical D&D mechanics first to be able to fully descend into these campaigns with relative ease or can a newbie also get in without too much pain?

Use Discord for Audio/Video
Also Roll20.net is my prefered method of online D&D. has everythingyou need to play the game and more. Even has audio and video built in, however i'd still suggest Discord.

Click to shrink...

Roger Roger.

Danke!

On our podcasts for Roll High or Die we are running several campaigns virtually and putting it all together. The quality of the audio isn't as good but it keeps us safe.

Click to shrink...

You mean on here?

 

[Kumquat]

Holy lawd jaysus! That is sounds so much more intricate and grounded than typical D&D stuff that I have been acquainted with thus far. It sounds amazing (less like a game and more like second life tbh)! Does one need to be versed in typical D&D mechanics first to be able to fully descend into these campaigns with relative ease or can a newbie also get in without too much pain?



Roger Roger.

Danke!



You mean on here?

Click to shrink...

Yeah, that's us. We have a website too. www.rollhighordie.com

My favorite campaign is our Marvel Villains campaign where I was William Stark, a distant cousin of Tony Stark that he keeps trying to claim is his uncle. It really kicks in around episode 5. Took us a minute to find our footing but the rest is gold and you still get good laughs, like my Ponzi Scheme grand plan.

 

[Professor Beef]

I'm super bad about making DnD characters, it always feels so overwhelming and then I end up dropping from a group. :(

...What's with the avatar?

Click to shrink...

It's not a swastika

 

[Uzzy]

Holy lawd jaysus! That is sounds so much more intricate and grounded than typical D&D stuff that I have been acquainted with thus far. It sounds amazing (less like a game and more like second life tbh)! Does one need to be versed in typical D&D mechanics first to be able to fully descend into these campaigns with relative ease or can a newbie also get in without too much pain?

Click to shrink...

Each of those use different mechanics entirely. Vampire: the Masquerade and Legend of the Five Rings are more complex, while Monsterhearts is mechanically simple. Beginners can pick the first two up, but yeah it'd be harder than D&D.

Monsterhearts uses a game system referred to as 'Powered by the Apocalypse', which really loves to throw social gaming at you. That system can have RPGs that range as widely as Monsterhearts, which I already mentioned, to Night Witches, where you play bomber pilots in the all female 588th Night Bomber Regiment, fighting the Germans by night and misogynistic Soviet authorities by day, to Masks, a Superhero Drama, Urban Shadows, an urban fantasy game, to one of my other favourites, Blades in the Dark, where you play as a crew of thieves and robbers in a Dishonoured-esque city, planning heists and dealing with other gangs.

 

[Ailanthium]

I don't like online games quite as much as physical ones, and generally find them much slower (no snacks is also a big letdown). That being said, there's not a whole lot of options right now, and it's still a ton of fun. DMing is a lot of work though.

 

[Conditional-Pancakes]

LARPing with a cape and false fangs? Yeah, I totally know nothing about that either...

Call of Cthulhu is great too! Again, love the focus on investigation and conspiracy, and the de-emphasis on violence. I ran a game called Trail of Cthulhu which was pretty similar, though I preferred the mechanics, and that had some great adventures. One set in a World War One field hospital, another at the Castle Bravo test where you had to stop Yog-Sothoth before a nuke went off. That was cool.

Click to shrink...

I have very fond memories of going through the CoC Masks of Nyarlathotep campaign with a group of friends when I was younger (with a much earlier edition than the awesome revision that was recently released). Best tabletop RPG experience I ever had!!

 

[Kwigo]

Honestly, the biggest obstacle to starting a virtual D&D group is finding someone willing to DM the damn thing.

Click to shrink...

This

 

[Deleted member 721]

i will start to play online with roll20 and discord, any tips?

 

[PlanetSmasher]

i will start to play online with roll20 and discord, any tips?

Click to shrink...

I haven't used Roll20 yet - my DM style is a bit more improvisational so we don't usually use full maps, but you have a couple of options. You can have a text chat channel for maps where you upload images of the map you're using if you want to do that, or you can set up a secondary camera on another device (your phone, etc) that's pointed at a physical map if you want to do it that way. Bear in mind both of these methods do slow down combat a lot.

 

[TooFriendly]

Can you kindly link me to your twitch or YT account so that I may take a gander for a better understanding (esp. for the underlined part)?

Click to shrink...

Oh the underlined part about using VR for online tabletop games is a wish list thing for the future.

here is our latest curse of strahd episode if you are interested. Last episode we accidentally blew up someone's wagon.

we use Roll20, google meet & DnDBeyond (for character creation).