My friends want me to run a game online instead of locally for ease of transport and other issues that came to our local meetings.
Problem is, I've never run a game through this. What are the most important things to running a game successfully through Roll20? Any essential tutorial videos, tips, or tricks are appreciated!
Tip 1
Dont. It will kill your gaming group. Online game is shitty and never ever feels right especially if youre used to playing in person.
My suggestion is that your group make the effort to play in person. And if that is absolutely not an option than play a system that lets you do theater of the mind so you can just play verbally over skype or something.
Roll20 is shit.
They're a pretty visual based group that really requires that kind of stimuli. My players are good, but the easily distracted type. By putting effort into the maps, tokens, etc I can keep them tethered and not swiping through their phones every other minute.
As for playing locally, I obviously would were we not running into too many issues regarding actually getting people all together physically. Transportation has become an increasing issue and so online is just easier for all of us.
That's why we all agreed on Roll20 in the first place.
Don't listen to OP, that user's just an idiot who doesn't believe in different types of fun.
For running a good game on Roll20, the biggest thing is actually knowing how it works. Take your time, read through the wiki, and mark down any helpful commands. The second most important thing after that is preparedness. Have all your lighting/fog of war finished, have all your tokens in place and statted, and hop into the game early to double check that everything is prepared and on the correct layer before the game starts.
Use Maptool instead.
So by wikis you mean just the supplied ones through the site? Pretty rare when the source is the best place for knowledge.
I've actually played multiple campaigns on roll20 and your exact advice is evidence why roll20 is bad. Heres why.
Fog of war, lighting, having tokens statted beforehand and all that fiddly layer stuff. Its all getting IN THE WAY of actually running a game. You dont need all that but because its there you use it and before you know it you've created a shitty videogame instead of a tabletop game.
The players become overly obsessed with the map, and trust me setting up maps beforehand with all that fog of war and dynamic lighting is a nightmare. It all seems like cool toys but it is a silent killer of games. Roll20 games feel like railroads with the tokens and the lighting. And even if you just go barebones as fuck with no maps and tokens theres just something so dull about playing online that i cant really describe in text
Its this feeling off sluggishness, the awkward silences on skype, the temptation to just check facebook or browse while its not your turn. It all dulls the magic that makes D&D come alive at the table, the spark that makes it FUN
Coming from someone who has run 3 campaigns on roll20 and was introduced to the hobby through roll20 and then played in person.
If you really want to do it i cant stop you but i cant recommend against it enough and this faggot user is giving you horrible advice
I don't see how any of that can't happen at a physical game.
It can. But its much less likely to. And theres just stuff that cant happen. It sounds gay and sappy but its fucking true and ive experienced it with many different people. They just act differently, its more alive people are more engaged and that affects how they play, not just the mood.
When people are staring at a little screen with their token theyre more likely to be uncreative and just say "i attack" whereas when youre in person with people and you can really set the scene and people are engaging like human beings people tend to be more energized and creative. Obviously this can go both ways in either direction but its just what ive found.
My friend began me on d&d online on roll20 with tokens and pre drawn map with fog of war and all the works. It was a slog, it felt like a slog and i remember being frustrated at the pace, hearing the silence on skype with little clicks in the distance while he removed fog of war or redrew.
Its very hard to explain. Go ahead and try it, see for yourself. But roll20 is cancer and all it leads to is cancer. If your players are at all the types who get distracted or arent very proactive and energetic prepare for it to be magnified times a million in a VTT.
It didnt work for me or any of the groups ive run with. I just started playing in person half a year ago and im loving D&D more than i ever have in my whole 4 years as a DM. Im just trying to give some experience from someone who has done and was raised on exactly what you want to get into and tell you that maybe itll be ok, but it will never be great and its most likely to be bad.
If you must use a vtt heres my advice. Use maptools or something with just a map. Roll20s macros seem nice but what they do (especially for new players) is make them forget how to actually make an attack roll. it just becomes "press the macro" which also adds to the static and uncreative nature of playing online. the players just wanna wait to press their attack macro again.
So use maptools or something without macros, forget layers forget creating a town or predrawing the entire dungeon. RESIST THE TEMPTATION TO DO THAT. It will not be worth it.
Just use the VTT you would a grid map, and thats ALL. Thats it. dont try and predraw the dungeon, dont use fancy lighting, dont make a shit ton of layers youre just making more work for yourself and its sooo unnecessary. It will stress you out preparing for the next session when youre busy but you have to do all that monotonous and meticulous map layering and lighting
just use it as a battlemap. with these tips it should be ok and not terrible, although the social aspects touched on earlier will depend on your group.
good luck