This is a site for discussing roleplaying games. Have fun doing so, but there is one major rule: do not discuss political issues that aren't directly and uniquely related to the subject of the thread and about gaming. While this site is dedicated to free speech, the following will not be tolerated: devolving a thread into unrelated political discussion, sockpuppeting (using multiple and/or bogus accounts), disrupting topics without contributing to them, and posting images that could get someone fired in the workplace (an external link is OK, but clearly mark it as Not Safe For Work, or NSFW). If you receive a warning, please take it seriously and either move on to another topic or steer the discussion back to its original RPG-related theme.

Author Topic: So I finally ran DnD on Roll 20 last night.  (Read 2101 times)

danskmacabre

  • In retro gamer phase
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 1542
So I finally ran DnD on Roll 20 last night.
« on: July 23, 2021, 09:30:42 AM »
I ran DnD 5e.
I used the free version of Roll 20 and I didn't buy any sourcebooks.
I ran it for 4 players, a couple had played a lot of DnD 3.5 years ago, a couple were fairly new or hadn't played any RPGs for many years.

I suppose I spent a few hours making a dungeon map (actually overlaid a published dungeon map and traced it out in Roll 20 with included design tools.

I used Discord for voice/video chat, as Roll 20 chat is crap.

I found in general Roll 20 pretty clunky to use at first and has a fairly steep learning curve, but I ran a test session with a friend the night before who was experienced with Roll 20, so that was very helpful.

Overall, even though it could be a bit clunky, even when I knew how to use it, it was still pretty good and great value, given it was free.

I didn't use the full blown Roll 20 functionality.
I used a fog of war on the map and character, monster tokens and moved them about.
We used the VTT dice roller of course, but calculated bonuses etc manually. Although I'm putting together macros now to make dice rolling easier.

I should note even though I used DnD 5e, I ran it in a very OSR, OldSchool style and reduced the amount of dice rolling required a lot, instead relying on Roleplay for skills mostly (although having a skill for a character helped).
I still had people roll dice for combat though and dice rolls for skills that had a risk factor or for skill actions that weren't described by players in detail.

Overall, it was a positive experience and went a lot better than I thought.
The players had a good time too, even though only one of them had any experience with Roll 20.

Since then I have bought the Roll 20 PHB for 5e, which adds a lot of functionality and gives full character gen within Roll 20 with a fully functional character sheet (there is a free SRD version, but it's limited in some ways).

So yeah, I quite like Roll 20. It's not perfect, far from it, but for the price, it's good enough and I can get plenty of players from people I know from wherever they are.
It's too hard these days to get people to turn up in person and what with Covid and lockdowns happening at the drop of a hat.

What are other people's experiences with Roll 20?
« Last Edit: July 23, 2021, 11:57:58 AM by danskmacabre »

KingCheops

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • K
  • Posts: 1272
Re: So I finally ran DnD on Roll 20 last night.
« Reply #1 on: July 23, 2021, 11:28:57 AM »
My experiences have been generally pretty good.  I had some trouble with the chat because we were forced to use because of numbskulls who couldn't get Discord going.

But I love having all the hand outs and extras and what not available immediately.

The Dynamic Lighting was fun to play with for a while in Dungeon of the Mad Mage but I wouldn't use it again unless we're playing in person and projecting onto a screen.  It made disconnected players even more disconnected.

danskmacabre

  • In retro gamer phase
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 1542
Re: So I finally ran DnD on Roll 20 last night.
« Reply #2 on: July 23, 2021, 11:43:12 AM »
I had some trouble with the chat because we were forced to use because of numbskulls who couldn't get Discord going.
We had one guy who had trouble setting up discord, but he worked it out in the end.


Quote
But I love having all the hand outs and extras and what not available immediately.

I haven't used the handouts features yet, but will next time. Good to hear it works ok.

Quote
The Dynamic Lighting was fun to play with for a while in Dungeon of the Mad Mage but I wouldn't use it again unless we're playing in person and projecting onto a screen.  It made disconnected players even more disconnected.

I was wondering is the dynamic lighting was worth subscribing for.
So it's just gimmicky and not worth it it sounds.

KingCheops

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • K
  • Posts: 1272
Re: So I finally ran DnD on Roll 20 last night.
« Reply #3 on: July 23, 2021, 12:14:29 PM »
I had some trouble with the chat because we were forced to use because of numbskulls who couldn't get Discord going.
We had one guy who had trouble setting up discord, but he worked it out in the end.


Quote
But I love having all the hand outs and extras and what not available immediately.

I haven't used the handouts features yet, but will next time. Good to hear it works ok.

Quote
The Dynamic Lighting was fun to play with for a while in Dungeon of the Mad Mage but I wouldn't use it again unless we're playing in person and projecting onto a screen.  It made disconnected players even more disconnected.

I was wondering is the dynamic lighting was worth subscribing for.
So it's just gimmicky and not worth it it sounds.

It's great for setting the mood of dungeon based adventures.  When you as a player can only see what your character sees it makes it all a lot more mysterious and frightening.

The problem is that we had several instances of non-darkvision characters being left behind and all they see is themselves standing in a circle of light.  It's harder to stay connected because you are actually visually disconnected from what's happening.

My ideal use for it would be to project when playing in person so that people have to pay attention on other player's turns to remember what the battlefield looks like in the darkness so when their turn comes up on screen and they just have their puddle of vision they need to think and remember what they want to do.  You get to actually see what everyone sees on their turn so you stay engaged.

Shawn Driscoll

  • Role-Play Purist
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 2928
Re: So I finally ran DnD on Roll 20 last night.
« Reply #4 on: July 23, 2021, 12:52:11 PM »
What are other people's experiences with Roll 20?

Your group ends up playing Roll 20 instead of D&D.

estar

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 10065
Re: So I finally ran DnD on Roll 20 last night.
« Reply #5 on: July 23, 2021, 01:07:45 PM »
I suppose I spent a few hours making a dungeon map (actually overlaid a published dungeon map and traced it out in Roll 20 with included design tools.
Was there is a version of the map available without a key and gm only symbols? Those becoming more prevalent.

Personally I make sure the map I drew for clients were VTT friendly. For example I would put the symbol for secret doors to the hidden side instead of the traditional way of place it on the door. I also use layers so it trivial for me to make a VTT map in addition to the map they use in the published work.

For classic D&D modules the DM's Guild has inexpensive versions of the maps without keys and secret doors marked that you can use with fog of war or dynamic lighting.


pdboddy

  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 108
Re: So I finally ran DnD on Roll 20 last night.
« Reply #6 on: July 23, 2021, 01:08:17 PM »
Pretty much the same as you, OP.  I started back in 2012 with a Shadowrun game, and a D&D game.  We originally used Google Hangouts to use it, as everyone had a gmail account, and it integrated pretty well.  It did not record the many hours I logged in it, but oh well.

We used Hangouts, because as you say, Roll20's voice options are pretty terrible.  Discord is a great replacement for Hangouts, and that's what I use today.

Roll20 is not as intuitive as the developers would like, but once you get used to it, it does pretty well for itself.  It's great if you have a group already.  It's a bit rough around the edges if you're looking for a pickup group, or want to advertise for players.  The Roll20 forums are shite.

The search function is piss poor, just lumping results together with no way to sort them.  There's a LFG forum, but no LFP forum.

You can also check a few settings and have your game advertised in their gaming section, but not all RPGs are listed in it, and there is no way for someone to search for custom games.  Anything not on the list, you can't search for in their game section.  You can add whatever system you like to your game, but why bother, if it's not on the list, people can't search for it.  I asked once, back in the day when Starfinder was about to launch, how to get games onto the list.  They only add games once the games have reached a certain percentage of games being played.  So basically new RPGs are invisible until enough people are playing them, and then they show up on the list.

And when you turn to the forums to find something... just ick.

So yeah.  Does a decent job at running games, it gives you all the tools you need, even if a few (voice options for example) are kinda crap.  Die roller, official character sheets that are tied into the die roller (Dex save?  One click, it rolls for you), some room to store character sheets, multiple maps that you can drag the characters around on, tokens that you can let the players control, drag and drop monsters and so on.  Nicely done.

Finding new games to play in?  Trying to grab one more person to fill out the group?  Their offerings are subpar.  You could do better advertising your game here, or on TBP, Discord, or other places gamers tend to gather.
 

estar

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 10065
Re: So I finally ran DnD on Roll 20 last night.
« Reply #7 on: July 23, 2021, 01:22:38 PM »
I was wondering is the dynamic lighting was worth subscribing for.
So it's just gimmicky and not worth it it sounds.
Well in practice is like Dwarven Forge. You use it when you want the spectacle or making something memorable. Otherwise Fog of War suffices.

What dynamic lighting for good for is traditional dungeons or any other type of close confined space especially if they have any type of scope to them like B1 and B2. In my campaigns, party organization and discipline is up to the players. I don't defer to a "caller" or leader, I ask each player what they do in turn and rotate through the groups throughout the session. This often but not always result in one or two members going off to do their own thing.

With Dynamic Lighting in place doing this for a dungeon has consequences. And while the rest of the group often overhears what I describe to the players, they don't see the map that player sees.  So when trouble occurs the party has to figure out where the hell the other players has gone.

And example of this happened in the Redbrand hideout in the Phandelver module.

Where is Glasstaff?
https://batintheattic.blogspot.com/2014/08/where-is-glasstaff-5e-adventure.html

The Great Escape of 5e
https://batintheattic.blogspot.com/2014/09/the-great-escape-of-5e.html

By one of the players
Squirrels Death
http://clashofspearonshield.blogspot.com/2014/09/squirrels-death-lesson-in-dungeoneering.html

Neither of those two session would have played out the way they did without dynamic lighting as the outcome rested not just on the situational awareness of the party but that of the individual players as well. The result was two memorable sessions that they still talk about several years later.

This could occur with the Theater of the Mind but require the players to trust that the referee was tracking everything accurately. And the discipline on the part of the referee to do that tracking accurately.


It also good for outdoor situations at night with low to no visibility. Using it for that purpose doesn't take much setup. Just enable it and setup the lighting options on the characters and objects.

Here is a comment by one of my players about Dynamic Lighting

Quote
I agree -- and the dynamic lighting itself makes it even more important, IMO, to keep together and not go wandering off separately (without a darn good reason), because of the imperfect knowledge each individual has, and because it forces us to deal with the consequences (which is what it should do after all).

That reminds me of an idea for another post though. Dynamic lighting not only gives you perceptual realism (you see what you see), but it also means we may need to think about going "old school" and map as we go. I started doing this in the last session -- by hand on graph paper -- because with the dynamic lighting on, you don't get to see areas of the map you previously visited on-screen. I found my hand-drawn map very helpful in terms of having a broader context for what's going on in the little patch of dungeon I can see. Though of course, there's no quick and easy way for me to share that hand-drawn map with the rest of the group during play, so for a group benefit in planning tactics and such, you'd really need everybody to draw his own map as we go.
« Last Edit: July 23, 2021, 01:25:12 PM by estar »

danskmacabre

  • In retro gamer phase
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 1542
Re: So I finally ran DnD on Roll 20 last night.
« Reply #8 on: July 25, 2021, 09:44:45 PM »
Was there is a version of the map available without a key and gm only symbols? Those becoming more prevalent.

Unfortunately not. That would have been nice if there was a player map.
I have seen them about though and they are becoming more common.
But hey, I got around it.

danskmacabre

  • In retro gamer phase
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 1542
Re: So I finally ran DnD on Roll 20 last night.
« Reply #9 on: July 25, 2021, 09:50:39 PM »
Pretty much the same as you, OP.

Yeah, Roll 20 is clunky, but servicable enough for free anyway.
But like I said, Discord improves things dramatically and is great for RP with the video chat, etc.

I have no problems finding people wanting to play using Roll 20.
What with the Covid restrictions and I think people's laziness to go out (maybe an acquired laziness with the intermittent Covid lockdowns and restrictions).
I essentially have a waiting list of people wanting to play now.




Yeti Spaghetti

  • Newbie
  • *
  • Y
  • Posts: 46
Re: So I finally ran DnD on Roll 20 last night.
« Reply #10 on: July 25, 2021, 09:52:27 PM »
I like Roll 20. I've had only a few problems with glitches here and there, and I'm getting more used to the functionality each time I play, and trying new things. It would probably be different if we were using voice and video. But I only use voice for narrating scripted portions of adventures.

Sound effects are fun and easy to use, especially once I figured out how to pop out the media player so I didn't have to switch from chat to the player constantly.

3-D dice are fun.

danskmacabre

  • In retro gamer phase
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 1542
Re: So I finally ran DnD on Roll 20 last night.
« Reply #11 on: July 25, 2021, 09:54:30 PM »

Well in practice is like Dwarven Forge. You use it when you want the spectacle or making something memorable. Otherwise Fog of War suffices.

What dynamic lighting for good for is traditional dungeons or any other type of close confined space especially if they have any type of scope to them like B1 and B2. ......

It sounds like Dynamic lighting does have its place. I can imagine it'd be good for Call of Cthulhu too.
In some ways CoC might be better in Roll20, what with Private messaging, dynamic lighting etc.

If I end up using it a LOT, I might consider subscribing.
« Last Edit: July 25, 2021, 09:56:45 PM by danskmacabre »

danskmacabre

  • In retro gamer phase
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 1542
Re: So I finally ran DnD on Roll 20 last night.
« Reply #12 on: July 25, 2021, 10:00:43 PM »
I like Roll 20. I've had only a few problems with glitches here and there, and I'm getting more used to the functionality each time I play, and trying new things. It would probably be different if we were using voice and video. But I only use voice for narrating scripted portions of adventures.

Sound effects are fun and easy to use, especially once I figured out how to pop out the media player so I didn't have to switch from chat to the player constantly.

3-D dice are fun.

I'm very new to Roll20, so I only use the basic features at this time.
I can't see myself using Sound effects or 3d dice etc.
I prefer at this time to keep any features like that out and rely on describing things vocally and keeping any button pressing to a minimum.
Still that might change over time as I become more accustomed to the interface.

Yeti Spaghetti

  • Newbie
  • *
  • Y
  • Posts: 46
Re: So I finally ran DnD on Roll 20 last night.
« Reply #13 on: July 25, 2021, 10:10:40 PM »

I'm very new to Roll20, so I only use the basic features at this time.
I can't see myself using Sound effects or 3d dice etc.
I prefer at this time to keep any features like that out and rely on describing things vocally and keeping any button pressing to a minimum.
Still that might change over time as I become more accustomed to the interface.

I'm pretty new too (started last month). At first I was opposed to 2D maps and fog of war but I've been experimenting with new features every week and it's great. I've even bought a couple things off the Marketplace and probably will buy more.

As far as upgrading from the free membership, I'll probably do this soon as well, mostly because I need to be able to post more in the Join forum for my game (which is niche and doesn't have as many needy customers as 5e). But I might even get fancy enough to install an API script and macro for rolling and calculating damage. The Pacesetter system is a pretty gritty percentile table system, and apparently one of the Roll 20 script creators has one waiting for me that will roll and calculate based on the table. So, there's some great support there generally.

danskmacabre

  • In retro gamer phase
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 1542
Re: So I finally ran DnD on Roll 20 last night.
« Reply #14 on: July 25, 2021, 10:32:52 PM »
I'm pretty new too (started last month). At first I was opposed to 2D maps and fog of war but I've been experimenting with new features every week and it's great. I've even bought a couple things off the Marketplace and probably will buy more.

For me, Fog of war is an invaluable asset. I really like I can reveal the map as the players explore the game.
I DID buy the DnD 5e PHB, which makes the character generator actually useful.
I might buy the Monster manual and DMG at some stage, but it depends how much I run DND with Roll20.
So time will tell.

 
Quote
As far as upgrading from the free membership, I'll probably do this soon as well, mostly because I need to be able to post more in the Join forum for my game (which is niche and doesn't have as many needy customers as 5e). But I might even get fancy enough to install an API script and macro for rolling and calculating damage. The Pacesetter system is a pretty gritty percentile table system, and apparently one of the Roll 20 script creators has one waiting for me that will roll and calculate based on the table. So, there's some great support there generally.
time will tell regarding subscription. I may if I buy a lot of books (which can be shared to players too).
I'd have to be using Roll20 a lot (pretty much replace tabletop gaming) to subscribe.