Hello all!

So we ( my gaming group) looking into running a session online. We were doing it oldshool with pen and paper but recently we faced the problem that it might be convinient to run a session online via Skype. We have no experiance in online RP. So can you suggest any programs that will aid us? Something like online gameing boards? ANY tips and tricks will be greatly appreciated.

Roll20 is one of the most popular options. Obsidian Portal is another. You can always just use skype or some other communication platform and otherwise treat it as you would at the table. I'm sure some of the good folks here will have some more suggestions for your group. Good luck!

My group uses Roll20 for both DH and DW. we've done a few missions in both systems and so far it works perfectly. If you are a fan of making detailed maps before each session you can do that, if you prefer to quickly sketch something that's also very possible. For voice communications I would suggest using something other then Roll20 since it's not all that great.

You guys are a god sent! That is amazing. We will use skype for communication and the Roll20 for visuals. For our first session online we used only skype and the lack of visual aid was contributing to a lot of " where am I ? And where is he? Oh he is THAT close?"

We're going to try Roll20 shortly, but for the past couple years, we always played in IRC, using a dicebot to simulate rolls and a wiki to store our character sheets.

As far as text (chat) vs voice (Skype/TS) is concerned, I feel that both approaches have their own merits and downsides: text chat tends to yield more detailed descriptions and may at times look as if you have 3-5 people working co-op on a novel, writing elaborate scenes that can be beautiful to read. Also, there is less distraction by OOC chatter or giggles etc. The downside, however, is that sessions regularly get bogged down by this level of detail, and it takes an eternity to get anything done. Skype is pretty much the opposite; things move as fast as they do on the table, but it's still not a perfect replacement for actually sitting in the same room, whilst still sacrificing the detail from a text-based game.

And I can attest to the "where am I" issue; this is something we regularly suffered from as well. Roll20 allows you to upload maps and move game pieces, of course, but as an alternate option there are also various easy-to-use online drawing boards such as Sketchpad and Aww that can be shared with a group and function in a fairly similar way, as far as displaying stuff is concerned. That said, Roll20 does of course have more options here, such as a rangefinder or the ability to attach premade status counters to your icons.

If you wish to use chat only, Roll20 also has decent chat functionality

If you wish to use chat only, Roll20 also has decent chat functionality

That's how we intend to .. ( •_•)>⌐□-□

... roll. (⌐□_□)

Just wanted to present yet another alternative, if for some reason people don't like roll20, be it because they can't get it to work for everyone, find setting up all the sheets too bothersome, or generally just prefer simpler tools that require less time to set up. For example, the first evening we wanted to play with roll20 we got nothing done just because all the time was spent on fiddling with the buttons ("ohh, those tickboxes are supposed to be +10 bonuses?"), finding out how much the site actually automates things ("hey, if you click this it'll add the DoS too!"), and so on.

We have two macro's we use, one for the skill rolls (pretty much everything) and one for initiative (because we are lazy as ****). I believe someone in our group made a macro for his damage aswell were he could input his DOS.

All character sheets and whatnot aren't on the site since that indeed generates too much bother. I get your point though, so lemme just say that you can use Roll20 without doing anything other than chatting and dice rolling

Also, a rule we use in our playgroup from the time we all played together in RL till now is that you come prepared: character(sheet), dice / macro's, bckground story, snacks + drinks etc. You don't have it, you don't use it

So we tend to not have any problems with having to set things up in the first session

Skype + Roll20 is the method I use, and it works really well for me. You can see an example by following my 'How I Dark Heresy' thread in the second edition general forum. One thing that my youtube doesn't show are the side stories written in text play-by-post I do for characters based on who didn't show up, or as in-between vignette scenes. In this way I've had the best of both worlds - fast paced, 'table' experience with voice over IP and the roll20 virtual board, as well as the level of detail that's nearly impossible with the casual play voice generates.