A way to use Roll20 over a LAN without internet?

We play in a place where there is no reliable internet, and would like to use Roll20 for our face to face group as a way of having a shared play surface. Any ideas on using it offline?

You kinda can't. Roll20's interface, data files, and rolling engine are all server-side.

I don't think this would ever be possible. They'd have to release all of their code as a downloadable server that you could run locally. You could do something like: <a href="http://grok.lsu.edu/article.aspx?articleid=14625" rel="nofollow">http://grok.lsu.edu/article.aspx?articleid=14625</a> to multicast from one computer to multiple computers. You could use teamviewer to do the same thing (free for private use, not sure on any limitations though). You could buy a pico projector and hook up a tablet to it (there's wireless ones that work over wifi or bluetooth) and then pass the tablet around. You could rig a pico projector up and use openoffice draw to project a map down onto the table and let people move real tokens around on it. There are some shared drawing apps for android that can output to a tv via chromecast. You could broadcast from a laptop to a tv using a cable or chromecast. I think all of this is way more clunky (even roll20) than using good ol' pen and paper. I'd much rather be in the same room as my gaming buddies with a big pad of paper on an easel and a bag of dice than play on roll20. Unfortunately my gaming group is spread out across the country from New York to Hawaii; fortunately Roll 20 makes it possible for us to play a game of DnD together despite the distance. Thanks Roll20!

sweetcheeks said: You could do something like: <a href="http://grok.lsu.edu/article.aspx?articleid=14625" rel="nofollow">http://grok.lsu.edu/article.aspx?articleid=14625</a> to multicast from one computer to multiple computers. I kinda like this. I can bring a router, but we do not have internet there. I might run MapTools though. For the campaign we are running we need a virtual table for this "this" game to function correctly.

We use Roll20's virtual tabletop alongside our real table - on the real table we have a piece of clear perspex (quite thick and about 3ft x 2ft) over a sheet of blank squares on a poster map (like the sheet you got from the back of the DMG of 3.5 edition D&D). Then use dry wipe markers to draw on the perspex and use miniatures. Roll20 is just for a online players who no longer live close. I cannot think of a situation in the last 10 years of playing where the physical method has not sufficed for all of our regular meet-ups.

I need a virtual table on our tablets, firstly because of space, we have none, and because the game we are playing will be using a persistent galaxy sized map to track the ongoing campaign. So a 10ftx10ft map with a few hundred chits on it that will get fiddled with throughout the campaign.

Unfortunately, unless you can get internet to the system (either directly or via LAN) you won't be able to employ Roll20 for this. It's straying from topic,but you might find RPTools of more use to you in an offline scenario.

Yeah, unfortunately RPTools does not run on Android.

To answer the original question, Mark G and the others are completely correct about the roll20 coding and mechanics being server side which means you must have internet connection for them to work. The other suggestions are off topic according to the Code of Conduct.

Do any of your players have a phone that supports connection sharing / personal hotspot?

Russell B. said: Do any of your players have a phone that supports connection sharing / personal hotspot? While it is usable with a hot spotted phone ( I use an android phone with an app for it) I don't recommend it. I experimented with it and roll20 eats the data allotment up fast due to the video /audio usage. Even with those disabled (on the settings tab of the the chat) you have a drain due to the constant map data feed. This is posted as a user not a mod.

I have unlimited data, but the game store has no internet, and you can not get cell reception inside it. I am trying to figure out how to desktop streaming with VLC, the other alternatives for screen sharing where rather expensive.

If there's no wifi, the store doesn't have internet, and you can't hotspot... then you have zero access to the internet or any streaming services. What you need to be looking at is an offline solution. Since Roll20 is purely internet based and we've already established that an internet connection isn't an option, there's really not much else we can offer in the way of assistance, here.

There are other VTT platforms that function offline but those are not the focus of this forum. The only recommendation is try to google "Virtual Table top" or other keywords. Good luck,