Notes on my first Roll20 D&D Session

Here are some notes I made to myself after my first session of Roll20 last night. The DM and other players were super helpful in getting me going. I am posting these notes in case they are useful to anyone else. Corrections/feedback/suggestions welcome. Game: D&D 2E; 6-7 players + DM Interface: Roll20 Tabletop running Google Chrome; Skype Chat DM had an afternoon session before the gameplay where we hashed out connection issues, character sheets, etc. He also had some helpful How To's posted in the game log. What I learned here was: - Use Google Chrome instead of Internet Explorer in order to support char sheet macros, etc. Loaded and tested before game session. - A couple of us had trouble running Skype on Windows 8 PCs, so I just used my iPad of to the side. Skype messaging was a little clunkier on iPad, but worked OK. Created/tested different Skype login before the session. Would still like to try a game using Roll20 voice and Google+. The DM gave clear instructions that since we were using Skype to go into settings and disable the Voice/Audio settings for Roll20 to reduce outside noise. - The DM had a whole slew of character sheets already generated. Some valuable time was spent loading in specifics that had the potential to speed up gameplay, such as separate lines for ranged weapons for short, medium, and long range. There was also some good background/motivation info to help the player play "in character". - The players that brought in their own chars had less complete macros and one had an ability score that was inflated, but the DM had some time to screen these things before the session and none of it impacted game play this time around. I could see some best practices emerging once the session started. - The record of the game actions/outcomes should be the Chat window. It is awesome how Roll20 logs these chats, so this is where the official communication should reside for combat and non-combat actions. Voice chat is great for testing ideas, asking the DM questions, making snarky out-of-game comments, etc. but the kernel of the action should be in that Chat window. This keeps the DM from having to keep a separate log of the key actions and slowing gameplay down. - At the beginning everyone should go to the Settings icon and change their chat display name to "Char Name (class abrev)". This will make char actions easier to follow in chat. - DM did a good job of setting a turn order outside of combat and inside combat. We had 7 players at times, though, and this created some downtime for each player. - Just like in Tabletop D&D, parties need a party leader if for no other reason to keep the party together. The Roll20 interface lends itself to parties splitting up, having access to different information through handouts, whispering using "/w DM", etc. However, at several points our party was in five different rooms and it was too much for the DM to keep track of in terms of who could see what, who pocketed what loot, etc. This also slowed gameplay down. - The DM made it vary clear up front and during the game that xp would be awarded based on characters using all of their skills, pursuing the goals outlined in their char sheet bios, following their alignment, etc. This encouraged good role-playing. - The display icons at the bottom of the screen were important because we lost the server a couple of times during the session and we needed to see who was on. (I am told that the server issues were due to a 3rd party hosting company and are not common.) We also had one player drop due to Skype issues and another player join 1/2 way through. I went to settings and minimized the graphic display just to make more room on my screen, but it helped to have the list with "Player Name (Char Name)" at the bottom. The colored box by each player also helped show who was pinging on the map. - We were playing a long module with a story-line. This was tricky since some of us were not in the last session, but the DM did a good job publishing notes and reviewing key points of the story-line. He even took advantage of the server downtime to review plot points and help us stitch different events together. I can see that when I DM I am going to want to start with some bite-sized adventures that we can sew up in one session until we get a stable group that can follow a plot line.

Great Summary Harv, and welcome to the community!

Harv, glad you had a great time.

Excellent post. Enjoyable read. If more people are as observant at note-taking, it would be cool to see more of these actual-play-reviews and reactions to the Roll20 features. A few minor responses came to mind. My preferred gaming on here is very similar to yours (in fact I wish I was in this group). AD&D 2E is my favorite system and I have a homebrew campaign world for it, on this site myself. We also Skype for audio. My groups have played several hundred hours on Roll20+Skype (click my name for Profile). You made a great point about the "kernel" of the gameplay action should be recorded or noted in the text chat, to be logged. Honestly most games & players I've met on here don't do this. Oftentimes many chapters of action will pass by voice alone, sometimes an excited pace, and the chat-log will reflect little more than dice numbers, lacking context. But I endorse your recommendation that we should write the actions into the text. As Player (or as DM when I have time) I will often translate what was spoken, into a brief summary for the chat text, and I've found it helps with reading the log later. Other players sometimes look at me funny: "Why is this guy typing into the chat, what we just said?" I'm making notes so that the chat is a readable summary of the game story. That's why. Now, I won't go so far as to say that voice is for certain comments only, and actions "must" be in the text. People communicate differently. Some want to talk a little or a lot, others prefer to type and listen and read. The idea situation is having at least 1 player who is a typer and a transcriber and note-taker, someone who will write important things into the chat that were heard in the voice comm. I'm presently auditioning for a really good transcriber player to help facilitate accessibility in my games, because I would like to accommodate hearing-impaired players in my games. In my accessibility concept: the DM will continue to speak out-loud but one of the participants will transcribe and type-out the important statements, so that hearing-impaired players can read along and follow the complete story (even if some spoken words and sentences are summarized in shorthand for the chatroom). This concept is a hybrid of a voice-game and a text-only game. Regarding Skype on iPad --- it's good because it "offloads" the voice stream from your computer that's running Roll20, which allows you to have the Skype MUTE controls on a separate screen. It can help chill out an overworked laptop. The downside of iPad Skype that I've found is if you are DM especially, iPad version won't let you launch a conference call. You can only call 1 person from iPad, but you can receive, answer, join a conference call that someone else started. To start a conference call you must be on a computer not the iPad version. If the DM needs to use iPad then one of the Players can be recruited to launch the skype call. The names at the bottom, I think should definitely say: PLAYER NAME OR ROLL20 NAME (Character Name, class abbreviation). Don't make it say only the Character name, or be forewarned of the consequences. Doing that will remove all appearance of your player name, your roll20 name, possibly your real first name, from the game interface and consequently from the verbal interactions between the human-beings behind the screens and keyboards. Then people will only call you and know you by the character name. For me, that's anti-social. After a while it grates on my nerves if I'm spending dozens of hours with people and they never say "Hey Gold, how are you today?" because they only say "Hey Florgarth The Dwarf". Now I'm not saying you need to put your real name in Roll20, but at least use your Roll20 name so that people can separate the Player from the Character. People shouldn't be saying "Hey Charactername, can you play next week? Hey Charactername do you want to take a week off for Christmas?". Remember it's quite possible that people will be saying "Oh crap Florgarth died" in the game, but you the Player are still alive. It's better for the players, who may be strangers in real life from different parts of the world, at least make the effort to verbally meet the fellow players you are gaming with. You don't need their last name, their job, their family status and personal identity details, but at least learn a first name or a nickname to call the person when you are not talking about their character. Like Harv, Aaron, Pat, Gold. We've all played dozens of different character names. It's nice when the other players can say "Hey Harv, Aaron, Pat, Gold. How are you today? Let's start the game in 10 minutes." Chrome is definitely the best web browser for Roll20 especially recently. The other one that usually worked is Firefox but FF has been giving some problems lately. Thanks again for sharing your notes / review, and starting a discussion on some of these ways we use Roll20!

Gold said: The names at the bottom , I think should definitely say: PLAYER NAME OR ROLL20 NAME (Character Name, class abbreviation). Don't make it say only the Character name, or be forewarned of the consequences. Doing that will remove all appearance of your player name, your roll20 name, possibly your real first name, from the game interface and consequently from the verbal interactions between the human-beings behind the screens and keyboards . Then people will only call you and know you by the character name. For me, that's anti-social. After a while it grates on my nerves if I'm spending dozens of hours with people and they never say "Hey Gold, how are you today?" because they only say "Hey Florgarth The Dwarf". Now I'm not saying you need to put your real name in Roll20, but at least use your Roll20 name so that people can separate the Player from the Character. People shouldn't be saying "Hey Charactername, can you play next week? Hey Charactername do you want to take a week off for Christmas?". Remember it's quite possible that people will be saying "Oh crap Florgarth died" in the game, but you the Player are still alive. It's better for the players, who may be strangers in real life from different parts of the world, at least make the effort to verbally meet the fellow players you are gaming with. You don't need their last name, their job, their family status and personal identity details, but at least learn a first name or a nickname to call the person when you are not talking about their character. Like Harv, Aaron, Pat, Gold. We've all played dozens of different character names. It's nice when the other players can say "Hey Harv, Aaron, Pat, Gold. How are you today? Let's start the game in 10 minutes." (I bolded parts that I wanted to clarify somewhat) What you specified would only apply to that one campaign board and only inside the game itself. A player can change his name (below the avatar) and it will not be reflected anywhere else on roll20. I also kept the whole paragraph so it would not be out of context with the rest of it.

That's right. Thanks for that, Pat. The name-at-the-bottom feature is the Display Name setting, for in-that-game alone so it can be individually reset for each game you're in. My template is like, Gold (Charactername, short class abbreviation or reminder of who the character is). Another related point is, you can use the Dropdown menu that's under the chat, to speak "As" your character name that's on your assigned character sheet. This is where it's possible to have "Gold (Florgarth the Dwarf)" as my Display Name at the bottom center, and yet have just "Florgarth:" saying things in the chat.

Harv S. said: At the beginning everyone should go to the Settings icon and change their chat display name to "Char Name (class abrev)". This will make char actions easier to follow in chat. While changing your display name can be useful to show what player is running what character, for the purposes of chat entries you can select your character from the dropdown box below the chat labeled "As:". This will label your chat messages as your character (rather than yourself), including your character's avatar (instead of your avatar). If you want to send a chat message out of character, you can switch the "As" selection, or you can prefix your message with the /o command. /me holds Billund in the air by the scruff of his neck /o Hey guys, be right back, pizza's here Barases holds Billund in the air by the scruff of his neck Brian: Hey guys, be right back, pizza's here Harv S. said: Just like in Tabletop D&D, parties need a party leader if for no other reason to keep the party together. The Roll20 interface lends itself to parties splitting up, having access to different information through handouts, whispering using "/w DM", etc. However, at several points our party was in five different rooms and it was too much for the DM to keep track of in terms of who could see what, who pocketed what loot, etc. This also slowed gameplay down. As a GM myself with a group of players who like to "Scooby Do" it, I can empathize with how difficult this can be to manage. However, splitting up can also lead to fun and/or interesting play. (And sometimes, it's the GM's fault!) Everything in moderation!

Wow! Good discussion here! This is helping me learn the tricks of Roll20, which I have been exploring for less than 3 weeks, and the tricks of tabletop gaming, which I have been exploring more than 30 years!

+1 =D