Homegrown 4e-esque Campaign - Trolling for Tips

Greetings Roll20 people!   I am considering starting a campaign based loosely on 4th edition Dungeons and Dragons.  This thread is intended to gather tips and suggestions from other Roll20 participants based on their experience with the tool, particularly those who have run a 4e campaign before here.  Please let me know whatever you feel is relevant to achieving success.   This thread is not about my campaign and I prefer not to answer questions on the setting and such at this time.    It is a shameless attempt at getting a quick overview of Roll20 suggestions without having to read a hundred other threads.  I have already learned how to get my maps and tokens onto the tabletop.  A big thanks to Gauss for helping with map alignment.   What else should I be thinking about getting ready before I dive in? How long a session do most players like? How realistic is coordinating this site with Myth-Weavers? What are some of the challenges people face that make play less fun and slow? What are other tools that people use in conjunction with Roll20? Thanks everyone for your input!

Seeing as we don't know what you have prepared already it is hard to suggest other stuff you should take care of. People seem to enjoy games that run between 3-6 hours although it is really up to the group so it is best to discuss that with them. Myth-weavers can be used as long as the players take time to fill out a lot of information (powers, feats etc.) and you take time and check to make sure it is accurate that is. Biggest challenge at least in terms of making sure the game stays fast paced is players knowing what they want to do when it comes to their turn. As for less fun there is a wide variety (bitching, rules lawyers, bad story just to name a few). I tend to use paint or photoshop but that is really it.

It's easier to use iplay4e or print to pdf a copy of your character sheet than manually typing everything into myth-weavers. I don't know about others but I prefer sessions I play in to go between 4-5 hours and to have 2-3 encounters which last around an hour each, then the rest is roleplaying time. Most people use skype with roll20 for voice chat since the built in one is pretty bad. Google hangout is popular too since it has a roll20 app.

Please let me know whatever you feel is relevant to achieving success.   Talk to your players before starting the campaign. Make sure you are on the same page with what you want out of the campaign. Turnover rate here is huge, and this will prevent you from restarting, or always looking for new players. Encourage players to talk about what they like and don't like, and suggest improvements. I've found many people leave quickly and usually it is because they weren't enjoying the campaign, but didn't speak up. What else should I be thinking about getting ready before I dive in? Whatever you would normally think about if you were playing face to face. How long a session do most players like? Anecdotally, 2 to 5 hours, once a week. How realistic is coordinating this site with Myth-Weavers? Depends on your players. I personally favour not tying roll20 campaigns in with anything, too much upkeep for little/no benefit (fun). What are some of the challenges people face that make play less fun and slow? Players who don't know rules, don't have at least basic macros, take too long to act on their turn, are very indecisive, try to avoid risks at all costs, or a combination of those. Also, DMs and players who call for rolls (skill checks) for every single thing, even when the situation is mundane/not dramatic at all. What are other tools that people use in conjunction with Roll20? Token tool, various image editing programs (Gimp is popular here, I like Paint.NET, IrfanView), Skype, G+, Ventrilo, Mumble, Character Builder, and to a lesser extent things like Myth-Weavers, Obsidian Portal, Epic Words

Moved to off-topic. :)

What else should I be thinking about getting ready before I dive in? Session Zero. Get your players together and hash out what the game will be about. Talks about likes and dislikes, and logistical concerns like what to do if someone can't make it or what players will be expected to learn and know away from the table. How long a session do most players like? Shoot for 4 hours on average. If you come to a point in the game before the 4 hours are up that is a very good cliffhanger, end it early. I start looking for this at about the 3.5 hour mark. Once I find it, we're done. (Always leave them wanting more.) Don't let it drag and certainly don't let it run late into the night. Energy levels wane and you'll end on a down note as people are yawning. End on a high note even if it means cutting it short. How realistic is coordinating this site with Myth-Weavers? Plenty of players I've played with post their character sheets from that site. That's the only exposure I've had to it. What are some of the challenges people face that make play less fun and slow? Players need to be told to delay if they aren't ready. If they're not thinking of what to do when someone else is going, it's a problem. As well, they need macros. If people are typing macros manually during play, it holds up the game. If anyone is taking more than 1 minute on their turn, something is wrong. These are all things you'll want to discuss during Session Zero. I've dropped players from games or banned them from all future games for being too slow. It's not cool in our games. There are other games more slowly-paced out there for them. What are other tools that people use in conjunction with Roll20? Google+ Hangouts. TokenTool. Pymapper.

Thanks to everyone.  Great answers!  The session 0 thing is a great idea.   It sounds like the time duration is right where I expected and the problems are as well with indecisiveness and not thinking about your turn when others are going as the biggies.   I do like mundane challenges as opposed to manufactured or ubiquitous drama so that may turn some folks off.  I guess I don't really get Hangouts yet.  I have been Google+ user since it began and a ton of material is already there.  But Hangouts I don't see anywhere on the menu really.  Confused how that all connects.  I have an army of ready tokens from Tokentool. Thanks again and I'll be starting soon, probably before the end of teh month.

There are other time vampires for sure. Interrupting other people's turns is a big one. You should only interrupt if a power lets you or whatever you're going to say may change that person's mind about something. Otherwise, shuddup. Not controlling one's background noise is also a problem in this regard. System mastery also helps with speeding things up, but you can't guarantee you'll have players that have it unless you specifically seek them out. I can't recommend mundane challenges for 4e. The system is designed around heroic fantasy with characters being superheroic pretty much right out the gate. One of the biggest failures I see with 4e DMs is when they put these types of characters in mundane situations and then ask for rolls to boot. "Oh, you're lying to the merchant? Make a Bluff check!" (Please god no .) That's more appropriate to previous editions of D&D which operate under different assumptions. In fact, the 4e PHB straight out tells the DM not to ask for skill checks in mundane situations. They must be dramatic or the mechanics do not come into play. If you're looking for a more simulationist game that focuses on the "humble beginnings" trope, you might want to look at 3.X or Pathfinder. The rules of 4e and its assumptions will fight you if you try to focus on the mundane. Your game will suffer for it. 4e is a narrativist game. What you seem to want is a simulationist game. Go with a previous edition for the best results.

I understand your thoughts on mundane vs dramatic, but I prefer the broad framework 4e has and its intricate combat system.  I abhor 3.X versions of D&D due their shoddy and ridiculous framework.  No need to debate that.  I do love 2e but the diversity and at-will aspects of 4e make it the system of choice for me.   Yet and still, mundane rolls are a mainstay of my system so you would probably hate my world, philosophically.  Indeed bluffing the merchant is an involved process and would require such a roll.  Please God, yes, in my worlds.  The assumptive and broad brush tactics I have seen with 4e from most GMs are not to taste for me.  My 4e is heavily modified in any event to suit that approach.  I have found the system very workable IRL table play and pbp as well.  This would be my first foray into virtual tabletop gaming.   I don't necessarily care about 'humble beginnings' but the first game I run here will be of that trope.  

Some resources/ideas that might help. First the voice chat in roll20 almost always never works right for at least one member of the group, so make sure you are comfortable with skype, google hangouts, mumble, teamspeak, etc....some other voice chat setup. For 4e I use this token to set up an action point deck to hand them out to the players it helps to remind them they have them and makes handing them out at milestones easy and fun. I find this to be extremely helpful if I need to make up a monster on the fly. Monster Manual on a business card And this is a link to Donjon a random everything generator. &nbsp;It does random dungeons that can be exported to roll20, random encounters, treasure, pick pocket results, npc's , traps, etc.... <a href="http://donjon.bin.sh/" rel="nofollow">http://donjon.bin.sh/</a> Hope some of that helps.

Oh! &nbsp;Excellent John R. ! &nbsp;Thanks!