World of Darkness?

Hello, all. I'm one of those odd people who absolutely loves the idea of a tabletop roleplaying experience, yet have never been part of a long-standing campaign for various reasons. In fact, the closest I have ever come to these types of sessions was my time spent in various Multi-User Dungeons based around the World of Darkness universe (Modern Nights setting, specifically). I keep browsing through the campaigns, hoping to find a group interested in playing a W:tA campaign but nothing has come up. I know, I know, a bunch of you are getting ready to ask "Why not start one and be the Storyteller"? Mainly, the problem is one of resources and experience. I don't have enough of either to be the one running the group. I thought I would just toss this one out there; what is this community's opinion on using Roll20's software for running a WoD campaign? Could it be done, and how engaging would it be? Do you think the interest would be there, or is this software geared too much toward the D&D crowd? Many thanks if you have read the whole post! :) Oh, and... I'm new so be gentle.

I think that Roll20 could be used to run a WoD game rather well. For WoD you have little use of the grid but the VT can sill be used to put up visual references for people, such as maps, pictures of characters, pictures of locations, and so forth. The success of a WoD game run on a VT I think has a lot to do with the players themselves. Because of the nature of an online table there is a slight barrier of disconnect between yourself and the game (The computer screen). This aspect of disconnect can be heightened even further in WoD as there are fewer times were the players will need to directly interact with things in the game (moving tokens around being the main one). So the responsibility of keeping themselves engaged lays more heavily on the players in a more narrative style game such as WoD. It also falls to the Storyteller to keep the pace up, and spark heavier interest in these styles of games so that it is easier for the players to fully engage themselves. I have been toying with the idea of running a WoD game for a while now but still keep coming back to the fact that I simply have to much on my plate at the moment to commit to ANOTHER game to run. I do want to run some WoD on here eventually though as I do think it will work well. Well, anyway, those are my thoughts on it and others may have completely different opinions.

I play a variation I have created of Vampire in the d20 system (conversion was done for roll mechanics alone) and so far my game has ran smoothly, and the players seem extremely happy. I think as a GM/ST you have to do a bit more work to keep people at their computers interested.

We run at least three WOD games on r20 and they all go perfectly smoothly. um, i dont know how to elaborate.

I played years in MUSH a vampire setting and my experience goes slightly against the idea having the WoD in online is less deep or at least more challenging than a face-to-face game. It is different with it's own merits and problems. In MU*s and textual games involving a larger group I found that the characters often ended up much deeper than any tabletop game with "scenes" often ignored in a traditional tabletop game but those fit very well in a situation having two players who have to communicate via text: simple dialogues and conversations, everyday situations, etc. But the problem is that these games often had problems with the "metastory", to get involve all the players and keeping their attentions. Still in some games had amazing "coded" features, like the hunting with limited blood levels in an area and thus players had to compete controlling them to survive. I think a virtual tabletop might be between the two experience and perhaps more closer to the traditional tabletop. It is more easily to get the players involved here than in a MU*. Heck I would love to see some WoD games here myself to see what this medium is capable :).

Devon beat me to it, but as a member of his game, WoD is easily adaptable to the roll20.net platform. The core behind WoD both new and old is it's love for story of tactical micro-management. While I've been playing with Devon, we haven't used the table top as a tactical map, but rather an image board for character photos, items, locations, and theme expression. Plus the dice roller has already been programmed to recognize the difficulty mechanic present in WoD. Mostly, the /w command has been used extensively to allow a number of side stories involving our players to intertwine. It has caused a couple of moments of slower than normal play, but it also has allowed faster play over all. Multiple scenes are being handled at once by the GM who has a screen to keep his/her notes sorted and allow resolution individually. In that regard, we've been able to move the story further than normal since each player doesn't need a moment of the GM's time individually. Any how, sorry to steal tug the rug from under Devon's post, but I figured I'd chime in since I happened back to this side of the board again.

Ya, basically it means i can run the pcs stuff when they're not together simultaneously. which would not be possible at the table.