Running/Playing D&D Online: How?

Trust

So we've been having a problem with our current campaign, and a couple of us players have said 'we're out'. We've been looking into playing online via Skype or vent with friends elsewhere, that we know we won't have any issues with. Could one of you guys maybe point me towards a good way to do this?

I suppose the main issues are a fair way of rolling (I know we could do it on the honour system, but we'd rather not), and mapping the game/encounters fluidly and interactively. Any ideas?

Mushiwulf

http://www.rptools.net/

Great tool for online D&D.

ETA: More specifically, http://www.rptools.net/index.php?page=maptool

Trust

My god that is beautiful. Any particular recommendation for the voice side of things, or will Vent or Skype do?

theSquid

Is voice absolutely necessary? There are some IRC servers that are awesome for this sort of thing, not the least because they include bots that do random dice rolls for you.

Thanatos

Voice is, in fact, absolutely necessary. The game becomes an enormous pain in the ass without it.

Maptools comes with a dice-roller.

I would highly recommend just finding some new people to play with, because playing online is about a hundred times more trouble than it's worth.

Trust

Voice isn't really needed per say, but it does help. I think we've kinda been spoiled by most of us using the party chat on XBL. Looking at the RPTools that Mushiwulf posted, the integrated chat there could take the brunt of it while we can shoot the shit over VOIP.

I'll look into the IRC thing, though. Maybe we can strike a balance between multiple programs to find the best bits of each.

Cheers for the help.

Thanatos

I'm telling you that I have done this before, and you will think "oh, voice isn't that big of a deal," right up until you try to play without it, at which point you will realize "Jesus fucking Christ we need voice!"

And seriously, roughly a hundred times more trouble than it's worth. I dropped out of my online D&D game once I found an IRL one, even though I was playing the online one with a bunch of my best friends. They all completely agreed with my decision.

Trust

Than:

Finding new people has been suggested, but we also want to use this as a way to keep in touch with friends further afield (University etc.). While I know it isn't going to be as good as playing 'live', we're still going to get to play.

Hopefully this will lead to having a game being run online one night, and having a new local live game another night when we find some more people to group up with.

And yes, this is a 'rather play a bad online game than no game at all' choice.

I think Maptools definately covers all the things I was looking for, so you can go ahead and lock this if you want.

Once again, cheers.

kralizecc

My friends and I have been using openrpg for a few years now, works wonders. D&D, shadowrun, storyteller series. Works great for all of them. http://www.rpgobjects.com/index.php?c=orpg

Mushiwulf

I play weekly with friends that have scattered to the four winds. It has its drawbacks, sure, but online, maptool play isn't too bad. We use skype for voice, and haven't had any problems on that end either.

Hahnsoo1

I also play a weekly Pen and Paper game online (we alternate currently between One Roll Engine and Shadowrun, but we've also played Castle Falkenstein and Earthdawn). I'm of the opinion that as a way to connect with IRL friends who aren't near you IRL, you can't beat playing PnP RPGs online. Voice is almost essential for our group, but that's because we shoot the breeze, talk about our lives, catch up on each other, etc.

We use Ventrilo and Maptools. It has worked well for us for several years. I find playing online far easier and better as a GM. The set up time is approximately one third the time it takes to set up a real life game, because it's far easier to compile virtual media for me than it is to break out the minis, the maps, the dry erase markers, etc. Not to mention that Maptools has a robust macro system which not only allows you to compile all of the basic dicerolls as one-click buttons, but also allows interpretation of said dice rolls quickly and easily. We use a script for One Roll Engine that automatically sorts the numbers into sets, and we use a script for Shadowrun 4 that interprets hits and 1s.

Don't use OpenRPG. The interface is obtuse and stupid. Use Maptools. It is far better in every way. Need a token to represent a dragon? Go to Google image search, find your favorite dragon picture, and just drag and drop the picture. Need to add a portion of a map? Draw it out, or simply drag and drop an image of a cave system/tile (many resources available online for this, too).

EDIT: For various links to online PnP goodness, check out this thread:
http://forums.penny-arcade.com/showthread.php?t=89765

Also, I highly suggest using a campaign Wiki to post your campaign information, house rules, etc.

Thanatos

Yeah, OpenRPG is clunky, and way more work than MapTools is to get working.

Figgy

Have you considered a Play by Post system? You can use the Critical Failures forum here, which hosts many of these games, or you can start up a ProBoard for your own private uses.

The benefit is that you don't all need to be in front of the computer for the same few hours of the day, and you alleviate the headache of the inevitable player or two who simply can't get the hang of MapTools and playing online this way.

The downside is that games take a lot, lot longer. While you may only spend a 15-20 minutes each day (unless you're the DM), an encounter takes about a week.

XOCentric

I've found it incredibly hard to get a group together for online PnP play. Maybe it's just me, or my time schedule, or something.

Has anyone else had trouble finding groups for this type of gaming?