Covid-19 and Gaming options

[Zarniwoop]

Hi Gang,

OK so I hope everyone is well and managing to stay safe and well amongst all the chaos.

Whilst I do appreciate a lot of us are still comfortable with continuing the normal meet, the situation is changing really rapidly. We would not really be able to comply with distancing requirements outlined by the gov advice.

On reflection I think it would be safer to postpone or at least attempt it using some sort of remote system:

Discord
WhatsApp
Roll20

Of course there is also Skype/Google Hangouts etc.

Let me know what you think.

I will add the options to a poll to see which is the preferred option, I can add to the list if people think of other solutions

[PM]

Haven't tried any of the above for gaming purposes but it's worth a go. From my work experience, a PC/Laptop is a much better platform than a phone/tablet. Also, headsets help massively.
Maybe do a test with a couple of people first to iron out the wrinkles. I suppose whoever is DM'ing should really have the primary vote.

[carldjcross]

Happy to do any but my preferred vote is for Roll20.

It has character sheets and dice built in and is free.

I offered to run a one shot set in Ravenloft if we want to give it a try.

[Arnu]

Roll  20 looks good to me.  Just go to figure out how it works.

[carldjcross]

I've used it as a player, pretty easy and intuitive.

Does everyone have a microphone/headset?

[PM]

Yes, I have one.
Top tip, have the mic below your jawline to prevent popping/overloading the mic.

[carldjcross]

Good tip.

So, questions:

Are we using Roll20? Poll is as yet inconclusive.
Are we doing it this Saturday  or another time? If so, usual time?
Who is DM-ing?

[Tombwalker]

My eldest lad uses Roll20 for his games.  Does a good job with it.

[Arnu]

Hi

I have looked at Roll 20 and it looks good.

If your eldest has used this then it seems to be a good choice as he know how it works.

[Arnu]

We can do.  I don't have a mic though I am not sure if my laptop does, never tried this.

If you would like to run a ravenloft it would give me chance to sort the dragonheist out (it has been hectic for me at the moment).

[carldjcross]

Happy to give it a go.

You should be able to get some sound through your laptop. The game I played in was 100% typed, so there's always that as long as people are patient (Gary) and considerate (Gary)*.

*Didn't mean it Gary, we love you  really. Probably.

The bit of the module I"m proposing to run is meant for levels 1-3 but is quite tough anyway. Do people want pre-gens or knock up a new character or use the ones from Phandelver?

[carldjcross]

Here is the code to join our very first (but I fear not our last) virtual game.

https://app.roll20.net/join/6384494/6Yt-Ng

It would be helpful if you could add at least bare-bones characters.

Help here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4lFTAZXZ0ZU
https://app.roll20.net/forum/post/1455842/how-to-create-characters

I think we should postpone this by a week so we can do that I can have a play with the DM tools. Not sure that would work for everyone, I know people had work and travel plans but they may no longer apply.

We could always have a test this week with a quick random dungeon or similar to see how the tools work.

Let me know what you think.

[Zarniwoop]

That certainly seems like a good idea, I already had a roll20 account and linked to the game. The video seems to be for the dm? to add the character sheet template how do I as a player create a character for the game?

Sorry for a technical guy this interface is not intuitive at first glance.

I think we could all do with a dummy run of some kind to get the kinks out of learning to use the interface plus make sure all the technical stuff works like sounds, microphones etc etc.

[Zarniwoop]

another video for dm here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bZJqQxRTias

[Zarniwoop]

So looks like the DM has to create the game, get us players to join the game, then you can allocate a character sheet to each player now in your game. From there I think the player can edit the sheet?
Need to play around a bit definately