Does anyone have experience playing D&D via Skype (or similar tool)?

[Shining Wrath]

My grown children live in a different state. When I last visited them, we played D&D twice and had a blast. But it's 1200 miles from here to there, which makes regular games a tad difficult.

So, any suggestions for the DM (moi) with all of his players in a different room?

Is Skype a good way to do the cameras / talk to each other thing?

They really don't have many books, so we're discussing which version might be best. I'm leaning toward 4E as the WotC tools would enable us to pass characters back and forth via email pretty quickly, and one shared account would allow them access to the entire oeuvre of 4E material.

[erikun]

I've used Skype online and it works just fine as a communication medium, but you typically still want some method of showing the "tabletop" of the game, so to speak. I guess the Skype camera could work, although it's probably too low-definition to do the job properly.

Rather, you'll also want some sort of remote desktop. There are several out there, and most will allow all players to connect and see the same thing on all their computers (so that if you move a piece, everyone else will see the piece moved). Most have build-in dice rollers, although some people still prefer to use their own dice.

The biggest concern is other people being disconnected. Especially with a poor internet connection, Skype could either cut out or the connection could be spotty trying to connect both over the internet.

Of course, if you don't need a tabletop (if, say, the game is more freeform) you could get along with just Skype.

[Segev]

If you pay for it, Skype's multi-video conferencing is said to work well. Without paying, you can only video-call one person at a time. But only one person - the host - needs to pay.

Google Hangouts is popular for this, as multiple people can video chat for free. I find it to be a LUDICROUSLY PAINFUL resource hog, however, on my machine. Admittedly, Skype isn't much better. My poor computer is getting rather old, and I fear its cooling systems are wearing out, which probably contributes.

The most resource-friendly way I've done it is using roll20.net for collaboration over the e-dice and the game board and the like, and using Skype's free voice conferencing. It doesn't get you video face-to-face, but it works well for the Scion game that a friend of mine runs.

[Eonir]

I have found this (http://roll20.net/) particular tool quite useful for the exact situation you have described. It has a virtual tabletop, in game, chat, character records, the whole nine yards. It's awesome.

[ramrod]

I can't name it, but there are actually remote playing websites/software if that is something that you would want to pursue, allowing sheets to be seen, maps to be revealed as the DM, dice rolls etc. Have a look :smallcool:

As for Skype, I can't see there being any problems if you wanted to take that route. Wouldn't mind having a stab at something like that myself and have looked into it, a lot of my gaming buddies live in other countries now or cannot drive etc

Good luck!

[Telonius]

I've tried it with both Skype and Oovoo. I've had better luck with Skype generally. Oovoo seemed to have a bit higher quality sound and images, but more crashes.

One thing I'd suggest is to figure out two separate angles of the webcam, one for pointing it at the rest of the group and one for pointing it at the battlemap. Being able to switch between the two fairly quickly will really help the game along. 1-inch-square graph paper and a black sharpie will usually let them see what's going on; pencil sketches did not help in the slightest. (If you have some seriously high-def webcam it might be different).

Most of our players had a good supply of books, so passing things back and forth was never really much of a problem. d20srd.org gives most of the basic stuff; more sourcebooks could be a bit of a problem.

[erikun]

I have found this (http://roll20.net/) particular tool quite useful for the exact situation you have described. It has a virtual tabletop, in game, chat, character records, the whole nine yards. It's awesome.
Myself and my friends had a lot of trouble getting the chat to work in Roll20. Some of us could hear the others but not be heard, some could hear nothing, and some just couldn't get it to work properly. We ultimately just used Skype for conversation and Roll20 for the virtual tabletop, although I'm not sure it's really the best virtual tabletop I've seen.

[Maginomicon]

Maptool works, but you can achieve a similar effect by sharing a Google Drive Drawing (with snap-to-grid on) and using shared Google Drive Documents and Spreadsheets for character data.

Technically, if using a Google Drive Drawing with snap-to-grid is too cumbersome, you could even have a Spreadsheet outfitted where each cell is a grid square.

[Shining Wrath]

Thanks to all for the suggestions. I will give roll20 a test run sometime soon and see how it works.

[erikun]

This thread (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=214961) might be worth looking at for suggestions. Note that the thread is from 2011 and recently necro'd, so avoid posting in it.

[DustyBottoms]

Google hangouts works well, hogs a similar amount of resources to Skype, and is free - it also has a built-in function to show your desktop instead of a camera view, should you need it. We're thinking about trying roll20 at some point.

[energyscholar]

I've played and run dozens of online D&D, Pathfinder, and GURPS games. After trying many tools and approaches, my preferred approach is to use Roll20 as a Virtual Table Top (VTT) and to use Google hangouts for voice chat. Many good options exist. I choose these ones mostly because they come closest to 'just working' for everyone with a minimum of fuss and bother.

I actually PREFER online play. Game mechanics tend to go faster. Having BOTH voice chat AND text chat available increases communication options. E.g. Players can kibbutz in text chat while the GM is talking without interrupting. A good VTT, used properly, works better than figures and a battle map.

VTT - There are several good VTTs out there. They get better every month. MapTool has slightly better technical features than Roll20, but is harder to work with. Roll20 'just works', even for new players, even if it does not have as many fancy features.

Voice & Text Chat - Again, there are many good options: G+ Hangouts, Skype, Mumble, Ventrilo, et cetera. The reason I prefer G+ Hangouts are 1) Good Voice Quality 2) High reliability 3) Free . I've used Skype for online games, and it can work, but it is sub-optimal. Long duration Skype conferences tend to crash every now and then. The last two online Skype games I've played had Skype-call difficulties until we switched to G+ hangouts,then everything worked fine.

The Pathfinder Society Online Collective (https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/pathfinder-society-online-collective) is a great place to refine your online game skill. Many of the participants are quite skilled at running online, and the group welcomes new participants. Paizo recently recognized the increase in online play by designating an Online Venture Captain.

Here are a few tips for new online RPG players:

1. Make sure your sound system is happy BEFORE trying to join a game. Whichever voice chat system is in use, make sure YOURS works a day ahead.

2. Mute your microphone when not speaking.

3. Have a quiet environment without interruptions. Give the game your full attention.

4. If you are GMing online it's vitally important to test everything in advance. Create a DummyAccount player and make sure everything looks good from the players' perspective.

[Novawurmson]

These are all really useful. I may be switching to an online game eventually (living in a college town where I and all my players will probably be moving in the next few years), so bookmarking this thread for safekeeping.

[Shining Wrath]

Thank you. Good advice. There are grandchildren possibly running amok in the background so environment may not be perfect.

[templar12]

I was hesitant about VTT but fell in love with them. I started getting Dunjinni and Campaign Cartographer, making my own maps and sharing, etc etc.
I use d20pro VTT for the game and then Skype for audio communication. Most of them give a free demo period, try them all out! I have been VTT'ing since 2009, with friends coast to coast and out of country even while I was deployed overseas!