Let's play some tabletop RPGs on the internet!

Games Tabletop
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Greetings, traveller! The Tabletop section of the Waypoint forum already has a handful of PBP (play-by-post) campaigns currently in progress, but after gauging reactions from the The Great D&D/Roleplaying Games Introduction Thread, I thought it’d be good to put together a topic for recruiting for real-time tabletop RPGs played online!

The Discord server for arranging games can be found here!

What does that mean

Online tabletop might seem like a contradiction in terms, but there exist a number of systems to facilitate playing games like Dungeons and Dragons, Dungeon World or Fate without the need for all the players to be in the same room. All you need is a method of communicating with other players, a willing Game Master and a stable internet connection! Sitting by your computer eating Cheetos and quoting the Dead Alewives entirely optional.

How does it work

I need to do a bit more digging/am open to suggestions, but the big daddy of online tabletop is Roll20, which offers chat functions, a virtual table to display maps and character positions, online characters sheets and simulated dice rolls. It’s what they use for Friends at the Table, Austin fans! Previously I’ve played sessions of D&D using a combination of that and Skype for voice chatting, although I hear Discord may be better for that and organising play nowadays.

What do you want from me

The purposes of this thread are two-fold: first of all, to crowdsource some info about the best way of playing online tabletop RPGs (I’ll update this initial post with further deets as and when people share them!); secondly, to give people a place to recruit games, whether those are players looking for a group or DMs/GMs looking for players.

Want to give Dungeons and Dragons a try but unable to scare up a large enough group in your hometown? Already have a solid campaign going offline but want to give a different system a try? Maybe you just moved somewhere new – or your pals moved away – and you’ve yet to locate fresh nerds to run a Fate game with? This is the thread for you!

Player master list (forum name/timezone/interests)

thundarrshirt (that’s me!) GMT, interested in playing or GMing any system
TheOtherJeff, EST, interested in one-shots/limited-scope campaigns
Fimbulvetr, EST, interested in playing
TheMasterDS CT, interested in playing One Shots and PBTA (Such as Dungeon World)
Meophist
MC_Gigglepants PDT/PST (UTC -7) Interested in all systems
Daydreamer CT (UTC -6) Interested in Dungeon World
Video_Games EST, Interested in DMing Dungeon World
CureWiki PDT/PST, interested in running Dungeon World, The Sprawl, Blades in the Dark, Maid RPG, or Mouse Guard one-shots
MikeK EST, interested in playing Dungeon World, Burning Wheel or Mouse Guard
Iverum Interested in playing
hollyfrosty Interested in playing one-shots
Mossy PST, Interested in playing
GoblinQueen Interested in playing
AdrastusDarke GMT, interested in playing Burning Wheel or Torchbearer
BennyAdelie Interested in playing
SquirrelGraph Interested in playing
Foofaraw CT, interested in playing
Matthias GMT+1, interested in playing or GMing Blades in the Dark, Dungeon World, Stars Without Number, and Masks
Aeneas UTC +1, interested in playing
pascalthedog GMT -5, interested in playing
yourfriendeve GMT
fivedroids CDT (UTC -5), interested in playing

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I have been using Roll20 for awhile now, and it’s a great tool for online play, and it’s got a great community that supports a lot of different games pretty actively. My one gripe with it has been audio stability, so my current online group has settled on Discord after using Skype, Hangouts and GameVox with mixed results - Discord is definitely the best voice service we’ve used to date and it’s pretty easy, to boot.

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I’m definitely interested in playing some dang tabletop games like this. I’ve only used Roll20 twice, but it worked well for what we did with it (my group used Discord for voice chat).

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I would like to play some Dungeon World or some other Powered By The Apocalypse game. I had gotten into a group from a discord late last year, but it fell apart due to sessions continually getting postponed. I’d really like to get deeper into a campaign.

I’d also be up for one offs. I’d like to play Fiasco (The game from the first GB Holiday Special with Austin) sometime, for instance.

I’m in the Central Timezone.

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Same - I’d be more likely to get involved in one-offs or limited-scope campaigns due to my schedule, but I’d love the opportunity to play some games with new people and try new games at the same time.

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When I played online, I remember using IRC and some other webpage for maps. It worked fairy well since we could have different channels for IC and OoC chat, as well as private messaging and we can make more channels if the need arises.

That said, the games did play slow, although I’m not sure what the cause of that is. I do imagine there’s probably better ways these days.

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Might be worth throwing up a) if there are any particular systems you wanna try (as a couple of people have!) and b) what time zone you’re in, since we’re an ~international forum~

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If anyone does decide to start up a game, I’d be down to play.

I don’t really have a particular preference as far as systems go. I don’t mind learning new ones, etc. As far as time zones I’m in PDT/PST (UTC -7).

Edit: Basically all of my roleplaying experience is in person, so this will all be new to me. I’ve never used anything like Roll20 before.

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One thing to keep in mind with doing a game of Dungeon World- Friends originally started with 5 player characters in one group, and that proved to be way too much. Groups of 3-4 more managable. I think that group size is ideal and I would prefer keeping a group to that size. I’d think that’d be true of other games as well, and playing them with more games than they suggest wouldn’t be a great idea.

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I’d really be interested in playing if there is space in whatever group/groups that get set up! My experiences with tabletop gaming in the past has been pretty mixed, but the promise of it all is very exciting to me. I have the 5th ed dnd manual as well as the Dungeon World Rule Book. Out of those I would much prefer to try Dungeon World if that is on the table. My time zone is CT (or i guess UTC -6 I think?), but honestly with my schedule right now I could adapt to others needs pretty easily.

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You can also get dice rolling bots for discord, which I use for one of my games. It makes discord a great one-stop-shop if you don’t need a map/grid like roll20 provides.

I’m a player on the EST with a free schedule for now, and I’m interested in trying any system, and maybe DMing a one-shot in Dungeon World.

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pdt/pst. I can run occasional oneshots. I’ll run Dungeon World, The Sprawl, Blades in the Dark, Maid RPG, or Mouse Guard

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I would love to play Dungeon World or try Burning Wheel or Mouse Guard with people here over Roll20 but I’ll play pretty much anything.

It seems like we already have enough people that want to play Dungeon World at least. What’s the best way to coordinate these games?

My time zone is EST.

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How about we do a one shot to get to know each other before going into DW? A Fiasco or something? If we could play that this weekend sometime that’d be great.

For organizing we could make a discord group. Could be a single discord for all Roll20 Waypoint Games, or multiple discords each group making their own for their games. If there’s to be oneshots (is oneshot a tabletop term or a Friends Table Term? Either way, using it) probably better to have a single Waypoint Plays (or something) Discord.

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I’ve been looking to put together a game recently, but I’m hesitant to GM and no one I know elsewhere is really up for it. If there is room in a game I’d be open to joining.

I’ve been listening to FatT’s Blade’s in the Dark game and I’m really enjoying that system and would love to give it a shot. I’m on Mountain Time most of the time.

In terms of tools, I’ve given Roll20 a shot for both online and in person games, but only with DnD. I’ve been involved in a number of less combat heavy games over IRC, but it always takes so much longer and feel so much more sterile when played as text only.

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Getting a Discord going for at least general organization is probably not a bad idea, especially since I imagine Discord is probably the preferred voip program among many of us.

I should also be free this weekend, though maybe not till later in the day on Saturday. I would prefer not to GM though. I’ve tried it a few times, and it is definitely not my thing.

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If anyone has a good name for a Waypoint Forum Roll20 Matchmaking Discord hit us up guys. Hmm. How about something that references the part in PUBG where everyone puts a marker on the map? Those are waypoints used in multiplayer. Hmm. Waypoint Presents: Mark Droppers, A Tabletop Matchmaking Discord? Maybe a bit wordy.

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Yeah, Discord works for me too. I wouldn’t be able to play anything until late Sunday but after that I should be fine. This is just a busy weekend for me.

I’ve also never played Fiasco before but I have a copy of it that someone gave me so I should probably give that a try.

And I don’t think I can really GM anything other than D&D 5E and Numenara. I’m not as good at GMing Powered by the Apocalypse games.

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tabletop.zone (only half joking)

I’ve also never played Fiasco before. Is it a good get to know people game? I do know that it doesn’t have a GM per se, so we wouldn’t have to worry about that this time at least.

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tabletop.zone isn’t bad, actually. It’s two (two?) words, it fits with Waypoint’s running jokes, and you can squint at it and guess what’s it’s trying to say. Maybe not that, but it’s pretty close.