Tabletop RPG via the Net (roll20) - GM Tom

[Tom]

Would there be enough tabletop roleplayers here who would be interested in an online gaming session?
I have a concept I want to try - play yourself being dumped into a fantasy world. No character creation - play yourself.
I have the world and the game system mostly ready (it might change a bit during playtesting, but it's mostly stable). I've never run a game online before, only face2face, so if at least one person has experience doing it and could support me in the technical things that would be perfect. We can use roll20 or anything else that someone has good experience with.

Do we get a party together?

[Gildre]

I have experience with this. I moved away from my home town years ago, and a friend told me they were starting a D&D campaign. He patched me in through R20. The system works well, especially if the DM is well versed in it's mechanisms. The program is cool, and everyone can be patched in with their own little webcam window. My friends were all in the same room, and had R20 on their smart TV with the webcam facing the room. I could see everyone and they could see me, and it felt like I was right there.

The problem we had was lining times up. And we only had a two hour time difference, and it was incredibly hard to find times that worked for everyone between families, work, and social lives. You currently have an 8 hour time difference from me in Germany. Something to strongly consider. Some people might jump at the idea of playing a campaign together, but in reality not want to have brunch and Goblins haha.

I would suggest that you detail what time you want to do this at (as you are the DM and thus the most important party). Then people can judge whether they can make that time work or not in their own time zones. If people are interested but can't play, have them post what times they could play. If you have no bites on your time, but three other people can play 1700 - 1900 and that works for you, then shift it.

I really must stress finding a time that works for everyone. That is what killed it for our group. It was super fun, but schedules never worked out and after two months no one remembers where they are in the story or what is going on.

[Tom]

Agreed on that. Scheduling is often what kills real-world groups, too. I'm having that experience right now.

I would honestly prefer to have more regular short sessions. If nobody needs to drive anywhere, having a 2-3 hour session is worth it, and easier to find time for.

For me, during the week evenings (on UTC+1) work best. That would be lunchtime or afternoon in the US depending on your location. That's not ideal. I might also be able to do weekend mornings, that'd be around midnight in the US. Also not ideal.

But not every BM player is in the US...

[Gildre]

Totally! There are lots of BM players who are into D&D-esque games who are European. I just wanted to point it out so that if any fellow Canucks or Americans saw it, they think about the time difference before they start signing up. Better to nip it in the bud opposed to creating a group and having people drop out when figuring out times because it isn't evening for everyone haha.

[Tom]

There's a preliminary date set for this Thursday (the 5th) in the evening (GMT). Anyone interested in joining in? All you need is a browser, Roll20 is browser-based. Oh, and a microphone. :-)

[Abstract]

Probably won't be able to join myself but there are others who may join if they hear about it. Unfortunately, most don't seem to check the forums very often and that may be a hurdle in getting players. Discord could be a better place to gather some players for this.

[Tom]

"evening" now more concrete: 18:30 GMT+1 with play starting at 19:00

Would love to see one or two old BM'lers there.

[James]

Wish I could join you, but time is certainly not my friend, especially evenings due to children and bedtimes.
Hope it’s a great session.
Is it something you could livestream for stalkers to come along and watch/listen if they do get a bit of time at some point?

[Zatirri]

I'd be totally up for taking part if there are still spots open.

I am free during the week evenings on your time zone on every day except Monday.

[Tom]

I'd be totally up for taking part if there are still spots open.

I am free during the week evenings on your time zone on every day except Monday.

I'll send you an invite by e-mail. If you don't have a Roll20 account yet, you have to make one, but it's easy and free.

[Gildre]

How did the game go Tom? Good turn out?

Btw, I love the idea, of playing yourself in a fantasy world haha.