So tempted (Skype D&D)

[Mytical]

So tempted to see how many people would be interested in meeting 1 time a week (on sunday) on Skype. Sadly I am lacking several things I would need for this to work. Like maps (I can't even draw a stick figure), dice, and the books would be nice (though I'd like to play house rules .. meaning we'd make it up as we'd go along).

[AnaKhouri]

My husband has played (not D&D but another RPG) via Google Hangout, rather than Skype- we are acquainted with many, many gamers and game designers and playing via Hangout is common among them. He said it's fine but there's a bit of a lag, just a second or so and can get chaotic if you have a lot of people in your party trying to talk with the lag. I have always noticed a tiny lag on Skype so I assume it would be the same.

[Kheldarson]

I've done RP over Skype. Maps aren't necessary if you run combat lite campaigns.

[EricKei]

Dice rolling over skype could be an issue -- tho you could always do ALL of the rolls and point a webcam at them. There are also programs out there (some of them free) that do maps and rolls for you, that can be accessed by all users at once.

[Crossbow]

Roll20 is another possibility. Pretty sure it has voice and video chat built in, as well as a dice roller.

[Barracuda]

There are programs for running D&D over the internet that are free. Most of them log you into a chat room that you can invite players to, and the DM has tools that they can use to upload maps, pictures, or draw their own using icons. Only the DM can use those tools, but everyone can see it and has access to their character stats, health, and so on. Oh, and the one I saw also has a dice emulator. Simply type in the number and type of dice you're rolling, and it will randomly generate a number that type of dice roll could produce.

[Mytical]

All this is making me want to try it more lol. I have a campaign in mind, one that went over really well until the place I was running it in changed hands .. and the new mods decided draconian like rules were best, and drove most of everybody away.

Now I am more a fan of Red Box (was a bit simpler) and Version 1.0 then the others .. but that is because it was what I grew up with. If I can find these programs, and get at least 4 people who can commit say an hour or two a week, I would love to give it a go.

Checking roll 20 right now .

Edit : With Roll 20, I'd need somebody who is good with making maps. I have the campaign in my head, but no maps. Though of course I will be looking online for maps that fit what I need.

[Akasa]

There are programs for running D&D over the internet that are free. Most of them log you into a chat room that you can invite players to, and the DM has tools that they can use to upload maps, pictures, or draw their own using icons. Only the DM can use those tools, but everyone can see it and has access to their character stats, health, and so on. Oh, and the one I saw also has a dice emulator. Simply type in the number and type of dice you're rolling, and it will randomly generate a number that type of dice roll could produce.

I believe Fantasy Grounds is one. I played with a group of guild mates a couple years ago using it. I had to stop playing because our times were so different I kept sleeping past start time. They're still playing with it a few times a week. (Not the same game each day, each of the days has a different GM and game.)

[Gravekeeper]

I use to run campaigns like this years back. All we had was IRC though. So I had to script my own tools. There wasn't much around software wise for that sort of thing back then.

I handled stuff all IC though as it was more RP focused. So I would have people privately whisper me what they intended to do then tell them the results so they could RP it accordingly. It was interesting because it removed the "everyone's watching the table" aspect. So other players didn't know what you were up too or whether it not it succeeded until after it had been decided.

I always got stuck as DM though because I do NPC dialogue very well. >.>

[Crossbow]

Edit : With Roll 20, I'd need somebody who is good with making maps. I have the campaign in my head, but no maps. Though of course I will be looking online for maps that fit what I need.

Not sure how much time I'll have, but I might be able to help with the maps. There's also some different map making software out there.


Now.... where are my copies of Dundjinni and Campaign Cartographer?

[Crossbow]

Another idea for you on the maps, Myt: http://inkwellideas.com/.
The might be able to help with some more "on-the-fly" needs.

[Mytical]

Oooo I like! The campaign I have in mind I would request people make neutral or good (or some combination of the two). Evil characters would have less motivation, but I think I have that covered also.

[Gravekeeper]

Evil just never really works in a campaign unless everyone is evil to be honest. They chopped down the alignments in 4th edition though. Taking out all of the neutral alignments along with Chaotic Good and Lawful Evil.

Now its just Lawful Good, Good, Unaligned, Evil and Chaotic Evil.

Which is kind of weird. Lawful Evil made for interesting villains. And Chaotic Neutral was rather amusing to play as.

[Kheldarson]

Evil just never really works in a campaign unless everyone is evil to be honest. They chopped down the alignments in 4th edition though. Taking out all of the neutral alignments along with Chaotic Good and Lawful Evil.

Now its just Lawful Good, Good, Unaligned, Evil and Chaotic Evil.

Which is kind of weird. Lawful Evil made for interesting villains. And Chaotic Neutral was rather amusing to play as.

That's why we went to Pathfinder over 4th edition. It's more about the RP than the combat.

[Mytical]

I agree. This campaign has it's fair share of action, but it is more character driven then combat driven.