I got started playing D&D in person, but that quickly changed as I returned to college out-of-state.
I like the opportunity to play in person. It’s a lot easier to pick up on the group’s energy, and body language and tone of voice come across a lot better across the table. It’s easy to engage with each other without distractions.
But in my experience, it’s not exactly a choice of online versus in person. Your group might be spread across the corners of the world (or just too far away to drive), or you find a group online to begin with. Online play presents a few challenges that just aren’t a factor when you can inhabit the same physical space all together.
This is the case if all of your group tunes in from separate locations, or your group is a mix of in person and video calling-in.
The most obvious challenge
For one, there’s the whole matter of internet connection.
While we would all appreciate it if our connection was perfect and crystal clear, that’s just not realistic. You and your group are going to have technical difficulties, weird internet fickleness, and audio glitches. This requires a lot of patience from everyone.
You can try to minimize these complications by being close to the source of your wireless connection or opting for a wired connection. Minimizing other internet activity can also help, but sometimes that falls out of your control, like if you live with other people.
Voice-only is less strenuous on your connection, and it can be a good option especially if your connection is so unpredictable that you can’t see your friends anyways.
When I ran “Death House,” the introductory adventure to Curse of Strahd, I posted the text of a letter in our GroupMe after I read it aloud. Players texted each other during the call to represent their characters’ telepathic communication or whispered side conversations. They sent copies of what was said to me, so I could have a handle on what was going on. Incorporating text messaging or text-based
even the vampire lord himself needs a gaming group
chat solutions can help make sure your players receive information when it’s important they hear each word.
Dealing with connection problems can be very frustrating, but sometimes you just need to take a deep breath and restart the call.
Your application of choice
I’ve used Skype, Google Hangouts, Discord, FaceTime, Oovoo, and (briefly) Roll20 to play with my friends. Discord is our current favorite, and our DM has set up a server with everyone to keep track of scheduling and other organizational facets of running the game.
We used Skype starting out. It works well enough, and most people have it already downloaded and set up. However, it seemed to work less and less well as updates rolled out—at least for us, and especially for those who used mobile devices.
Some of our players had specific issues using Skype. We tried Google Hangouts a few times, but everyone’s connection seemed much worse. We also used Oovoo before Skype let you have more people in our calls. Oovoo works in a pinch, but I can’t recommend it. It’s a free service, so it uses ads, some of which pop in during the call.
A lot of people like using Roll20, and I think it works pretty well. At the time we used it, my laptop was having issues with its internal Wi-Fi adapter, so I can’t really give a clear picture of how it seemed to work with my less-than-optimal Wi-Fi connection.
FaceTime is another that works when you find yourself in a corner, but it relies on your group having Apple devices.
Overall, I’ve had the best luck with Discord video chat, and being able to set up a server for your group is a big help organizationally.
Screen problems
I usually can’t have other things up on my screen while I’m playing besides that which is immediately relevant to the session. That means I’ve got my D&D Beyond character sheet and last session’s notes. If I’m about to use an ability or spell, I make sure I have its rules text available, but nothing else is on my screen. I take notes by hand during the actual session.
Everything else ends up being a distraction! Social media can be a particularly bad offender– I don’t want to miss something because I’m scrolling through Twitter.
And there are a lot of other potential distractions going on around you anyways.
Environmental distractions
People call in from different places—their bedrooms, their living rooms, home offices. If your players live with other creatures (whether family, roommates, or even just pets), then interruptions are probable. In our situation, our cat likes to solicit our attention during sessions. The distractions are harmless, but it is something to keep in mind.
Very cute. Very good at distraction.
Even if all of your players live alone, the atmosphere gives itself over towards distractions more easily than when everyone is physically gathered around a table. The energy is different. Instead of appropriating one space for the game, everyone’s in charge of their own little pocket of the game.
As a player, I make sure I minimize distractions to myself and make sure to listen to other players. In larger parties, especially, it’s important to let everyone have their turns to speak uninterrupted. It’s easy to miss what a player (or even the DM) says if another noise is competing with it through your headphones.
Don’t be afraid to admit that you didn’t hear what someone was saying. Try to be patient with each other.
And regardless, you’re all playing D&D! It’s the same game. It’s just mediated through different things, so there are a few extra challenges. But I can say that it’s totally doable, and most of my play experience is from games where most of the people are states away. It might not be the same as sitting around a table with everyone, but the same feelings of excitement and the same group collaboration happen.
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