"Whispering to other players isn't an option" Due to Discord having multiple voice channels available, whispering to other players is even easier. Can't tell you how many times DMs in my group have taken a single player for a private encounter. It makes the immersion so much better because we as players don't know what just happened, so we genuinely have to wait for the character to reveal it. Plus, sending private messages to other party members makes things fun
Hear hear, had our group not been online, the asshole of the group would never have been able to bamboozle the rest of us with his hidden charity, turns out he was the nicest character in the group and we all felt bad for accusing him of being a dick
Yup. The were a adventure I GMed, the party was resting and chatting around a campfire inside a fortress, and the ranger, due to absurdly high perception, notice someone in distance. While everyone was chatting, I played a side-session with that player on private massage. It was pretty fun, the ranger was "Excuse guys, I need to go somewhere", some minutes later the others go "Where is the ranger? It's been a while", me: "You look outside and se the ranger running at full speed", and so everyone get up and run to help the ranger, when they got there the ranger had already captured a enemy hahaha
Oh yeah this was great for when I failed a saving throw and got knocked out or something. Something i want to try is cut one of my players off, have them become possessed and in private have them fight an NPC only to later reveal that NPC was actually another party member.
I wholeheartedly agree with this. Though as DM I would tell players not to dip into another voice channel for *BAH DING* side conversations as the *BAH DING* exit and entry sound BAH DING* is very distracting for players actively engaged in roleplay *BAH DING* *BAH DING* *BAH DING* private messages are more than sufficient.
If I sent this to my online DM they'd take it as an insult because they're already doing all this to the best of their ability, with the exception of battle maps since we do theatre of the mind because one of our players is blind and battle maps aren't accessible for her.
All I can say about this, after having just finished a 2 year long online campaign on Roll20. Is that there is no being good at Roll20, it will actively go out of its way to screw sessions over, lol.
more virtual tabletops: Owlbear Rodeo - feature-light but not beholden to an asset store. Free MapTools/RPTools - a bit clunky but you can code behaviors and custom sheets. Free Tabletop Simulator - full 3D. Can be coded to automate stuff and some amazing tools like OneWorld have been made. Pay for GATE (Grid And Token Environment) - like Tabletop Simulator but feature-light and focused on RPGs. Can automate some of 5e play. Only the Gamemaster has to pay for it, the other players can connect using the free demo version
I highly recommend Foundry as my VTT of choice. 50$ price of admission for a license, and it can be a bit obtuse to set up, but once you get past that it is absolutely amazing. Notes are easy to organize, maps can be brought in and scaled for grids, character sheets, and monster stat blocks can be customizable super simply. Plus if there isn't some feature included in the game, then there is probably an addon you can find that will do it. One plug in even links your foundry to 5e tools meaning you have access to every monster, spell, item, character feature, and a whole bunch of other great stuff for free. Dynamic lighting and walls are literally as easy to use as a connect the dots drawing.
Also the fact that $50 is about a year of Roll20 subscription, so if you plan on online DMing for more than a year and want the good stuff (LOS, lighting, etc) its a lot cheaper to go with Foundry than it is for Roll20.
I think we can all agree that Blaine is one of the funniest people besides Jocat and Xp to level 3 & One Shot Quips they make quality content for dnd players & there fans and there not the only ones
I started my online Campaign with friends only using Roll20. Sessions 1 and 2 I didn't set much up, but ever since then I've been all about putting in as many things as I can to enrich the game. We started in February 2021 and are playing again tomorrow. We're less than 1000 Exp away from Level 9 right now and have played nearly every week despite many of the players changing jobs over the course of the campaign.
Pro tip: If you play in discord or whatever don't be afraid to TEXT RP with each other. What you stay a night at a tavern? Fucking do some text rp, literally it is just writing a book but its limited to your character only. A section your DM glosses over in a time skip? Perfect spot to place your sick bonding rp. You as a DM wanna do a private session with a player or do a rp thing like a patron talking with warlock? Slide into their DMs with it and work off of that You and another player getting spicy and some romance but you both are 15-25 year old men and you can't voice a woman? Slide into the DMs and do that spicy smut with your bro. The other players don't gotta see it (unless they want to) and you can say all that sappy couple stuff without being awkward.
2:07 Well, I guess I'm a true pirate, apparently. It's such an amazingly useful website, and it's how I was first introduced to actually playing d&d. Lots of 5e tools. I have since actually bought a number of the physical books as well, but having an easily searchable website is a VERY convenient option. And it helped inform me which books I want to buy since I can also easily see where each rule, spell, subclass, monster, item, etc comes from. Currently I have the PHB, Xanathar's Guide, Tasha's Cauldron and Mordenkainen's Monsters of the Multiverse. Will probably pick up the Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide as well, though I'm pretty sure most of it is also covered by some other books.
I'm running a campaign through foundry with 100% handmade maps, and a heap of them. Likely 100 modules, and full character freedom. Because of combat automation, fights are suprisingly efficient, even at higher levels. Foundry has changed our lives
@@christopher4684 I believe one comment in this sea of comments has spoken its forbidden name, "Ulitharid" I believe is the name, all you have to do is find it
For the 'Whispering' Part, our group just DM's each other. Depending on the scenario, we either tell the party, or act out what is happenening. For example, I am running the 'feylost' background right now, and so my DM sometimes just messages me random schizophrenic dreams, and then after I read it, I act out exactly how my character sleepwalks it (or crawls.... or...... other things...).
I run multiple games out of a Discord and we've been going on for almost 2 years in the longest campaign. It's been amazing having online friends to play with when it was otherwise impossible to find players.
Advertise locally. People are interested. You aren't interested in them, that's fine. But potential players are available IRL everywhere now. Seriously, everywhere. FB localgroup:"Hey, we're looking for people interested in D&D in the local community. No problem if you've never played before, we'll teach you! We play in a public location." Guaranteed response.
I have used all three systems as well as Owlbear Rodeo and to be honest Fantasy Grounds is my favorite of the bunch. If you ever want to stop in to join a group in a one shot let me know.
My group uses Zoom as well because we actually like to see who we're gaming with. Also makes RP more fun when ppl can see what you're trying to act out.
Comrade, you reminded me of old campaign Tovarisch (That's me) made. I had plot down, but not map. Now, I have full oneshot! Two rooms and fog of war, my comrade.
Foundry is amazing. True, it's expensive, and unless you can fully host, the connection issues will be all around, and it's harder at start, but it's infinitely times better. Much less problems than I or my friendly DMs ever had with Roll20. If you think, that you want to be better- get yourself Foundry. If you think, that "uh, I'll have to spend some time switching from Roll20"- there are modules which just transfer all your roll20 material into Foundry format. Believe me. It's much better.
You can also get a Forge subscription and host your games on a paid server which eliminates most of the problems with hosting using Foundry and makes modding it really easy. Foundry is also not as expensive as it looks, because Foundry on its own is a one-time software purchase, and the base product gives you more functionality than most subscription-based VTTs. Ever wrestled with ROll20's upload limit, cutting up one 10mb map into three pieces because the max upload size is 5mb/image and it won't divide cleanly? Foundry has no upload limit, it's hosted on your PC; Forge also has no upload limit, it's your own private server. Ever wanted to implement QOL features into your games, or make small changes to a game to fix a bug, but couldn't because most VTTs don't allow modding? Foundry has sections of its asset store dedicated to QOL, and most implemented games and assets are open source so you have the power to go in and fix it yourself, for everyone, if you find a problem. I run all my games with Blades in The Dark clocks as tracking tools without any hassle, I have custom dice macros that allow me to run simple code inside of the ingame chat, I can manually paint and erase fog of war using Simplefog if I don't have time to set up proper lighting during prep, and all this is on top of Foundry being a soild VTT as a base product, and I barely scratch the surface of ll the options at my disposal. I full-heartedly recommend Foundry for any online GM.
And, another great thing about foundry, only the DM has to buy it, and no players need to mees around with downloading programs, it's just connect through a web browser. if you have especially kind players, everyone could chip in a little bit, say 5-10$ per player, and then it's only like 20-30 out of pocket for the dm, and you'll never have to buy another VTT again.
- Owlbear rodeo for folks who want something free and don't plan for any automation. - Foundry VTT for folks who want passable (5e) to great (pf2e) to amazing (forbidden lands) ruleset implementation and can pay the $50 entry cost. - Roll20, if you can't afford foundry and having online character sheets are a must (and having a google drive with form fillable pdfs or using D&D beyond for 5e confuses you) - Fantasygrounds, mainly for 5e users but if you are happy to drop a couple hundred dollars on a product, install some modules and not need to worry about automation or annoying prep for the most part. (Seriously, foundry as good as it is has a pretty bad 5e implementation by comparison even with extensive module use). But if something isn't officially supported, use owlbear or foundry instead. Overall foundry is my favourite for non 5e play atm followed by a soft spot for owlbear, then fantasygrounds because of its stellar 5e implementation and extension support. But other rulesets are better implemented elsewhere imo. R20 I used for four years, owlbear and foundry removed my need to ever use it again.
bruh the image that was shown when he said "bad microphones" is literally just the mic setup that I use and everyone says my mic is the best of my group
recently I found very cool interactive character sheet in for of exel doc I has nearly everything even something like druid shape shift stats or familiar stat block custom classes and races are supported too I thing it is one of the best character sheets for somone who don't have access to books on roll20 or dnd beyond
thank you! I didn't even think of using a dedicated program I was just openning up MS paint, and was wondering why no one joined, despite prechecks of if they would be able to coming out positive
I run a play by post using just inkarnate, discord, and DND beyond, it's actually much easier to accommodate time zones when it's 24/7 post when you can. The only draw back is combat is not real time.
I don’t use battle sheets very often but I manage but I manage to compensate by making every battle a dramatic battle of life and death in which the rule of cool is the golden rule… . . . And scaring my players half to death so they don’t realize what they missing
We use fantasy grounds. It’s good and simple and cheap. If your computer isn’t great it’ll crash every time you look at it funny, and about half the million updates break something new but it’s okay because the other half will fix it. Our in person game got moved online due to the panini, it’s not the same and I wish I could hug and chill with my friends still , but I’m glad we didn’t lose this game that has now been running for 4 years
I'd be remiss to not suggest One More Multiverse! It's a new project (Although its regularly being updated), It has an intense amount of map creation for environment and pixel art character creator for players to move around those environments. The beta is free to test out and it's just an incredibly diverse (AND FREE) way for online sessions to work!
What? Pirate? No. Never. I would never use free resources to access a comprehensive store of rules and info for a game I definitely paid hundreds of dollars for. My uhm... DM has the books I'm just borrowing the information... from the books. Clearly it's already been paid for. The books. Paid. Yes. I'm just not holding the books... physically... in my hands... currently... or ever. But I could have him send me the books. Or I could have him read everything verbatim. From the books... he bought... for real.
Point regarding the art-work: Yes, no one cares for your private d&d game, but if for some reason someone wants to stream it, for whatever reason, that's when you gotta be careful: streaming can lead to income, and income via someone else's copyrighted works without giving them at least credit, and likely getting permission and possibly sharing the proceeds, can become... Problematic^tm
Nah I don't learn fast enough to make my roll 20 chonky. That shit gets updated manually. My problem though is mostly finding players. The only people who also have Mondays off are usually unemployed, and can't make the game of they get a job. Saturday and Sundays aren't available to me as the GM. But everyone I know who wants to play doesn't have anytime Monday or Tuesdays to actually do it.
MY broke ass without a computer, only a phone: Go to Discord. Set up a day when you're available. "Who wants to play on THAT day / time?" Bargain for schedule. Create a Discord server. Create a bunch of private channels for your notes. Tell people which online character sheet builder to use since otherwise you'll have to check 5 different ones. Dungeon some dragons and let your players _skip 3 different encounters because the Rogue rolled multiple nat20s in a row and suddenly your city thorn off by war is a hide and seek play ground._ Let your lucky and smart players get fucked for trying to infiltrate a fortress during a war without a plan. With the Barbarian just crashing through the front door and getting KO'd in 2 turns. _Online D&D!_
A place where the magic happens, matey. People say that once in a blue moon, it will appear to a person who went to Google and typed te name of their favorite 5e spell and scrolled down far enough
THE BOOKS... the books. Because everyone owns the books when they reference D&D stuff because that's where they get all their information and not from an online resource because absolutely nobody would ever deprive WotC of their hard earned money so we all buy the books which are the best resource and there are no other resources at all except the books.
@@y2kafka472 yes exactly. Why would you need tools like a global search, sorting creatures and spells by level, class, and innumerable other tags and countless other amazing 5etools when you have good old page at a time books.
I will counter the final point by saying that using all the features will lead to burn out, since the more features you use the more time you need to spend to implement and make sure they work. This either time that is going to occupy your other campaign preparation or which will lead to crunch as you try to get everything done. Use only what you what to use and saves enough time in the long run to be worth the initial investment.
"Whispering" can be done through text chat. It's a great way to get a reaction out, without talking over the rest. But, I prefer if people keep it to a minimum during a DM narration. Especially annoying is remarks or questions during the narration. Let me finish, then ask questions.
"Whispering to other players isnt an option." Or you know you could just sent a private message...or if you are using Roll20 there is literally a whisper command. And sure if its information you dont want them to share word-for-word with the party (because players will just read what you sent them out loud) you could make a separate voice channel and tell them to hop in for a bit, similar to taking a player out of the room to tell them something. Admitted Im fine with just the text. If it's something that they are just going to immediately share with the rest of the party or it would be a dick move not to share I just tell the whole party. When I do send a private message the player tends not to read it out, because they want to keep the information to themselves for some reason (such as being a double agent).
What if you did a viewer stream on both twitch and TH-cam and they each make different characters. “Ok twitch what do you do” T Chat “eat rock” “TH-cam what about you” Y chat “steal twitch’s rock” Something like that would be hilarious
Does anyone know of some helpful videos explaining dynamic lighting in Roll20? Or just lighting in general but a deeper dive? It tends to be my main bane right now.
There's a whole big ass movement on using copyrighted or even non copyrighted materials for private shit. There's people out there that will hunt you down and report you for "art theft" over that shit.
![เกิดใหม่ทั้งทีก็เป็นสไลม์ไปซะแล้ว ซีซั่น 3 - ตอนที่ 66 [ซับไทย]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/qcaUguFlwdM/mqdefault.jpg)
"Whispering to other players isn't an option"
Due to Discord having multiple voice channels available, whispering to other players is even easier. Can't tell you how many times DMs in my group have taken a single player for a private encounter. It makes the immersion so much better because we as players don't know what just happened, so we genuinely have to wait for the character to reveal it.
Plus, sending private messages to other party members makes things fun
Hear hear, had our group not been online, the asshole of the group would never have been able to bamboozle the rest of us with his hidden charity, turns out he was the nicest character in the group and we all felt bad for accusing him of being a dick
Yup. The were a adventure I GMed, the party was resting and chatting around a campfire inside a fortress, and the ranger, due to absurdly high perception, notice someone in distance. While everyone was chatting, I played a side-session with that player on private massage. It was pretty fun, the ranger was "Excuse guys, I need to go somewhere", some minutes later the others go "Where is the ranger? It's been a while", me: "You look outside and se the ranger running at full speed", and so everyone get up and run to help the ranger, when they got there the ranger had already captured a enemy hahaha
Oh yeah this was great for when I failed a saving throw and got knocked out or something.
Something i want to try is cut one of my players off, have them become possessed and in private have them fight an NPC only to later reveal that NPC was actually another party member.
I wholeheartedly agree with this. Though as DM I would tell players not to dip into another voice channel for *BAH DING* side conversations as the *BAH DING* exit and entry sound BAH DING* is very distracting for players actively engaged in roleplay *BAH DING* *BAH DING* *BAH DING*
private messages are more than sufficient.
@@X23Natalie Oh yeah, when we want to do private party discussions, we just do it viva typed messages
If I sent this to my online DM they'd take it as an insult because they're already doing all this to the best of their ability, with the exception of battle maps since we do theatre of the mind because one of our players is blind and battle maps aren't accessible for her.
Sucks being limited cause of a disability. But kudos to the rest of you for adapting so she can be included :D
No disrespect, but how does the blind player play online?
@@RudockAviar DnD Beyond is luckily fairly screen reader friendly.
All I can say about this, after having just finished a 2 year long online campaign on Roll20. Is that there is no being good at Roll20, it will actively go out of its way to screw sessions over, lol.
Yup. Randomly crashing
Never had that happen to me...
Randomly crash, no. Randomly make an NPC unselectable, randomly expand their aura..... It's happened.
Stopped using roll20 after like 2-3 sessions. Using Foundry VTT for online games now, much better.
Been using Roll20 for the past year or so, never gone down for me. Love it.
2:01 hehe that's me
please share the arcane treasures with me
Great simple tips Blaine! All nicely wrapped in a short vid!
Yo I know you
Ay the Dwarven blacksmith
more virtual tabletops:
Owlbear Rodeo - feature-light but not beholden to an asset store. Free
MapTools/RPTools - a bit clunky but you can code behaviors and custom sheets. Free
Tabletop Simulator - full 3D. Can be coded to automate stuff and some amazing tools like OneWorld have been made. Pay for
GATE (Grid And Token Environment) - like Tabletop Simulator but feature-light and focused on RPGs. Can automate some of 5e play. Only the Gamemaster has to pay for it, the other players can connect using the free demo version
Minecraft
I did it, so its possible, so I'm counting it
2:07 Such a useful website, simply brimming with tools that can be used in DnD 5e.
and where do this website be located on the 7 seas?
@@octotoaster7870 ahhhh secret
@@DualEyedMonty please 🙏
@@octotoaster7870 5etools
@@flamingrubys11 thank yee matey
I highly recommend Foundry as my VTT of choice. 50$ price of admission for a license, and it can be a bit obtuse to set up, but once you get past that it is absolutely amazing. Notes are easy to organize, maps can be brought in and scaled for grids, character sheets, and monster stat blocks can be customizable super simply. Plus if there isn't some feature included in the game, then there is probably an addon you can find that will do it. One plug in even links your foundry to 5e tools meaning you have access to every monster, spell, item, character feature, and a whole bunch of other great stuff for free. Dynamic lighting and walls are literally as easy to use as a connect the dots drawing.
Also the fact that $50 is about a year of Roll20 subscription, so if you plan on online DMing for more than a year and want the good stuff (LOS, lighting, etc) its a lot cheaper to go with Foundry than it is for Roll20.
FoundryVTT is simply awesome and the price is very fair.
I think we can all agree that Blaine is one of the funniest people besides Jocat and Xp to level 3 & One Shot Quips they make quality content for dnd players & there fans and there not the only ones
True
XP to lv 3? One shot quips?
@@Jackson-ms2qq who
@@Jackson-ms2qq thank you for bringing up one shot quips he is great and funny
Are you a bot?
2:06 hehe I agree that is a great set of tools for 5e
Please enlighten me
what is it
I'm also interested
@@DangerDurians 5e tools
I started my online Campaign with friends only using Roll20. Sessions 1 and 2 I didn't set much up, but ever since then I've been all about putting in as many things as I can to enrich the game. We started in February 2021 and are playing again tomorrow. We're less than 1000 Exp away from Level 9 right now and have played nearly every week despite many of the players changing jobs over the course of the campaign.
FYI tonight's session went great and we had a lot of good RP moments, albeit not a lot of combat so unfortunately no Level 9 yet.
@@AlastorNahIdWinRadioDemon awesome! Hope you guys are having a great time :]
Pro tip: If you play in discord or whatever don't be afraid to TEXT RP with each other. What you stay a night at a tavern? Fucking do some text rp, literally it is just writing a book but its limited to your character only.
A section your DM glosses over in a time skip? Perfect spot to place your sick bonding rp.
You as a DM wanna do a private session with a player or do a rp thing like a patron talking with warlock? Slide into their DMs with it and work off of that
You and another player getting spicy and some romance but you both are 15-25 year old men and you can't voice a woman? Slide into the DMs and do that spicy smut with your bro. The other players don't gotta see it (unless they want to) and you can say all that sappy couple stuff without being awkward.
2:07 Well, I guess I'm a true pirate, apparently.
It's such an amazingly useful website, and it's how I was first introduced to actually playing d&d. Lots of 5e tools. I have since actually bought a number of the physical books as well, but having an easily searchable website is a VERY convenient option. And it helped inform me which books I want to buy since I can also easily see where each rule, spell, subclass, monster, item, etc comes from.
Currently I have the PHB, Xanathar's Guide, Tasha's Cauldron and Mordenkainen's Monsters of the Multiverse. Will probably pick up the Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide as well, though I'm pretty sure most of it is also covered by some other books.
Whats the site called
@@Stellartist_E 5etools
The best virtual tabletop is google slides and you can't convince me otherwise.
Cool, cool, you win internet.
I'm running a campaign through foundry with 100% handmade maps, and a heap of them. Likely 100 modules, and full character freedom. Because of combat automation, fights are suprisingly efficient, even at higher levels. Foundry has changed our lives
You entertain, you teach, you show your talent, and people love you. Keep doing what you’re doing man, you’re doing great. 😎
2:07 one of the best websites which provides a lot of useful tools for 5e
Name?
@@christopher4684 I believe one comment in this sea of comments has spoken its forbidden name, "Ulitharid" I believe is the name, all you have to do is find it
For the 'Whispering' Part, our group just DM's each other. Depending on the scenario, we either tell the party, or act out what is happenening. For example, I am running the 'feylost' background right now, and so my DM sometimes just messages me random schizophrenic dreams, and then after I read it, I act out exactly how my character sleepwalks it (or crawls.... or...... other things...).
Me:An online DM who didn’t have a player send this to me “Don’t mind if I do”
Ah yes, only true pirates of the high internets know of the *Tools* to help with *5e*
I run multiple games out of a Discord and we've been going on for almost 2 years in the longest campaign. It's been amazing having online friends to play with when it was otherwise impossible to find players.
Advertise locally. People are interested. You aren't interested in them, that's fine. But potential players are available IRL everywhere now. Seriously, everywhere. FB localgroup:"Hey, we're looking for people interested in D&D in the local community. No problem if you've never played before, we'll teach you! We play in a public location." Guaranteed response.
I have used all three systems as well as Owlbear Rodeo and to be honest Fantasy Grounds is my favorite of the bunch. If you ever want to stop in to join a group in a one shot let me know.
or you can use dnd beyond for all the calculations and use talespire for your actual maps for a better time
My group uses Zoom as well because we actually like to see who we're gaming with. Also makes RP more fun when ppl can see what you're trying to act out.
I’m a really big fan of the simplicity of the Owlbear Rodeo VTT if you aren’t familiar.
Edit: I see you’re a fellow enjoyer of dubloons yourself ☠️
Comrade, you reminded me of old campaign Tovarisch (That's me) made. I had plot down, but not map. Now, I have full oneshot! Two rooms and fog of war, my comrade.
wait I just get it! Blaine Simple is a play-on-words for Plain & Simple! this changed my life forever..
I needed to learn this, thanks!
Foundry is amazing. True, it's expensive, and unless you can fully host, the connection issues will be all around, and it's harder at start, but it's infinitely times better. Much less problems than I or my friendly DMs ever had with Roll20. If you think, that you want to be better- get yourself Foundry. If you think, that "uh, I'll have to spend some time switching from Roll20"- there are modules which just transfer all your roll20 material into Foundry format. Believe me. It's much better.
You can also get a Forge subscription and host your games on a paid server which eliminates most of the problems with hosting using Foundry and makes modding it really easy. Foundry is also not as expensive as it looks, because Foundry on its own is a one-time software purchase, and the base product gives you more functionality than most subscription-based VTTs.
Ever wrestled with ROll20's upload limit, cutting up one 10mb map into three pieces because the max upload size is 5mb/image and it won't divide cleanly? Foundry has no upload limit, it's hosted on your PC; Forge also has no upload limit, it's your own private server.
Ever wanted to implement QOL features into your games, or make small changes to a game to fix a bug, but couldn't because most VTTs don't allow modding? Foundry has sections of its asset store dedicated to QOL, and most implemented games and assets are open source so you have the power to go in and fix it yourself, for everyone, if you find a problem.
I run all my games with Blades in The Dark clocks as tracking tools without any hassle, I have custom dice macros that allow me to run simple code inside of the ingame chat, I can manually paint and erase fog of war using Simplefog if I don't have time to set up proper lighting during prep, and all this is on top of Foundry being a soild VTT as a base product, and I barely scratch the surface of ll the options at my disposal.
I full-heartedly recommend Foundry for any online GM.
And, another great thing about foundry, only the DM has to buy it, and no players need to mees around with downloading programs, it's just connect through a web browser. if you have especially kind players, everyone could chip in a little bit, say 5-10$ per player, and then it's only like 20-30 out of pocket for the dm, and you'll never have to buy another VTT again.
@@EmberBlaze99 This is definitely something I'm going to invest in.
- Owlbear rodeo for folks who want something free and don't plan for any automation.
- Foundry VTT for folks who want passable (5e) to great (pf2e) to amazing (forbidden lands) ruleset implementation and can pay the $50 entry cost.
- Roll20, if you can't afford foundry and having online character sheets are a must (and having a google drive with form fillable pdfs or using D&D beyond for 5e confuses you)
- Fantasygrounds, mainly for 5e users but if you are happy to drop a couple hundred dollars on a product, install some modules and not need to worry about automation or annoying prep for the most part. (Seriously, foundry as good as it is has a pretty bad 5e implementation by comparison even with extensive module use). But if something isn't officially supported, use owlbear or foundry instead.
Overall foundry is my favourite for non 5e play atm followed by a soft spot for owlbear, then fantasygrounds because of its stellar 5e implementation and extension support. But other rulesets are better implemented elsewhere imo.
R20 I used for four years, owlbear and foundry removed my need to ever use it again.
bruh the image that was shown when he said "bad microphones" is literally just the mic setup that I use and everyone says my mic is the best of my group
So many DMs needs to see this...
recently I found very cool interactive character sheet in for of exel doc
I has nearly everything even something like druid shape shift stats or familiar stat block
custom classes and races are supported too
I thing it is one of the best character sheets for somone who don't have access to books on roll20 or dnd beyond
thank you! I didn't even think of using a dedicated program I was just openning up MS paint, and was wondering why no one joined, despite prechecks of if they would be able to coming out positive
2:09 almost made me spit out my coffee
I wholly recommend Owlbear Rodeo. Its a no nonsense, non laggy vtt. Its just a map with some useful tools. And completely free
Congrats on 200k
0:56
Well that’s a menacing encounter.
Just Sans standing in a room.
Based site at 2:07 It's one of the best sites for... sailing
Having run for near 2 years all tom over discord, maybe a vtt isn't all that needed, but the etiquette and voice stuff is good
God.. this hits different after struggling years ago to learn Roll20 omg..
I actually run games in tabletop simulator, there's just something satisfying about the 3d aspect.
Yas, Maybe I can actually be a better dm now. Thank you so much for this making entertaining, but educational video.
i play dnd on tabletop simulator. it's a one time buy game (it's also on steam) and it's 300% customizable
"Arrr!" Guess I'm a pirate then 😅
Owlbear Rodeo is my VTT of choice.
2:07 ah yes the best Tools for 5e
“Only true pirates know..”
- me using [explicit] since i first touched dnd
What even is that? Purely out of curiosity
I run a play by post using just inkarnate, discord, and DND beyond, it's actually much easier to accommodate time zones when it's 24/7 post when you can. The only draw back is combat is not real time.
>whispering is not an option
PMs: Am I a joke to you?
Only the true pirates know....
5e tools
I don’t use battle sheets very often but I manage but I manage to compensate by making every battle a dramatic battle of life and death in which the rule of cool is the golden rule…
.
.
.
And scaring my players half to death so they don’t realize what they missing
owlbear rodeo i have heard is a great one
As a true pirate that site is the best thing ever made for 5e, it's so good
Table Top Sim is also a great tool
Map on Roll20
Character sheets on Dndbeyond
Connect with Beyond20 Chrome extension
Video/ Audio on Discord
Hotel Trivago
We use fantasy grounds. It’s good and simple and cheap. If your computer isn’t great it’ll crash every time you look at it funny, and about half the million updates break something new but it’s okay because the other half will fix it. Our in person game got moved online due to the panini, it’s not the same and I wish I could hug and chill with my friends still , but I’m glad we didn’t lose this game that has now been running for 4 years
I'd be remiss to not suggest One More Multiverse! It's a new project (Although its regularly being updated), It has an intense amount of map creation for environment and pixel art character creator for players to move around those environments. The beta is free to test out and it's just an incredibly diverse (AND FREE) way for online sessions to work!
What? Pirate? No. Never.
I would never use free resources to access a comprehensive store of rules and info for a game I definitely paid hundreds of dollars for. My uhm... DM has the books I'm just borrowing the information... from the books. Clearly it's already been paid for. The books. Paid. Yes.
I'm just not holding the books... physically... in my hands... currently... or ever. But I could have him send me the books. Or I could have him read everything verbatim. From the books... he bought... for real.
I am proud to admit that I found out about half of these myself in my 1.5 years of sort of experience
VTT is an additional barrier of entry to overcome for new DMs. Please don't act as if it's mandatory.
5e tools is a god send. I use it constantly.
me whos the DM and got this in my reccomended: I'll definetley write this down.
i needed this
Point regarding the art-work: Yes, no one cares for your private d&d game, but if for some reason someone wants to stream it, for whatever reason, that's when you gotta be careful: streaming can lead to income, and income via someone else's copyrighted works without giving them at least credit, and likely getting permission and possibly sharing the proceeds, can become... Problematic^tm
5etools has saved my ass so many times lol.
Nah I don't learn fast enough to make my roll 20 chonky. That shit gets updated manually.
My problem though is mostly finding players. The only people who also have Mondays off are usually unemployed, and can't make the game of they get a job.
Saturday and Sundays aren't available to me as the GM.
But everyone I know who wants to play doesn't have anytime Monday or Tuesdays to actually do it.
You can also use Owlbear Rodeo, which i personally like
MY broke ass without a computer, only a phone:
Go to Discord.
Set up a day when you're available.
"Who wants to play on THAT day / time?"
Bargain for schedule.
Create a Discord server.
Create a bunch of private channels for your notes.
Tell people which online character sheet builder to use since otherwise you'll have to check 5 different ones.
Dungeon some dragons and let your players _skip 3 different encounters because the Rogue rolled multiple nat20s in a row and suddenly your city thorn off by war is a hide and seek play ground._
Let your lucky and smart players get fucked for trying to infiltrate a fortress during a war without a plan. With the Barbarian just crashing through the front door and getting KO'd in 2 turns.
_Online D&D!_
5e tools XD indeed only true pirates know
Jokes on you, I AM an online Dungeon Master that found this!
Being last is harder than being first change my mind
wow I wonder who that naive person in the discord segment could be-
I used to be such an amazing pirate...now I am but a land lubber. T~T How do I not know what that is.
A place where the magic happens, matey. People say that once in a blue moon, it will appear to a person who went to Google and typed te name of their favorite 5e spell and scrolled down far enough
Thank you for referencing what is clearly the best online 5e resource.
Which?
THE BOOKS... the books. Because everyone owns the books when they reference D&D stuff because that's where they get all their information and not from an online resource because absolutely nobody would ever deprive WotC of their hard earned money so we all buy the books which are the best resource and there are no other resources at all except the books.
@@y2kafka472 yes exactly. Why would you need tools like a global search, sorting creatures and spells by level, class, and innumerable other tags and countless other amazing 5etools when you have good old page at a time books.
Or just bring everyone into a discord call and imagine it
Owlbear Rodeo
I will counter the final point by saying that using all the features will lead to burn out, since the more features you use the more time you need to spend to implement and make sure they work. This either time that is going to occupy your other campaign preparation or which will lead to crunch as you try to get everything done. Use only what you what to use and saves enough time in the long run to be worth the initial investment.
"Whispering" can be done through text chat. It's a great way to get a reaction out, without talking over the rest.
But, I prefer if people keep it to a minimum during a DM narration. Especially annoying is remarks or questions during the narration. Let me finish, then ask questions.
It's pretty much the exact same for Fantasy Grounds.
I'm too afraid to send this to my DM because they are such frail beings. I don't want to pressure my DM's.
I might start doing online stuff just so can get a chance to be a player.
*Forever DM problems*
There is also owlbear rodeo
what normal people watch: my hero
what chads what:re zero
am I right
"Whispering to other players isnt an option."
Or you know you could just sent a private message...or if you are using Roll20 there is literally a whisper command. And sure if its information you dont want them to share word-for-word with the party (because players will just read what you sent them out loud) you could make a separate voice channel and tell them to hop in for a bit, similar to taking a player out of the room to tell them something.
Admitted Im fine with just the text. If it's something that they are just going to immediately share with the rest of the party or it would be a dick move not to share I just tell the whole party. When I do send a private message the player tends not to read it out, because they want to keep the information to themselves for some reason (such as being a double agent).
Yes, but have you considered that my ISP trash and regional monopolies are terrible
Wow.. those are some nice TOOLS for 5th edition.
I'll see myself out.
Ah, one who practices real life Thieves' Cant.
What if you did a viewer stream on both twitch and TH-cam and they each make different characters.
“Ok twitch what do you do”
T Chat “eat rock”
“TH-cam what about you”
Y chat “steal twitch’s rock”
Something like that would be hilarious
Yo, ho, haul together
Hoist the colours high!
0:58 turn around traveler, it'd be a crime
Or use Owlbear rodeo and prepare your sessions within minutes :D
This such good stuff, high quality
I was gonna send this to my DM like the title says, but upon viewing, I think he already knows all of this; so I consider myself lucky
Does anyone know of some helpful videos explaining dynamic lighting in Roll20? Or just lighting in general but a deeper dive? It tends to be my main bane right now.
Not nearly enough Rem
FantasyGrounds is dope if you like deep features and automation.
Since you are so good at doing online dming, do you or would you consider doing that as a side gig?
There's a whole big ass movement on using copyrighted or even non copyrighted materials for private shit. There's people out there that will hunt you down and report you for "art theft" over that shit.
I guess I'll send this... To my EVIL TWIN.
As an online dm I watched this to stay ahead of my player’s sending it. Great video though
Start with a bunch of oneshots. You'll be less disappointed when everything fails and your pc catches on fire.