Author Topic: Anyone used Roll20?  (Read 2413 times)

Offline bhu

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Anyone used Roll20?
« on: November 20, 2015, 03:04:48 AM »
Some friends are curious if it's worth it.

Offline Darbius Maximus

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Re: Anyone used Roll20?
« Reply #1 on: November 20, 2015, 05:32:47 AM »
Don't use it by itself if you can, combo it with Skype. It has all sorts of map and icon resources or you can upload your own. It has soundcloud connectivity so you can have fitting music play while adventuring. The biggest hump is elarning how to make it all work.

Offline Unbeliever

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Re: Anyone used Roll20?
« Reply #2 on: November 20, 2015, 12:07:58 PM »
I like it, in part b/c it's minimalist as far as these things go.  And, it's also free.  I usually pair it with skype or google hangouts for the voice aspect.

Offline stanprollyright

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Re: Anyone used Roll20?
« Reply #3 on: November 20, 2015, 10:53:43 PM »
I use it, typically with Skype.  I've had good experiences.
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Offline bhu

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Re: Anyone used Roll20?
« Reply #4 on: November 20, 2015, 11:59:49 PM »
Not sure if they have skype.  Thanks much for the replies!

Offline Gazzien

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Re: Anyone used Roll20?
« Reply #5 on: November 21, 2015, 01:45:42 AM »
I enjoyed it more than in-person when looking specifically at the mechanical side (there's no "what can I see" or "hey, can you nudge my mini over there across the table" or "oops I knocked everything over with my dice"), because you can easily 'ping' points on the map, draw tactics over it, there's a built-in 'ruler' for measuring distances. According to the DM, though, it's a massive pain in the ass because you need to have everything prepared and ready, and if the group moves away from the path you have planned, it takes a while to get everything together. There's integrated voice / video, but I agree that it's not quite as good as Skype's (though it has the advantage of all being in one window).

TL;DR:
Pros:
  • No "across the table" problems
  • Functionally infinite table space
  • Can ping/ draw on the map easily
  • Built in ruler for measuring distance
  • Built-in voice and video chat
  • Can make macros for dice rolls
Cons:
  • Voice and video integration isn't great
  • You do lose in-person connection (body language is harder than normal)
  • It's hard to prepare things as a DM, in the case players go off the rails.

Offline Libertad

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Re: Anyone used Roll20?
« Reply #6 on: November 21, 2015, 03:59:50 PM »
I used it since August 2014 as a free subscriber, and I really enjoy it.

To add to what people already said, it consumes a lot of bandwidth, even more so if you use video or voice chat.  Running both it and Skype/Google Hangouts might cause your computer to overload or one or both programs to malfunction.  It happened during a playtest when I had Skype on as well.  Then again, at least 2 of my players prefer using text chat so it's not as big of a hurdle it may be for others.

Offline ~Corvus~

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Re: Anyone used Roll20?
« Reply #7 on: December 01, 2015, 03:45:38 AM »
It really necessitates a "we agree not to go too far off the rails" agreement that also is paired with a GM's agreement of "and in thanks for that I won't straight up railroad you players."

That said, using that and Skype can function quite well. It would be cool to make a tablet compatible with the program and thus allow one to draw maps in real-time.
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