D&D Over Skype. Ideas?

Okay, well, I've recently been appointed DM of our little group and they want me to design a campaign. Only problem, we're too far apart to meet up for a LAN session, so we're using Skype.

For those who don't know, D&D stands for Dungeons and Dragons, which is the most popular pen and paper RPG this side of Venus. It's rather complex, and stupidly fun. Imagine WoW, but with infinite possibilities and no scum of the Earth to bank you (Unless your Dungeon Master is evil).

I've got most things lined up, like the world, story, major villains, etc. The only things I don't have are ways of keeping my players honest, and a visual battlefield for combat. If I had my way, I'd set up a camera over a tabletop grid on my end, but I don't have a camera capable of detaching from this computer. Stupid Macs, aye?

Anyways, I was wondering if anyone had any ideas. Free chat programs with built in dice rolling, or something like a shared MS paint so as I could edit it with them watching? Really I have no idea, and that's why I need help.

For anyone that can contribute, thank you kindly.

Edit: I'm using 3.5e with the online pdf's, for anyone who cares. The pdf's are available here: Wizard's D&D 3.5e PDF

Last edit: 2012-05-27 10:28:57

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phantaxx United States. May 27 2012 10:41. Posts 189

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I had some friends who used http://www.fantasygrounds.com/ I never used it myself nor do I play tabletop games so I can't speak to how it works but probably worth checking out.

Last edit: 2012-05-27 10:42:04

FluffyBinLaden United States. May 27 2012 10:52. Posts 270

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That's a fine looking program, I won't lie. Wish we had the cash. XD

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disformation Germany. May 27 2012 10:57. Posts 195

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Heard some good stuff about that thing: http://www.rptools.net/index.php?page=maptool. Despite the name it has also some stuff like chat going on and people can connect to you, so you can control what the players see. If your not content with the link from above, might want to give that a try instead.

NuclearJudas May 27 2012 10:59. Posts 4222

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I can't imagine roleplaying without having the other dudes/dudettes in the same room (or playing D&D again, for that matter), but I wish you luck.

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DONTPANIC United States. May 27 2012 11:29. Posts 337

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The Major Spoilers D&D podcast has some advice about skype. I know one of the players is always on skype. Though they play 4th edition and it has a lot more of a tabletop feel to it. I dislike 3.5 ed. only because I don't know it. I played ad&d and a year ago started two 4th ed. I hear this 5th ed. is going to take a lot of the mini battles out if you don't want em. I would say the only tough part will be fights. Just make more of a RP campaign? It'll work.

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Daikas United States. May 27 2012 12:43. Posts 92

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On May 27 2012 10:57 disformation wrote:
Heard some good stuff about that thing: http://www.rptools.net/index.php?page=maptool. Despite the name it has also some stuff like chat going on and people can connect to you, so you can control what the players see. If your not content with the link from above, might want to give that a try instead.

Yeah I've played a game using rptools, it worked great. Each char has a token on the field and DM can add monster tokens and create their own map. You can create macros for all the different dies. The map is interactive and spaced with a grid, which was nice for my rogue so I could do a movement roll and position myself behind mobs.

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olabaz United States. May 27 2012 13:13. Posts 186

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There is a free online whiteboard called Twiddla that you might be able to use.

r.Evo Germany. May 27 2012 13:20. Posts 5218

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Anyways, I was wondering if anyone had any ideas. Free chat programs with built in dice rolling, or something like a shared MS paint so as I could edit it with them watching? Really I have no idea, and that's why I need help.

Have you thought about some kind of desktop sharing program like teamviewer as a substitute for "shared MS paint"? Basically you could write/paint/type whatever you want and all of the people in your group could see it.

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]343[ United States. May 27 2012 14:33. Posts 8153

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we use maptools for our (in-person) campaign. it's convenient, but screws up fairly often :/ (often vision blocking is hard. admittedly this may be less of a problem for 3.5 than for our 4th editon campaign?)

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FluffyBinLaden United States. May 27 2012 16:06. Posts 270

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I actually listen to the Major Spoilers Podcast, or at least their Critical Hit podcast. Very informative.

I think that Twiddla thing is our best bet. Thank you everyone!!!!!!

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See.Blue United States. May 27 2012 18:10. Posts 2293

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I do the sam thing with my friends from undergrad, have a session tonight. Maptools is what you're lookin for

brolaf May 27 2012 21:39. Posts 219

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well technically you can play stuff like baldurs gate 1&2 with webcams and custom mods/stuff. bg1 especially is a very open ended game for most of its story so there is tons of space for roleplay and fantasy to be added, and very close to dnd rules.

Last edit: 2012-05-27 21:39:51

N.geNuity United States. May 28 2012 08:07. Posts 3213

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I'm currently playing 3.5 over skype with my friends as well over the summer but can't help much except for maybe a good online roller. They use http://rolz.org/group (you can make a room with a password and see everybody's rolls, and can add modifiers already like preset it to 1d20+4 or whatever). I just use my own dice and don't actually lie about what I roll. Just trust your players

.

However, combat wise we haven't really encountered anything complex that required more than just a few squares. Our DM has just been doing things like having maps like so: + Show Spoiler + and just describing where things were as we entered the rooms (but I guess mspainted it room by room, as you can also see a cutoff going to room 4). However he had been using preset online campaigns he found online that had images already available. He's writing the next adventure so maybe I can forward what he comes up with.

One thing that is actually a plus for us online compared to playing in person is that it's easier to "split up" and have some characters learn some information while others don't hear as you can have different chats. In person it had a problem of "person X hears Y" but then everybody "knows" what is happening.

At first I thought playing online would be awkward compared to our sessions in person but it worked out fine.

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UltimateHurl Ireland. May 28 2012 17:53. Posts 554

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Skype seems like a good tool for D&D, the games I played were always casual enough, you should blog about the best solution you find :D

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