4e / GSL Starting a new online campaign - any suggestions

[Ryndal]

Long time board reader - not many posts tho

I am starting a new 4th ed campaign ( going to run the War of the Burning Sky)

Going to try to do it online so that I can play with my daughter and some other friends who have moved away

Anyway - my plan is to use a Vent server so we can all communicate (I have a Vent server used for WoW raiding) and to e-mail the encounter maps in a j.peg format to everyone several days before we play. I am using Dungeon Crafter III to draw the maps and convert them to an easily e-mailed j.peg format.

Any suggestions from anyone who has tried this?

Ryndal

If this is in the wrong forum, please move it

[Bumbles]

In addition to e-mailing maps to people, I'd put some (not all) up on a web or image host somewhere, as some people won't get the e-mail, or will lose it, and having a URL you can provide when asked.

I don't know if Vent has an IM option, but if it doesn't you might want to find one to use.

[Keefe the Thief]

Hmm, if you have an own vent server you don´t need it, but i find that the sound quality using Skype is better than vent, most of the time. And it doubles as a chat app.

Anyway, use maptool - you dont have to mail anything to anyone, you and your players can draw stuff if the need be.

If thats too much hassle for you, register at google docs and put up a couple of shared documents. If all your players register and you allow them access, they can add their own stuff, post comments etc. That´s highly useful for keeping track of undivided loot or handouts, forex. And one or two players can keep notes in there about the campaign that everybody can see and change.

[amnuxoll]

I ran my first serious online campaign last year and I learned a lot about the software that's available.

Skype vs. Vent - Skype had a lot of trouble with conference calls. People kept getting dropped. We switched to Vent and were quite happy.

OpenRPG - lots of bells and whistles, lots of crashes. OpenRPG doesn't handle big maps well and many of its fanciest features (e.g., fog of war) are buggy. Also the user interface is far from intuitive. I think that, were it stable, I would prefer this software but instead I recommend you avoid it.

MapTool - I could not get this to run on my PC for a very long time. I wasted hours on it. And believe me, I have more experience with computers than you do. I eventually had to download the source code and find/fix the bug myself. Judging from the boards, you have about a 50/50 chance of getting this to work for everyone.

GameTable Online - this is not very feature rich but it did work. We ended up using this most of all. Sometimes simple is best.

Hamachi - You are going to deal a lot with firewalls on everyone's computer/router. This tends to suck. We ended up using this software and all our firewall issues suddenly went away.

Apache - I often found I needed to distribute files (images, magic item descriptions, background knowledge, etc.) during the session. Having my own web server up and running made it easy to have it online and ready for me to distribute the URL at the right moment.

I also learned a lot about running an online campaign. In general, your players' attention span will be much much shorter. You'll find you have to repeat information. Don't run an RP heavy campaign and definitely don't run a sandbox campaign (which was my mistake).

Be prepared for your first couple sessions to be completely wasted on getting the software working and after that, expect to have one logistical issue about every 2.5 sessions.

[Hussar]

I've been playing online pretty much exclusively for about six years now.

I'll second most of what amnuxoll says. That's pretty much nailing it on the head. Now, I have not had anywhere near the issues with Maptool that he had. Of my five players, one has lag issues from time to time, but, I think that's because his internet is not so fast. Once the images have downloaded into his program, those issues seem to go away.

You will have players drop from time to time. 99% of the time they can get back on pretty quickly.

I do recommend using some form of VoIP. We don't actually, but, we do have our instant messengers on, so, if issues do cause major problems, we can still communicate quickly.

I would recommend creating a wiki (PbWiki is a great and very easy one, although Obsidian Portal is directly catering to gamers). And, having a throwaway message board, like Proboards doesn't hurt either. It's surprising how much play you can do between sessions over a message board.

One place I do very much disagree with amnuxoll is in the RP heavy or sandbox style games. I've found that neither is true. RP heavy works great over the internet IME. People tend to find it much easier to stay in character, there are far less distractions, and because you're not actually sitting together, people can be a lot less shy. My experience has been the complete opposite of amnuxoll.

To be honest, high combat campaigns tend to be a pain over the internet until you get everyone on board with macroing their combat rolls. Waiting for someone to key in attacks every round can be excruciatingly slow. It's taken me years to beat my players into submission and get them down to about 1 minute per turn on average. And that's still glacially slow.

[Carpe DM]

Hmm -- perhaps I'm lacking in imagination, but I checked out gametable online, and can't find any app that even looks like D&D.

Carpe

[themilkman]

I've heard good things about d20Pro, but I've never used it, myself. It's built for the d20 systems, but with a bit of tweaking it does 4e pretty easily. Also, you can pick how many of its systems you want to use and how much you'd just like to wing it. If you want to keep it light, you can use d20Pro for just maps, figures, and dice rolling. You can handle initiative, attacks, HP, etc by hand.

[Stoat]

I've been using d20 Pro for two or three years. It's built for 3.5, and works great for that. It's a little more work to use it with 4E, but we've been doing it, and we're happy with it.

[tenkar]

Originally Posted by Carpe DM

Hmm -- perhaps I'm lacking in imagination, but I checked out gametable online, and can't find any app that even looks like D&D.

Carpe

Here's the link for Gametable

There are lots of VTT options out there. Low to no cost are:

Gametable - free

OpenRPG - free

Maptools - free

Screenmonkey - lite is free, full is 35 for the GM only - players log in thru their web browser and they do not need to install any software

[Talysian]

I will give you this.. Fantasy Grounds though more expensive has an extensive player base with 4E and, the big and.. Someone has already converted WOTBS so there is literally like no work for you to do, besides customization.

[tenkar]

I'm a big FG2 advocate, but the OP would have to cough up $40 for the full license for himself, and his players would have to cough up $24 each, for a product they may or may not like, to play online which may or may not suit their styles.

I am of the belief that you start cheap (or free) and if the style of play suits your group explore options that may better suit your needs.

The OP hadn't explored the idea of using a VTT for his online gaming... now we have given him an abundance of options