D&D 4E How would I play 4E online?

[Tobold]

I've been playing Dungeons & Dragons for over 30 years. I am currently the DM in a campaign, where we play twice a month. I always played D&D the old-fashioned way, sitting around a table with friends. The only experience I have with online RPGs is with MMORPGs like World of Warcraft, which obviously is very different from playing Dungeons & Dragons.

So I wondered how I would go about to find and join an online game of 4th edition Dungeons & Dragons as a new player who doesn't know anybody. I think I've come across play-by-forum games, but I'm not even sure if that is the best way. Are there any specific websites or software for online D&D games? Can anybody recommend a place where I would be likely to find a game I could join?

 

[dd.stevenson]

I don't play 4E, but I see a LOT of 4E games advertised on roll20.net.

 

[gamerprinter]

Yeah, as ddstevenson suggests, you want to use a virtual tabletop application - there are many. MapTools is free, but requires some coding skills, Battlegrounds/Fantasy Ground are paid for applications that include a GM's pack and players pack, as well as already mentioned Roll20.net an online server based virtual tabletop application. Basically, on the GM's side you upload maps (or create maps within the virtual tabletop app), have icons to represent monsters, PCs, traps, things. Using skye or some other form of chat - players can talk to each other out of GM earshot. GMs can talk to all players or provide secret info to one or more players. All such tools use a digital dice roller application to handle dice rolls that all can view and see the results. There are many options and many VT apps being added to the list. I think there's even a Kickstarter to sponsor the funding of a phone app VT program.

 

[Tobold]

And what would the best asynchroneous option be? With a virtual tabletop application I still need to be online when the other players are online, and as I live in Europe and many players are American, the time zone difference tends to be an issue (one thing I learned from international MMORPGs).

 

[rjfTrebor]

And what would the best asynchroneous option be? With a virtual tabletop application I still need to be online when the other players are online, and as I live in Europe and many players are American, the time zone difference tends to be an issue (one thing I learned from international MMORPGs).

Roll20 is a globally available program, there are plenty of users who are from European timezones.

 

[Hussar]

And what would the best asynchroneous option be? With a virtual tabletop application I still need to be online when the other players are online, and as I live in Europe and many players are American, the time zone difference tends to be an issue (one thing I learned from international MMORPGs).

Yeah, there's not a whole lot you can do about that. I live in Japan and all my players live in the States. Which means I get to play Tuesday mornings until noon. You could probably swing Sunday morning games, as lots of people like to play Saturday nights. But, to be fair, once you get into VTT gaming, there are lots of "off time" gamers out there, which can make building a group pretty easy.

 

[Tobold]

Yeah, there's not a whole lot you can do about that.

I was thinking of options like play-by-forum, but I don't know which are the good sites for that.

 

[Hussar]

I was thinking of options like play-by-forum, but I don't know which are the good sites for that.

Play by post is all over the place. En world has an entire forum dedicated to it and it's highly regarded.

 

[jacktannery]

I play 4E games at rpol.net (Roleplay-on-line), a play by post site. Play by post is quite different from simultaneous online play as on roll20.