Internet RPG Play

[Merkuri]

I play in a weekly game online with MapTool. Not sure if it'll be the best if only one person is online, though. You'd either have to find a way to let all of the in-person gamers see the screen (big screen TV or a projector) or you'd have to have one in-person battlemap and one digital battlemap for the computer player and you'd have to make sure they stayed synched up.

If you have only one online player then a webcam pointed at the battlemat might be the best way to go. If you have the ability you might want to label the axises on your grid with numbers across the top and letters across the side (or vice versa) so your remote player can say something like, "I move to B6 and attack the guy on B7." It might be easier than having him say, "I attack the second orc from the right. No, my right. Yeah, that's it."

And I think, having played for nearly 10 years online, I feel most comfortable acting via the chat client versus any sort of video or audio.

I haven't been playing online for that long (I think it's been six years for me) but I've always felt the same way. It's much easier to get into character when I'm typing out the character's speech and actions. It feels more like I'm writing a story and less like I'm playing pretend with a bunch of adults. I'm sure if I played an in-person game on a regular basis I would probably get used to it, but if our online game turned into an in-person game (or even from a text chat to a voice chat) I'd probably find myself roleplaying less out of self-consciousness.

 

[tylerthehobo]

Wave

My pals and I have tried Wave a few times. Some notes on what worked and what didn't, here:
Tyler is Gaming...: First Try at Using Google Wave for D&D

Short version, it's slow but getting there. If Skype-ing seems funky, this can be a fun way to play.

-Tyler

 

[bytor4232]

A little over a year ago my tabletop group disintegrated, you know, everyone going their seperate ways. Being that I'm going on 37, I really didn't have the time or patience to find more players, its a daunting task, so I turned to the internet. I'd always played online, but got more serious about it after the failure of my gaming group. And being the obsessive person I am, I turned into a D&D monster. I'm playing a variety of mediums online.

I'm in a play by chat game on Monday Nights using Swords and Wizardry (OD&D Clone) and Labyrinth Lord (Clone of Moldvay) on alternating weeks. So far the game has been going good. We have a good group that obviously shows up, which is half the battle. I've had a lot of PbC games hit the dirt because people just stop showing up. That doesn't seem to be the case here!

I'm playing in three Google Wave games, two Swords and Wizardry and another OSRIC. They are going good, but they remind me of play by post mostly. You log in once or twice a day and make your actions. Personally, I'm not sure I see the hype behind Google Wave, its just a BBS/Play by Post on steroids if you ask me.

And finally I have several play by post games going. What I like most about play by post is the slow pace. I'm running Microlite20 game in OpenRoleplaying, playing in a 3.5e game, and am working on launching an OSRIC play by post game.

And finally I do have a tabletop game running with the family. I have over a thousand minis, gotta use them somewhere! We are playing Swords and Wizardry Whitebox, but are going to be switching to OSRIC soon, I want to run them through the classic U-series modules.

 

[tylerthehobo]

Wave

To clarify - me and my pals play Wave real time, not as a pbp substitute.