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<blockquote data-quote="Terraism" data-source="post: 5865280" data-attributes="member: 278">Having done something similar in the past, my recommendations are twofold, and may be things you're not interested in doing.&nbsp; Obviously, whatever works for you, but in my experience:<ol>
<li data-xf-list-type="ol">Get an omnidirectional, conference-room mike. If you really want the remote player involved, sound quality is incredibly important.</li>
<li data-xf-list-type="ol">Don't use a battlemap.&nbsp; No matter how you point the webcam and all, the remote player is going to have a very hard time following what's going on there.&nbsp; You'll do your best, and they'll do theirs, and the feeling that results is a mix of frustration and cluelessness.&nbsp; It just doesn't work well.&nbsp; There is an alternative, though:</li>
<li data-xf-list-type="ol">Use a virtual tabletop program, such as Maptool, and for the local players have it being displayed on a nearby TV screen.&nbsp; It takes a little orientation to have the battlemap vertical, and requires a mouse to move tokens on it (a wireless mouse you can pass around usually works just fine), and the remote player can connect and interact with it seamlessly.</li>
</ol>Really, the important thing to keep in mind is that information is key - not just for &quot;tactical gaming&quot;, but for any social gaming.&nbsp; As people, we rely on a lot of visual cues that are extremely hard to reproduce, so doing what you can to make the sharing of information easier will make the experience far more pleasant.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Terraism, post: 5865280, member: 278"] Having done something similar in the past, my recommendations are twofold, and may be things you're not interested in doing. Obviously, whatever works for you, but in my experience: [list=1][*]Get an omnidirectional, conference-room mike. If you really want the remote player involved, sound quality is incredibly important. [*]Don't use a battlemap. No matter how you point the webcam and all, the remote player is going to have a very hard time following what's going on there. You'll do your best, and they'll do theirs, and the feeling that results is a mix of frustration and cluelessness. It just doesn't work well. There is an alternative, though: [*]Use a virtual tabletop program, such as Maptool, and for the local players have it being displayed on a nearby TV screen. It takes a [i]little[/i] orientation to have the battlemap vertical, and requires a mouse to move tokens on it (a wireless mouse you can pass around usually works just fine), and the remote player can connect and interact with it seamlessly. [/list] Really, the important thing to keep in mind is that information is key - not just for "tactical gaming", but for any social gaming. As people, we rely on a lot of visual cues that are extremely hard to reproduce, so doing what you can to make the sharing of information easier will make the experience far more pleasant. [/QUOTE]

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