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Sunday, July 17, 2011

AD&D Campaign Tools

Tabletop roleplaying online is something I have wanted to do for years now. The technology simply was not there. It just is not the same thing, running a tabletop RPG by text - especially not in a public chatroom. Even private chatrooms lack some way of providing that connection you need when running a tabletop RPG.

Part of it is acting - a voice can carry a lot of emotion and character, but it's much trickier than simply acting-out certain things. Of course, you don't have to be a good actor to play tabletop RPG, nor does anyone really expect you to be. Still, it's fun to play-out the part physically at least sometimes. But video isn't the only issue.

Right now, we are using (in various forms) AOL Instant Messenger (AIM), Skype, and are trying to use the website Obsidian Portal. I have only just now joined Obsidian Portal and, like all tabletop roleplaying games, it takes some time to properly setup a campaign. However, I really like the site and its features.

In time, we may drop AIM as it does not offer group video or chat, but we were using it for the group dice-rolling. Video can alleviate that, as I agree that physically rolling the dice is part of the fun as well, but not everyone has video cameras and we are a nascent group. Other players may join later and they may not all have cameras, either.

I thought some of you might be interested in this for any number of reasons, so I'll continue to update you as we figure out the technology and services that best suit our game and playing style.

© C Harris Lynn, 2011

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