D&D over IM

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Aitruis

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Mar 4, 2009
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Better to use VoIP (voice chat). It eliminates the need to segment play sessions, because with IM, either you have to run everything, and I mean everything, turn-based, which will get old, very fast; or, you can run it in an IM chatroom, and the player that types the fastest has the greatest advantage.

Ventrilo and Teamspeak are the two most popular, the former being free for up to 8 people, after that the rates are decent(around $4-5 a month for 15 people) and the latter is completely free.

if you want me to run you through making a server for yourself, message me.
 

zen5887

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Jan 31, 2008
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I've had a guy play over Skype in our sessions before. It was... really hard and it killed the flow of the game.

There are a bunch of D&D online clients you should try. They are pretty cool, if you can get them to work ^^'
 

EMFCRACKSHOT

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ZombieGenesis said:
Sounds like it could work, in theory, but honestly this is something that might take away from the experience. One of the reasons I want to play this game is so I can stay up all night with a bunch of buddies, pizza and soft alcohol galore and some AC/DC humming in the background while we make complete idiots of ourselves. While I've got those parts covered already, nobody is willing to try the D&D part.
I know just how you feel. I am in the comlete same position. Stupid friends not wanting to play D&D with me ¬¬
 

Amnestic

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Aug 22, 2008
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ZombieGenesis said:
Sounds like it could work, in theory, but honestly this is something that might take away from the experience. One of the reasons I want to play this game is so I can stay up all night with a bunch of buddies, pizza and soft alcohol galore and some AC/DC humming in the background while we make complete idiots of ourselves. While I've got those parts covered already, nobody is willing to try the D&D part.
There is this. Part of the experience is doing it with a bunch of friends over.

ShotgunShaman said:
Seems like it would be too easy to cheat a lil on your dice rolls, plus it can't be nearly as fun as hanging out and playing in person.
Nothing wrong with fudging a dice roll here and there for a dramatic flourish. Bending the rules to add a good story (as long as your group doesn't object) can add to the experience. If you start always rolling 'natural' 20s though, they may get a bit suspicious.
 

Zykon TheLich

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I've tried playing cyberpunk 2020 and Dark Heresy over IM and it's never really worked very well. Face to face is so much better. Maybe playing with something that allows videoconferencing?
 

NuclearPenguin

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scumofsociety said:
I've tried playing cyberpunk 2020 and Dark Heresy over IM and it's never really worked very well. Face to face is so much better. Maybe playing with something that allows videoconferencing?
Id gladly do that.. If I had a way to video conference. I dont have a cam or anything, just a barely functional mic and a keyboard.
 

PlainTwo

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I'd be up for that, I've always wanted to try it. PM me if you're interested, but keep in mind I'd need to brush up on the rules a bit first.
 

pffh

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Voice chat > IM, I use ventrilo every now and then to play shadowrun and it works very well. We make our own rolls and the DM trusts us, this is very important because if you always succeed one of the most fun part of roleplaying is gone (failing and then trying to work something out with what you have left).

But like others have said nothing beats a good old gathering of nerds to play some tabletop games at a real table with alcohol/soda and snacks/pizza and if your friends aren't nerdy enough for that make them that nerdy, I would never have even tried d&d if an old friend of mine hadn't dragged me into it a few years back and I loved it.
 

NuclearPenguin

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Guys, I just forgot to add one thing... Ive never played before, nor do I know how to play properly, but I have played Shadowrun.
 

BlazeTheVampire

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I've seen it done in IM, IRC, Forums, etc. It is possible if you have a trusting DM or a DM that makes the rolls for you after you choose what to do. Generally it's assumed that people are lying about their rolls, especially if they keep rolling "too well," so I see a lot of online DMs use random number generating bots in IRC or just doing it themselves.

My best recommendation? IRC channel set to invite-only with a bot that spouts random numbers when the DM says so. If you don't know how to do that, I'm sure you can find someone who can to make the bot for you.
 

NuclearPenguin

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BlazeTheVampire said:
I've seen it done in IM, IRC, Forums, etc. It is possible if you have a trusting DM or a DM that makes the rolls for you after you choose what to do. Generally it's assumed that people are lying about their rolls, especially if they keep rolling "too well," so I see a lot of online DMs use random number generating bots in IRC or just doing it themselves.

My best recommendation? IRC channel set to invite-only with a bot that spouts random numbers when the DM says so. If you don't know how to do that, I'm sure you can find someone who can to make the bot for you.
Sounds like a good idea..
 

BlazeTheVampire

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Mordaci said:
BlazeTheVampire said:
I've seen it done in IM, IRC, Forums, etc. It is possible if you have a trusting DM or a DM that makes the rolls for you after you choose what to do. Generally it's assumed that people are lying about their rolls, especially if they keep rolling "too well," so I see a lot of online DMs use random number generating bots in IRC or just doing it themselves.

My best recommendation? IRC channel set to invite-only with a bot that spouts random numbers when the DM says so. If you don't know how to do that, I'm sure you can find someone who can to make the bot for you.
Sounds like a good idea..
My dad's a huge D&D player but has issues finding games irl. He uses dndgamer.com (a forum-based D&D game center) to meet people to play with and generally ends up in IRC as opposed to solely playing on the forums. I learn from the best XD
 

NuclearPenguin

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BlazeTheVampire said:
Mordaci said:
BlazeTheVampire said:
I've seen it done in IM, IRC, Forums, etc. It is possible if you have a trusting DM or a DM that makes the rolls for you after you choose what to do. Generally it's assumed that people are lying about their rolls, especially if they keep rolling "too well," so I see a lot of online DMs use random number generating bots in IRC or just doing it themselves.

My best recommendation? IRC channel set to invite-only with a bot that spouts random numbers when the DM says so. If you don't know how to do that, I'm sure you can find someone who can to make the bot for you.
Sounds like a good idea..
My dad's a huge D&D player but has issues finding games irl. He uses dndgamer.com (a forum-based D&D game center) to meet people to play with and generally ends up in IRC as opposed to solely playing on the forums. I learn from the best XD
Hmm.. Sounds like good parenting ;o
 

Zykon TheLich

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Mordaci said:
Id gladly do that.. If I had a way to video conference. I dont have a cam or anything, just a barely functional mic and a keyboard.
Well, even stuff like teamspeak or ventrilo is better than IM. You have a mic and as Atrius said, they are free.

Seriously, IM blows. Totally kills it if there's more than 2 players and a GM. It is handy to be able to send floorplans and such over the net. There are programmes that allow you to do so, some have built in dice rollers and allow you to write online character sheets and equipment stuff.
 

BlazeTheVampire

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Personally, having played over Skype, I don't like it. Everybody trying to talk at once leads to chaos and a lot of people end up typing in the chat anyways instead of talking, opting to just let the DM talk and have them type a response. At least that's how my game went. Everybody wants to chime in and it cuts off important info, like from the DM.