Playing Online Tabletop RPGs

Sometimes getting a group of friends together to play some Pathfinder once a week is almost as difficult as remembering to keep track of arrows in your quiver. Schedule conflicts and long distances can impede your ability to meet up in person. To help with this problem that plagues many of us, we will be giving you a quick and dirty step-by-step summary on how to start your own online tabletop rpg campaign, regardless of what game you’re playing.

All of the information in this article has been paraphrased from The Dungeon Coach’s “Beginners Guide to PLAY D&D ONLINE with Roll 20 and Discord,” which you can find at the bottom of the page.  Much like the video, we will mainly be referring to Discord and Roll20 for the purpose of this list.

0. The Group

To start your campaign, you’re going to need an adventuring party. If you don’t have a group of friends who are as committed as you are to starting a campaign, don’t sweat! There are plenty of online tabletop rpg groups you can join on Roll20. All you need to do is make an account, search for the game you’re interested in playing, and BOOM! A list of open games will pop up for you to choose from. However, we do not encourage sharing your personal information with strangers, so use caution when using this service.

1. Communication

You’re going to want to be able to talk to one another via voice chat, and there are many services you can use for this such as Discord, Skype, Zoom, and more. You may also want to use video to amplify the experience even more, but that’s only if everyone in the party is comfortable with showing their face on camera.

2. Gaming Platform

Next, you’ll need a platform for actually displaying your game, such as Roll20, Fantasy Grounds, or Tabletop Simulator. For Roll20 you’ll first need to go to their website and create an account.

Roll20 Online Tabletop RPG Login

3a. Creating a Campaign

Once you have your account made you can click “create new game,” which will allow you to select a name for your campaign and what game system you’ll be using. After you select “I’m ready, Create Game!” you will be taken to another page where you can “Launch Campaign,” “Invite Players,” or access the campaign settings.

3b. Campaign Settings

After you have created your game, there will be a settings button near the top of the page. We suggest using the following settings for your game:

  • “Allow players to import their own Characters?” ~Yes
  • “Access Compendium In-Game:” ~Set to the system you’re using
  • “Share my compendium with my players?” ~Yes

4. Get Acquainted With Roll20

Now if you launch your game you will be greeted with a page like this:

Roll20 Online Tabletop RPG Interface

Roll20 offers many functions on its interface. The left bar includes useful tools such as a drawing tool, dice roller, and measuring tape. On the right, you will see a chat feed, and at the top, there will be a menu. There is a chat tab, a journal tab that shows your character sheets and other NPCs/Items that the gamemaster shares, an informational compendium, and a settings tab on the far right.

5a. Dungeon Master Info

On the left toolbar you will see a layer tool, which will allow you to place pictures, tokens, and notes on one of three layers: “Map & Background,” “Objects & Tokens,” and “GM Info Overlay.” There’s also a “GM” option at the top of the dice roller so only the GM can see what they roll. Lastly, there is a blue page icon near the top of the screen, and when selected it will show you a list of every page/map you have for your campaign.

5b. Creating a Map

There will be a small blue page icon at the top of the screen. When you click this it will show you all of the pages you have created for your game. All pages are private to the dungeon master except for the page that has a red “Player” banner on it. In order to display a different map/page to your players, simply grab that banner and slide it to the desired page.

To make a new page, go to this tab and click “create new page.” If you want to add a map or background to this page, just search for one in your web browser and save it to your computer. Then open your files app on your computer, find the new map, and simply drag it into Roll20. Make sure you have the map layer of your desired page open when dropping in your map.

Also note: if your map has a grid on it, it may not line up with the Roll20 Grid. To fix this all you have to do is right-click on the image, click “Advanced” and select “Align to Grid,” then follow the instructions.

5c. Creating Tokens

Once again find an image online that you’d like to use for an icon, and save it to your computer. Then go to a custom token creator such as rolladvantage.com. Do the same thing that you did for the map: go to your files, drag the picture in, and resize it for your desired look. Save it and drop it into Roll20.

To turn this token into a character, click on the journal tab in the right menu, and click “+Add.” From here just fill in the information and click save.

6. Player Characters

As a player, you can go to the journal tab and click on your Character Sheet that the GM has created for you. A window will pop up where you can select the “Character Sheet” tab that will prompt you on creating your character. You can select one of three options:

Roll20 Online Tabletop RPG Charactermancer
  • “Use the Charactermancer” will bring you to a beginner-friendly window where you can select all of the stats & abilities that you desire for your character, and Roll20 will auto-generate your character sheet for you.
  • “Create an NPC” is for dungeon masters to generate NPC character sheets. This won’t help players.
  • “Edit Sheet Directly” allows players to directly manipulate the character sheet themselves. This is more for experienced players.

7. Combat and Abilities

Once you have completed your character sheet, you can very easily make ability checks and attack roles by going to your character sheet and clicking on the ability you want to use. Roll20 will automatically roll for you and factor in any modifiers, making combat and roleplay flow more smoothly.

Now You’re Ready!

That’s everything you need to know to get started with an online tabletop rpg! If something is unclear, or you’d like a more in-depth explanation on any of the steps above, then watch this video:

Remember, this is only one method of playing online. There are countless videos and articles out there that can explain other ways to play online. Look into it for yourself and find what works best for you and your group.