Let's Play 5E D&D on Roll20

Games
1

I am splitting off from the D&D 5th Edition thread so we can use this thread to manage playing the game, and the original thread can focus on discussing 5E in general.

Hi, I’m Rob O’Boston, and I am your local Quartertothree Dungeon Master. I ran a 4E D&D game for a long time for folks here (awesome folks), and later I ran a Dungeon Crawl Classics game for some of the same folks, and some new folks (also awesome folks). I most recently ran a game of Savage Worlds for a short time, before a League of Legends addiction derailed it. Now I am back and excited about the newest edition of D&D, the back to basics, yet sleek and stylish, 5th edition of Dungeons and Dragons. It is all the rage this summer, and this is your chance to play from the comfort of your own computer desk.

I will be using Roll20 and skype. This system has worked well for me in the past, so I’m sticking with it. I know Roll20 supports video, and I could eventually be persuaded to try it, but for now I’m sticking with the tried and true. Roll20 is free (I do pay for a subscription), and it works really well. I have purchased hi-res maps of the Starter Set module “Lost Mine of Phandelver” and they look great in Roll20. I plan to run Lost Mine, and then I’m hoping to hand the DM reigns off to shellfishguy for a bit so I can roll up a character and play. We haven’t really worked out the details on that yet, so for now I will just say that I will at least run the Starter module, and we can figure things out from there.

The rules for 5E D&D, at least the beginner rules, are free as a pdf on the Wizards website. Everything you need to learn how to play and how to roll up a character are there. Check them out! I’ve read them once and I will go back over them, and hopefully we will figure them out quickly and be up and playing in no time.

The Lost Mine of Phandelver is intended for four or five players, which is also probably my max for running a Roll20 game. It can be hard to manage a table top game in virtual space, because I can’t look around the table and see who is bored and throw something fun their way. Arkon and Shellfishguy have both agreed to play, and I’ve talked to a friend of mine here in Boston and he might want to play, so we only need one or two people to reach critical mass. I know some people have expressed interest in the other thread, so I hope they jump in here.

I live in Boston, and I tend to run the game from 9pm to 11pm, sometimes midnight, once a week. I am thinking next Tuesday night might be a good night to start playing. That will give everyone time to roll up a character, put it in Roll20, and familiarize themselves with the basic rules. I will use the time to choose monster tokens for Roll20 and input monster stat blocks and that sort of thing. Scheduling can be tough sometimes, what with work and families and summer vacations, but I hope we can get a couple of sessions in over the next few weeks.

That’s it. We can use this thread to manage everything that doesn’t happen in the game (or you can PM me).

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I’m virtually certain I’d be down for this, either on my desktop or new work laptop. Particularly the relatively short playtime.

I’m fairly indifferent on race/character and could fill any major gameplay and/or archetypal holes (what’s the point of D&D without a surly dwarf? I’m not sure!) if the players are into those things, but I’ll admit that if there’s a Bard class in the PHB coming in the near future, I’d be very desirous of playing one because Bards are wonderful in every conceivable way. Probably.

I’ve been GMing a heavily homebrewed Pathfinder campaign for the last year and playing in a less homebrewed 4E campaign virtually the same amount of time, with a smattering of one-shots played in Numenera, ACKS, and Pathfinder sprinkled into the midst, along with a single 6-session mini-arc. Before that, I had a good 8-10 year gap from serious roleplaying, but I played some in high school and also taught quite a few kids how to play 4E at a nerd camp I worked at, but not sure if that quite qualifies :)

Anyway, I’m super pumped to try out the new rules; something less crunchy and dizzyingly number-dense than the PF and 4E games that I’m in now would be a delight–if there’s an open spot :)

3

I would love to play, but I’m not usually home, let alone free, until well after 6pm Pacific. Hope you guys have fun though!

4

Me me me me! Let me double check how that works for an Perth time and confirm!

Edit - nope, no good. Exactly 12 time difference so that time means I should be, er, working. :(

5

So I am leaning towards rolling a wizard. I suspect I will want to change the build once the PHB comes out and more options are available, but for now that is where I am leaning.

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The short and stout races are my most favoritest of all things, so I’ll likely be a Dwarf or Halfling something. I did two brawler types in the DCC game, so maybe a cleric this time. I always loved the D&D style clerics in plate.

When its my turn to DM, I ask everyone to please be patient with me, I haven’t worn the DM hat in 20 years! More nervous about that than anything in a long time hehe.

7

I can’t participate due to time difference either, but have fun. I hope someone will provide the rest of us with session recaps - I seem to remember that the ones for the 4e campaign were good :)

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Time zones are a killer.

Djscman used to write fantastic journal entries after the 4E game. I wish I could have run games that were equal to them.

I don’t know if 5E requires class balance in the same way that 4E required it, but it would be great if we could get one of each class represented just so we can see them all in action.

Shellfishguy - cleric
Arkon - wizard
Armando - rogue? Until the bard is released of course.

Make sure you guys include your character’s personality and background stuff, trinkets, etc. I think all those rules look great.

As background, your characters are from Neverwinter or nearby, so you can take that into account for background details. I don’t know much about Neverwinter, but I guess I will learn.

9

Ooh, I’m in Boston as well, so the timezones are perfect! I definitely wish to play! I like playing the dumb fighter type that distrusts magic and smart people.

10

I always felt like the McCoy hating transporters trope from Star Trek would translate well into high-level D&D with ready access to Teleportation magic. . .

“Soo wizard, yer tellin’ me yer gonna mumble some magical mumbo-jumbo n’ turn me into this AETHER business, then zap me all the way across creation to the Plane of Fire, an’ I’m gonna come out just fine on the other end? Cuz that sounds like a good way to get yer beard scrambled up with yer belly ta me, laddie!”

Looking forward to it, Rob. My knowledge of Neverwinter amounts to whatever can be gleaned from the first 6 hours of the first Neverwinter Nights game (and subsequently be remembered 10 years later), so I think we’re in the same boat there. Looks like I’ve got a bit of reading to do :)

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Fantastic, it looks like we are all systems go. Tuesday work for everyone at this point? I’ll PM everyone skype and Roll20 details.

I read the Neverwinter wikipedia entry, I feel completely up to speed.

Galadin - a most important, but off topic, question: do you play Warmachine?

12

I used to play in the Chicago area, haven’t played around here. My Circle and Protectorate army have been in boxes for a couple of years now.

13

Sounds like Armando has the grumble and bluster covered, so I’ll go Halfling for my cleric. A humble little bumpkin with a heart of gold and a mace of iron.

14

Tuesday works fine for me. Will work on creating my character this week while on a mini vacation.

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Tuesday’s looking golden here, too. Missus might get a little annoyed at several days of gaming in a row, but that won’t be the norm, in all fairness, just a bunch of events piling up. . .

In a general sense, Monday nights are verboten for me (my PF campaign), as are some Sundays (irregular 4E game that night). Depending on how long we go, I’ll eventually lose some Wednesdays (not till late August/early September TBH), but will generally be free 5 nights a week every week.

And the idea of a dwarven bard does entertain me mightily. I have fingers crossed for a couple of elements of the class supporting the flavor I want to go with :). Rogue is A-OK before then, and honestly, if it will be trouble to switch midway through, I won’t be crushed to stick with it, either.

16

What is the plan for character creation as far as stats are concerned. Are we going old school and rolling 4d6?

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There are three methods in the basic book, roll 4d6, standard array, and point buy. They all look OK to me. You can roll 4d6 at home, or you can roll them in roll20 for historical record purposes. I will open roll20 today and keep it open if you want to pop in and roll.

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I am sure the dice gods will punish me, but rolling for stats just feels right for the return to the older school feel of 5e.

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Was just going to ask the same thing! I too shall roll, may the dice gods show me mercy.

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I’ve PMed everyone the link to the Roll20 page. I will keep it up until mid-afternoon. I am going away until Friday, but I will be able to have it up over the weekend, so you should be able to access it then if today is too short a window. I believe that once you log on I’ll be able to share a character sheet with you.

edit: for the guys who are new to Roll20, feel free to get in there and play around with the interface: roll dice, try out macros, kick the tires. I would recommend turning off the the video and voice options in your settings, as we won’t be using those.