RolePlaying over Skype

[Felix]

Hi All,

Does anyone have any experience of running/playing RPG's over Skype, Messenger, Google Hangout or something similar?  I did find a few references to Skype on the forums, but I don't know how anybody got on.

Does anybody have any advice?  Game system or ruleset isn't important at the moment, I just want to know if the idea works.

Cheers!

[guardiandashi]

there are several options and plusses/ minuses for each

classic PIP (play in person) the group has to get together ...

PBP (Play By Post) mail, email, forum etc can all facilitate this
advantages
not as time critical
wider pool of players possible etc

disadvantage
players may get bored,
loose track (or interest)
longer waits between turns actions etc

IM is closer to real time version still some anomity allowed

real time chat is basically equivalent to in person playing with the issue of dice rolling which needs trust, or a dice roller app to be used

[Jayof9s]

I've had some fun with using a word document on google docs for RPG portions of a campaign.

The best part of it; you can have multiple people on at a time editing the same 'live' document - and it is a lot easier to keep track of than instant messenger notes, in my opinion (and fun to look back on later / or to remember what was happening in the future.) Alternatively, you can also post something and let people know and they can respond when they get a chance, if everyone isn't available at the same time.

We tended to use some form of IM to talk outside of the document, especially about out of character stuff, but would keep everything 'in character' in the document. I was the GM, so I did any rolls manually and entered the results as necessary. I'm sure there are means to do 'live' rolls, if your players feel the need to see the rolls personally.

[hive_angel]

I almost got a Spacehulk campaign going over google hangout. I am still game for it if I can find the player(s). Playing A Time of War is not too hard over skype, but you have to make sure everyone is comfortable and eliminate background noise along with side conversations. Too much derailment and the session is wasted and outlook forcasts lowers for participation for the next.

Currently I only have one player, but I sure can use a hand with some of the gaming in the creation department or even someone maybe to skype play one of the lance characters if it can be done.

[WargameHub]

I run a Pathfinder game using Google Hangouts (we are adding ATOW to our mix).  It helps that my players are all friends and family, plus I trust them to do their own die rolls.  Plus we use the roll20.net plug in for the hangout to give mapping.

One key is to give out tasks to the players.  One in my group takes notes, one has really learned the combat rules, another keeps track of initiative.   

I also have my own website with forums.  We have setup entire threads for each character, anything important, plus have a thread for each weekly game.

[Dave Talley]

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=210464052464205&set=gm.581018121955877&type=1&theater

drop by here,
this thread brought up multiple things I had not heard of such as RollD20

[VanVelding]

My group has been roleplaying online for over a year now with very few technical problems. Just make sure everyone has headphones, a decent mike, and a private space/time (roommates have been an ongoing issue).

I think Skype requires a paying account to have multiple folks on at a time. Google Hangouts requires that everyone has a G+ account, which might be a problem, depending on your group. Roll 20, like WargameHub said, is a great resource, whether you're using it directly, or accessing it through Google Hangouts.

[guardiandashi]

Skype "chat" the IM version seems to be free to setup a room, dunno about its voip functions

teamspeak, mumble and ventrillo 3 dedicated voip apps are free or very cheap, (I know its possible to setup a free teamspeak server for up to ~5-10 people in a room, and you can download the server software and host it yourself (finding your ip info can be a little pain but shrug)

vent and mumble servers can be rented for I believe as low as ~$5-10 /month, and especially if you are doing it for realtime chat in a online game such as wot, wow, swtor, etc etc its typically not a huge deal

[WargameHub]

Google+ is free too.  We use that playing Diablo III and just shut the video off.  You can still talk.

[HABeas2]

Hi,

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=210464052464205&set=gm.581018121955877&type=1&theater

drop by here,
this thread brought up multiple things I had not heard of such as RollD20

If that's a link to the group I created, Dave, it's not open to the public, so I doubt many folks here can see it at all. Sorry.

Thanks,

- Herb

[Dave Talley]

nope
https://www.facebook.com/groups/oldschoolroleplaying/

[Kret69]

It works well in my case.

It is particularly useful when playing mixed game ("normal" meeting plus a person calling in). It also gives tremendous opportunities for setting up an NPC (or a bunch of them) that can be reached via radio only (i.e. TOC from the warship orbitting the planet).

Adding a camera directed towards the game table AND using occassionally some visual helps via rolld20 helps even more.

But as with all tools, this has to be learned and field-tested first. I would not expect any results from the ad-hoc game conducted like that without any preparations.

[nonex]

I have been using MapTool for online games, but I guess Roll20 is more or less the same thing.