Roll20

Earlier this week, I wrote about one of my favorite tools for roleplaying games called 3D Virtual Tabletop. It's a great app to have when you're sitting around a table with friends. But what if you don't have a local gaming group? That's where my second favorite tool comes in: Roll20.

Roll20 is another virtual tabletop - but this time, it's designed not just to represent a battle board, but give you the tools to run or play in an entirely online campaign. It's an entire platform of tools designed to simple, elegant, and user-friendly, runs entirely in a web browser (or app on your favorite mobile device), and is compatible with just about any RPG system. It supports online character sheets, dice rollers that truly simulate actual randomness, video and voice chat, journals that represent information shared across multiple users, map features like dynamic lighting and fog of war, a virtual jukebox for music and sound effects, and an online marketplace chock full of art, maps, icons, music, and anything else you might need to run an online campaign.

Roll20 also has a huge community of people playing just about any RPG system you can imagine, with opportunities every day for new players to jump into one-shots or long-term campaigns. As a new player, it took me very little time to figure out how everything worked, and my experiences have been very positive. You can check out their "Looking for Group" forum for yourself and see all the possibilities that await you.

Oh, and I forgot to mention the most impressive part: it's free!

And while I haven't delved into this aspect of the program yet, the developers obviously worked hard to make everything as easy for the GMs as possible. If you want to know more about how you can use Roll20 as a GM, check out this video below.

I hope this opens up a whole new world of online gaming for you. I know it did for me. See you next time!