Resources for Moving to Online Play

#1

Here are some resources and advice for folks moving to online play. If you have additional suggestions and sources, please comment in the thread

1. VIDEO OPTIONS: If you need help with the available video options check out here, we have a post with some of the current conferencing options: Some different conferencing options for online play It doesn’t cover everything, but it’s a good start.
2. ONLINE GAME RESOURCES: If you’re looking for character keepers or play aids for a game, check out: https://drive.google.com/open?id=11kvNX8LzFPLODGgnbXXGTOJ0bieDCfeF
We’ve got a ton of resources there.
3. OTHER CHARACTER KEEPERS: If you don’t see a keeper you need there, browse our playlist of AP videos: https://www.youtube.com/TheGauntletRPG/playlists?sort=lad&flow=grid&view=1
If you see someone running the game you’re looking for, message that GM to see if they’d be willing to share.
4. MAKING CHARACTER KEEPERS: Alternately if you want to make your own, we have guides for doing character keepers in Google Sheets here:
Intro: https://www.gauntlet-rpg.com/blog/introduction-to-online-character-keepers
Basics: https://www.gauntlet-rpg.com/blog/basics-of-online-character-keepers
Advanced: https://www.gauntlet-rpg.com/blog/advanced-techniques-for-character-keepers
5. SAFETY: Importantly: remember to consider safety in online play. Check out the TTRPG Safety Toolkit http://bit.ly/ttrpgsafetytoolkit by jl_nicegirl and KiennaS

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Moving your group online
Looking for advice on which service to use
What platform are folks using to run games?
#2

After the first session online for my f-2-f group (who have never played online before) …
I’m assuming a safety tool conversation etc., but my take homes are:

  1. Offer very simple step-by-step instructions for joining well in advance and ask if they are clear.
  2. Ensure there’s a shared message group or similar where players can post concerns before or during joining and you can solve issues/reassure.
  3. Make it clear before, during and after the session that there’s no such thing as a stupid question.
  4. Pick as rules lite a system as possible for an introductory one-shot to familiarise them with the process and feel of onlibe.
  5. Use screen-share to run a brief ‘roll for your party’ tutorial at which they all have a chance to demonstrate they can set up dice sets, highlight and re-roll etc.
  6. Use screen-share to make sure they can find their way around the character keeper
  7. It was surprisingly that, despite being familiar with spreadsheets a couple of them struggled to multi-task and flip between windows so be prepared to talk them through in baby steps.
  8. Initially enforce a rotation as players are more likely to all talk at once (the way they do at the table) but they won’t realise how much more difficult it is to make sense of it online until you tell them.
  9. Manage their expectations in terms of the pace of play as initially they may get less ‘done’ than in a f-2-f session.
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#3

I add as a resource especially for new facilitators my Gauntlet blog post about the cognitive load facilitators have to face and what to do around that:

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