Lockdown Onboarding 2.0

As Auckland braces for Omicron, we are expecting increased absences as we all self isolate and care for our friends and families. With this in mind, all of our Dungeon Masters are setting up online games ready to continue the fun uninterrupted.

For those adventurers who haven’t played online with us previously, here is an updated tutorial for getting up to speed for an online game.

To do this, we will be using a few different bits of technology. To start, you’ll need a laptop/chromebook or a desktop machine with a microphone and a speaker. You can still participate in games with just an iPad, but the experience can be frustrating and you won’t be able to do some things, so we don’t recommend this unless you don’t have another option.

Step one!

Download zoom and create an account. We use zoom for voice chat mainly, but it’s great to see your faces at least for the start of the game as we are getting set up. Once we are gaming, most Dungeon Masters don’t mind if you are more comfortable with your camera off, as long as you are communicating and staying engaged with your team mates.

You will receive a meeting invite for your game. As much as possible we try to keep those links consistent, so it should be the same each week.

Go to Roll20 and create an account. We’ll use this website as a virtual map of our adventures, and this is where we will roll dice and see monsters. Your classroom will have a link to your game, once you have logged in to Roll20 you will be able to join your game. Then, you will be able to launch the game and be ready for the tutorial on how to use Roll20. The website has their own tutorial, which I don’t recommend as it can be confusing and counter-productive.

If you haven’t already, go to dndbeyond.com and create an account.

Once you’ve got an account, you can click on the link in your classroom to the campaign where you can claim your character sheet.

These next steps are optional – and recommended for more experienced users.

Then, make sure you are using chrome as your browser, and install Beyond 20.

This plugin allows you to use your dndbeyond character sheet with roll20, and while it might seem like a lot of steps to get started, this truly gives us the best experience of playing the game and communicating seamlessly. We’ve trialled a lot of different methods, and this definitely is the best we’ve found so far.

On game day, make sure you are logged in to Zoom, and in the waiting room for your team a few minutes before game time. You’ll also need to be logged in to roll20.

And for those who are a bit extra – find online, or make your own character art, and go to Token Stamp to make your own custom character token to represent you during the game. Upload the token to your game chat well before the game in order to give your DM time to upload it and get it ready for use on the day.