Do you miss getting together with your friends to play role-playing games? Did you have a campaign left half-finished and you don't want to wait until the quarantine is over to continue? Do you have nothing better to do and want to go on some adventures? No problem! Roll20 to the rescue!
In a way, Roll20 is to role-playing games what Vassal is to board games. It allows an experienced master to bring their vision to a virtual tabletop, while providing all kinds of tools to make the role-playing session a success: from dice rolls, world and dungeon design, to including non-player characters and group video conferencing. And all with a large number of rulebooks to automatically configure games and simple commands so even people who know nothing about the topic can play without issues.
The Dungeon Master's role
Of course, as in real life, in Roll20 the heaviest work falls on the Dungeon Master, who must design the adventure and create all the scenarios and elements that compose it, and then focus on the most important thing: running the game. To accomplish such a task, it has all kinds of tools: drawing tools, measurement tools, tokens of all colors, a jukebox for background music, macros to automate actions, turn tracking, and configurable card decks, among many other things.
Yes, it's quite an effort and requires time and dedication. But almost the same as you'd do for a live role-playing game, except here you design the adventure from the browser and following certain parameters. If, as a master, you need help to set up your game and design your play, the web is full of resources. For example...
Joining a game as a player
As a player it's easier: you just have to find an open game that accepts players and join its adventure. Remember to always be a respectful person and follow the platform's Code of Conduct, or you'll soon be alienated by the rest of the community. The idea is not to be clever, but to cooperate so everyone has a good time and sessions go smoothly.
Free and paid plans
The free version of Roll20 gives you 100MB of storage. Those 100MB are for your graphic resources and for the audio you want to upload to the platform. Depending on how you manage it, it's enough space for a few adventures or a complete campaign. Fortunately, those 100MB exclude the art from the sets that come with the platform as well as any file you can link online. The free version has other limits, but none of them are insurmountable for the casual master or player.
If you want to get serious and get hooked on the tool, paying $49.99 a year you'll enjoy an ad-free experience, a 3GB storage limit, and dynamic lighting, among other things. Paying $99.99 a year, in addition to 6GB of space, you'll have access to community APIs and customizable character sheets, among other little extras.
In short, Roll20 has everything you need to role-play with your friends despite distances and quarantines, whether you're a master or a player. It doesn't completely replace get-togethers with friends, full of beers and real game manuals, but given the circumstances, it's the next best thing. Enjoy it!
Official site: Roll20
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