Roll20 DM Newbs: Tips and Tricks From the Wise DMs' First Online Campaigns

COVID-19 forced the Wise DMs to put their games on hiatus or take them online with Roll20. And they were not wise to that!Hear how Thorin, Tony and Dave stumbled through the new platform with tips, tricks, and adjustments they’ve made to keep the online campaigns as vivid as their nights around the gaming table. Plus, the guys discuss theater-of-the-mind vs. battle-maps, how much search is too much, and what your details teach players about how to play your game.The Roll20 Rundown1:00 Our previous online DM experiences6:00 First impressions of Roll20 (Tony Loves It!)10:00 Working around audio/video issues (Thorin Hates It!)13:00 Advantages of using “boxed” modules from the Roll20 marketplace (Dave Loves It!)16:00 Player commitment and building a good Roll20 party20:00 Mixing Roll20 with physical dice rolling and other offline tools22:00 Accidentally deleting maps and other easy Roll20 errors to avoid 28:00 Map hoarding and homebrew adventure prep31:00 Monster management hacksRandom DM Tips and Stuff35:00 Maps vs. theater of the mind, and how Roll20 impacts different play styles40:00 How much search detail is too much?46:00 Single-point plot failures and how to split the party without even trying49:00 PC skills should matter51:00 How small choices teach players how to play your game60:00 Milestone leveling has its advantages69:00 Managing players and future episodes70:00 Final thoughts and Roll20 solutions75:00 Device flexibility and older players