If you’re one of the millions of people just hearing about D&D and want to get started with your own game from the comfort of your home, then stick around. In this video we’re going to show you how to not only find your own group, but get your own online game of Dungeons and Dragons started as well. Let’s do this.
You might be shy, a night-owl looking for other night-owls, or perhaps someone who requires chat functions because of a hearing condition. Whatever the case, the wonderful thing about D&D meeting the 21st century is that it has allowed for so many new ways to start your own game of D&D without ever leaving your home.
FIND A GROUP
The first thing you need to do is find your group. And there are a few ways you can go about doing this. First is friends and family since they are obviously easiest, next is co-workers or acquaintances. They are great if you’re comfortable hanging out with some new people and want to share in a new experience, and then lastly there’s strangers.
You can find groups with strangers on reddit, facebook groups, or even at your local comic book store. Obviously, use caution and your best judgment. Make sure these are people that you’re willing to get to know before ever giving any personal information away, but I have had success with 3 out of 5 of the groups that I started, so I promise it’s possible with a little diligence.
PICK A PLATFORM TO PLAY ON
Now each method of starting the group has their pros and cons, but whichever way you go about it, in the end you’re going to need the next part of this video, which is the platform on which to play.
DISCORD
First up is good ol’ Discord. You can create a free account, start a server, invite your fellow adventurers with the link, and join a video or voice chat on the agreed upon day and you’re going.
The DM can also share their screen if they want, in order to show pictures, maps, music and more. You can even add third party extensions to create music playlists and other fun things like that.
ZOOM
Next up is Zoom. This is a similar program to Discord in that it’s a video service that allows you to join a group chat. I find this to be better than discord as far as audio issues and server stability go but lacks the options and versatility of discord.
Still, this is usually a great starting point since most people already have a zoom and whenever my other methods are having connectivity issues, I always just ask the group to switch to Zoom and we’re playing again within two minutes.
ROLL20
And last up is my personal favorite, Roll20. This is where I run all of my own games from, you can even upgrade to the pro versions to gain access to different levels of assets like free maps, tokens, lighting effects and more.
This program works for audio and video, allows you to upload images and maps, can track rules and initiative, has character sheets that you can edit directly, allows you to roll virtual dice, AND can even connect to D&D Beyond! It’s packed with goodies, and it’s FREE. To top it all off, it even has a “search” feature if you’re looking to jump into a game with strangers right away.
There are lots of ways to go about getting a group together, but once you do, all that matters when picking a platform to host the games, ultimately, is that everyone can hear each other and that the group works well together.
For some groups all they use is voice. Other groups are strictly chat based because they like the freedom it allows since you can respond to the chats at your own convenience. Some groups require everyone to use a particular platform or to always have a camera on because it makes it easier to read social cues and engage more.
That’s the beautiful thing about D&D! There’s no right or wrong way to play it and even the rules tell you, it’s your world.
Thanks so much for watching, I definitely did not cover every method out there, so please tell me and the others out there how you play your games in the comments below. I’m sure there are some creative methods out there.
As always, don’t forget to like and subscribe. Forge on, adventurers, and we'll see you next time.
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